RCGC Winter 2022 Preserve

THE

P RES ERV E

PHOTO BY Kevin HOucK

W I N T E R 2 0 2 21

LET TER FROM THE GM DEAR MEMBERS,

Brandon Lejeune General Manager bjl@rivercrestgolfclub.com

Wow. This spring will mark our 19th golf season here at Rivercrest. Feels like not that long ago i was sitting with my father at township meetings anxiously awaiting the approvals to break ground (which ended up taking 6 years in total). And here we are now creeping up on 20 years of great golf, memorable experiences and friendships. i’ve enjoyed (almost) every moment of this journey and look forward to many more years as your General Manager. The club remains well positioned for future success with a strong & supportive membership, a phenomenal staff and a golf industry trending in the right direction with the addition of new golfers every year. It’s an exciting time to be a RiverCrest member and our family is looking forward to yet again another great season!

MeMBeRSHiP WAiT LiSTS cOnTinue The club continues to have an extended waiting list as we head into the golf season. very few members resigned this offseason, so the expectation is waitlists will remain throughout the year. We will continue monitoring existing membership activity to determine access for new members. As always, the primary goal is to ensure an accessible and enjoyable golf experience for the current membership. if you have any questions on your membership please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

GOLF OPeRATiOnS We are expecting the same great golf shop team to return this year with the exception of our caddy Masters.

Both Devon and Jake have stepped down. Devon has moved to Arizona and Jake has decided to look for new opportunities. They will certainly be missed.i want to thank both of them for their hard work and dedication over the many years they were here. cLuBHOuSe AnD F&B The majority of our management team will be returning for the upcoming season with a bit of news on the clubhouse end of things. Ricky ewing, our beverage manager for many years, informed me in October that 2021 would be his final season at the club. He’s decided to follow another career path and my family thanks him for keeping the membership hydrated and the many late nights closing the clubhouse. Best of luck Ricky on your new journey.

Some of you may have already met David Peifer, our banquet manager last season, who was often helping out

in the restaurant during the latter part of last season.

Having worked with David closely for the last 6 months, i was excited to create a new clubhouse manager position and have him assume the role. His new responsibilities will be overseeing all front of the house operations. Please be sure to say ‘hello’ when you see him on the restaurant floor this Winter and please read his bio here in the newsletter.

AnnuAL DueS & FeeS With labor and operational costs in all departments continuing to rise, dues will be increased by around 4%. in addition, cart fees will increase from $28 to $30 and guest fees will now be $95. As a non-assessment club, the small incremental increases ensure we can keep our long term staff members, as well as continue to improve your exceptional golf and clubhouse experiences. cAPiTAL iMPROveMenTS even during these challenging times, our family is committed to reinvesting in your overall club experience by continuing to make significant capital investments. Last year we spent in excess of $800,000 in clubhouse and pool renovations, ballroom renovations and golf course equipment purchases. This year the club will continue updating our golf course equipment fleet and replacing the majority of the HvAc units (16 to be exact!) in the clubhouse and other facilities. Our philosophy has, and always will be, to be proactive in making annual capital improvements to keep the course and its facilities in great shape.

inTRO TO

DAviD PeiFeR RiveRcReST GOLF cLuB cLuBHOuSe MAnAGeR

i would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the Rivercrest community. As a local native to Royersford, i attended Spring-Ford High before going on to attend indiana university of PA (Poly-sci & history major). During my education i, like many other students looking to make money, found employment in a restaurant, which unknowingly would lead me onto a 31 year career path in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Following graduation and a move to Boston, a restauranteur of the oldest restaurant in the city (Locke Ober café) invited me to join his team as a manager. My training in formal dining as well as my love for the hospitality industry officially began. Without a doubt one of my favorite moments during this time was helping host a wine dinner for the chaine de Rotisseurs society, where i met and worked with chef Julia child. She is as charming as advertised!

My career path then took a turn with a 17 year stint as a regional manager for a national chain of fitness clubs. Traveling the throughout the Midwest and the South, i not only was devoted to developing my skills on the operational sides of business, but also carrying on my enthusiasm for restaurants by experiencing as many as my work schedule would allow. in 2014, i decided to move back to the area to be closer to my family and venture back into the restaurant business. Before joining Rivercrest, i was the assistant director of restaurant operations at the William Penn inn. in addition to my passion for good food, i love cooking and trying new restaurants. My search for the perfect steakhouse or italian restaurant will never end! i also enjoy traveling and cruising. next up for me is a cruise this April to Puerto Rico, Bahamas, virgin islands and the Dominican Republic.

