SEPTEMBER I OCTOBER 2020
GRANDE GAZETTE ________________________
GRANDE DUNES MEMBERS CLUB
YOUR CLUB MEMBERS CLUB STAFF
SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER HOURS OF OPERATION
Brian Vest I Director of Golf Brian.Vest@GrandeDunes.com
MEMBERS CLUBHOUSE Monday Tuesday - Friday Thursday & Saturday Sunday
Closed 7:00am-7:00pm 7:00am-9:00pm 7:00am-7:00pm
MEMBERS CLUB DINING Lunch Happy Hour Pasta Night Dinner Service
Richard Convertini I General Manager of Operations Richard.Convertini@GrandeDunes.com
Tuesday-Sunday I 11am-3pm Tuesday-Sunday I 3pm-6pm Thursday I 4:00pm-8:00pm Saturday I 4:00pm-8:00pm
GOLF SHOP, GOLF COURSE & PRACTICE FACILITY
Pamela Evans I Membership Director Pevans@GrandeDunes.com Robin Doran I Accounting Manager Robin.Doran@GrandeDunes.com Ryan Gamble I Golf Course Superintendent Ryan.Gamble@GrandeDunes.com Michael Monahan | Executive Chef Chef@GrandeDunes.com Ty Craycraft I Facilities Operations Manager Ty.Craycraft@GrandeDunes.com
Golf Shop
Monday I Closed Tuesday - Sunday I 7:00am– 5:00pm
Practice Range
Monday I Closed Tuesday-Saturday I 7:00am-Dark Sunday I 7:00am-4:00pm
Lisa Mitchell I The Ocean Club Events & Sales Manager Lisa.Mitchell@GrandeDunes.com
Friday I 6:00pm - 9:00pm Wednesday I 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Jason Poe I Harbor Master Jason.Poe@GrandeDunes.com
OCEAN CLUB DINING Dinner Service Pool Happy Hour
OCEAN CLUB POOL Monday - Friday Wednesday Saturday - Sunday
10:00am - 5:00pm Limited Food Service I Full Bar 10:00am-3:00pm I Pool Hours 4:00pm - 7:00pm I "Cool by the Pool" Happy Hour 10:00am - 6:00pm Food Service until 5pm I Full Bar until 6pm
Vasilika Xhani I MC Member Events & Catering Vasilika.Xhani@GrandeDunes.com
Peggy Davis I Grande Dunes Lifestyle Director Peggy.Davis@GrandeDunes.com
Virginia Hitchcock I Food and Beverage Manager Virginia.Hitchcock@GrandeDunes.com Franci Kessler I Office Assistant Franci.Kessler@GrandeDunes.com
*Pool Hours - September 30th to Sun. October 25th* Daily 10am to 5pm Limited Food Service I Full Bar
IN THIS ISSUE
TENNIS CLUB Courts Monday - Saturday Sunday
Gym Monday-Saturday Sunday
8:00am-6:00pm 10:00am-5:00pm
Your Club...……………….…………...………....………....2 Membership...…………...……………..….….…...……..3 Dining Events..………….…..……...….....…...…...…..4
6:30am-6:00pm 10:00am-5:00pm
ANCHOR CAFÉ Closed for the season
GRANDE DUNES MEMBERS CLUB
Tee It Up.................………...…………..…….…..…......5 From The Green..............…..…....….…..……….....6 From the Kitchen..……..…………...……..…...…......7 Important News....…...........…...........................8
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FROM THE CLUB & MEMBERSHIP FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER OF OPERATIONS
Here we are in September and entering the autumn season; first and foremost, I hope you are all healthy and staying safe. This has been a challenging year, and many are feeling worn out and full of uncertainty. The summer season is considered over in many parts of the country, but we are fortunate to have weather in which we can continue to get outside and enjoy activities in the fresh air. Truly fortunate indeed, especially this year. All of us here at the Members Club are optimistic and moving forward with a positive attitude for better and busy days, filled with fun and enjoyable activities in the coming months. The golf course fully reopened on Friday, August 21st and we are excited to be welcoming everyone back to the Club for golf and dining. We look forward to having you at the Club once again; amid all the uncertainty out there, we welcome you to a safe environment, to band together, preserve friendships, traditions, and experiences. We are so pleased with the completion of the greens, the resurfacing project turned out incredibly well and we hope all of you out on the golf course are seeing the rewards in your putting strokes. We are safely bringing back activities this month, Trivia night and GrapeNights are popular events, check the weekly happening emails and member website for updated information and details. I have said it before but I think it is an important message worth repeating -- We have adopted our “new normal” of increased sanitizing and cleaning practices, continuing physical distancing, wearing face coverings, limiting group sizes, and so forth. We always require all staff at both the Members Club and Ocean Club to wear face masks while working, and we have daily temperature and health checks. We also require our members and guests to wear face masks while at our facilities. These guidelines are in place to minimize the risk of the virus to all and keep everyone safe. We thank all of you for your support. Please stay safe and healthy, take care of yourselves, and look out for one another. As always, reach out to me if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you all at the Club. Please stay safe and healthy, take care of yourselves, and look out for one another. As always, reach out to me if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you all at the Club.
