Restoration Rendering-Tyler Rae/Jim Ryan Jr.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Alex Lambert's Experience at the US Senior Open

Each year, team members of the HP grounds department volunteer at various tournaments, helping the host site to prepare the course for tournament play. These are great opportunities to engage with others in the industry, see the behind the scenes of tournament preparation and bring back ideas that may help with the operation at HP. Recently, Alex Lambert Ohio International Intern at HP had the opportunity to Volunteer at the US Senior Open at Scioto Country Club below is an account of his experience.....

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My first golf tournament experience and what a great place to start, volunteering at the US senior open held at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. The week started with anevening meeting with the grounds superintendent Bob Becker, all the staff of Scioto and the volunteers. Everyone received their jobs for the week and out we went for the first evening shift.

I was assigned to mow greens everyday, morning and evening, which was an important job and one that had to have a lot of due care and attention. The week progressed and the course was in prime condition, exactly how the USGA (United States Golf Association) wanted it to be, a hard and challenging course. Volunteering at Scioto gave me a real insight into the amount of work, planning and effort that goes into putting on these huge tournaments. Countless hours of hard work for weeks on end leading up to the tournament.

Tournaments create a pool of volunteers from all backgrounds with varieties of experience. Which makes for great networking opportunities, a huge part of the green keeping business. Whilst my time at Scioto was only a week, I became part of their team and together we put out an amazing course for the world to see.

An experience I will never forget!

 

 

Nice Work Alex!


Congrats to Bob Becker and his team at Scioto for a successful tournament!


Thank-you!

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Summer is in full swing!

With one of the the more humid and challenging summer seasons for Turfgrass management in the Ohio Valley coming to an end, the Grounds staff and I continue to move forward with many iniatives for the fall season on the Grounds at Hyde Park.

Currently we are engaged in the following practices that will help enhance the turf now and next season:

Inner Seeding of Tall Fescue in select areas of the rough that were impacted by Summer Patch. This is an ideal time to complete this process because Fescue has a competitive advantage right now over Annual Bluegrass with the warmer temperatures.

The process includes slit seeding, aerifcation and drop seeding. Please do not operate carts in areas that are roped off

The Fescue will take about 7 days to begin to germinate!

Aerification of the putting surfaces will begin August 22nd pending soil and weather conditions. Aerification is one of the most important practices that helps with the long term health of the turfgrass stand. Generally, the putting surfaces take about 10-14 days to heal completely from this process.

As always, we appreciate you're feedback and comments concerning the grounds at HP. If there are any questions we can be reached at grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent