MARCH 2018 • MEMBER NEWSLETTER
Come enjoy Easter Brunch here at the Club with the Easter Bunny and treat your family to a wonderful buffet featuring Chef Paul’s take on your traditional Easter favorites. For the kids 12 & under, the Easter Bunny will be here for an Easter Egg Hunt at 11:30 followed by photo opportunities. 10 AM & Noon Seatings Available $24.95 for Adults • $9.95 for Kids 4-12 Free for Kids 3 & under
For reservations, please contact Nicole Reinhard at nicole@lakevalley.com or ext. 32.
To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
Spring is around the corner and I’m looking forward to it! I want to thank so many of you who have offered your well wishes since I broke my arm on January 2nd. It is healing nicely, I’m in physical therapy and look to be riding my bike back outside sometime this month and golfing again by early summer. As you can imagine it’s a busy time around the Club so I’ll jump right in! 2018 Spring Membership Promotion: Mitch and I have set an aggressive goal to recruit 50 new members “Net” in 2018. Our annual attrition rate is between 30-35 members each year, so we’re looking at recruiting around 80 new Individuals and Families to the Club. This is an aggressive goal as we are trying to double the 40-45 who usually join in a season. We looked at a couple of national companies that Clubs hire to help them boost their membership numbers like the one which we used in 2005. But, each time we look around to see if there is a “magic bullet” or “secret sauce” we find there really isn’t. In general, these companies want to come in, have the Club waive their initiation deposits and give big discounts and credits on monthly dues. What we’ve learned after years of watching these programs/promotions is there might be some short-term gain in membership numbers but not over the long haul as the bargain hunters rarely stay on long and prospective new members then want to wait for the next super sale! We and every private club know that the best source for new members is referrals from happy current members. No one can tell our Club’s story better than YOU! So, we are going to keep this “in house” and get rolling soon regardless of weather and the other vagaries of spring. Here’s the program, what’s in it for you, what’s in it for your referrals and what’s in it for the Club. New Full Golf Members will have 2 options to pay their 10% refundable Member Deposit (MD) and will need to commit to one year of dues. 1) $7,000 payable: $3,000 at joining, $2,000 on both 1st and 2nd anniversaries 2) $5,500 payable at joining And, to encourage you to think long and hard about folks who you would love to see here at the Club, we’ve got some incentives for you and them. First, for you, is a $50 monthly dues credit each month for each of your referrals who joins and is paying dues. (Credit limited to 24 months per referral and a zero dues balance monthly). Continued on next page... To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
And, so you have no remorse about receiving the dues credit(s), we will provide you an unlimited number of $1,000 Membership Deposit Referral Vouchers to bestow upon your referrals. Each Voucher, your special gift to your friends, can be redeemed for a $1,000 discount on their MD. (Limit 1 voucher for each new member). The Vouchers will only be available through referring members. This Promotion begins March 1st and is scheduled to end August 1st. To further encourage your referrals to get going now, we are also offering a Spring Savings Bonus to them which includes no dues from now until May 1st and the following:
Spring Savings Bonus… Join Earlier – Get More! No Dues until May 1st. Join by May 1st – Receive a “Welcome Packet” ($200 Value): ½ hour lesson, free guest fee, cart fee and an Edel putter & wedge fitting, AND A “Trunkload” of LVGC logoed merchandise ($350 Value): Golf Bag, Shirt, Hat, Towel & Ball Marker Join by June 1st – Receive a “Trunkload” of LVGC logoed merchandise Join by July 1st – Receive a “Welcome Packet” With no assessments and no capital fees, our Club, unlike most private Clubs, relies on Membership Deposits and net operating margins to fund all upgrades, additions and improvements to the course, the Clubhouse, grounds and equipment. And, as we also try to keep both MD’s and dues as affordable as possible, it behooves us all to bolster our roster numbers with periodic extra-effort membership drives like this one. So, I am asking you to help your Club, help your friends and help yourself. Please encourage those who you believe would enjoy Lake Valley Golf Club and be great members to join NOW. This promotion is a great savings opportunity for those interested in membership and it provides you with another and new reason to tell the Lake Valley story to your friends, neighbors and colleagues. The impact you have by simply sharing your experiences as a member far exceeds any amount of money we can spend on marketing or advertising. And to further help you tell our story I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the public side of our website, www.lakevalley.com. If you’re like me, you only stop there long enough to log into the member side but perusing the landing page and the dropdowns (especially Continued on next page... To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
Membership) will be well worth the effort. A little time spent there will likely remind you of some Club benefits you are probably not taking full advantage of as well. Over the next few weeks I, along with help from Tyler Winslow, will be giving you a phone call asking for names of your referrals. Between now and then please give some thought to who you would like to refer. In the interim if you have some referrals between now and then please don’t hesitate to contact me. New Benefit – Palmer Advantage: I’m excited to share a first glimpse at a “new” member benefit we will be introducing to you soon. Our Club has been invited to join Palmer Advantage, a global network benefit program. As a Lake Valley member, you will have the opportunity to join Palmer Advantage for a monthly fee of $20. Club members that elect to have Palmer Advantage benefits will enjoy cart-fee only tee-times, privileged access to private clubs and preferred tee-time rates at courses in the U.S. and around the world. With their strategic travel partnerships Palmer Advantage also provides the Best Price Guarantee on resorts, hotels, vacation packages, tour packages, cruises and much more. Member reservations are serviced 7 days a week by their personal concierge service (the same service provided to American Express Platinum Card holders) with the goal of saving members time and money on each call. As I said, we’ll be rolling out this unique new benefit program soon. In the meantime you can check out www.palmeradvantage.com. Tournament and League Information: I encourage you to look through the tournament and league information as well as the Event Calendar on our website. The season is laid out for you under Member Central, then hit Member Tournaments, Events & Calendar. Cameron, with the help of the Tournament Committee, has made some tweaks to the schedule this year that we are all excited about. Full fields truly add to the flavor and camaraderie of the Club, so take a look now and make plans to participate as much as possible in the fun this summer! I also encourage all of you guys who intend to play in the Snake Quest to register online for the lottery between March 15th and the 29th. You will soon receive more information about this year’s event including how the lottery system works. Continued on next page... To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
Opening Day Kick-Off Party - Save the date, April 14th: We are planning a day full of fun and festivities to start the year! More info to follow soon. Pre-Legacy Memberships: Do you have children between the ages of 23-28 that you would like to add on to your membership? Our normal membership program only allows your children to be on your family membership until their 23rd birthday. With the Pre-Legacy membership you can add them back on your membership, a year at a time until they reach their 28th birthday. The fee to add your child to your membership is $1200 annually. Give Rob a call at 303-444-2114 ext. 22 for additional details. I am really excited for the new season ahead and am looking forward to seeing many of you returning to the Club after this recent hiatus!
Easter will be here before we know it! The Easter Bunny is planning a visit on Easter Sunday, April 1st and has told me how much he is looking forward to seeing you. There will be an Easter egg hunt at 11:30 am with opportunities for the kids to take pictures with the Easter Bunny afterward. Brunch with all your favorites will be served in two seatings to accommodate everyone; one at 10:00 am and one at Noon. Please call Nicole at (303) 444-2114 ext 32 or email her with reservations at nicole@lakevalley.com. Reservations are also encouraged for this month’s Prime Rib dinner special which will be back by popular demand on Friday, March 23rd. To accommodate all those who want the special please contact Nicole in advance if possible. And, a little closer in time, St. Patrick’s Day, the 17th, falls on a Saturday this year and we will be serving Chef Paul’s wonderful corned beef and cabbage all day. Come in and enjoy some while it lasts. To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
MITCH GALNICK, GENERAL MANAGER The Advisory Board did not hold a February meeting and the March meeting is currently scheduled for Tuesday, March 13th. I’m going to keep my Article short this month as Rob, Ian and Cameron have shared most of the information I think is pressing and relevant. I urge you to read their Articles, especially Rob’s as we are calling for your help in the concerted effort we are making this season to boost our membership roster. The Clubhouse is soon to be 20 years old and the golf course is over 50. As you know from your own experiences aging properties require constant repairs, replacements and remodels and the money for these things here at the Club comes from Initiation Deposits and operations as we have no assessments or capital fees. Excessively raising dues to fund them is not a sustainable option but building our membership base is. We have plenty of capacity in our membership cap (390 vs. 485) and on the golf course as well. We currently use only about 60% of all tee times and many of those times are used by singles and twosomes. So, please take some time and think of folks you’d like to have join you here at the Club, refer them to Rob and let’s see if we can all pull together and make some good things happen on the membership front. On another subject, I’m pleased to echo Ian’s enthusiasm for the hiring of Michael Sheridan as our new Assistant Superintendent. Michael should be a great addition to our team. He’s worked at the Raven at Three Peaks in Silverthorne, Dove Mountain (home of the Accenture Match play) and most recently Gray Plantation (periodically ranked in Golf Digest top 100) in Lake Charles, LA.. He’ll be starting next week and hopefully you’ll get to meet each other soon. Along these same lines, as I mentioned in the state of the Club, it’s becoming more and more difficult to find good staff all the time. We are currently looking for experienced line cooks as well as servers/bartenders as we gear up for the summer. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please have them contact Nicole@lakevalley.com with their resumes. We pay competitive wages and benefits and have the most liberal employee golf privileges I am aware of in case they happen to be golfers. The season will be here before we know. All of us are looking forward to it and I’m sure you are as well; all the best ‘til then.
To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
As we approach spring, I am sure you are getting as excited about the upcoming season as I am! We have some great things in store for everybody this year which I am certain will add much value to your memberships. Member Pricing Starting in March, we will begin offering member pricing on many items in the Golf Shop. Things like shirts, shoes, golf bags, hats, etc will now be offered to members of Lake Valley at a 20% discount from the manufacture’s retail price, after logo and shipping. This means your shop credit will go even further, you don’t have to spend any of your valuable time looking for a better deal, and the best part is that it applies to items that you simply can’t get anywhere else! I love to see our members wearing Lake Valley logoed items and proudly representing the Club home or away; my hope is that this makes it even easier to do so. New Tech in the Golf Shop Whether it’s Twist Face, Fli-Hi, Milled grind, Jailbreak, Torque Balanced, Single Length, Tour Red, Speed foam, Cup face, Chromoly, or Boron we have it here in the Golf Shop and it’s all for you to try. We literally have millions, yes you read that correctly, millions of combinations of demo clubs and they are all here for you to try! The guys in the Shop are more than happy to put something together for you to take to the range or try out on the course. Even if you have no present plans to be buying anything please give these new technologies a try. We all like to try new stuff (think new cars!) and we want you to be able to do it here with no second thoughts. Our event schedule has been set for the year and is accessible on the website if you click here. Registration for all events, including Snake Quest, begins on March 15th! I am excited about our diverse formats which accommodate all skill levels and am sure that we have something for everybody. Click here for a quick and more detailed look at everything we offer.
Continued on next page... To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
Tip of the Month - “40 extra yards tomorrow” This really comes down to math. One of the most important variables in your ability to hit the driver farther is at what point in the swing are you are contacting the golf ball. If the driver is still moving down as you contact the ball you are definitely losing distance. Make sure that you are hitting the ball on the upswing and I guarantee you’ll have to walk farther to get to your tee shots. Here is a quick example:
100 mph swing speed 10 degrees of loft -4 degree AOA (club moving down 4 degrees when it contacts golf ball)= 201 yards O (level) AOA (club moving level with ground as it contacts the golf ball)=227 yards +4 degree AOA (club moving up 4 degrees when it contacts the golf ball)=240 yards *AOA=angle of attack (think airplane landing on a runway)
Schedule a driver optimization with me this spring and I will show you how to get the most out of the club you are using!
If you had a handicap at Lake Valley in 2017 and want to continue this coming season, your handicap will automatically renew. The $63/person fee will be billed with your March 31st statement.
If you don’t want to renew, let the Business Office or Golf Shop know before April 7th. If we don’t delete you from the roster the Colorado Golf Association automatically charges Lake Valley and they will not issue refunds so we are unable to refund the fee. If you don’t have a handicap at Lake Valley and would like one for the 2018 season, contact the Golf Shop. The fee covers the costs paid by the Club to the U.S.G.A., C.G.A.,and C.W.G.A. for dues and handicap services, as well as costs associated with hardware, handicap administration and software including the Golf Genius suite of tournament programs and benefits you’ll be hearing about soon. A U.S.G.A. handicap at Lake Valley is required to compete in almost all Lake Valley Member tournaments, Member leagues and weekly Member games. To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
5th Annual Phillips Cup Team Selection Cocktail Party April 14th, 5 PM Tournament April 21st, 10 AM Shotgun Start All tournament participants throughout the 2017 golf season were awarded points for both entering an event and for their performances. One point was awarded for each dollar spent entering and each dollar won. Below is a list of the top point getters and the highest 36 make up the roster of the Phillips Cup. If any are not available to play the next in line on the list gets a spot. Those 36 folks will be invited to the Cocktail Party where two 18 person teams will be formed and selections will take place. The format for the Cup is really a lot of fun. Each 18 person team will be divided into nine, 2-person mini-teams all playing 18 holes. Three of the mini-team teams will play best-ball (four-ball), three will play a scramble and three will play Chapman Scotch. The best two of the three mini-team scores in each of the three formats will count (worst score in each format will be thrown out) and the team’s overall score will be the combination of the six scores that are counted. The teams will be chosen by the Captains, Ted Kreider and Bob Groening, the two top point winners for the year. They will each choose two Co-Captains and then the three Co-Captains will alternate picking their teammates from the list of qualifiers until 36 players are chosen. Once the team members are selected, the teams will go to “neutral corners” at the Party and decide who will play in which format and with whom. The entry fee for the Phillips Cup is $55 and all the participants will enjoy carts, heavy appetizers after the round, and at the request of the Tournament Committee, a great Player Gift for everyone rather than prize money to the winners. Congrats to all who qualified! We hope you can join in on the Phillips Cup festivities and fun. If you are on this list and know now whether you will be able to play, please call the Golf Shop or e-mail golfshop@lakevalley.com and let us know.
KREIDER, TED GROENING, BOB BIGFORD, ANDY GALNICK, MARTA GALNICK, MITCH ATCHESON, SHARON MCMULLEN, MATT MANZANARES, STAN PELZ, BRUCE
HIGGINS, BRIAN ZACHARIAS, ALAN GREIF, TONY ABRAMS, MICHAEL LOCK, DAVE SZILAGYI, PAUL MILLS, JERRY MAHOWALD, DAN SATTERFIELD, TIM
ROBERTS, REX SINN-PENFOLD, PAULA ATCHESON, PAUL FORD, LAURA ILES, GARY DEEMS, JEREMY MCCABE, RICH PYLE, BILL RYAN, PAM
SHELLEY, PETE RAIT, GARY FAIRBAIRN, GAYE REBHAN, GEORGE MCCARTHY, JERRY CLARK, ROB FORD, SCOTT WILLIAMS, JEFF ALT, MICHAEL
To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
The month of March has arrived and it is time for me to pull out the turf clairvoyance and trust my instincts on course evaluation for the upcoming spring up. Late fall and early winter provided what seemed like endless days of nice golfing weather and throughout the winter months stretches of above normal temps continued the opportunities of golf days. Although the pattern provided challenges in keeping the turf from being completely worn down and dried out, to date things are still in good condition and surviving well. I have seen a few signs of excessive wear from cart traffic and some winter desiccation due to the winds and minimal snow cover, but nothing that concerns me so far. We will however need to receive adequate moisture in March and April to avoid late desiccation and plant failure. Last year we experienced an extremely dry and windy mid February thru mid March and then no moisture the majority of April. The combination caused lots of thinning throughout the fairways. The pattern has been a little less drastic this year and I am anticipating better conditions coming out of spring. In today’s weather pattern extremes we know how quickly things can change but I am holding out