Liberty Country Club News and Views Vol. 1-5

Dues are Due 

A minimum of 1/2 of your dues were due by April 15th with the balance due by May 15th. If you have already paid your 2013 dues, thank you! At $565 for a single membership we think we offer the area's best golf value.
 

New in 2013 for those age 24 and under

The millennial card is what we will be calling a new offering for young adults age 24 and under. It will be offered in addition to our offerings of $280 for college students without a parent member ($100 if parent is a member).

Young adults who wish to participate simply purchase a card for $35. We will give you a punch card good for 10 buckets of range balls and you will be entitled to $10 green fees throughout the season. If you would decide to join later in the year, we will credit you up to 1/2 of the dues due based on the number of $10 green fees you paid. As an example, you purchase a millennial card in April and by the end of May you have played 10 times ($100 in green fees) we will credit you $50 toward your dues membership should you choose to join for the remainder of the season.

2013 Tee Times Have Begun 

Standing tee times are still available

There are some changes to the weekend starting schedule in 2013. If you had a standing tee time in 2012 we have attempted to keep it the same or within a few minutes of what it was. Please check with us to see what it will be for the coming season.

The changes that have been made will enable us to offer more open times on Saturday and Sunday mornings and reduce the number of front nine / back nine times that alternate each week. Generally, if you have a starting time before 8:00 am you will alternate front to back as you have been doing. If you have a standing time after 8:00 am you will always start on the front 9. And, depending on the afternoon outing schedule, there will be open times at either 10:00 am on the front 9 or from 8:00 am to 9:00 am on the back 9 each week.
There are still some standing tee time available, please see us if you want one or won't be using yours in 2013.

 

 

Cold opening Day Results

The start of Men's Opening Day was postponed by 2 hours due to the cold temperatures. The results of the 2-man team flighted scramble were:

A-Flight   Eric Orr & Mike Brashears 67
B-Flight   Larry Capps & Dick Kenworthy 67
C-Flight  Tim and Dale Kuykendoll tied with Lee Stienbarger and Tom Wenger 71
D-Flight  Fred Sloneker & Bob McLear  77

Thanks to all who braved the cold weather.

Glade's Jr/Sr  & Sr/Sr Championship May, 19th

May 19th is the day we will crown the Club's Senior Club Champion. In addition to the Sr. Club Championship we will be holding a flighted 2-man 1 best ball event. Watch for the sign up sheet around the 1st of May.

Focus Group Help Requested

Following the Senior championship on May 19th there will be a meeting of those interested in helping the Club with some of it's challenges. Beginning at 1:00 pm we will meet in the clubhouse to discuss and look for possible ideas and solutions in 5 different areas:

• Membership now and in the future
• Fee and outing promotion
• Merchandise and concession sales
• Nipper and other funding ideas
• Communication - Social media and other ideas

If you are willing and have an interest in any of the topics above we would appreciate you participation. Please see Bruce Gregory for more details. Thank you for your consideration!  

We are now taking teams for the Men's Wednesday night league!

The Men's Wednesday night league will begin on Wednesday, May 22nd. Sign up by calling or stopping by the Club. You must sign up even if you played last year. Call 765-458-5664 or stop by to sign up or for details.

Let us help you improve your golf game.

In each of these newsletters we will post links to articles that others have posted that may be of interest to your golf game. The link below gives some good advice on how to help your short game by experimenting with different shots..
Experiment with short game shots

Turf Tips

How to Mow Now That it has Stopped Raining

Tips for Mowing Wet Turf

1. Sharpen your blades if you have not yet this spring.
2. Mow in the afternoon when the leaf blades are dry if possible to reduce clumping of the grass blades. However, it is fine to mow wet turf or mow during light rain.
3. Set the mower higher (especially if your grass is taller than it normally is when you mow).
4. If possible, use a side-discharge mower rather than a mulching mower as mulching mowers are prone to clogging.
5. Double cut the area if there were a lot of clippings or if the area was uneven after cutting.
6. If there are too many clippings (they sit on top of the turf after mowing), consider bagging the clippings and using them as mulch or compost.
7. If you are creating “muddy” tire tracks with your riding lawn mower, consider using a walk behind push mower to mow these wet areas. It is worth the extra effort to push mower an area in order to avoid making ruts in the soil and permanently damaging the turf.
   

   

   Be careful not to turn too sharply when mowing wet areas. Use a push mower to mow until the area dries.

   
   

   

   Muddy wheel tracks and permanent turf damage caused by mowing a wet area with a ridding lawn mower. to avoid this, use a push mower to mow until the soil dries some.

8. Lastly, make sure to clean underneath the mower deck after mowing when wet.

For more information on managing flooded turf areas, see this previous Turf Tip: Flooding on Turf

In the spring you may not be able to mow often enough to abide by the one-third rule. An occasional mowing that removes more than one-third of the leaf blade may be necessary during time periods with frequently rainfall and little to no long-term damage in turf health should result. However, your long term maintenance program should include mowing as often as needed to never remove more than one-third of the leaf blade in a single mowing.

Removing more than one-third of the leaf blade. This was my lawn when I mowed it Saturday after a week of rain.

Dr. Aaron Patton, Turfgrass Extension Specialist