The Happenings March 2017 941-637-1232 www.twinislescc.org Volume 17 Issue 03

President – Gene Gordon Looking Back--Highlights Our annual Sweetheart Valentines Dance was well attended and our New Orleans Mardi Gras themed Murder Mystery was a sell-out with a great meal and our Member sleuths solved the mystery! Our annual Valentine Fun Scramble boasted a full field (see pictures) with a fantastic meal! Looking Forward Get your green outfit ready for our annual St. Patrick ’s Day Fun Scramble! Sign-up sheets are in the Pro Shop for this event which is sure to have a full field! MEMBER BILL PAYMENTS BY ACH AUTO DEBIT I’d like to briefly touch on the topic of Member bill payments by ACH Auto Debit. At this point in time we have 154 of our 491 Members paying their bills by Auto Debit----about 31% of all Members. We would like to move the dial upwards and our target is 50% penetration. The major benefits to the Club are improved cash flow and reduced administration for our Club and our Members. We would encourage the remaining 69% of our Members to consider this simple process. Please contact our Controller, James Wendland or our Membership Coordinator, Lea Carlson-Warner and they’d be pleased to quickly and simply set you up. DUES HARMONIZATION We are pleased to advise you that great progress has been made in narrowing the gap between our varying Member Dues Rates. In 2016 we went from 45% to 70% of Members at the new rate of $350/month. Our projections suggest we will exceed 88% by year end. If this projection is met, all rates may be harmonized at the rate of $350/month, if the finances of the Club support it at the time. We are pleased to make this announcement now, so that our long-term Members are well aware of our commitment to them---against the backdrop of long term net attrition and our recent short term membership growth trend. Following a thirteen-year trend of net Equity Member attrition (2001-14), the Club has now experienced two highly successful Annual Membership Drives. Not only has Equity Membership net attrition been arrested, but we are now on a solid growth trajectory. This fall we are anticipating another strong Annual Membership Drive which, when compounded with the other two Campaigns, is driving Club Revenues (Dues) upward. The Club is also benefiting from the Associate Member category which now sees us with a “pipeline” of approximately 30 Members who, upon reaching age 60, will pay dues at the regular New Member rate. The clear objective of your Board is to move to full dues harmonization as

quickly as possible, projected to be January 1st, 2018. Also, rest assured that for those of you who pre-pay your dues on annual basis, at the effective date of

full Dues Harmonization, you will be receiving a credit for prepaid dues at the higher

level. We are also committed to ensuring the short and long term financial success of the Club, so our Members will have a Country Club they can enjoy. We will continue to monitor our Membership growth throughout 2017 and as soon as we reach our goals to harmonize the dues for all our Members in a fiscally responsible manner, it is our shared goal to do so.

Upcoming Events

Mar. 2 - Euchre Night Mar. 3 - BSIA/BSIBC PM Mar. 4 - Interactive Dinner with Chef Mar. 6 - National Seminar Mar. 7 - Learn Mah Jongg Mar. 7 - Annual Meeting Mar. 10 - O'Sullivan Men's Member/Guest Shotgun & Dinner Mar. 10 - Cooking Class Mar. 11 - O'Sullivan Men's Member/Guest Shotgun & Lunch Mar. 12 - Club Closed Mar. 13 - TI Women's Annual Fashion Show Mar. 14 - Learn Mah Jongg Mar. 14 - Bingo Night Mar. 15 - No Lunch Service Mar. 16 - No Lunch Service Mar. 20 - Flite Bridge Mar. 21 - Club Closes 3 PM Mar. 21 - Annual President's Party Mar. 22 - 9 Hole Ladies Golf Shotgun & Luncheon Mar. 22 - Book Club Mar. 23 - Learn Mah Jongg Mar. 23 - Club Closes 3 PM Mar. 26 - Annual Irish Open Golf & Dinner Mar. 28 - Learn Mah Jongg Mar. 28 - Bingo Night

March Happenings Page 2

(President – Gene Gordon continued)