Richard Convertini, General Manager of Operations Richard.Convertini@GrandeDunes.com
A NOTE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Ahhhhh, so happy to have life back in the clubhouse and on the golf course. Thank you Members for supporting your club during this pandemic and resurfacing of the greens. We would love for you to share your thoughts and ideas with us as we make this turn into the fall of our ever-changing club and community. I am learning through this “temporary inconvenience of time” to stop talking constantly about the situation we are all "going through." So I invite you to join me and decide today to get on through it! Don't accept your present, temporary situation as your future, permanent situation. I look forward to the fall months here at the Members Club in hopes that we can be together again whether toasting a glass or trying to win trivia night or having couples golf at sunset. I do think that the best is yet to come. We are still working on incentives and promotions for new membership and referrals. Have your family and friends contact me to inquire about our “Member For A Month” program…...what a great time to try our club as a Member, whether full golf or Social. Again, thank you for supporting and growing your club. Help us Welcome Our New Members: Joe & Laurie Shane | Mike & Rhonda Bridge | Samer Charbel & Maria Jressati | Tommy & Patricia Hickman | Brian & Jenna Cunningham Diane & Ken Deaver | Snehal & Pratiksha Patel | Terry & Faith Bowling | Youness Hussein & Najla Itani Pamela Evans, Membership Director pevans@grandedunes.com
GRANDE DUNES MEMBERS CLUB
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DINING EVENTS
MEMBERS CLUB: WEEKLY DINING EVENTS LUNCH HOUR
Tuesday - Sunday I 11:00am - 3:00pm
HAPPY HOUR
Tuesday - Sunday I 3:00pm-6:00pm
MEMBERS CLUB SPECIAL EVENTS TRIVIA NIGHT I Friday, September 25th Come on out and get ready to challenge your brain (and memory). Price: $22 per person
PASTA NIGHT
Thursday I 4:00pm - 8:00pm
Saturday I 4:00pm-8:00pm
GRAPENIGHT I Saturday, October 24 Join us for our famous and traditional small plates & wine pairing.
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
TRIVIA NIGHT i Friday, October 30th
DINNER SERVICE
843-213-9204
OCEAN CLUB POOL
OCEAN CLUB DINING & SPECIAL EVENTS
Monday - Friday
10:00am- 5:00pm Limited Food Service/Full Bar
DINNER SERVICE
Wednesday
10:00am - 3:00pm / Pool Hours
Saturday - Sunday
4:00pm -7:00pm / "Cool by the Pool" 10:00am - 6:00pm Full Food Service until 5pm/ Bar until 6pm
PARKING: YOU MUST HAVE YOUR 2020 DECAL DISPLAYED IN WINDOW (Towing Enforced) BEACH CHAIRS: First come with a signed disclaimer Daily | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
GRANDE DUNES MEMBERS CLUB
Friday I 6:00pm to 9:00pm Wednesdays in September "Cool by the Pool" Happy Hour 4:00pm to 7:00pm Food until 6pm / Full Bar until 7pm Music Bingo - September 2 Karaoke - September 9 Music Bingo - September 16 Karaoke (Girls Night Out) - September 23 Music Bingo - September 30
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TEE IT UP GOLF NEWS Upcoming Events September 19th & 20th
Member/Member Golf Tournament
October 15th – 17th
Member/Guest Golf Tournament
November 7th & 8th
Club Championship
Golf Report It has been great to see everyone’s smiling faces at the club again. After a very successful greens resurfacing, it has been an absolute joy to have everyone back. We couldn’t be more pleased with how the greens have turned out and would like to extend a sincere thank you to Golf Course Superintendent, Ryan Gamble, and his staff for their hard work.
