Hello everyone,
And here comes August with mid 70s for temperatures, a very green course, and perfect weather! What a change from this time last year. I love seeing the sparkling green grass in the mornings this year versus last year's dust and burnt out areas.
I would like to ask everyone: staff, members, guests and visitors, if you are not feeling well, even if it's just a cold, please refrain from coming to the course. While you may feel it is not that bad, given the world and COVID, please think of others and take the time to get better before spreading the germs.
The new tees on holes #11 and #18 are open for the weekends only through August 8th. Starting on Monday, August 9th they will be open permanently.
On Monday, August 9th, all play will begin on hole #10. Remember, this is a late start Monday with tee times starting at 12pm.
As we move toward September, starting hours need to change as the daylight does not work for the dew sweepers. The tee box will start at 7am 7 days a week beginning on Saturday, August 21st. Starting Tuesday, September 7th, we will move to a 7:30am start.
The pub will now be open Tuesday - Sunday. For the Ladies League on Monday nights, you will still be able to get beverages before, during or after your round through the Golf Shop. In addition, we will be serving chips and salsa as you make your way to the deck after league play.
Events happening in August:
- Saturday, August 7th: Marcia G. Nappi Memorial Ladies Open
- Saturday - Sunday August 21st & 22nd: Member - Guest
- Wednesday, August 18th: Men's League Final
- Monday, August 23rd: Ladies League Final
- Tuesday, August 31sts: VGA Men's State Day
We are beginning to say goodbye to our college staff. Some are leaving in a week, others have a month left. Jake, Brody, Freddy, Thomas, Michael M., Caroline, Avery, Michael B, Will, Sam, Daniel...thank you for all your help this summer. Your contribution does not go unnoticed and we appreciate you!
Club Championship was decided after just one day of play due to a rainout on Sunday, July 18th. Congratulations to the 2021 Club Champions:
Jason Havers - Men's
Laura Cummings - Women's
Art Shields - Senior
Bob Davidson - Super Senior
Jack Bryan - Junior
The Member - Member Match Play Cup is down to the quarter-finals with the following scheduled to be played by August 9th:
Jason Havers & Aaron Havers vs. Bill Dewar & Bruce Hale
Bob Lehouiller & Jamie Rozzi vs. Doug Brassard & Rob McDougall
Ashley Bond & Meghan Sweezey vs Rich Anderson & Sean O'Brien
Individual Match Play Cup is sitting at the semi-finals with the next match is to be played on or before August 10th:
Jamie Rozzi vs Peter Garritano
Eve Norris vs Jim Morrissey
Junior Match Play has the finals to be played on or before August 13th:
Alex Partilo vs Cooper Guerriere
Good luck to all the remaining participants!
As always, if you have any questions or need any help, please do not hesitate to reach out to JP, Brody, Jake or myself. We are here for you.
Club Manager
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On the Left: Participating juniors in the 2021 Junior Club Championship
On the Right: New garden next to #4 tees. One of Mrs. Nappis favorite places on the course.
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LADIES' LEAGUE
3 Weeks Left...Register weekly by Saturday for Monday play
On Monday, August 9th we will be playing off #10!
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Drone Pictures Provided By John Suozzo |
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MARCIA G. NAPPI MEMORIAL LADIES OPEN
Register by Wednesday, August 4th - 40 Teams Max
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2-DAY MEMBER - GUEST
Register by Wednesday, August 18th - 40 Teams Max
Half Full Thus Far....Sign Up Before All Spots Are Gone!
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HELICOPTER BALL DROP
Proceeds for to Fire & Rescue for Charlotte, Shelburne and Hinesburg
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GOOFY GOLF
Register by Wednesday, September 29th
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Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 11am - 5pm
Wednesday: 11am – 8pm
Thursday: 9am - 5pm
Friday: 9am - 5pm
Saturday – Sunday: 9am – 4pm
The Golf Shop staff is happy to fill water bottles and get drinks or snacks when the pub is closed. Thank you to everyone for your continued support of the pub.
