April Grounds Report

Early spring has produced a back and forth of extreme temperature swings. Early March was well above normal with a few days in the 70s. Then by the Ides of March, old man winter returned producing colder temperatures with some overnight lows into the low 20s. The course quickly turned into an emerald green oasis with moderate turf growth in early March, then changed into a tint of brown and little to no growth by the month's end. Currently, it looks like spring has sprung with a beautiful Easter weekend, but after heavy rain and severe storms colder temperatures may make a brief return. Regardless, April is here and the Grounds Crew has begun prepping the course for daily play.

Daily Maintenance

The first mowing of the season took place in late February and early March. The greens came out of the winter in great shape. The low spring time growth rate along with very windy conditions have lead to extremely quick green speeds for the first part of the season. The fairway and tees are recovered from the late February verticutting and some of the dormant seeding is starting to germinate. In addition, mowing of the rough, intermediate rough, flymowing, trimming, changing cups, raking bunkers, and rolling have begun. Daily maintenance will continue to take center stage as the season moves forward.

With the new season always comes new employees to train and we are in the process of training 3 new employees to start off 2024. At the end of February, Kevin Obert (mechanic) moved on to another job opportunity. We thank him for his year of service to WHCC and wish him the best. The Grounds Crew did a decent job filling in and working on the never ending mechanical maintenance until we hired our new mechanic, Corey Cook. Corey has been the lead mechanic at both Traditions Golf Club and Neuman Golf Course in the past and we look forward to his expertise in the coming 2024 season. 

Oil change on the driving range cart. Mechanical work is an essential part of keeping the golf course in great shape.

Mowing #9 green for the first time this year.

Leveled Tees

As I wrote about in the November 2023 post, last fall 4 tees were stripped and leveled. During the next four months, whenever the weather cooperated, maintenance was accomplished on these tees to help increase root and shoot growth to try and get them ready for play as soon as possible. We began by heavily topdressing them to smooth out the spaces that occurred when the sod edges were put together, then rolling to smooth out the bumpiness. Fertilization occurred twice in late fall and again in early spring to push growth. As soon as the roots grew to a 3" depth we began aerating and mowing. The tees were opened up for play on Easter weekend and I think they are a big improvement over the previous unlevel surfaces.

 Moving forward we will be moving tee markers to spread out wear patterns. This will force shots to be hit from different locations, not just in the same areas in the tee's center. Topdressing will continue during the season to keep filling in bumpy areas caused by the seams from the initial sod installation. In addition, the white tee on #12 was repositioned to aim toward #12 green and not toward #18 green. This along with the leveling should improve tee shots considerably. Keep in mind when filling in divots to only fill them to the soil line and smooth them out with your foot (click here for more information about proper divot repair). One of the reasons the tees become unlevel is because of too much sand placed in divots. Hopefully, we can keep these tees level for many years while we work on leveling other tees this fall.

Aerating #5 tee

#5 tee open for play.

Beatification Projects

The Grounds Crew has been busy with the beatification of the grounds this spring. The dying blue spruce tree located by the pool bathrooms has been removed. Also, the false cypress bushes and the saucer magnolia were taken out. A southern magnolia was inserted to replace the blue spruce tree and weigelas sonic bloom pink bushes replaced the old ones. Fire tidbit hydrangeas and artesima filled in the front part of the bed and it will continue to fill in and bloom throughout the season.

The dying taxus bushes behind #2 tee were removed and replaced with emerald green arborvitaes. The size of the landscape bed was shortened and sod was installed on the edges. These will continue to get bigger and block noise coming from #2 tee and #17 green.

The tulips are in full bloom as of this writing. Cooler temperatures will extend the blooms with warmer temperatures decreasing bloom time. On average they usually bloom for about two weeks. The tulips are flowering a week early than normal due to the above average temperatures for winter and early spring. We will see how long they last this year but visit the club soon to experience their spring time show. 

Also, some other spring annuals were planted. Pansies and hyacinths, are planted in the back patio pots and window boxes. In addition, the daffodils are blooming throughout the course and clubhouse. Right now WHCC is in full spring time bloom but by the end of April we will be getting the beds ready for the summer annuals.

Area after the blue spruce tree was removed

Magnolia grandiflora 'Edith Bogue' planted to replace the blue spruce. This particular cultivar is one of the cold hardiest out of all the southern magnolias.

The area after installation and mulch. Fire tidbit hydrangeas and artesima are in the front with sonic bloom weigelas in the back.

Area by #2 tee after the old taxus bushes were excavated.

Emerald Green arborvitaes planted.

Tulips in full bloom at the new landscape bed installed last fall.

