LCCC January 2020 Newsletter

THE

CREEK JANUARY 2021

STAFF DIRECTORY & CLUB HOURS Joel Inman General Manager/COO jinman@laurelcreek.org

Golf Course Tuesday to Friday 9:00 a.m. - Sunset

Elisha Carson Controller ecarson@laurelcreek.org

Saturday & Sunday 9:00 a.m. - Sunset

Patty Fagan Director of Membership pfagan@laurelcreek.org

Pro Shop

Erin Schafer Director of Events eschafer@laurelcreek.org John Geller Clubhouse Manager jgeller@laurelcreek.org Nevada Groulx Director of Communications ngroulx@laurelcreek.org John Slade Director of Golf Course Operations jslade@laurelcreek.org Matt Walbert, PGA Head Golf Professional mwalbert@laurelcreek.org Peter Rosenblatt Executive Chef prosenblatt@laurelcreek.org Carol MacLennan Director of Tennis cmaclennan@laurelcreek.org Mike Holak Pool Manager mholak@laurelcreek.org

Tuesday to Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Dining

Tuesday thru Friday 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Tennis

Courts are open for play

Pool

Closed for the season

BOARD OF

TRUSTEES

Joel Inman GE NE RAL M AN A G E R

Daniel Bianco President Michael Hughey Vice President

Scott Duman Treasurer

Sean Fox Secretary

Erich Herkloz

Troy Hopper

Michael Kassak

Gene Martin

Mark Muir

Tony Palmer

John Venne

Ken Zimmer

T

he yellow Crocus flower has been associated with cheer and happiness. It’s also a symbol of hope. It typically blooms when we need that hope the most...in the winter. It let’s us know that in the not-so-distant future spring will arrive and that there will be a new beginning to the year. I think this symbol is more important than ever, after the past year we’ve had.

2020 certainly had us all in its grip and to be honest, I’m so relieved it’s over. I typically don’t wish away any time, as time is so precious, but, personally, I couldn’t wait for it to end. So with the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 I send this message wishing you happiness and cheer for the new year. In 2020 we saw massive changes to how we operated.

We went from showing our smiles to wearing a mask and from handshakes to elbow bumps. Instead of incredible Holiday buffets, we saw take home Mother’s Day baskets, Beach cooler baskets and Holiday Butcher Boxes. We transitioned from an extremely busy restaurant to a takeout venue. Instead of large parties, we put together smaller, more intimate events. We shifted from filling the Ballroom, to packing the outdoor spaces with a Comedy Night.

As we embrace 2021 I can promise that we will continue to find ways to provide an outlet to you so that you can enjoy these times with your family, as challenging as they are. We have quite a few ideas for this coming year and we are extremely excited to get this new year rolling. I look forward to seeing you all at the club!

MEMBERSHIP

Patty Fagan D I REC TOR OF M EM BERS H I P

W

hile I would have loved to have ended the year with a bang, it was more like a sigh of relief that we were done with 2020. However, there were some positives from the past year that I would like to share. Even with the pandemic, membership at LCCC was extraordinary, adding over 100 new members to the Laurel Creek family. In addition, our Fall Trial Membership was a huge success with 20 families committing to this upcoming year. Check out all the new member photos in the centerfold.

As we move into the new year, the LCCC team will create member events that are smaller in size, all adhering to the CDC Guidelines. These “micro� events will include themed nights in the restaurant, small scale Quizzo, and seasonal event on multiple days to accommodate more people in a safe environment. Although these events will be small, they will be designed to have a big impact on your member experience.

All the successes that we had last year in membership could not have been possible without all of you. Your commitment to the club and support while we were forced to make changes throughout the year was truly remarkable.

Thank you!

I wish that 2021 brings all of you much joy and happiness. Stay safe and I hope to see you soon at the club.

Interested in Cornhole? Please email John Geller jgeller@laurelcreek.org with your team members

by January 15th.

Around the Club

Thank you to Mrs. Wetjen and Mrs. Shoenfeld for allowing us to share their photos!

