FSC Sports Club Members,
I hope this update finds everyone healthy and safe in these unusual times. As we all adjust to our new normal, I wanted to take this opportunity to bring everyone up to date on current happenings at our golf clubs.
As I am sure you have either seen or can imagine, the volume of play we have seen at all 4 facilities has skyrocketed over the past 5 months with many people staying at home. We have seen a very exciting number of first-time golfers which is a great sign as we are always aiming to grow the game of golf. With this added volume comes the necessity for our members to make tee times, whenever possible, to ensure we have room for you to play.
Even if you are used to walking on the course at typically slow times, it is best to make a tee time just in case. Also, please take advantage of the 2-week window you have to reserve tee times as that is a full week more than the public. If you have not taken advantage of the online tee time booking engine for members on our website, please consider doing so. You will need your membership number, which any member of our golf staff can provide for you.
Our increased volume has also put some added stress on our golf cart fleet. Luckily, with the addition of a new fleet at Olde Liberty this past month, we have relatively new carts at all 4 courses. While we were able to provide single rider carts for everyone in the early days of the pandemic, we have since returned to our 2 riders per cart rule. We have installed dividers in many of our carts, and we ask you to use them if you have any concerns regarding COVID-19. We greatly appreciate your cooperation with this policy.
On the golfing side of things, we are now into the heart of Club Championship season in our Race for the FSC Cup. Eagle Ridge conducted its very successful Club Championship this past weekend. Many thanks to Head Professional Todd Benware and Director of Maintenance Charlie Mason for their hard work in conducting a great event and congratulations to all flight winners. Next up is Olde Liberty on August 29-30, followed by Hedingham on September 12-13. Riverwood has been pushed back one week from its original date to October 3-4. Our tournament participation this summer has been outstanding, and we look forward to that continuing at these upcoming events.
On the courses, we are in the middle of some exciting improvements. At Riverwood we have reconstructed and added white sand to 7 bunkers so far and are steadily working on more. We have also leveled some of our tee boxes that were a bit uneven. At Olde Liberty, we have installed a pump this week which will give us access to more water for irrigation than we have had in the past. We are also beginning a large pine straw and mulch project which will make a huge difference in the appearance of much of the perimeter of the course.
At Eagle Ridge, we will be sodding the bunker on 13, which will be filled in within the next couple of weeks, and we will begin working on more bunkers. At Hedingham, we re-sodded several areas of the 9th green this week. We will continue work to get new sand in all front nine bunkers by the end of the year.
Finally, I hope you have had a chance to experience the fun of our Finn Scooters at Riverwood! They have been such a big hit that we have ordered them for Eagle Ridge and Olde Liberty as well. Look out for these new additions sometime in September.
As always, please continue to let us know what we are doing well and where we need to get better. Your feedback is much appreciated and helps us to continue to improve. Feel free to shoot me an email anytime at Daniel.Davis@fredsmithcompany.com. Happy golfing, and I hope to see you at some of the upcoming member tournaments!
Daniel Davis
General Manager of Golf Division