by Brian Duthu
Pro Shops
Total revenue for April exceeded both budget and prior year, despite a sharp decline in public play. For the year we are $28,000 behind budget and $69,000 behind prior year.
Get Golf Ready classes proved to be popular this year and were well attended. From November through May 108 students attended the classes. Demand for the classes increased from prior year. The Get Golf Ready program is a national initiative of the PGA of America to introduce people to the game of golf, in a setting that is not intimidating.
On Tuesday, May 19th, we conducted our annual USGA visit, with Brian Whitlark. Mr. Whitlark is an Agronomist for the USGA, representing the Southwest Region. A key component of these visits is putting green condition, particularly as it relates to our summer agronomic practices. In an effort to reduce the disruption caused by aerification, we began our first full year of performing dual aerifications on each course on back to back days. This process enables us to eliminate May aerifications, thus providing additional play days for our summer golfers, free of disruption. During our course visits with Mr. Whitlark, the greens did not display any adverse effects from this process.
In addition to his annual visit, Mr. Whitlark also made a visit to the North course on April 23rd, to give his assessment on the condition of the greens as they were coming out of dormancy. Though the greens have performed as we expected, we felt it important to have a 3rd party review. To quote from his report, “Not overseeding the greens was definitely the correct decision and as a result, the bermuda grass is healthy and emerging from winter dormancy. During the first year after such renovation, regardless of the grass, the greens will be firm. It is part of the maturation process and will take at least two years for the greens to be more receptive to incoming golf shots.” Also, included in his assessment were recommendations for continuing fertilization and some tree removal recommendations, to provide better sunlight. Mr. Whitlark was impressed with the progress the North greens made in between his visits.
Courses
Fairway aerification began May 18 at South and continues through June 19 at Willowbrook. The full schedule can be found online at www.suncitygolfing.com.
The Riverview project remains on schedule. Final preparation in advance of seeding began on the 5th hole. Grassing is scheduled to begin June 2nd and will begin with the placement of sod around green complexes. Once the sod collars are in place, sprigging of the greens will begin. Grassing of the course is expected to be finished in early July. It is important to remember that we will follow the same process of not overseeding the greens the first season following the renovation. This decision is made to protect the greens for the long term. Pigment will be applied, to give the greens color during the winter season. The greens and disturbed areas will require the same amount of maturing as North and should be expected to play firm in the first two years.
The Board will vote today on a motion to revise the long range plan, including the decision to switch irrigation projects at Lakes East and Willowcreek/Willowbrook. With the recent renovations to North and Riverview, the Board and Management felt it was important to place a pause in between projects that include green renovations. This pause will provide another year of maturity for the North greens and allow for an additional year of maturity for the Riverview greens, before beginning another green renovation.
In order to provide a greater chance of a successful overseed, we will begin overseeding later this year, with a start date of October 5th. The later start will provide greater chance of achieving optimal temperatures during the overseed process. In addition to scheduling, we will also be changing seed providers and are evaluating the possibility of expanding overseed around the green complexes.
Snack Shops
Snack Shops exceeded budgeted revenue goals in April. We continue to adjust snack shop closing time based on demand. The scheduled closing time for May is 3:00pm and moves to 1:00pm beginning June 1st.