Hello everyone,
With the sun shining bright in the sky, summer is in full swing and the golf course has averaged over 110 rounds per day. On Friday, Saturday and Sundays we have been doubling that. Needless to say, the course has seen lots of play. You can almost hear the grass taking a sigh of relief on the days shiny wet stuff falls from the darken sky, as that usually allows the course to take a much needed rest for a few hours.
As the season continues to warm up, we have seen more people trying to bring their own alcohol to the golf course. For those who are not aware, it is against state law for you to bring your own alcohol to a business that has a liquor license. We could lose our liquor license should an issue arise. Please do not be the person that causes that to happen. Would you "sneak" a beer into a restaurant?
We have two great competition events coming in July: The Club Championship and the VGA Junior Match Play. The Club Championship is scored in both gross and net and will have Ladies, Men, Senior, Super-Senior and Junior divisions. More information is listed further down in this newsletter.
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Kwiniaska had a great impact to Vermont winning Tri States this year!
They played at Campbell’s Scottish Highlands in Salem NH and successfully defended Vermont's title again this year.
KGC Members left to right:
Rhonda Colvard, Jazz Bruce and Ashley Bond.
Way to go ladies!
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NEW PRODUCT AND GRILL HOURS |
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Coming this month...
Canned cocktails on the Beverage Cart!
Special Hours:
Monday, July 4th-No Grill
Chef Sue is finally getting a day off; therefore, we will have hot dogs, chips, and snacks available in the pub along with cold drinks.
Grill Operation Hours:
MONDAY
3pm - 9pm
TUESDAY
10am - 7pm
WEDNESDAY
10am - 9pm
THURSDAY
10am - 7pm
FRIDAY
10am - 7pm
SATURDAY
9am - 6pm
SUNDAY
9am - 3pm
Drinks and snacks are always available through the Golf Shop.
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GOLF: A Reflection of Life |
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Golf is one of the few games or only game in my opinion that has an interesting way of imitating life or maybe vice versa. For those of you who play, occasionally play or those of you who aren’t golfers, this may seem like an odd topic. How could a game about controlling a little white ball on a designated playing field be so relevant to life?
Let me try to explain with an initial quote from Bobby Jones. “Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots, but you have to play the ball where it lies”. What sets the game apart are the many different reason it can be played and how they reflect back on life. Here are just a few at the top of my list that make the game so special.
Sportsmanship: Is an understanding of and commitment to fair play, ethical behavior, integrity and goodwill toward an opponent. Unlike many sports, golf is played without the supervision of a referee or umpire especially at the amateur level.
Lifelong Learning: The game never gets old. Every time you tee it up, it is a brand-new life experience in the search for knowledge and a passion for exploration. In order to learn you must find new ways to be challenged, as well as new people to challenge you. Lifelong learning is one of keys to happiness.
Self-Awareness: Golf can be a humbling game and get the best of us or the worst of us at times. Awareness is art of self-reflection, leading us to analyze our own motivations and emotions, as well as understanding of how others see us. To play the game well we must understand our own weakness and strength.
Failure: One can treat failure as demotivating, causing fear or anxiety. Or you can look at it as normal and incredibly valuable. Playing the game can teach us to embrace our failures, set them aside and play on. The game is played one shot at a time which requires a positive focus on each individual shot.
Golf can be a journey with many twists and turns but truly can be the game for a life time if you have an understanding of its integrity.
Sincerely,
John Paul, PGA
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This month we have the following events scheduled:
Monday, July 11th, the course will open at 12pm. The late start Mondays allows Grounds Crew a little more time on the course to accomplish items such as verticutting, topdressing, cart paths and spraying.
Club Championship for adults will take place the weekend of July 16th and 17th. You must register by Wednesday, July 13th. When registering, please declare if you are competing for a different division than what your age says.
The VGA brings the Junior Match Play Cup back to Kwiniaska July 19th - 21st. There will be available tee times for play, but limited. As members, make sure to schedule in advance.
Junior Club Championship will take place on Sunday, July 24th. This is an 18 hole, 1 day event. Please register with the Golf Shop no later than Wednesday, July 20th.
VSWGA State Day is scheduled for Tuesday, July 26th. Please register with the VSWGA.
Director of Golf, John Paul, is hosting one Member Clinic at the Kwini Club Practice Facility on Thursday, July 28th: Fundamentals of the Swing-Irons.
Mondays that all play start off #10:
July 11th
July 25th
Events Upcoming in August:
Saturday, August 6th - filling up quickly
Saturday & Sunday August 20th - 21st - filling up quickly
Tuesday, August 30th
Men's League is every Wednesday starting at 4pm off both #1 and #10; therefore, the course is closed for the evening for those who are not participating in league.
