THE MAD POST

Submitted by Gary Ward, General Manager & C.O.O.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The AGM was held last Saturday afternoon. The official business of the meeting was the approval of the nominees for the board and the appointment of the auditor for the Club.
Current Chair of the Board, David Seville completed his term on the board and as he noted “I hope to have more time to spend on the golf course”.

Mad River has been privileged to have David serve as our Chair. Under his leadership major transformations have occurred and on a personal note, I will never forget his thoughtful, thorough and balanced approach to every situation. David always has the best interests of the Club in mind.
 
The amount of time David devoted to Mad River, over these past three years as Chair of the Board, and over the past 10 years, either on the board or volunteering for various committees and taskforces is staggering.
 
I’ve benefitted so greatly from his wisdom and will forever appreciate his support, please take a moment when you see him to thank him for his service.
 
New to the board is Mike Fisher, who was elected for a term of 3 years. David Woollcombe and Graeme McPhail were both re-elected to the board, David for a two-year term and Graeme for a one-year term. Baker Tilly was appointed as auditor of the Club.
 
David Woollcombe was appointed to serve as the Chair of the Board, Mike Fisher who has been serving on Grounds will take over as Chair of Grounds. Lale Macintosh remains as Chair of Human Resources, Rob Franklin remains Chair of Finance and Audit and Graeme McPhail remains Chair of Governance and Nominating.

 
Submitted by Chad Vibert, Golf Course Superintendent

Overview

The weather seems to be our biggest challenge these days, below seasonal temperature persist, and as a result nothing is really growing so far this spring.  Despite the cold, there is plenty going on around the golf club these days.  Below is a few of the activities that are currently progressing well at the club.

Fertility

We will be holding off our fertility until our bentgrass starts to wake up with some warmer temperatures.  If we fertilize now, we will be promoting the wrong grass species, as poa is actively growing now at colder temperatures.  This means we will be looking at brown and yellow surfaces for a while but we refuse to give poa any competitive advantage over the bentgrass.

18 and Chipping Green Bunkers

These bunkers have been shaped and drained with sod having been installed, this week we will be spraying the Better Billy Polymer, followed by the addition of sand.  These bunkers will be out of play until everything knits and settles properly.

 
Submitted by Sandy Higgins, Membership Services

Since our call out last week for historical information, memories, photographs, and memorabilia, I have received many wonderful responses from members who are now searching through their own collections for items to share. As these treasures continue to surface, I will in turn share them with all of you.

Earlier this spring, Cathy Hobart generously offered a complete original prospectus offered to those considering joining the Club. This type of archival material is invaluable to preserving our Club’s history, particularly as so many significant items were lost in the fire of 2004. While the administration office had fortunately been moved to the superintendent’s cottage prior to the fire, most of the records stored there were accounting and administrative in nature, rather than photographic or memento-based.  Continue....

Submitted by PA Irwin-Allen, Ladies Captain

We had 33 Ladies at our Opening Members Day last Saturday. A crisp morning with some sunshine and no rain (or snow)! Congratulations to the team of Nancy Fairclough, Joan MacDonald, Kim Edwards and Sharon Delorenzi as the clear winners by 4 strokes.
 
As you are reading this, it is the Opening day of the Ladies Tuesday golf season. Below is a summary about the season which was explained this morning at our Opening day. If you have never been to a Tuesday, please come out and give it a try.

1. Most Tuesdays are tee times with the first tee time at 8:30 am
2. Once a month, our game will have a shotgun start. On June 16 and August 11, it will be a 1 pm start. Ladies Member Member and our closing day September 29 will also have shotgun starts.
3. All Tuesday games (except three) will be PYOB (play your own ball) so your score can be posted to Golf Canada.
4. Each week, we’ll have our 2 closest to the pin locations, and a longest putt (outside of 5 feet radius of pin) contest.
5. You can be part of Skins every Tuesday. $5 cash to enter.
6. The results from our Tuesday game will be sent out by the proshop later in the day.
7. Our Closing day will be Sept 30^th. A shotgun start at 12:30pm, 18 holes of golf and a shootout, putt off, dinner/prizes to follow.
8. It’s important to post all scores so that your handicap factor is current. Please be sure to check you are posting from the correct tees as the Golf Canada portal often defaults to the back tees.

Thursday morning will continue to be available for a casual game of golf. Golf Genius will send out invites and the proshop will put the draw together.


 

 
Submitted by Dean Elliott, Men's Captain

Our Members Opening Event is in the books and so begins the 2026 Chase for the Creemore Cup!  The team of Jack Rothwell, Eric Giroux, Stephen Shamie and Stephen Maloney took top honours on the day.  They will be back next year to defend their title.  The turnout was great and a big thank you to all that made it to Mad on Saturday morning.
 
The spring series kicks off on Wednesday this week.  Contact the ProShop if you would like to play in tomorrow’s spring series event, or go online to sign up for the 20^th and / or the 27^th.

Submitted by Ryan Rinneard, Director of Instruction
.

Submitted by Michelle Larcher, Food & Beverage Manager

Warm Drinks, Comfort Food & Cooler Days

Members have been making the most of the cooler weather by gathering around the fire, enjoying fresh hot chocolates and specialty coffees from our new beverage machines. While we all wish summer—or at the very least, spring—would fully arrive, the warm drinks and welcoming atmosphere throughout the clubhouse have certainly helped make these brisk days a little more enjoyable. We’ve also seen many members stopping in to enjoy a comforting bowl of soup before or after their round, adding to the relaxed and inviting feel of the refreshed spaces.