Link Hills Country Club November 2017 CLUB Information Summer Hours of Operation Clubhouse Hours Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 to 4:00 pm Golf Course Monday-Sunday 8:00 until dusk Golf Shop 8:00am -7:00 pm Club Dining Hours Foy Harrison Grill Monday - Closed Tuesday - Sunday 11:00-7:30pm Special Dining Menu Reservations Suggested Friday-Saturday 5:30-8:30 pm Sunday Brunch 11:00-1:30 Contact Information: Bob Ward bward@linkhills.com Manager s Message We have had a great year in 2017, and it s not quite over. Help us continue our momentum by making plans to use the facilities as often as possible. We would love to host your personal party in our beautiful clubhouse. As the holiday season nears look no farther than Link Hills; we can offer any type of social event such as: anniversaries, birthdays, office parties, children sock hops, or simple family gatherings. Our club leaders are currently preparing for 2018 with new goals & objectives with an optimistic outlook. We have made great progress in so many ways: our take it up a notch campaign has made the members investment into the club most encouraging. Look for round 2 in the take it up a second notch in 2018. We still have many things to do, and through your support we will accomplish all of our goals. We will continue to cultivate memberships by offering more opportunities through our membership support. As we look forward, our mission is to continue offering the best in dining along with superior social & recreational offerings as a full-service country club. Please Note Have you joined our news form of communication with Text Messages? This is the fastest way to keep informed in real time. Find out if we have a frost delay on the course; see if we are opening late or closing early because of weather. Dining specials, announcements, birthdays, etc to join on your cell phone in the field of the number or person you are texting type 40691. In the field of what you are saying type LHCC. You will be asked a couple of questions like your date of birth. Enter the day & month only! For Example, 02-25. Winter Hours Now that we are nearing the end of daylight savings time, the days are getting shorter and our hours of operation and staffing will be reduced as much as possible. The fall and winter clubhouse and Foy Harrison Grill Hours will also be reduced now that golfers will not be on the course beyond 6:00 p.m. Please call in advance if you plan on food service after 6:30 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Friday & Saturday dining will continue serving until 8:00 pm. Our intent is to always be here for you; however, in order to better manage our expenses, we will have closing times during the winter months. It will be necessary to call and monitor our new text and online messages for the current information. Bob Ward
Entertainment News October was a busy month at LHCC. A record number of members and guests enjoyed the wine tasting held the second Tuesday of each month. Additionally, the Member Appreciation party and Harvest Fest also were a big success! Be sure to mark your calendars with planned upcoming events. More detailed information will be provided as the date of an event nears so be sure to read club emails: Upcoming Events: NOVEMBER 11 Saturday -- "Taste of Italy" Dinner -6:30 14 Tuesday -- Wine Tasting/Lounge 6:30 DECEMBER 2 Saturday -- Breakfast with Santa 9:00 a.m. 12 Tuesday -- Wine Tasting/Lounge 6:30 15 -- Friday -- Christmas "Jingle & Mingle" 6:30 21 Thursday -- Holiday "Shake-it-Up Family" Dance Party 6:30 Reminder: The club uses email and text to best communicate social events and club functions. Be sure to notify the club of email addresses/changes and sign up for text alerts to be well informed! Clubhouse 638-3114 www.linkhills.com Pro-Shop 639-2961
Entertainment News Member Appreciation Night Wine Tasting Tuesday, November 14th at 6:30 pm This month s feature: Red Wine Link Hills Lounge Reservations Required: Limited to 40 people Clubhouse 638-3114 www.linkhills.com Pro-Shop 639-2961
Entertainment News Yoga returns to the Club Classes begin Thursday, Nov 16th at 6:30 pm in the ballroom at Link Hills. Bring your mat Instructor: Jolynn Doty Cost: $5.00 per person/ $8.00 couples Reservations Please Note to Golfers: This is great for flexibility Jolynn presently teaches yoga & step classes at the YMCA. She plans to offer yoga class on Tuesday's & Thursday's here at the club.
