The Tallwood Tradition November 2018 http://www.tallwoodmensclub.com 2018 Board of Directors President Richard Potticary II Vice President Joe LeBlanc Treasurer Kim Aderman Secretary/ Communications Greg Berger Handicap Jim Bidwell Membership Bob Wahlberg Co-Social Earl Brown Co-Social Gary Greenwald Tournament Terry Ruzzo Past President Greg Garcia The President s Corner My Final Article as President. And as I write this, it is raining again with snow in the forecast. I would summarize the 2018 year as a Year of Transition and of wet weather. The Pro Shop saw some changes with the Retirement of John Nowobilski Yo Pro. We welcomed in many new faces and a new look in the Pro Shop, led by our new Director of Golf, Eric DeStefano. We also welcomed Nicole Damarjian as the new Director of Instruction. This year we finally joined other clubs and now have Online Sign Ups. We also have score postings in the Grill Room and have embraced some of what technology has to offer. This will only continue to improve our golf experience at Tallwood and in our Tallwood Men s Club. While there are always some growing pains, I feel that we are heading in the right direction and everything went very well and will only continue to improve. Thank you to Zac Stennett for all he has done and continues to do in support our TMC. His experience has made this transition time far easier and smoother than anyone could have hoped for. Thank you to all. Fall Classic was played and the weather was actually pretty nice. Social and Tournament teamed up to put on a great End of Year Banquet and Awards Ceremony. Once again, Thank you to both committees for a great job. 2019 BOD is all set and ready to take charge with Joe LeBlanc at the helm. The New BOD hits the ground running with the December meeting with Management. The Social committee is a welcoming committee that is always looking for more help and ideas and welcomes back Ron Krupa who joins Gary Greenwald as Co-Social. Keep your eyes out for your renewal notices and get with Jim Bourn new Membership chairman with any questions you may have for 2019. Joe Dura is replacing Jim Bidwell in Handicap and will probably remind you to post your scores that includes those of you headed to warmer climate this winter.
Thanks to Donna and staff in grill room for all the little extras they do for the TMC. It has been an honor and privilege to serve as President in 2018. It is only with the support of the BOD that keeps this awesome Men s Club running. I want to thank my 2018 BOD members for all they have done, but also want to thank all prior and future BOD members for the time they gave/will give for this Great Men s Club and in support of the game of golf that brings us together. Happy Thanksgiving and Seasons Greetings to all and I look forward to seeing ya all in 2019. Richard Potticary II President Membership As we close the books on the 2018 season, I would like to inform you that I will be taking on a new role on our Board for 2019. It has been a pleasure serving as your Membership Director for the past three years. I will be passing on the membership responsibilities to long-time member, past president and allaround good guy Jim Bourn. You can reach Jim with any questions at TMC_Membership@yahoo.com. We finish the 2018 season with 234 regular, full-time members and have had great participation from our Junior and Social members as well. 2018 was a great year for Membership where we attracted 29 New Members. The Board will review this year s initiatives and will develop a plan to continually strengthen the Club Membership. The December newsletter will contain the annual renewal form and fee schedule for 2019. Please ensure that you complete all the fields on the renewal form, so we can keep our membership and contact records as current and complete as possible. We look forward to welcoming new members for 2019. If you have a friend, relative or colleague who may be interested in joining the club, please refer him to the web site to apply for membership or e-mail Jim and he will work with him to complete the application process. Bob Wahlberg Membership Director TMC_membership@yahoo.com 2
Social Our 2018 social calendar has ended with our wonderful banquet at the Villa Louisa. We hope all in attendance enjoyed it. We want to say a special thanks to Earl The Pearl Brown for organizing and running the event. Earl will be leaving the board after 3 years of service but still will remain a member of the social committee. If you play a round with Earl or see him in the club house, please give him a special thanks. Ron Krupa has graciously volunteered to be Cosial next year. Please consider getting involved with the social committee. The more input we have, can only improve our events. Hope all have an enjoyable winter. See you at the Kick Off Dinner in the Spring. Gary Greenwald and Earl Brown Cosial Tournament Congratulations to all our members who received awards at the annual banquet. A few special notes worth mentioning: Greg Garcia became only the second person to win both the Pro s Trophy and Governor s Cup in the same year (Tom Shaw did it in 2016). That s an amazing 10 victories in a row in match play using net handicaps. Outstanding! John Neligon walked away with three championship trophies, winning the Member/Member, the Governor s Cup, and the President s Cup. John has had a challenging year buying and moving into a new house, but the 4-time Club Champion found his focus and his game when he had to. Gordon Beebe pulled off a spectacular double late in the season to win both the President s Cup Net, and Tournament of Champions Net in the last month of the year. These are for Rita, Gordon. Another multiple winner was Dave Rutz who won the Net Member/Member with is partner Greg Nye, and he won the Net division of the Super Seniors with one of his best rounds of the past few years. Cliff Backus and Rich Harris also pulled off a double 2MBB victory, winning the Member/Guest Net in June and the Two Ball Open Net in August. Be careful of them next year in the Gov Cup. The top five Most Improved with their index on April 1st and at year end were: 1st Brian D Alessandro 12.2 to 8.4 2nd John Leahy 19.7 to 14.9 3rd Gerry Brooks 20.3 to 15.9 4th John Guandalini 17.8 to 13.8 5th Frank Breen 11.0 to 8.2 3
