From the Golf Shop
From the Golf Shop
We’re heading into a beautiful time of the season where the temperatures become slightly less hot, and the colours on the trees will soon be starting to change. Some feel like September is their favourite month to golf and I think I must agree.
We hope you have enjoyed the season thus far and we know it has been quite a bit different than past years with much heavier traffic on the course and all of the Covid-19 protocols that have governed each and every day since opening. We still have a lot of fun events planned and its never too late to get involved and meet some of your fellow members. The Bring Your Best Scramble has taken off and we are close to 70 players at this point. There are still a few spots left if you’re interested. The next event after that is the Labour Day Better Ball. There are Men’s and Ladies divisions so get a partner and sign up. We then have the Tour Championship which is an 18-hole stroke play event for men and women. Lots of fun events to join in on over the upcoming weeks, and we hope to see you all there.
Over the course of the year we engage in so many conversations and get a wide array of opinions on the course, the club, the employees, your fellow members, and the events. We listen to all feedback and weigh it alongside the other member feedback coming in, the club’s traditions, its policies, industry trends, and consider the feedback as an opportunity for innovation and change. At times, the feedback comes in with expectations of immediate acceptance and change, which is possible, but not always feasible. As mentioned earlier, there are many stakeholders and precedents to consider. So much of the feedback has been valuable and has influenced the culture at the club, and we thank you for spending the time. We have had a nice amount of positive feedback which is very important. Of course, it makes the employees feel good when they receive it, and an equally important result is that it helps us maintain those good policies, behaviours, and processes.
We’ve noticed a nice resurgence in course etiquette and we’d like to thank all those members that have taken the extra time to ensure that they leave the course as they found it, and represent themselves and the club with pride. A reminder that the member is ultimately responsible for their guest’s adherence to club policies when they come to visit the club. This includes educating the guests on pace of play, dress code, course care, and general club behaviour. Our employees will step in if required, however it is much nicer if the member already has this dealt with prior to arrival at the club. Considering the amount of play the course has had this year, I’d say the Vespra Hills Membership has done an admiral job.
That being said, we have seen occasional course care dips that are either occurring late at night, or early in the morning. Some members have commented that they feel it is related to the desire to play extremely fast which can lead to a few omissions. We can’t be sure, yet whenever you play, you must replace your divots and fix your ball marks. Another nice gesture would be to pick up loose divots on the fairway as you are walking or driving. Try to find where it is meant to be replaced and do so, or simply gather the loose divots and discard them into the tall grass if convenient. Seem trivial to you? The notion is that if a player doesn’t see any un-replaced divots, they are likely to replace ‘their’ divot, so they don’t leave a stand-out blemish. Give it a try for a few weeks and I think all will catch on.
With the extra play, we have unfortunately added a few minutes on to our average pace of play. If you put enough cars on the highway, it will inevitably slow down. We do expect your round to take less than 4 hours, regardless if you have guests, are playing a match, etc. It’s a common courtesy that needs to be at the forefront of your mind when teeing off on hole #1.
Thank you all for supporting the club and making it your home away from home. It is an incredible collective of people we have here, and it gets better and better. Let’s enjoy the last few weeks of summer and see if we can keep the good times rolling.
Take care,
Chris McNair
