GREENS

Combating drought stressed areas

Many members mistake the heat and drought stressed areas on the golf course as a sign we are not properly watering the course, or as a sign we are not putting out enough water. In actual fact we are putting out water every night, and making adjustments to all irrigation programs daily. The reason some areas look well irrigated, and others look as if the sprinklers are not working has everything to do with the soil below the turf. Some soils accept water readily, and others become hydrophobic. Think of the hood of your car for a minute. If you have waxed your car well, a drop of water will sit up above everything else in a ball defying gravity. This is caused by surface tension. Soils can act the same way where water will not go into the soil to wet it, but will travel around the soil. We use wetting agent to help break this surface tension and allow the soils to accept this water. As long as the heat and drought stay with us, there will always be stressed turf areas. We do our best to help remidy these areas through hand watering as it is the most efficient way to get moisture back into these areas.
Please view the attached video for a closer look.

SOCIAL

OLYMPIC NIGHT

MIX 'N MINGLE

May 28, 2010 the Olympics came to town, Whitevale Golf Club style.

Prior to the start of the games, you can see the various competitors warming up for competition. Some looking particularly confident minutes prior to start time.

Terri Calder from Team Scotland is fuelled and ready for battle!

Let the games begin!

Bronze Medal Action pitted Team Greece Vs Team Ireland (at least we think, but no one knew for sure).

The Gold Match had Team Australia battle it out against Team Canada.

The games had some minor controversy though. No overall winner declared as most of the judges had tears of laughter and could not see clearly to declare a winner.

It was a great night of fun, special thanks to the Social Committee and all the Staff involved for making the first ever Olympic night at Whitevale such a resounding success.

PRO SHOP

Demo Days are Back

It is that time of year and the demo days are in full swing (pardon the bad pun!). Callaway was on the range yesterday and Bob Else the Ping fitting instruction on it today. If you have never been fitted for clubs in the past, don't miss the opportunity to improve your game. The Ping fitting system has been in place for decades. They start with taking your static measurements (basically your height and the distance from your wrist to the the ground). Then they proceed with the dynamic measurements and analyse the ball flight. Bob estimates that he does 800-900 fitting a season.

Elmar Moser having his dynamic measurements taken by Ping Fitting instructor Bob Else.

GREENS

Hard to believe with 32 degrees plus humidity outside right now, that only 3 months ago Kyle and I were scrambling to remove heavy layers of ice from our greens. Scarring can be found in some areas of the course that we did not get ice cleared away before anoxia killed the Poa annua. The practice green may be the most obvious area to see the devastation that can occur under these conditions. Check out some of what had to do to remove the ice below!

May Mix N Mingle

Don't forget our First Social Event of the season is this Friday. Call the office to book your spot.

Tournaments

What a great Victoria Day long weekend. After a few light showers on Saturday afternoon, the sun came out and with it the heat kicked up. 25 teams signed up to participate in this years Derby.

Day one had the team of
Larry Aicken, Glenn Davis, Fred Calvert & Dave Sutton

Coming out on top with a 114 Quota points.

Day 2 had the husband and wife teams of

Craig & Georgia Colquhoun and Terri & Meri Calder winning the best ball format

Day 3 and the overall winners of the derby:
Ed & Ann Griffin with Peter Schuch and Barb Rogers took the honours.

Special thanks to Blair and the turf department for having the course in great shape and Tony and the Pro Shop for running an A+ tournament.

Welcome

This is the first of what we hope to be many fun and informative blogs. The original intent was just to have Blair our Superintendent write a blog, filled with information about the conditioning of the course and grounds. As most good concepts this one grew and now all departments can post items on the Whitevale Blog.

The content will not be all serious. In fact, we hope it's the opposite as we try and expose the greatest advantage to being a member at Whitevale our members.

To that end, take a look at our current Club Captain and reigning Club Champion.


Sorry Brewer but someone had to be the first picture posted on this blog