May 2022
PRESIDENT
The end of April marks the closing of our “Winter Season” and our snowbirds have already, or will soon, migrate to their northern locations to escape the Florida heat. Here’s hoping they all have a safe and healthy summer and return to LCGC ready to enjoy the benefits of the Club in the Fall. Our “Summer Season” for golf officially begins on May 15th so you can expect to see some new faces around the Club at that time. Many of our Summer Members use their time here to evaluate the Club as a fit for full-time membership and it has been a good feeder into our recruiting efforts. Please make them feel welcome here and make sure they are aware of all of the benefits of membership at LCGC. We are limiting the number of summer memberships to 70 this year, down from 90+ in prior years, and have about 40 signed up currently. These members will be provided with copies of the Club’s Rules and Regulations so that they understand the expectations for behavior. On that front, I am happy to report that the level of compliance with the Club’s policies has improved substantially. In the first couple of weeks after the Club initiated an effort to more closely monitor compliance, we issued several letters to members for departures from the policies. In addition, we had one member resign as he took exception to our guest policy. I have seen a significant improvement on our fairways as there are far fewer unfilled divots and golf carts are not being driven or parked in inappropriate areas. This is not to say that we have 100% compliance, but the exceptions are more minor and give rise to verbal warnings only. Thanks to all for taking care of our course and our staff. Although it is the start of the Summer Season, don’t expect things to slow down too much at the Club. Leo and his team are developing plans for activities for our year-round and Summer members to enjoy so be on the lookout for announcements for these events. The next Club newsletter will be issued mid-summer, but you can always reach out to Leo and his team with any questions or concerns.
Don Greenhalgh, President
Just to reiterate the summer schedule already publicized, beginning May 1 lunch will be served from 11:30am to 2:30pm every day but Thursday with Brunch on Sundays being offered as well. Pub Night continues every Wednesday evening and a la carte dining will be featured on Friday evenings. There will be no dinner service on Monday nights. Additionally, we will be offering a limited menu from 3:00pm on following lunch until Pub Night dinner on Wednesdays for hungry golfers or early bird diners. It is especially important at this time of year to restate our reservations policy for ALL dinner events which includes a 24 hour cutoff time to make reservations. Reservations are REQUIRED for all dinner events, including Pub Night. It’s not so much a question of the exact time you sit down but rather proper staffing for the number of attendees. Please adhere to this directive and help us serve you best.
HOUSE
Although it’s that time of year when we bid a fond farewell to our snowbirds with promises to keep in touch and maybe visit over the next months, those members spending the summer here at Lost City have plenty to look forward to. We will be tightening the schedule a bit but there’s still lots going on.
HO SE May starts off with a jam-packed weekend. On Saturday, May 7th we celebrate our Old Kentucky Home with Bar Bites available while you sip a mint julep and watch the DERBY with us from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. Then start Mom‘s day off the right way and bring her to BRUNCH on MOTHER’S DAY, Sunday May 8th, from 11:30am to 2:00pm featuring a wide selection of hot and cold starters and entrees as well as a carving station and ice cream sundae bar. Don’t forget children under three are complimentary and this year we will have FACE PAINTING for children of all ages! Reservations are required with a 48 hour cancellation policy in effect. $43 per adult and $20 per child ages 4 to 12. The last TGIF of the season will be played on Friday, May 13th so plan accordingly. Our much-applauded BURGER NIGHT returns Saturday, May 14th with a twist and a great selection of creative burgers courtesy of Chef Nich. Join us for a casual night out with reservations required beginning at 6:00pm. $25 per person, Special Kids Menu available at $10 per child. On Tuesday, May 24th from 4;00pm to 6:00pm there will be a WINE TASTING/SALE presenting California wines. Finally, we finish on Memorial Day Monday, May 30th with a GOLF TOURNAMENT and BBQ COOKOUT from 12:00pm to 2:30pm. Remember there is always a kids’ menu available and this year we will have a BOUNCY CASTLE for little jumpers to enjoy! Coming around on the dial, we celebrate FATHER’S DAY and the U.S. OPEN FINAL on Sunday, June 19th. Begin the day by joining us for BRUNCH from 11:30 until 2:00pm or enjoy the camaraderie at the bar while you root for your favorite player — BAR BITES available from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. Finishing off the month, Saturday, June 25th will be FAMILY TACO NIGHT! Come enjoy a selection of tacos for all ages and spice levels, as well as other Mexican specialties. Reservations required from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. Who knows…there could be a piñata...!!??
