November Grounds Report

Turf Recovery

At the end of July after the heat wave monsoons, we put together a short and long term plan to try and help heal the course. As of this writing, in mid November, it looks like the short term goals have been achieved. Most of the golf course fairways are healed with the majority of the recovery taking place in late August and early September. Slit seeding, an organic fertilizer application, the right combination of plant protectant sprays, and a much needed reprieve from the severe summer time weather combined to accelerate fairway recovery. A few stubborn patches are taking a bit longer to recover. And hopefully, between the slow winter time growth and another round of slit seeding in the spring, we should be able to get the fairways back to 100% recovered by next golf season.

Slit seeding #1 with the Vredo slit seeder. This is the second seeding for this area trying to get full recovery in the stubborn bare patches.

Slit seeding #7 fairway valley

Bentgrass growing in on the beginning of #9 fairway in September

The same area in late October. Fully healed.

 

Drone footage from Josh Ward on August 3rd.

The same area on October 3rd. This really highlights the amount of recovery that took place. And the high amount of shade the pin oaks cast onto the fairways especially later in the season.

#4 hillside on August 3rd. This is an area where drainage will be installed.

Same area on October 3rd.

Same area #4 in late July.

Beginning of #4 fairway early November

#18 swale by the green after the July weather conditions.

Same area on #18 in early November. Fully healed.

Long Term Plan

This summer season highlighted the golf course’s weaknesses and the areas that need improvement. The first is fairway drainage. As I wrote about in a previous post, the majority of turf decline happened because of the consistent significant rainfalls that occurred 8 straight days in the middle of July along with record high overnight temperatures. Although the unusual weather pattern was the primary culprit, the lack of drainage, especially in the fairway valleys, was a contributing factor. After discussions within the Green Committee, we decided to try and tackle the worst draining fairway areas this year. Luckily, Golf Preservations was in town working on another Country Club's renovation project and was available for one more project before they pack it in for the winter. The areas chosen for new drainage are #4 hillside, #6 valley, #7 valley, #11 right side, and #15 valley. Golf Preservations specializes in golf course drainage and has done work here in the past (click here for their previous work at WHCC). Time and budget constraints are the limiting factors on how much drainage gets accomplished this year, but any amount of fairway drainage added will help especially if mother nature decides to hit us with another round of heat wave monsoons next summer.

Golf Preservations starting the drainage project on #4.

The abundant amount of trees causing a significant amount of shade and root competition is the second factor that needs improvement. I have highlighted the negative impacts trees have on golf courses many times (click here for a previous post) and the regional USGA agronomist wrote a tree report in early 2024 about the WHCC tree population (click here for the report). In summary, the more shade cast on turfgrass the less healthy and dense the plants become. Also, shade along with inadequate drainage produce much more of the undesirable turfgrass species poa annua. The best solutions are to decrease the tree population especially close to fairways, tees, and greens and replanting better tree species in appropriate areas further away from the main playing surfaces. This winter we will be working on removing the trees on holes 1-4 that the USGA agronomist recommended in his tree report.

Tree company taking down the tree left of #16 green. This will help open up the hole and increase the turf health on #16 green.

Chipping up tree limbs accumulated during the last month at #2 dump.

Cutting down a tree overhanging #11 fairway from #11 tee.

Planting a Red Pointe maple right of hole #2. This, along with two Kentucky coffee trees, will help fill in that area when the pin oaks are removed close to the fairway.

Seeding the trees removed #16

Filling in stump holes

Filling in stump holes

Sodding an area that got damaged from #16 tree removals

Seeding the right side of #16 

The final factor in the long term plan is decreasing the organic matter content in the fairways (click here for a previous post on O.M.). We have made significant improvements in decreasing fairway O.M. in recent years; however, more needs to be accomplished. Again we are limited on time and the membership's ability to tolerate the results of some of the more intensive procedures. This fall the fairways have been deep solid tine aerated and all approaches have been core aerated. Last March all the fairways were verticut (click here for the blog post) and we will continue to implement this practice next spring. In addition, we will be discussing with the Green Committee about possibly core aerating the fairways next fall. We have implemented this procedure in the past and it definitely is not a fan favorite but it is one of the best practices to decrease organic matter.

