Waukewan Golf Club News

 

2020 Season Newsletter

Ok. So. This 2019 season seemed to be the most challenging year under our ownership to date, and Jill, I, and the rest of the Waukewan staff would like to thank you for your patience throughout the season. We really got beaten up badly weather wise after closing last fall, and the course certainly showed it this spring. In April, I began receiving calls from nearby clubs asking how we had made it through the winter and could tell by the tone of their voices that they were running scared and that there were going to be some difficult challenges to face upon returning from Florida, which there were. Many clubs lost a few greens, some like us lost more, and some lost all. The grounds crew really did pour their heart and souls into this season’s recovery process and though it really did take all season to get most of the greens healthy due to the two opening months of rain, they should be commended for their season long dedication to the task. Again, all of us at Waukewan want to thank our members for your support as we tried to keep pace with the challenging year Mother Nature presented us. Let’s see if we can catch a break in 2020 with some great weather and conditions.

 

After the season wound down, there seemed to be some blasts from last year’s past as the rains began coming more frequently and we had some howling wind storms in late October as well as for the final tournament of the season, the White Mountain Seniors. We had a hell of a storm the night before the event, and the WM Seniors decided that they were going to forge ahead and hold the event the following day. We did a quick cleanup, adjusted some cart signs, and just as we was signaling all clear, a one hundred foot pine tree crashed down on top of a sixty foot maple landing across the 16th cart road and white tee box. I was stunned for one as I was approaching from the 15th green and it almost took me out, but additionally the WM Seniors were in the process of taking the course and it could’ve been a lot worse. We advised them of the situation and they concluded that they would have to be on their toes and move quickly. A brave bunch they were, and I watched the first group tee off on 16 and have most of the balls blown directly back at them due to the force of the wind. Sorry to digress, but that morning was truly something. That story leads me to the few days that followed. We had a bunch more golfers that weekend and everyone seemed to enjoy their last rounds of the season at Waukewan. Our crew pulled together early the following week and with the help of Bob Santos, Bill Perham, and I, the grounds crew got all 19 greens covered in a day’s time. Nobody that was there that day could remember such a well organized and efficient process from year’s past. A sense of teamwork and satisfaction enveloped us at the end of the day and the freezing temperatures and snowflakes flew very shortly thereafter. It was nice to have this process complete and to see other clubs struggling to stay open for another couple weeks. In the end, those clubs cut it short and scrambled to get covers down on frozen ground.

 

This year, much of our attention was diverted from performing course improvements due to our efforts in working with the greens, but Arvid and Richie did spend some time trimming up the tree line between holes 12 and 13 and we hope that you enjoy the peek-a-boo views between these two holes. In addition to esthetics and playability, this process helps promote additional airflow to help wick moisture from the 13th fairway. Any moisture wicking in that area is better than none at all. We hope to concentrate on investigating the source of some soft areas around greens most notably in front of number 6 in the coming season. Some of these problems may be a result of faulty irrigation or simply drainage. We did add an updated roughs and surrounds mower to our fleet this spring which worked out very well, and as the season wore on, it was apparent that our two approach mowers may not make it into the 2020 season. We were able to procure two sister machines from another club to replace both approach units near the end of the season and should be in great shape when the winter season releases its reins on the course and allows us to get back to business. In addition, we were able to allocate dollars to capital improvement by paving part of the parking lot from the even cart shed around to the pro shop and odd cart shed and over to the first tee area which eliminated all the humps and whoop-d-dos that we’ve all known and loved. We hope to continue to consider these types of purchases and improvements to provide you with better playing conditions and experiences year after year.

 

The dates of tournaments and events currently booked are attached in the pages that follow for your planning purposes to the upcoming 2020 season. Please remember to check our Web Site’s calendar on-line as additions and changes to scheduled events will be posted there as we progress throughout the year. We will be changing our club championship scheduling to a one weekend event this year as it has become increasingly difficult to schedule all the matches to be played in each division by the end of August. Only one bracket completed its matches this past year so there were no winners in the Championship or 2nd flight. We will continue to focus on rebuilding and gaining interest in future club tournaments to provide interesting and challenging competition amongst our membership. We pulled back on these events a bit last season due to course conditions but our desire is to continue with scheduling them this season and rallying your support to make them successful. We especially enjoy hosting your member-guest as it gives you the opportunity to treat your guest to a day of golf at Waukewan. Another pleasure for us is to see you all at the customer appreciation day. Jill, I, and the Waukewan staff hope to continue this tradition. We would like to again thank all our members who commit to join early. This is important to all of us at Waukewan as much of the course improvement, maintenance, and planning is done for the year to come in the off season. These early membership’s provide us with the capability to follow through and complete many maintenance projects in the off-season. As a reminder, if you do wish to join as a member for the 2019 season, please take note of the discounts available to you for early signup by January 20th and February 17th. After February 17th the discounts will no longer be available to you and pricing will revert to full list price for the remainder of the year. If you choose to continue your membership over the coming years we hope that you observe and enjoy the playing conditions and improvements that are being provided for you. As always, we are committed to making Waukewan Golf Club the best golfing experience possible! Have a Merry Christmas and a safe, Happy New Year to follow. Yours Truly, Tim, Jill and the Entire Waukewan Staff