Update From Sam Murphy

Update From the Greens Superintendent – Sam Murphy

With spring half way over and the first day of summer a little more than six weeks away we just wanted to give everyone a brief update on the status of the golf course conditions and projects/task we have been doing, along with future plans.

The greens have been coming along well as of late. There is shallow rooting but some pretty good cover on top. The organic layer is beyond the 1/4'” depth that is recommended to maintain healthy turf. Aerification after the member-member will help to alleviate some of the organic layer, and promote denser, deeper roots to carry these young greens through August and September. We will be core aerifying with ½” core tines on two borrowed “648 Toro Pro-Core” Aerifyiers. One of the units is from Great Waters and a second loaner from Augusta National Golf Club. These new type units will help us complete this process in half the time it normally takes with the Ryan/Jacobson units we own. The aerification will be taking place on May 2nd and 3rd, weather depending.

As most of you have noticed the collars have made tremendous progress on filling back in. Some of collars (right side #8, left side #2, and #16) will need new sod. This is a result of the shade issues and the injury suffered from this past winter. The collars in full sun (3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 15) are doing much better and will not have to be sodded. A light aerification around the collars and these will be back to normal. Most of the zoysia collars that were installed several years ago have been taken over by the Bermuda. We will begin to sod the collars the week after the member-member. Also, there a couple areas we will begin to sod this upcoming week; around the pedestrian bridge on 18, the approach around the putting green, and various other bare areas.

The tees and fairways are starting to fill in and green up nicely. They are still a little off color from the cooler night time temperatures and the chemical applications for weed control. Come May and in to June they should both be looking up to par.

The weeds that we saw early in the year have been sprayed on the entire course. A repeat spot application may be necessary to control the remaining weeds throughout the course and driving range. It has been a great spring for prolonged weed germination and growth. We will be aggressively spraying weeds with post emerge controls along with our additional pre-emerge applications of herbicide.

We have been and will continue to be going through the bunkers looking to loosen up the hard pan conditions that persist in some of them. We are on a regular grooming and rock picking program. We will add sand were we determined it is needed.

Some other tasked that we have performed this spring:

We mulched existing paths and added some additional ones on # 7, 13, PG, and # 15.
We have started a regular topdressing program on the practice tees.
We’ve repaired all lighting protection on key trees throughout the property.
We ground a total of 18 stumps on our first go round with a rented stump grinder.
We also started to mow all the Meadow areas to help eradicate noxious weed growth.

We are presently finishing up on an evaluation of projects and special needs list for the golf course. When completed, we will be communicating our findings and recommendations to you in future updates. This should include plans and schedules.

Thank you for your time and interest. We hope you all can come out and enjoy the golf course soon!

Preferred Vendor Highlight - Kazanetti

Learn more about the String Quartet, Kazanetti!

Tell us about your services and what sets you apart from other string quartets. Kazanetti String Quartet prides itself on meeting the needs of its clients. In every consultation, music is selected and personalized to the client's wishes and can represent styles from the classics to standards and more. When possible, musical arrangements may be made for special requests. Kazanetti is also available to provide assistance in obtaining the services of other instrumentalists or singers.

What you love about weddings? In addition to the prelude and postlude that signal the beginning and end of a wedding, we often perform during the actual ceremony with music that has special meaning to the bride and groom and their families. We consider it a unique privilege to be included in a marriage, one of life's most memorable events.

What's your biggest piece of advice for brides? The day of the wedding is a busy one as all the planning comes together almost at the same time. Factor in time to eat a healthy--and filling--meal a couple of hours before the ceremony. In the midst of all the preparations, when it comes down to it, all that really needs to happen is for you to say, "I do."

For more information on Kazanetti, please visit www.kazanetti.com.

Comments from Cuscowilla Brides

Check out a few comments from our previous Cuscowilla brides!


"I had my dream wedding at Cuscowilla! Beautiful landscaping, delicious food, great service, very nice lodging, etc... The list goes on and on. Definitely recommend for an outdoor wedding on the lake!" - Casey, October 2010



"My husband and I were so pleased with Cuscowilla. The total experience went beyond our expectations and we will always have beautiful memories of our wedding day. The wedding facilities provided a "dream come true" wedding and reception. Jaime Murray was on the ball at all times. She was so helpful and pleasant during our entire expeience. We would highly recommend this wedding venue!" - Cassie, July 2010



Cuscowilla was the perfect place for our wedding. I cannot say enough good things about the location or the services provided by the Cuscowilla staff. I would highly recommend anyone to use their wedding facilities!" - Mary, May 2010

Jenna & Rob

October 2009

Jenna and Rob immediately knew there was no better place for them to wed than Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee. "Cuscowilla was recommended to us by a friend and once we visited, we barely got past the welcome gate before we both knew this was the perfect place for us to get married," stated the bride and groom.

