Happenings w w w. b l a c k d i a m o n d r a n c h . c o m
April 2011
2011 RIDER CUP
Congratulations USA!
Happenings Club Staff Doug Egly
General Manager degly@escalantegolf.com 746.3440
Dianne Dunnigan
Club Concierge ddunnigan@escalantegolf.com 746.3440
Peggy Gleason
Accounting pgleason@escalantegolf.com 746.0254
Andrea Knox
Director of Golf aknox@escalantegolf.com 746.3446
VICTOR LUZARRAGA
Executive Chef vluzarraga@escalantegolf.com 746.3449
JAY MULLEN
Director of Golf Course Operations jmullen@escalantegolf.com 746.0404
Mary Napolitano
Fitness Center mnapolitano@escalantegolf.com 746.3385
Bryan Richard
Head Golf Professional brichard@escalantegolf.com 746-3446
Kerry ROSSELET
Membership Director krosselet@escalantegolf.com 746.7400
Merideth Rossetti
Food & Beverage Director mrossetti@escalantegolf.com 746.3440
JENNIFER STAUFF
POA Manager jennifer.ncpm@wildblue.net 465.6933
Linda Stevens
Executive Assistant lstevens@escalantegolf.com 746.3440 page 2
A Message from our New General Manager
I want to start by thanking everyone for the warm welcome to Black Diamond Ranch. On behalf of Escalante Golf, we are so pleased to be here and look forward to getting to know all the members. Escalante will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year and has 11 properties across the country. Of course, I would like to invite you to enjoy any of our courses through a reciprocal program that allows you access to all of our properties. Escalante Golf is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas and is led by David McDonald, Robert Silva, Elcio Silva and David Matheson. We have a passion for customer service and delivering a product that exceeds our members’ expectations. Here at Black Diamond, we are putting together a list of priorities and meeting as many members as we can. I am truly impressed with the amount of activity at the club and the commitment the members have in its success. I realize that we are coming up on the end of the “season,” but I do hope you have a chance to meet the new Director of Golf and our new Superintendent if you are headed to a cooler climate. Andrea Knox, a native of New York, earned her Class A status with the LPGA in 1993 and has been nominated as the LPGA Club Professional of the Year. She has been a head professional at various clubs since the
late 1980’s and has developed a number of successful women’s and kid’s programs. When she is not in the pro shop or on the course, you will find Andrea enjoying her other passion which is fishing. Our Superintendent, Jay Mullen, is originally from Missouri, but started his agronomy career in Florida nearly 10 years ago. Jay was the superintendent at my previous club, Waterlefe Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida and did a terrific job. He will be relocated to Citrus County with his wife and two young daughters. Like Andrea, I am a member of the PGA of America and followed my collegiate career by coaching the women’s golf team at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. While coaching the team for seven years I was also Director of Golf at the team’s home course. I moved to Florida in 1994 to become the Director of Golf at River Wilderness Country Club in Parrish, Florida. In 1999, I was named General Manager at Waterlefe Golf and River Club. We are honored to be a part of a club as prestigious as Black Diamond Ranch. Thank you again for the warm welcome to the club. We all look forward to meeting each of you and being true stewards of the club. I have an open door and welcome your comments and suggestions on how to make our club even better. ~Doug Egly, General Manager
Congratulations
To the Black Diamond Men’s Interclub Match-Play Team Winners of the Regional Florida State Interclub Match Play. Lloyd Beasley Les Bell Peter Blick Bob Campbell Leicle Chesser Joel Cipolla
Rich DiChillo Walt Ford Jean-Guy Gauthier Don Hasek Skip Johnson John Keeble
Dennis Kelly Jim Love Jack Mahan Jacque Malo Darryle Mongeon Carl Nanni
Bernie O’Brien James Odell Jimmy Othus Earle Pratt Robert Savard Bud Smart
Dennis Spaulding Craig Suarez Alan Sutherland Art Thomas Brian Wilkins
These competitions started in January against statewide 105 teams and the final 8 teams will meet in Orlando to decide for the State Championship being held on April 2nd and April 3rd. GO TEAM!
