2024 Shutdown and Reciprocity The Club will close for its annual shutdown period from Monday, January 1st through Thursday, January 11th, 2024, and will reopen for the Open Kitchen event on Friday, January 12th and Saturday, January 13th. On Sunday, January 14th, the regular Sunday Brunch Buffet and a special Carry Out feature will be available. The Club will reopen for regular lunch and dinner service for the remainder of the month (Wednesday through Sunday) on Wednesday, January 17th. The Fitness Center will have modified hours during this time. Four clubs, including Bellerive, Missouri Athletic Club West & Downtown, Racquet Club Ladue, and Westborough, have accepted reciprocity for dining from Monday, January 1st through Sunday, January 14th. Reservations are required at all four clubs. When making reservations, please state that you are a member of Forest Hills Country Club and provide your full name and member number.
Bellerive Country Club 12925 Ladue Road | St. Louis, MO 63141 Dates Available: Days/Times Available: Days Closed:
January 2nd – January 14th Wednesday – Sunday (Lunch & Dinner) Monday and Tuesday
Reservations can be made by contacting their Club directly at (314) 434-4400.
Missouri Athletic Club West & Downtown West: 1777 Des Peres Road | St. Louis, MO 63131 Downtown: 405 Washington Ave | St. Louis, MO 63102
Dates Available: Days/Times Available: Days Closed:
West Location: January 2nd – January 15th Monday – Saturday (Lunch & Dinner) Sunday
Dates Available: Days/Times Available:
Downtown Location: January 2nd – January 15th Monday – Sunday (Lunch & Dinner)
Reservations can be made by contacting their Club directly: West: (314) 539-4444 | Downtown: (314) 231-7220
Racquet Club Ladue 1600 Log Cabin Lane | St. Louis, MO 63124 Dates Available: Days/Times Available: Days Closed:
January 3rd – January 15th Wednesday – Sunday (Lunch & Dinner); Monday (Limited Menu) Tuesday
Reservations can be made by contacting their Club directly at (314) 993-2880.
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Club News & Reminders Westborough Country Club 631 South Berry Road | St. Louis, MO 63122 Dates Available: Days/Times Available: Days Closed:
January 1st – January 14th Wednesday – Sunday (Lunch, Dinner, & Sunday Brunch); Carryout is also available. Monday and Tuesday
Reservations can be made by contacting their Club directly at (314) 968-5333.
Shutdown Course Protocol Please be reminded of our policy regarding play on the course during our annual January shutdown: Members may walk the Championship or Valley Course, while the Golf Shop is closed, Tuesday—Sunday from January 1st—13th, but must first check the ForeTees home page for updated course conditions prior to play. Please note, carts will not be available during this time.
Bag Storage Reminder Remember to grab your clubs from the bag storage room if you need them for travel or other personal reasons. Staffed hours during January shutdown may be affected, so additional notice may be necessary for bag retrieval. The Golf Shop reopens on Saturday, January 13th, and will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 am—4:00 pm throughout the remainder of January.
Congratulations to Ali and the Kaplan Family! Forest Hills’ Director of Membership and Marketing, Ali Kaplan, and husband Alex welcomed a baby girl, Caroline Louisa, on December 27th at 5:57 am. Caroline was 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 1/4 inches long at birth. Ali, Alex, Caroline, and big brother Benjamin are doing well and enjoying life as a family of four.
Have Exciting News To Share? We encourage our members to share with us the interesting and exciting things happening in your lives! Please send your details to Ava Reynolds at avar@foresthillscc.net. We will do our very best to include your information in our upcoming newsletter. The deadline is always the 20th of the month.
Newsletter Prize Hidden within the pages of this issue and future issues, we have included a member’s number chosen at random. If you come across this number and it happens to be yours, contact Ava at avar@foresthillscc.net to redeem a $100 Gift Certificate toward your next food and beverage purchase.
