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 the 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

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.

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.

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