Castle Creek #4 Ranked Course In San Diego County

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The Circle R Round-Up - March 2007

Club Upgrades Computer System
By now, most of you have probably noticed the new SCGA Electronic Handicap System (EHS) flat screen monitor recently installed in the Club Room. It came courtesy of the SCGA, and was delivered here by Emily von Doehren, SCGA representative. Emily presented an overview of the various SCGA programs and answered SCGA related questions from the attendees during a luncheon conference with Men’s Club Board members, General Manager Larry Taylor, and our Head Professional Aaron Kelsey. Of particular interest was the discussion regarding the continuing evolution of the Electronic Handicap System for Southern California. By the end of the year we will see the system convert to an E/3 server based system, which will further improve the ability to manage handicaps. By having a single server, your trend index will always be up-to-date. The information provided us by Emily is also available in the SCGA web site and is quite extensive, (117 pages) so if you are interested in the various SCGA programs that affect your play and handicap log on to www.scga.org - click on “resource center” at the top of the next page click on “Visitation Manual” - then click on the link following “Please open the PDF document attached”.

Members Association of Castle Creek Valentine’s Day Golf Tournament
All Members who played in the Members Association "Be My Valentine" Golf tournament held on February 15 were winners! In the past 96 games that the Members Association has played, this is the first time this unlikely event has occurred and, most likely, the last time. There were nine four-person (two of each gender) teams competing in a shamble crossover format at 80% of handicap. Irene and “Bic” Bickler with Anitra and Dave Gehrke took first place winnings with a score of 50. From there on came a logjam. In second place, three teams tied with a net 51. To make matters more interesting, all the rest of the teams in the tournament, five of them, tied for third place with a net 54. There were no losers although those that won third place walked away with only forty cents winnings each! Congratulations to all for participating in the most competitive event the Members Association has ever held.

Manager's Report
We are in the process of refurbishing the first tee area as well as the clubhouse entryway. Cookie will be using her decorator talents to give the foyer a new fresh look. We will be ridding ourselves of the old worn chairs in an effort to make your first impression a positive one. Tee Oh will be installing new flowerbeds as well as resodding the entire tee complex. We will be replacing the worn netting on the hitting cage to insure that your hard hit drives stay in the cage, where they belong! This is all a part of our spring-cleaning at the Creek.

Larry Taylor, General Manager

Oh’s Tee Shots
I'm sure everyone agrees with me when I say good riddance to our winter! The below freezing temperatures created havoc with our poor fairways and tees. The recent rains (combined with our fortuitous prior fertilization) have greened up our course to its familiar colors! In addition, we sprayed the fairways and rough with Dimension, a pre-emergent weed control. This is done to insure we don't have crab grass, clover, and other noxious weeds invading our fairways this spring. Tee Oh, Superintendent

New Member
A warm Castle Creek CC welcome to Clete West who joined in February.

AARON'S CORNER - PRO TIPS
Sand - We can lump this into three categories: Fairway bunkers, Greenside with fluffy sand and Greenside with firm sand.
1st - Fairway Bunkers. Take enough club to get over that lip. You have to square the clubface up on this shot and play it back in your stance. Now, hit down on the ball and be sure to catch it first. We’re not looking to stick it in tight here we just want out of that bunker and into a good position for the next shot. 2nd - Greenside Bunker with Fluffy Sand. Set up to the ball, dig in with your feet Open your club face, point it at the target, and open your stance. Swing twice as hard as you would with a shot of the same distance on grass. This swing will be more up and down, use the bounce on the club to glide through the sand. Your point of entry should be an inch or two behind the ball. 3rd - Greenside Bunker with Firm Sand. This requires a little modification since the ball will come out hotter (digging in your feet will tell you how firm it is). Square up that clubface, swing a little easier with a more shallow, rounded swing, and plan for more roll. Your point of entry is a bit closer since the club will not glide through as well.
Greenside bunkers by far; hands down, are the easiest shot in golf; your clubface will never touch the ball! Most people put the ball too far back in their stance and square up the club forcing it to dig in the sand. Nothing in this swing will feel rushed, forced or anything else other than smooth and easy. Practice by placing a quarter in a bunker and hitting it on the green. After you have done that place a ball on that quarter and hit them both on the green focusing on that quarter and not the ball. Sound easy, it’s because it is. If anything in this routine feels hard or awkward reset and try it again, trust me. Remember above all you have to get out of that bunker, anyway or direction that you can. Aaron Kelsey, Head Golf Professional

