News

The biggest question right now at the Club: When does the driving range open? We are busy finishing up some leveling of areas that settled over the winter and are seeding some bare or thin areas that need more grass. The main reason we’ve been waiting to open is for the turf to get some maturity to it. That being said, the answer is May 17! There’s more work yet to be finished, but players can start using the range. Thanks for bearing with us!

The parking lot paving will be close to being finished or be fully finished by the time you read this article. Once again, thanks for being patient with the process. It’s not an easy task trying to work around all of the daily activity at EVCC and having all of the large equipment operating and trying to make it all work together. The rainy weather has made the parking lot paving a tougher job than what it really needed to be, however the areas that are finished look awesome. The lot being finished and the new driving range area have really added some top-notch curb appeal to the Club.

The golf courses are off to a great start and are playing very well. The spring has brought plenty of rain so the roughs are thick and playing very tough right now. It’s challenging to keep the rough mowed at this time of the year. The good news is that we are having extremely good success finding employees to work. We don't fully staff until the end of May or the beginning of June. If you’ve been out golfing, you may have noticed our team verti-slicing the tee tops, along with sand topdressing them and verti-cutting the fairways. Sorry for any inconvenience but this is part of our process to have healthy turf and a firmer playing surface.

Once the rain holds off for a few days in a row, we are hoping to finish-grade the soil around the pump house area and have that area seeded back to grass. We are still working on cleaning up stump grindings and getting those areas filled with soil. The tree work was pretty well completed over the winter months, which I might add was shorter than normal. So, in the meantime, take relief from the stump hole areas when playing golf.

Pin positions and the StrackaLine system are an ongoing process for making the cup cutting easier and more consistent. We are aware that we are still having some issues with pin position on occasion and are continuously trying to minimize any bad pin placements. We have been in contact with StrackaLine and have been able to acquire some newer technology from them that’s more useful when working with undulating greens. We are currently in the process of reevaluating every green in comparison to the StrackaLine setup, after acquiring their latest technology and are having to make some changes for the better. The faster the greens are, the smaller the margin for error when placing the cups.

I hope everyone enjoys the new driving range set-up. The iron-only teeing area is an excellent addition to practice from and the defined targets with a large teeing area are a must. The Ridge halfway house is also getting a needed face lift and should be completed soon. If you haven't already noticed, those rest rooms are non-functioning at this time.

It almost feels like we are in mid-season already, after starting golf in February. Come on out and enjoy your Club!

See you on the golf course,

Jeff Holmes, CGCS
Golf Course Manager