AROUND THE CLUB

The NOVEMBER 2014

UnicornUnicorn

The fall aerification and overseed program is now complete and the golf course will soon be in magnificent condition. Even though there has been a significant amount of course conditioning during these last few months, the payback will be worth the investment as we now have several months of smooth sailing with virtually no major maintenance. As we enter into what we all hope will be a normal rainy season, we should begin to see the benefits of this summer’s sand topdressing of the fairways. This sand layer will act as an absorbent for the rain keeping playing conditions good following typical rainstorms. So, with the weather

this time of year nearly perfect for playing golf, now is the time to bring out family and friends to show off your beautiful golf course.

As we enter into the Holiday Season (hard to believe it is upon us once again), I would suggest members keep the Holiday schedule handy in order to not miss out on any of the traditional events put on by the Club. Beginning with Thanksgiving Day Dinner and ending with the New Year’s Eve Celebration, in between there will be numerous fun filled events that have a tradition of selling out so make your plans and reservations early. If you haven’t made plans already, I hope to see all of you at the Fall Soiree on Saturday, November 8th to enjoy a great evening of libations, food and entertainment. A good time will be had by all so don’t miss out!

Congratulations go out to Rick McGill for being re-elected to a three-year Board term and to Dave Esgro and Luis Michel for their election to the Board. I am looking forward to working with the Board and standing committees as we enter into an exciting new year. Committees meet once a month for no more than one hour and are truly the backbone of the Club’s direction. Commit-tees will be forming soon so if you would like to participate in the governance process of the Club, volunteer to participate on a committee by dropping me an email stating your interest.

See you around, Dave

2 NOVEMBER 2014

Duplicate Bridge Thursdays at 6:30 PM

In September Carolyn & Mac McFarland won a First. Placing were Helen Boltinghouse, Fran & John Brant, Judy & Joel Sandberg, the Mc Farlands and Michi Yoshida.

Bridge Tip: When defending a suit contract never-ever under lead an Ace.

Stephen F. Sturm , Bridge Director714-223-9948 • momsturm@gmail.com

OCTOBEREMPLOYEE ANNIVERSARIES

Chris Banner 10 yearsJavier Zavala 9 yearsSarah Clemens 3 yearsCraig Reeves 3 yearsKarissa Bozoff 1 yearDan Verdugo 1 year

Thursday, November 27th

Join us for an abundantand bountiful feast

Seatings 1 p.m. & 4 p.m.

Adults $31 +taxChildren (6-12) $17 +tax

Children 5 and under complimentary

For reservations, please call562.698.0331

Upper Level Attire

Thanksgiving BuffetFriendly Hills Country Club invites

you to participate in our annual

2014Member-Member

Saturday & SundayNovember 15th & 16th

Saturday, 9 a.m. ShotgunPinehurst Format

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Sunday, 9 a.m. ShotgunBest Ball of Partners FormatBreakfast & Awards Lunch

Entry:$280 per person - all inclusive

10 stroke differential in handicap between partners

from unicorn tees.november 1st handicaps

low of the year divided by 2

Please register your team with the Golf Shop 562.693.3623

by Jay Prestella

ALIGNMENT IS THE KEY TO GREAT PUTTINGWhen members ask me to look at their putting strokes I will always have them start with a 6 to 8 footer that is some what straight. I then stand behind them to see where they aim the putter face. Most the time I am amazed at how far off line they aim, 99% of the time they will aim the putter face to the right of their intended line. This makes it impossible for us to have a straight back, straight through stroke. With this alignment problem we will be forever manipulating the putter head to try to get the ball on line. Let’s cure this horrible habit by retraining our eyes using these 5 easy steps.

1. Squat behind the ball looking at the line you want the ball to start on to make the putt.2. Aim label of the ball at your attended target.3. Lay the putter face up directly behind the ball, making a “T” shape between the face and the sight line.4. Raise the shaft up, keeping face of the putter aligned with your target.5. Attempt to make a straight back straight through putting stroke.

Going through these few steps will help with your alignment, that will lead to less putts on the green.

OFF THE TEE

Men’s Golf

PRESIDENTS CUP UPDATESome great matches went on in our annual Match Play Championship. Here is a list of who’s going on and who has to wait until next year.

Greg Nordbak def Eric ChengDave Esgro def Mike LazarinNick Donovan def Bob SoudersJay Hurtado def Edward TienJohn Wuo def Dave GomezJohn Gilboy def Tim MetroDoug Kellogg def Tom Aoyagi

MOST IMPROVEDCongratulations to Rick McGill for topping the list for this month’s most improved. Rick went from a 15.3 to a 13.4 index. Here is a list of the others that followed in close pursuit.

SEPTEMBER SMOKEROne hundred golfers showed up for last month’s Smoker. Members and Guest enjoyed a great day of golf, food and laughs. Format for September was Point Par, 1 point for net par, 2 points for net birdie and 3 points for net eagle or better. Here is how they finished.

1st 83 pts. Jerry Wong, Joseph Lee, Benson Liaw, James Shaw2nd 79 pts. Menard Leelin, Chico Guarano, Kenneth Mirhan3rd 74 pts. RJ Sackley, Joel Tates, Byron Grabinger, Raj Samra4th 73 pts. Tom Liu, Edward Tien, Jay Kang, Daniel YehT-6th 71 pts Henry Chang, Robert Wu, Vic Huynh, Alex ToT-6th 71 pts Nick Limpson, Greg Walti, Charles Marino, Jose Gomez

Old New % decreaseLloyd Toda 7.4 6.3 14.86 Peter Kang 5.4 4.6 14.81John Gilboy 5.6 4.9 12.50Giovanni Samayoa 11.5 10.3 10.43Luis Michel 10.0 9.2 8.00Ken “Strokes” Schork 21.6 20.2 6.48

4 NOVEMBER 2014

by Nancy Cobau

MOST IMPROVED GOLFERS20 and Under Division: Stephanie Ford won the honor of most improved golfer for taking her game from an index of 8.7 to 8.1. Stephanie’s handicap was 11 and is now 10. Congratulations for another great month and for being the most improved golfer in the 20 and Under Division for two consecutive months!

21 and Over Division: Marilyn Ampudia won the award for the 21 and over division, lowering her index from 16.0 to 14.8. Marilyn’s handicap went from 20 to 18. Congratulations for your low scores on the course!

THE PRESIDENT’S CUP TOURNAMENTOur annual four-day President’s Cup Tournament was held in September. This wonderful event was organized by Mari-lyn Ampudia and Nancy Sheals. FHWGA started out with some extremely good players. Our brave starting pairs were as follows: Ching Chen / Susan Shimizu, Robin Cass / Lanis Peterson, Lenore Garman / Janet Osborn, Martha Chavira / Raelene DeGrazio, Masako Igushi / Michi Yoshida, Sun Park/ Shirley Berres, Susan Ly / Lorna Taylor, Barbara Carty/ Karin James, Gina Malkasian / Adriana Messick, Marilyn Ampudia / Nancy Sheals, Keiko Yoshida /Dominga Hong, Kistine Chung / Stephanie Ford, Kathy Kow / Louise Wong, and Mabel Tien / Vicky Ma.

After the first day of playing, the tournament went from fifteen playing pairs to eight pairs as only the most focused and hard playing groups survived for semifinals. The weather was difficult also with temperatures reaching the hundreds every day. We were now down to four groups as follows: Robin Cass / Lanis Peterson, Masako Igushi / Michi Yoshida, Barbara Carty / Karin James, and Mable Tien / Vicky Ma. Then the finals, on our Meeting Day September 23rd with the weather still not dropping as temperatures hit 106º. The two remaining groups playing for the President’s Cup Tournament were Barbara Carty/ Karin James against Michi Yoshida, whose partner was unable to attend. Then came the moment when Jay Prestella, our FHCC golf pro, announced this year’s winners: Barbara Carty and Karin James.

We held a consolation tournament for all who played the first day but did not make it to the finals. This year’s winners of the consolation round were Dominga Hong and Keiko Yoshida. Second place winners of the consolation round went to Nancy Sheals and Marilyn Ampudia. Once again, congratulations to Barbara Carty and Karin James for being this year’s winners of

FROM TEE TO GREEN

the President’s Cup. Many thanks to Marilyn Ampudia and Nancy Sheals for organizing another wonderful event for the ladies group!

< Barbara Carty and Karin James winners of the President’s Cup Tournament with Head Pro Jay!

< Nancy Sheals, President’s Cup Tournament organizer with Michi Yoshida, Runner- Up

Robin Cass and LanisPeterson, Semifinalist for the President’s Cup

Tournament! >

< Dominga Hong and Keiko Yoshida, winners of the consola-tion round of the President’s Cup Tournament!

Marilyn Ampudia and Nancy Sheals, second place

winners of the consolation round in the President’s

Cup Tournament >

EVERY TUESDAY IS SPECIALThis month FHWGA had some very special Tuesdays with some very exciting games for the ladies golf group. On Tuesday, August 26th, the ladies played a game called: “Out with the Three’s.” Like its name we added up our score taking out the par three’s. There were some big hitters with some low scores!

Ladies’ GolfNOVEMBER 2014

The winners were as follows:

A Flight Gross: A Flight Net:1st Place: Nancy Sheals 1st Place: Masako Igushi 2nd Place: Kay Wimer 2nd Place: Michi Yoshida3rd Place: Sun Park 3rd Place: Marilyn Ampudia

B Flight Gross: B Flight Net:1st Place: Keiko Yoshida 1st Place: Mary Campbell2nd Place: Louise Wong 2nd Place: Linda Sandler3rd Place: Betty Toda 3rd Place: Raelene DeGrazio

Then, the fun only continued the next week on Tuesday, September 2nd. This week we played: “Hardest and Easiest.” The winners were as follows:

A Flight Gross: A Flight Net:1st Place: Nancy Sheals 1st Place: Gina Malkasian2nd Place: Kathy Kurata 2nd Place: Marilyn Ampudia3rd Place: Kay Wimer 3rd Place: Yin Bihr

B Flight Gross: B Flight Net:1st Place: Louise Wong 1st Place: Mary Campbell2nd Place: Betty Toda 2nd Place: Kathy Kow3rd Place: Joanne Leong 3rd Place: Janet Osborn

2014 FALL TEAM PLAYOn Tuesday, September 30th, the FHCC Fall Team hosted tournaments for Alta Vista vs. Candlewood and Western Hills vs. South Hills. FHCC team captains, Karin James and Susan Shimizu made sure every detail was taken care. All the play-ers enjoyed a delightful breakfast followed by our challenging course and wonderful lunch. The Fall Team players, Michelle Ho, Barbara Carty, Robin Cass, Sarah Samayoa, Lanis Pe-terson, and Team Captains, Karin James and Susan Shimizu, hosted the event. Thanks ladies for making the day so special for the other teams!

< Susan Shimizu and Karin James, this year’s Fall Team captains

Tournament helpers: Susan Shimizu, Karin James,Barbara Carty, Lanis

Peterson and Michelle Ho

HOLE – IN- ONE!Thursday, October 9th turned out to be another amazing day for Adriana Messick. Adriana was playing golf with Susan Ly, Dominga Hong, and Mary Campbell and struggling with her game due to shoulder pain. When Adriana came to hole number eight, she usually uses her nine wood. On this day, she decided to hit a more powerful wood because she was having a hard time with the pain. Changing to a seven wood turned out to be a great choice because she drove to the green and the ball bounced just ten feet from the hole and rolled into the cup. This is Adriana’s fourth hole-in-one. Pretty impressive! Adriana continued to tell me that she only wishes that all her friends

could have a hole-in-one and she could share the joy with every-one! Congratulations Adriana for another great game and thanks for wishing everyone the same luck and skill as you!

< Adriana Messick holding her hole-in-one ball on hole number eight with Susan Ly, Dominga Hong, and Mary Campbell

REMEMBERING MARJORIE RAMIREZ

We all lost a personal and close friend in August. Marjorie Ramirez was a very special per-son who could see the beauty in everyone and everything. There was never a day that Marjorie did not have a smile on her face, for she was always positive! Marjorie was highly respected and highly educated with a doctorate in Psychology. She was a true leader in her younger

years! Marjorie, we all love you and will miss you! Our thoughts are with you, Frank and your family. So we say a poem by an Unknown Author to remember you: In Memory Those we love remain with us, For love itself lives on. Cherished memories never fade, Because a loved one is gone. Those we love can never be, More than a thought apart. For as long as there is a memory, They’ll live on in our hearts. Continued on page 6

>

6 NOVEMBER 2014

Michael Wang - EquityMichael is the General Manager for Vista Expert Group in La Puente and has been there for 8 years. He and his wife Vicky reside in Hacienda Heights and have a one child, Catherine, age 4. Michael is looking forward to playing golf and attending the social events to meet new friends.

Jian Zhong Feng - EquityJian is the owner of Master Export, Inc. in the City of Industry. He and his wife Xiao Qian reside in West Covina. Jian is looking for-ward to playing golf with other members and his wife, Xiao Qian, is looking forward to the social activities here at the club.

Kevin Tsai - EquityKevin is a Director of Global Logistics at Topland Logistics in the City of Industry. He and his wife Christine reside in San Marino and have two children, Otis, 7, and Orion, 4. Kevin is looking forward to playing golf with members and to help his son love the game of golf. Christine also plays golf and is looking forward to the social activities.

Helmut Gail - SocialHelmut is retired and he and his wife Linda reside in Hacienda Heights. Helmut is looking forward to all the social events at the club.

NEW MEMBERSq

Hello from the Golf Course Maintenance Department!

The fall aerification process has been completed throughout the course. Greens were aerified with both standard coring tines as well as the deep tine and then followed with the DryJect sand injection process. We will be testing several greens

later this winter to see how these processes have affected the soil structure and water infiltration rates.

Tee aerification and overseeding has been completed. We are already seeing very good germination on the tee tops. The spot rough overseeding is nearly completed as well. We ask that, as much as possible, avoid areas that have recently been seeded to avoid injury to the newly germinated turf plants. In order to help you identify larger areas that have been overseeded, ropes and stakes have been placed near many areas as well as introducing a new use for the blue and white traffic stakes as seen in the graphic to the right.

As we begin to prepare for fall and winter we are hopeful that what the NOAA is calling a “weak El Niño” will materialize for Southern California and bring us all some much needed moisture. According to data from NOAA, the stretch of time from January through September for California was the warmest on record. Data from our local weather station supports this information indicating that in 2005-2010 we averaged 139 days with highs above 80 degrees. In 2012-2014 (through Oct 15th) the average has jumped to 170 days above 80 with 171 so far this year.

We are looking forward to taking on some small project work as we progress through the winter including items such as leveling of irrigation heads, GPS mapping of golf course features and sprinklers, as well as some in-house tree trimming.

Thank you for your support!

Michael WolpoffGolf Course Superintendent

Marjorie, we sadly miss you but will never forget you. Lovingly from the ladies of Friendly Hills Women’s Golf Association!

< Marjorie and Frank

Marjorie playing golf at a formal event with the ladies >

UPCOMING EVENTSTuesday, November 18th is our Meeting Day organized by Nancy Bobier and Sarah Samayoa. Sign up in the ladies locker room to be put into a foursome to play with the ladies. This will be our annual Turkey Shoot. Don’t miss the fun!

Tuesday, December 2nd will be our Holiday Hacker organized by Kathy Kurata and Lori Torline. Sign up in the ladies locker room and it is sure to be a great time.

On Tuesday, December 16th, will be our Meeting Day and Christmas Boutique organized by Karin James with help of Sarah Samayoa and Nancy Bobier, our Meeting Day organiz-ers. Don’t miss the fun and sign up in the ladies locker room.

From Tee to Green, continued from page 5

OF COURSEq

COURTSIDE

Our October Ladies’ Day came early (on October 1st!) but thanks to our organized Hostess Carol Ann Malka-sian we were treated to a fabulous fall day themed “Sugar n’ Spice and All Things Nice”. Although we couldn’t get the Southern California weather to cooperate and be very “fall-like”, we still had great weather for a fun day on the courts. Our winners for the day were Carole MacCaulay in 1st place with 18 wins, Aracely Gordon in 2nd place with 16 wins and Missy Reyna in 3rd place with 13 wins. Margit Polyak won the Best Trooper Award and Susan Washle took home the Most Spirited Award. Congrats to all!!

NOVEMBER 2014

Tennis

FROM THE TENNIS PRO

What makes a doubles player great at the net?1. Seals the possibility of any alley shots.2. Favors angles instead of straight volleys down the court.3. Only poaches when the point can be won.4. Never gets to eager to poach so that he/she does not break the balance of the formation.5. Never gets to close to the net but always moves forward to hit a volley.6. Has patience and readiness to wait and then go for the kill.7. Must have great hands, soft and strong.

q

OF COURSE

Clubhouse Hours

LowerLevelDining Breakfast Tuesday-Friday 8:00a.m.-11:00a.m. Saturday-Sunday 6:30a.m.-11:00a.m. OmeletBar Sunday 10:00a.m.-2:00p.m. Lunch Tuesday-Sunday 10:30a.m.-3:00p.m. Terrace Tuesday-Friday&Sun. 3:00p.m.-7:00p.m. Saturday 3:00p.m.-6:00p.m. UpperLevelDining Thursday-Friday 6:00p.m.-9:00p.m. SnackBar Wednesday-Friday 11:00a.m.-3:00p.m. Saturday-Sunday 9:00a.m.-3:00p.m. GolfShop Tuesday-Sunday closesat6:00p.m. AdministrationOffice Tuesday-Friday 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m. AccountingOffice Tuesday-Friday 9:00a.m.-4:30p.m.

Administrative StaffDaveGoodrich.............................................GeneralManager,COO dgoodrich@friendlyhillscc.comChrisBanner......................................................ClubhouseManager csbanner@friendlyhillscc.comChristineBobadilla................................................CateringDirector cabobadilla@friendlyhillscc.comJosephFlores..............................................................ExecutiveChef jaflores@friendlyhillscc.comGailHeins.........................................................................Controller geheins@friendlyhillscc.comBrianRicketts............................Membership&MarketingDirector bricketts@friendlyhillscc.comMichaelWolpoff,CGCS...........................GolfCourseSuperintendent mwwolpoff@friendlyhillscc.comJayPrestella,PGA..........................................HeadGolfProfessional jjprestella@friendlyhillscc.comCharlesReeves..............................................MaintenanceSupervisor cmreeves@friendlyhillscc.comJorgeSchneider,USPTA.......................................TennisProfessional jnschneider@friendlyhillscc.com

Friendly Hills Country Club8500 South Villaverde Drive

Whittier, California 90605-1398

Office: 562.698.0331 • Golf Shop: 562.693.3623www.friendlyhillscc.com

First Class MailU.S. Postage

PAIDWhittier, CA

Permit No. 235

Holiday Events 2014Holiday Lunch Buffet with “Holiday Carolers”

Friday, December 12thSeating from 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.Adults: $26 Children: $14 (6-12)

5 and under complimentary

Breakfast with SantaSaturday, December 13thSanta arrives at 9:30 a.m.

Magician 11 - 11:30 a.m. Puppet Show 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.Adults: $22 Children: $15 (6-12)

5 and under complimentary

Holiday Sing-Along & BuffetThursday, December 18th

Seating from 6 - 9 p.m.Adults: $27

Holiday Dinner Buffet with “Holiday Carolers”Sunday, December 21st

Seating from 5:30 - 9 p.m.Adults: $31 Children: $19 (6-12)

New Year’s Eve CelebrationTuesday, December 31st

Festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. with Hors d’Oeuvres and No Host Cocktails

Dinner Served at 8:30 p.m.Live Musical Entertainment, Las Vegas Style

Gambling & Prizes$85 per person

Guests Are Welcome To All Events!