Mixed Member Guest

Mixed Member Guest

This past Thursday we held the first ever Mixed Member Guest day at Whitevale. It was a full day gastronomic day. Starting with a gourmet lunch and glass of champagne and ending with a 5 course Tuscan Chef menu.

Paul Wilk from the Small Wine Makers was on hand to expertly pair each Tuscan course with a glass of wine. The fourth course this grilled veal chop!!

Yes, we also played a little golf, John Trimble was the winner of the member closes to the hole contest.

In third place was member's Margaret & Randy Chew and their guest Karen & John Stewart.

The team of Sandy and Bernie Docking along with Terri-Lee Sanford and our Head Professional Tony Wilkins took home second place

And the winners of our first Mixed Member Guest event was Meri & Terry Calder with their guest Lesly & Doug Starr.. Although, we did play some golf, the highlight of the day was the menu that Chef Kaluski prepared, it was simply magnificent and those in attendance have already started reserving for next year.

GREENS

Diamond patterns on greens

You may have noticed this diamond pattern on some greens this week. The pattern you are seeing is from a machine we brought in earlier this week to over seed our weak greens. The machine actually cuts a line into the turf canopy and drops seed in behind. We cover the green twice in different directions (which causes the pattern) to get the seed as close as possible to improve healing time. The pattern will be almost invisible by the middle of next week as the leaf blades continue to grow over these marks. Thankfully the weather has changed for the better. This is the absolute best time to grow new grass. We have already seeded most of the damaged areas on our collars. The front of 5 needs to be excavated to a depth of about 8 inches to remove heavy gravely sub soil to improve this area. This is scheduled for the fall.

A member recently expressed concern over some brown marks on the back of the 12th green. He was worried the green was starting to go backwards. There is some areas on the back of this green that are not as healthy as the rest of it, but this is actually from an intentional decision. As the sod was brought in and was being installed, there were rolls that were cut thinner due to the thatch layer in the turf. I intentionally had the installers place these rolls at the back of the green leaving the healthiest turf to be installed in the areas that we would cut pins once we opened the green. The thin areas at the back will require some additional over seeding, but there is no concern with the health of the green. It is doing very well, and it will remain at its current high height of cut going into the fall. This is done to ensure that we do not put the new turf under any additional stress until it has had a chance to grow an adequate root zone.

Anyone hitting balls on the right side of the range tee may have noticed how wet the area is. This is due to a sprinkler getting stuck in the on position. When dirt accumulates in the control valve, it can cause the valve to stay open even though the computer has sent a signal to shut down. The valve has been cleaned and should no longer cause us a problem.

SOCIAL

WHITEVALE HAS "SOME" TALENT

Yes, after the August Mix N Mingle it is clear that we have some very talented people at Whitevale.

"The Jar" started the evening off in grand fashion. "The Jar" has been singing his song for years but never in mixed company. His performance is generally reserved for the Men's Opening Field Day so when he hit the first note, the women in the audience just broke down in sheer laughter.

Following "The Jar" is no easy task but the Social Committee delivered with far to many highlights to mention as the audience was simply in hysterical laughter.

Then Bernie hit the stage with his poem "Ode to the Vale" - we know one look at Bernie and all you see an artistic misunderstood poet. His words had the audience laughing, embarrassed, angry and confused all within the 8 minutes it took him to read his words. We are not sure if he destroyed his work after it was read out load (some artists do this so their work does not get misinterpreted by the bourgeoisie class) but if he hasn't, we recommend you buy him a grey goose martini and ask him to recite the poem once again.
Once all the real talent finished, the Karaoke went into full swing. Being a little shy, no member volunteered to jump up on stage to follow Karaoke expert Luiz deCarvalho, so our GM volunteered. All we can say is - -by lord Alex, you are one awful singer. The good news is with Alex so horrific at carrying a tune, everyone else felt they couldn't do much worse. Although Brad and Bernie came close.

If you some of pictures of the night, please send them along. It was such a great night that I'm sure this will be repeated next year. So start working on your talent for 2011 Whitevale.

Pocket Aces

Pocket Aces for Whitevale Golfer

—Rick King scores two holes-in-one in the same round—

BRIGHTON, ONTARIO (August 15, 2010) – On Friday, July 30, Rick King achieved the rarest accomplishment in golf... twice in the same round. The long-time Whitevale Golf Club member recorded two holes-in-one while part of a group of 16 members on a road trip to Timber Ridge Golf Club in Brighton, Ontario.

King’s first ace of the day was at the 175-yard 12^th hole, with the pin tucked back left behind a large swale. There was no way for the players to know that his shot had gone in the hole.

"We got to the green at 12 and the beverage girl was absolutely beaming," said King. “All she said was, ‘I think one of you guys might be buying some extra drinks!’ and we knew it must be in the hole.

