January 2020 Newsletter

Smoke Signals A NEW YEAR ON THE HORIZON

January 2021 Photo taken from the ICYCC Marina

Manager's Message

By Brian Darlak

Happy New Year!! How great does that sound?!?

While 2020 was a challenging year, there are many highlights to celebrate. One of the most important being how you, as a membership, supported your club throughout the year! From your participation in golf events, to racquet activities, even exploring the local creeks via boat to enjoying socially distant dining at the club; you helped make the year a success and I want to recognize that. I also would like to recognize and thank you, for your continued support for the Club Staff by way of contributions to the Employee Holiday Fund, on behalf of the staff, thank you very much for your generosity!

I am looking forward to 2021 as we have a lot of great things in store for the Club! We have begun drafting a calendar full of activities, events, and programs for you to enjoy in all areas. The Clubhouse Renovation is underway, and we will present the Facilities Site Plan on January 12th which locates the projects outlined by the Architectural Master Plan. Aside from the action at the Club, coming in January we will launch a refreshed website as part of an enhanced marketing effort to expand the awareness of the Club and outreach on the world wide web!

Further, the Board of Directors will be reviewing and revising the Club’s Strategic plan, which will help provide direction and guidance for the years to come.

I will conclude with a ‘did you know’ and ask……

Did you know that you can share feedback with the club management team by emailing it to feedback@icycc.com? Any messages sent to this mailbox come directly to me and I will share with the appropriate audience. Your feedback is extremely important to us, be it good or bad, as that helps us gauge success or identify areas for improvement. So please, add that contact to your address book and feel use it often!

Again, I hope that everyone has a great, happy and healthy New Year!!

Ch*#ge - Guess that word

By Megan Stephens, Membership Director

We live in a perpetual state of change, which is often looked at in a negative light. After all, what's wrong with the way things are now?

Well, nothing is wrong with enjoying things just as they are, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy them equally as much, if not more, in a new and different way.

As I write, I recall listening to a local pastor preach on staying positive and looking ahead in these trying times, an important mindset to have. But, reflecting, I started to think about the year here at ICYCC and how relatable his message was. The message was that of the innovative revolution born out of the "Great Manure Crisis of 1894". Out of streets piled high with horse manure due to the transportation system in the late 1800's, was born the phenomenon of the automobile. Turns out, being full of it can actually inspire innovation (just don't tell our children). People back in that day took lemons and made lemonade and, while we already have lemonade here at ICYCC, we are simply trying to make it a little sweeter.

This year has brought a new focus on technology - be it in the importance of email, the development of the mobile app, the focus on sharing videos, social media posts and leaving online reviews. These are good changes - not only for us as a club family, but for those who may stumble upon us online and want to see what being part of our close-knit community is all about. Our digital presence is an important part of our relationship together.

Here on campus, give a new event or sport a try. It may not be our natural tendency to try new things, but it can quickly become a habit if we allow it to.

Let's continue to spark meaningful change.

Commodore's Corner

by Bob Wayland, Commodore As I write this, we are approaching the shortest day of 2020. Our vessels are winterized and canoes and kayaks are out of the water and tucked under the house or in the garage. A New Year and longer days are just around the corner. The first shipments of COVID vaccine are in distribution.

Some of us will be heading for warmer climes - the rest of us are a little envious. The Bridge is planning cruises and events for 2021, though these will be delayed until vaccines are in broader distribution.

This is an excellent time of year to inventory and inspect the equipment that will keep you safe when we are back on the water. Check the expiration date on flares, inspect self-inflating mechanisms on PFDs that use them. Make sure the arrow points to green on your fire extinguishers and that have one fore, aft, in the galley, nd near the engines. We are doing the same for safety equipment at the Club’s Docks.

As a reminder that we really were able to have fun, safely, on and off the water this year, and to whet your appetite for better times to come in ’21, here are a few photos from 2020!

Happy New Year!

Golf

by Mike Mayer, PGA Yes, We're Open!

The golf course is open daily for play during winter, all winter. We hope that January will be as nice as November and December. Golfing in the winter air is also a great way to stay in shape - walking nine holes is about two and a half miles.

Hole-in-Ones In 2019, only women made hole-in-ones and in 2020 it was the men’s turn. Congratulations to Fred Minton, Gil Zimmerman and Chris Maxwell on their great shots.

Who knows how many we might have had this spring when the holes were filled with foam and prevented balls from actually going in? It seemed like every week we heard stories of balls hitting the foam and stopping right next to the holes.

