I am honored to introduce myself as the new superintendent of Hillendale Country Club. After working in landscape construction, I have spent the last 10 years in the golf course business. My start began after high school at Mountain Branch Golf Course. I quickly took to the craft and was made the crew foreman and spray technician within two months of hire. After studying business and fine arts in college, I made the switch over to plant science and knew from then on, that greenkeeping was my career path. I attended the Institute of Applied Agriculture at the University of Maryland for turfgrass/golf course management. I worked throughout my schooling at Hunt Valley GC climbing the ranks from crew foreman to 2nd assistant. My choice of internship took me to Riverton Country Club in Wyoming where my passion and experience really took off. Upon return, I was named the 1st assistant at Hunt Valley, where I stayed for nearly 5 years. Then, when a unique situation came to me, I pounced on it. I became the assistant superintendent at Anne Arundell Mannor under the guidance of Tom Walker. Mr. Walker was the previous superintendent at the Inverness Club in Ohio from the 1980s until the early 2000s and has hosted many important tournaments, including 3 majors. My time spent at AAM was the turning point in my career - working under Mr. Walker taught me more than school and my previous work experience combined! It also reassured me that I was on my way to my main goal in this profession, becoming a superintendent. It is my appreciation for nature, the arts, science, and the game of golf that has impassioned me for this career. When I first arrived at Hillendale 3 years ago, I immediately felt at home. It was a great place filled with great people. I developed a tremendous relationship with all my coworkers and most importantly my friend and co-assistant, Nick Donner. Now, with this opportunity, I feel more comfortable than ever with him at my side and a great team of managers within the clubhouse. It is an honor and an exciting challenge I ve looked forward to since I ve started. I would like you to know that I am appreciative, humbled, and extremely eager to get to work. I will strive to make Hillendale a place you are proud of. My thanks to all for the opportunity. My best, Travis Alwine My passion for turfgrass was born on a golf course during a high school summer job. After deciding to pursue it as a career, I was admitted to The Institute of Applied Agriculture at University of Maryland. While attending turf school at Maryland, I became interested in the different realms of the industry. This soon led me to work for the Terrapins on their NCAA varsity athletic fields. I was eager to learn everything I could. I thrived in the fast-paced, high demand environment that Division I Athletics requires. My internship during the 2006 season for the Baltimore Orioles, solidified my appetite to succeed at the highest level in this business. From there, I moved on to work at The Landon School and Georgetown Prep. These two schools in the Bethesda area share an incredible reputation in the private school community. I returned returned to work golf courses after a life-changing event brought me back to Baltimore in 2015. I was lucky to be recruited into the Hillendale Country Club family in the Spring of 2016 as an assistant superintendent. I feel this club has given me an opportunity to learn and grow as a manager and I look forward to continuing to provide the results that this membership expects and deserves. Throughout my career, my love of turf has propelled me into some amazing opportunities and experiences. I have been lucky enough to work extensively on warm season, cool season, and artificial turf. I am proud to say that I have a uniquely diverse background and I look forward to continuing the pursuit of perfection at Hillendale. Nick Donner
FROM THE DESK OF THE GENERALMANAGER Dear Membership, JOE CECI JCECI@HILLENDALECC.COM GENERAL MANAGER / COO I would like to issue a special thanks to Board President, Mr. Rick Smulovitz, and Mr. Paul Ashton, as well as the entire Board on behalf of my family and I for giving me the opportunity to be the General Manager of Hillendale. I d like to thank all the members for the warm welcome, and if we haven t met yet, I look forward to meeting each and every one of you in the coming weeks. During my first weeks at Hillendale, the Club was shut down for the annual cleaning and maintenance that takes place in the off season. We were able to accomplish so much over this period including, but not limited to: - Installing a new water feature in the main lobby - Cleaning carpets - Deep cleaning the kitchen - Giving areas of the clubhouse a fresh coat of paint - Paint and redesign the Golf Shop - Rejuvenating the lobby s wood flooring I hope that if you haven t been to see us yet you will come soon and you can see all these positive changes for yourself. Additionally, we used this time to continue planning the many events we have this spring to kick off another successful busy season. For example, we will be having a Peter Luger Steak Night. We will also be celebrating St. Patrick s Day and hosting Peter Kessler as a guest speaker-- all in the month of March. On Thursdays we will offer valet parking. Throughout this newsletter you will also see events upcoming in April and May. Be sure to save the dates and we will have more information to you in the coming weeks. As you can imagine, it is extremely important to our success to have an accurate list of reservations for dining and events. If you plan to dine at the club or attend an event, please make sure to make a reservation or RSVP. It is critical to our staffing decisions, which are directly related to the member