Mid Season Members Update

Grande Meadows Golf Course is at about the midpoint of the 2021 golf season. There are many positive things happening with the course this year which at the moment is giving reason to believe that perhaps we will be able to cover off our proposed budget shortfall – or at least most of it. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions as we have a long way to go yet but a much more positive attitude seems to permeate the happenings around the course in general.

With an increase in membership leading to an increase in the number of rounds it makes for a busy course these days. As well some creative advertising has led to an increase in the use of the kitchen facilities with people now coming to Grande Meadows for a meal. If you haven’t taken in the Friday “fish & chips” meal it would be worth your while.

The shortage of rain this year has caused some headaches for General Manager Bill Lee, he and his outside staff have managed to keep our tee decks and greens in great shape while doing the best they could with the fairways. Kudos to the whole staff for a job well done.

If you have noticed the course being a little busier the past couple of year it’s because we have had an increase in membership over that time. This increase is most likely attributed to the Covid pandemic which led to many people working from home so maybe had more of a chance to get out and play golf. I have put the numbers below for the past 3 years and you can see over that period of time we have had almost a 16% increase in membership which had been declining each year for the few years before that. As well it’s great to see the number of student and youth members quadruple over that same time period. As well our junior program has shown a big increase the past 2 years with 36 young boys and girls involved in the program this season.

Board of Directors Election

There is currently a vacancy on the Board of Directors  and the call for nominations resulted in three (3) individuals expressing interest, namely Frank Haskell, Mike Blagdon and Tracey Blagdon. Therefore an election is necessary. Members can vote at the Clubhouse  anytime  between Friday July 30th  at 7:45 AM  until Thursday August 5th at 7:30PM. 

A big thank you to all our outside and inside staff led by General Manager Bill Lee and Clubhouse Manager Kim Grandy-Baker. Thank you to long time employees Peter Myles who has spent many years keeping the tee decks, greens and fairways in impeccable condition as well as to inside workers Crystal Tibbo & Paula Cluett for their continued great service. And of course kudos go out to Roxanne Smith for her continued great job in the kitchen. With the increase in business for the kitchen from the advertising campaign by the PR team, Roxanne has been a busy girl this year. We are happy to say she has risen to the challenge.

Of course we have some new employees this season including outside workers George Rose and Bradley Moulton along with inside workers Chelsea Follett to go along with students Alex Oake, Kevin Power and Lauren Cribb.

The season has been a fairly busy one with several tournaments so far including a season opening best ball affair followed by the 24^th Grande Meadows Invitational which had 74 participants. As well the annual BPHCC Hospital Tournament was back this season after missing last year. This year the tournament was held July 10 & 11 and there were 140 golfers who participated. This past weekend saw the 14^th Annual Burin Peninsula Open Golf Tournament go ahead with a full field of 60 golfers participating. It’s tournaments like those that help us generate revenue to keep our course going. If you have the time to participate in any of those tournaments we would love to have you play.

As well Ladies Night on Wednesdays and Men’s Night on Thursday are both in full swing with lots of golfers coming out to enjoy a fun game of golf each night.

Covid Vaccine Update If you haven’t already had your Covid 19 vaccine please sign up now and get protected. Just check out those 2 photos of Grande Meadows golfer Wayne Dodge. The photo on the left is after his first dose of vaccine while the photo on the right is after his second dose! The proof is here for sure! The vaccine really works.