Tee Times Newsletter – July 2008

UPCOMING EVENTS

Follow links for additional information:

SOLD OUT – TGIF Steak & Ale Night – Friday, July 25, 2008 – SOLD OUT

Guys & Dolls Shootout & Dinner – Monday, August 4, 2008

TGIF Goes Mexican – Friday, August 29, 2008

Sunday Nine & Dine – Every Sunday afternoon starting at 4:00pm

Message from Management

Geese

Just when it appeared that nature was taking its course, human intervention may have altered the cycle. The geese population on the course, although well under control, is growing and we have been forced to react and implement some measures which will hopefully keep the geese away from our tees and greens. You will notice ropes surrounding one or two of our tees and greens and this interim measure appears to be working. We are looking into other temporary solutions until such time as a permanent solution can be determined.

Congratulations

To: John Seymour who has worked in our Pro Shop for the past couple of years has completed his first step in the process towards entry into the CPGA. John completed the “Playability” requirement by placing fourth out of 15 participants over the weekend of July 12th and 13th at Greyhawk shooting scores of 76 and 73. There are a number of steps remaining in the process and our best wishes go out to John for success in his bid for entry into the CPGA.

To: Our Ladies and Men’s Intersectional Teams who participated in tough competition and placed 1st and 3rd respectively in their divisions. Check the “Members Area” of the web site for participants and personal results.

Newspaper Articles

The News EMC is a community newspaper serving the Nepean-Barrhaven area. Our Pro Shop staff members are now writing articles for the sports section with an article from Greg White appearing in the July 11th edition and an article from John Seymour appearing in the July 18th edition. The helpful tips are being well received and represent a great value add for the newspaper and certainly increases our profile in the community.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (Lee Whelly)

First, I would like to congratulate our members who have represented Cedarhill in outside tournaments. In particular I would like to thank the men’s and ladies intersectional teams. Yesterday I had the honour to step back into my last role at Cedarhill and Captain the Ladies Intersectional Team (so Bill could caddy for Joanne). I have watched and participated over the last few years as we struggled to compete in this event, playing our hearts out to minimum points. I know some of our players felt so demoralized that they didn’t want to compete in this event again. It just wasn’t fun. Well, July 14, 2008 made up for that! We had the strongest team we have had in years and each member did Cedarhill proud. No player went without earning points and three earned the maximum 6 points. The team played in the pouring rain without complaint and no-one gave up. I was truly proud to Captain this team of Champions.

There has been some concern addressed by members that course and club rules apply only to members. This is not the case. Infractions by green fee players are noted and reported to the pro shop. Management is doing its best to ensure the rules of the course apply to everyone. If you witness an infraction, please report it to Greg or a Course Assistant.

PLAYING COMMITTEE (Bill Gosewitz, Club Captain)

The summer is beginning to fly by – after 22 days of rain in June – and 9 of 10 weekend days with rain – the sun is finally shining. June was a busy month, the intersectional qualifying was held and the teams selected.

The gentlemen will play at Pakenham on July 13th. The team is as follows: Greg Nezan, Roy Prokopuk, Martin Wells, Brad Myers, Chris Keighley, Tony Fosbery, Keelan Green, Chuck Garland, Ryan Wood, Ron Nezan and 1st Alternate - Michel Maillet, 2nd alternate – Bill McGarvie.

The ladies will play at Madawaska on July 14th. The team is as follows: Kate Burnett, Joanne Gosewitz, Liz Curran, Laura MacHutchon, Bev Goold, Anna Malenica, Dini Nugent and 1st Alternate – Anne Queen.

The troops are ready for battle and I am certain our club will be well represented.

Congratulations to all.

The Cedarhill Cup was held in June, with the blue and black team captained by Len Damiano and myself. My Blue team held an 8-4 lead after the first day and a 16-8 lead after day 2. The Black team stormed back in true US Ryder Cup fashion to make the final score 24.5 – 23.5 for the Blue team. By all accounts everyone had a great time.