On a final note, i would like to thank the Lejeune family for giving me this opportunity to be the clubhouse Manager and part of the Rivercrest community. With my experience and the great staff we have, i am looking forward to having a successful 2022 season and eager to meet everyone and share many good conversations in the year to come. i consider myself very approachable, so please feel free to introduce yourself as i will certainly be doing the same with the membership. cheers!

David Peifer

nOTe FROM cHeF AnTHOnY Happy new Year to our members and Rivercrest family! i wanted to provide an update from your culinary team and share with you some challenges we are experiencing.

First off, our primary goal is to always provide the membership with fresh seasonal menus, using only the freshest ingredients, especially when it comes to proteins such as meat, fish and shellfish. As many of you know from doing your household grocery shopping, price, quality & quantity of products has been a struggle for everyone. Here at Rc, we are having some of the same problems. it’s been challenging to provide our members with some of our staples like crab meat, shrimp, filet mignon, wings, among others due to astronomical price increases and limited supplies. Our latest challenge heading into the new season is the unavailability of handpicked scallops. The price increase and limited availability will not allow us to have scallops on our opening menu.

Please be patient with us while some of your favorite items may be missing from our menu, but we will be sure to bring them back as the market allows. Thank you for your support & we look forward to a great year!

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C O U R S E U P D AT E Happy new year to all the members of Crest! It has been a busy winter out on the course!

Depending on the weather and ground conditions, the team has been active with a bevy of different projects. When the ground is frozen we work on things that we course Superintendant can do most efficiently with your big equipment, when the ground is thawed we tge@rivercrestgolfclub.com work on things that require soil to be moved. And when it snows or rains heavily we get out our energy on upkeep of the grounds facility! Our winters are always busy. Snow and ice are a daily concern around all the buildings. The winter overhaul of our fleet of equipment takes months. As well as maintenance to our shop facility. Last week we replaced our hot water heater and spent time organizing, cataloging and ordering irrigation system replacement parts for the upcoming season.

Tim edwards

FROzen GROunD After the new year, the ground has been mostly frozen. This is normally the coldest part of the year in our region and we are doing our best to take advantage of it. The team’s big focus has been managing our trees.Trees are being removed that are dead and dying for safety concerns. The bulk of the trees that we are removing this year were from the wind storm that hit us in 2020, but we could not get to them last winter because of all the snow cover. We are also removing many dead ash trees because all the ashes are dying across the region from the ash borer. The trees removed on 9 were growing into the playing corridor that a large number of golfers requested be improved for the playability of the hole. Managing our trees is critical work for the long term health of our golf course. We will be planting several trees this spring, just like we have every year i have been here.

SOFT GROunD Before the holidays we had some great conditions to get work done that required moving soil around. We finished all our critical agronomy work on the playing surfaces and have all the fine turf and in play rough aerated, seeded, and fertilized for the spring. We also laid out over a quarter acre of sod around the golf course including around a few bunkers, cart traffic wear spots, and areas that need better cultivars of turfgrass. Our hope is in mid-february the ground will be workable enough for the team to get back out and work on a few bunkers and some fairway drainage.

GOLF NEWS & NOTES 2022 CHAMPIONSHIP DATES June 3RD – 4TH – Men’S MeMBeR-MeMBeR June 9TH – LADieS MeMBeR-MeMBeR JuLY 9TH – 10TH - LADieS cLuB cHAMPiOnSHiP JuLY 9TH – 10TH – SeniOR cLuB cHAMPiOnSHiP JuLY 9TH – 10TH – YOunG execuTive cLuB cHAMPiOnSHiP JuLY 16TH – 17TH – Men’S cLuB cHAMPiOnSHiP AuGuST 7TH – JuniOR cLuB cHAMPiOnSHiP AuGuST 16TH – YOunG execuTive MeMBeR-GueST SePTeMBeR 4TH - HuSBAnD & WiFe cLuB cHAMPiOnSHiP SePTeMBeR 8TH – LADieS MeMBeR-GueST SePTeMBeR 16TH – 17TH – Men’S inviTATiOnAL MeMBeR-GueST

2022 FEBRUARY GOLF HOURS OF OPERATION The Golf Shop and Bag Room will reopen on Saturday, February 5th. For the month of February, both the Shop and Bag Room will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00am until 4:00pm. Both areas are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays for February. The Golf course is open every day except Tuesday for the month beginning at 10:00am. On Mondays, players may play the course but must walk and carry their clubs as the Bag Room will be closed. The course will continue to have temporary greens in February and require players to either hit off mats from the fairways, or move golf balls into the rough to avoid making any divots in the fairways. The Practice Range is closed in February.

