BCC BULLETIN BCC BULLETIN
Sche Sche
Ross Weekend - Scramble 21
Donald Ross Weekend - Fall Classic 22 - 23
Annual BCC Thanksgiving Dinner
Wreath Making Class
Donald
OUR BCC BOARD:
MR. ALAN HANBURY Board Member
COMMITTEE CHAIRS:
LETTER FROM THE CLUB MANAGER
As we move deeper into the fall season, I’m excited to share several updates and improvements that continue to enhance the Bradenton Country Club experience. It’s been a busy and productive month, and I’m proud of the progress our team has made across the property.
Over by the pool, we’ve installed a brand-new swing set, generously donated by several of our members thank you to those who helped make this addition possible! We’re also putting the finishing paint touches on the Palm Café, and will soon begin epoxying the floors in the pool locker rooms to give the space a clean, polished look.
Around the grounds, you’ll notice continued improvements in landscaping and mulching, adding color and texture throughout the property. The fountain near the Pro Shop has been fully restored and beautified, creating a welcoming feature for members and guests alike.
We’ve also added new chairs and umbrellas for the outdoor seating area near the South Grille, giving everyone a more comfortable spot to relax and dine al fresco In addition, we’re currently working on adding sun shades to the outdoor dining area—a small touch that will make a big difference during the warmer months.
Thank you for your continued support as we keep working to make Bradenton Country Club the best it can be. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and look forward to more great updates in the months ahead
CRAIG CHIBBARO CLUB MANAGER
MANATEE COUNTY FOOD BANK DRIVE
As the holiday season approaches, Bradenton Country Club is proud to support the Manatee County Food Bank in their mission to fight hunger in our community. Two donation bins will be available one located next to the Bourbon Room and another by the locker rooms for members wishing to contribute non-perishable food items.
Your generosity can help make the season brighter for local families in need. The Food Bank of Manatee has shared a list of critically needed items, included on the following page.
Every donation makes a difference no matter how big or small We invite you to drop off your contributions anytime during Club hours throughout the holiday season.
Thank you for helping us support this meaningful cause and for spreading kindness within our community!
Sincerly,
The BCC Team
CRITICALLY NEEDED ITEMS:
☐ CANNED VEGETABLES
☐ CANNED FRUITS
☐ CANNED SOUPS
☐ CANNED MEATS
☐ MAC & CHEESE
☐ BOXED PASTA
☐ BOXED RICE
☐ PEANUT BUTTER
☐ JELLY
☐ APPLESAUCE
☐ OATMEAL
☐ HEALTHY CEREALS
☐ BABY CEREAL
☐ BABY FORMULA
☐ 100% FRUIT JUICE
☐ POWDERED MILK
☐ BREAKFAST BARS
☐ TRAIL MIX
☐ DRIED BEANS
Full Membership
Mr. and Mrs. Shorkey
Mr. Reece
Mr. and Mrs. Carroll
Mr. and Mrs. Jones
Mr. and Mrs. Murgo
sports membership
Ms. Bush
Mr. and Mrs. Munro
HELP US WELCOME OUR NEXT MEMBER!
KNOW SOMEONE WHO WOULD LOVE LIFE AT BRADENTON COUNTRY CLUB? WHEN YOU REFER A NEW MEMBER AND THEIR APPLICATION IS APPROVED, WE’LL THANK YOU WITH A COMPLIMENTARY MONTH OF DUES. IT’S OUR WAY OF SAYING WE APPRECIATE YOU HELPING GROW OUR BCC FAMILY!
SEND YOUR REFERRALS TO RLEIKEN@BRADENTONCC.ORG
Get To Know Our New Team Members!
As we continue to grow and strengthen our team, we’re thrilled to welcome and celebrate the following team members stepping into new roles. Each brings unique talents, experience, and enthusiasm to the Club, and we’re confident they’ll make a lasting impact in their positions. Please join us in giving them a warm welcome!
Joe Burbee
Head Golf Professional
Brent Schultz Office Administrator
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF GOLF
Dear BCC Members,
There’s a renewed sense of excitement in the air as we officially welcome everyone back for another incredible golf season at Bradenton Country Club! After a long, hot summer, the arrival of cooler weather has been a breath of fresh air, and our team couldn’t be more thrilled to see the fairways and patios buzzing again with familiar faces and new members alike. This time of year always brings a special energy to the Club the start of great golf, camaraderie, and tradition.
Golf Course Update:
As many of you know, Bradenton has experienced one of the most severe droughts in recent memory. The lack of rainfall combined with challenging water quality has created some obstacles across the property Despite these challenges, the majority of playable areas remain in excellent condition, and our agronomy team continues to make great strides in addressing the affected areas We are also excited to share that the new acid injection system will be online this week an improvement that will significantly enhance our irrigation water quality and benefit the course for years to come
Driving Range Improvements:
We know the range has been a hot topic, and we’re happy to share that installation of the new TurfHound mats is scheduled for mid-November. Once completed, members will enjoy a vastly improved aesthetic and a superior practice surface for warming up and dialing in their game We appreciate everyone’s patience as we finish this project and can’t wait for you to experience the difference
Course Etiquette Reminders:
As we begin another busy season, this is a great time to revisit a few friendly reminders that help keep our course in top condition:
Please rake bunkers, fill divots, and repair pitch marks on greens. For our walking members, sand bottles are available hanging on the side of the cart barn by the first tee.
If you’d like your own personal bottle, the Golf Shop has sand bottles available for purchase As a reminder carts are to remain on the cart path on the par 3's.
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF GOLF CONT.
The pace of play is set at 3 hours and 55 minutes. The professional staff will be proactive on ensuring everyone is enjoying their day, which includes monitoring pace. Please be aware of your position based on the pace standard. If there is an opening Infront of you, and the opportunity allows for letting a faster group of members play through without reasonable delay, please do so. Please adhere to the club's dress code policy while on the practice facilities, and the golf course. As a friendly reminder, Men's shirts must be tucked in at all times while playing or practicing.
Your continued attention to these small details plays a big role in maintaining the quality and beauty of our course, and the overall member experience.
Golf Shop & Merchandise:
Fall merchandise is flying off the shelves! If you don’t see your size or preferred style, please remember that we can special order any item at member pricing. Don’t hesitate to stop by and explore the latest arrivals or place a custom order with one of our team members.
We’d also like to recognize our new Head Golf Professional Joe Burbee, who has been doing a tremendous job getting acclimated and bringing great pride and enthusiasm to the member experience. Joe’s leadership has been felt immediately, and we’re lucky to have him as part of the team.
Stay Connected:
Our Golf Genius app continues to be an invaluable tool for event information and keeping up with everything happening in the Golf Department. For any returning or new members, please stop by the Golf Shop our staff would be happy to walk you through the app and its many features. You can also find the latest calendars in the foyer, along with weekly updates, newsletters, event results, and Men’s Player of the Year standings posted on the golf bulletin boards.
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF GOLF CONT.
Instruction & Player Development:
Director of Instruction, Sean Jacklin, continues to be a tremendous asset to our membership. His lesson book fills quickly each week, and his students are seeing fantastic results. If you’re looking to refine your swing or sharpen your skills before the season gets into full swing, reach out to Sean directly to schedule your next session.
Donald Ross Weekend – The Season Kickoff!
Our season truly begins with Donald Ross Weekend, a Club-wide celebration honoring the legacy of our course’s legendary designer. Whether you plan to play in Friday’s Social, join us for the themed dinner Friday night, or compete in the highly anticipated Men’s Fall Classic on Saturday and Sunday, this weekend promises to be one of the highlights of the year. It’s a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with fellow members, enjoy the spirit of friendly competition, and kick off what is sure to be a memorable season ahead.
We can’t wait to see you all around the Club and share in another incredible year of golf, camaraderie, and community here at Bradenton Country Club.
Warm regards,
Nick Campbell Director of Golf
BCC MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
Bradenton Christian's Grant McCall, a member here at Bradenton Country Club, won the individual title for District 1A-11 with a 69 and advanced to regional play. The District Championships were held at Calusa Country Club also here in Bradenton.
Grant advances to the Regional Championship. That event will be held at Cove Cay Golf Course in Clearwater on November 3rd at 9:00am. Grant can advance to the State Championships at Mission Inn Resort if he has a great finish at Regionals.
The exact formula for qualifying for the State Championships is below: 1.Top-2 Individuals not on advancing teams. 2. At-Large Qualifiers (RiWR + DiWR + SiWR = TiWR) b. Next 8 best individuals not on advancing teams. c. Any ties resulting in more than 16 teams or individuals at the state finals will be broken using the “card count back” method until the tie(s) are broken.
We are all very proud of Grant and his incredible work ethic! This is a very big accomplishment as he pursues a future in competitive golf.
The State Championships will be held at Mission Inn Resort in Howeyin-the-Hills, Florida, at the El Campeon Course on November 11-12, 2025.
Chase Nicks, who plays for St. Stephens Episcopal School, will also advance to the Regional Tournament as a member of his school team which won the District Tournament! Chase also won the Manatee County Championship with an incredible score of 65!
AGRONOMY UPDATE
Dear Members,
The month of October followed suit with September, as far as being dry and challenging We received no measurable rain in October The golf course is definitely showing its drought stressed areas, even though the team is running irrigation almost nightly. We are spot watering throughout the day to keep things at bay as well as spot fertilizing for continued health and growth. We do have our new fertilizer/acid injection system installed and will be operating as much as we can to get our desired results in upcoming weeks This system will treat our water to make nutrients currently in our soil more available to plants Currently our water is running near 8 pH, and we want to be 6 5-7 in order to instill balance in our soils for proper fertilizer release and uptake I also want to add for those that do not know, the golf course is not 100% covered by irrigation and our sprinkler spacing is not adequate in a lot of areas to produce quality turf grass in these extreme drought situations With our injection system, we have taken an updated water sample to test water, and we will take another one in 30 days to monitor our pH in our pipes.
The putting greens have maintained decent health throughout October They are showing some salt and bicarbonate stress due to our water quality We have enhanced soil amendment applications to mitigate, and again, once we get well into our water treatments, we will see some relief from this long term What we see in our soil samples currently is there are a lot of nutrient tie ups as pH rises and other contaminants rise during drought periods We will be attempting some irrigation water flushes on the greens with our treated water as well We will continue to periodically needle tine and topdress as frequently as we can until weather allows. We did do another round of sod patching in our notorious problem areas on the practice green, short game green, and #2. We were sure to incorporate better organics with our sand medium to help the sod hold water and nutrients better
On the golf course we have been doing a lot of liquid fertility and granular applications to push our turf along during these stressful times These applications along with fertilizer/acid injection should give us that final push to enhance health and growth as we enter the winter season During this drought period, we will look to get more staff out to handwater needed areas other than our normal green and tee routine. We will be sod patching some areas like 4 fairway and others that we know will not grow in time. As mentioned we are doing a lot of spot fertility, we will also be doing a wall too wall application in the 2nd week of November Another challenge we are facing is our ponds Our aquatics company is adhering to their contractual obligations; however, drought situations have lowered lakes allowing more light to the nutrient rich lake bottoms, thus creating more algae blooms I should add our aquatics company has gone above and beyond lately to help our cause We are working on all alternatives to combat this issue We are testing a muck reduction product to increase biology to help dissociate organics and nutrients in the lake bottoms We are also getting a proposal for more surface aerators throughout our ponds to increase oxygen, movement, and biological activity. During this month we will mulch the entire amenity campus as well as plant our seasonal flowers.
Although we are faced with an abnormal weather pattern we will get through this and continue to provide a golf course that we can all enjoy this season Welcome back to those that are returning, and we look forward to seeing everyone out there
Yours truly,
JAMIE MCCROSKY
RACQUET SPORTS UPDATE
Dear Members,
Welcome back to all our fair-weather tennis and pickleball players and all of our members returning from up north! We’re excited for another season on the courts, and it’s been fantastic seeing so many of you jump right back into the action We had a great run of fun events these past few weeks Tacos, Tennis, & Tequila brought a small but lively crowd for a fun evening of social play. The Pickleball Halloween Round Robin was a ton of fun and our Ladies' Halloween "Live Ball" Brunch was an absolute blast, combining high-energy tennis with a festive brunch
As the season heats up, we want to ensure all of your tennis and pickleball needs are met promptly and accurately Please direct all communication, questions, requests, and expectations through the Racquet Sports Pro Shop Our team is there to help streamline your experience and will happily accommodate the vast majority of your requests. We are dedicated to making your experience here as smooth and enjoyable as possible.
Interested in getting more involved? Whether you're new to the sport or looking for more ways to play, please stop by or contact the Racquet Sports Pro Shop for more information on lessons, clinics, and social play
See you on the courts!
Rob Blackburn Director of Racquet Sports
Bradenton Country Club
Welcome Back Racquet Sports!
Available 10 am - 1:30 pm Saturday and Sunday
While you enjoy the event, little ones can take part in supervised children's activities filled with games, crafts, and fun. The cost is $20 per child.
OCTOBER 16, THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 20, THURSDAY
DECEMBER 11, THURSDAY
JANUARY 22, THURSDAY
FEBUARY 12, THURSDAY
MARCH 19, THURSDAY
APRIL 23, THURSDAY
ClubManager-CraigChibbaro:cchibbaro@bradentoncc.org
DirectorofAgronomy-JamieMcCrosky:jmccrosky@thesignatureone.com
MembershipDirector-RaeChelleLeiken:rleiken@bradentoncc.org
Food&BeverageManager-HeatherMohan:hmohan@bradentonccorg
DirectorofRacquetSports-RobBlackburn:rblackburn@bradentoncc.org
Hours of Operation
Course & Clubhouse Closed Mondays
Clubhouse Restaraunt
Tuesday: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Wednesday - Friday: 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM
Weekends: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Clubhouse Bar
Tuesday: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Wednesday - Friday: 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM
Weekends: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Golf Shop
6:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Driving Range
7:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Morand House
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Tennis Shop
Weekdays: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM & 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Weekends: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM