CLUB UPDATE A NOTE FROM ROBERT LAMBERT YOUR CLUB MANAGER The heat is on! I hope everyone is enjoying all the outdoor activities at the club and beautiful Smith Mountain Lake. The Men’s Member-Guest was a huge success! There was tremendous feedback from the members throughout the weekend. Congratulation to the team of Mark Teets and his guest Dylan Conners on their outstanding play and capturing the title of 2021 Member-Guest Champions. It was an all-around great effort by the Water’s Edge staff and the McConnell Golf team. Ed Currin, Director of Golf, his staff did an awesome job! Jeff Snyder and his crew had the golf course in great condition. A special shout out to the food & beverage staff for all the set-up/breakdown they did. They worked some long days and most of them were here for every meal served with a great attitude and a smile on their face. Now that all the Covid restrictions have been lifted, we will be planning many events throughout 2021. Please check our events calendar, and we hope you can join us. Samantha Lester our equestrian manager has also been busy with events. Thank you for everyone who has come out and supported their events. We had a great turn out for the beer & barbeque with live music. Movie night and Bingo were also a big hit. They will also have horse camps and young equestrian camps throughout the summer. I was very impressed by the riding skills of the children attending the young equestrian camps; great job Sam! If you missed these events, be sure to check out upcoming events at the barn for July and August.
A NOTE FROM JOHN GUTHMANN YOUR HEAD TENNIS PROFESSIONAL Midsummer Tennis
The clay courts are reserved for Mixed Doubles Round Robin play every M-W-F at 9am. Warmups start at 8:45am. You don’t need a partner – and if you forgot your racquet, we always have extras. If you have guests that play tennis, they are welcome to participate.
A NOTE FROM JEFF SNYDER YOUR GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT The buzz around the club is fantastic. Both play and the enthusiasm are as high as I have seen it. Our goal as staff, is to keep the level of expectations high and the course top notch!! The greens took a bit longer to heal over, post aerification, than years past. Two-fold, cold month or so after punching, and we kept them lean to not promote as much poanna growth. We have since started our poa regulator applications and have 2 in the books. We will stay on this program until the heat has us pull back a bit. We have made multiple
apps for poa on fairways and tees, and again will continue until the heat has us back off. Filling staff positions has been our biggest challenge this year. We are not alone in this regard, but it is frustrating. Seasonal staff are still a bit “green” and we are working on getting them trained up to our expectations. Our goal is to be as firm and fast as we can be. Course may not look as good as years past but looking for better playability. We all can have a hand in this moving forward. Simple things like driving carts wide from bunkers, avoid driving through dry or wet areas, keeping carts in fairways (with our irrigation it is easier to water fairways than roughs), keeping carts on path around tees and greens, etc. The greens will be firmer due to addition topdressing and rolling. Ball marks will be a bit further away from your ball than years past. Take that little extra time to find and repair. Divot procedures are still the same. Please replace what divot structure is there. If full divot is intact, step down and you are done. If not just sand the balance and drag with your foot. Please try to avoid “mounding” of the sand when filling the cavity is needed. This plays hell on the mowers and takes away from the quality of cut. We have multiple rakes in bunkers now so please be kind to your fellow golfers and rake out. Covid stunk but we are getting close to normalcy and golf has been a saving grace for all. We appreciate all who have supported the club through this crazy time and look forward to a great golfing summer!! REMIDER : Greens aerification scheduled for September 7-8
I'd like to personally thank everyone for their support of the Folds of Honor marathon.
Midsummer Special Event: Join us on Monday, July 5th for our Mixed Doubles Strawberries and Champagne tribute to Wimbledon.
Clinics: There will be Saturday tennis clinics on July 10th and July 24th from 9am until 10:30am. Clinics are limited to six participants, with a minimum of two. The charge is $15. There are sign-up sheets in the tennis room. As always, I am also available for private lessons or racquet restringing; you may contact me directly at: 434-927-5039.
PICKLEBALL We offer "drop in" Round Robin every Monday and Friday from 9:00am until 10:30am. All levels are welcome. We are excited that the group is growing! Bring a guest and spread the word.
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