New Course Renos Open For Canada's 150th

New tees on No. 7 opening Canada Day

It's hard to believe it's already July!  The theme this season has been rain, rain, rain, and this week has been no exception with another 44mm falling on the course.  The course was already saturated before another 16mm fell yesterday and another 4mm this morning putting a damper on golf cart use.  Carts will remain suspended in the short term as the water has a chance to drain and evaporate.  Check with proshop for further cart updates.  If carts are given the green light to go, please keep them on the fairways and out of the rough.  The fairways are firmer as a result of the frequent topdressing and drainage.  Some of the wettest areas are in the rough to be sure to avoid!

The new course improvements on No. 6 and No. 7 are on schedule to be opening tomorrow on Canada Day.  The new bunkers on No. 6 and new tees on No. 7 will be ready for play.  I'm sure everyone is excited about hitting off the new elevated tees on No. 7 with the extra yardage.  Access to walk up to back tees is by way of the path to the old location of the course washroom, and plywood is down until sod is available from the sod company.

The back tees on No. 7 have been increased in yardage by 43 yards from old permanent black marker.  No longer are players going to be hitting driver/wedge off that hole.  Some different club selections will be required with the extra distance on No. 7 now, to provide more variety in shot making, and the yardages between No. 7 and 8 won't be so similar on back to back holes.

Until area is sodded, plywood is in place for access to upper tee

The continued rains have put us slightly behind our project work schedule posted a couple of weeks ago.  Work to complete on No. 7 in the coming week(s) is the moving of the fairway bunker from the left side of the hole, to the right side, placed further away from the tees adjacent to the creek.  Some will be sad to see the old "Mickey mouse" bunker disappear and may question the need to move this bunker to the other side of the hole.  Our golf course architect Doug Carrick explains the reasoning behind this move by stating:

"In constructing the new tees on the 7th hole, the tee alignment and positioning was adjusted slightly to account for the narrow opening between the large pine trees on the left and right side of the “chute” from the tees to the fairway. This has resulted in the aiming point from the tees being shifted to the left edge of the existing fairway. In order to accommodate tee shots being aimed slightly further left, it made sense to shift the fairway bunker from the left side to the right side to allow for expansion of the fairway on the left side. If it was to remain on the left side it would require shifting the bunker further left, where it might be impacted by the trees. With the fairway bunker being re-positioned to the right side, it allows us the opportunity to screen part of the cart path on the right and will help to contain shots hit towards the creek. The bunker is also being positioned further out from the tee (approx. 285 yards from the back tee) so that it will challenge the more skilled (“longer hitters”) more than the less skilled golfers at the club. In addition to re-positioning of the bunker the fairway will be re-contoured to improve the playability, strategic value and aesthetic character of the hole."

On No. 6, the weather has placed us behind on work to complete the new back and middle tees.  The fill placement and irrigation was completed this week, and the final sand mix will be put in place next week followed by sodding the week of July 10th.  The new back tee marker will be at 200 yards, a 15 yard increase from the current back tee distance.  The new No. 6 middle tee will offer a 150 yard elevated distance, slightly longer than the 126 yard green tees and slightly shorter than the current 170 yard gold tee location.  It's beneficial to have this extra teeing area on a par 3 hole that gets a lot of divots.

The cartpath is scheduled to paved from the bottom of the hill on No. 6 to the end of the path on No. 7 this coming week on Wednesday and Thursday.  Unfortunately this will create some unavoidable disruption on these holes during the upcoming Ladies' Day.  We appreciate you patience while the Fowlers construction crew completes the work.

The hillside on No. 6 and No. 7 will be hydroseeded with fescue in the coming week assuming the contractor hasn't fallen too far behind on his work schedule with all the rain.  The large patch of bare ground in front of the forward tees on 6 will be sodded as well as the edges of the cartpath after the paving is completed.  Hopefully the weather starts to cooperate to facilitate this work getting completed in a timely manner.

Hillside on No. 6 will be hydroseeded with fescue in coming week.  Directly in front of forward tee will be sodded.

Thanks for your patience and hope you enjoy the newly opened course improvements.