Manchester Golf Course 2007 Review

 from Keith Zietlow

 

 

The 2007 golf season at the Manchester Golf Course saw some new additions. I was hired in mid March to take of duties as Golf Director. With the support that I received from the members helped make the transition much easier. I enjoyed my first year here and look forward to many more to come. This is home for me.

One of the new additions to the 2007 golf season was the Jr. Golf Program. This was something that I felt was overdue for the Manchester community. Starting the first Friday in June, we had a ten-week program. The first 3 weeks was out at Hartridge Golf Course on the driving range. With the help of Bill Gearhart, Tom Allyn, Scott, Chris and Chad Crawford, Dustin Glew, Brett Appleton, Vicki and John Zietlow, and various parents we made this program a success. I had 43 kids ranging from 5-14 years old. During those first 3 weeks, we covered the grip and full swing, hitting the driver, and wedges, short game, and putting. For the rest of the program, we spent Friday mornings for 2 hours here at the Manchester Golf Course. Along with just playing, we had a drive, chip, and putt contest, Jr. Best Shot Tournament, and a Jr. Championship Tournament. First place winners won trophies. Second and third place finishers received medals. At the end of the program there was a banquet where we handed out the prizes and served pizza for the participants and their families. All in all the program went really well and I think next year there will be twice as many kids from the surrounding communities.

            Another addition was the start of the Championship Cup Series.  It was designed similar to the Fed Ex Cup for the PGA Tour. The purpose of it was to give the members a little more incentive to play in tournaments. The top 3 finishers received cash that was collected through tournament entry fees from the members. I raised the entry fee for members from $20 (2006) to $25 in 2007. The final total was $510, which the top 5 finishers were paid. Members seemed to like the idea because anyone had a chance to win as long as they played in events. For 2008 I am planning on making a few changes to the system and add more events to the schedule. I am still looking for a sponsor that will donate a trophy that will be used year after year.

            Tournament entries were up in 2007. In a typical 4 person best shot I had at least 16 teams and even had to turn away a couple of teams during the 4th of July tournament with 27 teams (due to no more carts available). Players seemed to like how I ran the tournaments because it was clear on how everything was determined.

2007 Major Tournament Winners

Cup Series Champion                        Luke Imsland

Sole Survivor Champion                    Mark Guetzko

Sole Survivor Senior Champion         Bob Galiher

Match Play Champion                       Keith Zietlow

Manchester Open                              Scott Crawford

Club Championship                           Bob Marsh

            Private lessons also kept me busy throughout the summer months. I probably averaged around 2 lessons per week. Most of the lessons where done at Hartridge on the driving range and the others were playing lessons at the Manchester Golf Course.

            This summer we had two newspapers review our course. In April I saw an ad in the sports section of the Cedar Rapids Gazette about nominating courses to be featured during the summer. They picked the Manchester Golf Course along with seven other courses throughout Northeast Iowa. In May, Marc Morehouse from the Gazette came and played 18 holes with myself and then wrote an article that was published on June 6th.  The Waterloo Courier also called about doing a review of the course. On July 12th Matt Coss and Sean Hylton came and I played 18 holes with them. The title of their article was “Hidden Jewel”. 

            With one season under my belt, I am excited for the upcoming 2008 season. One thing for sure is that Chris and Luke will have the course in immaculate condition again. We will have the Thursday Men’s Day Titleist League again along with our Ladies League so if you are looking to join a league contact myself about information on them.  Also if you have any suggestions or questions about the upcoming season feel free to give me a call or just stop by. I am open for any new ideas. Check out our website for other information at http://manchestergolfcourse.net.  It won’t be long and I’ll be seeing you on the golf course.

 

Sincerely,

 

Keith Zietlow

Director of Golf