Western Hills Country Club Grounds: September 2026

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

On June 30th of this year, Josh Ward took aerial photos of the golf course. Those photos showed a course that had almost 100% recovered from last season’s heat wave monsoons. As we progressed through July and into August, the golf course, especially the fairways, seemed to hold up pretty well despite some thinned-out areas. At that point, I mentioned to the crew that I felt we were over the hump and had nothing but recovery periods ahead of us.

It was at that time, sensing my optimism, that Mother Nature basically said, “Hold my beer!” and proceeded to pound us with some of the hottest and most humid late-summer/early-fall conditions I have ever experienced.

The newly seeded fairways from last season, for lack of a better term, looked really tired, and some areas simply gave up the fight. This led to more thinned-out and dying fairway patches.

We have begun slit-seeding many of these locations, and in the really bad areas, we have core aerated and overseeded. Hopefully, Mother Nature will finally turn off the tropical, Florida-type weather and get us back to our regularly scheduled program of great cool-season turf recovery weather.

Despite Mother Nature’s fury, I do think we survived this year’s summer weather much better than last season (click here for a 2025 July recap). As the images below show, turf health wasn’t perfect, but the areas that received new drainage and had tree removal fared the best. This continues to solidify what I believe is the solution to the problem: continuing to invest in drainage, decreasing the tree population, and continuing to seed newer bentgrass varieties.

However, as the great LeVar Burton famously said, “But you don't have to take my word for it.” The USGA agronomist who visited the course on July 24th had many of the same observations. Click here to read the USGA agronomist report from July 24th, 2026, and see what he had to say about the course conditions.

Also, click here for an informative video from the USGA about dead turf. While it may be frustrating to see, turf loss is something that can occur even on well-maintained golf courses, particularly when conditions become especially challenging.

Aerial photo of the golf course on June 30th 2026. The course was in great shape!

Aerial photo of #2 fairway on August 3rd 2025.

#2 fairway June 30th 2026. Fully recovered, with the tree removals over the winter definitely helping improve growing conditions.

Another view of #2 fairway in August of 2026.

#7 valley in August of 2025

Same area on #7 August of 2026

#4 hillside in August of 2025.

Another view of #4 hillside in August of 2025

Same area on #4 hillside in August of 2026.

#6 valley in August of 2025.

Same area in August of 2026.

#18 drain by the green in July of 2025.

Same area on #18 fairway in August of 2026.

Fixing #11 valley. The drainage installed in the winter was delayed due to the early December snowstorm. Consequently, the area did not have drainage installed until late April and the sod didn't have a chance to root in before the summer heat.

Aerating #16 fairway. This was an example of an area that did well until the September heat wave thinned it out.

Using the Vredo slit seeder to seed #16 fairway.

The two north tees: The tee on the left is pure bentgrass, while the tee on the right is Bermuda grass. Both were in great condition before being thoroughly pulverized by practice tee shots.

What Happened?

A question I have had, and one that many other members have asked, is: What happened? The 2023 and 2024 seasons produced some of the best golf course conditions we have seen in recent memory, while the last two seasons have been much more of a struggle.

I know our agronomic practices and procedures have not changed. If anything, I feel they have continued to improve. But at the end of the day, the conditions speak for themselves.

That got me thinking, so I went back and looked at the weather data from those years and compared it to what we have experienced over the last two seasons. What I found pretty much answered the question. Once I started comparing the numbers, it became pretty clear why 2023 and 2024 were such good years for the golf course, and why the last two seasons have been much more challenging. The weather patterns were noticeably different, and several of those differences line up almost perfectly with what we have seen out on the course.

A few things really stand out when looking at the data:

