Welcome April!
This is the time that things really start ramping up for me, and that is certainly the case this year at our club. The water supply pipe install has been completed, the pumps will be installed very soon, and the large transformer will be updated at a much smaller cost than anticipated.
You’ve probably noticed the temporary fencing around the pool; that project has started with demolition well under way. Isaac Henry-Cano and Kent Schwartzenberger teamed up to tear out and replace the exercise room flooring; thank them when you have a chance.
John Leslie, our new Superintendent, has hit the ground running; I’ve no doubt you’ll notice his impacts on the course as he and our awesome greens team move through spring and into summer.
Our membership preview program is producing substantial and steady results; keep it going! If you can, please volunteer to help out with welcoming and helping ‘onboard’ our newer members discover the best features of Twin Lakes.
The calendar is full of events, including Mother’s Day brunch, Kentucky derby, 2 Master’s golf events, ladies and men’s leagues starting, and ample tournaments.
Once again, I’d like to thank you all for your support, suggestions and well-meant ribbing as we all move through this year of big changes. It is truly a team effort, and as I mentioned last month, we have a large, involved, dedicated and productive team here at Twin Lakes.
Have fun out there!
Bryce Landrud
President, Board of Trustees
Hello everyone and happy April!
First of all, I am happy to report that the demolition of the pool deck has just started. The construction will disrupt a bit of the cart traffic on the golf course, and we apologize for any inconvenience. The good news, though, is all indications currently show that we are on schedule to open the pool around Memorial Day weekend for a great summer of swimming! Additionally, the pumps for the course irrigation project are on their way and should be installed in the next two weeks.
We are very happy to have our new golf course superintendent John Leslie with us. He has officially been here one week, and he is a wonderful addition to our Twin Lakes family. This past week, John has been doing his best to meet as many members as possible, so if you see him around please feel free to introduce yourself. He is already fitting right in and we are very excited to have him here.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who came to our Easter Brunch! It was a great success with nearly 300 guests, making it our largest event since before Covid! We had parties as large as twenty, as small as two, and everything in between. The Egg Hunt was also a highlight of the day, with over 60 kids finding all 450 eggs hidden on the greens. It was wonderful to celebrate the holiday with all the families, and I look forward to many more events like it. Our next event is coming up soon – Mother’s Day is on Sunday May 12th. Please contact Molly to secure your preferred seating time for the brunch.
Don’t forget to join us on Fridays for a chance to win credit to your account or a great raffle prize!
Birthdays
Anniversaries
Hello Everyone
It appears the golf gods were playing Peek a Boo with our chances of playing golf last month, but these last weeks have been fantastic!
Cross our fingers that the rain will finally stay away (or at least be a light sprinkle here and there).
Now that we are in April and the beginning of our Spring/Summer season, our golf rates change out of the winter schedule. Listed below is the current golf rate schedule for the upcoming season along with the posted Dress Code for all members and their guests while using the golf course and practice facilities.
APRIL 1 – SEPT 30 GOLF RATES
GREEN FEES FOR PROPRIETARY GUESTS, SOCIAL, ASSOCIATE MEMBERS – $75 + tax
GREEN FEES FOR JUNIOR GOLFERS (17 & under) – $25 + tax
18-HOLE CART FEES (per rider) – $17.50 + tax
9-HOLE CART FEES (per rider) – $10.89 + tax
RANGE BALLS (per bucket) – $7.26 + tax
UPCOMING APRIL/MAY GOLF EVENTS
Wednesday April 10 is the start of Master’s Weekend with our Par 3 Challenge at 5:30pm. If you have not signed up, call or stop by the golf shop with your group. Singles will be put together.