Please allow me to present the new roster! President Mary Lou Neagle, Vice President Lynda Forbes, Tournament Chair Pat Cmarik, Assistant Tournament Chair Barb Lilley, Treasurer Karen Vaughan, Secretary Mary Lynn Liegel, and Membership Chair Maureen Sniff. Many thanks to Claire Rose, President, and Betty Silversten, Membership Chair, for their outstanding service on the WGA Board. Thank you all for a terrific 20212022 season, and we all look forward to a fun and exciting 2022-23 season, with the new addition of “Psych 101” and the “Rules Corner!” **Note** all summer members are encouraged to come and join the WGA and participate every Tuesday! There are 5 events in May all set and ready to go with signups to follow: May, 3rd: Nines. With AB/CD 10th: Best Trios (team – net) 17th: Tuesday’s Finest 24th: Cha Cha Cha ABCD 321: Red “tee” day (gross and net) Diamond Event Division 2 winner: Stevie Davenport. Division 1 winner: Laura Feick. President’s Cup: Overall winner: Debbie Kingsley, Linda Curto Fight 1, Pat Cmarik Flight 2 Partner’s better ball: Overall winners- Marcy Albright / Pat Cmarik, Karen Vaughan/Nelly Novac. Flight winners, Stevie Davenport/Diane Potter flight winners, Ilene De Riso/Mary Lynn Liegel. Last but Not LEAST! Congratulations goes to Martha Greenhalgh our new Club Champion! I was happy to be able to watch this match between Martha and Carol Patmore, our runner up, which was so well played on our “new” golf course in ideal conditions! 2022 is IN THE BOOKS!
WGA
As one season winds down a new one begins.
WOMENS GOLF ASSOCIATION A lovely Awards luncheon was held for WGA arranged by Lynda Forbes and Mihai Ripanu & his staff. Mason Colling and Mary Lou Neagle recognized the winners and presented them with awards, followed by raffle prizes for those in attendance. At the FSGA Interclub Finals, held April 12 and 13, our team of Laura Feick, Gina Devine, Debbie Kingsley and Martha Greenhalgh had a super final performance finishing in 5th place overall. The event was held at TPC Treviso Bay in Naples. Well represented ladies!! GOOD LUCK to all the ladies playing in the PBC AM at PGA National this month!! “Psych 101” tip of the month: People say, “Golf is 90% mental.” But what does that really mean? Well, the mind controls the body, and any stray thought can positively or negatively affect the golf swing. For example, when your swing gets out of tempo, how do you get it back? Simply saying “Swing slower” rarely works. Dr. Gary Wiren developed a method that is very effective in smoothing out tempo using psychology. The method uses kinesthetic cues (he called them “Kine” cues). You simply find a phrase that mimics the rhythm you desire, such as “Ladies and Gentlemen” or “One, two three”. You can experiment to find the right phrase for you. One lady on the LPGA tour used the phrase “Ooooom Pah!”, with impact coming on the “Pah”, and she could slow it down as much as she felt necessary. For those of you who remember him, Lawrence Welk used “a-one and a-two”. Whatever you come up with, hit some balls repeating your phrase out loud, finding the right rhythmic speed for your ideal tempo. Once you’ve found it, you can play it silently in your head on the course whenever you need to manage your tempo, which you will find usually occurs in pressure situations. Go to the range and try this method. I think you will find that it can help you with this very common problem, because even tour pros tend to get quicker when the heat is on.