Tulips blooming in the honor garden.

Tulips in bloom on Easter evening.

Miscellaneous Jobs

Every year when the irrigation system gets turned on many leaks begin to materialize. This year was no exception and we have fixed 7 leaks in the last month. Most of these have been pipe issues with leaks at 45° elbows and tee joints. Some of these problems have parts that are on back order. This is the reason why you may notice that some leaks have been roped off until we receive the proper replacement parts to fix them.

The sign boxes at #1 tee and #10 tee were deteriorating and needed to be replaced. Jim Hessel (former mechanic now lead rough mower) agreed to put his woodworking skills to good use and created new boxes for these areas. The new boxes are now installed and should look good for many more years.

Broken pipe by #5 green

Michael "T" Westendorf taking a nap or fixing an irrigation leak-could be either one after fixing 7 leaks so far this year.

Jim Hessel drawing the dimensions of the #1 sign box.

Installation of the new box on #10 tee.

Finished product.

This time of year always brings many wind and thunderstorms. Course cleanup (blowing off playing surfaces and picking up debris) is usually a daily occurrence during the spring season and this will proceed as long as mother nature keeps the wind blowing. Our daily maintenance routines will continue to increase as we look forward to calmer, warmer weather for the beginning of the 2024 golf season.

Brad Piecuch

Grounds Superintendent 

El Niño Winter Projects

 It has been a roller coaster ride of temperatures so far this season. This El Nino winter started with a dry and mild December, followed by a very cold stretch in January, then a decent amount of rain ushered in a mild February. After a brief cold snap, the end of this month looks very warm. However, according to Dr. Judah Cohen, Climatologist with Atmospheric and Environmental Research, there could be some colder air moving in thanks to a polar vortex split in late March. Confidence in long range forecasts are the same as flipping a coin, so we will see if this materializes.

Except for the 10 day cold stretch in January, this winter has been well above normal. One temperature trend that seems to be occurring more frequently is warm overnights. Even when the day time highs are close to normal the lows only dip down a couple degrees. There have been many days with highs in the mid 30s and lows just above freezing. Consequently, this has led to higher soil temperatures and some of the plants are already starting to bloom. According to the growing degree day tracker from Ohio State, our area already has 30 GDDs. At 34 GDDs the silver maples (the first plants to bloom in the spring) begin to flower and, right on cue, we are seeing maple trees put out flower blossoms. If this trend continues, the daffodils will soon follow and the spring time tulip display may peak earlier than expected. Another trend that seems to be occurring frequently is colder springs so we will see what kind of temperature ride is heading our way.

Beautiful sunrise on a warm winter day.

The golf course thawing after the mid January cold snap

Red maple flower buds

Verticutting

The warm winter has allowed the agronomy team to get a head start on some important spring projects. Verticutting fairways has been completed about a month earlier than usual. This practice was implemented in 2021 with a Weidenmann Triple V verticutting unit that has helped decrease the thatch layer and reduce compaction in the fairways. Verticutting consists of vertical rotating blades, which penetrate the surface at a depth up to 1".  A significant amount of organic matter is brought up and picked up with a TC-125 John Deere sweeper. This procedure will help with the health of the fairway turf and create firmer conditions during the golf season. Tees were also completed.  

Verticutting # 1 fairway with the weidenmann triple v.

Emptying out the thatch picked up from the John Deere TC-125

Verticutting tees

#4 tee after verticutting

 Driving Range

Some questions have emerged about the driving range rotation/policy. Some of the most frequently asked questions are as follows:

When will the driving range grass open for the season?

The practice tees will open on April 1st starting on the north tees, switching to the south tee in mid May and moving back to the north tees after Labor Day. After November 1st the grass on the practice tee is closed and it is mats only. 

Why can't we use the grass during warm days in the winter?

As the temperatures cool the healing time takes longer. In the winter, germination has ceased and the grass' growth has either shut down or slowed down considerably. Consequently, divots that are made after November 1st will not fully heal until growth begins again in April. Beating up the range in the winter will only lead to poor spring time conditions and will inevitably create poor practice tees for the following golf season.

Why are we still hitting on the mats when the grass is open?

The rotation of the practice tees is 5 days on the grass and 2 on the mats. We need to utilize the mats twice a week because the tees are under sized. Typically, an 18 hole course will have close to 2 acres of turf. Combining all the new WHCC practice tee areas we are still just under an acre. To keep the turf in decent shape, so there is still some green grass to hit off of, we need to use the mats twice a week and allow divots to heal (healing takes around 3 weeks during the warm summer months). One of the mat days is always on Mondays and the second day is rotated between Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so golfers are always hitting off the grass on weekends during decent weather.

