|
COURSE
FEATURE Like many area golf
courses Bent Tree Golf Club has battled
more than enough recent droughts. In
response to this lack of precipitation
Bent Tree has dredged their irrigation
pond system to create more water holding
capacity. The most notable aspect of this
project is the deepening and widening of
the pond golfers must carry for their
second shot to hole 2. Fortunately for the
golfers, however, the pond was widened on
the south end, which will not affect play
on the second hole. The pond fronting the
green on the par-3 eighteenth hole has
also been dredged along with the creek
that flows into it from the south.
By creating more
holding capacity in these ponds water will
remain longer in the ponds instead of
exiting the golf course before it can be
put to good use. Course Superintendent
Randy Mueske says it will be a critical
improvement given the fact Bent Tree Golf
Club has bentgrass fairways, which can be
sensitive to summer heat and drought.
Bent Tree Golf Club is
also in the process of drilling a new
irrigation well to supplement the pond
expansion. Once completed the new well,
combined with the expanded holding
capacity in the ponds should carry Bent
Tree through the dry summer
months. Anxious to show off the
improvements Bent Tree Golf Club has also
made improvements to their web site
designed to give golfers access to special
discounts on green fees throughout the
golf season. By logging onto
www.benttreegolf.com and clicking on the
eClub tab golfers will be able to take
advantage of 2 for 1, half price, free
cart fee, and other such golf discounts
without having to wait for coupons to show
up in the daily newspaper. Golfers can
also sign up for Bent Tree's monthly
newsletter, which will keep them abreast
of tournaments and events at Bent Tree
Golf Club, offer swing advice from a PGA
Professional, or even get them up to speed
on all the new technology in the game of
golf and how it can best benefit the
golfer. Head Golf Professional
Kevin Doby says since the new features
were added to their web site golfers have
responded well through eClub registration,
phone calls, email inquiries, or simply to
book a tee time. "The newsletter feature
is great," says Doby. "It allows us a
great deal of latitude in how we
communicate to our golfers. If one of our
eClub members gets a hole-in-one, for
instance, we can put that in the
newsletter and a few thousand other
golfers will be able to read about their
accomplishment. If they like, they can
then forward the newsletter via email to a
friend or family member. It's a great way
to let our golfers know we really are
interested in their game and how much
enjoyment they get from it." Daily fee golf won't be
the only thing played at Bent Tree Golf
Club in 2004. Beginning this year Bent
Tree will be the home course for the new
men's and women's golf teams at Iowa
Western Community College. Because of its
proximity to Iowa Western and the
championship nature of the golf course
Bent Tree was a natural fit. Bent Tree
Golf Club Assistant Golf Professional Tim
Shaffer will be the Head Golf Coach for
both teams. At present Coach Shaffer is in
the midst of recruiting both local and
regional golfers to fill the 2004-05
teams. "It's a great challenge," said
Shaffer. "It's not everyday you get the
chance to build a college golf program
from the ground up. Having Bent Tree Golf
Club as our home course will be helpful in
recruiting as most any high-level
competitive golfer prefers to play a
course like Bent Tree." To find Bent Tree Golf
Club log onto www.benttreegolf.com or call
the golf shop at 566-9441. Find out why
Golf Digest has rated it as one of
America's best golfing values. FEATURE By Bob O'Keefe • This year was
a very sad year when we lost a
great writer and a good friend in
Don Lee. Don wrote some articles
for MTT and was thought of in
very high regard. I'll never
forget the first time I met Don
&endash; he wrote me a note and
asked if he could edit my paper.