hope that Mother Nature will be kind and bestow some moisture on us. The beginning of the month also brings me a sigh of relief and excitement as I have a new Assistant Superintendant starting this month. I am looking forward to having the help and enthusiasm as we move into the 2018 season. Below is a note from my new Assistant. My name is Michael Sheridan and I am very excited to be joining the golf course maintenance team at Lake Valley Golf Club. I am originally from Denver but have also spent time working on golf courses in Arizona, Texas and Louisiana. I began playing golf in high school and continue to have a genuine love of the game both as a player and a turf care professional. My fiancÊ and I live in Longmont with our two dogs Delilah and Rojo. I look forward to meeting everyone! Here’s an update on our winter projects. The most obvious one is our driving range tee irrigation renovation. We have changed the irrigation and sprinkler head design of the north driving range tee area so that we are able to have more control and provide better conditions for all tee areas. Previously the coverage was accomplished with large sprinkler heads that have minimal control and quite often create either excessive coverage making areas wet and unusable or lack of coverage making areas very dry and unable to recover quickly after heavy use. The new zone design will allow us control of specific areas and Continued on next page... To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
quantity applied based on recovery needs following heavy use and overseeding. We should have this completed no later than the first or second week of March depending on weather. Much of the winter has been spent behind the scenes on amenity details like repainting our tee markers and tee plaques. We previously used a type of paint did not adequately survive our intensive Colorado sun and the constant beating of irrigation cycles. After doing some additional research we believe we now have a paint that will withstand these conditions longer term. Unfortunately, this meant striping everything down completely and starting over; this process was very time consuming. I am really happy with the results and confident the time spent will save us in the coming years. We have a few minor irrigation projects we will be working on around bunker faces this spring that have been outlined before but we intentionally decided to do nothing major this year that might cause a serious impact on play this spring, especially if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I am anxious for spring to arrive and see the green grass appear in its full glory. Another great season awaits us and we are looking forward to meet the challenges that may come our way.
With lots of snow falling in the mountains, I’m sure some of you are planning ski trips. Remember, that if you are thinking of visiting Steamboat Springs, Park City, Deer Valley or Squaw Valley, you can enjoy some great savings (35-40%) on lodging through an arrangement that Lake Valley has. So, don’t forget to check with us when you are planning that next ski trip. Contact Rob @ ext. 22 or Mitch @ ext. 14 and we will help you from there.
SNAKE QUEST LOTTERY REGISTRATION MARCH 15TH - MARCH 29TH Details coming soon! To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.
2018 BOARD OF ADVISORS
Golf Shop............................. Ext. 10 Mitch Galnick..................... Ext. 14 General Manager
Patrick Chang Rob Clark David Jones Teedee Keister Ted Krieder Dan Mahowald Christie Maurais Matt McMullen Kathleen Stone Steve Sutherlen Alan Thompson Pieter De Waal
Cameron Morton................. Ext. 13 Head Pro Jeff McNair /Tyler Winslow..Ext.12 Assistant Golf Professionals Ian Johnson................303- 447-2712 Superintendent Rob Mount........................... Ext. 22 Membership Director Nicole Reinhard.................... Ext. 32 Food & Beverage Director Paul Stoltz............................ Ext. 23 Chef Persimmon Grill.................. Ext. 21 Allie Kuehn.......................... Ext. 16 Business Office Manager Club Phone 303.444.2114 Club Fax 303.444.2223
www.lakevalley.com
Weekdays 8:30 am - 5 pm Weekends 8 am - 5 pm
11:00 am - 8:00 pm Reservations Required
on days when the course is closed, the Golf Shop is open 10 am - 4 pm.
Mahjong 11 am
Mahjong 11 am
Mahjong 11 am
Mahjong 11 am
“Reservations Required� events and tournament reservations canceled less than 48 hrs in advance will be charged.
To provide a value-oriented, quality, private golf experience to a limited number of golf enthusiasts in a casual Club environment.