Well, Old Man Winter has taken up residence in the tri-state. After slightly above normal temperatures for December, January has roared in with below normal temperatures and some heavy snow events. Through all this the grounds crew has remained busy.
Plowing
On January 5th and 6th, the tri-state received its biggest snow storm since the blizzard of March 7th and 8th in 2008 (a late winter storm that dumped 10.5" of snow in Cincinnati). This year, we recorded around 10" of snow on the property by the time the flakes stopped flying. Plowing this much snow takes patience and persistence. The snow plow has a hard time pushing more than 3 or 4 inches of snow at a time, so we had to plow the lot many times during the storm to keep the parking lot clear.
Equipment that we have used in the past included an F-350 dump truck with an 8' plow. This worked well for many years until the dump truck finally bit the dust in 2020. Since then we had been using our Bobcat S590 with a 6' plow and salted the lot with walking spreaders. This held up well in small snow storms but a bigger unit was needed, particularly one that could plow and salt allowing one person to take care of the lot in emergency situations. Once our old 2005 F-150 work truck needed replacement, the green committee approved the purchase of a 2017 F-250 along with an 8' super duty Boss plow, and a Boss TGS 600 salt spreader that we attach to the back of the truck. This year the new equipment is getting a workout with the recent snowstorms.
The 10" snow event, and the late week 4" snow storm, tested the plowing capacity of our equipment and ultimately we had to plow some snow into piles and remove the snow piles throughout the week. The main difference between this storm and many that occurred in the recent past has been the sustained cold temperatures. The snow that has accumulated is sticking around for, at this point, around two weeks. These snow piles had to be moved in order to keep the club functioning, especially since future snow events could increase the size of the snow piles.
The crew has done a tremendous job keeping the parking lot clear and ice free. The new equipment was a great purchase and is really helping to keep the club operational during these cold winter months.
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| An interesting picture of a two foot snow drift on my driveway. It took me 3 hours to shovel this out. |
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| Raymond using the snow blower. |
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| Chris Wheeler, aka Mr. Plow, plowing the lot for the 5th time. |
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| More plowing pictures |
Snow Mold
Snow mold is a recurring challenge for the WHCC golf course
during the winter months. We are a bit concerned with the current amount of snow, thinking that this year snow mold may be a bigger problem. It typically is more of an issue in northern
locations where snow cover is prevalent for many months. However, this year the snow is staying around longer than usual.
Snow molds are fungal diseases, caused by Typhula species (gray snow mold) and Microdochium nivale (pink snow mold). Gray snow mold thrives under prolonged snow cover, while pink snow mold will form under snow cover or in very wet cool conditions. On golf courses, snow molds primarily affect fine turf areas like greens, tees, and fairways, where grass is closely mown and highly maintained. These diseases create unsightly circular patches of matted or dead grass, which can interfere with playability and detract from the course’s aesthetic appeal. Severe infestations can also result in costly repairs and/or delays in spring course openings.
Preventatively, we spray the greens to protect against snow mold. We use a product (Pentachloronitrobenzene or PCNB) that is widely recognized as the best product for the prevention of both gray and pink snow molds. The label recommends to water in by 1/4" after application. With the irrigation system shut down for the year we had to time the spray event before a rain storm. On December 16th they were calling for rain so we sprayed the greens an hour before the rain hit. The problem is we ended up getting close to an inch of heavy rain, more than was predicted. Normally this product will work for 2 to 3 months, but since we are unsure of how the heavy rain will impact the application, we made a subsequent application of a different product, chlorothalonil, right before the cold snap on December 30th. Hopefully, between these two applications the greens will be protected; however, we do not spray other areas of the course for these fungal diseases because of budget constraints and the unpredictability of snow cover in this area. The extent of the snow mold issue will be assessed once the snow melts. (click here for a previous post on snow mold)
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| Pink snow mold on the new chipping green a couple years ago. |
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| Spraying the practice green for snow mold before the rain storm |
Mechanical Work
Winter mechanical work is an important undertaking the crew tackles in the off-season months. It is an annual occurrence that takes place after the mowing has ceased for the year. All the mowers have to be torn down and rebuilt to achieve good mowing results for next season. There is a different degree of maintenance required for different units depending upon their usage. Some of this maintenance includes:
- The grinding/sharpening of all the walking and riding reel mowers
- Rebuilding the bearings and seals on reel mowers.
