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 

Grounds Update

The grounds staff have been very busy with over the past month with much to do on the grounds of Hyde Park. Some of the activities the staff have been involved with include:

• Tree Pruning across the golf course, roughly 10 percent of the "in play" tree inventory will be addressed. Pruning is very important for tree health, playability and safety. An outside contractor conducts the pruning while our staff cleans debris behind. This process has been ongoing for the last 4 weeks.

A View from the left side of the 2nd hole

• Cold temperatures mean that the zoysia can be at risk with standing water freezing and causing damage to the plant. Long-term, added drainage will aid in reducing the risk. In the short, use of squeegees to remove water are helpful tools.

 

Regrading of area below 15 green

Below the 15th green this area was an old dump site for debris in the late 90's as the materials decompose small sink holes open up and can be a safety hazard. The staff recently, regraded this area to address the sink holes. This short-term fix will address the safety issues, however new drainage will be added in the future to move water from this area. The area has be seeded and straw will be added in the spring.

• Non- selective herbicide applications to the fairways are being completed to reduce/ eliminate cool season grasses such as Annual Bluegrass.

It is hard to believe that spring is just around the corner, in most years we are mowing the putting greens by St. Patrick's Day. We will see if this trend will continue.

If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us: grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Thanks,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

 

 

 

 

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