November 2011 Bob Weideman , President N atio ebr l e C 9th ov, er inn D n N ove mber 30th Pasta Night r 20th: Novembe er: Guest Mix Member s n nd Wilso Aberths a I’m sorry to report that Al Adams has had to leave the Board because of an increase in workload and travel in his “day job.” Al has been on the Board for almost two and a half years. As the Finance Chairman then the Treasurer, his analysis and insight of our annual budget has been invaluable to all of us. I’d like to thank Al for all his hard work and wish him good luck with his expanded territory. If you are a Proprietary member and would like to volunteer to fill the remainder of Al’s term (7 ½ months), please contact any of the current Board members. We will be selecting a replacement at our next scheduled Board meeting on November 8th. On a happier note, some of the Board members with their spouses and one past Board member (see the Kudos Corner for names) volunteered to work one of the beer and wine concessions at the Destin Wine Festival. Not only did we have a lot of fun during our four-hour shift, we made $500 for the club. The Board voted to give the funds to the Clubhouse Committee to offset the cost of some needed repairs like the broken window. Don’t forget that our semi-annual Member Meeting is November 15th. We will discuss how the last fiscal year finished up, how we’re doing executing our FY2011-2012 operations budget and what our capital expenditures look like for this year. We’ll also discuss any near-term changes we anticipate making and options for funding our capital requirements. Please plan to attend… your input is essential. eeting ship M r e b m Me h ber 15t Novem , salad r soup o f ly r ea es Come ndwich and sa G th er 6 b m e :00 Nov ck 4 u L Pot :00 olf 2 Happy Hour Every Friday 4:30-6:30 I hope you are getting out and enjoying this great weather and taking advantage of all our club has to offer. We just had another excellent Pasta Night, so check your calendar and join us for some fun. See you at the club. Golf Course Superintendent , Wayne Phillips Hello all. I hope this letter finds everyone doing well and enjoying the golf course. The fall season has been good to us so far. Weather patterns have been relatively consistent. Consistent temperatures give us the opportunity to build a health plant prior to winter dormancy. Raising the height of cut and using less water are two of the most effective ways to build a winter hardy plant. If you have played golf during the month of October you have probably noticed our turf being maintained at a higher height of cut. As winter months approach and temperatures decrease the turf will begin to tighten up for a more compact lie. You may say during the months of October and November we are planning ahead for January and February. Continued page 2 Continued from page one When planning for the winter months it is very important to keep sand in divots and ball marks on the putting greens repaired. This is the time of year when I need the help of the membership the most. Sand is so important because it provides many benefits. One of the most important benefits of sand this time of year is the added warmth a layer of sand can create. Another very important benefit of sand is it protects the crown of a turf plant from stress. The crown of a plant is what Grand Central Station is to a train depot. All things related to a plant go through the crown. To drive this point further, I was recently playing golf with a group of members on one of these past glorious days. We all hit our tee shots on one of the par three’s. One member in our group reached in the sand bucket to sand divots. The bucket was full to the top and smooth as if the bucket had just been filled. I happen to know those buckets were filled the day before. I then began to think how many people had tee off during that time frame and how many divots were left without sand. Please remember to sand divots! Also, this month I am hopeful the repair to #4 dam will be complete. During this time of repair we will ask traffic to route around to the back of 4 green preferably behind the Azalea’s. Most importantly this month, I hope everyone will have a blessed Thanksgiving. As always, thank you for your continued support and cooperation. Please remember to repair ball marks, sand divots, and use cart paths where available. Remember to invite a guest or new member to join your group for a round of golf. Andy Potter: Club Manager, PGA Professional Rocky Bayou is lucky to be the home course of many fine junior golfers playing for Niceville High School and Ruckel Middle School on both the Boy’s and Girl’s Teams. We would like to recognize the following RBCC members for having an outstanding season: Kayla Bloor, Antonia Poate, Rebekah Pruett, Julia Smith, Andrew Smith, Stephen Shephard, Mark Connelly, Zachary Mullins. With the time change on Nov. 6th, the golf shop and clubhouse will be closing at 5:00 pm. Remember that we are closed on Thanksgiving Day. The pool is now officially closed for the season as of November 1st. The pool will reopen May 1st, or sooner if the weather permits. All members are welcome to attend the Semi-Annual Membership Meeting held Tuesday November 15th at 6:30 pm in the clubhouse. See You There! Sunday November 20th at 12:00 noon will be our Member/Guest Mixer. Couples are encouraged to invite a non-member couple (maybe