Western Hills Country Club Grounds: November 2018

Mother Nature has not been our friend in 2018! January started out with -12⁰ F and most of the month was well below freezing. We then had the coldest April in Cincinnati, followed by the hottest May on record. The summer was extremely wet, hot, and humid causing us to increase our spraying, significantly, to decrease disease presence on the turf. The fall started out dry with 90⁰ degree temperatures and now, in mid November, we have had a major ice storm that has done significant damage to many of the trees. Before this ice storm took center stage, we were in full swing with our fall operation. Some of those projects included:

- Late fall fertilization of greens, tees, and fairways

- Tree pruning of dead/lower limbs with the help of Steve at bucket truck services

- The removal of the summer annuals

- The planting of 5000 tulip bulbs

- Rolling and mowing of the new sod on 13 green

- Leaf cleanup (blowing/chopping of fallen leaves throughout the course)

Unfortunately, we had to reschedule the aeration of the fairways until the spring because of the winter weather that has descended upon the city. In the short term, our focus will be solely on course cleanup so we can get the golf course open as soon as possible. During December, we will be blowing out the irrigation system, starting the winter maintenance on all of our equipment, beginning to take down dead/dying trees, and pruning out low limbs. Thank you for your patience as we deal with Mother Nature's latest curve ball, and I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!