TOM TOM AUGUST 2022
THE SAHALEE TEAM
STAFF MARCUS KING GENERAL MANAGER MARCUS@SAHALEE.COM BRYAN NICHOLSON DIRECTOR OF GOLF BRYAN@SAHALEE.COM CHARLIE SCHAUWECKER AGRONOMY DIRECTOR CHARLIE.SAHALEE@GMAIL.COM JUSTIN KEENER CLUBHOUSE OPERATIONS DIRECTOR JUSTINK@SAHALEE.COM ADRIAN SIBUG CULINARY DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE CHEF ADRIAN@SAHALEE.COM SIEMON SLAGTER FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING DIRECTOR SIEMON@SAHALEE.COM BRITTIANY LATHRUP MEMBERSHIP & COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR BRITTIANY@SAHALEE.COM
BOARD OF DIRECTORS SCOTT HEYDON-PRESIDENT MIKE DENTON- VICE PRESIDENT STEVE MOGER-TREASURER JOHN TINKHAM-SECRETARY JAY KIRSCHENMAN-SOCIAL LIAISON BILL BONNELL-MEMBERSHIP LIAISON NORMAN CHEUK-CHAMPIONSHIP LIAISON MARYLE TRACY-GREEN LIAISON TYLER DION-CHAMPIONSHIP AND GM SEARCH CHAIR
COMMITTEE CHAIRS GOLF-BRIAN SELBY GREEN-MICHELLE HOOD FINANCE-DAWN NAYE HOUSE-BILL PHILLIPS MEMBERSHIP-HOWARD LEE RULES AND HANDICAP-JEANNE LINK JUNIOR GOLF-BEAU CLINE CHAMPIONSHIP-TYLER DION SOCIAL-LIZ PHIPPS MEN'S DIVISION-GEORGE GLAUSER WOMEN'S DIVISION-DEBBIE ACTON
LAURIE COLEMAN ACCOUNTING ADMINISTRATOR LAURIE@SAHALEE.COM JUSTIN STURDY PGA ASSISTANT PRO JUSTIN.STURDY@SAHALEE.COM LAURA KRAFT ASSISTANT PRO LAURA@SAHALEE.COM ADAM POOL ASSISTANT PRO ADAM@SAHALEE.COM KYLE MCPHERSON ASSISTANT PRO KYLE@SAHALEE.COM RYAN BENZEL PGA DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION RYAN.BENZEL@SAHALEE.COM DEVIN BRIGHAM CADDIE MASTER/OUTSIDE SERVICES MANAGER DEVIN@SAHALEE.COM KYLE DICKEY ASSISTANT CADDIE MASTER/OUTSIDE SERVICES MANAGER KYLED@SAHALEE.COM ALEXA MENDOZA FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANAGER ALEXA@SAHALEE.COM JIM PIKE PGA GOLF PROFESSIONAL EMERITUS PIKEPGA@SAHALEE.COM
Cover photo credit: Dan Lewis
Cheers
TO NEW MEMBERS!
