4/9/2023
The conclusion of the Masters means we are able to crown our first winners in the Mad River Majors Pool. We had 66 entries into this event for a prize pool of $660. This year, winners will be based on the best 4 of 6 aggregate scores, not money winnings. Congrats to Chuck Magwood for winning the pool with a team score of -25. There was a tie for second place between Bill Strain and Stephen Headford who both had a score of -15. All winnings and billing of entry fees will take place following the conclusion of The Open in July. The next major is the PGA Championship at Oak Hill from May 18
th – 21
st. If you are interested in participating in the next pool, please contact Myles Bradford
[email protected].
There is no question that LIV Golf has been the biggest topic in golf so far in 2023. A close second has been the new model local rule limiting the distance of golf balls. This is a proposal from the USGA and R&A that might take effect in 2026. One of the objectives is to protect some of the older venues in golf that can no longer test the best in the world based on their current yardage. On top of that, they are unable, or it is unrealistic for these courses to keep adding length. For us at Mad River, length is not an issue. The golf course provides a challenge from every tee, assuming members are playing the tee that best meets their skill level. The most important point to highlight is that last line, a tee that matches their skill level.
At the end of the season, the work on our new tees was complete and the course was re-rated by Golf Ontario. As part of the re-rating, the Grounds Committee formed a sub-committee to discuss our hybrid tee combinations. As of last year, we had three hybrid tees which included LONG, SHORT and PURPLE. Most clubs that offer these hybrids will place one in between each set of tees. That is the direction that we took with the goal of providing more options for our members to choose. Therefore, this season we will have two separate scorecards. One will feature our regular tees, GOLD 7058, BLUE 6608, GREEN 6223, WHITE 5584, PURPLE 5369, RED 4873 and YELLOW 4026. The other scorecard will be a hybrid card which will have GOLD/BLUE 6835, BLUE/GREEN 6397, GREEN/WHITE 5904, WHITE/PURPLE 5470, PURPLE/RED 5120 and RED/YELLOW 4427.
This is a perfect time to refresh everyone on the Tee It Forward initiative from the PGA of America and USGA. I have inserted a chart below which is a guideline to help players determine which tee they should play based on how far they hit their driver. Please take this into consideration as you head into this season. The studies of those that played it forward found that pace of play improved, they hit more lofted clubs into greens, and they had more FUN!
Look forward to seeing all of our members back at the club in the weeks to come!
Carl Penfold