A special thank you to Norm Castonguay and Don Hubert along with Rob Ross and Tim Hyde for providing shirts for the teams. If you see them on the course, make sure to thank them for their support.

July – is the month of intersectional competition and at the club we will have the Mixed Club Championship along with the Senior Intersectional and Senior Club Championships. Please check the boards for details.

Until next month – hit em – long and straight, stay out of the rough and above all have fun – life is short, enjoy every minute.

GREENS COMMITTEE (Ross White, Chair)

The weather is finally improving and the greens are improving by the day. Twenty-eight out of thirty-one days involved rain during the period when we normally would see growth and improvement to the golf course. It made it extremely difficult for the maintenance people to accomplish various tasks that require decent weather. The window for aerating the greens, spraying the weeds, general improvements and properly cutting the grass were directly affected by the weather.

The members (including me) became frustrated with the weather which seemed to rain every time we tried to golf. This was reflected in some of the comments made by the members. Chuck and his crew worked hard to bring the greens and the golf course back into the shape that we like to see. It was an uphill battle, but, the course is finally close to being what most of the members want it to be.

WHY AERATE ???? I have posted information in the locker rooms on why aeration is necessary. The following is the short version, so, please read the longer version for more information.

Aeration is performed to provide the grass roots with more water and oxygen. This is done by punching holes in the greens and then filling those holes with sand. Fertilizer is applied at this time to stimulate root growth. A second application of top dressing sand is necessary approximately a week after the first application. The process also breaks up thatching of the grass, relieves stress caused by the earth being compacted from machinery and human traffic and stimulates new grass growth. Aeration allows the roots to grow which in turn allows the grass to be cut short enough to provide the type of putting surface that most people want. The industry recognized recovery time from aeration is two to three weeks.

Aeration is necessary if the greens are to remain healthy during the heavy playing time of July and August. NOT

AERATING COULD RESULT IN THE LOSS OF THE GREENS DURING THE JULY, AUGUST TIME FRAME AND SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE THAT WOULD TAKE TIME AND MONEY TO RECOVER FROM.

A committee meeting was held on Monday July 7 and you may be interested in the following;

- a form has been designed for use at the “Suggestion Box” in the lobby area. The committee is requesting that ALL submissions be made in writing at the suggestion box or through e-mail.

- all the greens were rolled on Friday, July 11 and the result will be reviewed

- tee to green distance markers have all been reinstalled on the tee’s

- par 3 fairway to green markers have been reinstalled

- the white disc type 150 yd markers will not be reinstalled. It was felt that the new 150 yd marker posts provide adequate visual aid.

- distance markers have been replaced on sprinkler heads where requested

- a cart path will be installed in August to provide access to the 16th tee area provided money is still available within this years budget

- the tee area’s will be aerated in August & green’s in September. More notification will follow.

- Dates for aerating in 2009 will be reviewed at the “Scheduling Meeting” this fall.

- the Green’s Committee” and “Playing Committee” are cooperating in reestablishing the hazard markings.

- #13 periscope, a ½ step 7 ½ inches high will be added.

- A black rope fence has been installed around #16 green & the ladies #17 tee area as a deterrent to the geese. Two imitation wolves are being ordered as a further deterrent. Other methods of limiting the geese are being looked into.

- #12 fairway - Management in consultation with the owner of the property (new swimming pool) have determined that a net will be installed at the south end of this property to reduce golf ball’s entering the property. A pool fence will also be installed approximately two feet onto the existing easement. This is well back of the left side tree line.

- additional benches will be added to tee area’s where benches are not presently in place and where waiting may occur (early August).

- #4 blue tee area will be open when steps and hand railing to the area are completed

- a lengthy discussion took place regarding cutting of the green’s and aerating of the greens. The necessity of aerating was defined in the document subsequently placed in each locker room. The committee fully realizes that the members become upset every time this process takes place, but, this work MUST be done. The timing of the process is under review. The green’s will be cut every day WEATHER PERMITTING. Cutting the greens when wet results in poorly cut greens and wet cuttings all over the green. Greens also can NOT be cut after top dressing because the sand destroys the cutting blades.

