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

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

Early Fall Maintenance Report

 As we head into the fall months, the golf course is starting to recover, after a nice soaking late September rain, from yet another abnormally dry period. In the past year we had a severe drought in September and October of 2022, a very dry period from late May into June, and recently another dry spell with the golf course going over a month with very little precipitation. In meteorology patterns are your friend, and it definitely seems that less rain and drought periods are becoming common. Looking forward another dry week is forecast, and hopefully late October will usher in a season change and produce a typical late fall pattern of increased rainfall.

Aeration

The dry weather has helped the grounds department complete some fall aeration. The greens were aerated on September 5th and the crew battled the very hot conditions and completed it in one day. We have received many questions as to why some aeration holes were bigger than others. In order to complete the core aeration process we needed to use all of the aerators in the fleet. Two of the walk behind aerators are old Jacobson aerators that pull plugs at a tighter spacing but require the use of smaller tines. The John Deere aerator goes much faster and uses bigger tines. Consequently, the Jacobson units used 1/4" tines (the biggest they can handle) and the John Deere aerator used 1/2" tines (the smallest recommended for this unit). All three were utilized in order to aerate the greens in one day. 

Also, another common question was why the holes were not filled completely with sand. Again the time constraint was an issue. We simply do not have enough time in one day to completely fill in the holes. The typical greens aeration procedure starts with pulling the cups, then marking heads, aerating the greens, blowing the core plugs onto the collars, picking up the cores, topdressing with sand, dragging the sand in with a broom mat, watering, fertilizing, and rolling. This is a long process and to get the holes completely filled with sand we need more workers and time to either blow or push the sand into the aeration holes. In addition, the smallest tine size that can be completely filled in with sand is a 1/2". As previously stated only one of the aerator units is equipped to aerate with this size of a tine. Ultimately, core aerating with 1/2" tines and filling them with sand is better for the turf agronomically and will help to heal the putting surfaces quicker leading to better post aeration playing conditions.

Currently the putting greens are fully recovered and rolling at the same speed as they were pre-aeration. The turf over the aeration holes is much greener than the surrounding grass and will be noticed for some time. This is a great example as to why aeration is so beneficial. The green aeration holes are pointing to the fact that the increased oxygen, drainage, and reduced organic matter are improving the conditions over those holes (click here for a USGA article on healed aeration holes and putting conditions). Looking ahead we will be examining possible solutions to improving this practice to help speed up recovery and help increase the agronomic benefits of the procedure.

In addition, aeration has started on other playing surfaces. Aeration of the tees has begun and is taking place when time allows. The fairways will be deep tine solid aerated on October 5th; however, the approaches will be core aerated to utilize lighter equipment around the greens. The south tee has been aerated and rough aeration will occur after tees and fairways. Also, a reminder in early November the driving range will be set up for mats only to let the turf recover from the season-more on this on a later post.

Aeration of the greens begins at 5:00 AM with lights.

Blowing off cores on #5 green.

Cores on #11 green. Photo courtesy of Josh Ward.

Topdressing after aerification. 6 cuft/1,000 sqft was used-around 25 tons of sand total. In order to fill in aeration holes double this rate must be used.

Cores picked up after aeration. Estimating this is around 30-40 tons of  cores.

#12 green took a bit longer to recover due to its location, soil profile type, and using the 1/2" tines.

Aerating the south practice tee.

 

Tree Roots

Late summer and early fall are the perfect times of year to see the negative impacts trees have on turf. The depleted water table along with the hot temperatures and high humidity force the trees and turf to compete for available moisture. Most of the time the big tree roots win the battle and this produces a noticeable brown ring around many of the pin oaks and other large trees on the property.

Earlier this year, I put together some numbers to quantify how much water these large trees are using up during the summer season. Using a formula based on tree canopy width, it is estimated that around 30% of the water from irrigation or rainfall is being utilized by tree roots. The champion overcup oak alone uses around 600 gallons a day. This equates to about an inch of water needed per week to maintain its health and vigor. Of course this is the biggest tree on the property; however, there are many large pin oaks located throughout the grounds and with their root systems stretching under the turf around the entire golf course the enormous amount of water needed for both to survive comes into focus. 

When the cost of watering, pruning, storm cleanup, fall leaf cleanup, tree removals, daily blowing off debris on playing surfaces and over seeding under tree canopies comes together it represents a hefty part of the grounds budget. In addition a healthy urban canopy should only be around 10% of a particular tree genre on a given property. This means that there should only be 10% maples, or 10% oaks on the course. Currently, we have 40-50% of the country club's tree canopy comprised of pin oaks. We have seen in the past, with diseases like Dutch elm disease, and insects like the emerald ash borer what having too many of one kind of tree can do to a property. Currently, there has been some concern with oak wilt showing up around the tri state and we are monitoring the club property for this particular disease. It mainly affects oaks in the red oak family (this includes pin oaks) but it also can infest other families of oaks.  An outbreak could be devastating to say the least.  