Black Diamond Rider Cup 2011 UNITED STATES - 282 Guys and Dolls IRELAND - 220 Irish Saints & Sinners With thanks to USA Captains Bill and Jane Williams and Irish Captains Joe and Mary O’Toole, the 2011 Rider Cup was completed with all the fun of team colors, music, flags, cookies, Guinness and great food. Thank you to Merideth Rossetti, Executive Chef Victor and staff who satisfied our St. Patrick’s Day thirst and hunger in a first class manner. Congratulations to Judy Delaney and Ellie Brahe for best Irish outfit and cart decoration and similarly for the USA red, white and blue Shirley Ellis and Joan Beasley. Starters Phyllis Lingerfelt, Ann Caldwell and Bob Hylen were all instrumental in a great job of spirited fun with their fellow members. Next year’s visiting country will be Great Britain, with an experienced English golf Captains Stephen and Patsy Davies. Leading the way for the host USA team will be native Americans Skip and Echo Wilson. With these leaders there will be nothing but fun.
Baltusrol Village Golf Outing A Success The Eleventh Annual Baltusrol Golf and Dinner event was a great success. The Baltusrol Village competed in a mixed scramble and the results are as follows:
Mat Gauthier Brenda Belford Tom Rempfer
Les Bell Bill Belford Pam Kelly Ellie Goss
Jean-Guy Gauthier Kevin Conway Donna Cummings Nancy Manafort
At the Awards Banquet hosted by the Belfords, a Baltusrol/Black Diamond Trivia Contest was conducted. The team of Jean-Guy Gauthier, Mary Bell, Jan Conway and Nancy Manafort came in first. The first place winner’s names have been engraved on the special Baltusrol Village Championship plaque along side of the previous year’s winner’s names. The champions share possession of the plaque throughout the year. A good time was had by all.
Congratulations Couples’ Member- Guest Overall Champions Jack & LeAnn Hoskins and Linda and Art Thomas
Brad & Lisa Bishop and Libby & Jack Madden page 3
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Ladies’ Spring Invitational 2011
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Monday, April 25, 2011 — 8:30 a.m. Shotgun Course: Skyview at Terra Vista
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Attention: BDLGA Members 2011 - 2012 BDLGA Officers In accordance with Article IX, F of our By-Laws, the BDLGA Nominating Committee is currently soliciting candidates for the slate of officers which includes the Positions of: Vice President • Secretary • Treasurer If you are interested in serving or know someone who is interested in serving, please contact one of the following committee members by April 4th: Pat Rueff — 352-746-6920 p_rueff@yahoo.com
Format: Better-Ball of Partners. Pick your own partner. All indexes will be sloped for handicap purposes. All handicaps will be at 90%. Players will be entered in both gross and net divisions. Entry Fee: $45.00 per player for Skview members. $55.00 per player for Citrus Hills Golf & Country Club golf members. $70.00 per player for social members and club guests Entry Fee Includes: Coffee and donuts at 7:30 a.m., range balls starting at 7:30 a.m., golf, cart, lunch at Skyview Clubhouse and prize pools. No entries will be accepted without payment. There will be no refunds after 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 13th, however substitutions may be made. Deadline: Entries must be received by Thursday, April 14th at 5:00 p.m. Please make your check payable to Skyview at Terra Vista.
Betsy Zubkus — 352-527-4989 b_zubkus@hotmail.com Margo Grodsky — 352-527-9955 margogrodsky@comcast.net Pam Kelly — 352-527-7174 walloonn@hotmail.com Faeth Houle — 352-249-9140 faethh@tampabay.rr.com
Thank You!
BDLGA would like to give Louise Lowy a special thank you for being on the General Board for the past 3 years as the Inter-Club Committee Chairman. In this position, Louise has served as the liaison between BDLGA and other Women’s golf associations and groups. She has made sure we are kept informed of club invitationals and has kept our bulletin board current with this information. Louise is planning a fun home and away match with Innisbrook in early May.
Thank you Louise for all you have done for us during the last 3 years. page 4
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! LADIES’ DAY EVENTS
INVITATIONALS
APRIL 5 Team (1 Ball – Par 5’s) + (2 Balls – Par’s 4) + (3 Balls – Par 3’s)
April 7 Ventura Country Club
APRIL 6, 7 & 8 Ladies’ Member Guest APRIL 19 Rally for the Cure APRIL 26 Team – 2 Ball Nassau General Meeting following lunch
AprIL 11 Southern Woods Magnolia Invitational All invitationals received are posted in the ladies’ locker room. Please refer to the bulletin board for further information. In addition, a home and away has been scheduled with Innisbrook (Island Course, not Copperhead) for May 4, 2011 at Innisbrook and May 11, 2011 at Black Diamond. A sign up sheet will be posted in the ladies’ locker room.
