Castle Creek #4 Ranked Course In San Diego County

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The Circle R Round-Up - April 2007

NEW MARKERS WILL BETTER DEFINE THE GOLF COURSE

Castle Creek Begins “Spring Cleaning”

In preparation for the upcoming major tournaments, Castle Creek has begun cleaning out the encroaching brush along Moosa Creek in an attempt to reclaim portions of the course that has been grown over. In addition, a committee representing the Men’s, Women’s, and Senior Clubs have been formed to re-mark the course with the guidance of Aaron Kelsey, our head professional. Through the years, the various OB and Hazard markers have been uprooted, lost, or misplaced. The goal of the committee will be to re-establish and re-define those areas. For example, the right side of #12 fairway will be re-defined, especially where the OB and water hazard areas meet. Another area to be re-examined will be the restroom along #3 green. This has always been a confusing rules question when a ball lands within the complex. Finally, all OB markers will be fixed in an attempt to eliminate accidental relocation. Players have been seen moving markers when their stance or swing has been impaired by an OB stake. This, of course, is against the rules. By permanently fixing the markers, we’ll effectively solve this problem. The changes made will be posted in the pro shop and published in next month’s Round-Up.

MEMBER'S ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES "SPRINGTIME IN MOOSA VALLEY"

The Member’s Association held its bi-monthly golf tournament on April 26 with a shotgun start. The game of the day was a Scramble using the “Ambrose” format of handicapping. It turned out to be another highly competitive game with the top four teams of the eight-team tournament scoring within less than three strokes of each other. The team of Dorothy and Marv Berger, Jeannie Fredenburg, and Hideki Shimazaki took first place with a net 50.5. Less than two strokes behind came the team of Kendelle and Art Lynch with M.L. Ashworth and Dan Albee. Bringing up third place with a score only one-tenth of a stroke behind was Marion and Ken Smith with Mary Allen and Phil Pierce.

THE BROWN JUG CHANGES HANDS

Jack Lakin was able to parlay his first round 66 with a final 18 hole 65 for a total of 131, beating former Champion and Senior's Club President Dave Bassett by 3 strokes. Dan Boessow was the winner of "A" flight with a 135 followed by Dick Schenck 137 and Robert Fisher with a 138. Ken Smith took fourth place in "A" flight with a 139. Following Jack and Dave in "B" flight was Marv Berger in third place with a 141 and Harry Carter took fourth place with a 142

Manager’s Report
The Castle Creek “Spring Cleaning” is only part of our effort to make the course tournament ready at all times. We try to maintain a grooming standard that is comparable to the standards seen at PGA and USGA tournament courses. I thought you would enjoy seeing how our standards measure against such courses:

As an interesting side note, the rough, or “second cut” at the Masters is 2 inches. As you can see, the goal we have at Castle Creek is to create a course that is challenging as well as golfer friendly when it comes to enjoyment and pace of play! Larry Taylor, General Manager

AARON'S CORNER - PRO TIPS
Three Keys to Consistent Contact
If your ball is suffering from inconsistent contact and a lack of distance, try these three tips and watching your scores improve.
1. Stay on Plane Work on building the proper path for your swing, one that doesn’t travel too far to the inside nor the outside on the back swing. The proper position at the top of your back swing should place the shaft just above the right shoulder (for the right-handed golfer). On the downswing, work on directing the club slightly to the inside of the back swing plane this path into the ball will provide optimal results.
2. Hit the Sweet Spot Sounds simple but one of the major causes of off-center hits is over swinging. My advice is to gear down your swing until you start making dead-center contact on the face. This is more important than the extra 10 mph of club head speed. Once you begin flushing the ball, gradually begin to increase the swing speed, but not at the expense of poor contact.
3. Finish in Balance Take practice swings at half speed and concentrate on making a full finish that is in balance. If necessary make swings without a golf ball and simply rehearse the finish position. (Hint: If you can’t hold the finish position for several seconds or until the ball lands, you’re not in balance.)
These three keys are cornerstones for a sound golf swing. Incorporating them into your game will lead to immediate improvement both in average distance and fairways and greens hit.
Aaron Kelsey, Director of Golf

Oh’s Tee Shots
Through the years, we have learned (sometimes the hard way!) that to maintain turf on our greens, we must cope with our salty water. Part of that process is that we now flush our greens for 30 minutes as opposed to the more traditional 5 - 10 minute watering cycle. Flushing is done on a less frequent basis, dictated by weather. This process effectively leaches out most of the salt deposits, resulting in healthier greens. In the past, we have watered on a traditional basis, which caused unhealthy salt deposits, severely damaging turf quality. The negative aspect of our flushing process is that the sprinkler heads flood certain bunkers, resulting in casual water or packed surfaces. We will be working on replacing these 360-degree sprinkler heads with 180 or 90- degree heads this year. Please remember you can drop out of casual water in the bunkers without penalty. Thank you in advance for your understanding as we manage our salt-water condition to keep our greens healthy. Tee Oh- Superintendent

Notice - If you have an e-mail address and are not receiving the "Circle R Roundup" newsletter and wish to do so please send an e-mail to Harry Carter at elhare@cox.net and he will place you in the e-mail address group for that purpose. Likewise, if you are receiving the newsletter by e-mail now and do not wish to receive it in the future let him know and he will delete your name from that address group.

A warm Castle Creek welcome to Alan Auret, who joined in April as a Social Member.