When we closed for the greens resurfacing project in early May, we were very optimistic that, by the time we re-opened in August, that the COVID pandemic and all of the protocols would be behind us. Unfortunately, we were maybe too optimistic. COVID is still a threat and we here at the Grande Dunes Members Club will continue to what we need to do to provide a safe environment for our members, guests, and staff. With that said, we are very committed to continuing with our Tournament Calendar for this fall including the Member/Member, Member/Guest, and Club Championships. (A list of these events as well as entry can be found on our club website). However, how we operate these events and the ensuing social events that typically accompany these events, will be different from years’ past. We will be continually updating our tournaments via the club website in regards to pricing, format, and food and beverage options. We will also keep you updated with emails as well. We do know that moving forward, for the foreseeable future, all events will begin with tee times. Currently we are not allowed to have shotgun starts to help eliminate any large gatherings. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and cooperation as we move back into competitive golf. Course and Slope Rating Changes While we were closed for greens resurfacing, we invited the South Carolina Golf Association to re-rate our golf course based on the new greens, our different mowing patterns to fairways and green surrounds etc. I have listed below our new ratings as well as our new handicap hole allocations below. The course and slope ratings have already taken effect. The new handicap stroke allocations will take effect when our new scorecards arrive. Gentlemen Ladies Red 73.8/13 Blue 71.9/132 78.3/140 White 69.5/126 75.3/132 Gold 65.3/113 70.1/122 Green 62.1/107 65.8/116
Handicap Allocations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Men 11 5 3 17 15 9 1 13 7 12 6 18 10 14 2 8 16 4 Ladies 11 9 3 17 5 15 1 13 7 8 10 6 12 18 2 14 16 4 Hole in One Congratulations to Mr. Mike Rugg on scoring the first Hole-in-One on the newly resurfaced greens. Mr. Rugg made his ace on the 6th hole on August 26th, hitting a pitching wedge from approximately 125 yards. Although Mike has had a couple of double eagles in his lengthy golf career, this was his first ever ace. Congratulations Mike! New Callaway Big Bertha Callaway is introducing its’ new Big Bertha B21 series including drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, and irons and the Golf Staff has added all of the components to our club fitting cart. These products are engineered with premium technologies and legendary Big Bertha design features, for distance any way you swing it. The B21 is built for golfers who want to hit their drives farther, and straighter so that their ball finds the fairway. It’s especially suited for players who hit a slice or struggle to find a consistent ball flight with advanced technologies that make these clubs really long, forgiving, and easy to hit. To schedule a fitting, please contact us here in the Golf Shop.