King scored his second “one” of the day, just five holes later at the 140-yard 17^th hole. On this extremely downhill par-3, the view was perfect, although for a second it looked as though his ball was going to stay in its own ballmark above the hole. But then it slowly crept out of the mark and trickled down into the hole.

Thrilled as Rick King was to achieve the remarkable feat of two aces in the same round, he lamented the fact that he didn't do it as his home club.

"At Whitevale, we have a hole-in-one fund to help with the bar tab. I was on my own at Timber Ridge and, let’s just say, the boys took full advantage,” laughed King. “I have to admit though, I didn't mind one bit."

The 10-handicapper finished with a score of 80 thanks to the two holes-in-one, the 3rd and 4th in King’s golf career. Previously he has aced the 4th and 12th holes at Whitevale Golf Club -- but no... not on the same day.

For more information:

Alex Maggiacomo

905-294-9600

alex@whitevalegolfclub.com

GREENS

Course Conditions

Mondays afternoon storm brought over 2 and a half inches of rain with it. I have completely lost count of the number of times the turf team has had to repair washed out bunkers this year. We all hope the rest of August will bring gentler rain when it must come. All bunkers should be back in play by the end of the day Wednesday.

It is frustrating for all of us to see the damage to areas on some greens. Seeing it day after day can preoccupy our minds so it ends up being all we tend to see when on the golf course. As you know all areas have been aerified and over seeded. We have good germination in all areas. Some of the thinnest areas were opened up again yesterday and seeded again. These were spot aerified in the areas requiring more healing. By not aerifying the whole green we leave areas for the pin so members are not always putting over holes. The painful part is the time required for them to properly recover. It's a lot like watching your children grow. Seeing them day in and day out you don't notice any changes. Then one day you see a picture of them taken 6 months ago and your are shocked! These areas will be a lot like that. Newly planted seed takes 12 weeks to properly establish. Although we have good germination, it will be the fall before all areas have filled in completely, there is just no way to change this time required. Some members have been asking why we did not top dress these areas. The sand would attract the suns heat and raise temperatures which both seedlings and the established turf could not survive. Think about how hot the sand gets at the beach. Most of us have had to run across the sand to get to the surf so we didn't burn our feet.
We have raised the height of cut and eliminated rolling these areas to prevent mechanical damage. We also take tissue tests from the greens and have them analyzed to be sure our nutrients within the plant are ideal.

On a positive note sod installed on the 12th green is doing very well and we anticipate opening it Next Wednesday August 18th. The green will not be cut short, which means it will be bumpy and slow, but at least we will be back to 18 holes.

Western Night

WESTERN NIGHT
Our social director Debbie Couch just sent along this video of Whitevale member Angelo Diclemente playing a mean axe at the July Mix n Mingle. The reaction of his groupies made Angelo blush......but only for momement

Christmas in August

Women's Member Guest - August 5th, 2010
The weather outside wasn't frightful and no one got a lump of coal in their stocking! In fact Christmas in August was a great idea!
As usual, the committee headed by Zona Pieira organized a first rate Event. The 122 players got into the Christmas spirit and some of the costumes were fantastic.

Chef Andrew prepared a feast which included everything you would expect at Christmas - turkey dinner with all the trimmings!!

The winning team was lead by Marilyn Ankenmann, Joann McGee, Jean McPherson and Lynn Struthers.

We had some old friends return to Whitevale to enjoy the festivities. Marg Webb and Judy Hunt joined Phyllis Burgan and her daughter Kelly Dory. Other notable past members included Lynda Payzant, Carolyn Clague and Joan Traynor.

As you can see, the object of the day was to have fun and judging by this group, it was mission accomplished!

GREENS

TIS THE SEASON.....................FOR DOLLAR SPOT!

Golf courses in North America spend more money controlling Dollar Spot than any other turf grass disease. This disease is prevalent in all parts of the world and loves to feast on Bent grass and Poa, which are the main two types of turf growing on our fairways and tees.
Our policy with regard to controlling Dollar Spot is to not spray preventively, as it is a very expensive application. This disease only grows during warm humid weather. During this time we monitor the weather and temperatures closely on a daily basis, and wait until we have active disease growing before considering an application for control. This also supports our Audubon program, which states that we will not treat for this disease until the threshold level of infection has been reached. Once the product is applied to the active Dollar Spot it is immediately controlled. If conditions are such that we need to treat all fairways, it will take us three days (under ideal application conditions) to cover all 18 fairways. The disease itself infects the leaf blade, but not the crown of the plant. This means that the small areas which were infected over night may look dead come the morning, but the plant is still very much alive and actively growing.







So we will see areas in fairways and on tees which have some infection as in the photo above. But with the awesome growing conditions we have it won"t take long for the plant to fill these areas in with new leaf blades.


For those of us sick of the heat and humidity, take some refuge knowing that December............... and the first anticipated snow fall is less than 4 months away!



Enjoy the warmth while we have it!!!