- a lengthy discussion took place regarding the cart rules and restrictions. Managements position is that the rules are in place to protect the golf course and that these rules will be staying in place. Members should be advised that measures are being put into place to enforce the rules for both members and green fee players. The “Green’s Committee” cannot achieve changes to the rules until it can be demonstrated that the existing rules are being followed by the members and that subsequent rule changes will also be followed.

DON’T BE PART OF THE PROBLEM. DON’T TAKE POWER CARTS WHERE THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. DON’T PULL CART’S PAST THE CART SIGNS AND UP AROUND THE GREEN.

TAKE A LOOK AROUND AND NOTICE THE POSITIVE THINGS THAT ARE BEING DONE.

THE GREEN’S, GOLF COURSE AND WEATHER ARE FINALLY COMING ALONG, SO, LET’S ALL ENJOY THE GREAT SOCIAL CLUB THAT CEDARHILL IS.

DAY LADIES COMMITTEE (Liz White, Chair)

Our summer is going by too quickly. We are already half way through our golf season. Some of our matches have been delayed so please check the board for date changes and tee-off times for the Davis Cup.

We held our member/guest on July 8th. Fortunately, we all got our round in without any rain. It was a fun day and enjoyed by all. The meal was delicious, as always. Thanks to Betty Sanderson for organizing the meal, and to Natalie and the Cedarhill staff.

I would also like to thank the members of my committee for all their work, especially Michi Small for the lovely mementos of the evening. Our guests and members loved the pictures.

Special thanks to Brian and Coughlin’s for their generous donations. Thanks also to Bob Williamson, Greg White, Renee Mullins, Eliz Hewens, Michi Small and Robbie Dempster for their contributions. With your help, our guests enjoyed some lovely gifts to remember their day.

Two of our ladies, Moira Mason and Betty Patterson have had unfortunate accidents. Hope you are both on the mend. We look forward to your speedy return.

Our next event is a nine hole skin game on August 5th. The sign up sheet will be in the pro-shop along with a prepared scorecard. Cost is $2.25 for those who wish to participate. If you are playing 18 holes that day, please bring your score cards into the lounge before continuing to the back nine.

The poster for our Coloured Ball will go up on our board in early August. Please sign up if you wish to take part in it. Teams of three will be made according to handicaps and tee-times will be assigned for that day. Anyone one not signed up will make their usual tee-time.

I hope everyone is having a good summer. Should you have any concerns about our league, do not hesitate to call me.

LADIES’ NIGHT COMMITTEE (Laura MacHutchon, Chair)

So far this season we've had a great turn out on Tuesday nights. We've just had a very successful Member and Guest, on July 8th with 109 participants. I would like to thank all of our hole and gift sponsors that helped make it a wonderful night. Thank you for all the hard work from our Ladies Night committee, and helpers for a great room atmosphere. A special visit from "Tom Jones" got the evening started with a bang. (Thanks Bob!) Our Asian/Olympic theme was very well received with the ladies went all out on the cart decorations. The Pro, and assistants helped us get off the tee on number 3 (I didn't realize my ball could go that far...) Natalie did a great job on the menu.

To come: Look forward to a few more games in July, and a special BBQ night in August! Good golfing!

SOCIAL COMMITTEE (Mike Latimer, Chair)

On behalf of the Social Committee, I would like to thank all who participated in the Canada Day Festivities. A great time was had by all. The weather cooperated and it was the first time I can remember that it did not rain since 1999 (or so it seems!!!). The food was exceptional as always.

Next up in August is the Guys and Dolls Shootout and Dinner on August 4th. If you are staying in town for the long weekend, you should consider this event. The winners (usually The Dolls) get pampered by the losers and a real good time is planned. Sign-up sheets are in the lounge.

As well we will hold our monthly nine and dine Friday night with the theme being TGIF in Mexico. Another sell-out is planned so sign-up early.