El Niguel Country Club

OCTOBER 2018 ❘ THE DIVOT ❘ 7 READY TO THRIVE ■ GOLF COURSE CONDITIONS ARE STEADILY IMPROVING L ike with any renovation project, the new golf course at El Niguel Country Club is something that will take time to develop, even after it appears most of the major work has been completed. Patience is a virtue, after all, and we'd like to encourage all our Members to think about the long term and how their golfing experience will be vastly improved thanks to all the work that has been done. New turf throughout the course will mature over the next handful of months, sand will settle in all the bunkers, and Members will discover other little subtleties around the course that may need a full season to reach their complete potential. With cooler fall and winter weather on the way – as well as hopefully some precipitation during Southern Califor- nia's short rainy season – course condi- tions are expected to get better day by day. The irrigation system is being im- proved and repaired where necessary throughout the course, and those areas of the rough that were stripped of kikuyu grass for use in the fairways will grow in over time with continued watering. Members can help speed the course's recovery by keeping carts out of those sensitive areas and following cart di- rectional signs and ropes and stakes. We appreciate your patience as we work toward full recovery of the golf course next spring and summer. Areas where grass was removed to help us achieve our turf reduction goals still have some work to be done in terms of adding drip irrigation and planting new, less water-dependent vegetation. Once complete, those will no doubt add to the beauty of our spec- tacular course. Additionally, all the greens and tees were aerified during the last week of September, and we are happy to report that they all are recovering nicely and should be back to normal condition be- fore we know it. The practice tee was overseeded with rye grass in early October, and in order to allow the process to really take, golfers will hit off mats until the tee re-opens on Thursday, October 18. PAIRING UP MEMBERS UNITE! W hen El Niguel Country Club's annual Member-Member tournament tees off Thursday-Saturday, October 18-20, it will be a special occasion as it marks the popular tour- nament's 30th anniver- sary at the Club. A full field of 120 players (60 two-player teams) is expected to enter, all aiming to un- seat defending champi- ons Steve Freestone and Michael Slessinger. The Member-Member is one of the highlights of each calendar year at El Niguel, partly because the winners have their names engraved on the tournament's perpetual trophy, but also because of the camaraderie the event fosters among Members. PGA Head Golf Pro- fessional Craig Plumley said there is always plenty of excitement at the conclusion of the tournament because each of the 10 flight win- ners advance to a Derby format and battle each other down to the wire with the trophy in sight. "With this format it is always a dramatic finish coming down to the final putt," Plumley said. FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT • BY ROGER STEWART New turf will begin maturing over the coming months.

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