Poppy Club – Winter 2015

Welcome to the Winter edition of the Hills & Ridge Golf Club Newsletter. Here’s hoping that by now we are all enjoying the much anticipated ‘El Nino’ weather!

One thing to keep in mind when you are scheduling your tee times this winter is that your other clubs–Hills & Ridge–both offer excellent drainage and playing conditions during the winter. One of the main intentions of redesigning Hills was to provide firm playing conditions during the winter months.

The newly sand capped fairways will definitely provide those conditions this winter. Ridge has proven itself to drain well over the years, as the water always has some place to go besides the fairways. Remember to keep us in mind when you are scheduling your next tee time or group outing.

Hills and Ridge are looking forward to seeing more of our members in the upcoming year and want to remind you that as members you always receive the best price and value at your two home courses.

Enjoy the holiday season. We look forward to seeing you in the New Year!.

We all know that California is in a drought and Poppy Ridge is no exception. Now that cooler weather and the possibility for some rain has set in, the maintenance crew is working to recover the course from our irrigation reductions. An unfortunate side effect of utilizing less water on the course is the thinning and patchiness of turf in some areas of the fairways and rough.

Re-seeding is a cost-effective method of recovering these thin areas. At Poppy Ridge, we have been utilizing a piece of equipment called a slice-seeder to aid in this task. A slice seeder works by cutting a groove into the soil and then dropping turfgrass seed into that groove. This creates a perfect growth chamber to protect the seed until it emerges. So, when you see lines of new grass growing up through a thin area, you will know that the area has been slice seeded and is on the road to recovery.

Another unique thing that we did at Poppy Ridge to help with future drought conditions was to renovate the type of turfgrass in our driving range. Since the opening of the course in 1996, perennial ryegrass has been the dominant turf type in the driving range. Perennial ryegrass is a great looking turfgrass but it can need a lot of water to help handle the Livermore summers.  To help reduce the amount of water needed to maintain the range, as well as handle the summer heat, we converted the majority of the driving range to common bermudagrass.

The last step is to get some much needed rain to help grow in all of this seed. 

So you’ve never been to Poppy Ridge?
Do you know what you’re missing?
I think not.

If you did know, you’d recall how fun it is to try your hand at conquering all three of our nines. Or you’d miss the tranquility of sipping a glass of local Livermore Valley wine or the new trend in craft beer, from the enormous patio overlooking all three of our finishing holes.

Maybe you would remember how unexpectedly delicious our featured special was, or our daily house made soup warmed your belly. And don’t forget, that not only do we have an exceptional restaurant at The Grill, we’ve been told our snack bar, Mulligan’s, has the friendliest staff and makes a mean tuna sandwich! Remember all this?

Whatever the reason you’ve been missing out, you won’t be disappointed that you made the turn off of our private drive to experience all that your HOME course has to offer (aside from the amazing NCGA Member green fee discount).

But wait, there’s more…
If you are part of an associate group, we are one of the best courses to host your group and we take pride in making it a great day for you and your friends both on and off the course.

If it’s a special event that brings you to Poppy Ridge, we are well equipped to take a milestone birthday, anniversary and hugely important wedding day and turn it into one of the most memorable days for you AND your guests to look back on. It’s just what we do!

So again, if you’ve never been here, you’re missing out. And if you HAVE, we are serving up new menu items to accompany this bountiful fall season! Come visit us…Soups on!

While you can never go wrong with wine, don’t forget that the bar at The Grill at Poppy Ridge also offers some of the best in local brews.

Among the suds available at The Grill are Altamont Beer Works, Working Man Brewing and Eight Bridges Brewing.

Altamont, Livermore’s first brewery since Prohibition, offers at least seven specialty beers and three seasonal releases. Working Man Brewing, meanwhile, gives us Whistleblower Belgian wit and 9 to 5 Pale Ale. Eight Bridges Brewing’s offerings include Deuce Pigalow, Pig Head Red and Porkchopper Porter (yes, they’re best paired with ribs).

Either by themselves or washing down a burger, you’ll enjoy quaffing some of these tasty beauties.

www.mercurynews.com/jay-brooks/ci_28461621/five-breweries-livermores-buzzing-beer-scene

Poppy Hills has received more recognition.

Recently, the California Golf Course Owners Association named Poppy Hills the winner for 2015 Course of the Year.

The Course of the Year Award honors a CGCOA member demonstrating excellence in five areas:

ACES

There’s still some time left! Each round played at Poppy Hills in Dec. will be entered into a raffle and on January 1, we will draw a winner who receives free golf at Poppy Hills for all of 2016! Extra tickets can be purchased online or in the shop for $20. Also, for every round played in December, Poppy Hills is donating $10 to Youth on Course that will be matched twice by donors equaling $30 round. The result will be a Youth on Course member getting a $20,000 college scholarship.

Poppy Pass – Your Ticket to Unlimited Golf

To kick off the New Year, Poppy Hills and Poppy Ridge are offering the Poppy Pass, which provides for unlimited golf from Dec. 21 – Mar. 21. For weekdays only (Mon. – Fri.) the price is $750. An investment of $950 gets you golf any day of the week! Cart is included at Poppy Ridge, and is extra at Poppy Hills.