Suntree Life - Winter 2025 by Suntree Country Club

January - March 2025

2024-2025 Board of Directors

President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Phil Schlatter

Pat Waters

Scott Miller

John Breitfeller

Rob Lattig

David Lewis

Brian Murtha

Committee Chair Roster

Finance Committee

Golf Committee

Green Committee

Grievance Committee

House Committee

Legal Stewardship & Bylaws Committee

Membership, Marketing & Communications Committee

Social Committee

Strategic Planning Committee Tennis Committee

John Breitfeller

Pat Waters

Rob Lattig

David Lewis

Scott Miller

Brian Murtha

David Lewis

Phil Schlatter

Pat Waters

John Breitfeller

Robert A. Stone, Jr., CCM, CCE, CAM General Manager/COO

Carol Dyke Interim CFO

Mike Johnson Director of Golf

Anna Collins Director of Membership

Jim Tills Food & Beverage Director

Trent Hoare Assistant Food & Beverage Director

Joe Kinney Service Manager

Lucy Paulson Director of Events

Jes Akey Assistant Events Director

Paul Davis Director of Racquet Sports

Claudia Santos Tennis Facilities Manager

Katie Holley Communications Manager

Charlotte Pinabell Accounts Receivable

Dave Drenga Facilities Maintenance Manager

rob.stone@suntree.com

carol.dyke@suntree.com

mike.johnson@suntree.com

anna.collins@suntree.com

jim.tills@suntree.com

trent.hoare@suntree.com

joe.kinney@suntree.com

lucy.paulson@suntree.com

jes.akey@suntree.com

paul.davis@suntree.com

claudia.santos@suntree.com

katie.holley@suntree.com

charlotte.pinabell@suntree.com

dave.drenga@suntree.com

webmaster@suntree.com

President’s WINTER MESSAGE

Happy New Year to each and every member of the Suntree Country Club community. This past year represented tremendous positive change for our Club. From course renovation and a renewed focus on agronomic practices, fitness room development, anticipated arrival of pickleball, a fully developed fixed asset study, to a vastly improved F&B operations which members are taking great pride in; your Club is moving toward its’ Mission & Vision statements.

The Club finished 2024 with a bang! Thanksgiving was a great success with the F&B team again putting their best foot forward in making the day memorable for over 400 of our members. The day began with the second SCC Turkey Trot around the back 9 of the Classic Course. It was super to see so many members “exercising” before beginning Thanksgiving Day festivities. The year will wrapped up with our New Year’s Eve celebration which was absolutely fabulous – food, drink, music, fellowship & fireworks – what a great way to ring in 2025!!

2025 will build upon the Club’s successes in 2024. 2025 represents the 50th year anniversary since Club’s inception. The Club plans to hold events throughout the year in celebration of this milestone. The first of these events will occur in late March – please be on the lookout for these events on your social calendars. Pickleball court construction will finally come to fruition during the 1st

Phil Schlatter C LUB P RESIDENT

quarter of 2025. The grounds department will be receiving all new John Deere grounds equipment which, when combined with a new set of management eyes across our entire campus will ensure our grounds are continuously expertly maintained. You can expect to receive the annual Performance Excellence survey in January, greatly reformatted, from which membership has its’ opportunity to articulate how to continue moving the Club forward. Finally, I’d like to remind everyone that your Club needs volunteers who desire to make your Club great. Your Club is always looking for members who would like to serve on committees with an eye toward serving on the Board of Directors.

Your Club continues to thrive. The Club is steadily making noticeable improvements, but your feedback is imperative since it is YOUR Club experience that matters most to all of us. Thank you to everyone for your continued support of your Club and for making 2024 a big success. I ensure that you will continue to see improvements in 2025. I look forward to seeing everyone in the coming year.

MESSAGE from the GENERAL MANAGER

Dear Members,

On behalf of our over 200 staff members, I would like to thank all of you for your generous contributions to the Employee Holiday Fund. The monies collected were distributed to all our part-time and full-time yearround staff, based on their length of service to the Club. This included staff in all our departments from Administration, Golf, Grounds, Food & Beverage, Facilities Maintenance and Tennis & Racquet Sports.

Your generosity and support reinforce why it is a safe and reliable workplace and the best place to work in Brevard County.

