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The Circle R Round-Up - January 2007

A BUSY YEAR GONE BYE

The year 2006 was "book-ended" with heavy frost in January and December. During February the Moosa River removal of the "Arunda" began and we could once again see across the streambed. On March 20th Dave Bassett won The Senior's coveted "Brown Jug" and was proclaimed 2006 Champion. In a May edition of the San Diego Union, the Castle Creek Golf Course was listed as one of the top ten courses in the county. Also in May, Fred Holtermann won the Men's Club Championship. Near the end of June golfers were treated to the scene of fire fighting helicopters overhead as they gulped water from Reflection Lake to help squelch a blaze nearby. On June 27 Irene Fideli became the 2006 Women's Club Champion. By the end of July, the Castle Creek Country Club had reached its goal of 200 members. Near the end of August, golfers, once again, witnessed helicopters overhead helping themselves to a drink from Reflection Lake to fight another fire in the vicinity of the golf course. Also in August, Castle Creek was rated #4 daily fee course in San Diego County. October was the month for beginning another improvement program for our golf course when the tree-trimming program started for beautification and removal of some pesky branches and dead trees. In November, for the third time in 2006, our golf course received another award, this one from Golf Digest as one of the "Best Places To Play". In December, the festivities for the year concluded with the Men's Club celebrating their 29th annual Christmas party, the Women's Club holding their annual Christmas Tournament and lunch, and, on the final day of the year, the Club's gala "New York" New Year's Eve Party

HELLO 2007 - THE PARTY
Castle Creek’s “New York” New Year’s eve party attracted 60 guests for dinner and grew to over eighty before the ball dropped in Times Square. Our ever smiling DJ, Ben, provided the dancing and dinner music from his large repertoire of CDs. The champagne glasses were filled as the countdown began, followed by the clinking of glasses - friend to friend - and a sip of the bubbly, and kisses, as we all welcomed the new year (in New York that is). The band played on to the delight of the younger crowd as others began to depart. By all reports, the dancing and other festivities continued into the late evening hours. Here are just a few of the happy partygoers.

Manager’s Report

Like the egret by Reflection Lake, it is always good to look oneself in the mirror and reflect on how the year’s gone by, and to make resolutions for the coming year. The staff and I want you to know that our #1 goal is to make the ‘Creek’ the best facility it can be. We pledge to continue to improve the course, our service, and our food quality. Sometimes we fall short, but please remember that we do care and that we are always trying to improve. Specifically we will be (among other things) renovating at least 6 tees, trimming our overgrown trees, creating new menus, and to continue seeking ways to improve our pace of play. Thank you for all your support throughout the year.
Larry Taylor- General Manager

Christmas Thanks
The staff at Castle Creek would like to thank the following families who contributed towards the Christmas funds: Fisher, Black, Nelson, Bell, Ashworth, R. and V. Miller, Dowling, Carter, Estes, McCollum, Berger, Knowles, and Koda. Also, special thanks goes to the Castle Creek Men’s Club, who generously donated as well. The monies were distributed to all of our “unseen” employees who worked in kitchen and on the golf course.
In addition, I would also like to thank Sam and Jane Knowles, Dan and Sharon Albee, Bob and Sharon Coleman, and Jim Brown for helping serve our employees during our Christmas Party. Their hard work enabled the kitchen and serving staff to relax and enjoy the festivities.

Oh’s Tee Shots

The frost has been a killer this past month, with 14 days being affected by low temperatures. We recorded as low as 24 degrees by the creek! As a result, the fairways have been “shocked” into a yellowish temperature as a result, not unlike your fingers turning numb due to frostbite. We will be spreading Iron and Magnesium onto the fairways to “warm and green them up”. You should see a change by the 10th or so of January. We will be continuing our tree-trimming program on fairways #10-12, cleaning the dead branches off the eucalyptus trees as well as a general trim. This will encourage a more acceptable growth rate and pattern that will be conducive to protecting our players on these tight fairways.
Tee Oh- Superintendent

New Members
A warm Castle Creek CC welcome to the following members who joined in December:
Sook and Jong Ahn
Jay and Susan Kim
Mr. and Mrs. Sang Heup Choi
Kwang Cho
Jay Sim Oh
Kristi Davis
Jim Cullen

Fivesomes
A reminder that starting January 1, we will no longer allow fivesomes on the course. This is a start on our efforts to speed up the pace of play. Our goal is to maintain a 4 to 4 1/2 hour round at all times.

Free Firewood!
We have free firewood available to all members. Please check with the pro shop for permission to go into the maintenance yard to load up. It will be available on a first come, first served basis.

