Friday, February 16, 2024

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


Monday, December 18, 2023

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









Saturday, November 18, 2023

November Improvements

Pleasant, dry weather has been the pattern for much of the fall season. There have been some timely rainfall events, but overall we are still in a dry weather pattern. This has allowed the golf course to play firm and fast for much of October and November. In addition the dry conditions have enabled some fall time improvement projects to be completed.

Tee Leveling

The topography of some of the WHCC tee boxes has been a topic of discussion lately. Tees become unlevel because of over use in the center and the subsequent filling of divots with too much sand. Overtime the tees begin to crown and become bumpy. Typically this occurs more on par 3 tees because of the amount of divots caused by the use of iron shots (click here for more information on the reasons for tee leveling from the USGA).  Once the tee becomes unlevel the only way to fix the issue is by stripping the entire surface and leveling out the soil underneath. Before the driving range renovation we were leveling 3-5 tees per year. With the completion of the driving range projects, the grounds department was able to get back to this procedure and level 4 tees this year. 

In conjunction with the Green Committee 4 tees were chosen for leveling based on golfer's input and budgetary constraints. For fairness, one of each tee color was chosen. The tees included, #3 black tee, #5 black/blue tee, #12 white tee, and #17 green tee. Golf Construction Associates was the contractor used for this project, and to keep the cost down, most of the labor was completed in house.

Tee leveling is a long and labor intensive process. It begins by stripping the sod and surrounding grass. Then mix is added and the tee reshaped. After the tee is level new sod is put back on. Finally, the process of topdressing, rolling, watering and mowing begins. If the tees are leveled in late summer/early fall the sod will root in much quicker; however, because of the golf schedule and the contractor's availability, we leveled in mid November and it will take the sod until sometime in the spring before the grass will be ready for iron shots. 

Moving forward, understand that we move tee markers to spread out wear patterns. This will help to keep tees level by forcing shots to be hit from different locations on the tees- not just in the same areas in the tee's center. Also, we will begin to increase some cultural practices, such as more frequent topdressing, as time allows to try and keep the tees level for as long as possible. In addition, the agronomy team will continue to work with the Green Committee to level the most problematic tees annually.

Stripping the bentgrass sod on #5 tee

Removing the old sod. We remove and discard the sod because it is difficult to line up our manual sod cutter to the exact depth. The sod producer has bigger and more precise equipment to make sure the sod is cut even, therefore, eliminating a bumpy installation. Also, once the sod is stripped it can only survive for a couple days without being laid open on a surface. In order to work ahead of the contractor it was easier to strip sod on some of the tees the previous week to help speed up the process. Finally, when the cost of time and labor are factored in, purchasing the sod becomes the cheaper option. 

Stripping the sod on #3 black tee. We were able to save most of this sod to replenish/expand our fairway/tee nursery.

Stripping #17 green tee

Adding 7-2-1 mix to #5 tee.

The contractor leveling #5 blue/black tee.

Adding mix to #12 white tee

Bentgrass and fescue sod arriving.

Positioning the sod to the specific tee.

Laying the sod on #3 black tee.

Laying the sod on #5 tee.

The white tee on #12 was pointing towards the trees to the left of the hole. The contractor repositioned the tee to point to the left side of #12 green.

  
Finished product on #5 tee. Now the process of getting the sod to root in begins.

New Landscaping

The red oak by the fountain was removed in late October along with the row of taxus bushes located behind the oak. Immediately after, the horticulture team began working on a new landscape design. Flowering ivory silk lilac trees were chosen for replacement trees. These trees will mature to a much smaller size than the red oak-only getting around 20 feet tall. They are spaced in the front and back of the bed to create some depth. Also, incrediball hydrangeas and feather reed grass were chosen as foundation plantings. Pockets were left throughout the landscape bed for tulips and summer annual displays. This bed should reach its blooming peak in early summer with the lilac trees, hydrangeas, and summer annuals all in bloom at the same time. The removal of the old landscaping opens up the view of the front clubhouse and fountain areas. This gives a much cleaner, open look for patrons entering the parking lot. Hopefully, along with the fountain, rose garden, and new honor garden, this will invite members into the fountain area during the warmer months to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

The declining red oak that was removed from this landscape bed. Its declining health was beginning to drop dead limbs and debris onto the parking lot at a more frequent rate.

Removing the taxus bushes

Planting an ivory silk lilac tree.

Finished product. The clubhouse front entrance and fountain are now viewable from the parking lot.

Planting for depth perception in this large landscape bed.

Fall Maintenance

Aeration of the fairways and rough were completed in October. The deep tine aeration of the fairways has helped to create healthier and deeper bentgrass roots. Also, the fairways and rough have been fertilized for their late fall nutrient applications. Next up will be verticutting of the fairways which may take place in either late fall or late winter.

Leaves are falling like rain around the WHCC grounds. The grounds crew is trying to keep up with blowing and chopping, but there are many windy days where the leaves win the battle. It can be frustrating when a significant amount of time is spent clearing a surface only to look back and see the area completely covered back up with leaves again! All surfaces are blown off at least once a day (sometimes two or three times) and chopped up in the rough areas. This is always a long process because of the amount of large oak trees that live on the property. Oak trees tend to hold on to their leaves longer than other tree genres, consequently, leading to prolonged leaf cleanup-usually lasting into early January.

Irrigation leaks are always popping up in random areas. Two have been fixed in the last week, one on #11 tee and another on #2 fairway. The irrigation system will be blown out for the winter in early December.

As we head into the winter months the grounds crew will begin to transition away from daily course maintenance into more tree work, leaf removal, horticulture tasks, drainage projects and equipment maintenance. In addition, the regular in season tee markers will be replaced with the winter markers (blue and white ball markers). These tee markers will be placed on the less used forward tees to let many of the back tees heal in and to decrease the amount of winter ball marks created during the off season. Remember any divot made during the winter months will not start to heal until warmer temperatures and longer spring time days begin to take place. Moreover, this is the same reason why the driving range tees are on mats only beginning in early November and lasting until April 1st. We ask that everyone tee off where the winter markers are placed and use the driving range mats for the winter months. In the meantime we are thankful for another productive season on the WHCC grounds and we wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving!

This is the goal of deep tine aeration-deep roots! These roots are around 8" deep. Deeper roots will be better able to withstand drought and heat stress.

Leaves, leaves, and more leaves!

A typical sight in the fall months, a fairway covered in oak leaves.

An irrigation leak being fixed in the middle of #2 fairway.


Brad Piecuch
Grounds Superintendent