Bruce Beach Cottagers' Association

OFFICERS

President -- Terry Parsons (2 Tout’s Grove Hill)
Vice President – Bruce Eaton (61 Snowdon Lane)
Secretary – Susan Yates Johnson (21 Tout’s Grove Hill)
Treasurer – Anne Wright (3a Tout’s Grove Hill)

MEMBERSHIPS AND GREEN FEES

Family (parents and dependent children) Season….$75. Month….$40
Adult (15 and up) Season… $35, Month….$20,  Day….$5
Junior (under 15) – half of the Adult Fee

SPECIAL EVENTS

June Work Bee………………….……Saturday, June 11, 2010 at 9:00 am
Junior Golf Tournament…………..TBA
Billy Open………………………...…....Sunday, July 31, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Golf Course AGM….Saturday, August 6, 2010 at 9:00 am at Clubhouse

BRUCE BEACH GOLF CLUB CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Welcome to the third and final summer of fund raising for the Bruce Beach Clubhouse and Golf Course!  We have made amazing progress thanks to the many loyal Bruce Beachers with  happy memories of hours spent either on the course or in the clubhouse . People from up and down the beach have been incredibly generous.  We have received $142,137 in contributions and/or pledges.  We now have a restored, but not yet furnished, clubhouse. There are plans to make the kitchen functional with dishes and cutlery.  Some folding chairs were purchased last summer and there is an immediate need for some additional tables, both large and small for potential gatherings.  Additional furnishings such as comfortable chairs, a sofa, etc. are under consideration and will depend upon available funds.  If you would like to use the clubhouse for a private event, you may contact Ann Wright, #7a, for information.

Attention is now focused upon the golf course.  Three greens were resurfaced and drainage systems installed last summer.  Be sure to read the accompanying article written by a visitor last fall.  We will see how these are working this coming summer and will have some data on the amount of maintenance needed.  It has been suggested by some that there might be families interested in taking on one green for a period of time, to oversee its care and improvements.  Others have suggested naming holes in memory of family members based upon an established monetary contribution.  Feedback about this will be appreciated.  All these decisions will rest with the BBGC executive committee. 

Future maintenance is of critical importance going forward.  The course has been maintained by a small number of volunteers that participate in “work bees” early each summer, and the modest golf fees support the summer upkeep.  The shed at the top of the hill that houses equipment is in need of repair or even replacement.

While the golf course is on McCosh Grove property, it is here for the enjoyment and use of all the people of Bruce Beach.  It has been gratifying that the support has been widespread and it is hoped that the use and participation in planning and maintenance will be widespread as well.

New and Old Classic Golf Architecture

I have recently had the opportunity to host some more friends and family at my favourite local pasture golf experience at Bruce Beach GC. I can't tell you exactly where it is, or they might have to kill me. Or at least never let me play again. These two photos exhibit firstly the left pic is the new #3 green slightly elevated, but still made out of "dirt", while the right photo is of #6 green with the great original bunker on the older green site.

If you look closely at the new greens picture you can see the drainage trench lines exiting at the sides of the green. Upon closer inspection I see they have installed 2”- 4" drainage laterals in the subsurface to relieve the subsurface groundwater issues they were experiencing before this minor restoration. So, without actually being involved here, I am thrilled at their chosen methods of construction, and the fact they have left the greens as the "browns". Which keeps the local heavy golfing traffic to a minimum, while they have improved playing conditions on three holes with new greens and modern drainage.

A little background on the property, although the locals don't want any publicity, as they are a private community with a 9 hole golf club touted as the oldest in Bruce County built in 1903 by a Scottish minister. The club has remained relatively unchanged in its 108 year existence and I really enjoy a round there with my hickory shafted old time clubs as it brings me back to golf’s roots. All the while playing "golf" as it was meant to be played on loosely manicured pastures maintained without heavy environmental impacts. Recently, I have brought some visiting family and friends by for the Bruce Beach experience, and the reaction is one of awe and unique beauty in its cottage cove off of Lake Huron.

But, I digress back to the "Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer" in me and let me indulge in the next steps of the new green restoration at Bruce Beach. The three greens being restored were continually unplayable, and or underwater this past wet summer. The drainage pipe installation to lower the gravitational groundwater in these new green sites was paramount to the long term agronomic success of these dirt greens. Once, the drainage tiling in the new greens was completed a finely sifted, local sandy topsoil was placed on the green sites to elevate them approximately two feet in the maximum areas, and then blended/feathered out quite naturally around the edges.
As of August 28th they resemble tabletops until some natural settling occurs inevitably. Also, they are very slow to putt on as they are not compacted enough as of yet, and a little precipitation on these new dusty greens would be ideal to soften the contours.

It seems always, the best defence against par at Bruce Beach are the tiny, fast and unpredictable green sites. All of which lends best to a non-aggressive golf approach being able to land your ball just short of the "browns" and let it bounce on to the putting surface. Still seems like the best way with 1903 greens or 2010 greens, at this venerable old 1903 test of golf.

Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer (aka Mark Luckhardt – Amberley Beach)