A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT WARREN SIBLEY

If you’ve been around the Club lately you’ve noticed the changes. We’ve now opened our new dining room, The Elm, lounges in both the men’s and ladies’ locker rooms, and the updated Golf Pro offices and storage area. They look fantastic! To stop and think where we were and what the Club looked like just a few years ago; before the 19th Hole was renovated, and a fire led to the redo of the Oak Room, it is truly outstanding. We’ve dramatically upgraded our facilities and believe the membership will enjoy the new spaces and feel very proud to show off their Club to family and friends.

Having said that, I want to state the obvious, it’s not perfect. Not everyone will love all of the changes or all of the design decisions. That’s just the nature of the endeavor. No project of this magnitude goes off without a hitch, or tough design decisions, compromises, or a bit of “give and take” from those making the day-to-day choices. We expected surprises and the unexpected, and, this project certainly did it’s best to test our resolve.

Through it all, our General Manager kept reassuring us that all would be completed on-time and to our satisfaction. As we neared the promised date, those promises seemed almost laughable. Yet, here we are, and the spaces were delivered as promised. Giant kudos go out to not only our GM and his tireless staff, but also to Scott+Reid and their project supervisor, Tim Monk. No thanks would be complete without thanking you, the membership, for your patience and trust in that all of the inconvenience would be worth it. Hopefully, we delivered what we promised many months ago.

The facilities upgrade is part of the continued evolution of our Club. As we’ve discussed over the last year, we are evolving into a new phase of our Club life, much like the other member-owned clubs in our area and across the country. For the entirety of my involvement at DAC, and for much of our Club’s past, the energy and effort expended by our membership director and in the membership area of our Club was spent on recruitment. That has changed. For most of our Club’s history we could look over a stretch of time and predict that a certain amount of people would leave the Club and we would add about the same number of members to take their place. That is not what is currently happening at our Club, or country clubs in general. Now, members are not leaving, and the demand to join our membership is unprecedented. The Board of Directors and members alike are doing our best to reconcile our new normal.

Membership has now solidly moved from the “recruitment” model, to a “gate-keeper” model. We now have the privilege and responsibility to be much more discerning as we accept new members into our ranks. Not only has demand increased (and resignations decreased) but the average age of the member joining has dropped and their familial involvement has increased over the typical member of 1020 years ago; meaning these members not only will not be leaving, they, and their family, will be enjoying the Club for more years than those joining in the past. Some have already noticed how this is affecting those interested in joining our Club, and those who are patiently waiting on our evergrowing waitlist. The Board has directed the membership department to keep the junior members at around 10% of the golfing membership, letting one junior member in for every 10 Resident Golf members.

Our Membership Chairman, Whitney Ragsdale, along with our Membership Director, Cari Wheatley, are tweaking how we review potential members. We are placing a greater emphasis on the sponsoring members and their view of how each potential new member will integrate, strengthen, participate, and support the Club. These efforts are being made to secure a solid future for our Club.

Last year, Covid-19 prevented us from having our annual Open House and Toy drive. We will be renewing that event. This year we will donate the toys we collect at the Member Open House & Toy Drive to Sharing Life Outreach based in Mesquite, Texas. The mission of Sharing Life is to “Demonstrate Compassion” by assisting our local Community with programs and services from food, educational programs to financial assistance and coaching to families in need. They are partnering with us to help with their “Christmas Faire” program so the children in the local area will have a joyful and meaningful Christmas.

Lastly, I want to remind all the members (not that I need to) how wonderful our employees are and how fortunate we are to have them and for their loyalty to us. I’m sure you are aware of the labor shortage and its effects on the labor force. Brent has done a great job with employee retention and even recruitment during this very difficult time. One way for us to show our appreciation for them is giving to the Employee Christmas Fund. The Christmas Fund also helps reward those we don’t often see: kitchen staff, the grounds crew, maintenance staff, etc. Please consider being extra generous this year.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and I hope you can celebrate with us in our new facilities.

Warren Sibley

President

Have you noticed a group of women in the 19th Hole huddled around a table, covered in tiles that look somewhat like dominoes? Well, they are DAC’s “Mah Jongg Group”.

Mah Jongg was originally an Ancient Chinese game of skill and strategy that is “similar” to gin rummy but played with tiles rather than cards (see photos below). It is a challenging four-person game where the object is to build and complete hands in a select group of sequences that are displayed on a Mah Jongg card while you also consider your opponent’s strategies. The first person to complete a hand of 14 tiles in the specific pattern listed on the Mah Jongg card, wins. (Picture of card below)

Mah Jongg Tiles

Mah Jongg Cards and Tiles

Currently, the group gathers every Friday at 10am in the 19th Hole. Like most challenging games, Mah Jongg takes a while to fully learn. We have several ways to teach beginners and since we were all once rookies, we are very patient with teaching our new members. We could also recommend the teacher who taught us if you prefer to learn at home.

We know that once you learn the game, you’ll love the game, and the DAC Mah Jongg Group!

If you would like to read more about the game here are some links: https://www.ymimports.com/pages/how-to-playamerican-mahjong

Instructions: http://www.ateacherfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Mahjong-2016-Instructions-1.pdf If you are interested in learning to play we can teach you the game during several sessions (it takes a few sessions to understand the uniqueness of the rules) or you can have individual lessons from a Mah Jongg instructor. We have the name of a good one if you need it!

Contact: Brenda Prine (Bprine@sbcglobal.net) or Debbie Haas (DhaasRN@gmail.com)

From the Desk of Cari Wheatley

The Holiday season is officially here and I couldn't be more excited! This is always such a great time of the year and it is a very active time for your Club as we gear up for some of the biggest events of the year.