Next on the agenda is the “Pick your Pro” weekend competition. April 12, Master’s Friday night, is our silent auction for your professional partner for the weekend. There will be bid sheets for each professional golfer that makes the cut set up in the lobby starting at 5pm. The entry fee for this event is the auction price you pay for your tour player. You can buy as many players as you want. The competition is the tour player’s 2-day score over the weekend combined with your net score from Saturday round at Twin Lakes. If you are unable to make the auction on Friday night, you can buy a player the next morning by paying $10 more than the previous bid, provided the player has not teed off for their round at the tournament. Remember, The Masters is played on the east coast so make sure you get the player you want before they tee off. There are no assigned tee times for this event. Make a tee time with someone who is also playing in the competition. Last tee time off #1 tee on Saturday will be 1pm for the competition.
Men’s League will be starting Wednesday, April 17th and running throughout the summer. $80 is the entry to join the league. Your entry goes toward the “Season End” banquet and the “Winward Cup” payouts. The Men’s Wednesday evening competitions begin at 5:30pm (shotgun) and our Fri/Sat/Sun weekend comps are tee times on your own time (playing with another league member). They format of play varies on types of competitions. There is no prior sign-up necessary during these events. The buy-in for Wednesday and weekend events is $10.
We have the Couples anniversary tournament on the 21st of April. This is a two-person chapman format for couples. We play this in groups of three couples (six-some), and you can choose the other two couples for your playing partners. The sign-up is available in the pro shop. Included in your $25 entry fee is a Champagne Toast while on the course. The Thursday night Couple’s Mixers and Sunday play days will start up in May.
Men, mark your calendars for the Spring 2 Man, which takes place on May 2nd & 3rd. 18 holes played on Saturday and 27 holes on Sunday. Three different formats will be used for this event. Starting with a Better Ball format on Saturday followed by a Scramble format on Sunday morning and finishing the event with a 9-hole Chapman Sunday afternoon. It’s time to find a partner and sign-up in the pro shop. If you need a partner, contact the golf shop and we will do our best to pair you up.
We have set up a nice variety of Vendor Fitting Days for 2023. We started this last month. The weather has cooperated somewhat for these to be successful and what to thank those of you that have come out to take advantage of viewing the new line of equipment. There is no obligation to purchase when coming out to these events. Your participation is important for us to secure these vendor relationships.
APRIL DEMO DAYS
April 11 PXG Fitting Day (1-5pm)
April 12 TaylorMade Fitting Day (1-5pm)
April 25 XXIO Fitting Day (10-3pm)
Men’s Senior Exchanges start up on April 10. We are hosting the Plateau Club members here at 9am. If you are 55+ and interested in playing on the 10th, I believe we still have spots for 2-3 players to fill the roster. On April 24, the Plateau club members will host us. The cost to participate in these two events is $10 to cover the competition. You will be on your own for any type of Food/Beverage.
FRIENDS OF THE GOLF COURSE “SANDY” Award
Our March Friends of the Golf Course award, the “Sandy” goes to Tom Beyke. His dedication and time go unnoticed as he spends extra time on the range after his morning practice filling in the divots left behind by members using the grass tee on the driving range. Tom does this daily to keep the grass tee available with turf and ready to use for all members and their guests. Thank you, Tom.
We want to thank everyone who participated in the Spring Glow Ball event last month. The weather was fantastic, and the turnout was unbelievable. 64 players came out to enjoy the festivities and help grow our assistant fund. Congratulations to our 1st place winners: Loren Ellingson, Jason Wilton, Mike Esbenshade, and Eric Kuehlthau.
Lastly, we have new faces among our golf operations staff. First, we want to welcome Jordan Lugoloobi. Jordan will be working behind the counter helping us with golf genius as well as with the Women’s and Men’s league events. We also have three (3) new outside staff members: Leilah Henry-Cano, John Mburu, and Kellen Hedrick. We are excited to have these young individuals join our Twin Lakes family and what they will be able to contribute to our golf operations.
Daylight is getting longer. We are through the March aerification.
Spring is here, and there is a lot of golf to be played!
The increase of nice weather and golfers means we are getting into the busy season for our grounds team and our committee.
