A Letter from the President- John Slattery



Dear Fellow Members,

Even though it has been a wet, cool spring, I think summer has finally arrived- hot and humid!  I am thrilled to report we are on target from a budget standpoint and well ahead of last year through these first 8 months of our fiscal year. Membership activity has been great despite the unfavorable weather. Additionally, our banquet business has been growing and is well ahead of previous years.  Please think in terms of the Club and our awesome facilities while planning personal and professional gatherings.

Our winter/spring projects have all come to a close and the response from the membership has been overwhelmingly positive. The large renovation project comprising the remodeling of most of the club restrooms/locker rooms have been a welcome upgrade to the club. Thank you for the kind comments I have received.  We also moved the pool table that was supporting the ping pong table in the kid’s game room into the men’s locker room which has proved to be a very popular decision.

Our swimming pool makeover turned out fantastic.  You will undoubtedly notice how bright and crisp the pool looks. Early this spring we planted two large trees on the golf course. The first is a beautiful Autumn Flame Maple which replaces the White Ash that died last year in front of the 16th green. Also, as a pre-emptive move on the 8th hole, we planted another Autumn Flame Maple in front of the dying Norway Maple at the corner of the fairway.  This effectively narrowed the 8th fairway.   This dying tree has only a few more years before it is gone.  The plan is that the new Autumn Maple has enough time to grow into this space.

In spite of wet season, I hope you have been out chasing the little white ball around the course. If you have, you have seen that the club has installed a large amount of sod. There are four main reasons we have undertaken this extensive sodding this year. Although our winter was not particularly harsh, our temperatures fluctuated above and below freezing many times.  This weather pattern played havoc on our grasses causing “winter kill” to many of our fairways. Secondly, you may recall that we started a project to reduce the Bermuda and Poa grasses in our rough immediately surrounding our fairways. The applicable treatment kills (or greatly stunts) the Bermuda and Poa grasses. In most areas the fescue over seeding last fall came in nicely, but in some areas it did not so we needed to put sod down. The third issue was our bunker edges. Last year’s dry weather really hurt a number of these areas and we have replaced that grass around a number of bunkers. Finally, there were several areas of Zoysia that were heavily shaded on the south side by tree cover stunting the Zoysia enough to not flourish.  The Greens and Grounds committee is working hard on investigating a longer term fix for this issue. Our sod project is 95% complete at this point and it all appears to be taking nicely.  Thank you for respecting these areas as the growing process occurs.

Another small pet project of mine was to get pictures of our entire Board of Governors on the wall and visible to you.  These pictures are located directly across from the Founder’s Room (the casual dining room) in the President’s Hallway. The purpose of this is so that the membership at large can put a face to the name. While many of you know some or all of the board, it is important to me that our entire membership recognize those who are volunteering their time and talents to help steer our club.  I am proud to say that all of these individuals are dedicated to long term success of Westborough Country Club.

Thank you all for your continued support.  Remember it is all of you that make this such a great place to be!!

Sincerely
John Slattery

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