By Bill Bray

As I write this article , the Charbonneau Golf Club ( CGC ) has completed a very successful , but challenging , second quarter ( we have a fiscal year April-March making our second quarter

BRAY

July-September ). This quarter is always the biggest and most important quarter in our financial year as it falls in the prime months for golf activity . Historically these three months provide over 40 % of our total revenue .

The first quarter gave us a poor start to the year as we had significant rainfall and essentially transitioned from winter to summer in June , with no spring . This was reflected in a big decrease in paid rounds from the prior year in the first quarter . The

second quarter provided us with a great rebound as our paid rounds for the three months exceeded 26,000 . With the great weather we have experienced in early October , we expect that golf rounds will continue to be up over the prior year . During the quarter , we had a significant increase in our annual golf memberships . At the end of September , we had 420 annual memberships compared to 318 at the same time in 2021 . Golfers are recognizing that CGC is a great value and fun place to play .

For those of you who play golf here , I think you will agree that the condition of our golf course this summer was the best ever . The greens have been in fantastic shape and we have several comments that they are the best greens in the metro area . The sanding program we initiated this year for the fairways is showing signs of turf improvement and will remain a priority for course maintenance for the next several years . Despite record temperatures over 90 F this summer , our new pump system allowed us to keep the fairways and greens properly irrigated . Our course superintendent , Matt Collier , and his crew have done a wonderful job . Finding labor and keeping labor has been a huge challenge for our maintenance operation as it has been for the landscape companies servicing

Charbonneau . The work ethic of Matt , Richie , Raf and Tracy - our key , long term employees on the maintenance crew - is beyond the call of duty .

Our new restaurant , The Market Café at Charbonneau , has also contributed to an improved golfing experience and prepared food option for our community . Our pizza offering has been a big hit and we expect that the take-out option for pizza will only increase in the coming months . The restaurant has also had a number of challenges to overcome . Unfortunately , adequate cooling and ventilation were not designed into the remodel , which resulted in very hot temperature in the food prep areas during the over 90 F weather . This not only affected our personnel working in the area , but also taxed all the equipment . This resulted in reduced operations and a limited menu at times during the summer . The CGC board just approved a sizeable investment in additional cooling and ventilation to be installed in December to eliminate the temperature issues . We had a great restaurant crew during the summer , but the majority were part time and have returned to school . Like numerous restaurants , we too have had difficulty staffing our restaurant operation which has put added workloads on our restaurant manager

, Nicole Guedon , and her crew . This has caused a temporary reduction in operations , with full service currently closed on Mondays and Tuesdays at the time this article was written . We appreciate the understanding and support we have received from our customers as we work through staffing issues in our restaurant and pro shop .

The suggested article theme for the November Charbonneau Villager is “ service .” While employees in our maintenance operation , restaurant and pro shop are compensated , I have witnessed an attitude of service to our customers that exceeds their pay . Much of this starts with our golf pro and general manager Chris Bensel . To offset staffing shortages in the pro shop and Market Café , Chris came in during his scheduled time off throughout September and October . This attitude has caused other employees to voluntarily sacrifice time off when needed . We know that the quality of our golf course , restaurant and merchandise are key to keeping our golf course profitable and self-sustaining . That quality level is very people-dependent and this is where the Charbonneau Golf Club shines . On behalf of our board of directors and customers , I thank our employees for their service .