Glacier Greens Current News
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August Updates 2010
2010-8-12
Keeping You Informed
August 12, 2010
I trust everyone is out and about enjoying what summer has to offer. I am already noticing in the stores the return to school products for kids so you know September is just around the corner. Before we start mentioning about season changes we still have a lot of golf to be played and hot summer days to enjoy.
The traffic for July moving right into August has picked up where we are slowly catching up to last years volume. I am anticipating once July’s final numbers come in that the Golf Course will be out of the Red for overall Year to Date Net/Loss. Compared to last year the Golf Course is down approximately 15% in Green Fee traffic. This compared to other regions in the province where reports have been anywhere from 30 % to 35% down in traffic due to numerous reasons including poor spring weather, economy and the uncertainty of dealing with the hst.
At this point there is not a lot to report but a few bullet reminders moving into the month of August.
• In preparation of hosting the BC Senior Games mid September aeration of the greens is scheduled for August 23rd and 24th. Well over 200 golfers are expected to be roaming the fairways of both Glacier Greens and Sunnydale Golf Club. This will be a great opportunity to show case our product to golfers from all over the province. Please check the Proshop for course set up as 9 Holes will be closed each day during this aeration procedure.
• Once aeration is complete the crew will take the time to attend to some drainage issues on holes 11, 15 & 16. The crew will be in and out causing no interruption to play.
• With missing the early spring aeration and topdressing of the fairways due to weather we are scheduling the fall procedure September 29th again weather permitting.
• We just received approval to move forward and purchase a new operating system for the irrigation. The current system has well exceeded life expectancy and it was just a matter of time before it fails. The newly anticipated system will be much more efficient and of course reliable. Thanks to Wayne for putting in a little extra effort hand watering sections of the course. I know he is excited with the approval but I hear with his work outs he has been getting a few extra yards on his drives.
• If you not already signed up the Club Championships for both the Men’s and Ladies is August 21st & 22nd.
• On Sunday August 29th Glacier Greens Social Centre will be hosting for the first time the Wing Commanders Annual Garden Gala. This will provide excellent exposure for the Golf Course as out of town guests are expected. The Social Centre will be closed early afternoon for approximately 4-5 hours. The Main parking lot will be utilized during this function so we ask members that are playing in the morning to utilize the overflow parking lot. Signs will be posted that morning.
• A notice was sent out regarding personal consumption of alcohol. I have been receiving some feedback on the recent notice. For those that maybe unaware all of 19 Wing Comox operates under 1 Liquor Primary License. The Liquor Primary License is not just for the golf course itself. To jeopardize the license in anyway will have a dramatic effect on the wellbeing and morale of everyone involved with 19 Wing Comox. We appreciate your support in acting in accordance with the regulations setout in Liquor License.
In closing I hope everyone is getting out and enjoying not only the summer weather but the excellent conditions of the golf course.
Until Next Time.
Keep it on the Short Stuff.
Paul Dashkewytch
General Manager
Glacier Greens Golf Course
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July Newsletter
2010-7-9
Keeping You Informed
July 9, 2010
I hope everyone is out and enjoying this stretch of nice HOT weather and remember to get that sunscreen on and drink plenty of fluids. For those that indulge in smoking in these hot dry conditions to make sure you are butting out in appropriate spots.
Now that we are in full swing there is not a lot to report on.
Maintenance:
Course conditions are excellent since everything has dried up considerable from the wet spring.A couple weeks ago the crew did a small aeration and topdressing of the greens utilizing the small tines. This was done to stay on top of the compaction that was beginning to build up. The greens have rebounded nicely and are firming up a bit so you should start noticing your putts rolling out. Currently the greens are cut at 120 in height. Once we get thru this hot spell we will look at lowering them to 110 only if cooler temperatures are on the horizon. The verti-cutting and topdressing program of the greens will be continuing every Thursday morning.
The new pumps have also arrived for the irrigation system and were installed a week ago. So far so good outside of a few headaches for Wayne during start up but he is managing. Soon enough we will also be receiving new software programs to run the system since the current system is well past life expectancy.
I know we are right in the middle of the season but I want to give everyone a heads up that the next aeration of the greens will occur mid to late August. The reason for the early aeration is for the preparation of hosting the BC Senior Games Sept 15th & 16th.