a prospective member?!) to join them for the day. If you don’t have a guest to invite, we may have a trial member couple who would be interested in playing with you. Member couples without guests will be paired up as usual for the mixer. A sign up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board in the lounge. The members of our Handicap Committee will begin checking to make sure that rounds played are being posted properly. Keep in mind that the main goal of the committee is to educate the membership about the importance of posting all eligible scores properly, in order to make the handicap system fair for all club members. They are not looking to punish or embarrass anyone. Please help make their job easier and more accurate by listing first and last names and dates on the scorecard wherever possible. Handicap Question: Can I post scores if I am playing match play? Answer: Yes, you can. If your opponent concedes a stroke or a hole, or if you concede the hole to your opponent, you would record the ‘most likely score’ you would have made on that hole, as long as it does not exceed your maximum score under equitable stroke control. For holes not played (the match ends on the 16th hole, for example), you would record par plus any handicap strokes you would have received on those unplayed holes. Page 3 Bonney Hanson KUDO CORNER THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING FOR HELPING MAKE THE MEN’S INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT A SUCCESS: JO AND DON BURGER, CAROL ELLIOTT, AND BONNIE WEIDEMAN THANKS TO OUR DESTIN SEAFOOD WORKERS: SUSAN & JIM BRICKELL, CAROL & DARRELL ELLIOTT, BILL OSTHOFF, BONNIE & BOB WEIDEMAN, VICKI WILSON CERTAINLY THANKS TO OUR OCTOBER MIXER HOST: DARREL % CAROL ELLIOTT, BILL & SHARON OSTHOFF M e m b e r s h i p David Rauch There were no major changes this month and we didn't gain or lose any golfing members. The Corporate League ends November 1st and I feel we will gain a new member or two from this event. The membership and finance committees are looking into ways to enhance the Proprietary Membership category and changing some of the other membership categories. As always, increasing our membership is still the key to our future. Please continue to invite your non-member friends, coworkers, and family to enjoy one of the BEST golfing venues on the Emerald Coast. Back by popular demand - our Happy Hour Friday night dinner specials have returned! We will start on November 4 with your choice of braised short ribs or fried seafood platter. Plan for specialty dinners at reasonable prices every Friday served between 5 and 7 PM. For those who just want something light, we will be serving a choice of sandwiches. If you have a large group we will be happy to reserve you a large table in the dining room or on the porch, so bring out your family and friends. November 9 will be our Celebration Dinner serving your choice of slow roasted prime rib au jus or a fresh fish entree. Let us know if you are celebrating a birthday or anniversary, and we will provide you with a complimentary bottle of bubbly to enhance your celebration. Before the November 15 General Membership meeting, we will have a special menu board featuring soups and salads, along with both hot and cold sandwiches. Plan to come to the meeting a little early and join us for a casual supper. The Mixer dinner menu for November 20 has not yet been set; however, watch the bulletin boards and your email for details later in the month. Everyone is welcome to join us for the Mixer dinner, whether you are playing golf or not - just call for reservations. Pasta Night is scheduled for November 30. We will offer your choice of 3 pastas, topped with your choice of shrimp, chicken or beef, along with a variety of fresh vegetables and the sauce of your choosing – red, white, pink or wine sauce. As our kitchen staff changes from time to time, we have two new servers who have joined our staff – Lisa Shulz and Renee Spara. Stop by and introduce your self and please be patient while they learn new names and faces. As always, we hope to see you in the dining room and lounge – Bon Appétit! Page 4 Joan Hegarty, LGA It’s time to put your fans in your golf cart away for the winter and tune up your heaters! A special bulletin board has been place in the hallway outside of the Ladies Lounge with pictures of the LGA’s special events. Thank you to Brenda Meeboer. It’s so nice to see all the pictures you take at these events. RBCC was host for the Interclub on October 24th. 10 clubs were represented with 93 players. The Rocky team placed 3rd.. Kudos to Co Chairpersons Sarah Breckenridge and Gloria Hall. They had a lot of support from many people. Sarah and Gloria send their THANKS to all who helped make this Tournament a success. The weather was beautiful, the food was superb, and the course is in beautiful condition. If you happened to look out your window last week and saw a lot of Witches playing golf you were not hallucinating or having a bad dream! It was Lee Steen’s Annual Witches and “Friends” (aka B------)Tournament. Lee does this every year and a great time was had by all. Thank you Lee and Co-Host Carol Campis. Bridge Connection October 10th: 1st: Lorraine Rynearson, 2nd Naomi Fortenberry, 3rd: Louise Glass October 11st: 1st: Dot Manning, 2nd: Carole Campis, 3rd: Barbara Cilek October 24th: 1st: Lorraine Rynearson 2nd: Rae Grimmig October 31st: 1st: Linda Moore, 2nd: Margaret McInnis 3rd: Carole Campis and are the LGA’s Match Play Tournament. CoNovember Chairpersons were Bonnie Weideman and Barbara Hamilton with Diane Barnhart assisting. Members who are unable to play need to make a T Time. All are welcome to come for lunch. ( special sign up for lunch). 