S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 TOM TOM
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 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 MARCUS KING GOLF COACH MARCUS@SAHALEE COM 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 BOARD OF DIRECTORS STAFF 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 THE SAHALEE TEAM Cover photo credit: Drew Romine Current page photo credit: Monty Montoya
Regular Golf Brian and Erica Olin Luke Kang and Lisa HongJerry Carter and Pari Jongwachirachai SocialKenneth and Leah Gilbert Connor and Abbey DouglassErnest and Rowena Peralta Sahalee family warmly welcomes
OPERATION Driving Range
Cheers TO NEW MEMBERS!
Wednesday-SundayRestaurantBreakfastSaturday7am-11amSunday8am-12pmLunch11am-5pmDinnerThursday,Friday,Sunday5pm-8:30pm
The
Monday: Saturday:Saturday:Wednesday:Tuesday:10am-6:30pm7am-5:30pm7am-6:30pmThursday:7am-6:30pmFriday:7am-6:30pm6:30am-6:30pmSunday:6:30am-6:30pmProShopMonday:9:30am-7:30pmTuesday:7am-7:30pmWednesday:7am-7:30pmThursday:7am-7:30pmFriday:7am-7:30pm6:30am-7:30pmSunday:6:30am-7:30pm
HOURS OF
Golfer's HonorMonday-Tuesday:Grill11am-6pmBarServiceStarterHouseDaily
A Letter from our President August marked a full month for the tournament play. If you participated in any of our tournaments, I know you had a world-class experience. The course was perfect, and the organization was fantastic! Additionally, Sahalee hosted a few outside Monday golf tournaments. While having the course closed on Mondays is a determent to members, the recent retooling of the contractual terms negotiated by our Director of Golf Bryan Nicholson makes them financially rewarding – helping to supplement member dues to the tune of over $200,000 in 2022 Ialone.want to recognize all the Sahalee Team who dedicated themselves passionately over countless hours to providing members with amazing and unforgettable experiences. Whether it is the championship-caliber golf course, the high-touch service provided by the pro shop team running the tournaments or the high-quality food enjoyed by all – it truly marked an amazing month for “Team Sahalee.” Thank you to the entire team for your hard work and caring! Past Business
The Board had an active set of discussions this month. We received a valuable update from the Championship Committee and Kevin White on the planning for the 2023 Sahalee Player’s Championship where Sahalee will be hosting 11 of the top 15 college teams in this reimagined event. Both Sahalee and the UW are committed to a long-term partnership which the Board enthusiastically supports. We see amateur tournaments like the SPC as crucial to Sahalee’s future success. To help introduce members to the UW team, we are hosting an event next Thursday (9/15) where Sahalee foursomes will get the opportunity to play with a UW player. Sign up now through the Sahalee app! The Board also discussed our current membership price and refundability. With recommendations from the finance and membership committees, the Board agreed to leave the Membership Price at its current level of $50,000 for now. No one on the board thinks we should lower the Membership Price, and many are leaning towards increasing the level to be more in-line with local area clubs (reportedly Overlake CC just sold a membership for $240,000). Additionally, our membership sales continue to be strong, having welcomed 15 new Regular Golf Members as of September 1st. We have now achieved our capital budget goal from new initiation fees for all of 2022 – and we still have three months to go. On the topic of refundability, the Board agreed to keep the Initiation Fee also at $50,000, thus setting the Resale Value (or ‘refundability’ to the outgoing member) at $0. The BOD does not believe increasing the Resale Value at this time would be right for Sahalee given both our long-term capital needs, and the risk Sahalee assumes with the current 9-month out opportunity for all Regular Golf members. It is important to note, in our current environment where the club owns memberships (currently 10), any outgoing member is not eligible for any refundability, regardless of the Resale Value as a result of the Boards’s decisions on Initiation Fee and Membership Price.
Lastly, the Board received an early update from Charlie on the bunker renovation project, which has started with great weather and is proceeding according to plan. As a reminder, weather permitting, we expect each nine to take roughly a month for completion. As I wrote about last month, this project is much more than simply replacing the bunker floor and sand. With reshaping, repositioning, and new contouring, this project will dramatically improve our Sahalee Golf Course – all part of our Golf Course Master Plan.
