RCGC Winter Newsletter 2023

L E T T E R F R O M T H E G M

Thank you to all the Members who took the time to share their thoughts and ideas on the 2022 Membership S ur vey. o ver 220 members participated in the sur vey. Below are results of the multiple choice questions broken down by department. p lease take the time to read t im and Jamie’s sections as they outline their departmental plans based on the open comment sections of the sur vey.

overall CluB Sat iSFaCt ioN

Brandon l ejeune general Manager bjl@rivercrestgolfc lub com

39% of the membership indicated they are ver y satisfied. 48% responded that they are satisfied. Neutral came in at 12%. only .90% were dissatisfied.

golF Co urSe op erat ioNS

45% of the membership indicated they are ver y satisfied on their overall golf experience. 39% responded they are satisfied 2% indicated they were dissatisfied 82% of members are ver y satisfied and satisfied with overall course conditions green speed came in favorable with 84% of the membership ver y satisfied and satisfied. pace of play only received 29% ver y satisfied rating with 48% being satisfied.

CluBho uSe Fo oD & Beverage

39% of the membership indicated they were ver y satisfied with the overall Clubhouse dining operation. 49% are satisfied. 11% dissatisfied. S er vice standards were overall positive with 51% of the membership ver y satisfied and 43% satisfied Menu pricing/offerings satisfaction was 80%

W I N T ER P RO J E C T S

NeW tee BoXeS

excited to announce three new tee boxes are being built on the course! New back tee boxes are planned for holes #4, #8 and #13 with the goal of providing length to the course as well as creating some fun new shots t im and his team have begun rough shaping the tee boxes on holes #4 and #13 and the goal is to have all three later this Fall photos of the initial stages on page 2!

pool Wall

o ur big project this offseason is the rebuilding of the long rock wall at the pool o ver the course of the past few years, the integrit y of the wall has deteriorated creating an unsafe environment at the pool The dr y stacked rock wall was disassembled and an engineered concrete wall was constructed. The loose rocks will be replaced over the engineered wall providing the same look as before The waterfall was removed and will not be replaced providing more deck space for the members to enjoy the pool.

SOCIAL EVENTS

one of our primar y initiatives this year is to have an exciting and vibrant social calendar providing the membership the opportunit y to have fun and meet new friends o ur first big event, The D ueling pianos, sold out and turned out to be a great evening lasting well into the night. o ur W inter Cornhole l eague, also sold out, started this week and was a blast! p layers of all ages came out to showcase their bag tossing skills. Be sure to continue reading for details on some upcoming events like ladies happy hour, S outh american W ine Dinner and more!

pool wall reconstr uction

at riverCrest, the membership has always enjoyed a more relaxed dress code for a countr y c lub But with that we still require a certain level of dress becoming of a private c lub and we ask that you follow the dress code out of respect for your fellow members. Club management will enforce the below dress code guidelines so please respect their discretion when enforcing the polic y. p lease inform your guests of our policies prior to them visiting the Club.

GOLF COURSE

Men’s S hirts must have sleeves and either a collar or an appropriate mock turtleneck. S hirts must be tucked in at all times while on the course tee shirts are Not considered appropriate.

ladies shirts are required to have either a collar or sleeves tee shirts, halter, tank or string tops are Not considered appropriate. Cargo shorts, cargo pants and denim are Not considered appropriate attire

ladies skirts or shorts must not rise above mid-thigh.

all golf hats and visors must be worn for ward at all time.

CLUBHOUSE

S hirts must be tucked in at all times, with the exception of button-down oxford and dress shirts. S ports jerseys, tee shirts, hooded sweatshirts and work out attire are Not considered appropriate.

pants & S hort

Jeans are considered appropriate attire. Cargo shorts, sweatpants and ripped denim are Not considered appropriate

hats & Footwear

golf hats can be worn in the Clubhouse and dining terrace until 5pm daily and must be worn for ward ladies accessor y dress hats are acceptable at all times. Dress sandals are allowed. S port and open back flip flops are Not considered appropriate

Children should adhere to the same dress code as adults. S ports jerseys, tee shirts, and hooded sweatshirts are Not considered appropriate.

New back tee on #4

New back tee on #13

t im edwards Course Superintendant

tge@rivercrestgolfc

lub.com

aerat ioN p ro CeSS

C O U R S E U P D A T E

Thank you to all the members who participated in the riverCrest year-end sur vey! o verall, the feedback was positive and my team really appreciates the time spent on the open comment section. There was a lot of great feedback on what was working and where the membership sees opportunit y for improvement. in the coming months through both the newsletter and my blog, i will address many of these topics starting with aeration plus an over view of our goals for 2023. as always, feel free to email me or stop me on the course anytime to talk about the course always happy to do so!

We received a few questions and concerns about the current aeration practices. aeration is one of the most critical and labor intensive processes the agronomy team does to insure the long term health of the rivercrest playing surfaces (for those looking to do a deeper dive, check out this quick over view by the uSga https://www usga org/content/usga/home-page/c lubhouse/2017-ungated/09-17-ungated/5-things-ever ygolfer-should-know-about-aeration.html ).

o ver the past 4 seasons, our team has evaluated our process and timing and we continue to make adjustments to do our best to balance the needs of the turf and the needs of the golfers. The greens receive two core aerations, one in august and one in ear ly November. They are also vented with the smallest tine made in mid-June, this is to help with summer heat stress, by creating macropore space for toxic gasses to be released during hot and wet p hiladelphia summer

all three of these disturbances are timed around our golf calendar The agronomy team attempts to have the course in peak conditioning for the member-member, c lub championship, and member-guest, we do our best to work the agronomy plan back from those dates. preparing a green surface for a big event t ypically is at least a 3 week process. golf courses that are hosting major events will start agronomy work years in advance for that one week on t v W hile consistenc y is always a priorit y of our team, there are peaks and valleys in the 9 month season for the greens. S ometimes we push them to their edge to create ver y slick event greens, sometimes we need to give them a little fertiliz er, some fresh air and a week off during aeration.

The changes to the agronomic program since this team ar-

rived 4 years ago have been dramatic The health of the golf course has increased greatly, but we understand that any aeration is a big let down for golfers. We greatly appreciate the feedback, and will continue to make adjustments to minimiz e the impact of these critical agronomic practices on the golfing experience.

a few examples of changes we have already implemented are as follows:

- D ue to the success of the aeration program we have reduced the tee core aerations from 4 times to 2-3

- Fair way aeration is no longer happening all fall long, one fair way at a time. a sub-contractor has been hired and we will be completing all of them during our august aeration week.

- The late fall/spring greens aeration has been moved up 3 weeks, and the tines are significantly smaller then what was used in past years, so that the greens are healed faster in the spring.

New back tee on #4

Divot Bot t leS

The debate over divot bottles on the golf carts has been ongoing at the Crest for years it was again a topic of this year ' s sur vey. i have not weighed in on the subject until now, because i wanted to fully understand the situation and have a proper long term solution having a golfer take out a small bottle of a sand and seed mix and filling a few divots along the way is helpful, but not ver y impactful

Below are the reasons why the divot bottles were removed from the carts years ago: - golf operations time maintaining the bottles and product.

- l ess than ideal agronomic timing for seed to germinate. - inconsistenc y of golfer usage of the divot mix

We are ver y appreciative that the members want to help fill divots! however, divots on fair ways will continue to be filled daily by the greens department. We ask if you would continue to put your divots back as you play.

in addition, divot boxes will be added to the par-3 tee areas. This is a location that needs a lot of divot filling. By staging a large box of divot mix, the golfers can help our team in one concentrated area and greatly impact the time my staff spends on filling tee divots. This saved time will allow for more time for my staff to work on the fairway divots

Cart pat hS oNly

The fall at the Crest was ver y wet u ltimately, this forced our agronomy team to keep carts on the paths more than normal. Fully understanding that keeping golf carts off the fair ways negatively impacts the golf experience, this winter we are adding more drainage to our wettest sections of fair ways and have ordered more directional signs. hopefully, with more drainage and increased signage we will have more days with carts on the fair ways.

p laNS For 2023

This winter has been more like an extended Fall or ear ly S pring. The course is ver y wet and saturated. S ome tree work has been completed, we have a list of around 100 dead ash trees S o far we have removed around 40 of them. We have c leared some brush along the edges of the propert y and will be focussing on fair way drainage in the beginning of Februar y

The greens are looking great for the upcoming season The modifications to the aeration program combined with the warm winter should have them rolling nicely to start the season. in addition, some of our S pring bunker maintenance has begun because of the warm weather if these temperatures continue we may be lucky enough for an ear ly S pring of great golf conditions!

The 2023 golf season should be a great one! The staff is looking for ward to having golfers back out on the course full time in just a few more weeks in the meantime, we plan to focus on the consistenc y of all the playing surfaces by taking more data points, inc luding moisture, frequenc y of cut, chemical inputs, and ball roll p lease feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns, see you soon!

pool Wall

featuring LARRY PRICE

Sunday, March 5th 11am to 2pm

Offering our expansive brunch menu and bloody mary bar!

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS ONLINE

A N EW Y E A R A N D N EW T H I N G S I N S TO RE F O R 2023

i would usually say that winter is not my favorite time of the year. This year so far it hasn’t felt like winter at all (knock on wood ) even though the golf S hop has been c losed the month of Januar y, we have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming season. We received lots of positive feedback from the end-of year sur vey, as well as several great ideas and constructive comments for improvements to the golf operations. W ith that feedback we are excited to say there are lots of new things planned 2023. here’s a brief summar y :

G O LF S H O P I S N OW O P EN

The S hop reopened on Wednesday, Febr uar y 8th. The golf S hop hours for Febr uar y are from 10:00am until 4:00pm Wednesday through S unday.

We look for ward to having all these great programs and events this year and hope you can join in what should be another great year.

EX PA N D ED F I ELD F O R M EN ’S LE AG U E

2023 marks the 10th year for the Men’s l eague W ith demand at an all-time high, the Club is expanding the l eague

The l eague will now feature two bi-weekly l eagues, playing on opposite Wednesday evenings. The expansion will feature 6 divisions of 8 teams each, allowing for 48 teams to participate (32 more players!) S ignups will begin on Monday, March 13th, so mark your calendars!

LA D I E S CO M M I T T EE H A RD AT WO RK

The ladies golf Committee had their first meeting of the year in Januar y and is in the process of putting together the calendar of events for the 2023 lga season. They are bringing some fun new ideas that will be shared at the annual preseason S ocial and Meeting in late March Be on the lookout for details on that event

jaMie koMancheck HEAD PROFESSIONAL

kelly koMancheck GOLFSHOP MANAGER

Mike Matson 1ST ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL

CO U P LE S T W I LI G H T RE T U RN S

The Club is bringing back Couples twilight in 2023! an event is being added on Thursday, July 20th. The foursome event will feature a fun 9hole format, with a shotgun start at 5:30pm, followed by dinner and awards at the Clubhouse. Be on the lookout for more details.

N EW G O LF CO U R S E RAT I N G S

The golf course was re-rated by the golf association of philadelphia in summer of 2022 Those new ratings were recently provided to us. The new ratings will be put on the 2023 scorecards and entered into our tournament management system. The uSga also provided the Club some recommendations for new stroke hole allocations for both Men and ladies, which the Club will adopt Those will also go into effect and be on the new scorecards.

S EN I O R G O LF W I LL

H AV E 4 S H O TG U N

S TA RT S A D D ED TO

T H E 2023 CA LEN DA R

Beginning with the S enior opening Day tournament on Wednesday, april 26th, there will be 4 events that will have shotgun starts. The other dates will inc lude an ear ly summer event on June 21st, a late summer event on august 9th, and finally the S enior Closing Day tournament on S eptember 27th. These events will be in addition to the weekly Wednesday S enior golf starting times from ear ly May until late S eptember

M EN ’S G A P A N D

WO M EN ’S WG A P

riverCrest will be fielding 3 Men’s gap teams in 2023 and 4 Women’s Wgap teams. The matches are played in late april and ear ly May Be on the lookout for additional details as we get c loser to the season good luck to all players that will be representing riverCrest!

