Castle Creek #4 Ranked Course In San Diego County

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The Circle R Round-Up - Mar 2008

COLD AND DAMP WEATHER DOESN'T DAMPEN THE GOLF SPIRITS

COUPLES - THE FUN TOURNAMENT

Couples Tournament

Members have been playing an entertaining “couples only” tournament since 1984 when 16 members decided to gather for a “just fun” tournament once a week followed by festivities in the clubhouse. This event has evolved into a more formal but still enjoyable tournament once a month. Virginia and Ray Miller hosted this month’s tournament with 33 players showing up on a rainy (almost snowy) Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately Mother Nature cut the tournament short when the unexpected occasional shower turned into a steady rain. Most finished three holes, some six, but one brave couple, Dave and Anitra Gehrke, managed to slosh through all eighteen holes. All was not lost as our hosts had a couple of surprises for those who stayed on for lunch - a single red rose for each lady, and champagne for all. In addition, we were all treated to a slice of a delicious Valentine Cake, and returned home happy, but slightly damp with muddy golf shoes and frozen fingers.

Couples Tournament Cake

MEMBER’S ASSOCIATION MEMBERS BRAVE A WET AND CHILLY GOLF TOURNAMENT

Considering the frigid weather, a surprisingly large number of members turned out in heavy sweaters and “hoodies” to participate in another Ambrose Scramble tournament. Thirty-three players managed the eighteen holes while forty-four members showed up in a warm banquet room for lunch. Once again the scores were close with only 5 strokes separating the first place team from the last. The big winners were Nancy and Dave Bassett with Cookie Johnson and Fred Holtermann who came in with a net 55. Only two tenths of a stroke behind with a 55.2 taking second place were Thelma and John Koda with Barbara and Don Bell. Bringing up third with a 57.5 was the team of Jan and Hugh Salisbury with Ken Smith and John Buerfeind.

MANAGER'S REPORT

I am pleased to announce that we have found a great new chef. His name is David DiSalvo, and he comes to us from Mille Fleur in Rancho Santa Fe. He is a graduate of the French Culinary Art School in New York and has worked in both Italy and France. He will at first be preparing our Thursday through Saturday night dinners, with the thought of expanding as time goes along. We are very excited and fell very lucky to have him. We hope that you will give David and the View Restaurant soon! Larry Taylor- General Manager

GOLF COURSE THIEVES

Be aware that there are thieves who target golf courses. That warning comes from local law enforcement. Ed Krug, one of our golf course Marshals, was the latest victim last week. In broad daylight, in the parking lot, thieves jimmied the door on his locked truck and made off with his backpack including his wallet. A few years back, a customer left his clubs in the rack outside the pro shop. When he came back out a few minutes later, his clubs were gone along with his car keys (the thief was caught later in the week in a sting operation at another golf course and deputies found his garage was loaded with golf clubs). We can all help by keeping our eyes open, not leaving anything of value in sight in your locked vehicle, and securing our golf clubs. In addition, the frequency of patrols through the area by Marshals and other employees will be increased. You can be sure the thief who made off with Ed’s backpack will probably be back.

OH'S TEE SHOTS

March will be our month of creek side clean up. We plan on cleaning up the topside of the banks, particularly on holes 2, 3, 7, and 8. This will allow us to reclaim a portion of the creek to make it more playable. Aaron will assist my staff in re-staking the sides to include more “hazard free areas”.
As the temperature warms up, you’ll start seeing the dormant Bermuda and Kikuyu kick in. We will be introducing Kikuyu sod on hole #3 to strengthen the turf as that hole is particularly susceptible to cart traffic and divots.
Later this month, we’ll be aerating the greens with the larger tines, In order to keep the trauma to a minimum, we’ll be aerifying 3 greens on Monday, March 24, and three more on the following Thursday. The next two weeks we’ll repeat this process until all 18 greens are finished. We will be trying to keep the course as enjoyable to play at all times. No one likes to putt through the heavy sand. Tee Oh - Superintendent

House Fire

IN MEMORIAM

During the past few weeks we lost two of our long time members, Rose Miller and Earl Brackman. Rose was a friend to all - a dog lover - a bird watcher - a jeopardy enthusiast and an eternal optimist. On the golf course and facing a testy putt her playing companions could hear her say, “I’m a good putter and I love pressure”!
Earl was a popular and long time member of the Men’s Club who enjoyed a good cigar, chats with friends and neighbors, a round of golf and his times with Judy.
All of us will miss Rose and Earl.

MEN'S CLUB NEWS

Mens Club News

Fifty-eight members turned out for the thirty-six hole eclectic tournament. (For you non-golfers, Eclectics work this way: Participants play X number of rounds, and compare their scores on each hole per round. The lowest score made on each hole is recorded, producing an 18-hole score) It turned out to be a highly competitive tournament in all three flights. Gale Harlow took “C” flight and the low net score overall with a 56. Three strokes behind were Lee Estes and Duane Baird tied at 59 followed by Sam Knowles with a 60. In “B” flight Dan Albee took first with a 62 followed by “Tank” Tankersley and Clel Ward tied with a 63. “A” flight ended in a tie between two former Club Championship competitors, Alan Auret and Steve Gjorkovski, each with a net 62. Hal Helfand and Ken Smith followed with a net 66 each.
Dave Yaple, our Club Champion from 2004 and 2005 has rejoined our Club. Dave first played with our Men’s Club over thirty years ago. If you would like to know what the “old course” was like, just ask Dave. Welcome back Dave!

