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Our Club Championship is this weekend and we are excited to find out who is the best golfer! If you haven’t signed up to play there is still time (and why haven’t you? – this is a great event!). The event is 45 holes for the Men’s Championship flight (and anyone from the first flight who qualifies after 36 holes) and 36 holes for all other flights. The Men’s Championship flight will play a combo of the Gold and Silver tees and all other play will be from the Silver tees for Men and the Yellow tees for Women. The final nine holes for the Men’s Championship will start at around 2:30, off of the first tee, if you plan to come out and follow the action.

A big Thank You to all who participated in the Big Break for Cancer and Mercedes Championship last week. Our goal this year was to raise $20,000 (double our previous donations). We had almost 40 people come out to test their golf skills in the Big Break for Cancer. The field for the Mercedes Championship was the largest ever and as a result our members raised $20,510 that will be donated to the U of M Masonic Cancer Center! Special thanks to Doug Mulder for providing us with a great event for the past 12 years. Congratulations to Mike Hansen and Mike Esch who will be representing our Club at the national Mercedes Tournament in North Carolina later this year. Next year will be even bigger and better!

Greens Aeration
Our greens will be aerated next week on Tuesday (August 11th) and Wednesday. The course will be closed Tuesday and will re-open Wednesday at 1:00 pm. The Golf Shop has arranged for five tee times at Stoneridge with a reduced greens fee for Wednesday afternoon. Call the Golf Shop if you are interested. The times will be given out on a first come first served basis.
Every year I am asked why we “ruin” our greens by aerating when they are in such good shape. There are many reasons why we choose to aerate and the timing.
Our greens built up a layer of thatch many years ago because we did not aerate for two years in a row. Removing the thatch is essential to maintaining the health of our greens and it is a long process since each aeration only removes about 4% of the surface area of the greens. Skipping a year is not an option for us and aeration is a part of regular maintenance of our course.

We have chosen to aerate in August because the weather during this month is the best for quick recovery of the greens. The last half of August is a slower time for the golf course and we do not have any major events for the following two weeks. September however, is a very busy month for golf events. If we wait until September/October to aerate the greens typically will not fully heal before cold weather sets in and we have the effects of aeration into the following season.

See you on the course!