As you go through this newsletter you will find a variety of events, activities, and fun for the whole family. There are a few easy ways that you can quickly access and review everything happening at the Club on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

When you login to the Dallas Athletic Club website, www.dallasathleticclub.org, there is an events list and pictured advertisements showing events taking place at the Club at any given time. If you save this link as a shortcut on your computer's desktop, you'll be able to stay on top of everything with the click of your mouse. Another way that may even be faster and more convenient is the DAC App! We all carry a mobile device of some kind and when you have the Dallas Athletic Club App on your phone you have one touch access to the same event information right in the palm of your hand. You can make tee times, check course conditions, sign-up for events, make reservations, review your club account, book a tennis court, or look-up your golf buddy's phone number. If you don't already have the App, take a moment today to put it on your phone or tablet. You'll be glad you did!

Now let's check out what's happening at the Club this Holiday season!

Harry Potter Family Night: Muggles, Witches and Wizards of all ages are welcome to join us for Family Night on November 10th. Test your Hogwarts knowledge and enjoy a Food Hall inspired menu crafted by Chef Michael.

Gingerbread House Party: Kick off the Christmas Season by bringing the kids to decorate gingerbread houses with Chef Michael.

Pancakes with Santa: After checking his list, Santa has decided to make TWO visits to DAC this year. The whole family can join Santa Claus for brunch in December!

Holiday Open House & Toy Drive: Join us on December 12th for our Annual Membership Open House. This member only event is a favorite every year!

Our staff is very excited about the opportunity to serve you and your family during this special time of year. We hope that you will consider utilizing the Club while entertaining your family and friends visiting you during the holiday season.

Cheers, Cari Wheatley Membership Director cwheatley@dacstaff.org

IT'S TIME TO FALL BACK!

Daylight Saving Time Ends on Sunday, November 7th at 2am. Be sure you set your clocks back one hour!

Course Conditions

with Kevin Nettles, Superintendent

As we approach the end of 2021, we reflect on the great improvements to the courses. Our new bridge on 10 Blue, the new cart path and drainage along 1 and 10 Blue drainage and leveling of the entry to 9 Blue tees. The introduction of a complete verticut program on our fairways, tees, and approaches. Over a half-acre of shade tolerant sod in the roughs planted, and the installation of a new, rerouted cart path behind 9 Gold and 18 Blue.

In September we purchased a new fleet of greens mowers as our old mowers were 14 years old. The new technology is providing a much smoother cut, which will produce a truer putting surface.

In addition to the improvements completed this summer, we are currently planting the winter color in our annual color beds. Our contractor is back and completing the new bridge on 17 Blue. This new bridge is the most changed look of all the bridges, it is relocated to the right and the cart path is being reconfigured to move it out of the line of sight from the teeing areas. We also have begun applying a product to our fairways and tees called liquid over seed. This product will give the appearance of being over seeded.

The banquet area by the pool is being raised and leveled. The newly leveled area will be outlined with a retaining wall and fence that will help with crowd control during functions on the yard and patios. Lastly we are in the process of preparing our new course master plan with the assistance of Chet Williams.

I have had many compliments on the condition of the courses and grounds this year and they are greatly appreciated.

Holiday Instruction Specials!

It's that time of year again and my Holiday Specials are back! This year I am offering the two following Holiday Specials: • Four hours of instruction: $475 •

Two hours of instruction: $250 These two Holiday Specials must be purchased within the months of November and December. They can be used as a gift for someone else or to help you improve your game. They can also be shared by more than one person. Just like my packages, they are based on time and not number of lessons. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to purchase one of these packages or Holiday Specials.

Happy Holidays to everyone! Stuart Hendley, PGA

Teaching Professional Dallas Athletic Club Cell: 432-813-4672 Email: shendley@dacstaff.org

Tennis Adults Clinics & Drills

MONDAY: 9:00 - 10:30 AM Women’s Singles

TUESDAY:

6:00 - 7:30 PM Men’s 3.5+

WEDNESDAY: 5:00 - 6:30 PM Women’s 3.5+

7:00 - 8:30 PM Women’s 2.5-3.0

THURSDAY:

6:00 - 7:30 PM Men’s 3.5+

FRIDAY:

9:00 - 11:00 AM Women’s Boot Camp 2.5-3.0

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Women’s University

SATURDAY:

8:30 - 10:00 AM Men’s Open Workout

8:30 - 10:00 AM Women’s University

10:00 - 11:30 AM Women’s 2.5-3.0

From left to right: Stephanie Stevens, Judy Prestige, Mary Hope Burns, Shannon DeVilbiss, Lindsey Starnes, Mary Sisk, Kristi Kendall

A Message from Natalia Prinz

We had a very busy fall season with TCD, USTA, and Metro Teams competing every week. Our Intra Club League was a great success and our Pro-Am did not disappoint. We cannot thank our members enough for their support in their participation of the events and weekly activities this fall. Our shop is thriving and we are looking forward to the holiday season. We would love to help you with your holiday shopping for your family and friends. Let us know if there is anything we can do for you! Our secret shopper Susan is happy to help you!

Pro Spotlight: Joe Sopko, Director of Juniors, and his Open Level Man USTA Team advanced to National Competition in Las Vegas. Erich Bein, Director of Womens Programs, and Hunter Scammahorn, Teaching Professional, and their 5.0 Level USTA Team advanced to National Competition in Arizona.

USTA National Competition is one of the most competitive and by far the largest tennis leagues in the counrty with more than 300,000 players competing nationwide. We are very proud that we have three teaching professionals representing DAC in National Competition.

See you on the courts, Natalia Prinz Director of Tennis

Vist us online at the Club website for Fitness Programs & Class Schedules www.dallasathleticclub.org