Campus Improvements

As much as 2024 was a year that included many large-scale capital programs, 2025 will be a year dedicated to strategic planning for future projects. You will be hearing more about these projects and your input will be needed throughout the year as the Strategic Planning Committee begins their work. This does not mean that we will forgo improvements to our campus. The COMPASS Group’s fixed asset management and replacement plan has been implemented and will contribute to this year’s campus improvements. The first quarter of 2025 will be focused on replacing the remaining light poles, repairing fence posts and chain link fabric throughout the tennis and racquet facility and complete this investment with all new matching furniture throughout the tennis courts and pickleball courts. As we continue to meet with the committees, additional improvements will be presented for their final input and implemented based on quarterly cash flow monitoring.

Robert A. Stone, Jr., CCM, CCE, LCAM

G ENERAL M ANAGER/ COO

Golf Carts

The new fleet of E-ZGO golf carts has arrived on the property and has proven to be very popular with the members and their guests. The new golf carts are integrated with PACE that allows us to track the precise location of the flag sticks on the green from anywhere on the hole using TruPin. Additionally, it allows you to be kept up to speed on current weather conditions and allows you to send messages to the staff and other golf carts. We are working behind the scenes with E-Z-GO and PACE as there are additional features we may be introducing as we move along as well.

Athletic & Social Events

I am excited to see new events throughout the Golf, Tennis and Food & Beverage departments this first quarter and encourage all of you to participate in them and share your feedback with the management team. For those of you who have or continue to participate in Club social and athletic events, I hope that you continue to fill out the quick surveys that we send to you as we do review the feedback with the committees and adjust future events from the feedback.

Beginning very shortly, the membership will be seeing new John Deere equipment on our property as the production of our order is completed, and we will be putting it into service as it is received. Additionally, you should begin seeing construction of the additional storage facility at the grounds facility shortly so that we can properly maintain, store and shelter the equipment.

It is exciting to see the levels of participation from the members in our Athletic and Social events and encourage all of you to come on out and share your time with us.

I wish all of you a happy and healthy new year!

EVENT AND CATERING News

Happy New Year, Members!

The events department had a very busy December. Many members hosted their holiday parties at the Club, and we are grateful for the opportunity to make you proud of your Club any month of the year! We are gearing up for 2025 and we have many new events planned and will bring back some popular events we hosted in 2024.

Here are some future fun dates to save in 2025:

January 15 – Puzzles, Pinot & Pasta

January 23 – Name That Tune

January 25 – Golf Comic Ara Anton

February 6 – Trivia Night

February 8 – Blues Brothers Show

February 26 – Chef’s Wine Dinner

March 4 – Who’s Line Is It?

March 15 – St. Patrick’s Day Party

March 23 – Chef’s Breakfast Buffet

March 29 – Suntree Country Club Celebrates 50 years

Lucy Paulson D IRECTOR OF E VENTS

Who are the winners???? We have successfully crowned our Club Champions this past October. Congratulations to our Men’s Club Champion Jake Shaw, who secured his 7th title and our Ladies’ Club Champion Patricia Weiss, who was victorious for the 4th time! Our Senior Club Champions were Haynes Payne, who went back-to-back and Lea Anne Richard! A full list of all our Championship winners can be seen below and our Professional Staff would like to thank all the participants for their participation and sportsmanship.

The 2025 Golf Calendar is complete and all events have been posted on the Golf Corner of the Suntree Website, with registration dates to be found after you click the Tournament Registration button.

TOURNAMENT Results

Men’s Club Championship

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION:

Champion – Jake Shaw

Runner Up – Zach McGoffin

NET DIVISION:

Champion – Gary Clark

Runner Up – Jared Shammah

Senior Club Championship

OVErALL CHAMPION:

Men – Haynes Payne

Women – Lea Anne Richard

FLIGHT CHAMPIONS:

Men 50-59 – Haynes Payne

Men 60-69 – Dennis Brady

Men 70-79 – John Brodnan

Men 80+ - Bachu Patel

Women White Tee – Lea Anne Richard

Women Combo Tee – Teri Bartels

Junior Club Championship

AGE GrOUP 14-15:

Champion – Bradley Braid

Runner Up – Hannah Harrington

AGE GrOUP 11-13:

Champion – Arin Sinha

Runner Up – Martin Zeller

AGE GrOUP 7-10:

Champion – Mason Naberhaus

Mike Johnson D IRECTOR OF G OLF

Please note: We are transitioning our Men’s/Ladies Club Championships to the month of April starting in 2025.