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Manager’s Report by Emma Gore
emmag@foresthilscc.net
Dear Forest Hills Country Club Members, As the sun sets on another year at Forest Hills Country Club, we find ourselves brimming with gratitude for our incredible members. You are the heart and soul of our community and your unwavering support has brought us countless birdies (and maybe a few bogeys we can learn from) in 2023. This year brought record-breaking participation on the golf course, triumphant moments during junior golf and racquet clinics, laughter by the pool, and unforgettable moments during our lively social events. As we look forward to 2024, the team and I are excited to continue enhancing your member experience by listening to feedback, embracing new ideas, and ensuring every visit to the Club is positive and personalized. This coming year, we will be celebrating 60 years of Forest Hills with a new anniversary logo. Our original logo, crafted in 1964, captured the essence of Forest Hills at the time. For the anniversary, we wanted to pay homage to this symbol while infusing it with a touch of modern energy. The new anniversary logo retains core elements of the original logo, but we have subtly evolved it with a refined color palette and scaled the size back. We believe this new logo is a fitting tribute to our past and it will proudly be displayed throughout the Club in 2024.
Original Logo (as seen in an image from 1964)
60th Anniversary Logos
While the Club grounds may seem deserted in January, the energy behind the scenes is anything but quiet. Our annual shutdown period is a crucial time dedicated to several key tasks that ensure your experience is exceptional throughout the season. Our dedicated management team dives deep into planning the upcoming year. We analyze feedback, track industry trends, and brainstorm programs and events to keep our social calendar full of excitement. January gives us the opportunity to invest in our staff through training sessions and team-building opportunities that translate to attentive service and a welcoming atmosphere when you return. We carefully craft our budget for the next fiscal year to ensure the Club’s long-term health and maximization of your membership value. Every nook and cranny of the Club receives a deep cleaning and reorganization after a busy holiday season. Our maintenance team will work on installing new equipment that our culinary team has been patiently awaiting. Our contractor will continue to make great progress on Phase 2 of the Creek Project on Hole #17. To date, they have hauled away 220 loads of muck from the pond and have hauled in 373 trucks of clay fill material to rough grade the new fairway. During our shutdown period, we will have dining reciprocity with four country clubs in the area: Bellerive Country Club, Missouri Athletic Club West & Downtown, Racquet Club Ladue, and Westborough Country Club. Reservations are required when planning to dine at any of these clubs and can be made by contacting each club directly. We look forward to welcoming you all back for our signature Open Kitchen event on January 12th and 13th.
See you around the Club soon! 5
Notes from the Board Chair by Charles Nance
chnance@sbcglobal.net
Fellow Club Members, Happy New Year! Welcome to the 60th Anniversary year for Forest Hills Country Club. This is the time of year when we have our annual Clubhouse shutdown, which allows for deepcleaning in the kitchens, completion of potentially intrusive maintenance activities, along with renewal of some of our Clubhouse infrastructure. There isn’t any mowing activity on the course, the pool is closed, and the tennis courts are mostly empty. Only the hardiest of us choose to enjoy our golf courses during this time of year. However, there is still a fair amount of activity at the pickleball courts. While it may appear there isn’t much going on, there is an incredible amount of work being performed to prepare for the coming year. Emma Gore, Julie Kennedy, and all the department heads are preparing very detailed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. The Grounds Team is completing multiple long-term improvement projects on the courses. The Entertainment Committee is working diligently to help the staff with planning events for the coming year. The construction activity on Championship Course Hole #17 is underway to complete the remainder of the creek infrastructure project, while also making recommended and approved improvements to the hole layout. In addition to preparing the physical assets of the Club for the new year, the staff is also working on efforts to strengthen their focus on our members’ experiences while at the Club. The Board of Directors is focusing on our committees and the member volunteers who help to achieve so much for our members during each year. We have, and are paying attention to, the list of respondents who have expressed interest in helping. The committee rosters should be completed by the end of March. If you have an interest in helping, and haven’t yet let us know, please do so. A list of the Committees and Committee Chairpersons is listed on the Club website (under the “My Club” tab, then click on “Committee Listing”), so feel free to reach out. Our Golf Professionals are in the process of searching for a replacement for Matt Swanson, as well as for a new Assistant Golf Professional, with assistance from Abby Le, our Human Resources Director. Ongoing hiring efforts to keep our staff levels at optimal levels continue in the Food and Beverage and Grounds Departments. If you haven’t checked your handicap index lately, you may want to do so. The USGA sent a team to “rate” the course a few months ago. The results of that effort indicate that our Championship Course is now somewhat more difficult than was determined the last time this was done. The course rating went up for most of the tees, while the slope rating dropped slightly from some of the tees. The net result is that I get another stroke from the tees I play from in competitions. I’m personally going to enjoy this extra stroke. If you have any questions, feel free to consult with our Golf Professional Staff. Please remember, even at this time of year, golf etiquette calls for those of us using the courses to fill our divots, fix our ball marks on the greens, and rake the bunkers. Your help in doing so will be appreciated by those who follow you on the course. I look forward to seeing you at the Club.
Events Recap by Kristen Chamberlain
kristenc@foresthillscc.net
Happy New Year! This year is going to be a great year for the Club! We are working on revamping our catering menus and setting up our events for success in 2024. Last month we were very busy with member events - we had our Breakfast and Brunch with Santa, our Ladies’ Holiday Boutique, our Family Holiday Dinner, and New Year’s Eve Dinner! I hope everyone who was able to attend had a memorable experience with us! Make sure to sign up on ForeTees for our Mother-Son Baseball Bash and the Family Valentine’s Brunch! As always keep us in mind for birthdays, anniversaries, corporate meetings, and everything in between. I’m looking forward to another year of making your special events a success!
Food & Beverage Update by Ryan Schaben
ryans@foresthillscc.net
What a year; 2023! The Food and Beverage Team wrapped up the holiday season at the Club with some great member participation. November included our Daddy-Daughter Candyland Dance. Close to forty Forest Hills dads, coupled with their beaming daughters, were dressed to the nines and got their groove on in our Ballroom, which was transformed into a candy oasis. December kicked off with over 950 members and their families coming through the front doors for their chance to meet the big man himself, Santa Claus, during our Breakfast and Brunch with Santa. The Family Holiday Dinner on Saturday, December 23rd, brought in 400 members and guests (compared to 290 in 2022) for a delicious family-style meal. With many members hosting their families for Christmas, this is always a member favorite event. Boyd Kasten helped us ring in the New Year, where 151 Members (compared to 104 in 2022) enjoyed a four-course meal and spent the night toasting to 2024. We are looking forward to many great events this year, and January has a few highly-anticipated events in its lineup. We are starting the year off strong with our annual Open Kitchen event on Friday, January 12th and Saturday, January 13th. This is a unique event that gives members a behind-the-scenes view into the Kitchen. You will have a chance to interact with our Culinary team while sampling a number of exceptional food offerings. We have a Trivia Night planned on Wednesday, January 17th in Dutch’s Lounge. To register, just make a dining reservation on Open Table and state if you will be attending trivia. We recommend arriving thirty minutes early to place your food order and get your first round of drinks. We close out January with a special Wine Dinner by Huneeus Winery. (Quintessa is on the menu!) On Wednesday, January 17th, we are launching all new menus with new menu boards, a refreshed look and design for lunch and dinner, and some savory new dining features to choose from. Please plan on joining us for lunch and/or dinner after our annual shutdown to see these new menus!
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Open Kitchen 2023
Message From The Pro by Jimmy Bals, PGA
jimmyb@foresthillscc.net
The off-season is more than simply a break from golf. It is the time to do certain things that can enhance your game, so you are ready in the spring. The golf swing is a ballistic motion that puts immense stress on the body in a very short period of time. Between injuries, age, and other factors that limit each one of us, it is important to be selective in what we choose to improve our golf swing. One of the best activities involves using the resources available via the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI). This world-renowned program emphasizes the connection between a golfer’s physical abilities and their swing mechanics. Top experts in golf, fitness, and medicine have developed this program to be individualized for anyone, from the casual golfer to the best players in the world. It all starts with what is called the TPI Screen, and is done by a Certified TPI Instructor. Nick and I are both certified instructors and offer the TPI Screen. This assessment, which covers flexibility, mobility, stability, and balance, is done in our indoor hitting room. This doesn’t require any special skills and will identify patterns unique to the individual. Players take 15-20 swings, and the screen will discover physical limitations that affect a golfer’s performance and create a program that is flexible and easily incorporated. After one 40-minute screening session, you will receive a personalized program via TPI. All the benefits TPI provides are impossible to cover in one newsletter article. However, the key benefits include enhanced performance, injury prevention, and longevity. These allow players to not only continue playing, but to play at a higher level. The golf swing is unique to each individual and a major part of how you swing is predicated on what your body can or cannot do. Reach out to me or Nick to learn more and/or schedule a TPI Screen. We look forward to working with you this winter.
Improve Your Skills with Junior Clinics or Personal Training!
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Morning Book Club by Bettina Esser
bettinaesser@gmail.com
Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 14th ● 10:30 am Happy New Year! Like the Club, we skip January, so the Morning Book Club will have its first meeting of the new year on the second Wednesday of February. In light of the fact that this falls on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, we will read Mount Vernon Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark. It is a novel featuring George and Martha Washington, so we have a Presidents’ Day book to boot!
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The March discussion will be held on March 13th, and will be about Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano will be the subject of our April 10th meeting. Please join us as we welcome another year of bestsellers and friendship. In the meantime, happy reading!
Evening Book Club by Carolyn Cash
carolyn.cash1127@gmail.com
Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 17th ● 6:00 pm Please join us for the first meeting of the new year on January 17th at 6:00 pm to discuss the book Tom Lake by Anne Patchett. Even if you haven’t read the book or you are new to Forest Hills, please join us for dinner, and a chance to get to meet some new friends.
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Forest Hills Country Club 36 Forest Club Drive Chesterfield, MO 63005 If the electronic copy of On Course fails to meet your family’s needs and you would like to optin to receiving a physical mailing, please notify Ava Reynolds at avar@foresthillscc.net. Copies are also available in the Clubhouse lobby.
Club Contacts BOARD OF DIRECTORS David A. Linenbroker Secretary Zachary G. Smith Director Lawrence A. Thayer Governance Chair Mark F. Forst Membership Chair & Racquets Chair
Emma Gore General Manager/COO 636.207.3515 ● emmag@foresthillscc.net
Michael Dority Executive Chef 636.207.3518 ● michaeld@foresthillscc.net
Victoria Zimmerman
Scott Reynolds, GCS
Director of Food & Beverage 636.207.3532 ● victoriaz@foresthillscc.net
Grounds Superintendent 636.227.5044 ● scotts@foresthillscc.net
Julie Kennedy Laurie Lambert-Hopkins Treasurer / Finance Chair Charles H. Nance Board Chair Long Range Planning Chair Edward A. Dorch Golf Chair Michael A. Flavin Director
Controller 636.207.3513 ● juliek@foresthillscc.net
Abby Le Director of Human Resources 636.230.2507 ● abbyl@foresthillscc.net
Ryan Schaben Assistant General Manager 636.207.3512 ● ryans@foresthillscc.net
Jimmy Bals, PGA Stephen A. Sigman Grounds Chair Michael C. Buescher House Chair
John D. Mazzola Entertainment Chair Robert M. Whiting Swim Chair
Clubhouse (636) 227-5030 Office Fax (636) 227-2540 Golf Shop (636) 227-1528 www.foresthillscc.net
Director of Golf 636.227.1528 ● jimmyb@foresthillscc.net
JT Tierney, PGA Head Golf Professional 636.227.1528 ● jtt@foresthillscc.net
Ali Kaplan Director of Membership and Marketing 636.207.3545 ● alik@foresthillscc.net
Ava Reynolds Marketing & Communications Coordinator 636.207.3569 ● avar@foresthillscc.net
Adam Goad Assistant Food and Beverage Manager 636.207.3519 ● adamg@foresthillscc.net
Monica Knudtson Office Manager 636.207.3514 ● monicak@foresthillscc.net
Kristen Chamberlain Director of Events 636.207.3528 ● kristenc@foresthillscc.net
Michelle Hill Events & Banquets Manager 636.207.3535 ● michelleh@foresthillscc.net
Kyle O’Leary Director of Racquet Sports 314.369.1153 ● kyleo@foresthillscc.net
Emma Knopf Concierge 636.227.5030 ● concierge@foresthillscc.net