NON-CORE ASSET SALE (Lot adjacent to the tennis court). Due diligence continues as we determine whether the lot is saleable. We believe we will know whether a required variance will be approved by mid-April. If so, the property will be listed at a market price and the anticipated proceeds would be used as a cushion against future capital expenditures. INSURANCE RENEWAL I’d like to provide you with a recent example of how Pope Golf has saved the Club approximately $8,000 in 2017 ($3000 of which is an ongoing annual savings). The Club’s insurance renewal has annually occurred in February. Following a Pope Golf led Tender Process, our premium of approximately $65,000 was renewed by another carrier, with the same coverage, at a $5,000 savings. There remained a requirement for 25% to be paid up-front and the balance financed over the remaining 11 months at 7.5%. Pope Golf recommended a process which has proven out at other Clubs they manage. By moving the renewal date to early June, immediately following our “High-Season”; and just after many of our Members pre-pay their annual dues; we are able to pay the premium in full---thus avoiding approximately $3,000 in interest expense (annually). Golf Quote: “The most important shot in golf is the next one!” Ben Hogan

Greens & Grounds – Debbie Snedeker The first Pre-emergence herbicide application of 2017 was applied on February 27th. This treatment will inhibit germination of existing weed seeds but will not affect the existing weeds, those will be dealt with in subsequent treatments. Fertilizer was also added to this treatment to feed the turf. This application is earlier than 2016’s treatment as we hope to get a jump on prospective new weeds. The first Post emergence treatment to treat the existing weeds will be applied in March or April depending on the weather. Additional cattails will be eliminated between number 2 green and the Gold Tees on number 3. This will allow for the recovery of the many range balls that are otherwise irretrievable due to the dense growth of the cattails. The first spraying took place on February 28th. Since the course does not require as much mowing during the winter months, the Grounds crew has made productive use of their time edging the sand traps and additional rakes have been put out. The tee markers have also been painted and look great. Because of the record settings rounds of golf we have postponed the “Divots, dogs and drafts” day but will be scheduling the event once high season is behind us. We didn’t want to interfere with play or risk volunteers being injured by golf balls. Thank you to all who have come forward to offer their help with the project. In the interim we appreciate our Members who took the time to repair divots and ball marks during the February 12th tournament. We once again ask our Members for diligence in filling divots and repairing ball marks on the greens and please feel free to fix an extra divot or two as well. The lack of rain has been good for our revenue stream as we have been experiencing record number of rounds. Unfortunately, our ponds are suffering thru this dry weather and the golf course is dry despite our best irrigating efforts. If any Member has a rain dance in their repertoire please feel free to use it, and if you are really good make it a night rain.

Membership Update - Mary Ellen Hanley Is it really March? How quickly our winter season is flying by! Our full parking lot and lively grill room indicate that our Members and visitors are enjoying the golf course, tennis and outstanding weather. Last month I wrote that one of the objectives of your Membership Committee in the first quarter of 2017 was to promote our seasonal memberships. We held a second Open House for Seasonal Members on Tuesday, February 21 and once again met some nice guests who expressed how much they appreciated our golf course and accommodating pro shop. Feedback on the Snowbird package was positive. We also met quality candidates for annual memberships. We will follow up with our new contacts and extend invitations to stop by again for a tour, a round of golf or to hear once again the impressive news about our fine dining and fun-filled social calendar. It is not only Oscar season, it is the time of year to vote for the Harbor Style Magazine’s Hottest categories for recreation, entertainment and dining. If you recall, last year Twin Isles won three awards: Best Place to Play Golf, Best Place to Play Tennis and Finalist for Sunday Brunch. Let’s capture these titles again but why not add Best Place for Dinner! Cast your votes quickly as the voting ends mid-March. Check your email from Twin Isles for access to the link or go to: http://www.harborstyle.com/harbors-hottest/ Welcome new annual Members: Golf: Kevin Brown, Phil Aiello Jr. and Brandi Woods, Joseph Beyer Social: Phillip and Sally Peters, John and Susan McDonald Please welcome back the following seasonal Members: Terry and Donna Williams, Carl Piacenza, Dr. David Clayton, Richard and Patricia Stack, Steve and Diana Lansky Membership Report - January 2017 Total Equity Golf: 169 Other Golf: 15 Total Golf: 184 Tennis: 40 Social: 220 Seasonal: 47 Total Memberships: 491 I am pleased to report that we surpassed January 2016 total memberships (excluding Seasonals) by 20%. We have also exceeded January 2016 golf equity memberships by 8.3%. Our social memberships have had significant growth at 44% over January last year. Don’t forget! Like us on Facebook facebook.com/ticc2 Members only: facebook.com/groups/twinislesccmembersonly/ While you enjoy our Facebook page please post some positive (5 star) reviews of Twin Isles to boost our rating and to elevate our website ranking on internet searches. Thank you.

