Spring-time maintenance is on schedule for the Grounds Department. In early April the greens were
verticut and
topdressed (click here for more information). The following week a spray application was performed with a plant growth regulator added to suppress the
poa annua seed head growth. The greens at WHCC are composed of both bentgrass and poa annua (annual bluegrass). When annual bluegrass begins growth after dormancy it puts on a flush of seed heads, and this tends to slow down green speed dramatically for about a month. This year with the early PGR application we were able to suppress some of the seed head growth and, consequently, the green speeds have been improved. In 2019 for the month of April we averaged a green speed of 9.85. So far this year the April stimpmeter has averaged 10.64. The recent colder temperatures are a contributing factor, but we are very pleased with the early green speed results and will continue to monitor moving forward. Also, we have fertilized with a 10-2-10 granular fertilizer to give the greens a good shot of nitrogen before the summer stress sets in. An important date on the horizon is May 4th. This is when the greens, if the weather cooperates, are scheduled for deep tine aerification.
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| Verticutting on the putting green |
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| Poa annua seed heads showing up in an approach |
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| #17 green topdressed |
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#7 green after a low of 23 degrees
#3 green a week later after granular fertilization and warmer temperatures. The greens are greening up!
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The spring fertilization/pre-emergent crabgrass application is nearing completion. 14,000 pounds of fertilizer with dimension have been applied to the rough areas. This will thicken and green up the rough in the near future and should keep crabgrass from germinating for at least 3 months. In addition, the fertilizer and crabgrass control has been applied to the tees and fairways.
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| Michael Westendorf applying a 13-0-0 fertilizer with dimension in the rough |
The Grounds Department, in conjunction with the golf professionals, continue to fine tune how to best limit a golfer's potential exposure to the coronavirus pathogen. We started out with raised cups on all the greens; however, after many golfers began signing up for their PGA tour card because of significantly lower scores, we decided to use cut off pool noodles instead. This will allow the golf ball to fall into the hole and be accessible for picking up without touching the inside of the cup or flagstick. This is making golf more realistic than before.
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| Pool noodle in putting green cup |
The Landscape Department (lead by our new Horticulturist Kyle Brater) is hard at work edging, cleaning out and mulching all the landscape beds around the clubhouse and on the golf course. A native wildflower/perennial garden has been created by #13 tee. All the plants in this bed are herbaceous perennials-meaning they die down to the ground every winter. They are small right now but will continue to grow as the temperature warms. The excavated sod from this area was used throughout the course to fill in ruts and bare areas adjacent to some cart paths.
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New perennial garden #13 tee and behind #12 green
#3 landscape bed before edging, cleanup and mulching
After
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| Azalea flowers giving an Augusta like feel in landscape bed behind #3 green |
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| Pine straw added to the bed behind #14 tee and #17 green |
Mother Nature helped the spring flower show this year. Early April was well above normal pushing the tulips and tree flowers into blooming. Then the temperature began to drop and the last three weeks have been well below normal. This caused the flower times to be extended for many of the plants. The tulips normally bloom for about 2 weeks, but this year we enjoyed their show for almost a month's time. Now it’s time to remove the tulips to make room for the summer annuals. If anyone wants some of these bulbs we will place them by the grounds building. Take as many as you want, we have 5,000 tulips available!
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| Tulips |
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| Service berry and daffodils blooming in #11 landscape bed |
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| Daffodils in full bloom |
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| Appalachian red redbud tree in full bloom |
Finally there have been some recent windstorms that blew through the course. In particular the storm that hit on April 8th blew over 3 trees that had to be removed and much debris picked up. All three trees were evergreens and after the cleanup their stumps had to be ground up and filled with topsoil and seed.
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| White pine blown into another white pine. |
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| Norway spruce blown over |
As the temperature continues to warm, daily maintenance will take over the majority of our time; however, there is still more projects on the horizon. We will update membership as they occur and in the meantime we hope everyone stays safe and healthy!
Brad Piecuch
Grounds Superintendent
