The Creek News May 2024

CREEK

STAFF DIRECTORY & CLUB HOURS

Joel Inman - General Manager/COO jinman@laurelcreek.org

Elisha Carson - Controller ecarson@laurelcreek.org

Patty Fagan - Director of Membership pfagan@laurelcreek.org

Erin Schafer - Director of Events eschafer@laurelcreek.org

Karen Wright - Clubhouse Manager kwright@laurelcreek.org

Ryan Reeves - Director of Food & Beverage rreeves@laurelcreek.org

John Geller - Service Director jgeller@laurelcreek.org

Nevada Groulx - Director of Communications ngroulx@laurelcreek.org

John Slade - Director of Golf Course Operations jslade@laurelcreek.org

Bob Hennefer, PGA - Director of Golf bhennefer@laurelcreek.org

Brett Fernandes, PGA - Head Golf Professional bfernandes@laurelcreek.org

Peter Rosenblatt - Executive Chef prosenblatt@laurelcreek.org

Carol MacLennan - Director of Tennis cmaclennan@laurelcreek.org

Mike Holak - Pool Manager mholak@laurelcreek.org

Golf Course

Tuesday to Thursday 8:30 a.m. - Sunset

Friday 8:30 a.m. - Sunset

Saturday & Sunday

8:30 a.m. - Sunset

Pro Shop

Tuesday to Friday 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Dining

Pub & Bistro: Tuesday thru Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Blu

Friday & Saturday evenings 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Tennis

Courts are open for play

Pool & Oasis

Closed for the Season

Michael Hughey President

Dean Kramer Vice President

John Venne Treasurer

Erich Herkloz Secretary

Scott Duman

Sean Fox

Kiel Gilliland

John Higgins

Thomas Koerner

Joel Inman GENERAL MANAGER

Greg Markus

Chris Noyes

Tyler Prime

Patty Fagan

DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP

Ihope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying the blossoming beauty of spring at LCCC. As we welcome this vibrant season, I’m delighted to share some exciting updates and upcoming events with you.

We recently hosted a Prospective Member cocktail reception on April 25th, which saw the attendance of 13 couples eager to join our esteemed Laurel Creek family. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the members who graciously recommended friends and colleagues interested in becoming part of our fine club. Your support and enthusiasm are truly invaluable as we continue to grow and strengthen our community.

On a more personal note, last year marked a significant milestone for my family as my oldest embarked on his journey at Penn State after graduating high school. As we approach another graduation season, I invite you to share in the celebration by emailing me photos of your children who are graduating from high school or college. Our June edition will shine a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of the graduating class of 2024, highlighting the bright futures that lie ahead for our young members.

Looking ahead, let’s kick off the spring season in style at our much-anticipated annual Spring Fling on May 10th. Join us for an evening of fun, music, and camaraderie as we gather to revel in the joys of the season. Tickets are still available, and registration is conveniently accessible through our mobile app. Remember, guests are more than welcome, so don’t hesitate to bring along your friends and loved ones for what promises to be a memorable event for all.

As always, thank you for your unwavering support and commitment to making Laurel Creek the exceptional place that it is. Here’s to a season filled with warmth, laughter, and cherished moments shared among friends old and new.

Last Years Grad Photo Spread

Evan Makopoulos

Kathleen & Andrew Jillions

The McVey Family Congratulations to Jon & Nimra Pelosi on the birth of their first child, Zayn who was born on March 18th, 2024!

Bob Hennefer

DIRECTOR OF GOLF

Now that we have entered the official start of the golf season, our range is getting busier and busier! This is a great thing, as we love to see everyone taking advantage of our amenities. Right now we are averaging over 25 large baskets of balls hit every day, and on our busiest days over 30 large baskets. Each large basket holds 350 range balls. This is the equivalent of each apple crate being fully refilled three times per day. That equates to 8,750 to 10,500 range balls hit every day. Even if half of those balls hit are drivers, that’s still over 3,000 to 5,000 divots per day. Another way to look at it is there is over 210,000 range balls hit per month from April through October, close to 2 million range balls hit each year!

DIVOTS

To help us keep the range in great shape throughout the season, we need your help when taking divots and using our facility.