Core aeration that took place back in 2020. This important organic matter reducing practice was replaced with verticutting the next year because of the mud and debris that golfers contend with after aerification.

Verticutting #18 last March

Solid deep tine aeration on the fairways on November 3rd. This is a less invasive, but important practice, that helps increase the depth of turf roots but is less helpful in decreasing organic matter.

In addition we are adjusting our spray products to help give the turf a better chance of fighting the summer time diseases. Fairway plant protectant sprays are an integral part of the bentgrass fairway health; however, whenever the golf course experiences many days of consistent rainfall it is hard to get these products dried and absorbed into the plants.

All these improvements should help to mitigate turf loss in the event of another summer time weather catastrophe, but even with all the enhancements Mother Nature has the most important and final say on the conditions. At the very least, improving the turf's growing environment will put WHCC in the category of "better than most" and position the club to be a more desirable course to play in the summer.

Bermuda Grass

Recently, there has been some questions as to why there are more "dead brown patches" on the fairways this October and November. Simply put, the brown patches are dormant Bermuda grass areas. Bermuda grass is a creeping warm season grass that is used for lawns, ballfields, and golf courses in the southern U.S. It thrives in the hot and humid summer months, but turns brown once the average air temperatures consistently drop below 50 degrees. It is not "dead" but dormant and will green up again once temperatures rise in the late spring.

Bermuda grass is increasing in popularity in the transition zone area. With many clubs in the tri-state installing warm season grasses such as Bermuda grass and zoysia grass on their fairways and practice tees. Here at WHCC in the early 2000s into the 2010s, Bermuda grass was plugged into many fairway areas that struggled to survive during the hot and humid Cincinnati summers. The plugs were taken from an original patch of Bermuda grass that was probably installed sometime in the 1970s or early 1980s on #11 fairway hillside. There is some debate as to if it is regular common Bermuda or some kind of hybrid. Common Bermuda, sometimes referred to as a weed, has a lighter green color, is a very aggressive creeping grass, and produces a heavy amount of seeds in July. The WHCC fairway Bermuda grass patches have a darker, more compact growth habit, and does not produce as many seed heads, which identifies more closely to a hybrid variety. The cold hardy varieties of 'Midiron' and 'U-3' were the most widely used hybrids during that time period and there is a good chance the WHCC Bermuda grass is one of these early varieties. 

Furthermore, the extremely hot and wet summer we just experienced was a perfect environment for Bermuda grass to grow and thrive. While many of the bentgrass fairways were struggling, the Bermuda grass patches took off and grew over top and into the bentgrass areas. Consequently, the Bermuda grass areas became denser chocking out the struggling bentgrass. Once the temperatures cooled the dormant brown Bermuda patches really popped displaying a fully brown area with little to no bentgrass mixed in. Since we knew this was going to be an issue, we interseeded all the Bermuda grass areas in late September/early October with a bentgrass/intermediate ryegrass mix. At first the patches were very noticeable; however, germination is beginning to increase the amount of cool-season turf and the patches are starting to fade into more of a green color. 

Previous summers have not been as hot and wet which allowed the bentgrass/Bermuda combination to mix well providing the best of both cultivars during the winter and summer months. Hopefully, this summer season was an anomaly and the mix will continue to operate well in the WHCC fairways. However, this is an ongoing conversation we continue to have at Green Committee meetings. It is a complicated issue with many variables, but until we get the tree population and drainage issues resolved it is futile to begin transitioning the fairway grass to one specific turf cultivar.

Bermuda grass mixed with bentgrass. The overseeding that took place early this fall is starting to help blend in the two areas.