This better weather allows golf carts off the paths and back onto the course. It is essential that you check the cart sign at hole 1 and follow the path rules that have been established each day.
Our committee had our first meeting in March with our new golf course Superintendent, John Leslie. It was great to get to know John and learn about his experience in the industry. We are confident he is going to do great things at Twin Lakes. We have begun reviewing with John our tree maintenance, bunker improvement, and tee box improvement opportunities that we have been working on over the winter. As John begins to get familiar with the course, we look forward to hearing his input on these areas.
The course is in really good shape. Seeing fresh cut fairways and rough areas, and sun shining is a welcome site! We thank everyone on the grounds team for everything they do to maintain the course.
Please do your part and help maintain our golf course: utilize the sand bottles to fill divots, repair ball marks, and follow cart path rules.
Cheers,
Tyler Pac
Committee Chair
The weather in March allowed the ladies to golf every Tuesday.
March 5th competition for the 18 Hole Ladies was ACE DAY/Low Net. In the 1st flight Hisayo Masada was 1st, Sharon Lorenzo was 2nd, and Stephanie Papke was 3rd. In the second flight Sue Sohn was 1st, MiChong Kim was 2nd, and Chong Sena was 3rd. In the 3rd flight Se Sook Sung was 1st, Diane Meyers was 2nd, and Kathy Ouellet was 3rd. Hisayo won the 1st Ace of the season.
Competition for the 9 Hole Ladies was Low Net. Myrna Romack was 1st, Kim Crahan was 2nd, and Ilima Brainard was 3rd.
March 12th the competition for the 18 Hole Ladies was You Pick Em. Se Sook Sung was 1st, Hisayo Masada was 2nd, and Minhee Chung was 3rd.
Competition for the 9 Hole Ladies was U Pick Em. Nori N. Was 1st, Myrna R. Was 2nd, and Kim C. Was 3rd.
March 19th the competition for the 18 Hole Ladies was Shots to the Green. In the 1st Flight Sue Sohn was 1st, Frankie Stephens was 2nd, and Stephanie Papke was 3rd. In the second flight MiChong Kim, Kim Crahan, and Hui Suk So tied for 1st. In the 3rd flight Tami Greene was 1st, and Se Sook Sung was 3rd.
Competition for the 9 Hole Ladies was Shots to the Green with 3 Club Limit. Kim C. Was 1st and Ilima B. And Teri J. Tied for 2nd.
March 26th the Competition for the 18 Hole Ladies was 2 Net Best Ball of 4-Some. Team of Frankie Stephens, Kim Crahan, Sue Hebert came in 1st. The team of Sung Chang, Minhee Chung, Tami Greene came in 2nd. The 1st team of Hisayo Masada, Diane Meyers, Janet Sage, Sue Sohn came in 3rd.
Congratulations to Low Net on the Month Hisayo Masada with a net of 66. Way to go Hisayo!!
Team will be playing 1st match of the year on April 11th at Bear Creek. Play well ladies. Invitational coming up May 24th and 25th.
By Ben Bergner – PGA Associate
When I first learned how to chip, there was only one common method taught. Weight forward, hands pressed forward in front of the ball to create a significant forward shaft lean and encourage a downward strike on the ball, which promotes ball first contact. While this is still an entirely acceptable way to chip and pitch the ball, there is now proof for another argument: Activating or Using the Bounce!
Why would we want a different way to chip in the first place? Using the bounce for pitching and chipping is all about creating a buffer between you and your bad shots. In reality, playing good golf is all about hitting better bad shots. When we chip using the bounce, we will have less forward shaft lean at impact and our angle of attack will be less steep. This means that when we make contact with the ground, the club will scooch along and slide under the ball; So much so, that when the technique is properly employed, we can hit several inches behind the ball and still generate an excellent shot. When we use the traditional method of forward shaft lean, the leading edge is exposed to the ground and if we don’t make contact within a ½ inch or so of the ball we won’t have a very good result. Chunking chips then often leads to blading chips as we try not to dig the club into the ground. And all of a sudden, we’re caught in a vicious cycle of hitting baaaad chips
So how do we use the bounce? Start off with a normal chipping stance and then remove any forward press from the club (see pictures at the end of the article). We want to have the club straight up and down in our setup AND when we return to the ball for impact. Getting our hands in front of the clubhead will make the club more likely to dig and get stuck, hitting a classic fat shot. By using the bounce and allowing the club not to dig, we can get comfortable hitting the ground. When we’re comfortable hitting the ground, we’ll stop chunking and blading shots like we normally do.