experience we want to provide and know you expect. There are multiple platforms for you to let us know that you re coming to the Club: email reservations@ hillendalecc.com, use the Hillendale website, the Clubster app, the new Golf Genius software the Golf Shop has implemented, or call us directly. Please choose the one that works best for you and communicate with us when you plan to utilize the Club. Finally, as an incentive to our members to sponsor a wedding or golf event at the Club, of at least $7,500, you will receive a $500 food credit as our thanks! The Club looks great and it is the perfect time to encourage your friends to use our facilities. Please contact Allison Montgomery (allison@hillendalecc.com) for more information. With spring weather just around the corner, I am looking forward to meeting more members and your families and seeing you all around the Club more often! Warm Regards, Joe Ceci General Manager, COO LEADERSHIP E X E C U T I V E COMMITTEE Rick Smulovitz, President Wink Mather, Vice-President, Golf Committee Michael Gajewski, Treasurer, Finance Committee Becky Pauliny, Secretary, Social Committee BOARD OF GOVERNORS Drew Cook, Finance Committee Gab Hart, Pool & Tennis Committee House Committee Stephen Harrington, Golf Committee Fred Hill, Pool & Tennis Committee Eric Kastendike, Membership Committee Matthew Murnane, Greens Committee Al Rubeling, Strategic Planning Committee Rachel O Neill, Green Book Committee NEXT BOARD MEETING: March 28, 2019
Lunch Monday - Wednesday Thursday- Saturday Sunday BAR Monday - Wednesday Thursday - Saturday Sunday DINNER Monday - Wednesday Thursday Friday - Saturday Sunday BAR H O U R S O F OPERATION CLOSED Bistro Menu Bistro Menu BAR CLOSED DINN CLOSED Pasta Night Dinner Menu CLOSED CLOSED 11:00a.m.-5:00p.m. 11:00a.m.-5:00p.m. CLOSED 11:00a.m.-closing 11:00a.m.-4:00p.m. CLOSED5:00p.m.- 9:00p.m. 5:00p.m.-9:00p.m. 5:00p.m.-9:00p.m. ** The Business Office is open Monday-Friday, 9:00a.m.- 5:00p.m. Hello, my name is Walter Kushner and I m proud to be Hillendale s Facilities Engineer. It has been an exciting year so far, as we have had our most productive shutdown in recent years. Numerous improvements have been made to the club. We were able to plan and coordinate new projects starting with the club s most functional and aesthetic needs. During the shutdown the entire Hillendale staff really got their elbows dirty with hours of hard work and determination. - In the circle at the entrance of the Clubhouse we removed trees and added new river rock as well as new up-lighting to highlight our Espaliered magnolia tree in the center. It s now more open and really shines from Blenheim Road. - We added some accent walls to warm up the main lobby; you will notice a fresh coat of paint on all the walls, trim, and doors. The floors in the main lobby and ballroom have been brought back to life with a new coat of wax. Every square inch of carpet has been steamed cleaned and deodorized throughout the entire club. You will also enjoy hearing the tranquil noise of a newly installed pond as you enter the lobby. - A new phone system was installed throughout the entire clubhouse, including wifi at the halfway house to meet the needs of our members. - The Golf Shop had new face lift by changing the colors of the trim, walls, and doors. Accent lighting was installed to give the shop a new ambiance. - The main kitchen was completely stripped down and deep cleaned. Currently, we are in the process of acquiring new equipment to serve the dining room including a new sandwich table. The ice and water dispenser at the turn by the dining room have been removed as we await the arrival of a new replacement within the next few weeks. - The heating system was upgraded by revamping our boiler with new controls and new seals. A Note from the Membership Accounting Office: Please contact Donna Wobbleton in the accounting office with any updates to your membership account such as: - change of address - email address - telephone - cell phone Also, if for some reason you do not receive your billing statement, please let her know as soon as possible. Please note that statements are usually sent out the first week of the month. Her email address is dwobbleton@hillendalecc.com and her direct number is 410-862-0724. I am very excited and honored to be in the position of Director of Sales - Events and Membership. We have a great promotion going on that benefits current members if you sponsor a new member. Take a look at the opportunituies available on the next page and share with your friends! With all the upgrades and freshness to the Club, our team here is ready to welcome new Members and have a great season! ALLISON MONTGOMERY ALLISON@HILLENDALECC.COM DIRECTOR OF EVENT SALES & MEMBERSHIP We are very excited about these new improvements and we hope you are just as thrilled. WALTER KUSHNER WALTER@HILLENDALECC.COM FACILITIES ENGINEER
HILLENDALE COUNTRY CLUB'S ST. PATRICK'S DAY HAPPY HOUR with Live Music & Guest Bartenders Dave Karceski & Matt Feild MARCH 16, 2019 6:00 P.M. St. Patrick's Day Special Buffet for $23.95++ Salad Bar Corned Beef & Cabbage Guiness Stew Shepherd's Pie Buttered Parsley Carrots Mashed Potatoes Assorted Irish Desserts * to-go containers not permitted* Drink Specials Guiness $5 Irish Coffee $8 Tullamore Dew $8 Jameson $8 Bushmills Black Bush $8 RSVP to reservations@hillendalecc.com
