THE MAPLE RIDGE MESSENGER

The Official Newsletter of Maple Ridge Golf Club, Columbus, Ga.

JANUARY 1, 2010 EDITION

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!                                               Tom Kubik, General Manager

Out with the Old and in with the New.  Happy 2010!  We want to close out 2009 by once again thanking our members for your support and our employees for all of their efforts to make Maple Ridge such a great place to work and play.   

We want to encourage all of our members to take advantage of the many activities both golf and social in the coming year.  To that end, we have partnered with the Men’s Golf Association and will be billing existing members your annual dues ($25) on the January 31 Maple Ridge Club billing.  The January MGA Tournament will be open to the entire Maple Ridge Membership in hope that after playing in the event, you will want to become a part of this great organization.  If you do not want your dues billed on the January billing, please contact Mike Gill, Tom Kubik, or Jim Railey prior to January 25 to give us time to make the necessary changes.  We also ask that our ladies and juniors join and become active in the LGA and JGA for 2010.

May the New Year bring you Good Health, Happiness, and Prosperity!

2010 IS A WELCOME FOR GOLF, GOODBYE 2009!!        Mike Gill, Director of Golf

Upcoming:  MGA (Men’s Golf Association) Tournament Sat., Jan. 23 - Team event.   Super Bowl Scramble, Chili Contest and Super Bowl Golf Shop Sale:  Sunday, February 7.

Results from the New Year’s Day Resolution Challenge (best 2-of-4 balls):  1st Gross (144):  Jason Stansell, Brian Willliams, Tony Nguyen, Jason Burdette;  2^nd Gross (144):  Elliott Kirven, Bill Dixon, Clyde Hopson, Tom Shaffer.    1st Net (135):  Michael Lee, Bryant Matthews, Kane O'Bryan, Jimmy Beck;  2^nd Net (137):  Ben Martin, Gregg Osborn, Neil Snoddy, Bill Dixon.  Twelve teams competed in all on a wet, chilly day (sound familiar?).

MGA News -- All MGA members will automatically be billed their 2010 dues on the February statement; the dues are $25 for the year. If you wish not to join let Tom Kubik know, however I would like to remind everyone what the MGA does for the club besides tournaments. The MGA has donated legacy gifts to the club, the flat screen TV's, ceiling fans, blinds in the window of the grille, benches on the course, ball washers on the course. They have donated thousands of dollars to the First Tee of Columbus and in scholarship monies to our juniors. So please -- if you are not a member, please consider joining.

MGA Dinner Thurs., Jan. 21 - Recent new male members of Maple Ridge, age 18 and over, will be treated to their first MGA event (beef tenderloin entrée) by Brent Burns ReMax Prime Realty, whose initial sponsorship runs through March!   One more reason to take part in the MGA!  A brief meeting follows the dinner, and both poker and Corn-Hole tourneys follow.

Eight hardy youngsters completed 18 holes in the Junior Holiday Golf Tournament on Tuesday, December 29.  Daniel Davis (87), Zac Shellnutt (91) and Patrick Edwards (92) posted low gross scores.  Other competitors were Warren Gallatin, Crawford Ledbetter, Turner Butterfield, Tyler Butterfield, Landon Dupre, Preston Campbell & Carter Mauldin.

LET’S TALK TURF                      Doug Smith, Certified Golf Course Superintendent

A New Year -- So now is a great time to do some early spring cleaning, analyzing and organizing around the office and maintenance shop as well as review accomplishments, set goals and create new to-do lists.

Some of the accomplishments we will review from 2009 are the grassing project on the left of #5, the bunker renovations on #4, 5 & 7, and the “chipping green” conversion to TifEagle.   A top priority to be placed on our “to-do” list for 2010 will be to complete the #9 spillway project.   Other priorities on the “to-do” list will include continuing with bunker renovations and tree removal projects as well as changing our fairway mowing procedure to create larger landing areas. 

And as always our #1 item on the “goal setting” list is to provide the best playing conditions possible within budget so Maple Ridge will be the best it can be in 2010!

BREAKING 90 IN ‘09: A GOOD THING!    Rick Jacobson, Dir. of Sales & Marketing

          With a big push in the last two weeks of December, we’ve been able to add five fine new members to Maple Ridge, with several more promising to join us right after the holidays.  Counting only those who have made it official gets us to exactly ninety (90) new members in 2009, a fairly satisfying result given the difficult economy for the entire year.  In 2010, I’d love to see us get closer to the 150 new members we brought in the previous calendar year.

Glad to have you with us, new Weekday Members Tom Moore (a relatively young retiree who has organized outings here for Wynnbrook Baptist Church) and Hillary Carnley (retired senior vice president of Liberty National Insurance, in the process of relocating from Eclectic, AL).  Also, let’s welcome three new Student Members:  Preston Campbell, Patrick Edwards and Warren Gallatin!  11-year-old Patrick (grandson of member Mick Longstreet) plays on the Blackmon Road Middle School golf team, 11-year-old Preston (new to the game) hopes to join his classmate on the team, and 10-year-old Warren attends the new Creekside Intermediate School in Harris County.  All played in last week’s Holiday Junior Golf Tourney.

Allow me to remind you of our “New Golfer” membership, created for the holiday season, but appropriate for all seasons and attractive to the beginning player who wants to get comfortable with his or her swing before taking it onto the course.  This three-month, $500 trial membership gives you unlimited use of our practice range, three lessons with PGA pros Mike Gill and/or Gene Matthews, three small-group clinic sessions, four greens fees (when you’re ready to tackle the course) and $50 golf shop credit.  If you choose to join after three months, your initiation fee is halved!    We may come up with a condensed version, as well.

            Make this the year you act to learn this great game!  Call me: 706-569-0966 for details!

HANDICAPS HAVE BEEN BILLED!                    Susan McCollum, Member Services

The GSGA Handicap system charges remain unchanged for 2010, $25 for adults, $15 for juniors under the age of 18.  These charges have been billed on members’ December 31 statements.  If you are currently in the system and wish to continue maintaining your scores in the handicap system, then no action is necessary, but if, for any reason, you wish to be removed from the GHIN, please notify me before February 27 at smccollum@wcbradley.com.