To practice and get the feel, we want to work on short and medium length chips first. Practice making swings where you feel like you don’t load your wrists at all. It often feels like I’m shoulder shrugging a little bit or kind of getting a right arm chicken wing in my backswing to try and prevent wrist loading/cocking. Another way to say it would be: aim to have your left arm and shaft in one straight line the whole time you’re making your chipping motion. Then as we accelerate forward, we want to maintain that straight line with the left arm and club. DO NOT allow the clubhead to lag behind your hands. As we get better at this, we can work on hitting the ground harder with the bounce of the club while making practice swings! This is the ultimate confidence builder for being comfortable hitting the ground. If I can hit the ground HARD and not have the club dig, I’m doing my job and feeling a lot more confident about it. This type of shot with a high lofted club will also produce some high and soft landing shots with a decent amount of spin and infinitely less risk than even a typical chip shot! Enjoy your better bad shots and come see me if you need any more help with this!
Fore!
Ben Bergner
Here we can see the two types of setup: left is a neutral setup that has me primed to use the bounce and right is the traditional hands pressed with forward shaft lean and more body lean to promote the downward angle of attack. When we work on using the bounce to chip, we also want our impact position to look like the picture on the left. Whatever you have to feel to keep the club like this, it will help you hit better and more consistent chips.
Twin Lakes Women’s Invitational 2024
It’s time to start signing up for this year’s Women’s Invitational Golf Tournament. This Invitational is open to all women golfers who meet the handicap requirements below. Entry forms are now available in the women’s locker room.
The entry fee is $210 per person. The dates of this years Invitational are May 24-25. The field is limited to 48 teams of two, so get your team together and sign up ASAP. This is a member/guest, guest/guest or member/member Tournament. We are permitting two members to play together, although we highly encourage members to invite guests if possible. This is such a fun tournament and high participation makes it all the more successful.
Maximum Handicap index allowed is 38.5 (40 Twin Lakes), with a maximum 10 stroke difference between partners.
Entry fee includes practice round, range balls, 2 tournament rounds, daily payouts, horserace, 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, entry into raffle, snacks, appetizers and a fun evening of music. Carts are separate, and the charge is $40 per person for both days.
Questions? Ask any of our committee members:
Frankie Stephens
Denise Harrell
Sally Irvine
Save the Date
Time to kick off the first season in our new pool, April 21st at 5:00pm to 6:00pm in the Twin Lakes Ballroom. There will be a hot dog buffet provided while you learn about why you should become a Penguin! We will be talking about meets and practices, along with how to register. A new T-shirt design will be revealed. We will be raffling the home meet parking spot, along with a 50/50 raffle.
Come find out who your new coaches will be! Hope to see swimmers and families there! Questions? Contact Laurie or Dannylle at Tlstmanager@gmail.com
Meeting: Second Thursday – 5:30pm
Meeting: When Needed
Meeting: Third Wednesday – 5:30pm
Meeting: Every Other Month
Meeting: Third Thursday
Meeting: Second Wednesday – 6:00 pm
Meeting: Third Tuesday—6:00 pm
Meeting: Wednesday – 6:00 pm
To help promote the game of golf by offering a challenging and beautiful course and other complementary facilities that are affordable, inclusive, and inviting. Provide a thriving comprehensive recreational and social venue offering its members, guests, and community partners exceptional experiences to play, relax and socialize in a tranquil and peaceful environment.