FEBRUARY, 2022
www.diamondheadms.org
VOL. 39, NO. 2
From the desk of the President By Ernie Knobloch
T
he deadline for this article was January 13, 2022, so this provides members with an update as of that date. Pat Laird died in early January 2022. Pat was a past POA President and an active member of the local VFW with a special emphasis on homeless veterans. T he present POA Board and employees offer our condolences to his family. Karstyn Altese, a 12yearold Diamondhead resident, recently won the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tom my Moore Memorial Invitational golf tournament held at the Tour nament Players Club outside of New Orleans. She actually participated in the 13 18 age group to make her win even more impressive. Karstyn shot a 3 over par after two rounds which tied her with two other competitors. She then won the playoff, making her the youngest competitor ever to win the tourna ment. In addition, Karstyn’s sis ter, Katelynn finished 7th in the tournament. There were competitors from all over the U.S. plus various for eign countries. What a wonderful accomplishment for the two DH sisters!! Due to wear and tear over the years, the floor in the kitchen required replacement. Originally the estimate was that the work could be done in two weeks and the time chosen for the work was
around ChristmasNew Years. That time frame was chosen be cause records show that is one of the least busy times for the club every year. Unfortunately, while floor removal was being done, serious structural damage was found in the walls and other locations. The Board made the decision to cor rect all the structural problems at this time, instead of having to go back at a later date which could cost more money. By the time you read this, all the work should have been com pleted and the kitchen in its best working order in the last 20 years. The food and beverage staff are thanked for all their extra efforts to make this transition time run as smooth as possible. Our customers are also thanked for the continued use of food and beverage areas during the reno vations. As all the golfers and some homeowners on the courses know, the rains of 2021 have uncovered drainage problems on both of our golf courses. The record rainfall, just as it did in the City of Diamondhead, pinpointed areas of concern that had gone unnoticed before. Several staff and golf commit tee members met with Nathan Crace, the American Association of Golf Course Architect of Wa termark Golf, to look at some of our problem areas. Watermark Golf is a wellrespected company that has done a lot of work in Louisiana and Mississippi. Nathan
was able to determine some of our general drainage problems just by touring the holes in question and analyzing our current drainage systems. The conclusion was that 6 holes require drainage solutions to make them playable, reduce maintenance costs and improve drainage for homeowners near the areas in question. There are some other problem areas, but those will have to be dealt with at a later time. We agreed to have the six holes analyzed completely to determine a course of action to remedy the wet areas, and again control the maintenance costs. A complete evaluation of these holes will be conducted and a plan to solve the problems devised. All of our golf course drainage areas are part of the city drainage system. Two interesting tidbits oc curred. First, before Nathan be came an accredited Golf Course Architect, he worked (when he was young) for Diamondhead as an assistant to Phil Hill. I’ve been here about 20 years so that was before I moved here. Some of you will remember Phil Hill Secondly it was either John Lafoy or Earl Stone, the designers of our two courses, that recom mended Nathan to the ASGCA for accreditation. We continue to explore options for a restroom and ship’s store at the marina. FEMA/MEMA re quirements are quite stringent in this area and interesting, to say
the least. The contract to demolish what’s left of piers one and two was signed in midDecember. Demolition work should have started by the time you read this article. In addition, a Request for Bids should have been advertised in midJanuary to install either one or two floating dock piers to re place what was demolished. Ex actly how much can be replaced will be determined by the cost of the bids. The target date for new menus in Latitude 30 and The Oak room is midApril. Below are two events that you might want to participate in and give your feedback on the pro posed new items: Oak Room Tasting Event – Thursday, February 17, 2022 @ 6:30, Emerald Ballroom. $60 includes tax and gratuity. Tickets available in the Club Office. Latitude 30 Tasting Event – Thursday, March 3, 2022 @ 6:30, Emerald Ballroom. $40 includes tax and gratuity. Tickets available in the Club Office. Both are limited seating based on the order that tickets are pur chased. Be sure to purchase early so you do not miss out on these events. We hope to see you enjoying one or more your amenities in the upcoming months.
The deadline to submit information for the March Diamondhead News is February 10.
Krewe of Diamondhead Parade Marshall Announced The Krewe of Diamond head is proud to announce the Parade Marshall for this year’s Mardi Gras parade will be John Four cade, Jr. for mal New John Fourcade Orleans Saints quarterback. Fourcade played for the New Orleans Saints from 19871990. After finishing his playing career, he coached over 15 years in the Arena Football League and also an analyst for WDSU and host of his own radio show. He is currently the General Manager of the New Mexico Stars. We are very honored to have him as parade marshal and know that he will lead this parade with the theme World Travel in outstanding fashion. Applications for parade participants or questions about the parade should be directed to our Parade Di rector, Sara Garcia at kdhpa rade@gmail.com. This parade will follow the same course as previous years. We missed out on our parade for 2021, so we are very excited to get this pa rade going. Don’t miss out on all the fun on Saturday, February 26th at 12 noon.