During the next 5 months, our professional staff have brewed up a program designed exclusively for Cordova Bay Mens’ and Ladies’ Club Members to promote ongoing learning and game improvement through the cooler months. It's called "free advice"

Not that free advice is entirely unique, and you probably get healthy doses of it when playing golf with your buddies. The difference with this case is that we are offering up free professional advice, and it’s an offering that we extend only to our membership, building on the feedback that we received from members who had the opportunity to join us last year for Club Golf 152. It's our way of showing our gratitude, as you keep our wheels turning through the shorter days of Fall, Winter and early Spring.
Each of you should have received your invitation recently, if not, here are the full details of our StaySharp program.

Good Golfing To You,
Brian Hann,
Lead Teaching Professional

Traveling On Your Mind?

Dear Golf Travelers, if traveling is on your mind, why not consider one or all of these exciting opportunities that will be hosted by Jim Goddard, Head Professional or Jody Jackson, LPGA Teaching Professional:

Cordova Bay's World Golf Tour - Scotland/Ireland 2006

And the adventure continues! Join me as the Cordova Bay’s World Golf Tour continues in 2006 with a great trip to Scotland and Ireland with an option to extend your stay to attend the Ryder Cup in Dublin.

I have had some preliminary quotes from a couple of agents and it looks like the trip will come in at $4,800 plus or minus $200 for the two week Scotland and Ireland portion. I can provide contact information for Ryder Cup extensions. This price would include Airfare, Hotels, Golf Fees, Private Coach transportation, 14 breakfasts, and 4 dinners. If you are interested, please drop by the ProShop and pick up a sample itinerary provided by one the agents (Tartan Tours) quoting the trip for us, or e-mail me directly to jim.goddard@cordovabaygolf.com

Winter Golf Escape!

Goddess Golf Is Back!

Join Jody Jackson, LPGA Teaching Professional, this Fall for Goddess Golf Level 2! It's the next step for women who have completed GG Level 1(or have yoga/pilates experience). This course offers more advanced training in Hatha yoga and introduces Swiss Ball and Pilates for golf. Classes are held on Monday's at Saanich Commonwealth Place and Wednesday's at Cordova Bay Golf Course and begin October 3rd so hurry and book your spot!

This course will provide a post-season, corrective stretching and flexibility program while training mental focus for your game. Four practical sessions at Cordova Bay Golf Course will facilitate transition to the golf course. The cost is: $220 and class schedule is as follows:

Mondays @ SCP	Wednesdays @ CBGC
Oct 3 - November 28 (No Class on Thanksgiving)	October 5, 19, 26 & November 9
To register please call Saanich Commonwealth Place: Tel: 475-7600 Fax: 727-2649 24 Hr. Info Line: 475-7620

What's Cooking At Bill Mattick's?
(by Karna Townsend, Floor Manager)

Well things are still hummin' at Bill Mattick's with the beautiful weather we have been receiving and the outstanding food our kitchen is creating. Nightly features are still a "hot" commodity with our guests. We will be downsizing our hours of operation soon to keep up to the dark of night so keep an eye out at our front door for the change.

Jeannie is our newest team member in the restaurant and has a smile that won't quit. Please join us for a great meal and wonderful ambiance. If you are a resident or frequent player, please let us know so we can give you your discount. Thank you for an excellent summer and we hope this can continue through out the rest of the year.

ProShop News
(by Donna Bell)

An Ode To Fall..... It's that time of year again, When summer turns to fall But that won't stop us, From chasing that little ball. We may be a little colder, The sun may refuse to shine, Golfers have to be much bolder But they will not whine… So to reward these heroes We have attire worthy of their cause, Not just ordinary clothes, These will surely cure your winter blahs! Izod, Fidra, and Cross-make no sacrifice, And for those extreme days we have Footjoy, Abacus, Dunning and Sun Ice. The leaves are turning colours, The sun is becoming weak The days are getting shorter, But the outlook isn't bleak… We know where there's a will there's a way So the cold won't stop the golfers of Cordova Bay!
	....check out our new Fall fashions!

Pro-Spective
(by Brian Hann, Associate/Teaching CPGA Professional)

Removing The Mask

Can you "mask" a poor swing with a club that changes the ball flight? The answer is yes, somewhat. The consequences, however, will be confusing, and lasting. Herein lies the problem.

A funny thing has been happening in the marketing and R & D departments of the big name manufacturers lately. For some of these companies, it's actually "old hat" while for others, the relative success of some of these "wonder clubs" has driven them to get into these games. The games that these companies are playing are games with your swing.

It works like this. Rarely do consumers purchase full sets of clubs anymore. People have just not seen the benefit in of walking into a store and buying a full set of new weapons. Prices are high for the new technology, and that makes for an expensive "flyer" to take when buying anywhere from eleven to fourteen clubs. So consumers try to find a "good deal" on a magic club or two. You might be one of these people. Right now, the clubs dangling to hook consumers tend to be drivers and hybrid clubs. These are the clubs that are "wonder clubs" for two reasons. First, people always wonder if they could somehow get off the tee well with a driver, or whether these new hybrids are the answer to their ongoing battle with long irons. Second, the marketing departments keep telling us that these clubs are "wonder"ful.