GOLF

Matt Walbert H E AD GOL F PROF ESSI O N A L

O

n behalf of the entire Professional Golf Staff, I hope that everyone had a wonderful Holiday and a Happy New Year. With 2020 officially in the books, we can finally take the time to reflect on this past season. While the pandemic created countless difficulties in our everyday lives, the one highlight was how we could come together with our families and friends in the socially distanced canvas of our golf course. Despite being closed for 6 weeks, we finished the year with a grand total of 22,447 golf rounds. A big round of applause goes out to John Slade and the entire golf course maintenance team for keeping the course in such great shape during this record period of rounds played! Finally, I would like to thank all of you, our members, for your continued support of the golf operation and club during this past season!

While the winter temperatures may have settled in, you can keep your swing in shape by utilizing our golf simulator. If you have not used the simulator before, you can reserve it just like booking a tee time on the Laurel Creek app. The simulator can be reserved to practice on your own, take a lesson, or to play a round. Please call the golf shop if you have any questions!

Lastly, I would like to give a warm welcome to our new First Assistant Golf Professional, Jamie Hoke. Jamie is a 2016 graduate of Penn State University’s’ PGA Golf Management program and joins us from Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, PA, where he previously served as the First Assistant Golf Professional. Prior to Llanerch, he was an Assistant Professional at Ridgewood Country Club and the Union League Golf Club at Torresdale. Jamie has received “Honorable Mention” status as a US Kids Golf Top 50 Instructor each of the last 3 seasons and brings with him a plethora of knowledge with coaching, programming, and promoting junior golf. Please join me in welcoming Jamie to Laurel Creek!

Welcome

OUR NEW MEMBE

AJ Rudowitz & Julia Swierzowski

Dave and Leigh Casella

Sal DeAngelis & Justina Campana

Tag Greathouse

Bob & Debra Wetherill

The Covington Family

Fleming James, Ambre Morley & Ian Morley

The Hogeboom Family

The Dhawan Family

ERS TO THE LCCC FAMILY

Greg & Patty Genevro

JP & Ashley Hayslip

The McDonald Family

The Smolinski Family

The West Family

The Knowles Family

Stephen & Christine DiPascale

The Diaczuk Family

Kevin Patterson & Angela Gilas

FOOD & BEVERAGE

John Geller C L U B HOU SE M ANAG E R

I

t is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Tina Paul, our new Food and Beverage Operations Manager. Tina joined the LCCC team in November and was previously at TopGolf where she led her team in executing events and oversaw the bar program. With exposure to 20 years in hospitality, Tina has a passion for training and developing staff, exceeding the guests expectations, learning new skills, and providing a WOW experience. She and her husband, Brent have been happily married for 12 years and have two children Samantha (11), Benjamin (8), plus their Pug, Ringo who is 15. Tina loves all things Disney, traveling, laughing, puzzles, running, and dessert. We are so excited to have her as part of the LCCC team. When you see Tina throughout the club be sure to say hi and welcome her to our family.

CHEF’S CORNER

Pete Rosenblatt E X E C U TI VE C H E F Lyonnaise Salad 4 Servings 4cp frisee lettuce, trimmed, washed & dried 8oz slab bacon, medium diced 1 small shallot, sliced 2 Tbsp. olive oil 3 Tbsp. sherry vinegar 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard 4 eggs 2 Tsp. white vinegar salt and pepper

Donald Robel Golf Course Mechanic

Thank you Donald, for all that you do!

Method: In a shallow sauce pot combine 2 quarts of water and 2 Tsp. white vinegar, bring to a gentle simmer. Meanwhile In a medium size sautĂŠ pan over medium heat, render the bacon in the olive oil until crispy. Add the sliced shallot and reduce heat to low, cook for about 1 minute just until the shallots are soft. Stir in the Dijon and sherry vinegar and bring just to a simmer, remove from the heat.

Gently crack the eggs in the simmering water one at a time, poach for 3-4 minutes leaving the yolk soft. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and drain onto a paper towel. In a salad bowl toss the frisee with the warm vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper. Divide into 4 portions and top with the poached eggs.

RACQUETS

Carol MacLennan DI RE C TOR OF TEN N I S

H

appy New Year! Hope you had an “ace” of a holiday. This winter, we plan to keep the tennis courts open and active whenever possible, weather and court conditions permitting. Wes and Bill will continue to run the Wednesday evening and Saturday morning clinics as long as the temperature is around 40˚ and the courts are playable.

Please be sure to register on the app for any clinics or to reserve a court.

How do we know the courts are playable?

I checked with Ed Montecalvo, a consultant for Har-Tru, the company who manufactures and supplies us with our court surface material. He explained that when the Har-Tru freezes, it retains moisture between the particles. When this thaws, it turns to muck. Playing under these conditions will leave ruts in the court that take considerable time to repair. The courts are also slippery and unsafe under these conditions. Please be sure the courts are firm not only on the playing surface, but around the perimeter, too. Also be sure to check the lines. Nails may lift during cold weather and raise the lines above the court surface which can cause you to trip.

We want you to be safe while playing and we also want to protect our Har-Tru courts.

Question: What does it mean when you are craving Pickles?

Answer: You are expecting!?

Yes…we are expecting more pickleball courts in the Spring. Could be Twins. Could be Triplets.

This will give us lots of opportunity for Pickleball play. We will also be organizing a pickleball league so round up a partner and practice that third shot drop!!

FYI – Less than 90 days to April 1st

ON THE COURSE

John Slade D IR E C TO R OF G O L F C O UR S E O P ER A T I ONS

I

t’s now 2021, and perhaps some New Year’s resolutions might be in order.

As a suggestion, it would be greatly appreciated if everyone could make a sincere effort to adhere to the “Mats Only” policy at the range during the winter. We were greeted during the final week of 2020 by this excellent example of how to properly practice in a linear manner on the tee. (First top photo) Without question, this is the perfect divot pattern, and one which will help speed turf recovery--in July... Unfortunately, having occurred at the end of December, this area of overseeded Bermudagrass will likely not fill in until Memorial Day. Not surprisingly, once one person thinks this is acceptable, so too do others. The beautiful divot pattern above quickly got amended, and on January 1 looked like the bottom photo.

If you stop for a second and think about it, your home lawn likely goes four to five months between the final fall mowing, and the first spring mowing. The reason for this is pretty simple--the grass isn’t growing, and therefore will not recover from any damage inflicted upon it during this time of the year.

The grass on the golf course is no different.

We’ve discussed the need to be cautious with carts this time of year before. Please, respect the guidelines put in place, which are there for the long-term benefit of all of the Club’s members.

Upcoming Events SUN

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Live Music: Chris Stevens Band 6:00 pm

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Italian Wine Dinner 6:30 pm

Live Music: Oliver Dagum 6:00 pm

Live Music: Class A Kings 6:00 pm

Live Music: JB Rocks 6:00 pm

Live Music: NIck Horn 6:00 pm Quiz Night 6:30 p.m.

Live Music: Jeff Selby Duo 6:00 pm

Live Music: TBA 6:00 pm

Live Music: TBA 6:00 pm

Live Music: TBA 6:00 pm

FEBRUARY SUN

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Super Bowl Sunday Specials

Valentine’s Prix Fixe Dinner 6:00 pm

Live Music: Chris Stevens Band 6:00 pm

Live Music: Oliver Dagum 6:00 pm

Live Music: Class A Kings 6:00 pm

Live Music: JB Rocks 6:00 pm Quiz Night 6:30 p.m.

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Live Music: Carl Filbert 6:00 pm

Live Music: Jeff Selby Duo 6:00 pm

Live Music: TBA 6:00 pm

Live Music: TBA 6:00 pm

701 Centerton Road - Mount Laurel, NJ - 08054 - www.laurelcreek.org