The couple's ceremony and reception took place at The Waterside Restaurant. Jenna's six bridesmaids and one junior bridesmaid wore long, teal dresses by Watters. The bride carried a deep purple bouquet of flowers by Desire's Floral Design Studio. Following the ceremony, guests were greeted with Italian sausage & Romano cheese stuffed mushroom caps, along with a dinner buffet featuring crab topped tilapia, garlic and thyme scented broccoli and more. Alpine Bakery designed the unique white chocolate raspberry truffle wedding cake. For the wedding favor, guests were able to create their own "goody bag" of treats, selecting from Jenna & Rob's favorite candies and homemade cookies made by the bride's mom. After their first dance to "Amazed" by Lonestar, guests enjoyed dancing the night away to tunes provided by Ambience Event Services. All of these moments were captured by the images of Eric Little Photography.

"Our favorite moment was just after we were announced husband and wife and we walked back down the aisle together, holding hands, seeing all of our family and closest friends smiling, clapping and crying." - Jenna & Rob

Cuscowilla Executive Chef, Richard Schafer

Chef Richard shares his wedding advice with you!

Richard Schafer, Cuscowilla Executive Chef

What advice do you have for brides? Remember to make your wedding menu (and your entire wedding!) about you and your groom. Your menu needs to be what you both like and what you both want!

What is the most important part of a wedding menu? Variety! You can have a couple special or unusual items but you should always have a few "safe" foods for the less adventurous eater. Here at Cuscowilla, I, along with our Events Manager, work with you to create your menu, working in your favorite foods and what you want but also giving you advice to create your perfect menu.

What is your favorite item that you serve at weddings? I would have to say our Brown Sugar Apple Wood Smoked Bacon Skewers. Guests are always a little surprised at the bacon skewers but once they've eaten one, they've fallen in love. The skewers offer a salty / sweet complex that we all love!

What items work best for wedding guests? A few things! We suggest a roasted beef that will take care of your guests looking for something more filling, while we also suggest a salad and a chicken that offer different options for the lighter eaters.

What is your favorite thing about weddings? I love how each wedding is special and different in a variety of ways. All of our wedding menus are customized and completely unique - each menu has a touch of the bride and the groom, which we love to see. I really enjoy the menu meetings that we have, getting to know the bride and groom, watching them work together and seeing their excitement for their big day!

We're a WeddingWire Bride's Choice Award Winner for 2011!

WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards 2011

Eatonton, GA – January 25, 2011 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Reception Venues!


Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.


Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.


“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”


We are happy to announce that Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee is among the very best Reception Venues within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.


For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

What A Cuscowilla Wedding Offers

Here at Cuscowilla, we treasure our brides. We enjoy meeting the brides, working with each one and customizing these special days. But what exactly do we offer to our brides? Check out what we do below!

• Our brides work directly with our Events Manager to plan the big day. The Events Manager meets with you for the first time on a site visit, handles the contracts for the day, is responsible for all communication concerning anything with the reception and/or rehearsal dinner, as well as scheduling meetings with our Executive Chef. We handle the ceremony rehearsal and the reception from when the first vendor arrives until after the last guest leaves. Your Events Manager is the main liaison with you from start to finish.

• Brides are able to customize their menus. If you love stuffed mushrooms, how about offering those to your guests? If your groom has an obsession with slides, we can handle that! We schedule a menu meeting with our Executive Chef, where we sit and discuss all the foods you love, you hate, what you want to offer, what you don't want to have and more. During this meeting, we also give you our opinion on what we've seen that works, what doesn't work and many other suggestions. We enjoy meeting with you to learn about you and to create menu that reflects you and your groom's personalities.

• For your guests, we offer a discounted rate for our accommodations. The rates are available until 30 days prior to the wedding. The discounted rates are big savings for you, your family and your friends!

• For those who book a wedding and reception here at Cuscowilla, we offer a variety of incentives! (All incentives are based on availability)

1. You receive a complimentary night's stay on your wedding night in one of our overnight accommodations.
2. A complimentary night's stay for your one year anniversary.
3. A round of golf for four is also an incentive to be used before or during the wedding weekend.
4. Dinner for two at one of our restaurants is also a special incentive that we offer.

We truly enjoy all of the brides, grooms, families and friends that we have the pleasure of meeting and working with. Our experienced team will work with you to create your perfect wedding day. For more information on hosting your wedding at Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee, please call 706-484-0050 or visit our website at www.cuscowilla.com.