I'm going to give you an excellent reason to stop looking for this supposed "good deal". The number one reason is your golf swing. Chances are you are working and playing hard to try to improve it, so you don't want anyone to mess with it. The root of the problem with these so-called "wonder" clubs is that virtually all are built to have the ball hook (left curve for the right-handed golfer). You see, the marketing department told the R & D department that the large majority of people are still slicing, and that the average handicap of those golfers who track such things is stagnant. People are not getting better at this game, despite all the changes and innovations over the last couple of decades. So R & D told marketing, "No problem, we'll make some clubs to counter the slice. What clubs give people the most trouble"? Marketing was quick to respond, "Drivers and long irons". And so the new "wonder clubs" are being rolled out, fast and furious. Draw bias, closed faces, heel and bottom weighting, upright lies. The physics takes over from there. Each of the above mentioned physics and geometry tricks will influence the ball to curve left. "Are you happy?" asks R and D. "They're selling", comes the reply from marketing.

This is my secret to you……if the club is built to hook, you had better have a slicer's reverse pivot and open clubface to try to counter the club. This leads to two questions. Do you want to ingrain that swing? Haven't you been working and playing hard to rid yourself of these swing sins? And here comes a second problem. You won't just play with the one club that you may take the flyer on. You'll use a whole bunch of others. Those others were not likely designed specifically to create left curve on the ball flight. So they'll perform differently than the "wonder" club. That means you'll need one swing for the "wonder club" (a slicer's move) and will need something different for your other clubs. That will get messy, quickly.

So, how are you going to break the cycle? What will you do? My advice is to deal with someone who has a vested interest in your improvement. Go to one of our teaching professionals to get some true advice. Each of our professionals has expertise in the influence of the golf club's blueprint on ball flight and will help identify a club blueprint designed to reward your best-balanced swings. A set of clubs can then be recommended based on a reward system. That is the polar opposite of an attempt to mask a swing full of faults. Your alternative is to fall into the "wonder club" whirlpool. For me the only wonder left in "wonder clubs" is that I wonder why anyone would buy a club that is designed to curve the ball left. It leaves only one alternative with that club…..swing like a slicer! Until next time, Good Golfing To You! Brian

Grounds Updates
(by Dean Piller, Grounds Superintendent)

Superintendent Article: Preparing for winter play

Victoria has been blessed with beautiful weather in the month of September and this has provided our maintenance team with every opportunity to prepare the golf course for winter play. After the usual early morning preparation of the course for each days play we have been busy with cultural programs that will prepare the turf for winter play and improve drainage ahead of our winter rains. Before these programs are developed we run a series of tests in early August that provide us with the information we need.

The first test is performed in house using a FIELDSCOUT Soil Compaction meter. This tool measures and logs compaction data twelve inches into the soil and once this information is collected we can develop our deep tine fall aeration programs. The testing done this year showed compaction in our fairways between the 4 and 8 inch depth. After 8 inches in depth the compaction was minimal so our deep tine program in August was targeting relief of the compaction in the 4 to 8 inch layer. Testing done after the aeration showed dramatic reduction of the compaction in this zone by 200 to 300 psi, therefore, when the rains begin this winter the water will have a far better chance of finding it's way into our extensive drainage network 3 to 4 feet below the turfs surface.

The second test involves sending samples of six inch cores to a lab in Kansas that provide us with a complete set of data on the soils physical properties within the six inch root zone. This data includes the soils infiltration rate that is measured in inches per hour, the air and water pore spaces, bulk density and organic content in each inch of the profile. This information becomes very useful when we make decisions on our fall aeration program. The data collected in August identified the need to remove a ¾ inch core to a depth of three inches on our fairways and leave the holes open to help relieve compaction as the soil from around the holes was allowed to expand. The benefits to the turf have been very obvious as growth around the aeration holes grows stronger.

As we move into fall our programs will continue with pencil tine aeration on tees to relieve compaction and another ¾ inch deep tine aeration on fairways. We have also began sand topdressing and deep tine aeration of all traffic areas around tees and greens to also improve the drainage as we prepare for providing good conditions for winter play.

Nasturtium (Common Name)
Tropaeolum Majus (Latin Name)
Zones: 15-24 (Our zone - grown as an annual)

Black-Capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapilla

Length: 5.25 inches
Wing Span: 8 inches
Weight: 11 grams

Men's Club

The 2005 Men's Club Championship was held on August 20th & 21st. Here are the results of the championship and a big congratulations goes to Kerry Mann, 2005 Club Champion, and to Neil Cuthbertson, Overall Low Net.

2005 Cordova Bay Golf Men’s Club Championship
Summary Results