GET YOUR NEW
CASTLE CREEK
LOGO GOLF BALLS.
NOW AVAILABLE
ON SALE IN THE PRO SHOP

Men’s Club News
Today we are going to talk about the Desk Assignments for the Men’s Club and the Sr. Men’s Club. If you have desk duty it is your responsibility to be there 45 minutes before the first Tee time.
You will also stay and register players until 15 minutes before the last Tee time. If you cannot make your assignment it is your responsibility to get a sub for that day. Most people make a swap if they are going to be out of town or have a illness. When you are on the desk you are the man in charge as a committee member, it is your duty to make sure all members sign up for the next week and if they want to wager in the events you collect the right amount for that event. We have a good bunch of people at this club and I am sure all will co-operate with the deskman. Thanks to all the volunteers, we appreciate your good work. John Lizotte, President

Travel Team
Your Castle Creek Senior’s Traveling Team sent a group to El Camino on Friday March 30th. The team consisted of Ken Smith, Ron Williams, Art Lynch, Will Nelson, John Lizotte and Frank Betonte. Unfortunately the locals lost the match by a score of 11 to 7. The lead pair of Ken Smith and Ron Williams (playing in the A group) won their individual match by a score of 4 to 2. Unfortunately the other two teams managed to win only 3 more points so the El Camino team walked away with an easy win. The return match here at Castle Creek, on Thursday April 5th also resulted in a win for the visitors. El Camino scored another win by a score of 12 to 6. This time the C team of John Lizotte and Frank Betonte won their match by a score of 4 to 2 but the other two teams managed to contribute only another 2 points. Art Lynch scored a net 69 and John Lizotte shot a net 66.
On April 13th, a team consisting of Bud Barnes, Will Nelson, Hal Helfand, Dave McCollum, Clell ward and Dan Albee visited The Vineyard and lost that match by a score of 10 to 8. All of the matches were contested very closely. The A pair of Bud Barnes and Will Nelson won their match by a score of 4 to 2. All of the scores were in the high 70’s to low 80’s range except for Bud Barnes who shot a net of 71. The Vineyard team came here on Thursday April 19th and delivered us an embarrassing whipping by the score of 17 to 1. The only points garnered were by the B team of Hal Helfand and Dave McCollum and Dave won some individual recognition with his “At A Boy” score of net 69. Bud Barnes also shot a net score of 69.
The Castle Creek team is now standing at about the middle at 10 out of the 20 teams in the League.
Ken Smith, Team Captain

TOURNAMENTS
The President’s Cup tournament was held on April 11th and 18th. Charles Newcomb shot low net over the field and was “C” flight winner with scores of 60 and 67 for a total of 128. “A” flight winner Hal Helfand turned in a 64/66 for a total of 130. Dick Schenck took “B” flight with rounds of 64/67 for a total score of 131.

RULES IN PICTURES
This is the first of a series of “Rules of Golf in Pictures” especially applicable to Castle Creek. In this situation Ken’s ball ends up between the cart path and the out of bounds fence on hole #7. Ken’s only option to advance the ball toward the green is to hit his ball with a left-handed stance. However, since his stance places his feet on the cart path he is allowed relief. Ken makes his drop at the nearest point of relief, which is on the opposite side of the cart path and now may make his approach shot to the green taking his normal right-handed stance.

WOMEN'S CLUB NEWS
On May 8th the Ladies’ club will host the 2007 Member/Guest Day. This year’s theme “Salute to the Military” is indeed very special. This event is very special because it is a way to pay our respect and to show our gratitude for the efforts our Armed Services have always displayed in keeping our country safe and ensuring our continued freedom. The four flights will be named Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. We will have the usual morning continental breakfast, a fun day of golf and a luncheon filled with a yummy meal, raffle prizes, and loads of fun. This event has been put together by the collective efforts of many. We look forward to this day and I will report back next month on its success. Barbara Bell, President

2006 Ace of the Year Tournament

All of the Aces, both Red and Green were ready to compete for the title, "Ace of the Year 2006” on January 30, 2007, when Mother Nature decided not to cooperate by bringing both frost and rain. Rescheduling was slow in coming because of other pre-calendared events. Sweeps chair Jeannie Fredenburg chose the day of 4/10/07, which turned out to be ideal weather wise. The challenge of finishing with the lowest net score among the worthy competitors got underway with 15 ladies, 11 from the red tees and 4 from the green tees. The greens were two weeks into plugging and over seeding and were a bit slow; however, they were indeed the same for everyone. After 18 holes of play two winners emerged, Debi Harlow on the red tees with a 69 and Karen Georgens on the green tees with a 70. Congratulations to the entire monthly Aces and a special word of praise to the two winners.
Dorothy Berger, Publicity

April's most improved lady golfer is Debi Harlow -- from 18.0 to 15.5 -- a decrease of 13.9%. Good golfing, Debi. Our most active golfer for the last 6 months is Monita Patry with 79 games played. Pam

ACES OF THE MONTH

Congratulations to the low scoring April Aces of the Month. President Barbara Bell shot a terrific net 67 from the red tees. The lowest net so far this year, 67, was scored by Karen Georgens from the green tees. Well done, ladies. These scores are going to be difficult to beat! Jeannie

NOTICE
The Creekers return on 28 May for a Memorial Day scramble tournament. Teams will consist of 2 X’s & 2 Y’s. The entry fee will be $10 per team. Check in is 7 am and we will have a 7:30 shotgun start. There will be a BBQ to follow - ribs, chicken, beans, and coleslaw and ice cream for dessert. $12 per person. Guests are welcome. Contact Dave or Nancy Bassett (749-5200) by 21 May with your team, and BBQ attendance.
For those with a weekday membership, the holiday rate will be reduced to $45