Golf Committee Update – Ed Bouton Fellow Twin Isles golf friends! We’re coming down the home stretch of “The Season”. Big golf events are looming over the horizon including the men’s member/member and member/guest, the men’s match play (why this tournament doesn’t get more participation is a personal mystery) and of course the club championships. Later in April will be the Couples Championship. Orchestrating these tournaments smoothly and simultaneously maximizing our outside play dollars, Steve Baisch and his pro shop, rangers and cart barn crews deserve a big thanks! Speaking of Steve, I recently decided to take multiple lessons from him, not because I had a major problem with my game, but rather to better understand ball flight issues and what I might do to self-correct when they occur in a round. As I’m sure you know, all the big names on the men’s and ladies’ pro tours have swing coaches. So why more of our regular players are not on Steve ’s practice tee getting a “checkup” is a good question. He is the most insightful and solid teaching pro I’ve encountered in my 55 years playing the game! He can “fix” you in a few minutes, but to really dig to the bottom of your swing and your game, both short and long and putting, take a series of three or four lessons over a few weeks. Dave Lucey, former club president and my predecessor as Golf Committee Chair, was talking with me a few days ago and I mentioned I was working with Steve. Dave strongly agreed that Steve has regularly helped him sort through periods of less-than-stellar play. The golf swing can seem incredibly complicated, at times. When you’re going through slumps, as we all do, Go See Steve! A word about our recently completed City of Punta Gorda Golf Championship. This tournament was held January 28 and 29 at first our Club and then over at St Andrews South (Chris Orr and Steve did superb jobs staging the first day). We had 27 Members play this year – a nice number, but we should have more in my opinion. St Andrews had 45. The men’s championship flight was won by Charlotte High’s golf coach Scott Harvey. Scott edged out our men’s club champ Eddie Volk with a birdie on the 34th hole, for a one stroke win. The ladies’ championship was hotly contested between our current ladies’ champ Suezee Yohe and our multiple past champ (both Twin Isles and City) Pam Solinger. They were tied after 36 holes and went to a sudden death playoff where Suezee prevailed on the first hole. The City Championship is a very fun tournament and I hope our participation continues to improve, however its main goal is fund raising for charities. Its primary charity is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the favorite charity of “Platinum Sponsor” Gene Gorman Family Motors. The tournament also contributes to five or six Charlotte County charities such as the Peace River Wildlife Center. This year the tournament raised over $13,000, which was a record for its four years of existence. I’m very happy to report that many Twin Isles members contributed to this amount via “hole sponsorships” – we donated over $1,200. Thanks! Late news: on Thursday Feb. 23rd our men’s interclub team won the Pope interclub trophy in their third annual competition with Saint Andrews South. The final score was 31.5 to 22.5. Matches were contested under Golf Association of Florida (GAF) interclub format whereby each foursome plays a two-man net best ball match, plus two individual (“one-on-one”) matches – pretty intense match play! I will close by asking all of you again to do everything you can to keep our golf course in the best possible condition. The lack of rain coupled with the high numbers of Member and outside rounds is taking its toll on the course, especially the fairways. PLEASE fill all your divots carefully. I would ask that you step down the divot, then fill it with just enough sand. Those who take an entire scoop of sand and dump it in a pile on their divot actually makes it harder for the rye and Bermuda to fill back in. Our greens continue to be a source of pride, but if you look closely, you can find at least one or two additional ball marks to fix while your partners are putting. And “push the crater’s sides to its center” (don’t pull up on the crater from below as that tears the paspalum’s roots). By the way, if you’re a walker and don’t go out with sand, you’re contributing to the problem, not the solution! Golf Quote of the Month: “Read it, roll it and hole it!” (10-year old caddie Eddie Lowery to Francis Ouimet to calm him when Ouimet is overcome by anxiety over his four-foot putt to win the 1913 U.S. Open, as depicted in “The Greatest Game Ever Played” Disney movie … my favorite golf movie!).

