THE. Mark O Meara Visits Great River. Course Closings. Monty s Closings

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1 THE River OCTOBER 2017 Mark O Meara Visits Great River Course Closings Tuesday, October 10 TH MDA Outing Course Open At 3:30PM Monday, October 16 TH SHU Collegiate Outing Course Open At 2:30PM Great River Golf Club was delighted this week to welcome professional golfer and Master s winner Mark O Meara when he visited to play in a charity event hosted by Allianz Global Investors. O Meara, who was extremely impressed by the course, enjoyed the chance to visit with Great River course designer Tom Fazio ll, who recently joined Great River as a consultant. Also pictured are Golf Course Superintendent Todd Tetreault and Head Golf Professional Tom Rosati. Monty s Closings Saturday, October 14 TH Closing at 3:00PM Friday, November 17 TH Closing at 3:00PM

2 Letter From The Superintendent With October s arrival, the Greens & Grounds Department will remain extremely busy focusing on a strong finish to the 2017 golf season while thinking of what can be done now to make 2018 even better. Over the past couple of weeks, we have started the bunker removal/renovation project, completed our fairway aeration, and started tee aeration. Before we know it, the staff will be busy cleaning up leaves, blowing out the irrigation system, and getting ready for snow! The bunker removal/renovation project started on September 26th with Tom Fazio II leading the charge. Things are currently moving along very well and at this point in the project we are slightly ahead of schedule and budget. To date, all work has been completed on holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 12. If the remaining work on holes 13, 14, and 18 moves along as scheduled, this would be an extremely successful first step in the overall course improvement plan. Fazio also recommended bunker #7 be fixed, as it was unsuccessfully modified in-house last year. Therefore, we have decided to re-do this bunker. Tom continues to take notes on what he is observing throughout the course, and I m sure he will be providing plenty of recommendations for future improvements before heading back to Florida. Please remember to be mindful of newly sodded areas. I know everyone is looking forward to hitting from these expansions, but we must give the sod sufficient time to establish before it can be allowed. Newly sodded areas will be roped off until play is permitted. Fazio II Inside the Mini Excavator Tom Helping with Drainage Installation

3 Letter From The Superintendent(cont.) Fairway aeration also took place on September 26th with the assistance of an outside contractor to help make the process quick and painless. Tee aeration started on October 3rd and will be done completely in house over a two-week period. The disruption should be minor, as all work is contained to one hole at a time and will not move forward until the entire tee complex is totally cleaned up. While the crew is working on a hole, it will remain open with the only disturbance being tees may not be in their normal locations. 1st Fairway After Aeration 1st Assistant Jeffrey Swanson There have been a few changes in the way daily course setup is being done. First, we will no longer be following the traditional front, middle, back pin placement rotation that has been done for so long. Those cutting cups have been instructed to put them in the best possible location for that day based on many variables that we discuss during our morning meeting. We do still try to produce six of each front, middle, and back placements throughout the 18 holes, although they are in no order. So, moving forward, it might be common to see the same color flag on back to back holes, or a middle location followed by a front location. This is all being done to provide the golfers with an experience second to none. Secondly, a black flag will no longer be used to represent a back-pin location. Many golfers have commented on how hard it is to see the flag, so we have since switched to a charcoal flag. This flag is easier to see and as a bonus, it matches the school colors of Sacred Heart University! I look forward to seeing everyone on the course and having a great October of golf!

4 Tournament Results Congratulations to Ben James the 2017 Great River Club Champion He defeated Doug Shildneck on the 18th hole to successfully defend his title from The match was well played from both competitors, with the lead shifting back and forth throughout the match. We would also like to congratulate the winners of our additional flights. First Flight: Second Flight: Winner: Winner: Tory Jacob Chris Saja Runner-up: Runner-up: Mitchell Schwab Jake Ivan-Pal Fall One Day Member/Guest Third Flight: Fourth Flight: Fifth Flight: Winner: Paul Sobel Runner-up: Jason Shea Winner: Bill Doolittle Runner-up: Paul Vimini Winner: John Sayour Runner-up: Bob Grilley Tom Follo Member/Member Congrats to Stewart Gross and Hal Roznik for Our Gross winner, with a fabulous 64, was Matt capturing the gross division with a 2 under 70 and D Amico and Chris Saja. Our Net winner, with a Geza Ziegler and Gary Andrews for winning the net great score of 54, was Andree Acampora and Alicia division with a 10 under 62! Cavallaro. Our Gross runner up, with a fine score of 66, was Matt Kollar and Richard Agee. And finally, our runner up Net was Michael McGrath and Gary Nusbaum with a come from behind 56. Congratulations again to all our winners and your fine play

5 Pro Shop News & Course Hours Pro Shop News Holidays are right around the corner. Don t forget to place your gift orders! All footwear will be returned to the manufacturers by the end of November. Sales Footwear Sale: Ecco & Under Armour 25% off FootJoy & Adidas 10% off Apparel Sale: The More You Buy the More You Save Buy 1 receive 20% off Buy 2 Receive 30% off Buy 3 or More Receive 40% off Accessories 30% off Course & Range Hours October 2nd - October 8th Golf course closes at 6:30PM. October 9th - October 15th Golf course closes at 6:15PM. October 16th - October 22nd Golf Course closes at 6:00PM. October 2nd - October 8th Driving range closes at 5:45PM-Monday- Tuesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday and 5:15PM on Wednesday and Sunday. October 9th - October 15th Driving range closes at 5:30PM-Monday- Tuesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday and 5:00PM on Wednesday and Sunday. October 16th - October 22nd Driving range closes at 5:15PM-Monday- Tuesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday and 4:45PM on Wednesday and Sunday.

6 Letter from the General Manager Dear Member, The fall season is already upon us, and we have some exciting club improvements for 2018 to share with you. Before we look forward, however, I would like to pause and reflect on the strides made this past year. Overall, we are pleased to report that Great River enjoyed a significant growth year. Membership is up by 30 percent, and rounds played had measurable increases as well. We are very enthusiastic and confident that we will sustain that positive growth trend in Our objective is not only to grow, but to strike the ideal balance when it comes to membership size, tee time availability and pace of play. Therefore, our target is to grow to 250 members and cap it there. With that goal in mind, I would like to invite all of our current members to contact Karin Attolino and secure their spot for next year. As you may know, the State of Connecticut has been enforcing a 10% admissions tax on all private clubs for years. We have been informed by the State of CT that Great River will be subject to the same tax. We have appealed this decision and will continue to fight it, but it will be months before a decision is made. That said, I am pleased to announce that despite the tax and cart fee s, we will be holding all annual membership fees to you at 2017 levels. We already have 18 new members who have signed up and paid for 2018, with a dozen more applications currently under review. Your timely response would help us manage this process and assure current memberships are protected. I have also summarized below some of the areas where we have made major progress, are trying new things and are initiating quality controls and service upgrades. As always, your suggestions and recommendations for new members are always welcome and, quite honestly, preferred. So please scan your contact list for folks who you would be proud to introduce to Great River. In closing, I would like to thank all members for their feedback over the year, and I look forward to everyone enjoying the beautiful fall golf ahead. Regards, Mark Appelberg Executive Director

7 A Year of Transformation Greens & Grounds This past year was definitely a transition year for Great River with the addition of our new Golf Course Superintendent Todd Tetreault, First Assistant Jeff Swanson and Second Assistant Roger Fox. All three hail from distinguished clubs, possess exceptional experience and educational backgrounds. A number of new initiatives have been instituted since Todd s arrival, and golf course raters from both Golf Week and Golf Digest have been impressed with the changes and, more importantly, the results. These include: A strong relationship between Todd and Tom Fazio II. As a result of Todd s request, Tom visited us this year to review the course, which he had not seen since he finished it in Tom s affinity for Great River was reignited and he is excited to be involved. The bunker renovation plan is currently under way, which has been available for all to review. Under Tom s direction, Todd s staff will help complete the entire renovation project in three weeks with little or no play interruptions. Plans to renovate bunker #7, which many of you have complained about. Social Activity Under the House Committee s direction Great River has experimented with a number of member-friendly events. Some were very popular, and others were not. In 2018, we will continue with the successful events and look forward to initiating and testing new ones with continued input from the new food & beverage team.

8 A Year of Transformation Pro Shop Great River has an exceptionable choice of golf apparel with ample inventory of both soft and hard goods. The staffing this year under Karin has been nothing short of professional and courteous. As we close out the year, we will invite those pro-shop employees who served our members well to sign up again for next year. Outside Operations A number of members and guests have commented that outside staff are extremely professional, courteous and helpful. This results from a significant training program that starts very early in the year. The major focus of our training is customer satisfaction. We have established a preventive maintenance program for one of our largest assets golf carts. Both EZ-Go and our staff pay close attention not only to cart mechanics, but also to their appearance. With many more rounds this year compared to last (a 37 percent increase), the outside team has been challenged to keep finding turf locations on the practice range so our members do not have to hit off of the mats. Service Infrastructure We have undergone a number of behind-the-scenes changes with phones, IT, software and our POS system. Some of these changes, you will see and others you will not. The goal is to make the processing of your account more accurate and user friendly. All in all, the news is very good. I hope you enjoyed your 2017 membership, and I have no doubt that you will be even more satisfied next year. Again, we welcome your comments and feedback and are here to ensure that you always enjoy the time you spend here at Great River. Thank you.

9 Fall Restaurant Week Great River Golf Club will be participating in Milford s Restaurant Week running from October 9TH 15TH. Lunch 3 courses for $17.95 Dinner 3 courses for $27.95 Restaurant Week Specials Will Not Be Offered On Mon 10/9 & Sat 10/14

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13 Sacred Heart University Invitational The Sacred Heart University Invitational Outing took place on Monday, September 25th. The theme for the event was the Presidents Cup. The International team won the team event. Mallozzi Builders was the Low Net winner and SLAM Collaborative was the Low Gross winner. Dr. Petillo, President of Sacred Heart University Guest Speaker, Dan Schultz, President of Sikorsky Presidents Cup Themed Banquet Room Michael J. Kinney, SVP, Sacred Heart University Gift from Dan Schultz, President of Sikorsky