Yours truly had a pretty decent year as well, and I d like to thank all of those who offered their congratulations. As Frank Sinatra used to sing, It Was A Very Good Year. The planning for 2019 is underway and we ll have more details on that in the coming months. Have a great off season.see you in April, Terry Ruzzo Tournament 2018 Distinguished Service Award The Tallwood Board of Directors is very pleased to have awarded the 2108 Distinguished Service Award for 2018 to Steve Liteplo. The recognition was awarded to Steve on November 3, at the annual TMC Awards Banquet at A Villa Louisa in Bolton. Steve is flanked in the picture above by 2017 DSA winner Mike Peterson, and 2016 DSA winner Kimber Aderman. Quoting from the award plaque presented to Steve; "In recognition of distinguished service to the Tallwood Men s Club since his inaugural membership year of 2004, Steve has continually been an outstanding active member, and exceptional volunteer throughout his TMC tenure. Steve continually served on the Board of Directors for numerous years, including 2011 President of the best men s golf club in Connecticut. Steve s personal qualities are no less compelling than his work on behalf of the TMC, including opening his home (and Man Cave) monthly to the Board of Directors. His love of the game, integrity, dedication, support of the Tallwood Community, friendly spirit, and sense of sportsmanship are the qualities that go to the essence of the DSA Award. The TMC is fortunate to have a member with the dedication, service, and determination of Steve Liteplo." Please congratulate Steve the next time you see him. 4
Golf Shop News As I sit here writing I can think of one thing. Is it next season yet? This weather is crazy and I am sure by the time this gets sent out there will be snow on the ground. That being said another year is in the books for Tallwood Country Club and man what a year it was. I couldn t be more grateful for all your support this year and throughout my last 7 years. It has been a transition year to say the least and I have been overwhelmed with the support and patience from all the members here at Tallwood. I truly do thank all of you for that. I am confident that all the moves going forward are for the betterment of club, leagues and every golfer that steps into our doors. Next year will be an exciting year. It will be our first full year with our new POS system, online tee time sign ups and if you called in lately you would have already noticed we have a new phone system. This system will help us concentrate more on our customers in front of us and will help us organize the flow of phone calls we have day to day to improve that one on one interaction while getting our callers to the exact place they are looking for. Our Flightscope X3 was a homerun this year. The amount of lessons and fittings it enhanced was out of this world. If you did not schedule a fitting through us this season you dropped the ball. Getting fit in the environment that you play in, seeing the ball flight, swinging to the actual target makes all the difference in the world. Come see us for the best fitting possible next year. ICEBERG OPEN IS FILLING UP FAST!!! The link to our website to sign up. PLEASE IF YOU ARE NOT PLAYING WE ASK FOR YOU TO HELP OUT AND STILL BRING A NEW TOY TO TALLWOOD TO HELP WITH KIDSAFE. All credit in the shop must be used by December 1st so make sure you stop in to see us within the next couple weeks to use up your credit. Lastly, if you still need any help logging on or signing up for tee times please call me so we can get you all set up for next year. Zac 5
News from the Lesson Tee Thank you for a great first season as your Director of Instruction. With the support of Tallwood s staff, especially my professional colleagues Eric and Zac, we were able to offer an assortment of instructional programs: LPGA Golf 101, Beginner League, Saturday Clinics, Women s Golf Academies, Junior Golf Academies, Pee Wee Pro s, LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, PGA Junior League, Tallwood Junior League, fitting sessions with all major golf club manufacturers, as well as private lessons any day of the week. We are already working on programs for the 2019 season and welcome any suggestions. The Pro Shop staff (Eric, Zac, Rachel, and I) will be heading to Orlando in January for the PGA Show. Our intention is to keep up to date with the latest technology and ideas to make the golfing experience the best for you and all who play at Tallwood. Thank you for the warm welcome this season. Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Nicole 6
Some Year End Banquet pictures: 7
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