High Rough/Seeding Trials

The season continues to move along at Hyde Park, with the Art Smith in the rearview mirror our team is focused on giving the greens a little of a break with the added stresses on the turf from multiple mowings and rolling to achieve a true surface.  We are utilizing tools such as fans and venting of the surface to allow for oxygen exchange and dry the surface. USGA VIDEO LINK  There are areas of turf that have "thinned" but are largely confined to certain varieties of bentgrass.

Our annual mowing of the "high rough" areas has begun across the golf course in anticipation of fall herbicide applications, these areas are usually mowed two-three times each season depending on the weed encroachment. In many areas the grass clippings will be mulched and blown to disperse.

Between the 10th and 11th hole we have begun an establishment trial of fine fescues to see if we can create a low input rough area that is playable. This area will consist of Sheep and Hard fine fescues with different seeding rates. 

Rectangle- Trial Area 

If you have any questions please reach out to us grounds@hydeparkcc.com. We appreciate your feedback!

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent 

Golf Course and Grounds Update

The weather continues to be a roller coaster of a ride with plenty of rain to make it somewhat challenging to get the grass mowed on a consistent basis, forcing us to become a little creative to hit the mark. Thanks for your patience for enduring the roar of the mowers on a Saturday afternoon or evening to get caught up.

The course continues to get a little better each day, the high rough areas are very healthy and for the most part are relatively weed free and offer a good visual contrast with the plants producing a brown appearance. When early August arrives we will begin to mow the fescue down to about 6" in height to reduce weed encroachment and in preparation for additional herbicide applications.

The Zoysia grass continues to improve with the warmer temperatures,  allowing our team to continue to improve some small areas with sod across the golf course. The weak areas in question are impacted from high traffic areas where water moves or sits in the winter season or highly shaded areas that do not see adequate sunlight. Additional tree removal and drainage in these areas will assist in growing healthy turf. 

Recently, we partnered with Lefke Tree Experts to complete a tree inventory across the property. Roughly, 350 trees were tagged with a GPS location and data was complied on each tree that includes a visual inspection of condition, species, age, size and potential challenges with each tree. This data will allow for data based decision making and assist in prioritizing and budget development of a large inventory of trees at Hyde Park. Each dot on the picture below signifies a GPS tagged tree, along with data mentioned above.

As always, thanks again for the feedback on the golf course and grounds at Hyde Park.

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent