From the Greens Committee:
The creek crossings project on the west 9 is in limbo. With the thick blanket of snow we got in early December, very little frost entered the ground. As such we were not able to get the required heavy equipment in to complete the work. At this time it appears that the project will likely be put off until after the golf season on which we are about to embark. We will keep you informed as the season progresses.

With the purchase of the land north of #16 we are planning for the development of a driving range. We are very early in this process but a committee has been seated and we have contacted a consultant. Our hope is that we will have the range ready to begin operation in 2011. If you have comments or ideas please share them with driving range ad hoc committee chair Mike Lathrop.

• Rough – we plan to mow the rough at two heights in a first and second cut. As long as the conditions are not too wet to prevent this, it should address nearly all concerns relating to the rough. When you get far enough off of the fairway that the irrigation does not reach, the rough may be longer.
• Greens – we had comments about the greens being too fast and the greens being too slow which makes this tricky. Our goal is to try to achieve a consistent green speed. Generally the greens will be slower early and late in the year and faster through the Summer. The differences in green construction and grass plants from the east to the west nines make speeds outside of a pretty average range difficult to achieve. And the weather plays a major role in the final green speed.
• Bunkers – we plan to remove some bunkers that don’t get much play and present continual maintenance problems. Remaining bunkers should benefit from improved maintenance as a result of there being fewer of them.
• Collars – we plan to cut the collars at a lower height to address problems created by not having fringes. At this time we are not considering giving up part of the existing putting surfaces to create fringes.
• Trees – you can already see the changes in the maintenance of trees on the course. Joe and his staff have removed many low branches which will result in improved visibility, improved playability and improved pace of play.
• Irrigation Lines – irrigation lines will be finished and fairway widths moved back to where they were prior to the irrigation project on the east nine early in the season.
• Yardage markers – we do not plan to re-implement yardage stakes. All sprinkler heads are marked and we will re-paint the 250, 200, 150 and 100 yd lines on the cart paths.
• Cart Paths – while we hear your concerns and agree that the cart paths on the east nine are in need of repair, we plan to patch them as needed and not replace them at this time. This will be a very capital intensive project when it is undertaken. Other than a few bad spots, the paths are doing what they are meant to do – allow us to play golf using carts when it would otherwise be too wet.

Mother Nature can be a wicked task master. The speed with which we achieve our goals can, and probably will, be affected by weather events.  Please feel free to discuss issues -- those listed above or others -- with members of the Greens Committee, Mike Lathrop (chair), Dave Button and Bruce Gaarder.

From the Clubhouse Committee:
Dear fellow members,

The following is a short report from your clubhouse committee and all of our great staff. We have listened to all of the great ideas that were sent in on the member surveys, and I wanted to tell everyone thank you for taking the time to tell your staff that you think they do a great job. After meeting with Jason and Ruth the following are some of the memberships ideas implemented. We are getting new menus with some new and exciting sandwich options.  Also in food service we had a Sweetheart dinner in February that was pretty well attended and we had a Brunch in March that had over 90 people attend. Both received a lot of great comments. We have also done a small amount of remodeling work on the East stairwell and are in the process of formulating a plan for some needed work on the dining room upstairs and the upstairs bar area.  These will be a very visible and a welcomed sprucing up of the upper level. We are also looking into and coming up with a plan for a makeover of the ladies' and men’s locker rooms.  This is a project that will not be started until 2011 or 2012, but we are in the planning stages. We are very excited with all of the nice compliments from the membership on the survey about our staff here at the Country Club and also all of the suggestions that were really from members' hearts.  We will listen and keep striving to make our club everything you all want and will be proud of.  Please remember we need all of the members at the dinners and events in order continue to provide great service at the very affordable rates that we all have now.  If you have any thing you would like to bring to the committee please don’t hesitate to tell your committee members Mary Freitag , Rob Curtis or myself.
Thank you all, Brian C. Poindexter, Chairman

Ladies Association News
Ladies Association Salad Luncheon - The Indianola Ladies Golf Association will be hosting the Administrative/Professional Day Salad Luncheon on Wednesday, April 21, from 11:00 am, until 1:30 pm, at the Indianola Country Club. Luncheon tickets are $8.00 and may be purchased at the door, or to obtain tickets earlier, you may call Sharon Capps at 961-4623 or Julie Franken at 210-2794.

Members may bring their salads and desserts to the club on Tuesday evening, April 20. The Club is hosting a group on Tueday evening, so please deliver the salads/desserts to the side door of the kitchen. Please call Julie Franken (515-210-2794) if you wish to help during the salad luncheon. A big thank you to all who participate in continuing to make this a success.

SAVE THE DATE! Stagette on Wednesday May 19th, 2010 - The Ladies Association in conjunction with Jason Marvelli and the ICC Pro Shop are hosting a Golf Apparel Trunk Show during the evening of May 19th. Jason has arranged representatives of FootJoy (shoes and outerwear) and EP Pro (shirts, skorts, capris, shorts, etc) to join us that evening. Catalog purchases through Life Is Good will also be available. Orders will be placed that evening and goods will be shipped ASAP. Jason will also be running discounts exclusive to transactions made during the Trunk Show. Watch for more details.

Golf League Registration will also occur on the 19th so get your partner lined up and join in on the trunk show and the league.

Men’s Association News
We will be having our spring meeting sometime in April or early May. Look for more details in the clubhouse and by email. Rob Curtiss, Men’s Assoc. President

2010 Club Calendars & Bag Tags
2010 Bag Tags are available now available. The 2010 club calendars are at the printer and should be available by the weekend. Pick yours up in the clubhouse.

Membership Changes
We have received resignations from Marty & Tanya Hall, Phil & Gloria Steger, and Blake Wikoff. Trial members Don & Myra Hewitt and Mike &Amanda Lindeberg have joined as regular members. Welcome new members Mark & Cherie Faktor and Chris & Michelle Earleywine. We now have 293 golf, and 19 social memberships. We had 309 golf and 18 social memberships at this time last year and 318 golf memberships 2 years ago.

Reminders:

Lunch at the Club - Don't forget that lunch is available at the club from 11AM-2PM Thursdays and Fridays and 11AM – 3 PM on Saturdays.  Feel free to bring your friends or co-workers. It is one of the best deals in town.

Clubhouse Now Wireless - The clubhouse now has wireless internet access both in the downstairs bar and upstairs ballroom. If you want to bring out your computer when you eat lunch or schedule a business lunch or business meeting upstairs this service is available. Contact Jason for details.

New Members Needed - The poor economy continues to have an effect on our membership. Now is a great time for new members to join since cart shed spots are available. Details of our current new member special are on the website at http://www.indianolacountryclub.com/prospectivemembers.html. If you know of anyone who is a potential member, let them know about this opportunity to join the club at a reduced rate. Just let Jason know their name and address or email, and he will send them the information.
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