ALTA SIERRA COUNTRY CLUB

GREEN GAZETTE

VOLUME 41` ISSUE 5 MAY 2017

2017 Board of Directors

Carl Koring, President

Cecil Robbins, Vice President

John (Jay) McCarrick, Secretary

Jim Barrilleaux, Treasurer, Front Office

Committees

H.C. Howser, House Committee Chair, House Maintenance

Pete Gobby, Greens Committee Chair, Golf Course Maintenance

Doreen Lewallen, Membership Committee Chair, Pro Shop

Ron Ott, Greens Committee

Ann Podielski, Membership Committee, Pool Committee

Advisors to the Board

Mike Scianna, Restaurant, Bar and Events

Jan Core, Wedding Events Coordinator

NOTES FROM THE BOARD

Carl Koring, President

I know that last summer I said, “I hope it rains a lot

next winter,” but when will it stop? I’m writing this

article on April 24, and it is cloudy, cool, and damp,

and the golf course is very green and lush. This is

due to Mother Nature and the efforts of Sean and his

crew. Thank you grounds crew!

Speaking of our grounds crew, they were very

busy working the course aerifying into their schedule

while dealing with some very wet conditions. New

trees have been purchased with members generous

donations and will be planted soon.

This is also the time of year when we start to

aggressively market or memberships, public play,

weddings/events, and golf tournaments. The rainy

winter produced less revenue for the Club compared

to last winter, but we already have more weddings

and golf tournaments on the calendar than last year.

We are working hard to increase revenue in all areas

of the Club.

In the beginning of May the Membership

Committee will be sending 3000 mailings to residents

in our local area advertising the different membership

classifications we have available. Additional

marketing is being accomplished by participating in a

coupon ad in the “Nevada County Gold” magazine,

giving a presentation to Roamin’ Angels car club

meeting, and reaching out to our local community to

assess interest in having a weekday golf league. In

addition to the marketing that is being accomplished,

members’ referrals are the most effective way to gain

new members Please continue to be a sales person

for our Club out in the community.

H. C. Howser organized a successful work day

during the course closure during aerifying. Volunteers

included: Marshall and Janet Barnes, Kathleen Cravy,

Jan Core, Chuck Martin, Dan Turner, Jim and Glenda

Barrilleaux, Mike Scianna, Ron Ott, Pete Gobby, and

myself. Many tasks were completed: the deck railing

was sanded and repainted, the deck was power

washed, the pump house for the pool was power

washed, the bathroom floors on #5 and #15 holes

were touched up, and the flower beds around the

clubhouse were weeded and cleaned up. Thank you

to all that participated.

It is hard for me to think of this right now, but our

pool officially opens May 1. Although the pool season

unofficial opening is Memorial Day weekend. The

Membership Committee is sending letters to the

people who joined our pool membership last year,

inviting them back to join this year. Do you of anyone

who might be interested in a seasonal pool

membership? This was very popular last summer.

We should all give a big THANK YOU to Jan Core

who, for the last 16 months, has donated her time to

be the Event Coordinator for the Club. Along with

Mike Scianna, Jan has made our outside events and

weddings a revenue generator for the Club. Jan was

instrumental in booking many more weddings this

year compared to last year. In an effort to fill Jan’s

shoes the Board has hired Melissa Ramsey as our

new Event Coordinator. She will also be helping in

the office. Stop by and welcome Melisa when you get

a chance.

The Board is scrambling a little bit. We received a

letter of resignation from Marcel Verdooner. He and

his wife Fieni are the ones behind the scenes of the

“Green Gazette’” our website, and all of the email

blasts you receive. They have assumed these

responsibilities for over 13 years. Their efforts will be

missed Thank you, Marcel and Fieni. For now, Ann

Podielski and Doreen Lewallen are on a steep

learning curve to take over Marcel’s duties. So please

be patient if this issue of the “Green Gazette” arrives

a little late.

Since the January Member Meeting your Board

has continued to search multiple avenues to address

our mortgage with Chase Bank. Proprietary members

will/or have received a document from our treasurer,

Jim Barrilleaux, detailing the Club’s options in this

regard and announcing a member meeting to discuss

the options and take a vote. The Finance Committee

and the Board have done its due diligence. Now it is

time for the members to make a decision. The date of

this meeting has not been set as of this writing.

I ask that you continue to support our Club by

adding an extra lunch or dinner a month on your

entertainment calendar. Or better yet, get a group

together and enjoy a meal at the CLUB!

This past month we lost:

GEORGE HUBERT JR.