Golf News
Congratutions
Hole-In-One
Bob Hylen on his Hole-In-One on #9 of the Highlands Course on Friday, March 4th. Witnessed by Paula Hylen and Mr. and Mrs. Vos.
JAY MULLEN
Director of Golf Course Operations
It is a pleasure and honor to be named Golf Superintendent at a club as revered as Black Diamond Ranch. It is a wonderful property that I believe we can make even better. I am blessed to have an incredible staff of core employees who are on board to make a number of improvements. Some of these improvements will be behind the scenes while others will be more noticeable to the membership. I will do my best to make everyone aware of some of the bigger projects and the efforts to improve the overall turf conditions. I have been on the ground for roughly two weeks and have spent this time assessing the property and getting to know my team. I have met a few members and look forward to getting to know each of you. By way of background, I spent the past eight years at Waterlefe Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida. It is a wonderful community known for having the best conditions in the region. I am married to a wonderful woman, Angie and we have two beautiful children, Sydney (two years old) and Zoey (7 weeks old). I am a native of Missouri and attended the University of Missouri. My family and I are in the process of relocating to the Lecanto area and look forward to getting settled into our new home. I have a passion for perfection and I am rarely satisfied with any result as there is always room for improvement. The courses at Black Diamond are in good shape, but I believe the team can make them better. I have a strong work ethic, a critical eye and I am devoted to my job. Thank you for the warm welcome to Black Diamond. I look forward to meeting you and introducing you to my family.
Ed Westcott on his Hole-In-One on #4 of the Quarry Course on Friday, March 18th. Witnessed by Doug Sinclair, Anthony Barrasso and James Gaynor (guest).
Elaine McGivern on her Hole-In-One on #4 of the Quarry Course on Friday, March 18th. Witnessed by Laura Monea, Dorothy Brice and Margo Grodsky. John Williams on his Hole-In-One on #5 of the Ranch Course on Sunday, March 13th. Witnessed by Lynne Holt, Heidi Baltensberger, Janet Lemmons, Tom Park and Bill Rueff.
Lynn McHolme on her Hole-In-One on #4 of the Quarry Course on Wedneday, March 16th. Witnessed by Jim McHolme, George and Kaia Adler. page 5
Black Diamond Foundation Transitions Vision Project This is the second year that the Black Diamond Foundation has partnered with the VSP Vision Insurance program to bring eyeglasses to needy children and adults in Citrus County. This project was initiated by Jay Joines through the Copperheads and the PGA golf tournament sponsored each year by Transition lens. This year a new vision mobile visited Citrus County that contained one examining room and a lab to make single lens glasses. Cathy Reckenwald, Student Health Specialist for the Citrus County Schools, lead the organizing team. Children were screened by the school nurses in all the county schools. Buses were provided by the Black Diamond Foundation to deliver selected students to the Renaissance Center in the Lecanto Education Complex. Students were able to walk away with their new glasses. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Thomas Dawson of Crystal Eye Center and his associate who donated their time to provide thorough eye exams for each child. In addition, we discovered that if Cathy is a member of the National School Nurses Association, VSP will provide vouchers throughout the year for needy students. The school board approved her membership, so the glasses will continue to arrive. The schools and families are extremely grateful, because, as Cathy stated,” In these difficult economic times, it’s usually the children’s programs that get cut first because they don’t have a voice.” The Family Resource Center in Hernando was the site for the vision mobile on the second day. The school nurses screened the clients at the Family Resource Center. Thirty-five were scheduled for the day. Due to the extremely efficient and tireless work of Dr. Navinda Singh of
Sun Coast Optical over 60 people received complimentary eye exams and glasses. VSP left vouchers for clients who could not be seen that day. This is a tremendous gift for many who have never had glasses or have glasses that are broken or several years old. Many of the clients have jobs which are becoming more difficult due to their poor vision or are unable to find jobs for the same reason. The VSP team lead by Niki Meyers was happy to come to Citrus County for the second year due to the efficient and caring work done by Cathy Reckenwald and her team of school nurses and Ginger West, who organized an amazing number of clients so efficiently that double the number received glasses this year. Thanks to all the partners who made this event a success.