The 11th Annual Butterball Betterball

Twelve two-person teams enjoyed ideal fall playing conditions for the annual Butterball Betterball Golf Tournament on November 21. Players brought food items or cash to be donated to the White Stone Baptist Church Food Bank in exchange for a mulligan. We were able to make a nice donation to the food bank and have a great day on the course.

Pictured below from left to right are Low Gross winners shooting a 74 John Halley and Mike Grady.

Low Net honors went to Hank and Seale George with 65. Kevin Dougherty and Justin Nelson finished Fireside Chat This annual series is going virtual this winter. In lieu of second low gross at 78 and Jim Arrison and Kathy your coming in for a casual question and answer Davidson carded a 68 to finish second low net. session, we ask that you send us your questions in advance and the golf staff and we will answer you on Zoom(dates to be announced). The staff will include your professional staff of Mike, Brenda and Rob, as well as Certified Golf Course Superintendent, Pete Stephens, an expert on all things turf. Questions can be about your golf swing, golf fitness, rules of golf, our operating policies and procedures, our club events, tournaments, 2021 schedules, golf etiquette, COVID safeguards, your lawn, our greens, pin placements, mowing patters, soil tests, drainage, cart path only rules.

We truly appreciate our members and respect your desire to learn more about the Club. This is a great opportunity to have your questions addressed by our staff experts. Please send questions or topics of discussion to mmayer@icycc.com

Better Golf Through Exercise In most lessons we ponder how we as professionals can help our students improve.

Many of the

changes that are needed to improve performance require a certain degree of mobility and flexibility that are not currently being demonstrated. There lies the dilemma. Do we accept your lack of mobility or do we also address it as a means of improving your golf. It is no coincidence that the number one player in the world is also considered to be the fittest man in golf.

Dustin Johnson is 6’4”, 190 lbs., and 32 years old.

Maybe not the physical characteristics of our golfing members (or staff), but his regimen is an outline focused on improving his golf game. Dustin works with a trainer and focuses on single leg movements, rotational

moves,

stability

work,

and

strength

training. They develop his hip speed, hip stability, and upper and lower body separation. Elastic bands can be used to mimic the golf swing and the medicine ball is used for explosive motions. Take the time to peruse the videos of Dustin’s workouts.

Many are located on the internet by Googling “Dustin Johnson’s workouts”, his diet may also surprise you. You might get some great ideas for exercises to add to your workout routine.

Happy New Year!

The Pro Shop staff would like to thank you for all of your support in 2020. We look forward to serving you in 2021.

Turf Talk

by Pete Stephens, CGCS

Once again, we continue the wet trend as carts have been restricted to the paths for over a month; however, while course and grounds maintenance continues to be limited on areas dry enough to access, we can continue with safety training, equipment operation meetings, pressure washing campus facility buildings, planning for the 2021 season and building the course and grounds budgets.

This winter the team and I will be busy working on items outlined in the strategic plan, restoring equipment, tree and bunker maintenance, continuing education, making organizational improvements to the Turf Center, weed control and many other small projects that we can get our hands on.

This past month new Stop/Registered Golfers Only signs were installed at the entrances and exits of the golf cart paths. The signage is there for everyone’s safety and we ask that everyone abide. Walking is still allowed by club members during non-golfing hours.

Energy Use and Environmental Practices on U.S. Golf Courses The GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) reports from the final survey in phase II of the Golf Course Environmental Profile that energy use and environmental practices are moving in a positive direction.

Energy use has been reduced by more than 8% since the first energy use and environmental practices survey was sent out in 2008.

The objectives of the current energy use and environmental practices survey were to compare results from 2015 to those from the initial 2008 survey, in an attempt to document, characterize and/or quantify, on a national scale: Trends in energy use on U.S. golf courses, including:

The Course and Grounds Team wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and would like to take this time to give a heartfelt thank you the ICYCC membership for the generous gifts.

electricity gasoline diesel fuel natural gas propane heating oil

Garden Buzz As the winter season approaches and nature takes a rest, it is a great time to reflect on the past year and go through all the lovely seed and flower catalogs that come in the mail. With Covid it seems the mail has taken on a new importance always hoping for something exciting to read. This is the time to look at what grew well that you want to repeat in 2021 and what to discard to the mulch heap. Also a good time to collect seeds of favorites for the spring. Find some good books to read by the fireplace like Doug Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home or Nature’s Best Hope. Both of these volumes are worth the time and have great ideas for your property.

ICYCC hosted two butterfly counts this year and recently the Christmas Bird Count last week. We had many new recruits join us to cover the square miles of the counts, and you don’t need to be an expert to volunteer. It's fun and a great learning experience. These counts contribute to the growing knowledge about the effect climate is having on the animals and the food chain. They are national counts showing what species are doing well and which are in trouble. Mike allowed us use of golf carts to tour the property and neighborhood last Tuesday for the count. We found 56 different bird species (birds love golf courses) and counted 1145 individual birds in my sector of the circle. We cover from Ditchley Road to route 3 down to Ocran Road for our part. Most of what we counted were song birds like cardinals, cedar waxwings, pileated woodpeckers and ruby crowned kinglets.

It seems the water fowl took a holiday and none of the parties doing the count in Northumberland and Lancaster saw many of the usual suspects. All the creeks were very empty of most of the ducks, swans and geese that we usually see. But that’s nature.

Hope everyone enjoys the holidays and stays safe. Come join us next year!

RACQUET NEWS

by George Christoforatos Racquet Center Revamp

The Indian Creek Yacht and Country Club indoor facility is open for play as of Monday, December 14th, 2020. The facility has state-ofthe-art LED lighting, brand-new net posts, and nets and we just finished having the two-court resurfaced.

The indoor center is now one, if not the best indoor center in the Mid Atlantic Region. I can honestly say this because I have played in so many different facilities in the Mid Atlantic Region. The lighting is at a professional standard, meaning we can host professional play. The courts are just flat out beautiful. The temperature in the facility can be controlled and set to whatever comfortable range wanted for play.

The nets and net post, along with scorecards are all new. Without a doubt, it doesn’t get any better than this.

The Courts have changed appearance and texture. The indoor surface has more grit, and the colors are now Blue interior, and Green apron, while the pickleball lines are a Carolina Blue. These colors truly brighten the facility and The old saying – if you build it, they will come! bring new energy to the club.

Well, we built it, now let get out there and enjoy Let’s discuss the type of shoes that players need this beautiful facility. to wear on the new courts. Court shoes (Tennis shoes, Pickleball shoes) are non-marking shoes.

Running shoes and shoes that are marking shoes will not be allowed. These shoes leave black marks or color marks, which will stain the courts.

Court shoes (tennis shoes, pickleball shoes) are also built for playing tennis or pickleball and your ankles will appreciate you wearing the proper shoe. I have seen more sprained ankles on tennis courts when players are not wearing the proper shoe. Mostly for the safety of the player; please wear a court shoe. We also sell courts shoes in our Pro Shop.

pr re es ss s p st ta ar rt t s

A New Year Full of Programs for all Levels

Saturdays are going to be really busy, here at the indoor facility. We have four new items added to the ICYCC calendar.

• 4.0 and up Men’s, Women’s and Mixed doubles – (Sat) 10:30 am to 12:30 pm We will have two courts of upper-level play, 4.0 and up. Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles.

The first four ladies and first four men that sign up each week will play, and play mixed doubles at the end.

• Intro to Pickleball – (Sat) 1 pm to 2 pm Open to all members to learn the game of pickleball. Fun drills, with technique and learning how to keep score. The goal is to grow and have as much fun as possible.

• 10 and Under Tennis Clinic – (Sat) 2 pm to 3 pm Open to all levels of play. We are looking to grow youth tennis in our area and club. The clinic will be a totally fun environment with learning the game of tennis. We have many fun drills, to improve movement, hand eye coordination, and tennis skills.

• Middle School / High School clinic – (Sat) 3pm to 4:30 pm Clinics will include all levels of play from beginning to advanced. We will have drills to keep the players moving and learning how to play the game of tennis. The focus will be on teaching the fundamentals and strategy of this great game.

During the week, we are still busy with a number of clinics, drills, and open play.

• Tennis Ladies Round Robin play outdoors – Monday, Friday 9am to 11am Ladies, all levels of play are invited to play Round Robin tennis, outside and sometimes inside. Sign up on the event calendar

• Tennis Drills and Drinks – Wednesday 4pm to 5:30pm Wednesday come out and work your game, and enjoy some social distancing drinks. Drills to help your game and Drinks to enjoy the discussions after the clinic. Fun time, while advancing your game.

• Pickleball Open Play for all levels – Monday, Wednesday, Friday 2 pm to 4 pm • Pickleball Open Play for all levels – Sunday from 4 pm to 6 pm • Pickleball Clinic for all levels – Wednesday 1 pm to 2 pm This clinic is open for all levels. Improve your game and gather new strategies in Pickleball.

Take your Pickleball game to a new level, with drills and strategies.

• Spec Tennis Drills – Monday 1 pm to 2 pm Spec Tennis Drills for all levels of play. Spec Tennis is the California craze, but ICYCC is catching the wave, learning more about how to be a better player. Drills and Strategies will help improve your Spec Tennis game and allow you to enjoy playing.

• Spec Tennis Play – Tuesday, Friday 12:30 pm to 2 pm Open play for all levels. Come out and enjoy playing Spec Tennis the California sport that is growing across the US. Smaller Court with paddles, and Orange ball, with less compression.

Great game to have a lot of fun and a good workout.

Private Lesson or Semi-Private Lessons: • Sunday – Saturday, Lessons and signature clinics are available during the week, just contact George and set up a date and time.

What's Cookin' with Curt

By Curt DeGraw, Food and Beverage Director

The Food and Beverage team at ICYCC hopes you all had a great holiday season this year, as different as it may have been. We also were challenged with a different December than year’s past with the lack of large holiday gatherings; however, we had several smaller successful parties with our members - the highlight being our recent Winter Wonderland event. For this new annual tradition, members were guided throughout the grounds on their own private sleighs, while enjoying tastes and toasts provided by the culinary team. We will continue to offer creative events such as this as we move into 2021.

This year will also begin with a little twist.

Normally we have closed the club for a two-week period following New Years, but we will reopen the clubhouse and welcome members back for in club dining as well as our curbside offerings beginning Tuesday, January 5th. I’ve been working closely with Chef Gabe to ensure the recent retirement of Chef Michael has a smooth transition, as the team continues to build on its successes. Our staff is really chomping at the bit to get this new year off to a great start and we hope to see you very soon.

Employee of the Month I am proud to point out that our current employee of the month is none other than Chef Patrick Walker (pictured above). Patrick has long been such an important part of our team and this past fall and early winter he demonstrated his strength and exceptional ability to solidify our team. He is truly a model of what our high standards represent. Congratulations, Patrick! For those of you lucky enough to know Vivian Shook, our housekeeper, she took home the Employee of the Month honors last month as it is daily that we experience her infectious smile and her attention to detail. She takes “what can I do next” to the next level. We are extremely fortunate to have these fine individuals on our team!

We all have been challenged by such a roller coaster of a year and we hope that all of the creativity that we found in our team translates to a wonderful 2021.

m o r F es Pari s! i r o Memi ght in AN

5:00 P.M.

JANUARY 29TH

CORKS

& CANVAS PICK UP YOUR COMPLETE KIT: CANVAS, PAINT, BRUSHES, CHARCUTERIES AND WINE (PERFECT FOR A NIGHT WITH A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS OR FAMILY) Tune in for professional instruction at 5:00 p.m. on the 29th!

Contact Us

Board of Directors AL ROSS, CLUB PRESIDENT BRIAN CLARKE BARBARA FENTRESS DEBBIE GILLISPIE MERRILL GRASSO DAN HOYT KEN KOPOCIS

Administrative

Food & Beverage

BRIAN DARLAK

CURT DEGRAW

GENERAL MANAGER, CCM 804.435.1340 EXT 107Â BDARLAK@ICYCC.COM

FOOD & BEVERAGE DIRECTOR 804.435.1340 EXT 109 CDEGRAW@ICYCC.COM

MEGAN STEPHENS

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR 804.435.1340 EXT 104 MEGAN@ICYCC.COM

BARBARA MAIT MIKE PETTY KATHY RHODES AL ROSS RICK SAUNDERS GIL ZIMMERMAN

SHAWN VALDRIGHI

DINING ROOM MANAGER 804.435.1340 EXT 110 SVALDRIGHI@ICYCC.COM

THERESA DEGRAW

ACCOUNTING & EVENTS 804.435.1340 EXT 106 TDEGRAW@ICYCC.COM WINDLEY "LEY" GAULDING

BUSINESS MANAGER 804.435.1340 EXT 105 WGAULDING@ICYCC.COM

Golf HOURS OF OPERATION GOLF COURSE: 9-5 P.M. CURBSIDE CARRYOUT TUESDAY-SUNDAY 11:00-6:00 P.M. SKIPJACK & VERANDA TUESDAY-SUNDAY 11:30- 7:00 P.M.

CLUB WEBSITE: ICYCC.COM CLUB PHONE: 804.435.1340 TENNIS CENTER: 804.435.2713 GOLF SHOP: 804.435.3130

MIKE MAYER

PETER STEPHENS

HEAD GOLF PROFESSIONAL, PGA 804.435.1340 EXT 101 804.435.3130 GOLFSHOP@ICYCC.COM

GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT,CGCS 804.435.2470 (O) 804.436.4059 (C)

Racquet GEORGE CHRISTOFORATOS

RACQUET SPORTS DIRECTOR 804.435.1340 EXT 102 TENNIS@ICYCC.COM