As the trees continue to increase in size I believe a conversation needs to be had about removing some of the trees, especially in high priority turf areas, for the overall health of the trees/turf on the property and to ensure the grounds budget is utilized properly.

Pin oak by #13 green tee. Notice the brown turf under the tree's critical root zone. Every year this becomes noticeable in late summer/early fall.

Ash tree sucking up moisture on #3 blue tee.

Pin oaks depleting moisture on the right of #16 fairway.

Benefits of Maintenance

Dr. Bill Kreuser wrote an interesting article a few years ago about the importance golf course maintenance (click here for the blog post). In the article he discuses how increased maintenance practices affected the Jim Ager Memorial Golf Course-a nine hole public course located in Nebraska. At the end of 2014 little to no maintenance had been performed over many years at the detriment to the golf course. Agronomic practices such as sand topdressing and aeration were eliminated, because of finances and inconvenience to the golf schedule, which greatly reduced the quality of the putting surfaces allowing high amounts of moss, algae, thatch, and soil hydrophobicity. Diseases such as pythium root rot and anthracnose became common and killed many areas of turf. With decreased rounds and deteriorating playing conditions the leadership decided to invest more time and money into golf course maintenance. A five year plan was agreed upon and basic agronomic practices were implemented. Topdressing of the putting surfaces, plant growth regulator applications, aeration, verticutting, and smart fungicide and fertilizer applications were executed. After 5 years the results were astounding. The rounds increased from 12,000 to 22,600 annually, revenue expanded substantially, the green's speed and firmness increased, and most importantly golfer's playing experience was enhanced.

This article outlined, clearly, the benefits of having and being able to implement a sound maintenance program. Over the last couple years the Green Committee has helped to make this more of a priority for the WHCC golf course with good results. Recently we have received a couple questions as to why the club is closed until later on Mondays or why some Tuesdays mornings after outings are blocked off for maintenance. In short, the grounds crew needs this time in order to implement agronomic practices that will help the playability and condition of the WHCC golf course. Topdressing, spraying, aerating, verticutting, etc.., are very important and as Bill Kreuser's article describes, are necessary practices. It is impossible to accomplish these cultural practices with shotgun starts or early tee times. We hope everyone understands the importance of these procedures and helps to keep time in the golf calendar for much needed maintenance.

Horticulture/Projects

The summer annuals performed well this year. Some annuals such as petunias and marigolds fell victim to phytophthora root rot and needed to be replaced. Fall annuals are beginning to dot the landscape with peppers, mums, and kale making an appearance in some of the pots and landscape beds. The weather right now is still warm, but shortly the cooler temperatures will prevail and these annuals can tolerate the cooler weather better than the summer flowers. October is a good month to take in the full grown annual display before the cold November nights bring about its demise.

The red oak tree in the landscape bed by the fountain is scheduled to be removed on October 30th. This tree has outgrown its location and is in decline due to the limited root space that location provides. It also drops much debris into the fountain and parking lot area. After removal, a new design will take its place including flowering shrubs, bulbs, and annuals. It should open this space up and provide a new updated look for the fountain club yard.

Other landscape projects are being discussed with the Green Committee such as adding landscaping to the right of #12 tee and replacing the taxus bushes behind #17 green and #2 tee. I will update upon approval.

On the horizon tee leveling is set to take place in late October. The exact tees to be leveled are still being worked out.

 A tree assessment will be completed in early October to determine the health of the existing trees and the removal of diseased/dying trees. Once approved this will be completed during the winter months.

Mums being planted by the front entrance.

White mums planted to replace bubble gum petunias that succumbed to phytophthora root rot.

Declining red oak by the fountain scheduled to be removed. If you zoom in the declining canopy becomes evident. It could be saved with expensive treatments and pruning; however, due to its limited root capacity and its location it is recommended for removal.

Fall is a busy time for the grounds department. Overall, barring any unforeseen setback, we feel the golf course has emerged from the hot summer months in good shape. The fall maintenance, along with fall fertilization, will help the turf fully recover from the high volume of rounds and hot temperatures. Also, this will help the turf survive the cold winter season and aid in good spring time recovery. Thanks for your patience as we strive to implement procedures that will greatly improve conditions leading to better play and happier golfers.

Brad Piecuch

Grounds Superintendent