Holy Cow

Last night we receive an email from WGC member Ed Griffin with a subject heading "Two golfers miss tee time". I read the email and thought it was a really bad joke.

Here is the email:

On our way to Whitevale Golf Club this morning we saw what we thought were two deer walking down the middle of North Road. As we slowed down as not to spook them we realize it was two Jersey bull calves. We stopped the car and corralled the two protecting them from any traffic travelling by. Ann called 911 and they dispatched a couple of Durham region squad cars. I used a tow rope from my vehicle and tied them to a guard rail while the two police vehicles canvassed the area farms to find the owner. After about an hour and a half the owner was located and came to retrieve the two fugitives.
Finally on our arrival at Whitevale Golf Club we were asked if we wanted to play the back nine, I replayed no, I wasn't in the Moooood!

Then we get a second email today, with pictures. This was no joke, this is one bizarre year.

What else will be in store for Whitevale members in 2014. 

Scarborough District

Calling all Ladies!


The next SDF event is fast approaching. In order to qualify for the July 9th Westview event, you must have your scorecard in to the pro-shop by July 2nd. It's easy to qualify, just register your round with the pro-shop prior to your round, and then hand it in when you are done. The quota points will be calculated for you if you don't want to do it yourself. Just make sure your handicap is marked on the card and your gross score is recorded.

The top four cards will qualify for the next round.

Also remember, our own hosted SDF event is July 21st with the cut off being July 16th to qualify.

Lets see lots of entries, we want to make sure we field our strongest team!

No Practice Yet

Last September there was nothing but dirt and dust in our former driving range. Slowly over approximately two months, the area transformed into what will become our new Practice Facility. 

A large amount of earthworks happened last fall making significant improvements for our future.



This photo was taken on the Thursday before the Thanksgiving weekend, sod had been installed ringing the new practice greens and bunkers. By the Sunday the entire new Practice Facility had been seeded and the new greens had been tarped. We had perfect weather heading into winter and witnessed light germination to all areas before snow cover. Of course we all know what happened over the following four and a half months.

When we removed tarps from the greens in April we had respectable catch to the putting greens. The rest of the practice facility was another story, for weeks we could not find any living grass on the tee deck, and we felt we had lost any where from 70-90% of the seed everywhere else due to the extreme winter weather. We prioritized the greens and course clean-up from the ice storm as the area to receive most of our attention, the practice area had to wait. However, even if we had time to spend on the practice facility growing conditions were so poor we would not have seen any improvements early on and the range is so big we couldn't feasibly tarp it like we did the greens.

Then came the day we finally had enough growth on the practice greens we put the first roll on them to help smooth and firm in preparation for the first mow.

Meanwhile inside the practice area we had four separate and somewhat significant washouts. We have Vergeer Golf on stand by to return to repair these washouts when weather co-operates. We have had to cancel them a couple times because weather was not conducive to repairing the washouts. We currently have them scheduled to return this Friday to complete this work. This restoration will not cost the club any additional money as it was part of the original contract.

This is the seeder that originally was used last October to seed all but the greens, and we will be bringing this unit back in to over seed all bluegrass areas in order to fill in the range. We have seen more germination in all areas than we originally found as little as 4 weeks ago, but in order to get this practice area grown in and open we must introduce more seed to replace seed that died off during our winter.

Weeks after the photos above were taken we are mowing all new greens daily, and this photo shows significant growth compared to the 3rd picture above.

This is the tee deck which has a good overall haze of green growth, but as you can see below...

...this is not at all dense enough. Over seeding will take place soon and with the perfect weather finally with us we will see a significant jump to the growth. Weeds beginning to grow along with the grass is of no concern at all. Most will not survive the first time we mow the area, and an application of weed killer after the grass is mature enough to handle the application will complete the control measures. Although we are behind where we had planned to be only because of the long winter and cold spring, we are picking up speed and will get this practice area open in the not too distance future.

Greens update

 

We have reached a significant mile stone this week. Some greens are now both mature and dense enough we have begun to lower the height of cut and begin grooming. Until the turf stand makes it to a level of maturity that can stand up to this process, there is just no reason to begin even talking about when we might be able to open them for play. Each week the recover is gaining speed, so improvement seen this week happened faster than the week before, and will be better and fast next week . Who was it that said "A photo is worth a thousand words"?