Our entire Golf Team hopes everyone had a memorable & happy holiday season. We hope for the best in 2025 and look forward to continuing the traditions that make Suntree Country Club such a wonderful place to be. We will see you on the Greens!

Family Championship

OVErALL CHAMPIONS

Ken & Landon Dawson

ADULT FLIGHT 1 CHAMPIONS

Travis & Blinn Atchley

ADULT FLIGHT 2 CHAMPIONS

Jeff & David Touvell

CHILD 13-18 CHAMPIONS

Chad & Bradley Braid

CHILD 12 & UNDEr DIVISION

Anthony & Theo Nigara

Ladies’ Club Championship

NANCY JUHN CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT: Club Champion – Patricia Weiss

Runner Up – Janet Lavin

NET FLIGHT:

Champion – Teri Bartels

Runner Up – Susan Crain

Upcoming Events:

January 11-12

Men’s Association North vs South

January 18

Couples Championship

January 24 Night Golf Event

January 31 – February 1

Ladies’ Suntree Cup

February 15 College Am Event

February 28-March 2

Men’s Suntree Cup

March 6-8

Ladies’ Member-Guest

March 16

St. Patrick’s Day Event

March 22

Suntree CC Charity Classic

March 26-28

Men’s Senior Member-Guest

March 29

50th Anniversary Golf Event

The Staub Cup (Men’s Member-Guest):

OVErALL CHAMPIONS – Mike O’Grady & Thomas Miller

FLIGHT 1: Mike O’Grady & Thomas Miller

FLIGHT 2: Steve Wind & Gary Keymont

FLIGHT 3: Paul Weiss & Richard Fulmer

FLIGHT 4: Chad Braid & Beau Braid

FLIGHT 5: Don Schambach & Gabe Girard

FLIGHT 6: Edward Hecker & Joseph Schrader

FLIGHT 7: Taylor Matheny & Josh Marazzito

FLIGHT 8: Edward Shaara & Robert Goldstein

FLIGHT 9: George Krivo & Dave Hickman

FLIGHT 10: Patrick O’Neill & Patrick O’Neill Sr

FLIGHT 11: Lance Bryant & Michael Sims

FLIGHT 12: Kerry Stinson & John Muzzy

FLIGHT 13: Rock Roberg & Johnny Leroux

FLIGHT 14: David Carver & Kellen Miller

FLIGHT 15: Douglas Hyde & David Munson Jr

FLIGHT 16: Bob Rall & Jim Rall

TENNIS News

Hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday season and we are looking forward to a great new year here at theRacquet Center! We are excited to say that we will be playing pickleball at some point in January! So, be on the lookout for a Grand Opening Celebration as well as programming which will include frequent 101 classes, shot-of-the-week clinics, and open-play to get everyone up to speed with this popular sport!

January will kick off the new seasons of SCTL Women’s and Mixed, while continuing the Senior Women’s season. We will be hosting the Club’s first Men’s and Women’s Tennis Member Guest the weekend of January 10-12! It will be a great weekend of tennis, food and friends at the Racquet’s facility.

Most of our Club championships will be held in this season, so keep an eye on the calendar for dates! All events will have a courtside bar available, so we would love to have everyone come out to see who our Club champions will be!

Junior Tennis

Here is our Junior Program schedule: Junior Elites are Monday-Thursday 5:30pm-7pm

10 & Under and Green Ball Groups are Tuesday & Thursday 4:30pm-5:30pm

Remember that the Junior Elite groups require an evaluation by our Junior Director, Tom Knights, to participate. He will also be exploring a tournament player group this year so please contact him for any details.

Exhibitions

Please keep an eye out for tennis and pickleball exhibitions!

Thanks again and have a wonderful New Year!

Paul Davis D IRECTOR OF R ACQUET S PORTS

Important Contact Information

Pro Shop 321.242.6242

Paul Davis paul.davis@suntree.com

Claudia Santos claudia.santos@suntree.com

Tom Knights tom.knights@suntree.com

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PICKLEBALL News

Year over year increases in the amount of pickleball growth is staggering. If I were to give the percentages, we would see that in almost every category pickleball is among the very highest in the world in terms of growth, but why?

