El Niguel Country Club

8 • THE DIVOT | WINTER 2022 THE GOLF COURSE BY MATTHEW MORTON, SUPERINTENDENT H appy New Year, every- one! Our maintenance team on the golf course hopes your 2022 is off to a great start. We've been busy working, dodging rain and frost, and trying to keep the course in excellent shape. We had a great run last year growing as a department, and are looking for- ward to accomplishing even more this year as our crew is adjusting to many changes in the industry. Rising costs of products and wages along with a delay in receiving pur- chased goods has forced us to think and prepare differently for the coming year – we're ordering items and plan- ning projects earlier than ever before. There have been many hours spent with Craig Plumley and the golf shop team developing the El Niguel tourna- ment and event calendar as best we can for the entire Club. u u u Looking ahead, key maintenance days are scheduled for March 21-22, June 6-10, August 15-19 and October 24-25. We are repeating what worked well for us in 2021 and the days that we'll be closed help our team prepare and perform additional aeration and other projects, improving the golf course and overall experience. These closures are especially impor- tant for the high volume of play the course has been experiencing since the pandemic changed the golf world with record numbers of rounds. u u u Finally, here is a list of some notable achievements from 2021… Agronomic and Facility Improvements >  Built a new nursery on the 11th hole to support agronomics; >  Improved the fourth fairway; >  Cart path improvements on the first hole; >  Tree removal and fairway turf im- provements on the second hole; >  Installation of a new irrigation pump and motor; >  Improved poa control in the Ber- muda surrounds. Project Planning >  Started on the stream renovation concepts; >  Began working on the mainte- nance shop renovation concepts; >  Started a forestry/tree manage- ment program; >  Implemented driving range im- provement concepts. Thank you all for your continued support of our team as we continue to strive for greatness heading into the 2022 golf season! Ground control How we're keeping the golf course up to par

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