A Letter from our President New Business
Also, we continue active discussions with the PGA regarding the potential for hosting the 2024 KMPG LPGA Championship. The PGA’s site visit has been pushed out to early October. Following up on the survey we conducted, 82% of the members voiced their support for hosting this event. This is higher than the two previous surveys, which resulted in 70% and 80% approval ratings.
On the advice of counsel, this year we initiated a periodic bylaw review. Reviewing our bylaws calls out any inconsistencies, needs for clarification, and necessary updates. A select bylaw review team has met and is considering targeted recommendations to the Board of Directors and ultimately (if moved forward) to the full membership (a vote is required for any bylaw change). More to come on this topic in the coming month or Lastly,two. under the leadership of our Controller Siemon, the leadership team will be starting the annual budget process in September. With some high-level guidance from the Board of Directors, Sahalee leaders will assemble a financial budget for 2023 and present that to the Finance Committee – for ultimate review and approval from the Board of Directors. While 2022 isn’t over, the team has made many improvements this year to strengthen the club and improve the membership experience. We all want to continue this trajectory to help Sahalee continue its leadership role as the “Best in the Northwest.” While staffing and inflationary headwinds persist, Sahalee has a highly capable team who can navigate this climate while also pursuing continuous improvement. We have a lot of great things happening at our club, and I hope you are enjoying your experience as much as I am. See you at the club soon.
ClubScottSincerely,HeydonPresident
Our search for a new GM continues to progress according to plan. Sahalee received over 30 applications and the Search Committee narrowed that down to a smaller field of both national and local applicants. We are honored to have some fantastic potential GM’s applying for the role here – it is a testament to the reputation Sahalee has locally and nationally as the best in the northwest. We will be moving to the final stage, a live interview of finalists, later this month.
The Board has set a strategic planning offsite for later in September. As indicated in my Tom Tom article last month, the individual pieces of membership pricing and structure are all inter-related. Changing one component in isolation can create unintended consequences. The board will be discussing a potential longterm strategic framework and many facets of our membership policies. Having a “robust membership” (full of active and engaged members) is critical to the club’s success. We want to discuss policies that could help Sahalee achieve that goal over the long-term.
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 SEPTEMBER OCTOBER Upcoming Golf Events Fitting Days September 10th 11am-3pm September 7th-12pm-4pm Photo credit: Shane McTaggart
Men’s Club Championship Summary: Champion: Jonathan Tran Runner Up: Luke Bakke 1st Flight: Steve Brozinick 2nd Flight: Eric Afonso Our Women’s Championship was also a back forth match from the very beginning After two holes on East, Hood was 2 up early over Shek, the ’21 Defending Champion Shek wasted no time trying to capitalize on the South side After a par on 1 South, Shek recorded a birdie on 2 South to pull 2 ahead of Hood Shek played very steady golf with 4 pars to close the South 9 and went to the North Course with a 3 up lead Cutting the lead to 3 on North, Hood tried to keep the momentum in her favor, but Shek steadied the ship with a par on 6 North to close the match 4 & 3 This was Shek’s fourth Club Championship at Sahalee!
Our golf calendar has been very busy throughout August, and we have enjoyed some fantastic events at the Club As we turn the corner from summer to fall, we still have many fun reasons to keep those clubs nearby. Throughout this summer it has been refreshing to see the joy, passion, and pride that this game brings out in so many, it’s a reminder to all of us that at its very core, golf is so much fun and it brings so many people together.