MEN’S GAP MATCHES...CAPTAINS NEEDED! The Men’s GAP Matches will be held on Sundays April 10th, April 24th and May 1st. With 4 teams we will need 48 players each week of the matches. So, We neeD YOu!! if you are interested in participating in the matches sign up online for each of the weeks you are available (there are 3 different events online) or email us at golfshop@rivercrestgolfclub.com. Signups will open in February. We will also need captains for the 4 teams, so if interested please let us know.

We look forward to another great year of GAP competition.

LADIES WGAP MATCHES...SIGN UPS REQUIRED BY MARCH 18TH The 2022 Ladies WGAP Matches, featuring 4 WGAP teams, will be held on April 26th, 29th, May 3rd, 6th and 10th. if you are interested in playing please SiGn uP OnLine as soon as possible.

Go to http://www.wgapgolf.org for more details.

R I TA’ S R U L E O F T H E M O N T H Rule 16.1c Relief for Abnormal conditions in a Bunker

By Jamie Komancheck, PGA Head Golf Professional Happy new Year! We’ve had a mixed bag of weather for the beginning of 2022. The first few days of January brought our first blanket of snow, followed by a few nice 40 degree days. Rita and colby were excited to get the new golf year started, which is funny considering they finished up 2021 with a round of golf on December 31st! i guess you could call it a short off-season.

The excitement to begin the new Year was partly because they both love golf so much, but mainly because they were excited after watching Tiger’s return to golf. They wanted to try out the new Stealth driver from TaylorMade. We received a few fitting club shipments at the beginning of January, and the kids attacked the boxes as if it was christmas morning!

Rita, three years old, is not even three feet tall yet so all the drivers were taller than her. She wasn’t deterred, just telling me to cut down a couple shafts to her length. We custom fit (sawed off ) a couple shafts and had her all dialed up in no time. Out to the course they went for a quick 9 at Rivercrest, starting on Hole #10.

Both were enjoying their new Stealth drivers. They came to the 14th tee and both hit great drives down the middle. They were faced with approach shots just over 200 yards from over the pond in front of the green. colby went first and hit a beautiful rescue onto the green. Rita doesn’t hit the ball 200 yards yet, so colby recommended she play the safe shot to the left aiming away from the pond.

With a sign of what i am sure will become a regular occurrence….she shrugged him off. She emphatically let him know, “i’m hitting my new driver off the deck. The pond is frozen so i’m taking dead aim!” The ball was well struck and launched perfectly off the carbon face. The ball carried two-

thirds of the way across the pond, ricocheted hard off the ice directly towards the green. it was heading for the flag, but it instead came up short and landed in a snow filled bunker.

When they arrived at the bunker they found Rita’s ball sitting on top of a snow pile. every single inch of the bunker was covered in snow. Rita asked colby what the rule was. under Rule 16.1c Relief for Abnormal conditions when Your Ball is in a Bunker, if your ball is in a bunker and there is interference by an abnormal course condition (snow is considered temporary water), you may take free relief in the bunker by finding the nearest point of complete relief, and dropping the ball within one clublength no closer to the hole. if there is no point of relief in the bunker that is not closer to the hole, then with a one penalty stroke you may take a drop outside the bunker on the line of relief.

Since there was nowhere in the bunker to take free relief, and there was no way Rita was taking a one stroke penalty, she decided she was going to play it out from the snow. She marched right into the bunker. The snow was deeper than she thought as she trudged over to her ball. The ball was perched up about knee high. She gripped down on her snow wedge and took a mighty swing at the ball. it came out perfectly onto the green. Standing on the green, colby and i could see the ball, but not Rita. She swung so hard that she lost her footing and fell backwards into the snow. She had a good laugh and then made a perfect snow angle before exiting the bunker. i gave her a rake to smooth out her mess, but she informed me a snow shovel would work better!

Hopefully, it will be a short winter with more playable days in the near future!

G O LF AC A D EM Y N EW S if you’re into new Year’s resolutions, you’ve probably already made them — but did you make your 2022 golf resolutions yet?

Brian Moose Director of instruction moose.brian@gmail.com

As an instructor, here are a few things i think you should consider. These drills, assessments and practice plans will have to on your way to playing the best golf of your life in 2022.

cReATe MORe SPeeD everyone needs more speed in this game — even the longest players in your group could stand to swing a little faster. For every 1 mph you add to your club head speed (assuming centered impact), you can gain up to 3 yards more distance. very few of us will be able to create 10 more mph and still find the center of the face, but if you could find 3, 4 or 5 mph it would be nice, don’t you think? use my swish drill to produce more speed. Take an alignment stick and set up as you would normally. Then make a swing trying to make the swish out in front of the ball and as loud as possible. You will hear “more speed.”

iMPROve YOuR WeDGe GAMe FROM 30-TO-80 YARDS Remember that the first key to wedges is to get the ball on the green. Once you can do that consistently, you can then hone in on the hole. if you want to become a better wedge player, you will need to practice and chart your distances and dispersion. You can do this using a launch monitor at home or

when the range reopens. You want to understand how far you carry each shot and what your “miss pattern” tends to be from each yardage so you can plan accordingly.

TAKe MORe LeSSOnS if you want to get better at golf and improve your own personal well-being on the golf course, you are going to need some help. if possible, i advocate taking a lesson every two weeks. if you cannot, then shoot for one lesson each month. it will help you to make sure you stay on the right track. including short game lessons so you can better learn how to hit stock chips, pitches, and flops around the green and i promise that you will thank me in the end.

WORK On YOuR LAG PuTTinG You should spend at least 50 percent of your putting practice on super-fast putts, huge breaking putts, etc., so that you have a feel of how to control your ball on different lines and with different speeds.

A great drill to work on is to find a huge breaking putt and work on lag putting it to the hole using as many different “lines” as possible.

This will help your visualization, as well as your feel on the greens.

To be a great lag putter, it’s absolutely necessary to understand how different lines necessitate different speeds. Take the time to understand how to do this and you will not three whip it too often in 2015!

LeARn TO HiT THe HORizOnTAL AnD veRTicAL cenTeR OF THe cLuB everyone knows that you need to find the center of the club as often as you can, but few know that there are two different places you should be mindful of when hitting shots.

You need to control your vertical impact point and your horizontal impact point on the club.

The vertical portion of impact controls your launch and your spin rate. The horizontal portion of impact controls the “Gear effect” on the ball. Spray your club face with Dr. Scholl’s Foot Spray and you will see what i mean.

Once you establish your usual pattern, take small swings and try to move the impact location back into the center of the face. Doing this will add ball speed and help you to hit the ball straighter and more consistently.

C L U B H O U R S O F O P E R AT I O N GOLF COURSE Open daily March through november until dusk.

Refer to the club's website for first starting times, frost delays or superintendent notifications. course closed on Tuesdays, including practice facilities.

Temporary greens December through mid-March.

DRIVING RANGE Open a half hour before first starting time.

Mondays - closes 90 minutes early for maintenance.

March – weather permitting (check website) April, May & September – closes at 7:00pm June, July & August - closes at 8:00pm October - closes at 6:00pm november - closes at 4:30pm January, February & December - closed GOLF SHOP Open daily 15 minutes before first starting time.

Tuesdays - closed January - closed February, March, november & December – closes at 5:00pm April, May, September & October – closes at 6:00pm June, July & August - closes at 6:30pm CLUBHOUSE RESTAURANT Wednesday through Sunday - open for lunch & dinner starting at 11:00am. no food service after 9pm on Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday / 10pm on Friday & Saturdays.

FIRESIDE LOUNGE April through December Opens Wednesday, Thursday & Friday at 4:00pm / Saturdays & Sundays at noon.

January through March closed on Sundays FITNESS CENTER GOLF SeASOn 6:30am to 6:00pm on Monday / 6:30am to 9:00pm Wednesday through Sunday.

Tuesdays - closed OFF-SeASOn 8:00am - 5:00pm on Monday / 8:00am - 9:00pm Wednesday through Sunday.

GREENSIDE GRILLE Open April 1st through november 15th (honor system only) closed on Tuesdays