When it comes to average, Ohio literally is as much like anywhere else as it gets.
The population is so diverse, that Ohio is considered a nearly perfect cross-section of the rest of the country; so much so that when restaurant chains like McDonald's, Fazoli's and Taco Bell want to roll out new menu items they test them in places like Cincinnati and Dayton first. When Panera, Max & Erma's and Ohio-based Wendy's considered changes to their store designs, they tried them out first in Columbus, which has earned the nickname of America's Test Market. Several years ago, when Frito-Lay rolled out Biscuits and Gravy-flavored potato chips, they did not do so until the Toledo market, where it was tested, gave its approval.
It's the same in golf in Ohio. The state is so much like the rest of the country that many of the troubles experienced by superintendents elsewhere, occur there, too.
"We've been getting our teeth kicked in," said Scott Les Chander, superintendent at Terrace Park Country Club in Milford near Cincinnati. "Our member-guest was over three days the first week of June, and we got 6 inches of rain and a lot of wind. Since then, it's been deluge after deluge."
The daytime highs, according to the National Weather Service, have reached or surpassed 90 degrees on 37 days since May and overnight lows during that same span have averaged between 72 and 77 degrees. Both marks are far above average for this cool-season neck of the woods .
We've been getting our teeth kicked in . . . it's been deluge after deluge.
When the temperature has not been climbing past 90 degrees, it's usually because it has been raining.
A total of 8.2 inches of rain was observed at the airport in August, including 5 inches on Aug. 16. The monthly total is more than double the historic average of 3.4 inches, but 3 inches below the August record of 11 inches. At Terrace Park, Les Chander's weather station has recorded 12.43 inches for the month, blowing away the airport's record. To date, he's measured more than 9 inches of rain in September alone.
It's the wettest summer here in 54 years and the sixth-wettest on record, according to the NWS. That means it also has been a good summer . . . for anthracnose and summer patch on Terrace Park's bent/Poa greens, and pythium and "brown patch galore" on tees and fairways.
A 2007 Ohio State graduate, Les Chander typically is on a 14-day interval between sprays, but he's adjusted that to 10 days, sometimes eight, this year because of the rain at Terrace Park, located on a point where the Little Miami River and the East Fork of the Little Miami River meet.
"There's a direct correlation between the rain and how much disease pressure we've faced," he said. "There's no miracle product that is going to stay in the ground with that much rain.
"In one day, we had 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. We drain really well. We are on sandy, loamy soil because we're at the confluence of two rivers, and I've still had fairways under water multiple days when it's over 90 degrees.
"It has been a nightmare."
It's a similar story at nearby Hyde Park Country Club, a 1920 Donald Ross layout, where superintendent Pat O'Brien has been overseeing a renovation project that includes not only work on the golf course, but a new practice range, short-game area and golf training building, as well as a new pool, paddle tennis courts and pickle ball courts.
"Gas lines, sanitary, everything's new. There are a lot of moving parts," O'Brien said. "The weather and more than 50 inches of rain since spring has made it a challenge to get things done and done well and meet deadlines with this project."
The effects of the weather on the golf course include dollar spot, anthracnose on creeping bentgrass, brown patch, summer patch and even large patch on zoysiagrass.
"Spring here wasn't much of a spring. With almost 40 days over 90 degrees, I'm seeing conditions I haven't seen before in my career," O'Brien said. "It's almost October, and we're still over 70 degrees at night."
He's had to delat aerification until the last week of September, and has spent much of the summer leaning on the expertise of assistants Dan Lawendowski and Aaron Garrett to manage the golf course while he continues to oversee the various parts of the renovation.
It is safe to say, I will not miss the 2018 season and most certainly will never forget it.
"Nothing has been normal this year. Conditions are dynamic and we're learning how to make adjustments to maintain playability and turf health," he said. "I've really relied on the guys, especially my assistants. Observation is huge under these conditions, and they've done a good job doing that and adapting while I'm torn in other directions."
As further evidence that this area is indeed a microcosm of the rest of the country, the end of the golf season here can't come soon enough.
"Fall 'recovery' has been far from pleasant so far. But the days keep getting shorter and we'll be bitching about snow and shoveling paddle courts soon enough," Les Chander said.
"It is safe to say, I will not miss the 2018 season and most certainly will never forget it."