A Letter from our Director of Golf
Women’s Club Championship Summary: Champion: Kim Shek Runner Up: Michelle Hood 1st Flight: Sylvie O’Keefe 2nd Flight: Rose Crowe 3rd Flight: Gloria Ang
Let’s take a step back and reflect upon the month of August, and recap some of events and acknowledge our Champions. The Men’s Member Member was played the second week of the month, and the 160 player field enjoyed near perfect conditions throughout the weekend. Trailing in their flight entering the final day of competition, a pair of dentists Dr. Michael Johnson and Dr. Tony McLaughlin combined to record 12 net birdies and a net eagle for a 60 during the second round! Their two round total of 129 allowed Johnson and McLaughlin to easily win the 7th flight and advance to the finals to face the other 9 flight winners and 6 wildcard teams Playing a 9 hole Chapman, teams had to dig deep in the challenging alternate shot format Both Johnson and McLaughlin continued their hot play, and captured the Member Member title by two over Jason Hart & Tom Furphy and Andy Breidenbach and Chris Grusz who shared a 165 5 total The victory for Dr Johnson and Dr McLaughlin was their first Member Member title and capped an incredible week both on and off the course! Championship Week at the Club featured three contests hosted together for the first time at the Club The Men’s, Women’s and Junior Club Championship were A 27 hole final exam was all that was between four players and the respective titles for our Men’s and Women’s Club Championship Jonathan Tran and Luke Bakke duked it out for the Men’s title, while Kim Shek and Michelle Hood went toe to toe once again in the Women’s Championship A 27-hole final exam was all that was between four players and the respective titles for our Men’s and Women’s Club Championship Jonathan Tran and Luke Bakke duked it out for the Men’s title, while Kim Shek and Michelle Hood went toe to toe once again in the Women’s Championship In the Men’s Championship, Tran came out swinging with determination from the very start of the match. Regularly hitting punishing 315 yard+ tee shots, Tran used his length to his advantage. Tran and Bakke played beautiful golf on the East 9 each playing bogey free and recording 5 birdies between them. The match would go back and forth, but faced with the pressure of closing the match, Tran hit a beautiful approach on the 26th hole of the match, converted his par putt to win the match 2&1, and add his name to the Wall of Champions.
Wow, what a great summer it has been at the Club! We’ve enjoyed some fabulous golf course conditions over the past few months, and it’s a reminder of golf at its absolute finest here in the Pacific Northwest!
Please consider joining us for this special event on Thursday, September 15 We will play in fivesomes (four Sahalee members and one Husky team member ) To successfully host the SPC, we will hear from our Chairman, Kevin White, on the significance and importance of Club support for this Championship After the round, the team and our players will learn about the future of the SPC, and the overall vision to make this event the finest collegiate golf tournament in the country Please consider joining us, as I think you will have a memorable experience, and build enthusiasm and support for this exciting new Championship
I will close this month with some reflection over the state of golf from the past two years. The pandemic has certainly influenced the game in ways that we would have never imagined. However, the one constant throughout the pandemic is that PGA Professionals have helped guide and drive the industry throughout this incredible period in our history. While much has changed over these past few years, the one thing that hasn’t is that golf professionals are the one tangible connection to all who play and enjoy golf. Your Sahalee Golf Professional team is excited and looks forward to continuing to build our connection with you, our membership! We are dedicated to maintaining our great Sahalee history while helping to build an atmosphere that creates a lifetime of memories for all Please consider taking a lesson to work on your game, or head out for 9 holes with one of our golf professionals! We love the game, and we enjoy spreading our passion for golf! Fairways and Greens, Bryan
A special thank you to everyone that participated in Championship Week at the Club! We enjoyed bringing both everyone together for this special weekend.
Also, this month, we will host an SPC Preview event featuring the Pac 12 Champion Washington Huskies! We are very excited about renewing the Sahalee Player’s Championship through our partnership with UW The Huskies are currently ranked inside the Top 10 in men’s college golf, and with the up and coming talent under the watchful eye of Alan Murray, the Huskies are well positioned to be a dominant force in men’s college golf for the foreseeable future
In the final week of September, the Club will host the Evans Scholarship Foundation tournament This 150 player event supports youth caddies throughout the state of Washington Our goal is to have a future Evans Scholar come from Sahalee, as the last time this happened was over two decades ago in 1999. To cap off and exciting September, we will host our SWD Guest Day. This one day event will be a lot of fun, and my team looks forward to meeting all our guests!