He made an over abundance of
grammatical changes and explained
why each one should be used. With
his passing goes a lot of history
that was very personal to him and
he relished talking and writing
about the people he had met. His
knowledge of the golf community
is legendary and we will miss him
a lot. • Well it looks
like one of those crazy years for
our lovable sport. Golf courses
are trying to rebound with new
marketing ideas to provide
golfers with the best deals. No
one wants to give away free golf
because most of the 'freebies'
get eaten up by the
'freeloaders'. Gas is going up so
traveling to distant tracks may
not be the answer. The economy is
still biting into peoples pockets
so golf courses are trying to
maintain a reasonable increase
necessary to keep from going
broke. So some of the answers to
this puzzle are: READ THE
METROPOLITAN TEE TIMES for the
best deals and information about
what is going on around the state
and elsewhere. • Congratulations
to Woodland Hills for becoming a
5 Star rated golf course. Taking
everything into account:
conditions, layout, service,
speed of play and value, Woodland
Hills has been rated as one of
only 16 golf courses out of 3,500
that Golf Digest rated with this
system. That is a huge honor for
the Flodman families, Tom
Erlandson, PGA Professional and
Mark Kaufman superintendent. If
you haven't played this course,
put it on your to do
list. • Tidbits:
Lakeview appears to be sold;
River Wilds investors have
purchased Tiburon, Chili Greens
appears to have been sold to
University of Nebraska at Omaha,
Mike Zadalis has left Fox Run,
Beau Malnack has left Shoreline
and Evergreen Alliance, The
Knolls looks to be still up for
grabs. • With the mild
winter and late snowfall, golf
courses are in great shape to
start the season. Hopefully,
courses will be able to maintain
this shape through the summer.
Look for early tournaments and
specials at all golf courses this
spring. • The Nebraska
Trail is new for golfers this
year. It mimics the 'Play the
West' that has been around for a
couple of years. Golf courses
involved are Arbor Links, The
Players Club, Quarry Oaks, Iron
Horse, and Woodland Hills.
Playing 3 rounds of golf with
cart and range facilities,
staying two nights at the Lied
Lodge in Nebraska City(which
includes a daily breakfast) can
be yours for $265.00. If you want
to play all five courses within
your two day stay it will cost
you $379.00. • Archbishop
Ryan High School is holding their
40th Class Reunion this year and
part of the celebration entails a
9 Hole golf outing at Tiburon
Golf Club. If you are a 1964
graduate of Ryan and are
interested in playing, please
call 734-2476. There are only a
limited number of spots
available, so call
early. • If you are
looking for a great outing for a
great value see the Benson High
School ad in this issue of MTT.
For $55.00 you get green fees,
cart, lunch, logo golf ball,
banquet, and a chance at numerous
prizes including a $10,000
hole-in-one opportunity. The
tournament is scheduled for
August 13th at Shoreline Golf
Course, but, this one will fill
up fast. SUPERINTENDENTS
CORNER By Bob Hall, The most asked question
to golf course workers is "What do you do
all winter?" some folks are amazed that we
work full time. It varies from course to
course, but almost all courses have at
least 1 or 2 people on the maintenance
staff all winter. Some have as many as 7
or 8 year round, full time maintenance
employees. So the greens are
covered with snow and the course is at
rest for a while. What do we do? There
usually isn't enough time in the winter
for us to complete all the tasks that are
needed. First and foremost is our winter
equipment conditioning program. This
includes grinding reels and bedknives,
replacing bushings, seals, filters, hoses,
tires, etc. Every machine is checked for
all defects, cleaned and painted if
needed. All golf course accessory items
such as tee markers, signs, cups, poles,
ballwashers, and trash cans are
reconditioned and made ready for the new
season. Winter is also the time
when we take vacations, attend regional
and national seminars, conferences, and
trade shows. It's time for us to recharge
our batteries and catch up on what is new
in our industry. We spend time evaluating
our previous year and make plans for the
upcoming season. Many courses also spend
time in the winter on budgeting for the
coming season. If it snows, there are some
maintenance staff members who are involved
in snow removal. Lack of snow means that
if it's warm enough we might be trimming
trees, edging bunkers, working on
irrigation or any number of various
projects. In short, a successful winter
work schedule makes for a smoother and
successful spring, summer and
fall. Winter was good to us
in the Omaha area this year and all the
golf courses are ready for a great 2004
season. See you on the course. |
