by Brian Duthu
Pro Shops
Golf Division slightly exceeded budgeted revenue goals despite a slow start to the year due to weather. After February 2017 the Golf Division was behind prior year rounds by 5,059 rounds and 2,252 rounds behind prior year through June. By the end of 2017 the Golf Division exceeded prior 2016 by 504 rounds, exceeding prior year from the period of March through December by 5,563 rounds.
On February 15, 2018, Lakes East/Lakes West will be hosting the 10th annual Teal Ribbon Tournament. This 9 hole event is open to ladies and men with no handicap required; 9:30am shotgun start and lunch follows play at Sundial. Proceeds benefit the University of Arizona Cancer Center for Ovarian Cancer research. The entry fee is $30.00 per person, entry forms may be picked up and turned in to any pro shop.
We have received the new Ping G400 Irons for our fitting cart so we now have G400, G, G Max, I200, I Blades and Ladies GLe for fittings and demos. If you are interested in a custom fitting give us a call and schedule a fitting. We also have Ping G400 Drivers, Fairway Woods and Hybrids for our residents to Demo on the course at Riverview. We can match most prices with any of the Big Box stores on current year models so don’t just grab a set off of the wall, come down and get custom fit for your next set.
Snack Shops
The replacement for the South Clubhouse remains on track for this year. A firm date for construction is not yet available; however, we are planning for construction to begin in May 2018. The decision has been made to demolish the current building and build the new building over the footprint of the existing building. During construction, pro shop operations will be staged out of a trailer. Food and Beverage options will be limited to prepackaged snacks and canned beverages. We thank everyone in advance for their understanding and patience.
Golf Courses
The preliminary aerification/overseed schedule was presented to the Golf Advisory Committee during the January meeting. Fairway verticutting continues to be in May. This process thins out the remaining rye grass, opening the grass canopy for more sunlight. The additional sunlight allows the bermuda grass to emerge from dormancy with more vigor. The end result is a smoother transition from rye to bermuda, though it does not completely eliminate transition. Fairway aerification helps to relieve compaction in the fairways and allows for more oxygen to reach the roots. Greens aerification removes organic matter and provides more oxygen to the roots. We have not scheduled an overlap period of complete course closures this year for overseeding. However, should it be apparent that temperatures will not be optimal for an October 1st start, the first set of courses will have their start date moved to October 8th and their reopen date pushed to October 27th. Should this change be necessary, an overlap of complete course closures will be the result.
We respectfully remind all golfers to please practice only in designated areas. We have begun to see an increase of hitting outside these areas. We rotate areas on a regular basis to allow the driving range to recover. We understand that often golfers are looking for a pristine spot to practice from, however this can impact the experience of other golfers. To that end we also ask that everyone becomes mindful of their divots and ask that everyone keep your divots in a line, meaning that where ever you start, you place your ball directly behind the divot of your previous shot. This practice uses much less area and is easier to maintain.
Grounds/Lawn Bowl
After checking the irrigation sprinklers at Bell Lawn Bowl, it was determined that the arch of the spray is hitting the new retractable awnings. We are currently looking at a way to avoid this overthrow. The newly sodded areas at Mountain View green are beginning to smooth out and should be healed back before going dormant.
In an effort to control dust, the grounds crew will begin applying water during the monthly maintenance at Duffeeland Dog Park.
Plantings are underway at the Marinette Center, following repairs to the irrigation system.