We can't all sit around and wait for the world to become a better place for our children.
Some of us need to be brave, stand up and do something about it.
Eric Affeldt, ClubCorp's President and CEO, is one of these people; and on March 30, 2013 he is taking a stand and shaving his head to raise awareness and funds for The St. Baldricks Foundation and The Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
"Whenever I hear about a child suffering, it absolutely breaks my heart. Many times it’s easy to feel helpless in these situations, but this year I’m going to do something about it — and I need your support to make a difference. So how can you help? I’m glad you asked....
On March 30, I’m saying good-bye to my hair to raise $100,000 for both of these great causes. If bald is beautiful, getting my head shaved to help these brave children who are fighting for their lives should be extraordinary!" said Eric.
Visit Eric's blog to read more and donate to these great causes!
http://ericaffeldt.wordpress.com
Although it made a perfect backdrop for the classic Kevin Costner golf flick “Tin Cup” when it was filmed there in the mid-1990s, The Clubs of Kingwood near Houston needed a little tender loving care and help coming into the 21st century.
“We were seriously outdated, our dining room was literally a banquet room with banquet chairs and our bar consisted of two bar-stools that were at least 25 years old,” said Director of Golf Darrell Fuston.
The Clubs of Kingwood is one of the world’s largest private country clubs, therefore a significant amount of time and effort went into the reinvention; and ever since the Club’s grand re-opening in November 2012, the changes have been very apparent.
“What stands out to me is how much different the place feels, and we haven’t even gotten to our prime good weather time!” said Fuston.
The Club is located in Kingwood, Texas, a community in Northeast Houston, where a nice day never goes wasted by staying inside.
During the winter months, Members thoroughly enjoyed the new fire-pits and as the temperatures have been rising, the beautiful new outdoor covered and un-covered patios are beginning to see more traffic.
“What’s cool is we’re getting into our golf outing season and people who are not Members are coming in and their eyes are popping out,” said Fuston with a laugh.
Golf writer Mike Bailey was wonderful enough to do both a before and after feature about The Clubs of Kingwood’s reinvention in The Houston Chronicle.
Be sure to take a look at the articles:
"Clubs of Kingwood in middle of golf reinvention" by Mike Bailey
"The Clubs of Kingwood offers an archetype for success" by Mike Bailey
Congratulations to The City of Irving, Texas on recently winning the 2012 Malcolm Balridge National Quality Award!
Tommy Gonzalez
City of Irving city manager
and member of La Cima Club's Board of Governors
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, The Malcolm Balridge National Quality Award is the highest level of performance excellence recognition an organization can receive in the United States.
Irving City Manager Tommy Gonzalez has been a Member of La Cima Club in Irving for more than six years and has been on the Board of Governors for two years.
Originally from West Texas, Tommy brought more than 20 years of managing experience to The City of Irving when he started working there six years ago.
What clinched the prestigious award was the total transformation of both the quality of life in the city and the way it was run. Incredibly, in just a few short years, Irving reached a plateau that the vast majority of cities never reach.
According to the NIST, the City of Irving is one of five cities in Texas and 89 cities nationwide that holds an AAA rating from both Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s. In addition, Irving has maintained these ratings continuously since 2007, throughout the worst recession in our nation’s history.
In a survey that rated many key service departments, including the police, code enforcement, libraries and recreation, the number of city residents who rated the city as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ has increased by double digits since 2006.
The rating for overall quality of service in the city of Irving is 74%. This is significantly higher than the rating for the state of Texas (46%), and almost double the rating for the United States Government (38%).
Additionally, the city’s crime rate dropped considerably during the past six years. According to the NIST, overall crime per 1,000 city residents has decreased a noticeable 35.5% since 2006.
“[The application process] was a very rigorous review of our operations, things we've been working on for the last six years,” said Tommy. “These kinds of things do not make [Irving] recession-proof but they do show that these are sound practices.”
Winning the award goes to show how hard work and dedication behind the scenes can really begin to show in the the long run.
Instead of just making these changes into goals, Tommy and the rest of his dedicated staff made them into a reality.
Congratulations and keep up the good work!
Last week, Sept. 5-9, was the 2012 Acura ClubCorp Team Championship at Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas.
Most participants arrived Tuesday or Wednesday night for the practice round during the day and the welcome reception on Wednesday evening.
Members and Employee Partners loved the chance to stay in the same hotel, and the ability to conveniently walk down to all of the competitions and festivities. The days were hot, but the heat didn’t take away from the event and Saturday morning was much cooler, hitting the mid 80s at the end of the day and creating a comfortable end to the tournament. Barton Creek is surrounded by Texas' beautiful hill country and many attendees brought their spouses, who could relax and sightsee when they weren't cheering on their favorite teams.
Canyon Crest Country Club in Riverside, Calif. clinched the win in an exciting three-hole playoff between a team from Canyon Crest and a team from Canyon Creek Country Club in Richardson, Texas. Canyon Crest got an edge by recording a birdie on the third hole in the playoff, where Canyon Creek made par.
This year’s Championship had a few notable firsts. In the tournament’s 26-year run, this was the first time Canyon Crest had won the event. Additionally, it was also the first time a female pro has won the tournament along with her team. We want to extend a hearty congratulations to Jennifer Dolph and the rest of Team One from Canyon Crest on reaching these Championship milestones. Additionally, congratulations to Bob Blumberg, a Member at The Clubs of Kingwood, on his hole-in-one on Sept. 6.
The rest of the tournament was tight and close. The evenutal third through sixth place teams all tied for third place at the end of the third round with a score of 174. In a scorecard play-off, East Lake Woodlands Country Club from Tampa Bay, Fla. took third, Trophy Club Country Club from Trophy Club, Texas took fourth, Canyon Gate Country Club from Las Vegas took fifth and Treesdale Golf and Country Club from Gibsonia, Pa. finished in sixth.
ClubCorp was honored to have so many outstanding sponsors at this year's Team Championship. The title sponsor was Acura, spoiling the attendees with two-hour test "Guest" drives in a brand new Acura during their stay at Barton Creek and offering a grand prize of the use of an Acura for one year, which was won by Adam Tamas, a Member at Granite Bay Country Club in Granite Bay, Calif.
Another lucky winner, Tom Reed, a Member from River Creek Club in Leesburg, Virginia won a three-day stay at the Lodge at Doonbeg with two rounds of golf on a Greg Norman course for shooting closest to the pin.
During the Saturday night awards dinner, Chuck Feddersen, Regional Vice President, Golf & Country Clubs Division, and Cathy Harbin, Vice President, Golf Revenue, presented all of the additional awards and prizes, including Bennelli shotguns, a four-day golf-and-fishing stay at Cheyenne Ridge Signature Lodge in Pierre, South Dakota, presented by the Wyoming Club; Maui Jim sunglasses, Foot Joys My Joys golf shoes; Greg Normans golf shirts; Crocs golf shoes; a Disney trip, and Golf Buddy Voice and Platinum GPS systems.
Among many other notable sponsors offering prizes and promotions were Callaway Golf, Nike, TaylorMade adidas Golf, Seabourn and Titleist.