Pickleball is a combination of many of the sports we’ve always played. Table tennis, badminton, tennis, and it takes qualities from all of these sports and others. We can make it as competitive or as recreational as we want, we can play in many different styles with many different ways to enjoy it.

Mike Forster H EAD P ICKLEBALL P RO

The fun of pickleball is largely based on the social aspect of it. It’s a way for everyone to enjoy an athletic outlet while being social at the same time. I believe it’s similar to golf in that aspect. No matter your skill level, you will still be able to get out on the court with friends and have a great time.

Pro tip:

While there are many ways to play the game, one of the most effective strategies is to make your opponents hit up on the ball while we are hitting down. This is accomplished by being able to control and hit balls in a manner that they are descending when they are crossing the net to our opponents. The team hitting down is usually the one that wins!!

Ihope everyone had a happy Holiday Season, and whether you spent it traveling or at home, I hope you got to spend it with those that you love!

For this issue of the Suntree Life, I wanted to do something a little different and do a reintroduction and allow the opportunity for you to get to know me, your Membership Director, a little better.

I am a central Florida native and graduated from Florida State University with majors in Marketing and Management. I previously worked for Boston Whaler in marketing & event planning before ultimately moving to the Melbourne area for my husband’s job and finding this position at the Club. I am a mother of two young energetic boys who keep me on my toes and steal a little bit of my sanity. I always appreciate your patience and understanding when my hours at the Club might fluctuate due to my eldest’s baseball season kicking into gear, or the inevitable crud infecting our home from daycare or school.

I have been the Membership Director at the Club for over five years now and have seen a lot of changes from working off membership waitlists, the building of our new Clubhouse, and now with the excitement of Pickleball! Over the years, I have been fortunate to have welcomed in over 580 Equity Members. As we move into a new year, I look forward to getting to know more of you and welcoming more members to our Club’s family!

My door is open - please stop by and say hi! I welcome questions or concerns about your membership or if you have a family member or friend who might be interested in becoming a member here at Suntree, feel free to give them my contact information!

Happy New Year!

Mon. – Fri. 9am-5pm | anna.collins@suntree.com 321-242-6252

Anna Collins D IRECTOR OF M EMBERSHIP

AROUND THE CLUB Photos

FOOD & BEVERAGE News

On behalf of the Food & Beverage Team, I wanted to thank the Membership for the generous contributions to the Employee Holiday Fund. This annual bonus delivered to the team is so appreciated and does make a significant difference to experience a great Holiday Season. Thank you for your participation thoughtfulness.

We will continue to offer a la carte lunch and dinner service at the Pool Bar and Pavilion venue along with the Clubhouse. It is great to see the increased participation with our social membership and professionals entertaining clients, friends and family at the Club. We take that as a great compliment and appreciate your confidence as we continue to work to make you proud of your Club. Our hours of operations remain consistent and have been posted on our web site for your reference.

We are excited to offer a number of special member events this winter, to include a Seafood Night, Golf Comic, Blues Brothers Review, and many more . We are working closely with the Social Committee and plan to offer some fun events to include Trivia, Name That Tune, and of course events to celebrate Suntree Country Clubs 50th Anniversary this year. Please continue to offer suggestions for events you

Jim Tills

F OOD & B EVERAGE D IRECTOR

would like to see us present to the membership. Keep an eye out for these and more on our Club calendar and weekly communications on Tuesday’s Social E-News publication for more details.

We have also experienced an increase in the number of private events that our Membership has selected the Club to host. I encourage you to contact Director of Catering, Lucy Paulson, to make arrangements for celebrations or company events that we can support you with.

Thank you again for your participation with the Club, and we continue to strive to deliver a great experience for you each and every time you are here, and always look forward to seeing you here!

It has been 6 months since I joined the prestigious Suntree Country Club as the Executive Chef, and in that time I have developed a great relationship with my Culinary Team. I have also got the opportunity to meet some of the members in the dining room and outdoor events. My Culinary Team and I have changed the menus and are still extending different cuisines and theme menus to the members.

We will continue to work together to strengthen our Culinary Team, vendors, and purveyors to bring in the best quality products.

I am working with my management team and Club events team on new menus for the upcoming season.

On behalf of my family, I want to say thank you for the very warm welcome from the Culinary Team and Food & Beverage Team extended to me and my family, we feel at home. I am very excited about the new ventures we have in store for 2025! Bon appétit!