U P CO M I N G G O LF EV EN T S

March 13 – S ign ups begin for Men’s l eague

april 1 – Men’s & ladies Member-Member signups @ 8:00am

april 13 - ladies opening Day S hotgun

april 19 - Men's l eague S tarts

april 23, 30 & May 7 - Men's gap Matches

april 25, 28, May 2, 5 & 9 - ladies Wgap Matches

april 26 - S enior opening Day S hotgun

May 18 - riverCrest Day Member guest

May 27 - Memorial Day S aturday event

May 28 – Memorial Day Mixed

May 31 – S ign ups begin for ryder Cup

June 2 & 3 - Men's Member Member

June 8 - ladies Member Member

June 15 - riverCrest Day Member guest

June 21 – S enior golf S hotgun

June 25 – S ign ups begin for Men’s invitational

June 29 - ladies 9 & Dine

July 1 – July 4th S aturday event

July 2 – July 4th Mixed golf

July 8 & 9 - S enior Club Championship

July 8 & 9 - ladies Club Championship

July 8 & 9 - young exec. Club Championship

July 12 – S enior inter-Club

July 15 & 16 – Men’s Club Championship

July 20 – Couples twilight

august 5 - ryder Cup

august 6 – Junior Club Championship

august 9 - S enior inter-Club

august 10 - riverCrest Day Member guest

august 14- 17 – aerification

august 27 - Junior golf Banquet

august 26 - S enior golf S hotgun

august 30 - ladies 9 & Dine

S eptember 2 – labor Day S aturday event

S eptember 3 - husband & W ife Club Championship

S eptember 7 - ladies Member guest

S eptember 15 & 16 - Men's invitational

S eptember 27 – S enior golf Closing Day S hotgun

october 5 - ladies Fall Member Member

october 7 - Men's Fall Member Member

october 12 - riverCrest Day Member guest

october 28 – S uperintendent ’ s revenge

P E T ER M I LLA R A N D O T H ER N EW B RA N D S

CO M I N G TO T H E G O LF S H O P

it has been several years in the making, but we have finally been able to open a peter Millar account! The golf S hop is excited to be bringing the top selling brand in golf apparel to riverCrest. By mid-Februar y, both Men’s and ladies peter Millar collections will be arriving, with Junior apparel to arrive in May in addition, there will be several new brands brought inc luding:

MeN’S – peter Millar, S titch, Criquet, gFore

laDieS – peter Millar, Melly M, gFore

JuNiorS – peter Millar, travis Mathew

Be on the lookout for more details highlighting these collections and other great golf S hop items throughout the year!

N EW – S U P ER S EN I O R B E T T ER BA LL O F PA RT N ER S

M ATC H P LAY C H A M P I O N S H I P

This new Match p lay Championship is similar to the S enior Better Ball of partners Championship, but is limited to Men ages 65 and over (by May 1, 2023). The format is Better Ball of partners Match play at 90% of the current handicaps off the low ball. The matches will be played from the green tees. S tarting March 1st teams just need to sign up online to be entered into the field (no qualifying rounds.) teams must sign up by april 25th to get into the event

S C RATC H M ATC H P LAY TO U RNA M EN T RE T U RN S

The S cratch Match p lay returns in 2023! This is an individual match play event played from the Black tees with no strokes up to 32 players will participate S tarting March 1st players just need to sign up online to be entered into the field (no qualifying rounds.) p layers must sign up by april 25th to get into the event.

M O RE C LU B F I T T I N G DAY S

The golf S hop is adding several new Club F itting Days to the 2023 calendar There are 5 F itting Days currently scheduled between late april and ear ly July, with a couple other potential dates in the works. Current manufacturers inc lude taylorMade, Callaway, Mizuno and ping These are great opportunities to get fit by expert Club F itters into the latest and greatest technolog y.

CO U R S E E T I Q U E T T E

There were several comments in the sur vey about various course etiquette reminders (replacing divots, repairing ball marks, pace of play, etc ) We will be addressing those concerns as we approach the beginning of the golf season. as Members (and players), please help in promoting and following proper etiquette on the golf course and we ’ ll have a great 2023!

R I T A ’ S R U L E O F T H E M O N T H

rule 17.1d relief for Ball in penalt y area

By Jamie Komancheck, pga head golf professional

Now that rita is a few months into her golf career, she expressed interest in taking her game on the road (well more so by plane than car.) S he felt her game needed to be tested by playing a course with some teeth af ter researching online, she settled on Casa de Campo, and The teeth of the Dog course. pete D ye was the architect, and the course had a little feel of McKenzie as well. W hen rita’s mother saw the daily high temperature in the mid 80’s, she quickly booked the tickets!

Q uick note for future travelers: it ’ s not the best idea to teach your 4-year-old to call their golf c lubs their weapons, as they may refer to them that way when going through customs Thankfully the agents had a good sense of humor and let us through.

The resort was absolutely magnificent, with a cr ystal blue ocean and four golf courses. af ter a couple days enjoying the resort, it was time for rita to see what all the hype was about it was a spectacular day, plent y of sun and a stiff wind blowing out towards the ocean. rita decided to play from 5700 yards which would provide plent y of teeth rita got paired up the most veteran caddie ted who had been in the Dominican since the 70’s. rita and ted fed off each other like they knew one another forever, or for at least the 4 years rita’s been around rita soaked up all the wisdom ted shared about the course, the golf swing and life in general. it was a master c lass. rita took ted ’ s advice and played flawlessly

The pair came to the famous 17th hole, a dogleg right 320 yard par 4 with the ocean guarding the right side af ter finding the fair way, rita and ted discussed how to attack the back right pin position. ted recommended a ¾ knockdown 7 iron played toward the midd le of the green. rita did not feel any wind, so for the first time all day she went against his advice and played a full 9 iron directly at the pin S he struck the ball perfectly, starting right on line with the pin. as it c limbed above the tree line, the wind met up with the ball and sent it on a hard right turn, over the greenside

bunker and out into the ocean rita was stunned! ted followed the third tenet of caddying to a t; show up, keep up and shut up. No words needed.

