Castle Creek #4 Ranked Course In San Diego County

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The Circle R Round-Up - February 2007

MEMBERS ARE PUT IN THE DEEP FREEZE AS RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES HIT CASTLE CREEK

While members waited for Tee Oh’s okay to start play, temperatures throughout the golf course dipped to record lows in the mid teens. Old-time members claimed this was as cold as it has ever been in the Moosa Valley. It was to be a long wait before the course thawed out enough for a shotgun start. On some days it was not before ten a.m. The sixth green (one of the coldest spots on the golf course) took longer to thaw necessitating a temporary green for the first few groups of players. Those members who were up early witnessed fairways and greens white with heavy frost. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a one-day happening. During the month of January, play was delayed by frost with the coldest days January 15 through 18. There was enough ice and frost on the 5th tee to build a snowman (not the dreaded 8 but the real thing). Jack Lakin volunteered to have his picture taken with this mysterious snowman on the day after it appeared. No one has been able to determine the creator but it was cold enough to last for three days. Back at their golf course homes, members and neighbors were dealing with burst water lines and icy driveways. Slips and falls took their crippling toll. Frank Betonte appeared on crutches unable to join the Men's Club Flag Tournament. Others, suffering from bruises and sprains were unable to finish and dropped out of the tournament. Our local weatherman, Lee Estes, reports the lowest reading he recorded on his thermometer was 18.3 degrees on January 16. With the golf course surrounded by mountains, the heavy cold air descends and gathers at the lowest end of the valley making the area of the 10th and 12th holes the coldest. Most likely the temperature near these holes was several degrees colder than the temperature recorded by Lee at the upper end of the golf course. As we soon found out, that was not the end of inclement weather for us for the month on January!

AND THEN CAME THE RAIN

As the month ended golfers said good-bye to the frost and hello to the rain. Almost an inch and a half fell in a few hours leaving a lake in front of the sixth green. It was cart paths only for carts as the Wednesday Men's Club sloshed through the wet stuff in the last tournament of January.

Manager’s Report

Look for our new member’s roster to be available later this month. This year’s addition has been overhauled with new by-laws and other member information added A special thanks to the hard work of Harry Carter and our club’s board members to make this possible. Kindly check in at the office or pro shop around the 15th for your free copy. Larry Taylor- General Manager

News From The View

Look in your statement for our exciting Thursday specials for February. We are featuring all the past favorites along with a new “Grandma’s Diner” offering. February 1st - Baja Thursday. $1 tacos and $2 Margaritas with your plate of Mexican specials. Pasta night on February 8th. Western BBQ on February 15th and on February 22nd, Grandma's Diner night with home made meatloaf, liver, and onions, chicken fried steak, beef stroganoff and $2 Martinis and Manhattans! Also, don’t forget to sign up for our popular Valentine’s Day Dinner with Cookie (extension 203). See the details on the last page of this "Roundup"

Oh’s Tee Shots

The continuing onslaught of cold weather has wrecked havoc on our course. We have recorded temperatures in the teens along the creek! The fairways are still off color and we have lost numerous plants, particularly around the clubhouse. Luckily, our greens have kept their color and health. The only downside is that they tend to be much quicker due to slow growth. Those of you who have faced a down hill putt on #9 can attest to that! With the warmer weather coming up, we will be fertilizing the fairways to stimulate growth and color. We will be aerifying sometime in mid March and over seeding with bent. The tree-trimming program continues, with emphasis on cleaning up the Eucalyptus on holes #10, 11, and 12. I look forward to seeing you all in shorts soon! Tee Oh, Superintendent

AARON'S CORNER - PRO TIPS

Tiger can hit a wedge 165 yards from the deep stuff: I can’t and no offense to your game, you probably aren’t able to do this feat either. Think before you hit and play within your capabilities. Understand that golf is more a game of precision than brute force. Distance is fine, but not helpful at all if the ball ends up in the "guch". Don’t dwell on a bad shot after it happens. Focus on the shot ahead of you; the one you already hit is gone. Nor should you try to smoke a seven-iron when a six-iron will get you there comfortably. Most high-handicappers create their problems by under clubbing themselves. Rather than easing up on a club if you’re concerned about hitting it too far, take a club with more loft and swing away. Always give yourself room for some error, play with the game you brought that day to put yourself in the best possible position to hit the next shot. Pay close attention to where you are losing strokes, and devote your practice sessions to those areas. I personally think that it is better to practice after your round when those trouble spots are fresh in your mind. Above all, try to develop confidence in all your shot making. Negative thinking is probably the biggest score-wrecker in golf, especially on short putts. I’m reminded constantly of a saying that the late Gordy Severson used to tell me “Ball - hole”. Do whatever you can to accomplish this task in the least amount of strokes. If it takes a 5-iron from 100 yards so be it. Convince yourself you can make that shot and good things will happen. Aaron Kelsey, Head Golf Professional

Attention all members with private carts

Your 2007 Trail Fee Decals are available for pick up in the Office.

HOLE-IN-ONE

Congratulations to Jim Stewart on making his first hole-in-one, after 53 years of golf, on the first day of the year 2007!
Hole #8 - 130 yards - eight iron.

Bob Fedeli, husband of club champion Irene Fedeli, passed away on January 2nd, after a long illness. Bob and Irene shared a house along #10 fairway. While Bob played most of his golf at Vista Valley Country Club, he was considered a member of our Castle Creek family. Our sincere condolence goes to Irene and her family.

Men’s Club News

With the exception of the FROST delays (note the ice on the fence of the number 7th fairway in the picture on the right), January started off well. The Hot Stick Major Tournament was a success and I want to send my "Congratulations" to the winners. The Major tournament for February will be a 2-week event, "the Eclectic" to be held on February 14th and the 21st. All members are eligible to play in this best 18 of 36-hole event. NOTE: All members of the men's club should remember to show an interest in the well being of the Golf Course, which entails fixing your divots and keeping carts on the path or rough and using the 90-degree rule. The course is in great shape and we should help keep it that way. John Lizotte, President

Tournaments - Annual Hot Stick

The hottest hot stick was Fred Coleman with a net 64 and winner of “C” flight in the annual hot stick tournament. Mick Lowe was the “B” flight winner with a net 66 and Jim Stewart took “A” flight with a net 68. The Hot Stick tournament is played in January of each year. To qualify for this tournament, members must enter any of the weekly Hot Stick Tournaments and have made a net score of 68 or less. All members may enter the weekly Hot Stick Tournament.

San Diego County Senior’s Inter-Club Golf League

The League season started on Jan. 5th with a match against Twin Oaks. Our team consisted of Vanetsky, Holtermann, Lynch, Shimazaki, Agnew, and Betonte. They had to introduce the new team to most of the Leagues rules and procedures but were successful in bringing home a tie worth 1 point. Myron Vanetsky shot the low round of a net 69 and was accorded an “AT A BOY”. They were more successful here at home when they hosted the Twin Oaks group on the following Thursday Jan. 11th. The team won by a score of 12 to 6 and therefore won 2 more points for the team league standings. Bob Agnew posted a net 69 and was rewarded with an “AT A BOY”.
The newly formed 2007 Team now consists of 23 players with the addition of 3 new members: Gayle Harlow, David McCollum, and Charles Newcomb.
The 3 points the team won against Twin Oaks places the team 7th out of the 20 teams after completion of one match. Ken Smith, Team Captain

Saturday Morning Twenty Dollar Group (SMTDG)

If you are interested in teeing it up with other members and guests on Saturday mornings, we have just the deal for you. We welcome any players with a SCGA handicap. Over the past few years, we have refined a $20 game to be fair and challenging. Because of variance in the number and quality of players each week, we flight according to handicap for low net prize. Our format rewards play in three areas, low net, closest to pin on each par three (with par on hole), and lowest putts. We gather in the bar for drinks after the round. Winner buys the first round! Last year, our SMTDG was accepted by the Castle Creek Men’s Club as an affiliate group, which allows the SMTDG morning games to be counted toward the number of required games to enter the Castle Creek Men’s Club Championship. Please feel free to contact Jim Brown (760) 315-0430 or j1mbrown@cox.net for questions or to let us know that you want to play.