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In all my years of teaching and administering the game of golf, one of the things I find most fascinating is one’s approach to creating a swing and then repeating it. One of the questions I like to ask a student is, what are you trying to accomplish when swinging the club? The answer most of the time is, “I am just trying to hit the ball.” I believe in the philosophy that one must simply swing the club and let the golf ball get in the way of the club face. This may sound a little simplistic, but remember it is called a golf swing not a golf hit for a reason. The game is target orientated, therefore your focus should be on the target.
A golf shot consists of distance and direction, whether you are teeing off or putting the ball on the green. When creating a swing there are five basic elements that influence distance and direction. They are known as Ball Flight Laws. They are constant regardless of how you swing the club:
1. Clubhead speed (miles per hour)
2. Percussion point (sweet spot)
3. Angle of attack (swing down or sweep up)
4. Club path (inside out, outside to in)
5. Club face (square, open, closed)
A question I get asked a lot of the time is how does a player swing so easy, yet hit it so far and straight? The answer is the great use of leverage and timing. Brute strength is not the only answer. A great way to check yourself is to ask a simple question after you have swung the club. How much physical effort did I apply in relation to the result of the shot? If you physically worked very hard and produced very little you most likely are not leveraging the club correctly.
Learning to better leverage the club will improve your timing and the elements that go into distance and direction of a golf shot.
Enjoy the rest of the golf season.
Sincerely,
Director of Golf
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The Professional staff will be conducting a number of enjoyable and educational golf clinics for the membership this year. They are open to all members and free of charge. The clinic will be interactive, but most of all fun.
Our mission is simple, to enhance your enjoyment of the game. We will cover a number of topics with the main focus on improving your skills and knowledge of the game, but also enjoying the camaraderie of the members and staff. Listed below are the dates and topics to be covered this season.
8/12/21 – Bunker Play
8/26/21 – Woods and Hybrids
Clinics will be held on Thursdays starting at 5:00pm, and should run between an hour to an hour and half. We will meet at the Clubhouse and then head out to the appropriate facilities. Remember the game continues to change and evolve so there is always something new to learn. We look forward to seeing you at the clinics.
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Remember that brick I was talking about in my last newsletter? Well, it seems that the Gods do have a sick sense of humor because I have not run the irrigation since. It seems that my ritual in the woods on #11 has broken the spell of drought and brought about a bounty of green, albeit squishy, unplayable green. At least we get a glimpse of what is possible when you get a little bit of moisture in the ground as conditions continue to improve overall.
As quickly as the golf course can devolve into parched brick, it can also morph back to mud as the pitfalls of Kwini clay are exhibited on the opposite ends of the spectrum. In the last two weeks alone, we have received 5” of rain here at Kwiniaska. I’m not sure what rain rituals they do in the southern part of the state or in Massachusetts, but friends of mine in the industry have seen 12-15” of rain in the month of July. What that tells me is that it can always be worse and don’t smoke the grass clippings in a rain ritual.
During times of saturated conditions, as little as a few tenths of an inch of rain can return the golf course to unplayable condition and increase the likelihood of damage. We ask that you respect that fact and avoid all low areas or obvious wet areas, respect the signage and blocks and adhere to a strict 90 degree rule when you are allowed. Haphazard driving and ignoring the rules we have set up only increases the likelihood that you will end up somewhere you’re not supposed to be, causing damage that detracts from what we are trying to accomplish out there. In my department during these times I have a simple mandate, “Do No Harm!” It’s kind of the Hippocratic oath for turf guys. We also have, “If you f- it up, you fix it!”, but that’s a whole different conversation.
Sometimes in maintenance, we have to be out there in adverse conditions to keep things from getting too far away from us. The difference is that we know where the booby traps are and when to avoid them. So, don’t be a boob and get trapped in the mud. Stay on the path and in a few days, with any luck, the brick will return as will the unrealistic drives of the Kwini roll.