SENIOR'S NEWS

The first month of 2008 Senior’s play finished with a beautiful sunny day and great competition in the two man scramble. Many teams were separated by just tenths of a point. Fred Holtermann and Art Lynch combined for a first place "A" flight total of 60.8. Ray Miller and Dan Albee topped all teams with the "B" flight first place score of 58.9.
The Monday desk duty has been split-up among all members, so no one is "stuck" often. Please look at the calendars available to track your desk duty assignments, and report promptly for duty at 6:30 AM. Let the fun continue! George Steiner - President

TRAVELING TEAM

Myron Vanetsky, Hal Helfand, Charles Newcomb, Ed Harbour, Bud Hedlund, and John Stepp hosted Sea N Air on Jan. 24th for our 2nd match of the new 2008 season. We won the match 13 to 5. Both Newcomb and Harbour scored net 67's and Helfand shot a nice 69. This group visited Sea N Air on the following Tuesday and lost the re-match by the score of 17 to 1. The team of Hedlund and Stepp scored our only point. Match 3A at Steel Canyon was played by Ken Smith, Fred Holtermann, Hal Helfand, George Steiner, Art Lynch and John Lizotte on Feb. 8th. They were bested 17 to 1. The B team of Helfand and Steiner was the only group to realize a point. The team reported that Steel Canyon was extremely tough with a rating of 134. Match 3B here at Castle Creek was a "rain out" but at the turn after completion of 9 holes, the locals were leading by a score of 5 to 1. This match will have to be rescheduled. Match 4A scheduled for Castle Creek against Sycuan there was also rained out and will have to be rescheduled. Fortunately the team did not have to make the trip to Sycuan before the match was called. The Sycuan team came here on Feb. 28th and contested match 4B against Hal Helfand, Hideki Shimazaki, Charles Newcomb, Ed Harbour, Dave McCollum, and Dan Albee. It was a close contest with the Sycuan team winning by a score of 10 to 8. Ed Harbour threw a great net 62 at the opposing group but his score was the only one below 70 for the locals. Ken Smith - Team Captain

NOTICE: THANKS TO HAL HELFAND, TRAVELING TEAM NEWS CAN NOW BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB SITE: www.freewebs.com/castlecreektravelteam/

WOMEN'S CLUB NEWS

Womens Club - Vao Scanlon Womens Club-Thelma Koda

It was wonderful to see so many green tee players participate in the Memorial Tournament this year. Congratulations to Vao Scanlon for low gross over the field and to Thelma Koda for low net over the field. Castle Creek Women’s Golf Club’s next major tournament is the Partner’s Eclectic scheduled for February 11 and 18. This is one of the most enjoyable tournaments of the year. It is a partner better ball event and we have two weeks to get the best score possible on each hole. Full handicaps will be used and play will be from the red tees. Contact Jeannie Fredenburg to sign up. We hope to have great participation. March Sweeps will be conducted by Barbara Bell. She can be reached at Barbara [hnl2san@cox.net]. Vao Scanlon has volunteered to run the April sweeps. CCWGC appreciates all the volunteers who serve to make our organization function so very well. Joyce Brown - President

MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

On February 26, the Memorial Tournament was played under a beautiful blue cloudless sky and pleasantly warm temperatures. Eighteen CCWGC members participated in this major tournament designed to honor those members who are no longer with us. Play was from the red tees and flighted. The lowest handicap players teed first, followed by teeing in ascending order of handicaps. A rule change has raised the maximum handicap for play from 38 to 47. Low Gross Winner, and Memorial Tournament Champion is Vao Scanlon with a score of 93. Low Net Winner is Thelma Koda a score of 73. Congratulations to Vao and Thelma for their outstanding play. The 3 Flights had some highly competitive play. In Flight 1, Dawn Jessee and Barbara Bell tied for 1st place with net 75. Fumie Shimazaki was 2nd with net 79. In Flight 2, Ruth Hazel captured 1st place with net 76. Lola Fleck and Monita Patry tied for 2nd place with net 77. In Flight 3, Dee Dowling and Marg Hicks tied for 1st place with 75. Mary Allen was second with net 82. Great appreciation goes to all of the players for supporting and participating in the Memorial Tournament. Jeannie Fredenburg

MOST IMPROVED

Dee Dowling

The most improved player for February is Dee Dowling. Her Old index was 35.3 and the new one is 34.4. That represents a 2.5% decrease.
Congratulations Dee!

FEBRUARY ACE OF THE MONTH

Dawn Jessee

Dawn Jessee has repeated as Ace of the Month from the red tees. In January her low net score was 71 and in February she was even lower with 66. Sixty-three seems to be the net score needed to earn the Ace of the Month from the green tees. Dee Dowling had the same score for February that Thelma Koda had in January. Great scores ladies!