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Men's Interclub Golf Tournament with St. Andrew's

Thursday, February 23, 2017

General Manager – Christopher Orr Greetings Twin Isles Members! It is hard to believe that we are half way through another exciting season. The Club has been bustling with activity on and off the course. February saw Geoff and Kathy Hewett spark a new Super Bowl Party tradition here at Twin Isles. The addition of a new 65” flat screen TV made watching the game that much more enjoyable. As always Chef Tito created a wonderful buffet for all those who attended. With the growing popularity of our numerous events, we are in the process of putting a reservation and cancellation process in place. Many Club events sell out so quickly that we have even had to start a waitlist. Thank you to the Twin Isles Women for the addition of a new wireless sound system for the Clubhouse. Those who attended Murder Mystery could see, and more importantly, hear it in action. Steve and his amazing staff have been hard at work as the course has seen record highs in daily golf rounds played. It is wonderful to see all the Members and their guests out on the course. March has three Golf Tournaments to look forward to. March is shaping up to be as jam packed as January and February. We start off with a Chef’s Interactive Dinner and the President’s Party. March 7th is the Annual General Meeting. Following the Club will be offering a Petit Dinner Menu for your enjoyment. Please call for reservations. The Staff and I are looking forward to the second half of season. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you should have any questions or concerns. I’m open to any ideas and my door is always open! See you at the Club.

Social Committee Update - Marcia Cummins March promises to be another fun month at TICC. On March 4th we will have an Interactive Chef dinner. These are always a delight. The menu for this one includes: a Napa salad, pan-seared scallops, Steak au Poivre, and ice cream crepes with strawberry Romanoff for dessert. Seating is limited for this experience and sells out quickly. Our Annual President’s Party will be held on March 21. The entertainment for the evening is impressive. Verceal, former member of The Platters, will be performing. Her bio can be found at www.verceal.com. You will see that she has shared the stage with the Temptations, Spinners, Drifters, Pointer Sisters and many other musical acts. Of course, the menu planned for this evening is quite grand. You will want to get your reservations in early to ensure you have a seat for this special event. Get ready…Karaoke Night is returning in April. Watch for updates soon.

Finance Committee Update - Ron Graff Our results for 2016 have produced good news and the early results for revenue in 2017 have already exceeded expectations and significantly exceeded the same period for 2016. Thanks to the success of the Membership Committee during 2016, with the support of all our volunteers and other club committees, our dues income and other revenue are projected to produce positive cash flow from operations in 2017. Full year 2017 budgeted revenue is roughly $2,514,000, an increase of $166,000, or 7%, over 2016 actual revenue. This revenue level will allow us to fully fund the 2017 golf course improvement plan, including the additional $40,000 donated by Members in 2016, and fully fund our 2017 debt service without the need for further donations or assessments. Outside play and other non-member revenue continue to be significant and necessary contributors to our financial strength. Cash and credit card sales (almost exclusively from non-members) were in excess of $650,000 during 2016, with an increase of 14% projected for 2017. This is roughly equivalent to the amount of income generated from 100 full equity Members. A review of the membership rolls show that Members paying in accordance with the new dues schedule increased during 2016 from 45% to 70% in Golf and from 63% to 82% in Social; like gains in 2017 would allow for full dues harmonization (at the new dues level) sometime during 2018. As many of you will recall, the first quarter 2016 suffered from substantial inclement weather. The combination of 1) the reduced play during this time and 2) our failure to adjust expenses in a timely manner produced a revenue shortfall of some $100,000 in the first quarter as compared to 2015. However, due to staffing changes made by Pope Golf, and a strong focus on revenue generation and cost control we were able to claw back some of that loss and produce positive cash flow from our operations in 2016, but not enough to fully pay the $150,000 of principal payments on our debt; the remaining shortfall was financed primarily by the sale of one lifetime membership and from drawing on our existing lines of credit. The 2017 budget includes fully restoring those lines of credit by April of this year. Also, due to the hard work and generosity of our Members and through various committees, including the TICC Women, we have updated and refreshed the lobby, replaced the Club’s sound system, enhanced the pool area and replaced the old TV in the grill with a new 65 inch HD TV. As successful as 2016 was and as hopeful as the 2017 budget is, it is important to note we are still unable to fully fund a proper capital budget and our physical plant continues to age. These are critical milestones along our path to returning to a truly private and financially secure country club. In other words, congratulations on an overall successful 2016, particularly in the growth of our membership base, and we look forward to even more progress and success in 2017.