Celebrity Chef Night — March 10, 2011 Celebrity Chefs Dennis Farmer and Roger Smith
page 6
APRIL Calendar of Events Lunch Schedule Daily 11 am - 3 pm 3
Breakfast 8:30 - 11:00 am
SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS 4:30 – 6:30 pm
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Ladies’ Bible Study 9:30am
Mahjong
Breakfast 8:30 - 11:00 am
PIZZA NIGHT
4:30 – 6:30 pm
17
5:30 – 8:00 pm
Club Closed
12
Ladies’ Bible Study 9:30am
Mahjong
A la Carte 5:30 – 8:00 pm
12:30 pm
Club Closed
Ladies’ Bible Study 9:30am
19
BRIDGE - 6:30 PM
13
A la Carte 5:30 – 8:00 pm
Club Closed
25
24
Ladies’ Bible Study 9:30am
11am - 2pm
Mahjong 12:30 pm
Club Closed
Trivia Night Winners March 3rd
No Dinner Service
26 Ladies’ Day
A la Carte 5:30 – 8:00 pm
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9
A la Carte
No Dinner Service
Trivia Poolside Night
Happy Hour 4:30 – 6:30 pm
SLIDE BOTTOM GIN - 6:30 PM
20
SOCIAL COMMITTEE meeting - 3:00 PM
Buffet
5:30-7:00pm
21
Reading & Discussion Group - 4pm
A LA CARTE DINING
4:30 - 6:30 pm
BRIDGE - 6:30 PM
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5:30 – 7:00 pm
15
14
with Celebrity Chef
12:30 pm
Hole-In-One No Dinner Club Event Service
LADIES’ Member-Guest
Mahjong Breakfast 8:30 - 11:00 am
2
No Dinner Service
7
4:30 - 6:30 pm
Joyce Burns Cup
18
LADIES’ & men’s club championship
6
A la Carte
12:30 pm
11
10
5
1
28
5:30–7:00 pm
16
LADIES’ & men’s club championship
No Dinner Service
22
No Dinner Service
23
Twilight Golf
A la Carte 5:30 – 7:00 pm
Concert on the Green BBQ Ribs Kid’s Night
30
29
West Point High Broadway Dinner/Show 4:30 - 6:30 pm NAME THAT TUNE 6:30 PM
Turkey Buffet
A la Carte
5:30 – 7:00 pm No Dinner Service
1st Place Tie: BRIDGERS $297.05 split
2nd Place Tie: BDRP $297.10 split
3rd Place: JOHNNY COME LATELY $104.85 split
Pat & Lorraine Carrier Andrew & Jennifer Petrella Terry & Valerie Mangold Anil & Veena Ram Brent & Debbie Mooksang
Jim & Dona Wood Steve Johnson Mike & Vicky Marinelli Margo Grodsky Jim & Jill Ludowese Al & Marty Cooger
Mike & Jan Carter Alan & Lauren Sutherland Roger & Dawn Hertz Bernie & Margie O’Brien Didi Lamm
page 7
NATURE NEWS - Bob Hylen
Hours of Operation
Isn’t it a beautiful time of year here in Black Diamond? Thought you would enjoy this Spring Sunset (picture by my wife Paula), and The Wisteria (picture from Betty Baskin). Enjoy!
Driving Range Monday – Saturday 7:00 am – 5:00 pm Sunday 7:30 am – 5:00 pm
Golf Shop
Monday – Sunday 7:00 am – 6:00 pm ForeTees Internet 24-Hour Access
Tennis Courts
Monday – Sunday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm Clinics Wednesday – 10:00 am Saturday – 3:30 pm
Pool
Reading & Discussion Group
Monday – Sunday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm Pool temperature maintained at 84°
In 1879 were Native Americans, like the recently emancipated black slaves, entitled to equal protection under the law? Chief Standing Bear with the help of Gen. George Crook and Thomas Henry Tibbies demanded the government show good reason why the Ponca tribe should be deprived of their property and homeland without due process. The book club will discuss “I Am A Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice” by Joe Starita on Thursday, April 21st at 4 pm in the board room. Contact Faeth Houle for more information.
Fitness Center
Monday, Wednesday & Friday 5:00 am – 7:00 pm Tuesday & Thursday 5:00 am – 8:00 pm Saturday & Sunday 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
Horizons
Breakfast Sunday 8:30 am – 11:00 am
Enjoy these photos from Linda Williams
Lunch Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm Dinner See April Calendar, page 7 Take-Out Window Tuesday-Sunday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Men’s Lounge
Congratulations Employee of the Month Lauren Fussell from the Dining Room Staff
Tuesday – Friday 12:00 noon – 12:00 midnight Saturday 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm