Waukewan Golf Club News
2019 Season Newsletter
Well, you folks nailed it again this year. 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 conjured up. It was nice to see our members, guests, and tournament players enjoying their time at Waukewan. Let’s set sights on 2019 for some great weather and conditions as we get together next year for another golf season.
As mentioned, the weather this season was a topic of discussion around the clubhouse. Season to season saw many changes which created many challenges for our grounds crew. We golfed through a spring and fall that were non-existent while enduring blistering heat followed by record rains in between and made the best of it. The grounds crew is a dedicated group, met these weather challenges very well, and would like to extend their gratitude for your patience as we worked through the changing conditions. The fact is, the rains didn’t stop after course closure, but rather turned to snowflakes. I have got to say that the last week of October and continuing through the beginning of December have proven to be a challenge in shutting the course down. During that period, we experienced heavy rainfalls, some nighttime temperatures down to zero degrees, some daytime temps that couldn’t seem to reach twenty degrees, and by my accounting, have received just over two feet of snow. Last year we closed a few days early due to frost, whereas this year we closed a few days early due to high water. All clubs in the area have experienced one difficulty or another in getting chemicals down and/or greens covered due to the snowfall and are still waiting for an opportunity finish up. We have continued the purchasing of replacement covers for the greens to cycle out damaged covers and to help ensure adequate protection throughout the winter months.
This year we continued to make repairs to our irrigation system and were able to remove many rocks from the upper 13th fairway (again), as well as remove rocks and regrade a number troublesome cart paths along the 5th hole, adjacent to the 12th tee box, and between the 13th and 14th holes. In addition, we began trimming up the woods line between the 12th and 13th holes and will continue that effort as we enter the new season. We also had time after the course closed to improve the ditch line that carries water around the lower 13th fairway so that the water flow won’t overrun its banks as easily and add to the drainage issues that persist on that part of the fairway. Lastly, I’ve said this before but I won’t let this dream die. We still have a great desire bring new life to some of the old forward tees that have not been in use for many years and add others where they do not currently exist. Some were put in play this past season while attempts were being made to make repairs on some of our traditional tee boxes. We will continue to pursue that goal as we enter the 2019 golf season.
We were able to add a critical piece of equipment to the maintenance of our greens in the form of an updated greens mower. We purchased this mower from the Longmeadow Country Club in Massachusetts in great condition with low hours. Our primary greens mower to that point had over 8,000 hours on it and although it is still a capable unit, we have moved that mower into position as a backup to our recent purchase. We hope to continue to consider these types of purchases to provide you with better playing conditions 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 2019 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 continue to focus on rebuilding and gaining interest in club tournaments to provide interesting and challenging competition amongst our membership. 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.
League play for 2019 will continue on the historical days of the week. Ladies league will be on Tuesdays, and couples league will be on Mondays. Men’s league will continue to be on Thursday. These leagues are fun for all! If you wish to play in the men’s or ladies league you must sign up early before the season begins. The couple’s league is a week to week sign up with no long term commitment.
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 projects. 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 21st and February 18th. After February 18th 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. We are committed to making Waukewan Golf Club the best golfing experience possible!
Yours Truly,
Tim, Jill and the Entire Waukewan Staff