FCCC Club Connection May 2014 | Page 5

GROUNDS UPDATE Spring is definitely here! Soil temperatures are starting to rise, trees are starting to bud, and the grass is growing a little more every day. With all this happening we have been very busy getting things on the course ready for a great season. FORE the ladies TEAM MATCH PLAY It’s time to join the FUN, be a part of a team, play someone new, and challenge yourself! You choose: who you play your match with from the other team; when you play your match; your team and team name. Scoring: if you win you earn three points for your team, a tie earns two points and if you lose you receive one point for showing up! Cost: $30 billed through the Club. At the end of the season the winning team earns $50 and the losing team earns $10. Please join us for team selections on May 1 at the Club at 5 PM. Contact Lindy Marvin at [email protected] or Suzy Wells at [email protected] with questions. THEME MATCH PLAY This year’s theme, “New York, New York,” exudes excitement and this season we are excited to offer another match play option. This format establishes teams according to the number of participants and handicaps. Each player will have an assigned match to be completed within the month. This year, casts from various Broadway hits will compete. The cast of “Jersey Boys” may play the cast of “Phantom of the Opera” in May and then in June the “Jersey Boys” cast may be playing the cast of “Lion King.” Each month you will be assigned a match worth six points for a win, three for a tie and zero for a loss. If the players cannot arrange a date to play within the month, each player will receive three points. Mike Veile Grounds Superintendent Aerification was moved back a week due to snow, but everything has been punched, top dressed, seeded and fertilized. Greens were core aerified this year and not deep tined. The reason being we have not pulled cores for a few years and I wanted to make sure that we removed the soil profile out of the top few inches instead of the solid deep tines that go down about a foot. We will be continuing our projects as we do every spring with bunker work, course clean up, and of course getting all the heights cut down to playing conditions. We have already gone through and edged the bunkers but we will be putting sand in them most of the month in preparation for member/guest. The native has all been sprayed with herbicide to help prevent weeds, the rough has also been spot sprayed. We have sprayed the greens twice now with a chemical to reduce the seed heads on poa annua grass. This is another way we’re trying to better the results of inter seeding bent grass on the greens to make a more uniform playing surface. Fungicides have also been sprayed on greens and tees as we did in the last few years as a preventative measure for diseases like dollar spot, fairy ring and anthracnose. This year is an exciting year with all the changes and with that brings more projects that we will be doing in house. We are working on building a retaining wall behind the driving range tee to accommodate a fire lane. This is a very extensive and complicated project that should be done by member/ guest. If you have any questions about the project as you see us working please feel free to come over and we can explain in more detail. We will have construction fences on the range which will change how we set the range and operate on a daily basis. In the end, we will be creating a very unique and professional practice facility that no other course around will have, so please be understanding. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions through this process. My email is [email protected] or you can call me at 970-482-1957. Thank you and we look forward to a great season. If you are interested in this more structured match play please contact Kathy Mason at [email protected]. If you are new to the Club or match play, this format takes the guesswork out of with whom to play. CLUB CONNECTION :: 5