Let’s revisit a video I made in 2022 that is still relevant today.

https://vimeo.com/694989894

We have a very detailed, rotating plan on how we set up the grass on a monthly basis to ensure the grass can heal by the time we revisit a station. With that in mind, when we enter warmer nights, we’ll be able to use the lower tee more often and spread out the divot patterns.

Range Schedule

Tuesday - Mats Only

Wednesday - Mats Only until about the middle of May, then lower grass

Thursday - Mats only in the morning, and then grass in the afternoon until Middle of May, then lower grass tee

Friday, Sunday, and Holidays - Hitting off upper the grass

(Weather may impact grass usage)

Important

When we are MATS ONLY Please only use drivers off the mats. Your own tee can go in to the rubber tee on each hitting station. DO NOT take a tee and stand on the grass in front of the mats and hit a driver. Even though you’re not taking a divot, your feet are causing wear and tear on the grass causing damage.

Access by Member Category

Also a friendly reminder for House and Social members; you may only use the practice facilities on the day you are playing golf. Junior Golfers who are 14 and older and have gone through our Junior Golf Orientation can also use the practice facilities without adult supervision

Short Game Area

Our short game area is also a great amenity that is open daily. In this area, we have tubes of golf balls that you can take anywhere in the short game area to practice. We ask your help in three areas; 1) use sand mix to fill any divots you take and take divots in a straight line, 2) please rake bunkers when finished, and 3) please pick up your golf balls using the tube provided and return to the station where you started

LCWGA

Hello Lady Golfers! Are your serotonin levels elevated? More on that later!

Festivities for 2024 began with the Opening Day Cocktail Party on Tuesday April 9th where hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and friendly conversations were enjoyed by all. The next day, on Wednesday April 10th participants played in a Step Back Scramble under a blue and sunny sky. Everyone who played was a winner but of note were the following ladies: Jennifer Halfpenny (9 Holer) and Christine Blessing (18 Holer) won closest to the pin on Hole #3; Noelle Noyes (9 Holer) and Kelly Redkay (18 Holer) won straightest drives on Hole #9; Second low gross was won by the team of Jennifer Broering, Jennifer Halfpenny and Linda Angstreich; and the first place low gross was won by the team of Christine Blessing, TinaMarie Levan, Noelle Noyes and Joanne Seltzer. Congratulations golfers!

After golf a lunch of culinary delight was served in the Blu Room and the first general meeting of the LCWGA for 2024 was held. Board members were introduced and President Susan Kaufman shared research done by a Stanford University professor (author unknown) about “girlfriend time” and serotonin (a neurotransmitter that can create general feelings of well-being). Results showed that women nurturing relationships with girlfriends can be just

as important to a woman’s health and well-being as physical exercise. So schedule that lunch date with your girlfriends as soon as possible! It will raise your serotonin levels!

It was a wonderful start to the golf season. Thank you to the pro shop for organizing the Scramble, thank you to Eileen Kennedy and Marybeth Taras for planning all of the activities for Opening Day and thank you to the dining staff for serving yummy hors d’oeuvres at the Cocktail party and a very special buffet luncheon after golf. And finally a warm welcome to our new members: Rachel Lacausi, Emily Krebs, Janie Spitznagel, Jennifer Kramer, and Caitlin Stone. We are glad that you have joined us.

Wednesday Tournament play started with the first two weeks devoted to just playing one’s own game. Ringer Weeks allows a golfer to just play her game to post a score on the Ringer Board. Additionally, there are many opportunities for tournament play so please refer to the LCWGA 2024 Weekly Tournament Play Description. Just remember to sign up on the LC App.

Member-Member Golf Event is just around the corner. Make sure you sign up!

See you on the course!

Ryan Reeves

DIRECTOR OF FOOD & BEVERAGE

The volume we have seen in Pub & Bistro in the last few weeks for family dining has been very exciting. The restaurant’s busyness has created a great atmosphere with all the celebrations and friends dining together.

Seafood Night was a huge success, thanks to Chef Pete and the culinary team. If you were not here for dinner last weekend, we had seafood specials in The Pub and Bistro, which flew out of the kitchen. Chef Pete had a raw bar display where he was shucking fresh oysters, slicing sashimi, and assembling seafood platters. The Grand Plateau, our seafood tower in Blu, was a huge hit going through the dining room. Make sure you get a reservation in Blu if you are ever craving this extravagant seafood display, which is always available on the menu.