Golf Club Guard Dog

Unfortunately, we all don't have Mr. Bear to watch out for all of our unattended clubs! So, please be extra careful as nearby golf courses have been recently visited with "hit and run" bandits! In addition, we have heard reports that even cars have been broken into in broad daylight. Although we have marshals periodically patrolling the parking lot, it's important that we all keep an eye out for each other. Please report any suspicious activity to the pro shop immediately

It is with great sadness that we announce that Bob Witty, one of our original Circle R Country Club members passed away on February 4th. Not only was Bob a long time member of the Country Club and the Men's Club but also was a key element in establishing the RV golf traveling group, the "Mawmbacks". We shall miss Bob and his smiling face on the links. Our condolences go out to member Betty Witty and family.

Men’s Club News
Another month has passed and we have just finished a Major Tournament, Eclectic. My congratulations to the winners and I hope that all had a good time. This month I want to get to a subject that should be brought to the attention of all golfers for the sake of the game and its meaning. Golf is supposed to be a game of enjoyment and comradeship. In other words friends get together and play together for the love of the game. This brings up a topic in the rules of golf. Chapter one. Etiquette. Everyone should read this short chapter and become familiar with its content it will amaze you how much more golf will become enjoyable, if we follow these guidelines. John Lizotte, President

Rules
(Rule 16 - The Putting Green)
A situation came up recently in Team Play, which seems to be a timely matter given that we are experiencing some rainy weather together with the attendant muddy fairways and soft greens. A player’s ball came to rest on a green and when the player marked his ball and picked it up, he noticed that it had some mud on it. He bent over and rubbed the ball on the green to remove the mud from the ball. His opponents objected to his action and took the position that he should incur a 2-stroke penalty for “testing the green”. What is the ruling in such a situation? The Decisions Book (2006-2007) covers the matter thoroughly under Rule 16 - The Putting Green. Decision 16-1d/5 states that a player may clean his ball by rubbing it on the green PROVIDED that his intent is NOT to test the green. Intent becomes the critical issue then, and intent is very difficult to establish. The USGA recommends that a player use some other method to clean a ball in order to eliminate any question about his intentions. Ken Smith, Rules Chairman

Tournaments
The Eclectic, a 36-hole tournament, was held on the 14th and the 21st of February. Steve Gjorkovski was "in the zone" on the last day of the tournament shooting an even par 72 to take the low gross score and win "A" flight with a 59. It has been a long time (maybe never?) that a Men's Club member has shot even par or better in a major tournament! Congratulations Steve! Could be that Steve is tuning-up for the Club Championship?
“C” flight winner Kelvin Scott with a 53 took low net over the field. George Steiner managed a 58 in this "select your best hole of two" tournament winning "B" flight

San Diego County Senior*s Inter-Club Golf League
The Castle Creek Traveling Team for the Morgan Run match consisted of: Ken Smith, George Steiner, Ron Williams, Ed Harbour, John Lizotte, and Dan Albee. The away match played at the Morgan Run course ended with us eking out an 11 to 7 win. Both the 2nd and 3rd teams managed to win their matches handily but the 1st. team got beat badly 6 to 0. The 11 points accumulated by the other two groups held up for the win. Ron Williams and Ed Harbour posted the teams best net scores of 72. Our local guys delivered the Morgan Run team a sound beating on the return match by the score of 14 to 4. Three of our players posting net scores in the 60’s: Ken Smith 68 - Ron Williams 68 - and Ed Harbour 69.