1936-2017

ALTA SIERRA CC

PHONE DIRECTORY

OFFICE 273-2041

FAX 273-2207

GOLF SHOP 273-2010

DINING ROOM 273-2868

SUPERINTENDENT 273-2736

E-MAIL

Office: mo16bo@yahoo.com

Kacey: kacey4259@gmail.com

Sean O: supeoday@cwnet.com

WEB SITE http://altasierracc.com

ALTA SIERRA CC

GREEN GAZETTE

Published Monthly by

Alta Sierra Country Club

11897 Tammy Way

Grass Valley, CA 95949-6626

Publisher/Editor

Ann Podielski annpuddles@hotmail.com

Doreen Lewallen

danddlew@pacbell.net

GREEN SCENE

MAY 2017

SEAN O’BRIEN

Although it is May, finding good chances to get out and

play golf have not been nearly as easy as the past few

years. Wet weather is still persisting once or twice a

week and usually spaced just right to get in the way of

your next chance to play. From my perspective just

when it looks like the wet spots are gaining some

ground, here comes another soaker to put it off a little

longer. That’s not to say there haven’t been some die-

hards out there making the best of the conditions, and

rightly so. In talking to some golfing travelers the few

wet spots we have on the course are not nearly as bad

as some in the area, so you do have that going for you.

You also have the forecast of pleasant weather in the

near future. While those forecasts haven’t been all that

accurate of late, like the one in November that

predicted average or below average rainfall for the

winter, the chances of the sun popping out and staying

a little longer have to be tilting in our favor eventually.

Even more challenging than the weather this golfing

season will be keeping up with the demands of the golf

course moving forward. We are entering the Spring

and Summer season with the smallest crew in the 32

years I’ve been working here. Currently we have 4 full-

time employees and 4 part-time staffers to maintain all

there is to do to keep Alta Sierra the wonderful golfing

experience that it is. During the course of the week the

number of people we have working on the course can

vary widely. On weekends we usually have 3 for

Saturday and 2 for Sunday. On Monday we have 4,

Tuesday everybody is on deck so we have 8,

Wednesday we go back to 7, Thursday 5 and Friday 4.

Hardly enough to get the job done to our satisfaction,

but we do have one ace up our sleeve. That Ace is

experience. In addition to the 32 years I have made

this my career, your friendly mechanic Jerry Wells, and

everybody’s “Little Buddy” Art Gentry have between

them another 67 years combined experience in the golf

course industry and all of it right here at Alta Sierra CC.

A little quick math and 2017 marks the time when your

top 3 have reached the “100th year of experience”

maintaining the grounds here. When I think back on all

of the trials, tribulations and accomplishments made

over that time, yeah, it feels like a 100 years. The fact

is we wouldn’t have had it any other way, which

explains why we are still here I guess and will be for as

long as you’ll have us or we can keep up with the

demands that maintaining a place like this places on a

body. So, from all of us thanks for the memories, those

we can recall anyway.

The Nature Pic of the Month shows something we

haven’t seen in a little while. Since bucks lose their

horns every year, only to grow new ones later, I

thought I’d post this picture of “horns-a-plenty” with the

fuzz still on them that we will soon be observing on the

golf course.

The Golf Shop

Kacey Tyler

Well if April showers bring May flowers

then we are going to have a bountiful crop of

flowers. We have had almost 100 inches of rain

since October and our course is reeking the

benefits, putting up with some wet fairways and

muddy conditions is going to pay out big time,

the condition of our course is going to be very

good well into the summer. Now it is time to get

ready for real play and just as it starts to dry out

we will be hit by tournament play and as we all

know that sometimes interferes with regular play

time. Just for a heads up this month Tuesday

the 9th and 16th we have Sierra Seniors and

SIRS so the course will be closed until 1:00 pm,

then Friday the 12th we have the Silver Dollar

and the course will be closed that day. Men’s

Invitational will be the 18, 19 and 20, the course

will open around 2:00 on Saturday for regular

play. The Members Memorial Day Tournament

(designed by Robert Trent Barnes Par 3) will be

an 8:30 Shotgun on Monday the 29th with food

and prizes to follow, sign-up sheet in the Pro

Shop.

The time change for Men’s and Ladies

Day starts in May, they will now be scheduled to

go at 8:30am please be checked in by 8:00 late

comers may be excluded from play with the

groups and put in as follow the field. The divot

patrol will be starting up soon so watch your

emails for information on start time, volunteers

are needed and it’s a good way to get in a little

exercise on a Tuesday morning.

Thank you to all the volunteers for

planting all the new trees they look fabulous and

will make a big difference in a short amount of

time. A special thanks to Carl Bryan for

spearheading the idea and an extra big thank

you to Marty Weiss at Weiss’s Nursery.

Men’s Association

by: Mike Quinn

In a nutshell …

The last month was another competition between

Frosty, Chief Standing Water, and the ASCC Greens

Keeping Crew for course time.

Mar 29 Nooners & SBOAS PLAYED

Apr 05 Course Maintenance CLOSED

Apr 12 Nooners & SBOAS RAINED OUT

Apr 19 4-Man 2-Best Ball PLAYED

Apr 26 Nooners & SBOAS RAINED OUT

Coming Events May 03 Pres. Trophy (Nooners/SBOAS/Bandits)

May 06 ASMC Saturday Play

May 09 Sierra Seniors @ ASCC (Tuesday)

May 10 All Groups Scramble from Combo Tees

May 10 All Groups Lunch & Quarterly Meeting

May 18-19-20 Men’s Invitational (Th-Fr-Sa)

Jun 02 Sierra Seniors @ LOP (Friday)

Jun 14 US Open Member/Pro Best Ball

Jun 28 Men’s Club Championship (Round 1)

ASMC announces Saturday Play Saturday Play is now available for Men’s Club

Members. ASCC members who haven’t joined the

Men’s Club because they can only play on the

weekends, can now join and play on Saturdays.

If you would like to join the Men’s Club, contact

John Jones: 477-0212 or jjones787@yahoo.com.

MEN’S CLUB SATURDAY PLAY

2 Man Best Ball with optional

Low Net and Closest to the Pin

Sign up in the Pro Shop or

Contact Jack Kennedy

272-2404

jackksr1950@att.net

Check in at 8:00 on Saturdays

4-Man 2-Best Ball Tournament

Our third Gold Rush series event was played on

April 19th. Members signed up as twosomes, and the

Tournament Committee combined twosomes into

foursomes. Foursomes competed for payouts and

the twosomes competed to qualify to represent

ASCC in the NCGA Senior Four-Ball Net qualifier

tournament on August 2, 2017.

Congratulations to all the winners and qualifiers:

Foursomes (Gold Flight) & Silver Flight Winners

1st Gobby, Counihan, Bulman & Pearce 136

2nd Turner, Wallach, Buciak & Ulery 137

Silver Flight 1st Cravy & Core (2M-BB) 66

Silver Flight 2nd Barrilleaux & Ott (2M-BB) 69

Twosomes (NCGA Senior Four-Ball Net qualifiers)

1st Gobby & Counihan 64

2nd Buciak & Ulery 67

Closest to Pin Gold Closest to Pin Silver

#3 (none) Ron Ott

#7 John Jones Roger Cravy

#12 Steve Harris Dick Core

Welcome New Member Welcome to our newest Men’s Club Member:

Bruce and Cinnamon Danielson

16804 Lawrence Way

Grass Valley CA 95949

Wednesday Winners Nooners & SBOAS Competition

March 29th – Nooners 2-man best ball

1st Doug Bulman & Mike Grogan 63 net

2nd Rich Ulery & Chuck Vold 65 net

3rd Neil Wallach & Ron Metz 66 net

March 29th – Nooners Individual Low Net

1st Chuck Vold 70 net

2nd Neil Wallach 71 net

3rd Doug Bulman 75 net

4th Rich Ulery 76 net

March 29th – SBOAS 2BB of the 3 or 4-somes

1st Lewallen, Koring, Fritz & Ott 128 net

2nd Quinn, Ostrander & Martin 129 net

Alta Sierra Men’s Club Announces

Saturday Play!

The Alta Sierra Men’s Club will begin Saturday play in addition to regular

Wednesday play beginning Saturday, April 22. Kacey has reserved three tee times

beginning at 8:30 AM every Saturday morning and Jack Kennedy has agreed to

coordinate play for all Men’s Club members interested in playing on Saturday. The

games played will generally follow those that are played on Wednesday and include

two-man best ball, with optional low individual net and closest to the pin

competitions. Two-man team winners, and low individual net winners are rewarded

with pro shop credits. Closest to the pin payouts will be in cash. We anticipate a $10

entry fee, an optional $3 fee for closest to the pin and an optional $2 fee for low

individual net competition. Games within the foursome may be arranged by the

players (on Wednesdays, the Nooners play $1 Nassau games within the foursomes).

Men’s Club members participating in Saturday play following Wednesday

President’s Trophy play, will be eligible to win the monthly President’s Trophy.

A signup sheet will be posted in the pro shop. Players interested in playing on April

22 may also e-mail Jack Kennedy at jackksr1950@att.net. On Saturday morning,

players should check in at 8:00 AM. Jack will collect money and work with Kacey

in setting up the two man teams and the foursomes.

If you are an ASCC member with your handicap maintained through the Men’s Club,

who is interested in playing in Men’s Club play on Saturday and are not a Men’s

Club member, you may join the Men’s Club for an additional annual fee of only $20

payable to Alta Sierra Men’s Club. Just notify John Jones at jjones787@yahoo.com.

Men’s Club Saturday Golf begins April 22, 2017

Sign up in the Pro Shop or email Jack: jackksr1950@att.net

SWIMMING POOL

H.C. Howser and Ann Podielski

As of May 1st the pool is available for swimming.

Some of you that might like, or don't mind cold

water...have at it. Stop by the office for your

2017 pool pass, a copy of the rules, and the new

gate code...the code will not be given out over

the phone. Just remember, there are no

lifeguards on duty and you're swimming at your

own risk. Please do not leave the gate or allow

anyone into the pool area. And no guests at this

time. If you have a guest that wants to swim

have him or her join the swim membership.

The official opening will be Memorial Day

weekend, Saturday May 27th. Once again,

because of its success, we will continue with the

Pool Attendant program. Voluntary pool

attendants, working daily in two shifts from

11:00am to 5:00pm, will monitor the use of the

pool and verify that all users are members, their

family and/or their guests. If you are interested

in participating in this program a signup sheet

will be posted in the Club house soon.

If you have friends, or know of someone that

would like to use the pool please remind them

that our summer pool membership is available at

a very reasonable price. For $600 a member

and their immediate family can use the pool from

May thru September.

Because of the inclement weather maintenance

around the pool has been delayed. So during

May, because there is normally little use of the

pool, we'll use this quiet time to do what needs

to be done

Nif-Tee Niners

ANN PODIELSKI

Once again the month of April did not cooperate

weather-wise for the Niner golfers. This year is

seems like Thursdays have either been raining

or too wet to play. We are looking forward to the

weather changing and getting dryer and

warmer.

Since no golf to report let’s wish a Happy

Birthday to this month’s birthday girl, Nancy

Koring. She and Carl leave on her birthday May

11th for Italy and Africa. Have fun!

READERS CORNER

Submitted by JANET BARNES

“The Lilac Girls” by Martha Hall Kelly

Lilac Girls is a

novel based on

a real-life story

of a New York

socialite who

championed a

group of

concentration

camp survivors.

The three main characters’ lives are all changed

forever when Hitler’s army invades Poland and

then France. The story unfolds through the eyes

of Caroline Ferriday (liaison to the French

consulate), Kasia Kuzmerick (a Polish teen sent

to Ravensbruck), and Herta Overheuser (a

young German doctor at Ravensbruck).

The story tells how Caroline and Kasia work

throughout and after the war to bring justice to

female victims of medical experiments in

concentration camps.

An enlightening read about a horrific time in

history juxtaposed with the goodness of caring

people.

RULES & ETIQUETTE by Betty Koski

In an effort to garner more new golfers for golf

The USGA and The Royal and Ancient Club are

intent upon reducing the number of rules from 34

to 24. Some of the proposed rules changes

include: leaving the flagstick in while putting;

repairing spike marks or other damage including

footprints on the green; removing the ball from

the bunker and placing it behind the bunker and

taking a two stroke penalty for doing so; taking 3

minutes instead of 5 minutes to search for your

ball; and taking only 40 seconds to hit your shot

Please don't consider these to currently be in

effect However The USGA and The Royal and

Ancient Golf Club are giving these proposals a

trial period of 6 months with a projected

implementation date of January 1, 2019. Let's

hope that these changes are effected so that

golf will be less rules bound and more fun to play

in 2019.

If your golf group is in search of a lively topic to

be discussed at a meeting you might want to

consider the topic of the pros and cons of the

changing of some of the rulings made by onsite

rules decision makers at Pro Tournaments after

they received some phone calls by no/ viewers

who perceived some of the rulings to be

incorrect. The ensuing discussions are bound to

be lively.

And lastly from a recent column by The Rules

Guy in Golf magazine comes this interesting

situation that was in need of a ruling. A golfer

dribbled his drive 10 feet off the tee and his ball

came to rest in play. The golfer immediately teed

up another ball and declared he was taking a

one stroke penalty declaring that his ball was

unplayable and that he could replay any shot

anytime declaring it unplayable and taking a one

stroke penalty. His fellow golfer was appalled by

his friend's ruling and thought that it was

incorrect and wanted his friend to take a two

stroke penalty for violating the ball substitution

rule. . The Rules Guy said that Rule 28 makes

the player the sole judge of whether or not his

ball was unplayable and there was no breach of

Rule 15-2 concerning ball substitution. Well

that's news to me, also.

Until next month here's to some sunny dry days

in which to test our golfing prowess and

knowledge of the rules of golf!

Welcome New Members to ASCC

Individual Non-Proprietary Membership

Anthony (Tony) Russo

723 Camino Plaza

San Bruno, CA 94066

Lyndon Smith

11214 Marjon Dr.

Nevada City, CA 95959

Young Family Membership

Eric & Arrienne Van Bougondien

11596 Lower Circle Drive

Grass Valley, CA 95949

Lanty & Kelly Molloy

16637 George Way

Grass Valley, CA 95949

WOMEN’S GOLF CLUB Notes from the Co-Captain submitted by Robin

Van Metre

The weather was a bit more cooperative for the

last play day in March. The course remained

soggy but seventeen ladies hopped around for

the Bunny Shoot. The team of Cinnamon

Danielson, Jean Metz and Wendy Weiss won in

a card off. Cinnamon was also closest to the pin

with 32’ 7”.

Our fabulous team of decorator bunnies, Liz

Coots, Kathleen Cravy, and Janet Barnes, with

baskets donated by Linda Kennedy, wowed us

with their creative centerpieces and bags of

Easter candies.

Once again Captain’s Trophy was postponed

until April 20 due to weather. A small field of 13

competed.

First Flight

Low Gross Judy Wood

Low Net Andi Davis

2nd Jean Metz

3rd Julie Harris

Second Flight

Low Gross Marti Jones

Low Net Wendy Weiss

2nd Janet Barnes

3rd Linda Ulery

Captain’s Trophy Winner

Marti Jones

Closest to the Pin

Andi Davis 11’ 9”

The Spring Handicap Tournament has been

postponed due to wet conditions. The first

round will be played May 4th and the second

round June 8th. I think the winner this year has

been Mother Nature.

The Men’s Invitational is May 18th and May

19th. The men are asking for volunteers to

help on those two days. We traditionally

help them since they help during our

invitational. Check your calendars. The

signup sheet is in the Ladies’ Lounge

May 2017

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 7-11 Member Tee Times 2 11:30 Course Opens

Noon –SIRS Lunch-

3 Men’s Day President’s Trophy 9:30 Quilter’s Men’s Lounge Scones and Coffee 10:30 Bandits

4 Ladies’ Day

8:30 ASWGC Captain’s Trophy 9:00 Niners

5 7-11 Member Tee Times

Cinco De Mayo 5:00 Cocktails 6:00-8:00 Buffett Meal

6 7:00 Course Opens

9:30-2:00 NC Democratic Women

7 7:00 Course Opens

8 7-11 Member Tee Times

9 8:30 Shotgun Sierra Seniors

1:00 Course Opens

10 Men’s Day

Quarterly Meeting

11 Ladies’ Day

8:30 ASWGC Informal Guest Day 9:00 Niners

12 11:00 Shotgun Silver Dollar Tournament Silver Dollar Banquet

13 7:00 Course Opens

2:00-4:00 George Hubert Celebration of Life

14 7:00 Course Opens

10-2 Mother’s Day Brunch

15 7-11 Member Tee Times 16 8:00 Shotgun SIRS

1:00 Course Opens

Repub. Women Lunch/Fashion Show Italian Women Lunch

17 Men’s Day

10:00-1:30 AAUW Lunch 10:00-3:30 Bridge 5:00 BINGO! *

18 Men’s Invitational

Course Closed

19 Men’s Invitational

Course Closed

20 Men’s Invitational

2:00 Course Opens

21 7:00 Course Opens

10:00 TT B&B GC

4:00-9:00 Forestlake Christian School Banquet

22 7-11 Member Tee Times 10:00-1:00 DAR Luncheon

23 11 :30 Course Opens 24 Men’s Day

11:30 Newcomer’s Luncheon

25 Ladies’ Day

8:30 ASWGC 9:00 Niners

26 7-11 Member Tee Times

5:00-8:00Community Dinner

27 7:00 Course Opens

28 7:00 Course Opens

29 8:30 Shotgun

Memorial Day Member Tournament

30 11 :30 Course Opens 31 Men’s Day

Notes:17th is Last Bingo Event until September! Don’t Forget to treat that special woman to our Mother’s Day Brunch…and Viva Cinco De Mayo! RSVP to the office to assure seating

Weekly Lunch: Mon & Sat - Special BBQ menu: 11am*3pm Wed, Thurs, & Fri – Regular Menu : 11am-3pm

Sunday Brunch: Expanded Menu with Breakfast Options : 10am-3pm