MEN’S CLUB NEWS
As we enter the year 2007 it is the hope of this administration to make the year more interesting and more fun for the golfers of Castle creek. One of our goals is to get new members involved in the men’s club. The participation factor for our events is at all time low. With over 100 members, we should be seeing 50% playing with the men’s club. Averages have been in the 25 to 30 % area. We also have room for new members so get out there and advertise the club and convince your friends it is the place to be and play.
At this time I want to thank the outgoing president for his dedication to that job for the last 2 years. I also want to thank all the board members for dedicating their time and efforts to assist me in the next year. John Lizotte, President

CASTLE CREEK MEN'S CLUB CHRISTMAS PARTY

Over seventy Castle Creek Men's Club members enjoyed the Club's twenty-ninth annual Christmas party. The decoration committee (Ellie Carter) had all tables decorated with lighted Christmas Trees to add to the already festive ambiance created by the Club. The four member band "Just Friends” provided the sometimes raucous dancing music for the gyrating participants. The dancing was interrupted for only a short time while members feasted on a variety of dishes served by the Club's patient serving staff. Yes, a good time was had by all!

HISTORY OF THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY SENIOR'S GOLF LEAGUE
The League was formed in 1967 and was originally comprised of clubs from San Marcos, Whispering Palms (now Morgan Run), El Camino, Starlight (now Riverwalk), San Luis Rey and Cottonwood. At present there are 21 teams from 20 different Golf Clubs all located throughout San Diego County. Included in the League (in addition to those named above), are clubs from Torrey Pines, Coronado, Chula Vista, Balboa, Singing Hills (now Sycuan), Fallbrook, and some of the military courses. This year Twin Oaks joined.

Castle Creek won the League title five (5) years in a row from 1982 to 1986 and once again in 1993.

More recently the local team had 3 consecutive 2nd place finishes and this immediate year finished 6th. Each team is usually comprised of about 20 to 30 players who share in the rotation of matches. Every match consists of 6 players who contest against a visiting team with the winning team awarded 2 points for a win, 0 for a loss and 1 for a tie. At the end of the season the team with the most total points is the League Champion. With 21 teams participating, each team must play 20 matches and the season runs from January through October.

Membership in the League is restricted to Men's Golf Clubs in San Diego County and to participate on a team a player must be a male of at least 55 years of age and have an established SCGA handicap.

The purpose of the League is to promote good fellowship and sportsmanship. Even though the matches are conducted in a spirit of fierce competition, at the conclusion of each match the players sit down and share a social lunch. One of the benefits of participation on a team is that the members will be assigned to play about 6 matches each and will therefore, play at some of the other courses each year and will eventually get to play at all of the 20 other clubs.

WOMEN'S CLUB NEWS

With ladies in a festive mood from snowmen, dreams of Christmas and good food, they were treated to a humorous installation of officers, where each spoke a symbolic oath and then received an appropriate reminder of her office: Mary Allen, Secretary--a megaphone to increase here voice volume, Sue Ellen Tankersley, Treasurer--a tote bag for her checkbook to keep it safe, Joyce Brown a very personal 2007 Calendar to remind her of coming Tournaments, and Barbara Bell, President, a stool to make her taller for all to see.

Barbara's 2007 Board: Sweeps--Jeannie Fredenburg, Handicap--Pam Estes, Membership--Nancy Bassett, Rules--Jan Salisbury, Publicity--Dorothy Berger,
Special Events--Terri Petrell, Advisor--Sue Ellen Tankersley

THE CHRISTMAS PARTY

Frosty the Snowman decided to join the Ladies' Club on December 5, the day of their Christmas Tournament/Party. The forty-five minute delay allowed ample time for cookies, coffee, and lots of cheerful stories about the coming holidays. In a vision of red and green they were finally off to their respective tees for a game of 2 BB of the 4some playing red tees on the front nine and the green tees on the back nine. And with mulligans in hand, everyone was optimistic. After play, a room full of snowmen and a giant Christmas tree greeted them. A warm and delicious lunch was served immediately so that raffle prizes and golf winners could be announced. Organizer Dee Dowling succeeded in managing a happy time for all, as everyone was a winner. The first place winners were as follows:

ACE OF THE MONTH
November Aces of the Month are Anitra Gehrke from the red tees with a net 66, and Kendelle Lynch from the green tees with a net 72. In December Kendelle was again green tee ace with a net 75, while Fumie Shimazaki was red tee ace with a net 70. Congratulations to you all on your excellent golf.
Jeannie Fredenburg

ACE OF THE YEAR
The coveted title, Ace of the Year 2006, will be on the line January 30, 2007. Twenty women's club golf members achieved eligibility to compete for the title by scoring the lowest net score from the red or green tees each month in 2006. Defending Ace of the Year 2005, Shirley Ekstrom, will be hoping for a repeat, but nineteen other highly motivated and competitive players have aspirations to become the title winner. Good luck to all the participants!
Jeannie Fredenburg, Sweeps

MOST IMPROVED
Most Improved Nov. Irene Fedeli 3.3% decrease
Dec. Anitra Gehrke 4.2% decrease
And, the most improved lady golfer for 2006 is: Mary O'Brien. Mary's handicap dropped 10 strokes from a 37 to a 27.Congratulations!!!
Pam