 

Here is the 1st green at the end of April when only the faintest sign of any germination was found by crawling on you belly

And here is number one at four O'clock this afternoon, after it had been brushed and mowed.
Not all greens have bounced as well as the 1st green, but all are healing with significant seedlings at different stages of development. The slit seeder and mini tine aerators have been seeding and           re-seeding. Thin areas have been hit over and over again.

We are relying more on hand watering so we can make sure moisture is high on the young seedlings, and we can skip over watering the more mature areas which will help promote deeper rooting, something that is imperative before the real summer stress arrives.

Just like an Olympic athlete, you can't tell a couple years ahead when they will be ready to compete, it's not possible to tell you how many weeks away from opening these greens we are. I am every bit as anxious to get this golf course back in play as you are. Thanks for you continued support and patience.

Footings Complete

The last week of May was a busy week for R2R. The footings are done, the forms have been delivered and starting next week will the foundation walls.

If you haven't yet followed @WhitevaleGC on Twitter, you should to receive daily snapshots of the build.

Earlier in the week the boxes for the concrete being built.

 Looks like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Lets hope they don't have any left over pieces.

Concrete being poured on Wednesday.

 Finished product.

 The Grill Room footings.

 The crew did get some forms built today.

But looks like all the material is on site.

Below is what the view will be when you are sitting in the new Grill Room.



Whitevale Pro's Win!

Our very own golf professional team of Steve Rodriguez and Kevan Gobel once again put Whitevale in the winners circle yesterday winning the Pro/Pro event at The Club at North Halton carding a score of -7 under 65.

Way to go lads, keep making us proud!

For those member who would like to sponsor Steve this year (and any amount appreciated) you can email or call Diane in the office and ask her to charge your account. the club will then forward the sponsorship dollars onto Steve. The season started late and the tournament schedule is packed but Steve has already had a couple of 2nd place finishes and now a victory.

Lets get behind our guys and see how many W's Whitevale can rack up in a season.

Below is the full Press Release:

Whitevale GC pair wins 2014 PGA of Ontario Pro/Pro Championship presented by Boutique Pro Golf

For Immediate Release
May 27, 2014

GEORGETOWN - As the old saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed, try again," so that's exactly what Kevan Goble and Steve Rodriguez took to the bank winning the 2014 PGA of Ontario Pro Pro Championship presented by Boutique Pro Golf at The Club at North Halton.

While many of the two-person teams in this popular PGA of Ontario championship have been trying to win this one for years, some for decades, Goble and Rodriguez, made good in only their second appearance together as they carded a sweet 7-under par 65 to take the title by a single shot over the pairings of Craig Marseilles and Brian McCann and Gary Jeffery and Bruce Rogerson at 6-under, 66.

"Last year I resodded the lawn the day before this championship and it caught up with me as the day went on," said Rodriguez who works at Whitevale Golf Club with Goble. "This time around Kevan threatened to decapitate me if I did any yard work so I just took it easy on Sunday."

They made an early charge with consecutive birdies on the first four holes they played. That set the tone for much of the afternoon at the Club at North Halton, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. "We had one bogey last year and one bogey this year, both on the same hole, No. 14," Goble said, noting they may play it a little different in 2015! The duo shared a first-place cheque for $3,200.

The Whitevale twosome was paired with the team of Josh Growden and two-time winner Ken Fulton, who won back in 1978 with Phil Brownlee and then in 2001 with Tim McKeiver. "Josh and Ken made a pile of birdies and we seemed to keep feeding off each other. It was awesome to play with a guy who won this event over 30 years ago and is still playing it today. We'd be lucky to have a swing like Kenny 30 years from now," said Rodriguez, who is focusing on bringing his game up a notch or two with his sights set on playing competitive golf at a higher level. Rodriguez and Goble lost in a playoff last October in the PGA of Ontario Fall Scramble and they were one shot from a playoff earlier this month at the PGA of Ontario Assistants' Team Championship.

"If one of them wasn't near the hole, the other one was and they just kept making the putts," Fulton noted. "Accept for the one bogey they were pretty solid and fun to watch."