GOLF SHOP HOURS OF OPERATION Tuesday – Sunday 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
SAVE THE DATE
GRANDE DUNES MEMBERS CLUB
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FROM THE GREEN & MCCONNELL GOLF Our long, hot and stressful course closure has finally come to an end. Had really high hopes for what we would be able to accomplish during our closure. Honestly it became clear fairly quickly that a greens renovation during a pandemic was going to be interesting. Unfortunately we had to go into this project with a reduced staff size for a multitude of reasons, mainly health concerns. Can’t say enough about the crew and what they accomplished this summer. The majority of our time and effort was on the greens while the course was closed and rightfully so, as this was the reason for the closure. This was my first experience with a greens renovation project and really didn’t realize the amount of time that would needed to get these greens ready for play. Countless fertilizer applications, followed by tremendous amounts of sand topdressing and constant alterations in height of cut. Our equipment manager Ronnie Russ spent the better half of the past four months sharpening mowers, knowing that we were probably just going to go out again the next day to cut sand. Hard to believe that the greens you are playing on were shoveled out of huge boxes into gators, one pallet at a time by our first assistant Nick Ott. These sprigs were then spread by hand over the surface of the green by our staff, assisted by Joe DeMaio, David Zeiders and Mike Gemmer, can’t thank those guys enough for the help. Typically these installs are handled by the nursery, however the nursery was reluctant to send a crew during the pandemic. Sprigs were planted during the first week of June. As soon as the sprigs were cut into the surface of the green, a heavy topdress was applied over the top to insure good soil contact. Then the water came on and when I say the water came on it almost never stopped for at least the first 2 weeks. At a minimum it ran every hour from sun up to sun down. Our first cut was made on June 17th, two weeks after sprigs were planted, at a height of .200”. Initially greens were cut approximately 3 times a week and we attempted to drop our height of cut at least once a week. A one ton street roller was also utilized weekly after greens became stable enough to handle. We reached our current HOC of .125” approximately 3 weeks before opening for play. At this point we began to transition back to daily maintenance practices by mowing greens daily and speed rolling sometimes twice a day. It’s important to understand that Ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens require more disruption to achieve better playing conditions and we are still figuring things out. During the growing season we will probably verticut at least every other week and topdress at least once a week. Ultradwarf bermuda’s are active thatch producers and will get puffy or soft without constant removal of material and applications of sand. We are still working on a few trouble spots out there and have been forced to treat them differently, but are hopeful that we can improve these areas over the next couple of months. Thanks for being patient with us during the closure, I realize that we were unable to keep the course in the best condition during the renovation process and even now we are a little rough around the edges. I also wanted to thank our course architect Craig Schreiner for all of his help this summer, we couldn’t have done it without him. Sincerely, Ryan Gamble Golf Course Superintendent, ryan.gamble@grandedunes.com
GRANDE DUNES MEMBERS CLUB
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FROM THE KITCHEN Hello Grande Dunes Members, I hope that you and your families are all well as the world continues to stave off this nasty virus. I hope that you are happy to have your golf course open again. Ryan and his team have worked extremely hard and have done a fantastic job! With the opening of the course we continue to open food and beverage operations at Grande Dunes Members Club. We are currently serving lunch and happy hour Tuesday through Sunday with pasta night on Thursday and a la carte dinner service on Saturday. We are re-introducing Trivia Night on Friday September 25th with other events to follow. I look forward to seeing you at the Ocean Club for dinner on Friday nights, Happy Hour on Wednesday night and lunch at the pool. As always‌Please feel free to contact me any time if you have any culinary requests or comments. I hope to see you all soon. Your Chef, Michael Monahan chef@grandedunes.com
COOKIES OF THE MONTH
SEPTEMBER Pecan-Chocolate Chi Delights
James R.Patterson III of Sedgefield Country Club
Recipe https://bit.ly/Sept-Cookie-2020
GRANDE DUNES MEMBERS CLUB
OCTOBER Gluten-Free Cornmeal Thumbprint Cookie
Michael Monahan Executive Chef at Grande Dunes Members CLub
Recipe https://bit.ly/Oct-Cookie-2020
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Grande Dunes Members Club 1580 Terra Verde Drive Myrtle Beach, SC 29579
IMPORTANT MEMBERSHIP NEWS Membership Incentive Enjoy the benefit of 20% savings with full payment of a golfing membership initiation fee at time of join. Annual installment option also available. ** Limited time offer ** Part-Time Golf Membership Update We’ve updated this membership offering! Now available to resident and invitational members, the Part-Time Golf Membership also provides year round membership privileges to those whose primary residence is outside of Horry, Georgetown and Brunswick Counties! Single Golf Membership Opportunity We now offer a golfing membership for single members! Member-for-a-Month Program Offered exclusively to Grande Dunes Property Owners, this one-month trial membership provides residents the chance to experience membership at the dues level of their choice for one month, prior to fully joining the club.