NINE NINE
HOLERS A
Taste of Spring was the delicious ending for a wonderful season. Elysa Hh, our LCGC Sous
Chef, was our own Julia Child, demonstrating how to prepare Chicken Quinoa Salad with berries and Citrus Orange Sauce -which was then served to the 32 9-Holers attending our April 5th final Golf Event & Luncheon of the season. Elysa was funny, elegant & a talented teacher. Thank you, Elysa! And to Chef Nicholas for graciously allowing Elysa to join us. Instead of an opening Grace, our co-president, pianist Dorothy Ballantyne, played “God Bless America,” with the introductory verse , “When storm clouds gather far across the sea…”, as we sang our gratitude for our “land that’s free”. Dorothy then played the Ukrainian national anthem, as we remembered those suffering far away. “God Be With You Till we Meet Again” was sung by all to end our final party. Congratulations to our golf winners! 1st Place Gross: Joy Bayrouty, Sandy Bride, Patty Schmelzer, Mary Lou Vowteras 1st Place Net: Anne Dougherty, Ellen Haley, Nanci Jackman, Gail Zisa Closest to the Pin: Joanne Driscoll Closest to the Line : Nanci Jackman Longest Drive: Linda O’Malley Linda O’Malley announced the 9-Hole Officers for next season: Co-Presidents, Dorothy Ballantyne & Linda O’Malley; Treasurer, Patty Schmelzer; Event Coordinator, Anne Dougherty; Secretary, Eileen Sullivan. We are incredibly grateful to Cassandra Dupar who has designed all our beautiful invitations & menus; - her creativity & support is priceless. And a big thank you to Mihai for his patience, guidance & expertise for all our party luncheons! Cheers to our Party Committee: Mary Lou Vowteras, Chrm., Dorothy Ballantyne, Ann Dougherty, Linda O’Malley, Patty Schmelzer, Eileen Sullivan, & Gail Zisa. Thank you, also, to Mason Colling for his support & enthusiasm. And to Mason & his staff for their excellent golf clinics. What a great way to start our weekly game! We wish all our LCGC friends a happy, healthy summer - until we meet again!
GOLF COURSE
Monday May 2nd we will begin our aerification practices on the South course. The focus on greens will be removing the “Sprig layer” from the grow in this past summer. Although we won’t be overly aggressive with aerifying our greens this summer it is critical we remove as much material in the top 1” of our greens to prevent a layering effect in our soils that could lead to bigger issues in the future. Our processes on greens will be – Verticutting (Removing leaf tissue) shallow core aerify (Removing little thatch/plant material) top dressing with sand and soil amendments and then the healing process will begin. Fairways will be a similar process, but the main goal will be amending opossible. Building our soil profile with milorganite will help aid in better fertilizer ur soils with as much organic material as and water retention applications. Our Tif Tuff tees/approaches will be receiving solid tine aerification followed by more soil amendments and a heavy roller to massage and smooth out for better playing conditions. Our new nursery green has been sodded and will need time to establish a healthy root system. This summer we will be plugging out tif tuff runners that are encroaching on the edges of our greens. We have already started killing off these runners with multiple applications of herbicides and will follow with removing and plugging back tif eagle from our nursery. Please refrain from using our nursery green as a practice green in the future. Thank you to all who support the GCM team and our efforts! Have a great summer!
The new sod farm has been shaped
MANAGER
The summer of 2022 is going to be great!! We have a lot planned for those of you that spend the summer months in paradise. Summer Social Events Mother’s Day Brunch, Father’s Day Brunch, Memorial Day Cookout, Independence Day Cookout, August Seafood Feast, Labor Day Cookout, September Italian Feast and Octoberfest all will be outstanding events. Summer Golf Events Memorial Day Tournament, Independence Day Tournament, Labor Day Tournament, Monthly Member-Guest Tournaments, Three-month Summer Member-Member Championship and our Summer Club Championship to name a few. “
“In God we trust …all others bring data.” W. Edwards Deming We cut our fairways too short. The United States Golf Association recommends Celebration fairways be cut at around 0.4 inches for best results. We cut our fairways at 0.5 We have too many members. Club Benchmarking, the number one data collection company in the club industry states, “nationally, the median for all clubs is 461 full member equivalents and for 50 percent of clubs in the country the number of full member equivalents is between 320 (25th percentile) and 740 (75th percentile).” We have 231 Full Member Equivalents and we have 27 holes. Full Member Equivalents Full member equivalents are determined by taking the highest price membership operating dues and dividing it into total operating dues. The bottom line is the number of golfers that actually have access to a golf course which in our case is 486 golfers. The industry does not track this number but our full member equivalent number is a good indication of the size of our membership compared to other clubs. It takes too long to play a round of golf. 99% of our rounds are 4 hours or less. On behalf of the staff, we hope you all have a healthy summer season wherever you are. Leo McMahon General Manager Lost City Golf Club
The results from the long-range planning are still coming in. The committee is analyzing the data and will report on the findings later this summer. Dining, Golf, and Membership will be sending surveys in the coming months. Voice your opinion. It matters! …not every day though