1st 8th Judy Haugen Is Chairing the Member/Member Tournament on December 6th and 13th. The luncheon is on the 13th. Happy Thanksgiving to all RBCC Members and their families. We have so much to be thankful for. Wednesday’ Bridge September 14th: 1st: Sally Dryden, 2nd: Dot Manning September 28th: 1st: Jody Hardison, 2nd: Janet Kouris October 5th: 1st Jody Hardison, 2nd Sally Dryden October 1th: 1st: Naomi Fortenberry October 19th: 1st: Dot Manning, 2nd Eleanor Harris Page 5 Clubhouse Committee Vicki Wilson Sally Aberth Younger girls: Learning toys, baby dolls & accessories, Barbie dolls & accessories, Polly Pocket, Littlest Pet Shop, Dora, all Princesses, Tinkerbelle, Strawberry Shortcake, Hannah Montana, Furry Friends, ZhuZhu Pets, FurReal Friends Younger boys: Learning toys, sports balls & equipment, Legos, Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, Transformers, Bakugan, Naruto, Superhero, Captain America, Power Rangers, Spiderman, Pokemon, Star Wars Older girls: Beauty supplies, hair accessories, jewelry, art supplies, crafts Thanks to all who attended the Wine Tasting it was a huge success, and a good time was had by all! Special thanks go to the Clubhouse Committee – the decorations were beautiful! Way to go – Beth, Wanda & Sally! We also want to recognize Bonney, Buddy and Eric for the fantastic food and to Meagan, Sharon & Lisa for great service. Wasn’t Andrew Griffin terrific? We must have him back again to entertain us! The artwork displayed by our members was perfect for the occasion – thank you for sharing. And there is not enough appreciation and praise for Roger Campbell who spent hours taking down our permanent art collection, putting up the one night special display, and then reversing the whole ordeal again on Sunday. If you see Roger, please tell him we appreciate all his work. Our next big event will be the annual Christmas Party, on Sunday, December 4. Mark your calendars – you won’t want to miss it. Once again we will be entertained by both Opus I from Niceville High School Chorus and by Andy and his lovely wife, Agata. Watch the bulletin boards and your email for details later this month. We’re having a Pot Luck Supper on Sunday, November 6 at 4PM. Bring a dish to share – we always enjoy everyone’s cooking. If you’d like to play a little golf before, we will have a 9hole game starting at 2 PM. Sign-up sheet for golf is on the lounge bulletin board. There is no need to sign-up for just the Pot Luck – just come! Our “Artist of the Month” display on the porch is by member, Bonnie Weideman. Bonnie is sharing her cross stitchery. According to Bonnie, “Counted cross stitch is a craft easily accomplished by anybody who is able to count. Patterns are made in various degrees of difficulty just as most craft patterns.” She has stitched for most of her adult life and has been stitching samples for a shop in Ogden, Utah for the past 20+ years. All of Bonnie’s work is matted and framed by Bob, her talented husband and our Club President. Thanks for sharing your work! Last month we told you about our collection bin for Sharing and Caring – it’s in the main dining room and donations are needed and greatly appreciated. Now that the holidays are getting closer they have a few more needs. Please keep the food donations coming, and now we’re asking if you can donate toys for Christmas. Sharing and Caring always appreciates cash, but if you want to go shopping for kids, here is a list of items they are looking for: Older boys & girls: Bikes, skateboards, scooters, sports balls & equipment, Nintendo DS games, Wii games, PlayStation 2 games, MP3 player Non-gender specific and various ages: Games, books, puzzles, DVD's Rocky member Lauren Cochran volunteers at Sharing and Caring and is chairing this endeavor. Thank you, Lauren for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this wonderful cause. As always, please continue to support the kitchen and all clubhouse activities – a private club needs the support of all its members. Hope to see you around the Clubhouse! Golf Committee Darrell Elliott As billed, October was a busy month for tournaments. All the tournaments were very successful and brought the Club into the view of some prospective new members. I realize that tournaments at times interrupt regular gaggles, but without them our revenue and the support of community would be remiss. November will be a more routine month. The mixer this month will be held on the Sunday before Thanksgiving due to a large number of members traveling to Opelika, Alabama for a fun tournament. Please put the upcoming Proprietary Member Meeting on your calendar. The Board needs “Your” input on how we should successfully move RBCC into the future. Economic times are tough for everyone and especially golf and golf clubs. We will be welcoming home soon our Snowbird and seasonal members. Be sure to welcome them. They are an important part of our economic stability and some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. See you on the course and happy Thanksgiving.