Our Junior Club Championship was also contested and winning our 2022 Sahalee Junior Club Championship for the first time in the Boys 18 Hole Division was Ethan Schwan. Ethan shot a stellar round of even par 72 on the North East course, highlighted by 4 birdies. Winning the Girls 18 Hole Division and now 6 time Champion Nicole Koong Nicole shot 79 on the same North East course with steady play of fairways and greens Also competing on the South nine were our 9 Hole and 4 Hole Divisions The juniors battled a stern test of golf on the South nine and four quality junior golfers emerged to win their respective divisions 9 Hole Division Boys Mickey Barber 40 Girls Isabelle Milligan 71 4 Hole Division Boys Carter Cline 18 Girls Christine Chen 22
September will continue to be an active month at the High Heavenly Ground. Our bunker renovation on the East side is well underway, and Charlie and our agronomy team will be very active throughout mid September to begin the seasonal maintenance schedule. Before the course aeration officially begins, we will host our SWD Fall Field Day!
A Letter from our Director of Golf
Subscribe and follow Ryan on his YouTube Channel ! 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 Director of Instruction- Ryan Benzel Aces, Eagles and Incredible Rounds 8/21/22 Donald Gorman HOI 4 East from 160 yards (white tees) with a 7 iron He was 6 under on his first 5 holes of East! 8/29/22 Joey Florentine HOI 5 South 160 yards with an 8 iron 8/30/22 Mick Remington shot 7 under his age. This is unheard of! Even Par 72 , Mick is 79 years old! What an accomplishment!
Congratulations to our 2022 Club Champion Kim Shek. It was a great match between Kim and Michelle Hood on a perfect day with the golf course in pristine condition. It was a long 3 days with some great golf from our participants. As I said Kim is our 2022 Champion with Michelle Hood runner up. First flight winner was Sylvie O'keefe, second flight Rose Crowe, and 3rd flight was Gloria Ang. Fall Field Day is Friday September 9th and our last event of the season is Guest Day on September 27th. Guest Day is a wonderful event to show off our course and Club. See the flier below for details! Acton
SEPTEMBER27,2022 9:00SHOTGUN GRABAGUESTANDJOINUSFORALIGHTBREAKFAST,ABUCKETOFBALLS, BESTBALLFORMAT(withatwist),BIRDIES(hopefully)ANDBRUNCH Breakfast: Alightbreakfastonthedrivingrangebeginningat7:30. Twist:Buyonemulliganandamiracleputtfor$10 Themiracleputtcanbeusedfrom anywhereonthegreen Mulligangoodanywhereonthegolfcourse(notthegreen). Format:9:00Shotgun Nettwo womanbestball Playyourownball,recordyourown e MobilescoringapponGolfGeniuswillbeused Ifnotfamiliarwithapp,scorecards canbeused Brunch: Brunchfollowinggolf,withaspecialshotforthosewomen whoscorchedabirdie Awardswillfollow EntryFee:$150pertwosome PleasecontactJulieReidwithanyquestions: 425 681 5929/juliewaittreid@gmailcom BUCKETS, BIRDIES AND BRUNCH GUEST DAY
Sahalee Women's Division
Debbie
SWD Captain
September 15th 4pm Social Fun 5pm 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.
Join the group for the last non competitive, fun and quirky game of the season!
to learn
join us and learn one
new.
What a finish to a great season for the Sahalee Women’s Golf Team! Our final match was played at Rainier Country Club on August 11th, under tough conditions and crazy greens. We are the 2022 “Scratch Division” Champions and the “Handicap Division” Champions. Congratulations to everyone who played, especially Patty Denton and Tomoko Shiotsu who both stepped in at the last minute and helped bring home the tie for first place in our “Sub Division”. The attached pictures say it all: friendship, determination, dedication and loyalty. You are all pretty amazing!
TeamRoseCheers,CroweCaptain Please of worlds oldest games. It’s never too late something 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.
Sahalee Women's Golf Team Member Inspired Events and Meetups Nine & WineMahjong Have you ever wanted to learn to play Mahjong?
the
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!