Six teams finished T4 at 5-under par, 67 including; Alf Callowhill/Joshua Doan, Dan Clark/Frank McMulkin, Danny King/Ed Maunder, John Rushnell/Bill Walsh Jr., Ken Tarling/John White and Ron Kenesky/Matt Peavoy.

For the first time in recent memory the championship was filled to capacity and there was a waiting list for others hoping to get a spot. "It's a great gathering of all the boys, a reunion with some of the seniors like Dan Clark, and an opportunity to see some of the young guns bomb it past each other," said three-time Pro Pro Champion Bob Panasik, who played in a group that included; Ryan Hughes, Danny King and Ed Maunder. "It's one of those days that you can share some stories, have some fun and go home with a few more new stories for next year."


For more information please contact:

Kevin Purcell
Executive Director
PGA of Ontario

Men's Opening Field Day

The say good things come to those who wait. Well, we waited and waited and waited, finally Mother Nature gave us a weekend we could only dream of a few short weeks ago.

And the lad's took over the course for the Men's Opening Field Day.........

 Tee's pushed all the way back on #7 today, what a view.

Standing room only in the courtyard as the results are being calculated.

With his team finishing second last, Captain Campbell has called for an immediate audit of handicaps and pairings.

The audit showed no significant issues (although Glenn as the B player is still being debated). Nevertheless, congrats to the 2014 Men's Opening Camps. The Team of Brian, Glenn, Brian and Kevin.

Women's Opening Field Day

Women's opening field day was held today with half of the lady members participating.

All we can say about that is.....................


Whitevale Women you rock!!

Court yard is packed and the scores get added up.

Will never get used to the view up #18 without the clubhouse.
 

As Kevan would say, not much wrong with Lisa's swing in this picture.

The 2014 Women Opening Field Day Champs! Marilyn, Kandice, Dee and Lori. Congratulation ladies.

Finally, opening day

One month to the day from the originally planned 2014 opening day, and we finally have opened the doors to the new golf season. A rain event over night dumped 3/4" and made for a damp course. We allowed power carts out after roping off the wettest areas. If you were out on the golf course this morning you would have had the chance to see the greens as we pulled tarps off long enough to mow them. With a current temperature of only 9 and a forecasted low of 2, the tarps are already back in place. I am happy to report we have had significant growth over the last 12 days on all greens..

 



Here is the 2nd green on May 1st

And here is the 2nd green this morning, May 16th

16th green on May 1st

And these two pictures both taken this morning before the mower was on it

 

All greens have made good progress, but are still very young and fragile. Many members have asked me this morning when these green will open. It's just to early to say. We need some realistic temperatures so we can remove the tarps for good and begin mowing everyday to help promote lateral growth. At this point they look good, but have no density to them whatsoever. It is vital we don't put play on them too early. Allowing the traffic onto new turf too early will significantly set them backwards and put them under stress just before the heat of summer hits us which will make them weak and susceptible to the summer stresses.

We are also continuing to prune broken and hung up branches from the canopy of our trees. If you see this 50 foot boom Genie working please stay far away as branches will be falling to the ground constantly and the operator has very poor visibility of the area below his work platform.

My entire crew deserve a huge thank you from me as well as every member for getting the course to where it is for opening day. If it wasn't for their work ethic and dedication to this golf course we would not have accomplished so much over the last month. Well done gang! A staff Bar-b-q on the 30th of May hardly seem reward for all you have done this spring.

Opening Day

A few more days and we will finally be open for the 2014 season. It sounds like the excavation for the clubhouse will be finished for Friday. This is great news as we currently have dump trucks running around like mad finding new locations to dump the fill created.

We did take advantage of having the heavy equipment on site to create a new path for the season. This will lead members from the parking lot, behind the temporary trailers and to the first tee. We have been able to make it large enough to allow power carts to travel on it. However, this is a temporary path and we may have to repair it at times throughout the season.

When the snow finally left us we thought the new range tee, all 2 acres of it didn't make it through the winter. The good news is we see some life.
Look close but you can see the germination has started.

The two practice greens on the North side of the entrance road look great.

For those coming to the club this weekend, please remember the bridge in the village is closed for the season.