The Sahalee family warmly welcomes Regular Golf Kris McKelvey
Social
Trevor and Brooke Roberge
HOURS OF OPERATION Driving Range Monday: 10am-8pm Tuesday: 7am-7pm Wednesday: 7am-8pm Thursday: 7am-8pm Friday: 7am-8pm Saturday: 6:30am-8pm Sunday: 6:30am-8pm
Pro Shop Monday: 10am-8pm Tuesday: 7am-8pm Wednesday: 7am-8pm Thursday: 7am-8pm Friday: 7am-8pm Saturday: 6:30am-8pm Sunday: 6:30am-8pm
Restaurant Breakfast Saturday 7am-11am Sunday 8am-12pm
Golfer's Grill Monday-Tuesday: 10am-5pm Honor Bar Service Starter House Daily
Lunch Wednesday-Sunday 11am-5pm Dinner Thursday, Friday, Sunday 5pm-8:30pm
A Letter from our President What a glorious July! Last month was peak tournament time for Sahalee: the Women’s Invitational, Women’s Member-Member, and the Men’s Invitational were all big successes. Additionally, we hosted two prominent outside events that financially support club operations and grow our brand. As President, one of the many things I’m learning is just how much work goes into getting all the details right so that members and guests have amazing experiences. Team Sahalee did an incredible job on and off the golf course to showcase Sahalee as the best club in the Northwest. We should all be proud of our amazing team and club – I know I am! I just participated in my first Sahalee Men’s Invitational, and what a wonderful experience! For those of you who haven’t played in an invitational, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a try. Not only is it a great tournament, but you also get to meet and play with a variety of members. I feel even more connected to the Sahalee family after my experience. I also loved being able to see the golf course through the eyes and hearts of our guests. It made me appreciate even more what a special place we get to call home. I’d like to give a quick shout out to Jay Kirschenman. This month’s Kirschenman Corner is so creative with his approach to caring for our course in a highly entertaining way. Coincidentally, an article was suggested to me entitled “Don’t Be That Person!” Essentially, it described member behaviors that are discourteous to fellow members, staff or our golf course – just like Jay’s video did. “Don’t be that person” can be a new catch phrase we each can adopt to help support fellow members to ensure they treat Sahalee team members, golf course and facilities with the respect they deserve. Thanks Jay! Past Business Our search for a new GM is well on its way. The Search Committee has engaged ExecuSearch Solutions, a recruiting service within the PGA of America. We jointly created a job description which has been posted globally in the PGA network as well as with the Club Managers Association and the Golf Course Superintendents Association. We know already that highly qualified candidates have expressed interest and either have or will apply. We updated several components of the Sahalee website. Notably, the Membership tab contains the compelling scenes from the previously released video (edited without the interviews). Now, prospective members can get a better sense of our High Heavenly Ground. If you haven’t visited our site in a while, you’ll find several great updates. The Board approved a Cash Reserve Policy proposal in our July meeting from the Finance Committee. This new policy provides guidance to the Board on the minimum cash reserve Sahalee should maintain to sustain operations in case of emergency and to meet our loan requirements. Additionally, the Board discussed and approved the recent published member communications on the potential for hosting the KPMG Championship in 2024. Directors were unanimous in our support for hosting this major championship. The recent non-binding survey was also highly supportive, with 80% of the 225 members voting “Yes” in support of the event. This is consistent with past surveys - indicating our desire to host the event if chosen. continued on next page:
A Letter from our President The Board reviewed a policy recommendation from the Green Committee to help the Agronomy Team deal with their staff shortages. You’ll hear more about that later this month from Charlie and Michelle. Lastly, the Board approved a policy providing guidance on consequence standards for different types of member behavioral issues. This guidance will ensure future boards apply a consistent approach should matters come before them. This year, no behavioral issues have risen to require Board attention. New Business On the GM search front, we will soon be screening initial applications and starting to conduct first-round interviews. From there, the Search Committee will narrow the field to a handful of candidates who will visit Sahalee for in-depth interviews. Our hope is to have a candidate identified by late September. With Marcus’s retirement on August 26th, we will likely go a short while with an interim leadership plan, which will be communicated soon. The Finance Committee and Board continue to evaluate Sahalee’s current initiation fee and refundability policy. There is a lot to consider as it relates to members on the sale list, market conditions, our bylaws, impact on prospective new