Around The Bend May 2019

H O R S E S H O E B E N D C O U N T R Y C L U B

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS

MAY 2019

GAP MAINTENANCE 

DRIVING RANGE HOURS OF OPERATION  Much as we use gap maintenance during the growing season to provide enhanced conditioning on the course, we also allow for a few extra hours of maintenance work at the Driving Range on Friday mornings. Starting Friday, May 3rd, and on all Fridays until October 11th, the Range will not be available until 9:00am. This time allows the course maintenance staff a second opportunity each week to mow the tees and other closely mown areas, so they more consistently match course conditions.

As we have in years past, we will use a gap in tee times on Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:10 to 12:10 to perform maintenance on the golf course. The gap begins the first week of May and runs until the end of September. Starting Friday, May 3rd, the gap will resume. Please keep this in mind when requesting tee times for the next few months.   On gap maintenance days, the golf course maintenance staff spends the morning hours preparing the course ahead of play, completing duties such as mowing and rolling greens, raking bunkers, changing cups, and moving tee markers. The gap is then used for our primary mowing activities such as tees, approaches, collars, and fairways. The gap also allows our staff to mow the grass when dry, which greatly reduces the number of clippings that need to be blown, again increasing efficiency and providing a higher level of course conditioning.   One key to the gap’s success is the pace of play of the groups playing both before and after the gap. If a group ahead of the gap plays slower than a four-hour pace, the course maintenance staff runs the risk of not completing the tasks being performed that day. Behind the gap, if a group plays faster than a four-hour pace, the gap will close, resulting in reduced efficiency for the course maintenance staff and decreased golfer satisfaction. We ask that you please keep this in mind if playing before or after the gap, so this method can continue to be a successful strategy for the maintenance of the course.

UPDATE ON GATES AT MAIN CLUBHOUSE

As many have noticed, our front gates have not worked properly for quite some time.  This problem began with a hard drive crash a few months ago and has proven to be a complicated fix.  Work was completed on the front gates during the week of April 22nd and we expected this work to complete this project so our gates could operate properly.  As projects go sometimes, the work completed, did not correct the problem.  We have additional meetings the week of April 29th with hope that the gates will be operational very soon.  Once operational, member gate codes will also work to grant access.  Entering the gates is very easy!  Arrive at any entrance gate and stop within reach of the keypad.  Enter the 4-digit code previously provided, likely the last 4-digits of your social security number, and then press #.  Some members selected an alternate code, for those members, please use this 4-digit code and then press #.  If you are unsure of what your number is, please contact Aprial Castleberry at acastleberry@horseshoebendcc.com or 770-992-2310.   Guest Access: Your guest will have an easy arrival too.  Guests may arrive at any entrance gate and stop within reach of the keypad.  Press the “call” button, the silver button under the camera dome.  This will call an HBCC staff member who will verify their intent before welcoming them to HBCC and granting them access through the gate. For outside outings or hosted events with a large number of guests, the gates can be propped open, for specified hours to allow the guests access.