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Extending Your Scope of Influence
Whenever I use this term all I can picture is a psychotic nun whacking a misbehaving kid in the back of the head, the ruler, an extension of her influence. I suppose all superintendents at some point (okay, pretty much daily), dream of having that power over misbehaving golfers, although with something with a little more substantial than a ruler. If superintendents were locked up for their thoughts, we’d all be on Death Row.
When I use this phrase in a golf context, I mean extending the areas of turf that we bring a greater level of control to. In the golf maintenance world, the turf priorities are pretty clear. Greens take precedence, followed by tees, fairways, rough and so on. The further out you move from the green, the taller the grass and the less inputs you make, whether it be mowing, fertilizer, whatever. Obviously, you’re always trying to take care of them all at the same time, but there are the realities of time, budgets, weather and more pressing lately, labor. Sometimes you have to take them one at a time given your particular circumstances. Here at Kwini, we’ve obviously had a lot going on the last few years and a clear-cut approach has been elusive. As we move away from the larger, heavy lifting projects, conditioning moves more to the forefront. Over the last year, we have made great strides in improving the condition of the fairways and repairing the irrigation system. The fairway improvement is the #1 thing we probably hear about this past year. Gone is the clover and other broadleaf weeds that seem to linger in people’s memories as a defining characteristic of Kwini’s past. Although by no means perfect, the fairways have improved and it is now time to extend the reach of our influence. Weather permitting, we will soon begin pushing our boundaries from the edges of the fairways into the rough to try and clean out the weeds there and improve conditions off the fairways. We will slowly continue pushing our edges out until we run out of real estate. So just as we had technicolor fairways last year, you may see some interesting things in the rough as the weeds take their bow. There is always a mixture of grass with the weeds so the transformation won’t be as dramatic as with the fairways, but the result should be more consistent playing surfaces. From a superintendent’s perspective, this is a positive step forward, for those who can’t hit the ball off a tee let alone out of the rough, this may be a negative for their golf game. A ball sits up pretty well on a dandelion, but that’s not who we’re trying to be.
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Although we just barely finished July, the crisp mornings and having to wait for the sun to come up has us already thinking about the end of the season, even though we’re only at the midpoint. Unfortunately, however, later sunrises also mark the time of year when our college staff is mere weeks away from leaving us. I know I’ve spoken about the challenges of labor in today’s market before, but nothing brings that point more into focus than erasing half of the names from your job board over the course of a few days. Just when you get them to the point where they’re starting to master their jobs and feel more confident in their abilities, they start to think more about impending school work and keg parties. This is the reality of this business and we are in no means alone as golf courses nationwide are preparing for this inevitability over the next few weeks. Gone are the days of full-time employees that you have for the entire season. Like all industries, we are facing a new post pandemic labor reality. This has been a long developing curve in the golf industry so it is not taking anyone by surprise, but that doesn’t mean we’re not feeling the hit. Fortunately, I hope, the lure of working outside will always attract a certain portion of the population, for at least part of the year. Summers, hopefully, will be staffed appropriately, however it is the bookends of the year that will become increasingly difficult.
What does this mean for us? It means the return to the harsh realities of trying to manage a golf course with a skeleton crew. When the most experienced and talented people are reduced to daily mowing tasks, it means progress forward slows if not stopping altogether. There are only so many hours in the shortening days and so much you can get done. Fall is our busiest and most important time of the year contrary to popular belief that things slow down. So, moving forward, obviously we will try to provide the best conditions we can, but be advised that all mowing may be reduced, meaning longer, slower everything. As much as it can be frustrating to golfers, it is more so to someone like myself who only knows how to move forward and not stand still and maintain the status quo.
Regardless, we’ll continue to do what we can to move the ball downfield with the resources we have and always move one step forward while trying to avoid the two steps back. And above all else, I’ll avoid the rain rituals on the #11 hole.
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Frost is but weeks away!! Don’t forget to buy your season lift passes!
Cheers,
Howie
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Kwiniaska Golf Club
August 13th, 2020
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Photo by Greg Carter, Civil Engineering Associates |
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Howard Nosek, Course Superintendent
John Paul, Director of Golf
Robert Nappi, Owner
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