members, and the long-term capital needs of the club. Earlier this year we committed to review the initiation fee level relative to the market on a more-regular basis. And in the annual meeting last year, we committed to reviewing the club’s current position on refundability. I expect to have more to share with members on both of these topics in the months ahead. Also, there are several analyses being performed by various committees to assure Sahalee has a long-term plan in place to achieve our aspirations. It’s a complex ecosystem with many inter-related parts. Change should be broached carefully and thoughtfully with a long-term time horizon. I am currently anticipating a member forum in September or October to begin sharing some of these ideas and answer questions you may have. Finally, the Championship Committee expects to host a delegation from the PGA of America for a site visit later this month or in early September as we pursue a partnership for the 2024 KMPG LPGA Championship. Here’s to another wonderful warm month of August with a firm and fast golf course. See you at the club! Warmly, Scott Heydon Club President
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
12-13 SMD MEMBER-MEMBER 19-21 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS (MENS/WOMENS/JUNIOR) 22 COSTCO (PRIVATE) 23 BUNKER RENOVATION BEGINS 2-3 SENIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 9 SWD FALL FIELD DAY 26 EVANS CUP EVENT (PRIVATE) 27 SWD GUEST DAY 1 SMD STABLEFORD 9 SOCIAL GOLF: FALL FLING EVENT 10 WA GOLF ASSOCIATION PLAY DAY (PRIVATE) 15 SMD MEN'S AWARDS NIGHT 29 SMD FOUR BALL SCRAMBLE
Upcoming Golf Events
Fitting Days
August 19th- 12pm-4pm September 10th 11am-3pm
August 26th 1pm-5pm
August 5th-1pm-5pm
August 3rd- 1pm-5pm September 7th-12pm-4pm
A Letter from our Director of Golf After waiting patiently for summer to arrive, Mother Nature sure turned up the furnace to close out the final week of July. In spite of six consecutive days in the 90s to round out the month, the golf course is remarkably great condition, and currently offers a stern test with our firm and fast greens. This is a true testament to incredible work that our agronomic team has been doing, and Charlie’s group worked around the clock in late July to prime the course for our Women’s Member-Member and Men’s Invitational. This is what we’ve been waiting for Sahalee, so please get out and enjoy your Club! This past month was filled great action on the course with our Invitationals from our Sahalee Men and Women’s Divisions. The Women’s Invitational, Fairways in the Forest, featured 38 teams, playing 36 holes following Independence Day. Using Stableford scoring, Kim Shek and her guest Beth Campbell won the Gross competition by 8 total points with a score of 71. In the Net Division, Susan Wright and Anne Marie Mayne (who make the trek from Canada) recorded 86 points to squeak out the victory. Great playing Susan and Anne our 2022 Fairways in the Forest victors! Later in the month, our Women’s Member-Member had 52 ladies that played Chapman and Best Ball over 36 holes. After an opening round of 62, the field was chasing Eleanor Devlin and Barbara Heiner in Day 2. Ellen Wang and Jane Fung gave it their best with a closing round of 63, but they still came 6 strokes shy of Devlin and Heiner as the runner up. The hot duo of Devlin and Heiner fired a 67 in the second round for a two-day total of 129. Their victory was their first Member-Member title, and continues the hot play for Eleanor. After being victorious in the President’s Cup and Spring Field Day Kickoff, Eleanor is having a year to remember. Congratulations to our Champions! Playing in the summer heat, the Men’s Invitational was sure a week to remember. A total of 108 teams participated, with guests traveling from Scotland, Canada and all across the continental US and Hawaii! Playing 5 nine-hole matches across 3 days, the 18 flight winners were joined by 2 wildcard teams to comprise the Championship finale. The team of Nelson Yu and his guest George Neffner from Sand Point CC played incredibly steady golf. In the difficult foursomes format, Yu and Neffner posted 3 pars and 6 bogies, and the duo recorded a net 35.5 to outlast Jim Grady and Dan Peterson who fired a net 39. Yu and Neffner were excited by their victory, but each credited their short game throughout the week on the fast greens for their success. During the awards ceremony on Saturday evening, a special tribute was made by Invitational Chairmen Rob Jeske and Tom Burrows to Sahalee “Mayor” Kent Martin. In the future, the Championship Finale of the Invitational will forever be known as the Kent Martin Final. Coming up in August, the major Championships at Sahalee continue! We will kickoff August with our Sahalee Men’s MemberMember August 12 & 13. The Member-Member will be a weekend not to miss with all the fun and contests throughout the week. We are bringing back the exciting Par 3 Challenge, $1000 putt, $1000 KP, and a new special surprise cash game on Thursday evening. On Saturday following the final round, Chef Adrian Sibug has several culinary delights that he’s excited to showcase!
