Club Times - September 2021

The Grass is Greener in 2022 A Letter from the Golf Grounds Chairman

The Golf Course Maintenance team can’t wait for you to see what we have in store for our members as we finish up the year and prepare for our Riverside Renovation project in the year 2022!

First, we can’t express enough the pride and excitement we felt to see our Highlands course on display across several television networks during the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June. The labor of our team really shone brightly that week as well as in the weeks leading up to this unforgettable event. What a true team effort across the entire club lead by our members hitting off the mats ahead of the event and lending a hand at our divot filling parties. The players couldn’t say enough kind things about how much they appreciated our members sacrifice to have the course play like it did. Equal to the pride we have from the KPMG event, the team is very excited about the enhanced conditioning on the golf courses this Summer. While Mother Nature has helped us some and will always be our biggest hurdle, we have really put a focus on the day-to-day member experience this year and the results are there. The team has had so much fun taking the conditioning of the courses in all areas to the next level. From the increased double cutting and rolling of the greens, to the increased frequency of fairway mowing, hand raking bunkers and of course our detail team we now have. The detail team has really made a big impact. Daily they are focused on many things like edging sprinklers, edging cart paths, filling divots, picking up broken tees, picking up debris/pine cones, keeping all beds with fresh pine straw, trimming trees and other plant material just to name a few things. This didn’t come without cost, as the Board of Directors approved an increase to headcount and required materials to allow us to do this work. THE RIVERSIDE RENOVATION It’s hard to believe we are only 18 weeks away from starting the Riverside Renovation on January 3, 2022! The planning continues to progress well in all areas. We are on track to receive our required permits by Thanksgiving. As well, we have been able to manage our project budget well with the early purchase of pipe and other materials, beating the large price increases that have happened recently. Please make sure to check out the most recent Riverside Renovation update video and accompanying FAQ’S. Before you know it, October 1, 2022 will be here with the welcome sight of members teeing it up on the new Riverside Course! If you have any questions regarding the renovation project you can send an e-mail to riversidereno@aac1.org and someone from our team will connect with you. John Stakel Golf Grounds Committee Chair

ABOUT THE COVER The Riverside course has played host to many events this year like the 9-Hole Women’s Play with a Pro Tournament. Find the results in the Women’s Golf section SUMMER GROUNDS PROJECTS • Renovation of the Lower South Practice Tee adding 30% more usable space • Aerification and verticutting of all playing surfaces on the Highlands • Spraying out of the bermudagrass contamination in the Highlands fairways (these are the thin areas you have seen us working on growing in or sodding) • Tree work on both courses • Adding more fairway drainage to the Highlands course • Beautification areas on Highlands (#11, #15 and #18) and planters at the restrooms • Repairing rock walls along the ponds that had caved in from the record rainfall last year • Prepping the Par 3 to be over seeded this fall • Most recently battling Army Worms