Other Projects

Robotic mowers are gaining in popularity and WHCC will be increasing the robot fleet next season. All of the driving range will be mowed with autonomous mowers hopefully starting this spring. Right now we are working with an electrician to get electricity ran out to the driving range area. Once the electric is installed, 4 more mowers will be added to the existing robotic mower to mow all of the range floor, surrounds, and tee tops on the driving range. The ultimate goal is to not only mow the range with robotic mowers, but also eventually add in a robotic picker making the entire range system autonomous.

Leaves are falling like rain around the WHCC grounds and the grounds crew is trying to keep up with blowing and chopping.  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 genera, consequently, leading to prolonged leaf cleanup, usually lasting into early January.

Tim Ruhe and his horticulture team have been hard at work removing all the summer annuals and planting all the tulip bulbs. Around 5,000 tulips are planted around the clubhouse and pro shop. In addition they are cutting back perennials, pruning and mulching the roses, draining and covering the fountain, and cutting back the ornamental grasses. The horticulture work is an important part of the WHCC experience and they have done a great job maintaining the beautiful flowers for the membership to enjoy. 

Leaf pile between 15/16.

Planting tulip bulbs

Why can't we use the grass during warm days in the winter?

I have received some questions as to why the grass on the driving range is closed during the winter. Foremost, the practice tees are beat up from a full season of abuse and need the off season to recover. Furthermore, as the temperatures cool the turf’s healing time takes longer. In the winter, germination has ceased and the grass' growth has either shut down or slowed down considerably requiring longer time for recovery. Consequently, divots that are made after November 1st will not fully heal until growth begins again in April. Beating up the practice tees in the winter will only lead to poor spring time conditions and will inevitably create poor practice tees for the following golf season. Also, the amount of play is significantly reduced during the winter months and maintaining all the accessories needed for grass practice shots is unnecessary. It is for these reasons that the driving range is open only on the mats during the winter months.

As we head into the winter season the grounds crew will begin to transition away from daily course maintenance into more tree work, leaf removal, bunker 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. We ask that everyone tee off where the winter tee markers are placed. Also, as Golf Preservations works their way through the drainage projects certain holes will need to closed until the drainage in those areas are completed. Once they have finished an area it will then need to be geofenced off to allow for those areas to recover.

In the meantime, we are thankful for putting the brutal 2025 summer experience further into our rear view and we wish everyone a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

Brad Piecuch

Grounds Superintendent

Recovery!

 

Growing up in the 1990s I can remember many of the losing seasons the Cincinnati Bengals endured. Since they rarely sold out, the only way to listen to the games were on the radio. After losing, Dave Lapham had the tough job of interviewing the players after another titanic struggle. After every seemingly inevitable loss, the locker room was full of dejected players who were sick and tired of the losing but showed up everyday despite getting pummeled by their opponents week after week after week.  After this summer season I can fully understand their pain.

As I wrote about in the last blog post, July was a month for the record books. According to the Wilmington Ohio regional weather summery, CVG recorded more night time temperatures above 70 degrees in one month than ever recorded in their 100 year history. Western Hills, in particular, picked up more rain than many other tristate areas with rainfall over 150% relative to normal. Here at WHCC we picked up over 7" of rain for the month of July and early August. This combined with the high temperatures and humidity really took a beating on the golf course, especially the fairways.

In early August, as I was working in yet another heat wave monsoon, I had an encounter similar to Lieutenant Dan's Bubba Gump shrimp boat experience. As I was yelling at the storm, I came to the realization that I can't control what I can't control and Mother Nature is going to do whatever she wants. The only thing I can manage is how we react. 

It was time to get down to the 4 basic principles of turfgrass management: fertilization, growing environment, mowing, and water management. Obviously water management had gotten completely out of our control, but the other principles we had some control over. We came up with a short and long term plan and began implementation: slit seeding, aeration, fertilizing, spraying, sodding, topdressing, increasing mowing heights and decreasing frequency of cut. The recovery was slow and some days we felt like every step we took forward the weather would push us two steps back. But much like the Shake and Blake offense of the 1990s we started to get some wins.

