Western Hills Country Club Grounds: 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.