Please Repair Ball Marks
Social Center:
The Social Centre is performing adequately considering less traffic for numerous reasons but mostly the weather has not been cooperating during our early season. So hopefully with the nice weather here things will start to pick up and we can start forgetting about the hst.
The hours of operation have been posted for both the Buffalo Canteen and the Concession Cart. Hours are posted in both the Social Centre, Proshop and Canteen. There will be however times when these services will not be available due to weather or staffing shortages but we will do our best to stay with the schedule.
Other News:
Pro-Rated dues are out for the remainder of the season as follows:
Regular Category: $ 800.00
Ordinary Category: $ 940.00
Civilian Category: $ 1070.00
Not included in the price are BCGA Dues & Levy, Hole in One Insurance and of course the Gov’t share in the HST.
Further discounts will apply for each month after. So if you know anyone still looking at joining Glacier Greens they may contact me directly at 250-339-8016 or manager@glaciergreens.com.
June was a busy month with a slu of tournaments beginning with the Glacier Greens Mens Open followed bye the Ladies Open, BC Senior Qualifying and MISGA to wrap things up. A lot of out of town guest were exposed to Glacier Greens and it was great to hear all the positive feedback from the service to course conditions and also how well each event was organized. Congratulations to all those involved and to the lucky ones winning prices.
To wrap things up on the event schedule Glacier Greens Golf Club represented by host professional Bill Kelly along with executive members Doug McArthur, Kevin Hunt and Len Doyle won medalist honors at the recently played PGA of BC Pro-Executive hosted by Morningstar. The tower of a trophy can be viewed in the Proshop.
Head Professional Bill Kelly and Assistant Professional Weston Gillett will be competing in the upcoming PGA of BC Pro-Assistance Championship hosted by Sun Rivers Golf Resort in Kamloops on July 19 & 20th. Maybe Glacier Greens can make book-ends with that other trophy.
In ending I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful outdoors with family and friends because the next thing you know it will be October.
Keep It on the Short Stuff
Paul Dashkewytch
General Manager
Glacier Greens Golf Club
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June News Letter
2010-6-11
Glacier Greens Golf Course
Keeping You Informed
June 10, 2010
Well when it gets here (Weather) I hope everyone is prepared with there sunscreen. I guess we have to keep in mind summer officially starts on June 21st.
With the inconsistent weather the golf course however is remaining steady with members and green fee play. The golf course is tracking along the same pace as last year at this time.
Everyone should be up and running with the new posting of scores. As mentioned before Glacier Greens was one of the few clubs utilizing the RCGA Handicap System. One of the benefits for you is to be able to input scores from the comfort of your home. You will also have the option to input scores utilizing the KIOSK at the Golf Course. The KIOSK set-up will look different from posting scores from your handicap computer.
If for some reason you are unable to find your name in the system please contact myself to activate yourself. During the conversion stage all active and inactive members of Glacier Greens was moved over. I needed to go back to the system and take out the inactive members. I may have missed a few.
In the future you will not be required to have a handicap card as you will just print off your index from your profile.
OK, enough handicap stuff. I could never understand keeping a handicap anyway.(HA). I guess it is utilized to take advantage of your playing partners or if you are in need of a new T.V. I think that was a rant.
With all the rain followed bye periodic sun the course is starting to dry out. The maintenance crew has been kept very busy getting the course in excellent condition for some of our events. Glacier Greens recently hosted Base Play-downs followed by the popular CE tournament along with the Pro-AM and most recently the resurrected Glacier Greens Open and the Ladies Open. KUDOS, to all the staff for making these events that much more enjoyable for everyone. Your efforts are being noticed.
Up coming events for June will include Regional Play-downs, BC Senior Qualifying for the BC Senior Games in September then MISGA at the end of the month. Busy, Busy,Busy
It is nice to hear all the positive feedback on the lay-out and the conditioning of the course from those that are visiting the facility for the first time and also repeat clientele.
The verti-cutting and the topdressing on Thursday’s mornings is going well when the weather is cooperating. Thru time and as conditions dry out you should be noticing the ball rolling out on your putts. The week of June 21st the crew will be doing a mini-tine aeration to the greens. There will be no disruption to play or to the conditions of the surface. Along with this procedure the crew will hopefully finish off the slicing of some of the fairways that were missed.