Golf News A Message From The Course Superintendent Happy Fall To All! I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Greens Committee and Executive Committee Boards for their support this year. Also, to all the members a big shout-out for your continued support of our club. I am happy to announce some of our capitol improvements for our golf course for 2017. Of course all of this would not have been possible if it not for many individuals that contributed to the many projects of our club. *1. New Irrigation Intake System *2. Extensive Sod Work throughout our golf course *3. New Senior- Ladies Tee Boxes constructed (will open spring of 2018) *4. Edging and addition of new sand To bunkers. *5. Installation of a new Pond Areator. *6. Construction of a new pump station and building. (Construction to begin in late November) A special Thank You To Jeff Harrison and Adam and Sherman Wampler for their help In this major project. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my Maintenance Team for the outstanding job they do every day. The dedication and work of these individuals is what makes Link Hills CC one of the best golf facilities around. I would like to also mention that we are getting to that time of year where we will be experiencing frost in the mornings. Please do not WALK THROUGH OR DRIVE A CART THROUGH FROST AREAS, as this will injure or kill our turfgrass. Thank You, Marshall N. Brown/ Director of Grounds Maintenance. Results from the Link Hills Ryder Cup weekend on October 21 & 22 1 st 9 hole match was Select drive: Team Kinser 3 points & Team Shelton 3 points (Saturday round) 2 nd 9 hole match was captains choice: Team Kinser 3 points & Team Shelton 3 points ( Saturday round) 3 rd 9 hole match was four ball: Team Kinser 6 points & Team Shelton 0 points (Sunday Round) 4 th 9 hole match was individual match play: Team Shelton 8 points & Team Kinser 4 points (Sunday Round) Final Results Kinser Team: 16 points Shelton Team: 14 points Players: Kinser Team Kevin Kinser, Matty McKeever, John Traylor, Jordan Williams, Jeff Woods, Rodney Bell, Buddy Yonz, Al Romanowski, Mike Hollowell, Dave Smith, Todd Reaves, Jon Konieczny & Adian Collier Players: Shelton Team Tim Shelton, Johnny Honeycutt, Brandon Hull, Allen Johnson, Richard Hopson, Corky Cutshaw, Mike Lee, Johnny Emmett, Larry Gullum. Jerald Jaynes, Charlie Strange, Dougie Fezell
Golf News From the Golf Committee The golf course continues to be in excellent condition despite our dry weather pattern throughout the late summer and fall months. Listed below are some of the more recent accomplishments and improvements on the Links. A new water aerator for No. 12 was recently purchased with assistance of membership support. Thanks to the Christiansens & Dickmanns for their contributions. The water feature not only provides a nice touch with aesthetics; it also keeps the water flowing, and prevents the formation of algae. New tees for women and seniors are now completed. We expect to have tees ready for play in late April to early May. Special thanks to the Ladies Golf Association of Link Hills for funding and to John Kilday in assisting with the project. New Women s Lockers have been installed and are ready to rent. The lockers are secured by key locks and rent for $120 annually. WE HAVE 10 OPENINGS. Contact Bob if you would like to reserve one ASAP. The new indoor practice area is nearing completion. Sasha Catron has been the driving force with this project. A friend of Sasha s has completely funded the project with no expense to Link Hills. This indoor area boasts a putting green with two hitting bays that may be used to hit balls into the range with open doors or into a net with the doors down. We are currently raising funds for a Trackman ball flight monitor. This would be the third Trackman between Knoxville and Abingdon Va. making Link Hills a destination station for golf technology. This high-tech aid provides information & data that tour professionals use to enhance their games. We are tweaking the use of the indoor area for member use through a calendar to assist with scheduling times. More on this soon! Observations: *The golf committee has made a commitment to improving our bunkers. Clay tile drains were used back in the day around bunkers. Over time, the clay tiles became clogged and even burst with compaction and soil movement. As one may guess, the process of bunker renovation is quite substantial. Soon we will be assessing our bunkers and prioritizing the individual need of each bunker. Hopefully, as our staff will be spending more time working within the bunkers, some improvements will occur. *We will continue to protect our practice tee by moving the hitting area to the front of the tee to protect the dormant bermuda grass during the winter months. With increased play, we ask golfers to be good stewards for the course by fixing any ball mark that you encounter, and use golf cart etiquette around greens and tees. Golf Carts should never drive on high graded slopes like holes # 8 or # 9. These areas are extremely dangerous for carts. When entering bunkers, first find the rake then enter and exit on the lowest side. This will assist when raking backwards as you leave. Play on the course / Practice on the Range Please use the golf course to play golf. Playing a couple of balls on each hole is acceptable because you are playing the game. When hitting multiple balls from the same spot on the course, creating divots, and ball marks on greens is not good for the course an unacceptable. This type of practice must be taken to the driving range. We thank you in advance for following course rules.