It is easy to see why 2023 was a banner year for the golf course. That year had the fewest number of days with daytime temperatures above 90°F and, by a wide margin, the lowest number of nights with temperatures above 70°F. The combination of fewer extreme daytime temperatures and less prolonged heat stress during the nights helped create much more favorable conditions for our cool-season turf.
Poa annua and older-style bentgrass varieties really struggle when exposed to extended periods of heat. The weather data correlates closely with what the members have observed over the past four years. Our highest member survey scores came in 2023, and the weather data helps explain why turf conditions were so favorable that year.
Nighttime temperatures are particularly important to turf health. When nighttime temperatures remain high, the turf has less opportunity to recover from daytime heat, heavy play, and daily maintenance. Also, hot nights increase disease pressure substantially. Looking at the past four years, the seasons with the greatest amount of nighttime heat have generally corresponded with our most difficult turf conditions.
July is consistently the most challenging month for our cool-season turf, and that is clearly reflected in the graphs. The combination of high daytime temperatures, warm nights, heavy play, and summer weather patterns puts significant stress on Poa annua and bentgrass.
The heat we have experienced this September is highly unusual. This year has already had more September days above 90°F than the previous three years combined. September normally provides some relief for cool-season turf, so the continued heat this late in the season has added another layer of stress.
July 2025 was an extreme example. We experienced more nights above 70°F during that month than in any other month over the previous four years. According to the CVG weather records, Cincinnati also set a record that month for the greatest number of nighttime temperatures above 70°F.
The temperature graphs still don't tell the entire story. In addition to the extreme heat and record number of warm nights in July 2025, WHCC received more than 6.5 inches of rain, with the majority falling within approximately one week. The combination of prolonged heat, very warm nights, excessive rainfall, and saturated conditions created extremely difficult growing conditions and contributed significantly to the deterioration of the fairways during the 2025 season.
2026 has been the second-most difficult year weather-wise. So far, we have experienced 22 days above 90°F and 31 nights above 70°F, with the season still ongoing. Considering the difficult weather this year, combined with the damage our fairways experienced last season, I believe the course has held up relatively well.

There are several reasons for that improvement. New drainage, continued tree removal, and the incorporation of newer, more heat-tolerant bentgrass varieties have all helped improve the resiliency of the fairways. While we have still experienced areas of turf loss this year, we have not seen the same level of widespread damage that occurred in 2025.

And there is one other important factor to remember: WHCC has its own microclimate. The weather station at the golf course gives us a much better picture of the conditions our turf is actually experiencing than data from CVG, Lunken, or even another golf course in the area.

Our goal is to continue addressing these problem areas and improving the overall resiliency of the fairways. If we continue making these improvements, we should be in a better position heading into 2027. Of course, a little help from Mother Nature would go a long way as well.

Temperature graph of the amount of 90+ daytime temperatures and 70+ nighttime temperatures. Notice how hot July of 2025 was.

Bar graph of the hottest temperatures over the last 4 years. This year is still ongoing.

Side-by-side comparison of the last four years and by each month. Notice how July consistently stands out as the month with the most hot days.

Aeration

Aeration of the putting surfaces was completed on September 8th, and we have now begun aerating the tees.

One thing many golfers may notice is how quickly the greens healed after aeration, as well as the process of bringing up plugs on the tees and approaches. There is a reason for the difference. We conduct soil testing on the greens every year, which allows us to track changes in the soil profile and make adjustments to our maintenance practices.

Because of the amount of topdressing we have applied to the greens, we have been able to significantly reduce the organic matter in the upper 1–2 inches of the soil profile. Over the last two years, organic matter has dropped from 6.39% to 5.2%.

That decrease in organic matter allowed us to use 3/8" solid tines on the greens this year rather than pulling cores. We also verticut the greens as part of the process. Solid-tine aeration is much less invasive than traditional core aeration, creates much less disruption to the putting surface, and allows the greens to heal much more quickly.

So, while the greens may look like they barely skipped a beat after aeration, there is actually quite a bit of work—and a lot of planning and testing—behind that result.

Solid tine aerating #12 green.

Core aerating a thinned out area at the beginning of #1 fairway.

Member/Guest Week

The week of the Member/Guest tournament was a fun week, to say the least.

It started with trimming the pin oaks to the left of #14 tee. The goal was to improve the golf shots coming into the hole and allow us to use the left side of the green for pin placements without interference from the trees. We also removed two pine trees to the left of #7 tee that had begun to encroach on tee shots.

We managed to cram all of that work into one day, with the goal of getting everything cleaned up and ready before Member/Guest.

Then, the very next day, the derecho storm ripped through the golf course.

The storm took down a couple of trees and left a considerable amount of debris throughout the course. We were able to pile the debris outside #7 fence and have a tree service haul it away. This kept our normal dump area from overflowing and saved us from having to deal with an even bigger cleanup project.

The grounds crew did a great job putting in a significant number of hours to get everything cleaned up and the course back into playable condition before the tournament. It was definitely a busy week, but the crew stepped up and got it done.