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Cooking Club – Nancy Meadows If you love chocolate and didn't attend the February Cooking Class, then you missed out on an outstanding presentation by Patti Haley-Herndon, owner of Punta Gorda Chocolate and Wine store. 15 attendees enjoyed a fun and in depth presentation on Chocolate. AND everyone had the opportunity to sample some melt in your mouth delicious hand crafted chocolates that Patti brought! We also discovered that Patti sales fudge, hard candies, custom orders, wine and craft beers. No need to shop anywhere else! Don't forget to sign up in the Club notebook located at the podium just outside the restaurant for the March 10 cooking class, it's going to be fun! Cost is $10, collected at the class and the cooking class starts at 3 PM (happy hour!).

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Annual Valentine Fun Scramble Sunday, February 12, 2017

Golf – Steve Baisch February was a great golf month! The weather was perfect and play on the golf course showed it. As busy as the tee sheet is, and it is busy, it is important for you to know we will make room for our Members whenever possible. If you are looking for a tee time and do not see any openings, please let me know. 99% of the time I can find a time for you. Just a word on grip pressure. Grip pressure is the biggest killer of a golf swing. The tighter your muscles are the harder it is to swing the club, and tight muscles start with the grip. That being said, sometimes we have to hold the club tight because the grips on our clubs are slick. The grip is the only contact we have with the club and if it is hard to hold the club it is hard to swing. If it has been over a year since you changed your grips you a probably due. New grips make a huge difference in tension! Upcoming Events: March 10th & 11th: Mike O’Sullivan Men’s Member/Member–Member/Guest March 18th: ARCHway Tournament March 26th: Irish Open April 3rd – 7th : Club Championships

9 Hole Ladies – Ginnie Myhr & Nancy Flak Can't believe another month has gone by already! We're happy to say that the Nine Hole Ladies league has grown to 37 members. We had a great turnout for our Gals and Pals Scramble and dinner that was held on Wednesday, February 15. Our March schedule includes regular golf on March 8 and 29, best of two on March 15, and on March 22 we have our 8:30 AM Shotgun and Luncheon. This should be a fun game, because we will be playing with only 4 Clubs plus our

Putter. Hope to see all of you on the course!

Twin Isles 18 Hole Ladies Golf Association (TILGA) - Barbara Johnson Welcome to all the new Twin Isles Members! If you have been thinking of joining TILGA, now is an excellent time to sign up for a weekly game. Our weekly games for March are varied, interesting and fun. We have our golf format schedule posted on the TILGA bulletin board. After a whirlwind February, three big events, we are looking forward to a leisurely March. I cannot believe how swiftly the season is passing.

Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program – Zoe Hopkins The TICC lakes provide a year round home to Mottled Ducks and a winter stop over for a wide variety of other migratory ducks. Ducks may be divided into 2 groups: Dabblers and Divers. The 2 groups have different habitats, body types and feeding behaviors. The Dabbler Ducks feed in marshy areas and shallow waters. They skim the water surface seeking food with their bills or tip head down, feet in the air, to feed below the surface. The Dabbler Ducks are better adapted to walk on land, with smaller feet and legs attached more forward on their bodies. Our year round Mottled Ducks are Dabblers. In addition, in the winter, you might also see other Dabblers, such as Mallards, Blue Winged Teal and Green Winged Teal. The Diver Duck is better adapted for swimming, with larger feet on short legs attached further back on the body. The Diver Ducks are seen in more open water areas and may dive up to 40 feet or more searching for food. The Diver Ducks seen in the winter at TICC may include Redheads, Buffleheads, Lesser Scaups (Blue Bills) and Hooded Mergansers.

Flite Bridge – Mary Lou Miller The results from the December Flite Bridge are: Yvonne Heer and Pam Lawler 4390 Sandy Lorden and Judy Peters 3860 Mary Collins and Marylou Miller 3410 Katie Costello and Nancy Padgett 3390 Janet Camel and Sharon Naftzger 2580 April Flite Bridge will be held on Monday, April 17th at 10 AM.

March Happenings Page 6

Arts Group – Mary Pedalino Eight women participated in the February Arts Group with Gerri Zoppa of Z

Artist. We painted garden pots using a variety of

paints and techniques.

See more photos by visiting Twin Isles Country

Club - Members Only on Facebook.

Classes are the first Tuesday of the month and start

at 3 PM. To register for the class: sign up in the Clubs

Notebook at the hostess podium in the Club.

Payment is in advance so we have all supplies on hand. Come join us for the fun. Of course we can be

drinking adult beverages as we create these

masterpieces!

We have cancelled the March 7 Arts Group due to

the Annual Membership Meeting at the same time.

The April 4 Arts Group will see the return of Gerri

Zoppa with Painting Tote Bags using designs she will

provide or your own custom creations. Sign up and pay Lea the $30 for supplies

and instruction.

TI Women – Di Kandis Have you been to an event which used the new additional sound system that

the Twin Isles Women donated? All four speakers are wireless and moveable

throughout the Club. We've had very positive comments on the quality!

Our March 13 meeting is the Annual Fashion Show...as I write this we have

only about 2 tickets left so it's certain to be a full house - see Lea. Our agenda:

Arrival – 10:30 AM Sign in, buy 50-50 tickets, order beverages, socialize, find

seating; 11 AM TI Women announcements, Chico's Fashion Show; About noon

- lunch served and raffles.

Sixty-six members attended our February Femmes and Fortune Game Day!

Brief announcements included the raising of $5,000 through the Garden

Committee on Arbor Day as well as the successful Bake Sale raising $500

for the Garden Committee An outstanding lunch was enjoyed. Great job by the staff - thank you! The Activity Room was abuzz with the slap of cards, the rolling of dice, and

the clicking of tiles for the afternoon of games and fun! Our final meeting of the season is April 10, the Annual Tea and Officer

Initiation - we have a VERY SPECIAL guest speaker who will instruct us in the

proper way to make tea.

Tennis – Bob Blazekovic The season is flying past us as Spring begins to arrive. Our Men's and

Women's travel teams are once again representing the club with great results.

I would also like to remind everyone to please replace all club equipment to

the proper place when you are done with it. The court brushes and liners can be

damaged if left on the ground.

Tennis is a great sport and has many benefits for those that play. Keep in

mind that it is still a game. I played professional tennis on the world tour for over

eight years. During that time, I played in many different environments in several

countries. This taught me how to cope with a whole host of different forms of distractions. One time I was playing doubles in a small town in India and the

Governor of the territory came to the match. My partner was a little "wound up"

and made a few insulting comments. There were several hundred people there

and I can assure you that every time we missed a shot, or even got ready to hit,

the crowd made some noise.

When you are out there playing remember, unless someone is deliberately

trying to disturb your game, noise and distractions are part of the game. Put

them out of your mind and do your best (you can't control them anyway).

See you on the courts.

SWEETHEART DANCE—

FEBRUARY 14, 2017