Golf News Junior Golf Cart Policy (Effective November 1 st ) The Board of Directors has directed the golf staff to enforce the policy of the age for youth driving a club owned golf cart. The liability insurance is the primary reason with enforcing this policy. The policy states children under the age of 16 (without a driver s license) must have a parent / guardian present with them in the cart. This policy is the best approach in keeping our youth safe, and our club protected from a catastrophic event. We appreciate your consideration and assistance with the enforcement. Tee Marker Sponsors Farm Bureau/Kevin Broyles Farm Bureau/Justin Burns American Calendar C&C Millwright Andrew Johnson Bank Greeneville Federal Bank Gary's Paint & Body Leonard Associates Hampton Inn Adkins Family Dentistry State Farm/Steve Goad Corporate Sponsors Farm Bureau LMR Plastics Gateway Ford Andrew Johnson Bank Greene County YMCA Greeneville Federal Bank Rodefer Moss & Co. Heritage Community Bank SRK Tennessee Inc. Takoma Regional Hospital LHCC Tournament Sponsor Bachman Bernard Note from the Treasurer Over the last year we have made some great strides to insure Link Hills Country Club continues as a going concern. These include the clubhouse and course renovations, the amazing growth in our membership and the generous donations to our Take it up a Notch campaign. Without a doubt these are very important and very visible positive changes made possible by all of your continued support. That said, one area that tends to go unnoticed by the general membership is our accounting and back office function. Until I joined the Board I had no idea where Helen s office was located. It has become very obvious to the Board that in order for us to continue our positive momentum we desperately need a new point of sale system as well as more robust general ledger software. Recently a committee was formed to evaluate and select new software. I am pleased to report that we have completed that process and we are ready to move forward with the implementation. The software has much greater functionality allowing for better membership reporting, more accurate account analysis and budgeting as well as the ability for online statement review and payment for our members. The cost of the new software is slightly less than we are paying for our legacy system. However, we are well past the end of life cycle for our supporting hardware. We estimate the cost to replace the hardware to be approximately $10,000 and we would like to fund this through donations. We have had one member offer dollar-for-dollar matching funds up to $5,000. Another member has already given $1,000 toward this project. So we are looking for $4,000 in additional commitments. Believe me I understand there is nothing very exciting about buying new computer equipment. However, it is extremely important for our ongoing growth success. If this is something that you would like to assist with please contact me, Jerald Jaynes, Buddy Yonz or Bob Ward. Thank you for your consideration. Rodney Bell
Spotlight By WAYNE PHILLIPS The love that Marshall Brown has for the greens at Link Hills Country Club was best described by him in this manner: I have 20 greens here, and they all have different characteristics. You have to treat them all different. It s like having 20 kids. Marshall has been taking care of the turf and grass at Link Hills for some nine years now, and he has over 22 years of experience in turf grass management. He has worked for most of those 22 years with Link Hills Pro and club manager Bob Ward, as the two also worked at River Trace (Nolichuckey View) for a number of years. Link Hills has the reputation as one of the finest golf courses around, and that makes the golf course superintendent proud. I guess the main thing I ve found is that to be successful, you need to surround yourself with people who can help you be successful, he said. That s why I give my maintenance crew all the credit. You are only as good as those people who work for you, and I have a good crew. Marshall said it has been a delight to work for Bob Ward all these years, and that s one of the main reasons he came to Link Hills. I ve found over the years you need to treat people the way you want to be treated, and you need to talk to people the way you want to be talked to, he added. I ve got a good general manager in Bob Ward, and I ve got a good executive committee at the club and a good greens committee. Marshall has enjoyed success at his job over the years. While at River Trace, that local golf course was at one time named the top public course in East Tennessee by a Knoxville golf publication. At Link Hills, he was proud that the club hosted the 2011 and 2012 NAIA Women s National Championships, and in 2013 and 2014, it hosted the AAU Girls & Boys National Championship. In 2013 Marshall was named one of 15 golf course superintendents in the United States to be selected to the Melrose Leadership Academy. Despite his experience, Marshall never seems to quit worrying about the problems that can arise on a golf course. Disease is the main thing, he said. There are so many types, and we must recognize it and get it treated before it can spread. He has attended a number of conferences over the years to keep up to date on the latest in chemicals, plus he relies on information he picks up from other golf course superintendents. We ve been able to do quite a few things this year, he said proudly. There s major sod work, an irrigation system going in, we ve added new senior tees and some new ladies tees that will be ready in the spring quite a few things. But none could have happened without the support of our members. He also expressed appreciation to his family. At this job you just never know the hours, he smiled. There s a lot of weekends and holidays that we can t treat as such because we are really busy at the club. But my family has been very supportive over the years.
Donor List The Take It Up A Notch Campaign has raised over 60,000.00. Thank you!!! LHCC Benefactor Club Albert Romanowski Martha & Phil Bachman Preserver Club Kevin & Julie Kinser Bob & Ivy Leonard Link Hills Ladies Golf Association Ace Club Jim, Chris, Deanna, Gina Bird John & Paula Lamons In Honor of Phil Bachman Jeffers Mortuary Tim & Gina Shelton Al & Kathy Giles Jeffery & Terri Woods Britton & Michelle Garrett Jamie & Erin Oakley Ben & Meg Brooks Michael & Melody Noel John & Teresa Broyles John & Joy McGuffin Eleanor Heininger Birdie Club John & Helena Jones Charlie Strange Shane & Stephanie Hite Michael & Jennifer Hollowell Buddy & Becky Yonz New Ice Dispenser Compliments of Johnny Emmett & Doug Fezell. Eagle Club Bill & Melinda Hickerson Douglas & Misty Fezell John & Jane Emmett Stephen & Brenda Dickmann Cynthia Cragin William & Lindy Riley Jon Jensvold Erick Bulawa Sharon & Darin Patterson Adam & Leslie Wampler David & Susan Jones Greg & Elizabeth Crews Michael & Paula Brown Hans & Sherri Peters