Curling season winding down

The ice is in at the Morrisburg arena and skaters started hitting the ice September 12th. “We’re ready for another season,” said Don W. Lewis, director of recreation facilities for South Dundas. No significant changes […]

 

While area golfers are bemoaning the fact that winter just doesn’t want to let go, Morrisburg Golf Club greens chair, Shawn Hummel has been using the time to get all his ducks in order.

Hummel has been busy over the past few weeks, getting the work lined up to repair the two Morrisburg Golf course greens hardest hit by disease last summer. 

According to Morrisburg Golf Club president Jason Broad, the par three second green is to be resodded at a cost of $8,000 while the worst hit number three green, in addition to resodding, will be re-configured with new soil and  proper drainage put in to the tune of $25,000.

The Morrisburg club executive has lined up a qualified company and for “warranty purposes we are having them do all the work,” says Broad. “For the year, they will put us on a program. They are also going to work with us on a proper maintenance program for our other greens.”

Where disease had impacted portions of other greens, particularly the first and fifth, work was done last fall that appears to have had favourable results.

“Last fall Mick Mabo (club vice-president) and Lee Beaupre (greens staff employee), moved a lot of the best sod there was left from the third green to number one and five. It looks to have caught well and is starting to come on now,” says Broad.

As for the time line, Broad says, work is to begin on the third green immediately, up to the placement of the new sod. “We need the soil to reach a temperature of 50º F to have the sod laid, so this cold spring has really delayed everything.”

Once the desirable soil temperature is reached the new sod is laid, Broad says golfers can expect a minimum of four weeks before play can resume on the two greens. 

Drainage put in last year, has helped in several problem areas and up until the heavy dump of rain and ice rain this past Friday, April 12, the course was drying up very well. The grass was showing the benefits of Monday’s sunshine and warm temperatures and what was brown on the weekend was now beginning to green.

“The clubhouse is officially opening Sunday,” said Broad. “And if we don’t get to much rain the rest of the week, Shawn is planning to put the pins in on Friday.” 

Club vice-president, Barry Henderson has been busy getting the clubhouse in order, and advises that should the pins go in, the clubhouse is booked for a private function on Saturday. This will not affect play, but will temporarily restrict afternoon access to the clubhouse.

Sunday, he points out, “it’s wide open” and we are offering an 2013 Season Opening Special of $10 per person which will include both breakfast and golf from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The club’s first ladies night is set for Wednesday, April 24, while the men will kick off their season on Thursday, April 25. The junior program starts in mid May.

Last fall, the Morrisburg club members, realizing the potential negative impact of the diseased greens, decided to reduce 2013 membership rates, in a effort to hold onto members and attract new members. With single memberships starting as low as $450 and a very attractive $75 for junior members, the club is hoping to hold its own through a difficult time.

Also the club will run without a head greenskeeper as it enters into a new setup that involves ‘greenskeeper sharing’ with other clubs. “This is a new trend that small golf courses are trying in an effort to cut costs,” says Broad. “So at this point we are not hiring a full-time greenskeeper. We want to look at it in an effort to keep our costs low. We can always undo or go back.”

“The cost to redo the third green is $25,000,” says Broad. “It’s frightening isn’t it. Most of the cost is for the materials, including tile drainage, soils, sand, irrigation and sod. I don’t think many people are aware of what golf course greens are worth.”

“The executive has been very busy getting ready for the season, and Shawn (Hummel) has had a lot on his plate, getting everything arranged for the greens. He’s done a lot of work.”

For more information or to pay memberships, please contact the Morrisburg Golf Club at 613-543-3282 or drop by the clubhouse beginning this Sunday, April 20.

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It may not seem like it due to the cold winter weather, but spring is just around the corner and soccer with the South Dundas Soccer Association is not far behind.

Coming up on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Iroquois Civic Centre, is the first of two registrations for this year’s soccer program in Iroquois.

Good news for all participants is that the fees for the 2015 season remain unchanged at $40 per child. For the $40 per player participants receive his/her shirt and lunch during the final tournament. 

In addition the $40 covers 10 weeks of fun, playing soccer and making new friends and it will all start this year on Saturday, May 23. 

The year end tournament will run July 24-25, and association president Phillip Blancher says some special events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the South Dundas Soccer Association and the 15th anniversary of the World Cup Soccer finale weekend are in the works.

South Dundas soccer runs on Saturday mornings in Iroquois from 8 am. until 11 a.m. and this year’s program is available to youth born from 1997 to 2010 (the youngest). Soccer is offered in  five age divisions U-6 (5-6 years), U-8 (7-8 years), U-10 (9-10 years) U-13 (11-13 years) and U-18 (14-18 years).

The number of players in each age category determines the number of teams, and the Saturday morning schedule is a fixed schedule with the U-8 and U-10 playing at 8 a.m., the U-6 and U-13 at 9 a.m. and the U-18 at 10 a.m.

It is because player numbers determine team numbers, that it is so important that players are registered at one or the other of the two upcoming March registrations. (The second is Friday, March 27 from 6-9 p.m. at the Civic Centre in Iroquois). There is also a late fee of $20 per child.

“Last year we had just over 400 kids on 34 teams across the five divisions. We played a total of 253 games of soccer including the tournament games,” says Blancher of the very popular program.

Players participate in one hour sessions on Saturday mornings with the first half used to work on skills and the second half to play a game. Standings are kept, mainly to provide a seeding for the team in the final tournament. “It helps us to schedule for the year-end tournament. We try to balance it at the final tournament so that everyone can have some success and fun.”

Volunteers are a key to the success of the South Dundas Soccer Program. 

“We will have the canteen open if we can get enough volunteers to run it. We need volunteer parents and students for the canteen, to help with the fields and cutting the grass. While the school board and the municipality mow, it isn’t always optimum to when we need to use the field. We need people to line the fields, to set up and take down the nets, to set out the road cones to shut down the street and to coach.”

“We certainly have lots of volunteer hours for high school students who need to get their hours in. And of course, any help from anyone is greatly appreciated.”

Blancher says the program is run with the belief that everyone has the right to play. “It doesn’t matter if there is a disability, we will work with a player’s disability and make it their strength.”

The association also doesn’t allow cost to stand in the way of a child participating. Because the cost per player of $40 is bare bones, family discounts are not available. However, the South Dundas Soccer works with the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program and the Upper Canada District School Board’s Champions for Kids, both programs available to provide financial assistance to families who need help.

“We also have some other funding sources to help out so that anyone who wants to play soccer can. Cost is not a factor. We have a cleat exchange to help out, and we hope to have it available at the registrations.”

Soccer cleats and shinguards are mandatory for all players this year.

Blancher is pleased that a number of sponsors have returned to the soccer field this year and it is thanks to these local businesses that registration fees remain low. Sponsors come on board to sponsor colours and so if their colour is red then they sponsor the red shirts in each age category that has a red team.

For the sponsorship, the sponsors get their logo on the back of the shirts, they are featured on the Associations’ website, in programs and in any form of press release.

“These sponsorships really help us out by offsetting some of our costs (like insurance),” says Blancher. “Because of the great sponsorships we had last year, we didn’t have to increase our fees this year. That is really great, and we are very appreciative of the community support we receive.”

To save time, registration and volunteer forms can be printed and filled out in advance from the Association’s website: www.southdundassoccer.org.  Cash or cheques are acceptable.

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