Notice – Men’s Club Handbook

The 2007 Men’s Club Handbook is now available in the Club Room for all Men’s Club members. Please pick up your copy at your earliest convenience. Much of this same information can also be found in the Castle Creek Directory. Any changes to the handbook will be posted around the first of each month on the bulletin board next to the computer. If you have changes to your personal file (address etc.) please notify Lee Estes with info to Harry Carter, preferably by e-mail. You may also indicate changes on the change form located at the bottom of the Handbook change file.

Women’s Club News

The New Year 2007 arrived with cold and chilly temperatures that often caused long frost delays for our Ladies’ day tee time starts. We are looking forward to an end to this very wintry conditions as it is not too fun playing in cold weather.... burr!

At the first general mtg./luncheon I thanked all the 2006 board members. For the board members, chairpersons for special events and those who contributed in one form or another, again thanks. It is through the efforts by some that keeps this club functioning, which results in the fun that we all have. I look forward to working with the 2007 board members and those who will continue to step forward to help.

The next event slated is the Feb. 13th Memorial Tournament, which is dedicated to all those dear women whom we have lost. Please sign up for this major tournament. If you have played 10 games in the past 9 months you are eligible to play. Play is from the red tees with a maximum handicap of 38. For those who will be playing behind the field from the green tees, Marion Smith will be in charge of the sweeps game for that day. Look for the sign up sheet in the scoring room. Barbara Bell, President

Red/Blue Match Play Tournament

January 16 and 23 marked the two dates for our annual Red/Blue Match play Tournament. Players were ranked by handicap and then evenly divided into two teams. The respective captains were quick to organize their teams, with Dawn Jesse claiming the Blue team and Monita Patry claiming the Red team. All club members were eligible to play, with the red tee players on the red tees and the green tee players on the green tees. One point was awarded for a win on a hole, 1/2 point for a tie and 0 for a loss. Players had ample time to think about scoring and evaluate opponents with a two-hour frost delay the first week, and an hour and 15 minutes the second week. It was a well-fought battle with the teams being evenly matched. By 11 AM each day the weather was beautiful, sweaters were off and the ice was melting. At the end of the first week the Blue team was ahead by a slim 7 points with scores of 68 1/2 to 75 1/2. By the end of the second week the Blue team held its position, but by a mere 9 points with 139 1/2 to 148 1/2. After play it was obvious that everyone had a good time, thanks to Dawn and Monita. Congratulations Blue team. They will be honored at the February meeting and treated to a special cake dessert. Members of the Blue Team are: Captain Dawn Jesse, Irene Fideli, Nancy Bassett, Hanalei Sun, Dee Dowling Teri Petrell, Dorothy Berger, Jean Fredenburg, Karen Georgens, Shirley Ekstrom, Yvonne Buerfeind, Mary Allen, and Jane Mullen.

Dorothy Berger, Publicity

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
CCWGC most improved player for January is Mary O'Brien. A decrease of 7.2%. Looks like the most improved player for 2006 is still on a roll. Good golf, Mary! Pam Estes

Aces for January

Congratulations to Dorothy Berger and Shirley Ekstrom, the first Aces of the Month in 2007. Dorothy is Red Tee Ace of the Month for January with a net score of 71 and Shirley is Green Tee Ace with a net score of 74. Great play, ladies.

Jeannie Fredenburg

Ace of the year Tournament

On Tuesday, January 30th, fourteen enthusiastic ladies teed up to compete for the title of Red or Green Tee Ace of the Year for 2006. After a few holes, Mother Nature intervened with cold wind and biting rain, forcing even the hardiest players to give up play for the day upon completion of nine holes. The 2006 Ace of the Year Tournament has been rescheduled for April 10th.