Luckily, the weather began to improve by the end of August which allowed us to get seed in the ground and germination in many of the mud pit fairway spots. After an organic fertilizer application, the areas slowly began to heal and as of this writing I believe we are about 80% recovered. Currently, just for good measure, Mother Nature has turned off the spigot completely and we are in the midst of a good ole fashion drought. However, at the dismay of the operating budget, now we are able to at least control the moisture. Currently we need to keep the fairways moist to keep pushing the seed into germination.

In addition, I contacted the USGA agronomist for a site visit and report. CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT. In summary the weather was the biggest contributor to the turf loss this season; however, there are action items we need to continue to work on including fairway drainage, decreasing trees, and decreasing organic matter. In addition, a master plan should be considered to set priorities where investments are to be made. These are solutions for the long term, but hopefully Mother Nature will continue to help us in the short term to aid in the recovery process.

Yours truly (or Lt Dan) in the middle of a heat wave monsoon!

Chris Wheeler venting the beginning of #1 fairway.

Michael T. Westendorf slit seeding #9 fairway.

Sodding an area on #18 fairway

Sodding the bottom of #15 fairway

Plugging the dead area on #6 approach

Using green dyed sand mixed with bentgrass seed, milorganite, and peat moss to hide and heal the bad spots before the member/guest tournament

7 days after slit seeding the beginning of #9 fairway

Two weeks later.

One month later

An area on #18 in July that was scorched by a heavy rain event followed by sunshine and 90+ degree temperatures. The turf was boiled.

Area after sodding.

One month later

#4 hillside after the July conditions.

Slit seeding the area in mid August

#4 area in late July

In mid August

Same area in mid-September

#7 fairway in August

Same area in mid September

Aeration

September is aeration month and the grounds crew is in the thick of the aeration schedule. The greens were solid tine aerated and verticut on September 2nd. The deep tine fairway aeration scheduled for October 3rd has been postponed to November 3rd to let the fairways heal in longer before the procedure. The hollow tine tee aeration, topdressing, fertilizing, and overseeding was completed this past week. Next up will be aeration of the approaches and rough. We will be pulling cores on these locations to try and decrease organic matter. Also we will pull cores on some of the bad fairway spots to help with drainage and to decrease OM. Pulling cores is more inconvenient than solid tine aeration, but considering the conditions this past summer, we need to concentrate on more aggressive tactics to increase the health of the playing surfaces.

Aerating #12 green

Topdressing then verticutting the practice green.

Spotted Lanternfly

Recently, I have received many questions about a mysterious bug people are noticing on the grounds. The insect is called the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). It is an invasive insect native to Asia, first detected in the United States in Pennsylvania in 2014. It poses a serious threat to agriculture, particularly grapevines, fruit trees, and hardwoods- with their favorite host being the invasive tree of heaven. The insect feeds on the sap of plants weakening them and making them more susceptible to disease and other pests. As it feeds, it excretes a sticky substance called honey dew, which promotes the growth of sooty mold, further damaging the plants and affecting crop yield.

This pest spreads easily by laying egg masses on vehicles, outdoor equipment, and firewood, making containment difficult. States affected by the spotted lanternfly have urged residents to inspect and remove egg masses. Controlling its population is crucial to protecting local ecosystems and agriculture industries. Public awareness, monitoring efforts, and research into natural predators and biological controls are all vital in managing the spread of this destructive insect.

Spotted lanternfly was first detected in Cincinnati a couple years ago. Currently, Hamilton County is on the quarantine list and reporting sightings to the ODA is not required. Even though this is yet another new destructive pest it mainly affects certain trees and grapevines; the turfgrass can sit this one out! Spraying is recommended more for vineyards with this pest than golf courses. Click here for a BYGL article from Ohio State for more information!

Spotted lanternfly

 

As we move further into the fall season the grounds department will remain busy with aeration and eventually fall fertilization. This will be in addition to daily maintenance and course setup. Hopefully the grounds crew, and Bengals, will continue to rack up wins, improving the courses' recovery and Cincy's playoff chances.

Brad Piecuch

Grounds Superintendent