Greetings Scottsdale Golf Club members!

We certainly hope everyone had a great holiday having fun with family and friends, which is what it is all about, isn’t it? We are now moving into the championship phase of the year which starts with both match and stroke play competitions. The signup deadlines for a few of them have expired and the brackets have been made by random draw as recommended by the USGA. For the remaining few that are still available, please be sure to sign up on Foretees as soon as possible. The match play brackets are posted in the locker rooms, as well as in the golf shop, so be sure to check them out and contact your opponent to schedule your match.

A reminder for this year at  Scottsdale Golf Club: there is no booking of starting times beyond the seven days in advance period. In addition to this, you are asked to contact the professional staff when you have decided which tees you will play from for the entire competition. There will be no changing tees from match to match.

THE CHILL

The Chill,  our Winter Gentlemen’s Member/Guest will be held in January.

LADIES GOLF WORKSHOPS

We are pleased to see so many ladies committed to working on their golf games with the support of our PGA professional instruction staff. We are averaging twenty-four (24) per week through the first five weeks of instruction, focusing on course, full swing, as well as all phases of the short game and uneven lies. If you would like to participate, please be sure to sign up on Foretees or call the golf shop to ensure the proper amount of instructors are available.

LADIES GOLF ON THURSDAYS

We believe that Thursdays are more about socializing, with golf and a friendly competition coming as a bonus to this, and it's that atmosphere that has driven our Thursday ladies numbers to double from last season. As always, should you like to participate in this we ask that you sign-up ahead of time on Foretees to reserve your spot.

AGA/AWGA COMPETITION

We are pleased to announce Penny Rady and Debbie Hajekerou, who played admirably against their fellow DC Ranch competitors, and qualified to represent us all at the AWGA State Medallion Championship at Pebble Creek, January 14th and 15th. Good luck, as we know you will try

your best on every shot! The Club had two men’s teams compete in the AGA Team

Championship at Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix. The teams of Mike Thorell with Gordon Jakel played well, as did Steve Mindak and Alfred Hackbarth. Way to go gentlemen!

AGRONOMY

I'm sure some of you have practiced your short game at the north end of the practice area and found yourself wondering; “what experiment is being done on the green?”. In summary, from south to north, each third of the green has test plots with three varieties of Bermudagrass being considered for the future. The southernmost is G12 Champion Bermuda, the middle third is Mini Verde and the

northern third is our currently used Tif Eagle. The Scottsdale Country Club green has not been overseeded in two (2) years, yet the green color on the western half of the green is colored fertilizer and the brownish eastern half is dormant Bermuda.

We are testing to see whether or not we really need to overseed our greens at all, how playable they would be in the cooler temperatures, and what the recovery time would be from ball marks and old cups healing. One thing we do know is we can keep them green and they will transition nicely in

the spring and should be smooth and fast. Please practice your short game and let us know your thoughts.

We are continuing to spot seed some of our golf course greens to keep them healthy, dense and green through the next few months. Combined with light topdressing and verticutting, the surfaces should be very playable and roll nicely.

SHOT YOUR AGE?

We know there are many Scottsdale Country Club golfers who have shot their age in their career and want to recognize you on a plaque in the Clubhouse, yet we have only had a few respond. If you have done this terrific feat, please contact us so we can recognize and record your fine play. One thing we have learned is that Jack Fairfield has scored better than his age more than 35 times. Oh my! We know

there are many more of you, so please let us know.

Let’s go play!