The penalt y area was red giving rita three options under rule 17.1d relief for Ball in penalt y area. all options came with one penalt y stroke option 1; “S troke and distance” relief playing your next shot as near as possible to the original shot. option 2; “lateral relief ” dropping within 2 c lub-lengths of where the ball last crossed the red line That option had her standing in the bunker with the ball outside it and above her feet. S he didn’t like that one. option 3; “Back on the line” relief dropping on a line between the flagstick and the point where the ball last crossed into the penalt y area. This option allowed rita to go behind the bunker and drop in light rough in line with the pin and where the ball entered the penalt y area. it was a straight forward 40-yard pitch so she went with that option.

S he found a spot she liked and dropped the ball from knee height. Being only 3 feet tall it was like placing it on the ground The ball hit the ground and rolled forward two feet towards the pin. rita (back to seeking ted ’ s advice) asked if she needed to redrop since the ball moved c loser to the hole. ted let her know that a new rule for “ back on the line” relief allows for the ball to roll up to one c lub length inc luding for ward. rita could play the ball as it lay. rita was impressed, not only was ted a great caddie, but he was also a rules wizard and a true gentleman. professional all the way!

rita pitched the ball up to 6 feet from the hole ted didn’t even have to look at it, he knew it was lef t edge firm. he handed rita her putter, gave her the read and walked off to the 18th tee rita drilled it dead center in the back of the cup. Walking up 18 enjoying their last hole together, rita told ted, “ This course certainly lived up to its name, as i got bit back there on 17 ” ted smiled and told rita, “how about we finish strong and go sink our teeth into the best tacos in town!” i think they ’ re still there trading stories.

RiverCrest Membership Pledge to create awareness and encourage proper course etiquette while maintaining a 4 hour pace of play.

I pledge to abide by the following policies to ensure an enjoyable experience for all Members of the Club:

R e s p e c t t h e c o u R s e

In every aspect, leave the course in better shape than you found it

R e s p e c t p a c e o f p l a y play in 4 hours and allow faster groups to play through

R e p l a c e D I v o t s please always replace your divots

R e p a I R B a l l M a R k s

Repair your ball mark and others you see on the greens

R a k e B u n k e R s

Bunkers are to be raked after each use leave rakes in the bunker

R e s p e c t c a R t R u l e s

carts are never to be in the native grasses or within 30 yards of a green

C L U B H O U R S O F O P E R A T I O N

each of our amenities has var ying hours which are subject to change seasonally The hours below offer a general guide p lease visit our website, or check the inside cover of our monthly newsletter, The preser ve, for the current hours of operation

g

o l F C o u r S e

open daily March through November until dusk.

refer to the Club's website for first starting times, frost delays or superintendent notifications.

Course c losed on tuesdays, inc luding practice facilities.

temporar y greens December through mid-March.

D

r

i v i N g r a N g e

open a half hour before first starting time.

Mondays - c loses 90 minutes ear ly for maintenance.

March – weather permitting (check website)

april, May & S eptember – c loses at 7:00pm

June, July & august - c loses at 8:00pm

october - c loses at 6:00pm

November - c loses at 4:30pm

Januar y, Februar y & December - c losed

g o l F S h o p

open daily 15 minutes before first starting time

tuesdays - c losed

Januar y - c losed

Februar y, March, November & December – c loses at 5:00pm

april, May, S eptember & october – c loses at 6:00pm

June, July & august - c loses at 6:30pm

C

l u B h o u S e r e S ta u r a N t

Wednesday through S unday - open for lunch at 11:00am & dinner starting at 5:00pm.

No food ser vice af ter 9pm on Wednesday thru S unday. Kitchen c losed daily between 4:30pm - 5:00pm.

F

i r e S i D e l o u N g e

april through December

opens Wednesday, Thursday & Friday at 4:00pm / S aturdays & S undays at noon.

Januar y through March

Closed on S undays

F i t N e S S C e N t e r

april thru october - 6:30am to 6:00pm on Monday / 6:30am to 9:00pm Wednesday through S unday.

tuesdays - c losed

November thru March - 8:00am - 5:00pm on Monday / 8:00am - 9:00pm Wednesday through S unday