Remember to use the linear divot pattern on the practice tees. This pattern will heal faster than any other divot.

Lakes

An often overlooked part of our job is maintaining the lakes located on the property. Both lakes have aeration systems, The lake on #7 has a surface aerator and the #14 pond has a subsurface (bubbler) aerator. There are pros and cons to both systems. The surface fountain will oxygenate the water in the first couple feet of the water's surface and a bubbler will oxygenate the entire water column. Because #7 lake is larger and shallower a 2 hp surface aerator was chosen and since #14 pond is much smaller and deeper a bubbler was installed. 

By far the most problems we have had is with the #14 pond. Because of its location and small size it gets a lot of fertilizer runoff and organic matter buildup that leads to algae blooms. The water temperature also gets very high during the summer months helping to increase Filamentous algae, Euglenea, and Blue Green algae. To combat this we have been using chemicals to suppress its growth, but we are experimenting with other techniques to help the health of this aquatic system. Last year we began utilizing an organic product that incorporates beneficial microbes and bacteria to metabolize excess nutrients. Also, we have been removing much of the leaf debris that has accumulated along the pond's bank over the fall. This should help decrease the amount of decomposing organic material.

Moreover, the lakes will be stocked with some new fish this year. Fathead minnows will be incorporated into #7 lake to help with the food chain for the small mouth bass. When the pond on #14 was drained in 2018 for the #13 green project most of the fish perished. This year we will introduce some grass carp, bluegill and bass to control insect larvae, frog populations, and invasive plants. These new procedures should keep the lakes clean and healthy for the upcoming season.

Surface aeration on #7 lake

Removing leaves out of #14 pond

A big benefit to subsurface aeration is the ability to leave it running through the winter. Notice the pond is completely frozen except for the middle where the bubbler is keeping the center ice free. This helps to keep the pond oxygenated and the fish healthy during cold temperatures.

Horticulture/Tree Work

The dying taxus bushes behind #2 tee were removed. We will be replacing these in the next couple weeks with emerald green arborvitaes. Tree work has continued throughout the winter months and is almost completed. The USGA agronomist has finished his tree report and we are discussing with the Green Committee on how best to implement the suggestions. I will update as some of these decisions are finalized.

Taking down dying red maple by #8 fairway bunker

Removing a honey locust causing a double hazard by #9 fairway bunker.

Bushes removed behind #2 tee.

In addition the Grounds Crew has been busy with bunker work, course cleanup, and periodic mowing during this latest warm period. As we move into the early spring daily maintenance routines will take center stage and hopefully the winter projects that we completed will be noticed throughout the 2024 golf season.

Brad Piecuch

Grounds Superintendent

December Grounds Report

 Tree Work

In October, a tree assessment was conducted to identify unhealthy trees. We located around 20 trees that are in declining health. Included are a couple sweet gum trees that are dying from iron chlorosis. This occurs because of decreased iron intake due to high alkaline soils. High soil PH creates alkaline soils which is the makeup of most soils in the Cincinnati area. Chlorosis causes the sweet gum's leaves to turn yellow throughout the season and eventually leads to dead branches. This is a slow process that ultimately creates significant canopy dieback resulting in the declining health of the tree. 

Wood rot is another common malady noticed on some WHCC trees. Wood rot is caused by fungi that infect the trees through open wounds. Some of these wounds are caused by storm damage, pruning, and, most frequently on a golf course, through mower damage. Trees benefit from wide mulch rings when in a commercial or residential setting. These rings should encompass at least all of the critical root zone. Having these wide mulch rings on WHCC golf course trees is not feasible because of  their proximity to fairways, tees, and greens. Also because of the abundant amount of trees, wide mulch rings would interfere with play. Consequently, we have to grow grass up to the root flares and the subsequent mowing chops into tree roots causing an ideal pathway for fungal pathogens. The one exception is the champion overcup oak, which we have a very wide mulch ring around to protect it from mower and cart damage.

A wide mulch ring around the champion tree keeps mowers and carts off its critical root zone.

A few healthy trees made it on to the removal list. They are being removed to increase turf health and/or help with golf shots. Two ash trees-one by #12 white tee and the other by #16 fairway- are being removed because they are encroaching into fairway and tee shots. One pin oak by #4 red tee will be removed to thin out the tree canopy to allow some turf to grow in that location.