The Sahalee Players Championship (SPC) is the Men’s College event that Sahalee will be hosting on an annual basis starting in September 2023. Co Hosted by UW Men’s Golf, and Sahalee, the SPC will be one of the best fields in College Golf, showcasing the beauty and pure golf course that Sahalee is. The expected field includes: Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Stanford, Texas, USC, Wake Forest, and Washington Tournament Update – Countdown to September 2023 We are days away from the 1 year countdown to the 2023 SPC! For those who are planners, the exact dates are September 8th 10th, 2023 The 8th (Friday) will be the official practice round for the teams, the 9th (Saturday) will be a 36 hole competition day, and the 10th (Sunday) will be the final 18 hole competition day Here is a summary of the latest updates: 1. Television The tournament is in advanced stages of developing our plans for broadcasting Right now, it is looking like the SPC will be broadcast via a premium streaming service such as Peacock This will put plenty of eyes on Sahalee next Fall 2. Sponsorship This month we begin in earnest our search for a title sponsor for the event Our committee have a target list, and we are finalizing the sponsorship details with a goal to have our corporate sponsor signed by the end of this calendar year. If anyone has ideas on potential sponsors or would like to learn more about the details of the sponsorship please contact Bryan Nicholson 3. Volunteers Thanks to so many of you who have already contacted the SPC team to indicate your desire to help and volunteer. We will need you all! Volunteer recruitment will begin at our SPC Preview event on September 15th (see below for details). This tournament will separate itself from other college events by how it is supported by the membership, so this is our opportunity to shine. Please contact Kevin White if you are interested in volunteering September 15th SPC Preview Event Open to ALL Members Thursday, September 15th, we will welcome the entire roster and coaching staff from the UW Men’s golf team to play in a casual, light competitive round of golf with Sahalee members to connect the program and the club and to introduce many of you to the great players on this squad The day will begin with a light lunch, then we will all head to the course where Sahalee members will be put on teams with a player or coach from UW Immediately following the golf, we will have a small presentation on the SPC, and a Q&A with Bryan Nicholson, Alan Murray (UW Men’s Head Coach), and Kevin White (Tournament Chairman) Should any of you not be able to make the golf portion, please still join us for the after party as it will be fun and informative Registration is OPEN now! Please sign up and support our event!
September 1st marks the official opening day of the golf season at UW. Being a quarter system school, teams are not allowed to begin official activities until this day. The Huskies have the enviable, but difficult task of repeating as Pac 12 Champions. They have lost some great, talented players, but there are many on the squad ready to step up and become elite, as well as adding some very talented new recruits. The team will begin their tournament season at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in Scottsdale on September 9th. Live scoring for almost all college events is available at www.golfstat.com
Sahalee Players Championship Update
To learn more about the roster and coaching staff (UW added a new Assistant Coach this year), go to https://gohuskies com/sports/mens golf/roster
UW Men’s Golf Update:
Sincerely, Kevin White SPC Tournament Chair
Bottom Left Photos: Junior Champions Ethan Schwan and Nicole Koong, 4 Hole Division Champion Christine Chen, 9 Hole Division Mickey Barber, 4 Hole Division Carter Cline and 9 Hole Division Isabelle Milligan
2022
Senior Club Championship Winners (Top Left photo) Net Champion Gloria Ang, Senior Club Champion Kim Shek, Super Senior Champion Paula Miller, Super Senior Champion Mike Jonson, Senior Champion Tyler Dion, and Net Champion Jason Hart Middle Row Photos: Club Champion Kim Shek, Club Champion Jonathan Tran, Junior Club Champions Ethan Schwan and Nicole Koong
Club Championship
Returns! Junior News
Sahalee Junior Member, Carter Cline had a great day last month at the Drive, Chip and Putt sub-regional event at the Home Course in DuPont. He placed 1st in the Drive, 3rd in the Chip and 1st in the Putt portions, earning 1st overall in the Boys 7-9 year olds division and will advance to the regional qualifier at Pebble Beach next month. The top finisher at Pebble Beach will advance to Augusta National next spring. Way to go, Carter!
Krafty Games