A team consisting of: Fred Holtermann, Ken Smith, Hideki Shimazaki, Ed Harbour, Ray Miller and Bob Agnew went to Escondido Country Club on the 16th to play the Escondido Falcons. Two of the Falcon players failed to show up by tee time so Ken Smith and Bob Agnew had their matches forfeited to them for a total of 6 points and the other 4 men played the four remaining Falcon players for the other 12 points. The locals should have come home with an easy win but actually experienced a demoralizing loss by the score of 9.5 to 8.5. The 2nd team of Hideki Shimazaki and Ed Harbour played the only Falcon contingent that was intact but lost 6 to 0 when they ran into a buzz-saw team, which scored nets of 64 and 69. When the Falcons came here for the re-match on the 22nd they were intact with all 6 players present and accounted for. They pretty much pasted the locals by a score of 12 to 6. The 1st. pair of Fred Holtermann and Ken Smith did manage to pull out a win by a score of 4 to 2 but their efforts were for naught.
The team standings through completion of this match (match #4) shows Castle Creek with 7 points, only 4 points behind the league leader, Escondido Country Club which has a total of 11 points. Ken Smith, Team Captain

Notice
Daylight savings starts on March 11. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead. Until Fall “fall back” the first starting time for both the Men's Club and the Seniors is, unless otherwise stated, 7:15.

Women’s Club News
The February board meeting brought big changes to the major tournament eligibility requirements. After much discussion, followed by a motion being made and seconded, a vote was then taken for the following changes. The first change is that there is no longer any minimum requirements to play in the 4 major tournaments. The Memorial, Club Championship, Partners' Eclectic, and the Individual Eclectic. The second change is the maximum handicap has gone from a maximum of 38 to a maximum of 47 played from the red tees. Ladies, the gain of 9 strokes is good news to all those who haven't previously participated in any of the major tournaments. Timing is everything! Slated for March 13th and 20th is the Partners' Eclectic. Please consider signing up with a partner for this major. Aside from being fun, you have the advantage of a partner helping to shoot a good score. We hope to see a big field for this event. Barbara Bell, President

Castle Creek Women's Golf Club Supports the Elizabeth Hospice

The Elizabeth Hospice of Escondido was selected as the recipient of the Castle Creek Women's Golf Club annual charity raising event. Club President, Barbara Bell, proudly presented Hospice Representative, Jullie Shardon, with a donation at the club's February 6 general meeting. Ms. Shardon provided information pertaining to the many services offered by the Elizabeth Hospice to provide patients and their families’ guidance, medical, emotional, physical and spiritual support as they face one of life's most challenging times. Castle Creek Women's Club raised funds by participating in a program offered by Viejas Casino. Approximately 90 people boarded buses at Castle Creek to enjoy Viejas Casino activities and do outlet store shopping. The club is making plans for another Viejas trip in the fall to continue raising funds for local charities.

Tournaments

After a rainout on February 13, the members were more than ready for the yearly Memorial Tournament on February 20. It was cool and players could not put their carts on the fairway, yet 20 of the ladies lined up for the first tee time of 8 AM. The Memorial is a major Tournament, requiring all participants to play from the red tees. Final winner, Irene Fedeli scored well with a gross 87, seven strokes ahead of her nearest competition. Irene is our current Club Champion and we congratulate her on the continued good play. The overall net winner was Dorothy Berger with a 66. Flight 1 Low Net: 1st Jan Salisbury 73, 2nd Debi Harlow 74, 3rd Dawn Jessee 75. Flight 2: Low Net: 1st Hanalei Sun 77, 2nd Ruth Hazel 78, 3rd Dee Dowling 80. Flight 3: Low Net 1st Jeannie Fredenburg 74, 2nd Anne Schwartz 75, 3rd tie Lynne Cardarelli and Betty Wood 77. Green Tee non-tournament players participated in their own "Remembering Our Sisters", honoring Shirley Richard, Marsha Coleman, and Margaret Mary New. Mary Allen won that game.
Dorothy Berger, Publicity

Most Improved
The most improved lady golf for February is Fumie Shimazaki with a 4.3% decrease. Congratulations!
Pam Estes

February Aces of the Month
Last month's Red Tee Ace of the Month, Dorothy Berger, did a repeat! Dorothy scored another net 66 to become February Red Tee Ace of the Month. Congratulations on your winning streak, Dorothy! Our February Green Tee Ace of the Month is a first time winner, Mary Allen, with a net score of 74.
Jeannie Fredenburg