As the news that came down Friday from Premier Doug Ford, gets us all excited for golf being on the horizon. I know that hopefully in the coming days along with the great news of the course being able to open soon that I will also be sending out a list of the new ways we will be playing golf and the many safety precautions and guidelines we will have to follow.  

                Through this pandemic I have been fortunate enough to be awarded the opportunity to continue maintaining this wonderful golf course, it has allowed me to be on the course daily doing the essential things that keep our golf course green, lush, and alive. As most know turf is where my major background in golf lies, but with the Muni giving me the opportunity to be General Manager and Superintendent most times I can be seen in golf clothes, at my desk, answer emails, doing financials, or setting up leagues and events; This only possible because of my great staff that I can trust in following and executing my turf maintenance plan.  Being on the mower though gives you amplitudes of time with yourself and your thoughts and this is what has come to my mind in the months of preparing the course for this new world, and I wished to share with you the members.   

                Golf is going to be one of the few lucky businesses in the forefront of getting our economy started again, as it is an activity that can be played safely while following social distancing. It is going to be our responsibility as golfers to set an example for the rest of the world on how we can operate and function safely through these times. These new procedures and rules that will be put forward are not something we can take lightly as we will be watched closely, by our community, our province, the world, and especially those who don’t play golf or don’t see golf as an essential at this time. We need to take the great lessons that this game has taught us all like, Patience, Respect, Class, Humility and really move them to the forefront, realizing how lucky we just are to be out playing once that great day comes. I saw a great article recently called Golfers Don’t Mess This Up, about making sure golfers follow these new procedures and truer words cannot be spoken. When a staff member at any golf course informs you of their new procedures or rules and you don’t agree, or think I’m just going to do my same old way…. Don’t!! Know that these rules and procedures are here to keep you and our great employees; who are putting themselves at risk to keep courses open, safe, and by breaking these procedures you are not just hurting yourselves, or the course, but the game of golf as a whole. So let’s not mess this up!! Let’s as golfers put our best selves forward, and show the world what golf and golfers are all about, or at least what the Muni is about!!!

Kyle

Hello Everyone

Great News for the golf industry was released yesterday during the Doug Ford announcement that Golf Courses can start preparing to open May 4th!!! With that being said we are still closed and have not been given a date that we may be able to open just yet. The announcement just allows us to do non-essential work on the course like Bunker Raking, Gardening, Tree trimming, etc to prepare to open, versus the very basics we were doing prior to keep the course alive. This does give us a ton of hope though that an opening date is very near!!!!

I have been receiving a ton of calls and emails about booking tee times for that opening day, and I will announce via Muni Minute and Facebook that the tee sheet is live once we are given a firm date for opening. I will also at that time release a full list of the precautions that will come with being open.

For anyone looking to purchase their membership ahead of opening date or even after we open, I will be trying a new method via E-transfer to maintain a paperless and contact free purchase for the safety of members and staff. For this I am asking anyone interesting in membership etc. to please contact me at [email protected] with names of members, memberships wanted, along with any extras, and I will reach back to you with complete total and E- Transfer instructions. Please do not just send money to this email without contacting me first so I can make sure all information is tracked and right amounts totaled etc. and also so I don’t just receive e-transfer from [email protected] and have to figure out who it is from.

Lastly I know the weather this weekend is supposed to be beautiful but please remember to remain off the course as we move towards an opening date. We will get there sooner then later.

Stay Safe

Kyle

Dear Members

The Muni Board of Directors have been working hard towards finding
information to keep our members informed through this continuing
Covid-19 pandemic, while protecting the golf course and hopefully
getting players out as soon as it’s safe to do so. We recently came
across a news release from ClubLink Golf to their members, and wanted to
follow suit in the message delivered.

    As we all know golf courses have been ordered to remain closed by
the provincial government, due to our classification as a non-essential
business.  Our turf and other asset maintenance work can still be
continued by Kyle but only the most essential work may be performed.
The National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada is currently
lobbying to get Ontario golf courses open with social distancing
procedures in place, but as of last week the Provincial government has
extended the emergency orders until May 12th. At this time we are
hoping to open immediately after that date (May 13), subject to any
reductions or extensions of the emergency orders, while following the
guidelines and restrictions provided by the government and health officials.
     In response to the Covid-19 threat, and to be prepared for
operating in a changed world, a series of safety protocols and operating
procedures to keep employees, members and guests safe. are being
developed by us along with the many golf agencies. There are many to be
put into place and include the following:
– Members and guests to show up no sooner than 15 minutes prior to tee time.
– Clubhouse will remain closed for social activities, and have a maximum
of 4 people at time
– Social distancing must be strictly upheld at all times
– Ball washers, Rakes, etc will be removed from the course
– Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of all contact points will take
place. We will share more details about operating procedures closer to
opening.
Golf courses in other jurisdictions that have been able to remain
open like in British Columbia have successfully implemented new
procedures and to date have had no issues with following these new
procedures as members know the risk of closing if procedures are not
followed.
   The fluidity of this crisis represents a great challenge for all of us, and wee will continue to follow the guidance of government and health
officials with respect to the precautionary protocols deemed necessary.
   We are grateful for the support, feedback, and questions from our members, and we look forward to moving forward in this crisis
together in the safest way possible.

This message is supported by the Board of Directors of The Stratford
Municipal Golf Course Association

Hello to all members of the Municipal Golf Course Association.

The board of directors wish to keep members informed as we work through this Covid 19 situation.  We have held a telephone conference meeting and will continue to do so as things unfold.  Currently the course is closed and so no play or use is allowed other than work required to maintain the assets of the course.  Kyle will continue working, doing as much as he is able to on his own, and he will receive assistance from Gary as needed to keep the property in the best shape possible.

For the people that have in the past helped with spring clean up on the course we can inform you that this has taken place.  Kyle organized the staff to come in and complete this work using a self-isolating process to keep the employees safe. Further more our annual Men’s Night Meeting (April 15th) and Ladies Night Meeting (April 25th) will be postponed until further notice.

We wish you all the best during this difficult time and please keep yourself and help others stay safe.

Hope to be playing some sort of golf soon.

2020 Muni Board of Directors

Hello Everyone

In the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, The Muni will remain closed for the time being as we continuing to monitor with Canadian/Ontario Golf Agencies and Public Health Agencies on the appropriate ways we can operate once season begins that protects our members, employees and guest. We don’t know to what extent this may be with either continuing to be completely closed, open to members only with minimal to no clubhouse use and no flag sticks rakes etc. for touching.

We do hope that this has passed and everything is back to normal before we have to make any of these decisions but we thought we would let everyone know that we will be monitoring and will do our best to offer a great activity that can be done while social distancing in the fresh air.

On the happier side, with the recent nice weather and because we can be outdoors and create space we will be starting to do spring clean up and preparing the course for the season in the coming weeks. We will not be scheduling our annual member spring clean up date until we are safe to do so, but any volunteers who are bored and wish to self isolate with a rake in their hand at The Muni are more then welcome too.

Stay healthy and see you all soon.

Kyle

Hello Everyone

I hope everyone is having a quick and enjoyable winter!!! This weekend marks the start of our Early Membership Sales, we will be open Friday’s 1pm to 4pm and Saturdays 11am to 3pm for the remainder of February so everyone can take advantage of our discounted prices, as come March 1st the prices will jump to the 2020 rates.

It has been a busy winter around the Muni with Christmas parties, a few clubhouse upgrades to tables etc, and some drainage, bunker and tree work being done on the course and we are excited for Spring already, and what should be an amazing 2020 golf season.

I Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

Kyle