In addition, some pruning will occur. The pin oak trees to the left of #14 tee and to the right of #17 fairway are hindering fade shots into their respective locations. A balance between tree health and playability is the goal. If too many branches are removed the tree loses its ability to photosynthesize and create sugars. This will lead to the eventual death of the tree. Both of these locations need these trees to create barriers between holes to keep errant golf shots from being a safety concern. We will attempt to prune back these trees but understand that there may still be some branch encroachment in order to keep the trees healthy. 

Around 15 of the removals will be accomplished in house. We rented a chipper (with the possibility of purchasing it in the next month) to keep the debris pile down in #2 dump. This is a BC 1000XL Vermeer wood chipper. It can grind branches up to 12" in diameter. Along with the chipper a 40 ton Champion log splitter was purchased to keep large logs out of the dump area. There is a tremendous amount of  tree rubbish that accumulates over the course of the year from wind storms, dead branches, and tree removals. These two pieces of equipment will help to decrease the club's debris foot print, keeping material out of the creek that flows behind #2 dump. 

In early January, a USGA agronomist will be coming to WHCC to compose a tree report. He will look at each individual hole and make recommendations on tree removals based on turf health and golf playability. In addition, locations will be identified for future tree plantings, keeping in mind that diversifying the tree population will benefit its long term health and sustainability. I will post the report and talk more about this in future blog posts.

Cutting down a sweet gum tree by the red tee #4

Using the BC 1000XL chipper. We are chipping up debris accumulated throughout last year from wind storms and chipping up trees being removed during the winter.

Cutting down a walnut tree by #6 cart path.

Gregory Forrest Lester pruning dead limbs out of pin oaks above the south tee by #6 cart path.

Using the 40 ton log splitter.

Split firewood. Stacked by the grounds building

Future limb removal to the left of #17 tee. This should help with fade shots from #17 tee.

Future pruning cuts on #14 tee. Photo courtesy of Kevin Lester.

Bunker Work

The crew is hard at work tackling some problem bunkers that hold water. The WHCC bunkers are over 20 years old and every year we clean out the drainage in many of these that hold water after major rain events. Because of their construction, many bunkers have water and soil that contaminate the bottoms. This leads to drain tile being clogged with soil and debris causing big puddles to form in the low areas. To rectify, we take out the contaminated gravel and drain tile then replace with new drain tile, pea gravel, and sand. Ultimately, installing concrete bunker liners and reshaping many bunkers to redirect water is the best solution; however, this will be a major project and cost a significant amount of time and money. We will continue to work with the Green Committee to find the best solutions moving forward.

Cleaning out the drain tile in #8 green side bunker

Same bunker in July after a big rainstorm

Bermuda Grass

Bermuda grass is a turf species that originated in Africa. It is classified as a C4 grass plant (made up of 4 carbon atoms per molecular compound), meaning it grows best in warmer climates. Contrary to the cool season turf, or C3 species (bentgrass, fescue, bluegrass), it thrives in hot, humid weather and goes dormant (turns brown) during the winter months. In the early 2000s Bermuda grass was plugged into some southern sloped fairway areas where the bentgrass died during hot summer weather. Consequently, during 6 months out of the year these areas look and perform great; however, during the other 6 months the areas look brown. It was during the cooler seasons that complaints began to surface about the aesthetics of these fairway patches. Starting in 2020 the agronomy team began to overseed these locations in the fall with intermediate ryegrass. This grass does well in the winter months but dies out in the heat of the summer. Also, beginning this February we overseeded all the fairways with newer varieties of bentgrass. The results have been remarkable, and many of the problem Bermuda grass areas are hardly noticeable in the winter. This has allowed us to keep the Bermuda grass in these areas for its great summer performance while hiding its brown color in the winter. We will continue to utilize this procedure and hopefully it persists to produce good winter coverage.

The very noticeable Bermuda grass patch in the winter of 2019 on #15 fairway

Same patch in 2020 after the first year of winter overseeding

The same patch this year (2023) after overseeding with intermediate ryegrass in October and overseeding with bentgrass last February.

Bermuda grass patch on #11 fairway in 2019.

Same area on #11 in 2020 after first year of overseeding.

A different look of this area in 2019.

This area in December 2023

Bermuda grass patch #11 in December 2023.

So far, December temperatures have been well above normal. This has allowed us to continue to work on leaf removal. This will persist until mid January, when the pin oaks finally drop all of their leaves. As we move further into the winter months the grounds crew will continue to work on tree removal, bunkers, staff recruitment for 2024, equipment maintenance, and snow/ice removal. Of course, we are still busy maintaining the golf course especially during warm periods with high golf rounds (click here for a previous blog post on winter work). According to the long range forecasts, it looks like some colder winter weather could be in store for January. In the meantime, the agronomy team wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Brad Piecuch

Grounds Superintendent