We will be sending out a $25 gift card for Blu with all the birthday cards going forward. This will give members a chance to have a discounted luxury experience in our fine dining outlet. We have had great feedback on the steakhouse concept and look forward to fine-tuning the experience and service. We would love some testimonials for Blu, so any feedback on your dining experience will be greatly appreciated.

With dining beginning to really ramp up for the season, we just want to review some policies to better help curate a good experience for all the members. We want to be your trusted source for dining whether it’s a casual evening or a celebration. We highly…let me repeat…HIGHLY encourage reservations in Pub and Bistro as well as Blu. This is to help control the flow of the restaurant and kitchen, that way we can give the best dining experience possible.

We also encourage all 6+ person parties to book before 6:30 PM and after 7:30 PM. We want to get the food out to these parties all together and hot. Booking these parties before and after those times ensures that we control the orders coming into the kitchen and we can get everyone’s food out in a timely manner.

We can accommodate parties of 12 in the wine room with reservation. Anything over twelve we would typically consider a banquet function and would need to be serviced by our Director of Events, Erin Schafer. She is very helpful with organizing even small parties, to make sure all your needs are fulfilled.

This year we are fully committed to having the food truck available on the course during the weekend. Every Saturday and Sunday the truck will be located at the driving range from 7:30 AM to 1:00 PM. We will be offering some quick breakfast sandwiches in the morning as well as fast handhelds for lunch. I have heard a demand for alcoholic beverages at the range and the call is answered with the truck being out on the weekend for the remainder of the season. This will be starting the weekend of May 18th.

With pool season around the corner, stay tuned for our food truck pop-ups as well. Cheers!

Pete Rosenblatt

EXECUTIVE CHEF

Thank you, Michael for all that you do!

Easy Guacamole

4-6 Servings

3 ripe avocados, Mashed

2 plum tomatoes, diced

1 lime, juiced

¼ cup red onion, diced

3 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 small jalapeno, minced

Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Season to taste. Serve with tortilla chips!

*Can be mad up to 8 hours in advance. Cover the surface tightly with plastic wrap to avoid discoloring.

MICHAEL TERZANO SERVER

Carol MacLennan

DIRECTOR OF TENNIS

JUNIOR TENNIS AT LAUREL CREEK

Did you ASK about ASK??? ASK is our After School Kids’ Tennis program for kids 8 and up. Clinics begin on Tuesday, May 7th and run every Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 5:30 pm. Red Ball Tennis classes for ages 5 thru 7 will be held every Wednesday from N10 4:30 to 5:30 starting May 8th. Register for these clinics in the app under Junior Tennis Events.

Want to be an integral part of your child’s tennis development? Set up a family lesson where parents play along in the lesson with their kids. It’s proven to be quite successful! The only downfall? The kids may beat you!!

Pictured

Friday night fun at the courts with Dad

Ross and Natalie Charbonne

Tarun and Rishi Kapoor

Russ and Shyla Shah

Registration is also open for Junior Summer Tennis Camp at Laurel Creek. Your kids will learn tennis in a fun, yet challenging and instructional environment. Full day tennis camp includes lunch and swim breaks. Want more information? Email Carol for the 2024 Junior Tennis Camp Brochure at cmaclennan@laurelcreek.org. ALL 2023 HEAD PICKLEBALL PADDLES REDUCED $75.00 EACH

Check out this perfect Tennis Ball Pyramid built by Emma

Email Carol if you are interested

Ladies’ Geared up for G Cup

Cowan!

John Slade

DIRECTOR OF GOLF COURSE OPERATIONS

With dozens and dozens of carts traversing the course daily, traffic management is a constant battle. To date, we have used the traditional yellow rope and stakes to shift traffic patterns, and give areas a chance to recover. However we are now transitioning to small green and white markers to indicate where to drive (and where not to).

These markers are more aesthetically pleasing, and will hopefully be easier to shift on a regular basis than the ropes. Please remember that these markers are positioned to be driven around--you don’t score three points for splitting the uprights with your cart.

Upcoming Events MAY