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Photo credit: Shane McTaggart
A Letter from our Director of Golf New for 2022 is Championship Week! We are looking forward to hosting our Sahalee Men’s, Women’s and Junior Club Championships concurrently. By bringing these events together, we are excited to celebrate and recognize the achievements of our Club Champions together as a golf community. This year, the Men’s Division is EXPANDING it’s Club Championship to include flights of competition. We are excited to offer this change in hopes to attract more players of all playing abilities. Please consider joining us for this fun weekend of golf, and we look forward to crowning our new Champions! Pivoting a bit, I would like to take a moment to recognize our outgoing Sahalee Head Golf Professional, Jacob Lippold. Earlier this spring, Jacob announced that he would be exiting Sahalee to pursue a career in the culinary world. With a passion for the art of pizza making, Jacob will head to Italy with a couple domestic stops in between to learn his craft. Eventually, Jacob’s hope is to open his own restaurant featuring his perfected pies. Jacob will be wrapping up his time at Sahalee the first week of August, and will head back to Port Angeles for a little time with family before heading overseas. Throughout his tenure, Jacob displayed a servant’s attitude doing anything that was asked of him throughout the challenging transition of the golf operation through the pandemic. I am personally grateful to Jacob for his commitment, leadership, and professionalism. We will certainly miss Jacob, but wish him well on his new ventures. If you’d like to drop Jacob a quick note – feel free to send him an email to: jacob@sahalee.com From all of us, thank you, Jacob! I would be remised if I didn’t announce our excitement to begin the bunker renovation project later this month. The team from Landscapes Unlimited (our contractor) along with Rees Jones (architect) will begin mobilizing later this month. If you haven’t already checked out the new practice bunker at the short game facility, please take a moment to preview some of the upcoming work. The lower back lip greatly enhances the ingress/egress to the bunker. Additionally, the front lip of the bunker has been significantly lowered after all the years of “splash” have been eliminated. The date shovels go in the ground will be Tuesday, August 23 starting with the East Course. We will be South/North only beginning this date, and our priority is to provide updates and information along the way to keep the membership apprised of this important course work. A heartwarming story to share – I would like to recognize the efforts of Renee Lucarelli during the recent Men’s Invitational. Renee’s usual player hospitality outside her home on 5 East is a “must stop” for nearly all teams in the field. This year, Renee added a “tip jar” with donations supporting the First Tee of Seattle. I am excited to share that Renee received over 3k in “tips” and the First Tee will be receiving the donation later this month. Well done, Renee, and thank you to the generous Sahalee membership for their amazing support. I’ll leave off this month with a different perspective for most amateur golfers. I would recommend to stop tracking your fairways hit. Yes, that’s correct – stop tracking that statistic. INSTEAD – start tracking how many tee shots leave you a “reasonable” opportunity to get on the green in regulation. Stop worrying about hitting fairways, and instead focus on making reasonable contact and keep it in play. Penalty strokes (unplayable lies, water, OB, bunkers) are round killers! Please remember when enjoying the course: 1) Fix your ball marks. 2) Repair your divots. 3) Play ready golf. 4) Play the appropriate tee for your skill level. 5) HAVE FUN! Get out and play! I’ll see you on the course! Fairways and Greens, Bryan
Track Your Stats – Learn Where to Improve I can confidently say that nearly all golfers want to shoot lower scores. While we all may “want” to shoot lower scores, do you know “how” to make this happen? Tracking your stats from rounds played is one of the best ways to tackle the quest to shoot lower scores, lower your handicap, or break 90, 80, 70 for the first time. Stats tracking can give you information about your game in a way never realized before. You can learn how to play to high percentage shots, attempt shots your proficient with, and learn the biggest area where to spend your coveted practice time. GAME FORGE is an online stats platform co-founded by Mark Sweeney, inventor of AimPoint. The GameForge platform can track stats from tournaments rounds and casual rounds (practice). After entering a few rounds, you can look at your ‘GameForge Index’ and/or ‘Trends’ to learn more about your game. Through discussion and coaching we can help you learn where to focus your practice time based on lagging stats and also help to show you how using your stats can help you improve your on-course decision making. I can add any player to my Coaching Profile on GameForge and together we can use this information to improve your game. A few quick tidbits of stats from about my game in 2022…see chart below… I average 9.88 fairways in regulation (Fairways). I average 12.55 greens in regulation (GIR), and average 7.24 of those GIR are inside 20 feet (In Positions). I make birdie 44% of the time when my approach is inside 20 feet (IP Conversion) and 71% when my approach is inside 8 feet (Bjk Conversion). I save par 81% of the time when I hit a pitch/chip inside 6 feet (P6 Conversion)
DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION
LESSON RATES Single Lesson: $100 Series of 3: $285 Series of 5: $450 Playing Lesson: $225 Junior Lesson: $75 Available Tuesday - Saturday 206-683-0025 cell ryan.benzel@sahalee.com 2016 Western WA Chapter PGA Teacher of the Year 2021 GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional
From these stats, I know that more greens I hit (especially inside 20 feet) the more birdies I will make. This can help me play more aggressively when I have middle and short irons in my hand. Additionally, I need to remain sharp and even improve my pitching/chipping because I save par over 80% of the time when I pitch it close. It would be awesome to save par over 90% of the time…a great goal moving forward. If you have questions, want to learn more, or would like to begin using GAME FORGE and be in my Coaching Profile of players, please let me know by sending me an email. Ryan Benzel Subscribe and follow Ryan on his YouTube Channel !
Aces, Eagles and Incredible Rounds Matt Adamson HOLE IN ONE 7/3/2022 4 North , 128 yards with a PW Jana Whitcomb HOLE IN ONE 7/22/2022 5 South , 4 hybrid Chris Young HOLE IN ONE 7/27/22 5 South, 155 yards with an 8 iron Jeff Jones HOLE IN ONE Running Y Ranch Golf Course 152 yards, PW Tom Ganey EAGLE 7/25/2022 2 North , 177 with a 3 wood
Sahalee Women's Division Congratulations to everyone who participated in our Invitational tournament and the Member/Member. We had great participation for both events and the weather couldn't have been better. The Invitational overall winners were Susan Wright and her partner Anne Marie Mayne for low net and Kim Shek and her partner Beth Campbell won low gross. The Member/Member overall winners were Eleanor Devlin and Carol Moody. Our weekly Tuesday, Friday competitions are going strong with a variety of competitions each week. Be sure to sign up for the competition prior to play and don't worry, if you have a tough day you don't need to write your score down. It is important for us to have as many as possible sign up in order to allocate prize $ appropriately. Coming up in the next month is our Club Championship which is open to all Women's Division members so sign up as soon as possible. A Champion will be crowned for each flight. In September we will have Fall Field (September 9) day so start getting your foursome together now and also our Senior Club Championship which is September 2nd and 3rd. This is the third of our combined events with the men's division so don't miss out! Debbie Acton SWD Captain
Invitational Winners: Susan Wright and Anne Marie Mayne (R) Kim Shek and Beth Campbell (L)
Member/Member Champs Eleanor Devlin and Carol Moody
Jana Whitcomb makes a HIO at Member/Member!