Going away from the Maintenance side of things as you are aware the HST will be coming effective July 1st. Keep in mind some of the services will obviously be affected from this. For example on green fees, power carts, range balls, pull carts, food items where GST only is charged the HST will be applied. The variance will be a 7% increase to your bottom line. The Current GST is 5% and with the new HST which is the blend of GST and PST will be set at 12 %.
Now if you go in and purchase a new club (Father’s Day, hint hint) the price of the club will be the same because you are already paying PST on the purchase and the HST is a blend of the two previous taxes so there is no increase to your bottom cost.
The one area you will benefit for now is enjoying that post round celebration just after you bought that new club from Bill’s Proshop. The cost of enjoying a frosty brew will be less 3 % because of the HST will be lower than the combined GST & Liquor Tax set at 15 %. Give it time they will figure that one out too than hit ya.
Hopefully I didn’t add any more confusion but it is coming so a simple rule if you are paying both taxes now the price will not be affected because the HST is a blend of both GST & PST. If an item is only GST now you will be hit with the extra tax.
We will now have the Buffalo Canteen along with the concession cart open for certain times during the week weather permitting. As of now the following schedule:
Buffalo Canteen
• Monday (10:00-5:00)
• Tuesday (Closed)
• Wednesday (10:00-5:00)
• Thursday (11:00-6:00)
• Friday (10:00-5:00)
• Saturday (10:00-5:00)
• Sunday (10:00-5:00)
Concession Cart
• Monday (Closed)
• Tuesday (3:00-8:00)
• Wednesday (12:00-8:00)
• Thursday (12:00-8:00)
• Friday (12:00-8:00)
• Saturday (9:00-5:00)
• Sunday (9:00-5:00)
There will be times due to unforeseen circumstances that services will not be provided but we will do our best to have these available. The chalk board in front of the Proshop will up-dated daily with announcements.
That is all that I have for now. Again we appreciate your support bye bringing out guests, utilizing the Social Centre, using the sand & seed containers, repairing ball marks etc. When the dry conditions do come I would like to remind the smokers to ensure they are butting out and have consideration for fellow golfers and not leave your butt ashes on the greens.
Until next time Good Golfing
Paul Dashkewytch
General Manager
Glacier Greens Golf Course
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RCGA Handicap System Update
2010-5-7
RCGA Handicap Posting Update
May 7, 2010
Bill and I just recently went thru a tutorial put on by Golf British Columbia (formerly BCGA now doing business as Golf British Columbia under the Golf Canada flag ship formerly the RCGA).
Glacier Greens is only one of a few courses not utilizing the RCGA Handicap Posting system. Currently you are using a system called score-way thru our POS system of Jences.
It is only a matter of time we incorporate the RCGA posting of handicaps and follow suit with the rest of the courses. With this said and after going thru the tutorial you will definitely grasp the ease with posting your scores. The RCGA system is web based so you can now enter your scores from you’re your home computer or if you do not have a computer you may post from the Kiosk that will be set up here at the golf course.
Time Frame ?
On my end I will provide all the scoring history for each member to the end of May 16th. May 16th will be the last day to enter scores for a couple of day’s. On May 17th I will forward all the scoring history to the Golf British Columbia office for conversion. They will input your posting history into there system. The network support team will have this done in a couple of days. I tentatively scheduled him to come out to Glacier Greens on May 20th. Once confirmed with date and time for his visit I will post it both on the web and in front of the handicap computer. He will take you thru the same tutorial to answer any of your questions. If all goes well we should be up and running May 21st.
Once the conversions occur everyone will be given a username and password. Once you have this it will allow you to enter into your profile and make any changes to your profile.
Entering Scores:
You will have 2 options to enter scores. Either from the Kiosk station at the golf course which is very simplified or thru the Website where from home you can enter your score.
The Kiosk is mainly for entering your scores. The Website which you can do from home offers a wide variety of options from not only posting your scores but also tracking other statistics with your game. It even has a social network where you can communicate with other golfers. Plus many more options. Bill and I were impressed.
Like anything else it is new and will require some playing around but once you are familiar it will come with ease.
In the meantime you can get familiar with there website at (rcga.org) On the right hand side of the main page you will see RCGA Network online Handicapping. This is where you can enter scores at home or again you can still use the Golf Course Kiosk which has been simplified. Your choice.
Other Tid-Bits:
Early next week you might see a strange procedure on the Golf Course. Not to worry the piece of equipment on loan from Crown Isle is called an Air-Way. It is utilized to slice and open up the fairways. It is a procedure somewhat of aeration but with no interruption of play. We still need to open us these fairways to relieve compaction buildup and thanks to Crown Isle we are able to do so.
Good Golfing
Paul Dashkewytch
General Manager
Glacier Greens Golf Course
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Spring Newsletter
2010-5-5
Glacier Greens Golf Club
Keeping You Informed
May 5 / 2010:
They say patience is a virtue but I think we all have been more than patient with the weather so it can warm up anytime soon. It¡¦s hard to believe we are already into May the Master¡¦s has come and gone and now we look forward to the next major and playing golf in shorts and a short sleeve shirt.
The crew has been kept busy getting ready for the golf season. As you are aware the aeration and topdressing of the fairways was postponed due to inclement weather and the water table being so high. We will be attending to the fairways earlier in the fall most likely the end of September.
The greens were recently aerated and all signs from the cores being removed that we are on the right track of changing the profile make-up. Recovery time was much faster on this application due to the wider spacing of the tines. As we move forward into the season the crew will be verti-cutting and light topdressing the greens. Thru this process you will be noticing a much truer, smoother roll on all your putts but if you have putting issues than I guess it doesn¡¦t matter.
The new (Toro) fairway mower has arrived, you will be able to notice a better quality cut with far less clumps of grass after mowing. The quality of the blades will disperse this.
The pile of gravel you see in the parking lot will be utilized in the near future on the cart paths.
Outside of regular maintenance of the course the crew will be attending to the extra grooming in preparation of a busy schedule over the next few months.
Other Updates:
Water jug stations were recently put out for your convenience. The water stations are located on the 4th & 12th holes.
Sand & Seed bottles are out for your use with a refill station on the 10th tee box. The program works and we appreciate your efforts filling in divots. After the completion of your round if you can place the empty container back on the rack.
We are now on the tee line for the driving range. New range balls are out. We cannot help but notice the shortage of range baskets lately. Either they were used for Easter baskets or baskets are not being returned. To help out the Proshop if you can replace the baskets after use.
Porta-Potties have also been added and now in operation at the turn. Soon we will be looking at opening up the canteen for regular service. It will either be at the end of the month or the beginning of June. A new pathway has been created to make the canteen a bit more inviting along with a larger deck area.
RCGA Handicap System:
I will be looking into utilizing the RCGA handicap system rather than our current Jences score-way system. Glacier Greens is one of the few clubs not using the RCGA system. After the tutorial with Golf British Columbia on the conversion I will be putting out an announcement as to the next steps of implementing the input of scores. If all goes well the conversion may occur as early as June. Will keep ya posted on that. Thru the RCGA system handicap cards are no longer required and validated from the Proshop.
Website:
The modifications to the website has occurred. On the main page you will be able to receive current conditions under the tab current conditions. This section will be updated on a daily basis from the Maintenance Crew. I will also be posting newsletters such as this and any information that will be pertinent. I recommend you check the website on a consistent basis to keep yourself informed.
Open House:
In the upcoming months a open house to the residents of the Comox Valley will happen. It is an opportunity to further expose Glacier Greens as the place to play, services that are offered to the public etc. This will occur either in June or July. Stay posted on further announcements.
Proshop:
Bill¡¦s Proshop is well stocked for all your golfing needs from equipment to the latest fashions for the upcoming season. Keep in mind (Mother¡¦s Day) and the Members 10% savings on all products except on clubs and balls.
A fitting and demo day is scheduled for May 16th. Fittings are by appointment only so contact the Proshop to set-up your booking.
Also coming up are the ladies clinics every Wednesday starting May 12th at 5:30. Clinics will cover all aspects of the game from chipping, putting, driving and effective ways on how to beat your husband. Please register in the Proshop.
The upcoming Slegg lumber Pro-Am benefiting Junior Golf on Friday May 28th is filling up fast so all interested members should get there registration in asap. You can either sign up as a single or submit a team of 4.
The 1st ladies night of the year is set for Monday May 17th. 5:00 for 5:30 start.
In closing I know the nice weather is just around the corner so get out there and enjoy this great game with friends.
Until Next time, long drives and short putts = Pars or Birdies.
Please repair your ball marks ļ
Paul Dashkewytch
General Manager
Glacier Greens Golf Club
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