Drainage, Aerfication and the PGA Championship

The summer is winding down at HP but the Grounds Staff is busy preparing the course for the final events and the winter months. The staff and I are focused on the following:

• Deep tine aeration of the fairways and second cultivation on new sod to relieve compaction. Added labor, sand and fertilizer have helped recovery of these areas.

• Shade and poor drainage on the 11th fairway, the addition of drainage will help with growing healthier Turfgrass. Shade is still an issue on the 11th, 9th and 18th fairways and need to be addressed

• Mystery spots have returned to the greens, staff has removed about 80-3" spots on 10 greens. The spots are concentrated so far on older bentgrass varieties. Multiple labs and University Extension agents over 3 years have not been able to identify the cause of this decline.

• Summer Cultivation of the putting surfaces will begin in the evening of August 18th and will continue through Wednesday pending weather. The choice to aerify in August allows for faster healing, promotes bentgrass over Poa and allows for less disruption of fall golf. Healing time last season was roughly 10 days. In late October, deep tine aeration of the greens will occur.

• The benefits of the added drainage have been well noted this season especially on holes 3, 5, 14 and 15. To date, there are 8 greens with drainage. The drainage in these near 100 year old surfaces has helped with reducing Poa, promoting bentgrass and increased consistent playability. The goal is to complete all drainage on the remaining greens to improve consistency from green to green to avoid this:

PGA Championship 2014: Greg Nickerson Ast. Grounds Superintendent

5 members of the staff including: Pat, Dan and interns Chris and Max and I had the opportunity to volunteer at Valhalla for the PGA Championship

We were there to do whatever tasks were required of us. The primary duty for Pat was monitoring and reporting of green speeds to adjust maintenance practices in order to achieve desired conditions. The rest of us split the week and our primary task was mowing of practice greens and greens on the course as needed.

Many of these tasks took place in the dark conditions of early morning and late evening.Due to wet conditions, we were also tasked with removing water from playing surfaces and restoring the course to playable conditions.

This opportunity was a great learning experience for all, and was very exciting. It is something we will all remember for a long time. The scale of such an event is bigger than can be imagined, and needs to be experienced first hand to truly comprehend. Thank you to Roger Meier, Golf Course Superintendent of Valhalla Golf Club and his entire staff for allowing us this great opportunity.

This picture includes most (but not all) of the Grounds Staff of Valhalla Golf Club and volunteers who worked the golf course for the 96th PGA Championship.

 

If there are any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Regards,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

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Summer is here at Hyde Park!

The grounds of Hyde Park are buzzing with activity, the Grounds staff and I are engaged with many projects and daily maintenance. A couple key projects that continue to move forward are:

• Last of the zoysia plugs and sod in weak areas will be compete this week. All of the sod requires a little more attention; added water, sand and fertilizer to enhance the playability
• The fan located near the 3rd green has been placed and is operational. The fan will remain mounted all year round and covered during the winter months.

 

Great job by staff!

High rough renovation on 4 hillside will begin with multiple applications of Round-up followed by seeding of fine fescues right of the forward tee on 4. We will begin to renovate other areas of the course, in time for an early August seeding.

4 hillside- invasive weeds in background

As the summer progresses areas of the rough will thin due to tree root competition, traffic and poorly drained areas. These areas are composed of annual bluegrass (Poa annua) we will continue to work to reduce Poa and continue to innerseed desired species of tall fescue. Along the same lines as the above mentioned the Poa on the greens is becoming stressed allowing bentgrass to out compete this weed. Yellowing of Poa can be noted in some areas. In order to enhance, the putting surfaces during stress periods the greens are periodically vented, leaving small holes on the surface that are smoothed over with a couple rollings.

Drought stress Poa turf under trees

Plugs of bentgrass integrated into 7 green

Venting before rolling....

After Rolling!

We would also like to thank everyone that was able to attend Les's wine tasting/ Proshop and Grounds open house. It was a fun event, with a lot of great questions concerning operations and equipment, our staff had a great time!

Wine tasting!

If you have any questions or feedback please send us an email, or ask us on the course. For more information on course conditions or projects please follow us on twitter @pobrienhpgcc.

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

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