The Willow Leaf

Team International Retains the Cup… Again

We had our 7th Annual Cup Match event in March. This event has turned into an excellent way to start the golf season! The event features three teams, all of which are members that reside in different locales. This Ryder Cup-style format is played in all singles matches with a handicap.

This year, the Internationals (Montgomery, Atlanta, Columbus, Dothan), once again, edged out the home team in a tight match! The Cup was clinched as Chris Birdsong brought home 4.5 points in the anchor match overcoming a 3.5 point deficit.

Participants enjoyed a great dinner, a round of golf, and burger dogs to end the event!

2017 Results
Team International	47
Team Alexander City	45.5
Team Birmingham	33.5
Standing through 7 years
Team International	4
Team Alexander City	2
Team Birmingham	1

Congratulations to Team International on their victory!

President Ann Harrison welcomed twenty golfers to our 2017 spring meeting on March 23. She announced that the board had chosen our local humane society as the recipient of our 2017 fundraiser which will be held in the fall.

Ann has appointed the following positions for the new year:

Birdie/Par Tree	Alyce Carlisle
Ringer Board	Betty Zettler
Willow Leaf	Molly Currie
Historian	Rhonda Hodgson

Thanks to everyone who attended our spring meeting!

Golfers were reminded that sign in is 8:45 am for 9:00 am play on Thursdays through May 25. Beginning June 8, sign in will be at 8:15 am, with 8:30 am tee times. Myra Bryson is in charge of weekly play and indicated we would be playing individual instead of team competition for the first few Thursdays. This is so scores can be entered on the ringer board. Myra and Matt will adjust scores and points based on red, combo, or green tees.

Beth Adams, Invitational chairman, encouraged everyone to submit names of those who may wish to participate in our June 1 tournament. She will mail flyers out by the first of the month.

Chick Blankenship announced our Club Championship would be on Wednesday, October 18 and Thursday, October 19. A luncheon will follow with prizes awarded at that time.

Matt asked for volunteers to help with the Southern Junior Amateur Tournament June 13-15. This is a top-five tournament for 14-18 year-olds which Willow Point is honored to host.

Special events chairman, Stephanie Craft, encouraged all to play in the upcoming Ladies Choice on May 18, as well as the Member-Guest on October 5. She and Matt announced the five foursomes for the Par 3 scramble which followed the business meeting. Winners, based on handicap, were the following:

First Place (-7)	Ann Harrison, Janet Haines, Melanie Morris, and Sandra Spraggins
Second Place (-3)	Rhonda Hodgson, Molly Currie, Chick Blankenship, and Mel Albright

Be sure to participate in the Sister-Sister Nine-Hole Scramble on Thursday, April 20. Also, mark your calendar for our first road trip of the year to Farm Links on May 2.

It appears that our winter season has gone without much in the way of cold weather. While we may be into our second week of spring, we will probably see a few more chilly days since there are three more weeks until Easter.

This last round of freezing temperatures doesn’t seem to have caused any problems with the turf and very few with trees and shrubs on the course. I was worried that the severe cold forecasted could freeze the sap in the trees and split bark. However, the low temperatures didn't last long enough to do any significant damage.

We have been busy during the month of March. We finally got enough dry weather to cut the golf course to the heights we like to begin the season. We finished spraying the course with our spring pre-emerge, and we still have to spread around the villas and cabana. That will be done before April 1.

You will see bunker work going on the first week of April. This is not major and shouldn’t affect play. We are skimming the contaminated sand out of the bunkers and adding about a half inch back. The bunkers stayed too damp last year. The organic debris that had collected over the past few years was causing them to remain wet on top and making it harder to play out of them. They should be a little drier, look better and be more playable this year.

In the next week or so we will begin spraying our controlled release liquid fertilizer. We will do this over the course of a few weeks when we can avoid play as we need to water it in for a few minutes.

We hope everyone is ready for the golf season, as it appears to have arrived a bit earlier this year. With the lake levels up, it is time to come to the lake, and we hope to see you soon at the Point!