The Maple Ridge Messenger 1-1-08

Thank you for your support during 2007 … we look forward to Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2008 and wish you the same. The outlook and goals for 2008 are much the same as they were last year…continue as a private club and continue to grow the membership to strengthen our position within the Columbus market. We strive to achieve that goal by continuing to provide a high level of service, diverse opportunities for our members to utilize the facility, and the best playing conditions on our challenging course. In short…give you the best value possible. This is our pledge to you our members.

Tom Kubik, General Manager

WHAT'S COOKIN'…

The much-anticipated new menu is just about done and will make its debut in January. Inez Williams has moved on to take a full time position as Grandmother and will be greatly missed. We wish her the best, but she may be back to make a few guest appearances if we need her in a pinch. Bill Williams will be working more hours and will continue to tempt us with his homemade desserts.

Happy 2008 !!!

Dick Esterson, Food and Beverage Director

MEMBERSHIP SURGES IN LATE DECEMBER

What a great bunch of new members we’ve added at Maple Ridge during the past couple of weeks! It seems a number of people we’ve been talking to for awhile decided to treat themselves to a holiday gift that will last all of 2008, and, we hope, well beyond! We’ve also seen substantial results from our late-fall incentives designed to give prospects reasons to join before the New Year.

Please welcome the following new members and, when possible, help make them feel at home by inviting them into your foursome: Jimmy Clark and Emiliano Tosic (Full members), Doran Fortune and Shane McDougall (Junior members), Zack Smith (Student member), Bob Chrzanowski (pronounced Sher-now-ski), Mike Roland, Milton Sills and Michael Dempsey (Weekday members)and Anthony Braswell (Military member).   Additionally, James Clemmons upgraded to a full membership from Weekday status.

We are on the verge of signing up several more individuals in the first few days of January, and we appreciate our sponsoring members in roughly half the new memberships. As a reminder, when a new Full member lists an existing member as a sponsor, the latter receives $125 credit to his or her account. Weekday membership referrals will earn you a couple of free cart fees. Thanks for helping us fuel the momentum as we head into a slam-bang Maple Ridge New Year!

Rick Jacobson, Director of Sales and Marketing

CHERYL'S SLICES

Happy 2008!   I hope each of you had a warm and wonderful Holiday Season. As a new season approaches, remember there is a reason why golf is known as the “game for a lifetime”. You can spend a lifetime trying to master it. So, part of any rationale for sharpening your game is being realistic about how far and fast you can hope to progress. Golf is a tough game. If it were easy, it would not be so engaging.

And that’s the point: Enjoying the game should be your primary goal. Low scores are desirable only if they make playing fun. And in many cases, you’ll make lower scores only when you let go—when you stop taking it so seriously, when you forget about all of the song and dance that we’ve built around the game and simply …. swing!

I hope you “SWING” into the New Year enjoying your game of golf, and making 2008 the best it can be!

By the way, we’ll host a reception for new members and their sponsors the evening of Tuesday, January 22. Invitations will be mailed soon.   That day is also a bonus play-day for members and invited guests. Look for details in our mid-month newsletter on the first “Member For A Day” promotion of 2008.

Cheryl Klobe, Sales and Marketing Manager

RULE OF THE MONTH

Free Drop – Understand and don’t abuse !!!!!

You are entitled to relief without penalty if your stance or intended swing interferes with any of these situations: IMMOVABLE OBSTRUCTION (something man made and permanently attached, not intended to be part of the golf course). CASUAL WATER or ABNORMAL GROUND CONDITIONS. (standing water, burrowing animals).  

Procedure for relief: 

1. You must take complete (complete means only one thing) relief. Unless you are in a bunker.
2. You must find your nearest point of relief no closer to the hole. When determining your nearest point you must include your stance. Note… Your nearest point may not be very good. Don’t touch your ball until this point is determined.
3. You only get (1) club length from the determined nearest point of relief.
4. The ball may be cleaned.

These are just the bullet points for such situations. Please refer to the USGA Rules of Golf for the complete rulings.

Mike Gill , Director of Golf

LET'S TALK TURF 

A New Year … It’s January and it’s cold for the moment, the year is off to a great start! 

While the sub-freezing weather prevents us from many outdoor activities, the finishing touches are being reviewed on this year’s SWOT analysis. This acronym stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT has worked well for the maintenance department in our effort to measure the previous year’s performance as well as prioritize our goals for 2008. 

Some topics that we review during the SWOT analysis include specific playing areas such as greens, tees, fairways, roughs, bunkers, water hazards, woods, and the practice range. The analysis also includes non – playing area subjects such as clubhouse & roadside grounds, cart paths, irrigation & drainage, facilities, equipment, and most importantly personnel.

Douglas Smith, CGCS