Green Committee Update-Bunker Project Begins It has been my pleasure to serve a three-year term on the Green Committee in recent years and to come back on board as the chair this year. Our committee’s direction, per the club by-laws, is to “monitor and consider any matters concerned with the culture and playability of the golf course. This includes any study and recommendation for architectural changes and to act in an advisory capacity to the Golf Course Architect and Director of Golf Operations or Golf Course Superintendent.” The golf course is our greatest asset as a club, and we employ experts to keep it in top-notch shape whether for a major tournament or day-to-day member play. The committee truly does act in an advisory role to these experts as well as serve as a liaison to the membership when questions about golf course conditions or expectations arise. Members of the committee tend to learn quite a lot about what it takes to keep the course in the best possible condition - from tree management plans, to shade zone work, to aerification and irrigation practices, down to ball mark and divot repair. It is a fine balancing act for our agronomy team considering that we have moved from record-breaking rainfall in May and June to record-breaking temperatures in late July this year. Over the last several years, members have consistently expressed a desire to renovate the bunkers which have not had significant work performed on them since 1998. After architect visits and design plans, securing funding and holding member information events, we are about to embark on the project. The end result will be consistent bunkers that are easier to get in and out of and have seriously improved drainage leading to overall improved playability. While the work is being performed, however, there will be a significant impact to the golf course. Once the East nine shuts down for the start of the work, one nine at a time will remain closed until the work is complete on South, the last nine to be renovated. It is important that the entire membership knows what to expect in terms of a basic timeline. While this is a fairly conservative schedule, we are often at the mercy of the weather here in the PNW, and that has the potential to impact progress. For example, the sod around the practice bunker took longer than anticipated to fully root due in large part to the extreme amount of rainfall in May. We are crossing our fingers that COVID outbreaks stay at bay, but that also has the potential to impact the timeline if it were to hit the crew that is working on the project. Rest assured that Charlie will keep the membership updated as the project progresses. First week of AugSigns of mobilization will appear at the golf course. Equipment, trucks, trailers and materials will begin to arrive and be staged. August 23rd The East nine will shut down and the project will officially begin. Bunkers will be renovated one hole at a time. Because it will take several weeks to renovate the entire 9 holes, there will be a rolling maturation time for the bunkers and surrounding areas and thus they will be deemed playable on a rolling basis as well. Until they are ready, the bunkers and new sod surrounding them will be played as ground under repair, but as they heal, they will come back into regular play. This will happen on the early holes on East before the later holes which were renovated several weeks after the project started. 2nd Half of September Work will begin on the North nine following the same protocol as on East. 2nd Half of October Work will begin on the South nine. Thanksgiving 2022 Target date for the completion of the renovation work. It takes several months for the sand to compact and play “normally” and consistently. Furthermore, there will be new sod around every bunker as well as areas on several greens that will be regraded due to years of sand build-up. (These are areas that have had “splash” sand build up over years which significantly changed the original grade of the green and often caused severe slopes that were not meant to be there.) By the start of the 2023 season, all the healing should be complete! April 15, 2023 Target date for the project to be completely finished. As the time draws closer to the start of the project, look for stand-alone communication and FAQs coming from the club that include specific information and updates. I’m excited to see the end result! Michelle Hood Green Committee Chair
Junior Golf News
Practice with a Pro Thursday Evenings 5pm-6:30pm
Junior Development Clinic Wednesdays June-August 5pm-6pm
Member Inspired Events and Meetups Nine & Wine Join the group on designated Thursday evenings for non-competitive, fun and quirky games of golf! Different games each week. Those that choose to can pay $3 into the pot and winners will share the money. Various other prizes and raffles are planned throughout the season. If you wish to play and not keep score, that's okay! We play just for a fun opportunity to play nine and drink wine! August 18th September 1st and 15th 4pm Social Fun 5pm Golf
Mahjong Have you ever wanted to learn to play Mahjong? Please join us and learn one of the worlds oldest games. It’s never too late to learn something new. We start with lunch at 11:00 on Wednesdays followed by Mahjong. Contact Patricia Domine at 425-241-8506 or p_domine@hotmail.com to RSVP or for more information.