GOLF PROFESSIONAL BRANDON GRECCO HEAD GOLF PROFESSIONAL BGRECCO@HILLENDALECC.COM UPDATE Dear Members I am sure you are all looking forward to the golf season and warmer weather as much as we are! Don t worry; it won t be too much longer now! Despite the cold and wet winter, we have had a very busy off-season in preparation for an exciting 2019 golf season! We got the year started with our 1st Winter Speaker Series of 2019 with 105.7 The Fan Personalities, Scott Garceau and Jeremy Conn joining us for a night of entertaining stories and plenty of laughs (especially about the Orioles ) on Friday, January 18th. It was our 3rd installment of the Winter Speaker Series since we started the program last year, with each one being a very unique and enjoyable evening. We are very excited about our final Speaker Series event of 2019 with former Golf Channel personality, Peter Kessler on Friday, March 29th. Peter is a tremendous story teller and it promises to be a night you won t want to miss. As I m sure you saw, RG and I went to Orlando, Florida for the annual PGA Merchandise Show where we saw all of the latest and greatest trends in the golf business-- from both the equipment and apparel side of the business. We found several new lines for both men and women we are looking forward to having in the shop this year, as well as some unique accessories and tournament prizes we hope you will enjoy. For those of you that are following the Golf Shop on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you were able to get a unique perspective from the show on everything we saw as well as some exclusive golf tips from the likes of David Leadbetter and Butch Harmon that were only available to members at Hillendale Country Club. If you are not following us on social media, we really encourage you to do so @hillendalegolfshop. We will be using those accounts throughout the entire year for all of our golf events at the club. Finally, we are very excited about some of the new technology we will be bringing to Hillendale in 2019. Our goal is to improve the overall golf experience for all of our members and their guests and we think with the addition of two key programs it will help us do just that! You have already seen some of what we will be doing with Golf Genius this year with our online registration portals and text message notifications regarding upcoming events and golf course conditions. If you are interested in receiving text message updates from the golf shop, please email me at bgrecco@hillendalecc.com with your cell phone number and I will add you to the list. In addition to these features with Golf Genius, we will have the ability to do live scoring for our tournaments this year, which we think will be a fun and interactive addition to our already enjoyable tournament experience at Hillendale. The other piece of technology we are excited to announce is the ability to book online tee times! This will be done through ForeTees Tee Time Management System with a projected launch date of April 1st. We are still in the design stages with ForeTees to get our portal set-up. Once that is complete, members will have the ability to book tee times on their phones, tablets, or from your desktop computer wherever you are, at any time! Be on the lookout for communication from us as we get close to our launch date for a special Q&A event on how to use both ForeTees and Golf Genius as a Hillendale member, we are extremely excited about it and think you will really enjoy these new additions for 2019! Fingers crossed for a mild March and an early start to the season! We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the course very soon! Grip it and Rip it! Brandon Grecco, PGA Head Golf Professional
G O L F H O U R S O F OPERATION MONDAY-TUESDAY WEDNESDAY- SUNDAY GOLF SHOP CLOSED* 8:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. BAG ROOM PRACTICE FACILITY HALFWAY HOUSE 8:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. 8:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. CLOSED FOR THE SEASON. CALL 410-592-8011 IF YOU NEED ANYTHING WHILE ON THE COURSE. *All hours are weather permitting. In the event of good weather, the golf shop will communicate any schedule changes. The Driving Range will close 30 minutes before sunset. The golf course will open at 11:00a.m. on Mondays & Tuesdays, based on availability. See weekly Golf Forecast for details. Hillendale Members, This year has started off with us working in conjunction with all departments giving the clubhouse a facelift. We are excited to show off our new water feature in the foyer and the more open look of the front circle. Along with the frontof-house changes, we ve helped make many improvements behind the scenes to improve the working environment and efficiency of the kitchen. With the enthusiastic leadership of our new General Manager, Joe Ceci, we are eagerly awaiting our chance to get on the golf course and continue the theme of rejuvenation for a fresh start after last year s challenging weather pattern. Currently we are working on refreshing all our course accessories including benches, trash cans, ballwashers, tee markers, driving range ball crates, range dividers, and bag stands. Our Equipment Technician, Gary, is going over every piece of equipment to make sure everything is operating well and cutting properly. When our equipment runs for over 500 hours per season, each winter it is important to replace many worn parts, grind all cutting units, change the fluids, and inspect for any anticipated issues. March can be a challenging month because we can see severe snowstorms and extreme cold like we have the last couple of years, we can have an early spring with weather in the 60s, and we could easily have both. This transitional month s temperatures will determine when the course will wake up for the 2019 season and we hope, as I m sure you do, that it is a pleasant early spring! All the best, The Greens Department TRAVIS ALWINE GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT TRAVIS@HILLENDALECC.COM NICK DONNER SENIOR ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT NICK@HILLENDALECC.COM