- Grinding of bednives to aid in the reel-to-bednife relationship to achieve optimal mowing results.
- Pressure washing of all the grounds equipment.
- Greasing the mowers.
- Oil and fuel changes on all the equipment.
All of this mechanical maintenance takes the majority of the winter months to accomplish and is a crucial part in maintaining a quality golf course.
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| Assistant Superintendent, Michael Westendorf, removing the seals and bearings from a reel off the John Deere 7500 A E-hybrid cut unit. |
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| Head Mechanic, Corey Cook, grinding a reel on the Bernhard Express Dual 4100 reel grinder. |
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| Yours truly attempting to do something mechanical. |
As always tree work takes center stage in the winter. We are currently working on in house removals that were approved by the green committee in late fall. Many ash trees are on the list to remove because of the emerald ash borer. Three pin oaks will be removed, one behind #1 green, the lightning struck tree by #16 green bunker, and a pin oak to the left of #18 fairway that has significant structural deficiencies. These trees will be removed by Gregory Forrest Lester once the snow melts enough to get equipment out. Some of these trees are on the USGA agronomist's list of trees recommended for removal. If you haven't already read the report here is a link to the document.
In addition, we were able to install a new SPU board to the left of #1 fairway. After the two lightning strikes this past May, we realized that we needed a new location for this board to help protect the irrigation software from a direct lightning hit.
Also, before the snow hit we had the #7 lake stocked with fat head minnows and gold shiner minnows to help increase the size of the bass for the fishing tournaments we have throughout the year.
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| Cutting down an ash tree right of #6 fairway |
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| Firewood starting to stack up by the grounds building |
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| Jones Lake Management stocking #7 lake |
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| Ricardo and Jason Machuca installing the lightning ground line that runs from the new SPU board by #1 fairway satellite box |
WHCC History
As I prepared a presentation on the Western Hills Country Club grounds for the ladies of the Western Hills Garden Club, I came across some interesting information on the history of the property. I referenced three books- Golf Reaches The Seven Hills, by Gerry A. Lanham; Images of America, Delhi, Cincinnati's Westside, by Christine Mersch; and the 100 Years, Western Hills Country Club Centennial Celebration 1912-2012, written by the WHCC membership in 2012. The interesting information is as follows:
- A female tennis player by the name of Nona Closterman started a group of 25 men at her father's house in Price Hill in 1899. The Price Hill Golf Club was formed that year- a 6-hole course on 8 acres of land on Enright Ave.
- Shortly after they moved to a 9-hole course on Nebraska Ave. and switched the name to the Elberon Golf Club
- In 1901 they moved to the Overlook/Rapid Run location and in 1902 a tornado leveled the clubhouse.
- In 1903 they rebuilt the clubhouse and made the Elberon Club into an 18 hole golf course.
- In August of 1912 Thomas Bendelow, from Chicago, was summoned to construct a new course on 100 acres of land. He was the original designer for many other clubs around this area such as Hamilton County Golf Club (later Maketewah), Wyoming C.C., Hyde Park C.C., Highland C.C., Ft. Mitchell C.C. and Losantiville Country Club
- The land was the former summer residence of US President Benjamin Harrison.
- At the time of the purchase the property was know as the Short Farm with a blacksmith's shop at the corner of Neeb and Cleves-Warsaw roads.
- Barney Kroger lead the membership drive and with Will Howard as the first president Western Hills Country Club opened for play in 1914.
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| The Fischesser blacksmith shop at the corner of Neeb and Cleves Warsaw. This picture does make a reference to the previous owner of the farmland being Henry Schwartz. |
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| A picture of John Cleves Short |
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| A picture of the cady shack at Elberon Golf Club |
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| Famous designer Thomas Bendelow at work. |