Your member account will be charged for the registration fee at the time of registration unless you use another form of payment.
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IT'S ALL DOWNHILL TO WINTER |
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Usually by the time we get to the fourth of July, our management team jokingly starts to ask the question, “How many more days til we close? I wouldn’t mind seeing snow right now!” This year these musings started before the Summer Solstice, the day where I like to say that it’s all downhill to Winter once we’re beyond the longest day. Some days, the pollen from the cottonwoods would almost make you think it had snowed overnight. Ahhh, frost delays!! We’re getting close!
It’s not uncommon to have these types of thoughts sometime in August, about the time that we start to lose staff to the start of the school year. This year however the arduous tasks of preparing to open the golf course and the lack of staff had us all feeling a little defeated before we even got out of the gate. Undoubtedly, the last few years have been challenging to say the least as the world seems to throw curveball after curveball our way. One step forward, several back. I’ll admit I’ve been dogged by the thoughts of it all slipping away slowly as we struggled through the Spring. Moving backwards is never a good feeling, even as the compliments pour in. Somehow our staff here at Kwini has managed to hang on through these difficult circumstances and through our many changes both in the physical transformation of the golf course and the ever changing labor market. Sometimes when you’re “fighting the good fight,” you need a little light at the end of the tunnel, something that gives you hope to keep slogging through, like Christmas presents in Summertime.
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Old Bones Rejoice
Nothing has brought out the kid on Christmas morning more than the latest visit from Nappi-Claus. When this magic sleigh arose such a clatter, old bones became young and their bellies got fatter.
Fall cleanup is undoubtedly the most hated chore at Kwiniaska due to the amount and nature of the debris produced by the willows on property. When Spring comes, the process starts again like you weren’t even there. It can be demoralizing and is dreaded like a 2 week visit from the in-laws. When Autumn arrives with all her glory, most of us do breathe a lot easier on those cool, crisp mornings, again, awaiting the promise of a long Winter’s nap. Sadly however, the glorious sunrises quickly get lost in this task and the spark you should feel in Fall is diminished. Until this addition, Fall cleanup entailed lots of raking and manually picking up the debris to be hauled off, followed by stiff drinks and falling asleep in the chair in front of the TV. With all of the youthful help gone, all of the hard tasks necessary to prepare for Winter falls to our staff who has more than done their fair share of hard work in the decades of their work lives. To their credit, they do it, though the reservations and dread have worn us all thin. Retirement shouldn’t be this hard. There’s only so much you can ask of those who have given so much to this property. This ride on sweeper will result in less calories burned, so fatter bellies, but more smiles, a bounce in the step(maybe), a sense of real progress and productivity and the removal of the dread which shouldn’t darken what I believe to be the greatest time of the year. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Although supply chains have delayed the rest of our John Deere package until Fall, Buddy the Elf did inform us that the remainder of our Yamaha work carts should be delivered soon. Although we all take these things with a grain of salt until the truck actually shows up, these stocking stuffers will also alleviate some of the challenges we endure with our ancient mishmash of carts. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Melting Snowfields
To continue with this Christmas in July issue, there were a lot of comments about the lack of dandelions this Spring and now that the white clover has gone to flower, you can see the absence of that as well in the primary in-play areas as a result of our spray last Fall. A definitive line can be seen midday. Snowballs on one side, challenging rough on the other. I would have loved to have made more progress on this front, but there’s only one of me. The saga continues…..
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A Super’s Day Off
I’m often asked what I do for fun or what I do on my days off. I chuckle. Laundry, grocery shopping, a nap, maybe mow my own lawn for the first time in weeks. In the golf industry for us hardliners, these are few and far between during the season. It’s in the DNA of how we were brought up in the business. Thankfully these views are changing in this era of the Great Resignation and work/life balance is being more stressed in the industry. Recently however, I took a couple days for the first time after 8 weeks straight. How and where did I spend it? At a golf course, hanging out with the guys in the maintenance department, but not getting up at 3 AM like most of the volunteers. Well done guys!
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Only 4 more months!
Cheers,
Howie
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Many golfers ask about GPS and apps they can use. There were only a few apps that had the updated version of the new Kwiniaska Golf Club. Google Earth has now update our course in their system; therefore, more of the apps people use should be updated.
Did you know the GHIN app has GPS available as well?
The Golf Shop has also received a supply of Bushnell products from the Phantom 2, Ion Edge Watch, Tour V5 and the Wingman Speaker. Remember, members receive a 10% discount on in-stock purchases in the shop!
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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
Robert Nappi, Owner
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