Scottsdale golf club creating better Pickleball Reservation System

Scottsdale golf club has been working with Foretees on how we can better utilize the reservation system so that members can book individual Scottsdale tennis and pickleball courts instead of booking an entire court but only using one of the pickleball courts.

We believe that we have a good solution going forward for Scottsdale tennis

Pickleball Courts:

• You can now book individual pickleball courts by choosing 3a, 3b, 4a, or 4b. The courts will run left to right as you look to the west. 
• Because courts have already been booked out for the next week, we ask that you do not change anything that is already booked but use the system properly going forward. 
• Any new reservations starting today can be made using the new system.
• If the Scottsdale tennis court is shaded red on the court sheet you will not be able to book a court as it has already been booked for tennis or a pickleball drill that will use both courts.
• When booking for pickleball, please make sure you choose the pickleball courts and not the tennis court. Otherwise, you will book both courts.
• Once the court is booked for either tennis or pickleball it will not be available for reservation by another member.
• If you need two courts, the second court will have to be booked by another member or spouse. Scottsdale golf club members cannot book two courts at the same time.

Tennis Players

When booking a tennis court, please only book courts 1, 2, 5, or 6 first so that courts 3 and 4 can be made available for pickleball players.

If you need to book court 3 or 4 for tennis, please only book tennis court 3 or 4. Do not try and book both pickleball courts.

If you have a reservation for tennis on a pickleball court currently or in the future and another tennis court is available, the staff will move you to another tennis court so that the pickleball courts can be open for play.

Thank you and we hope you find this system better. We will be testing out to make sure there are no glitches to the system. Unfortunately, it had to go live right away so we are testing as we go.

What 2022 has in Store at The Best Country Club in Scottsdale

One of our most significant projects this year was the completion of our much-needed remodel of the Men’s Locker Room and Grille area at the Best Country Club in Scottsdale. The project came in on time and on budget at $2.4 million. The upgraded area looks amazing and the feedback from our members has been extremely positive. These spaces now match the premier facilities that we enjoy throughout the Club. My thanks to many of our members supporting the design and construction of this project; Tim Pfeffer, Gary Fries, Rich Baccaro, and input from many other of our golf members and Club staff. Your insights and efforts truly made a difference.  

On a smaller scale, we continued to update our on-course hospitality stations with the completion of hole #12/#14 comfort station renovation.  This project which cost approximately $100,000 also came in on budget.    Please stop in and take advantage of the nicely updated facility and the snacks at The  Best Country Club in Scottsdale!

On the People front, we have made some great additions to our team here at the Club in the past year.

In Dining, we were pleased to announce Chef Timothy Loving joined us this past fall. Chef Tim came to us with many years of restaurant and club experience. Most recently, he spent four years as Executive Chef at The Vaquero Club in Dallas. If you have been to our various events and wine dinners, you know we have found the right Chef with a passion for Culinary excellence and service.

In addition, Scottsdale Private Golf Courses hired our new Head Golf Professional Jason Walter, who starts with us this month.  Jason has many years of experience as Head Professional, having served in that capacity at Superstition Mountain and most recently at Diablo Country Club. Jason is an exceptional addition to lead and support our entire golf staff and a great addition to Dick Hyland’s team.

Lastly, we made a significant upgrade to our Human Resources team with the addition of Sascha Staley. We have also been fortunate to add Cody Barden as Director of Golf Instruction to Scottsdale Private Golf Courses. After training under noted professionals Jack Lumpkin, Jim Flick, and Eddie Merrins, Cody is one of the top PGA Teaching Professionals in the United States. He has worked internationally in Mexico and China and most recently served as Director of Instruction at Cabo Del Sol Golf Club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In addition, he has been recognized as a top 100 instructor by Golf Magazine.  We welcome Cody and hope each of you takes advantage of this incredible asset at our Club.   

As you know staffing and retention are our number one challenge with the current labor environment so adding to our Human Resources function is imperative to recruiting and retaining our staff here at the Club. Sascha brings tremendous experience including multiple roles at Four Seasons Hotels. Sascha and her team have really made a difference during these difficult times and will continue to do so in this difficult labor market.

We plan to host several “Open House” events which will allow you to have the opportunity to meet and get to know these new team members. I would encourage everyone to attend!

 

Scottsdale Private Golf Courses See More Activity than Ever Before

As we enter our busiest time of year, we are seeing increased activity at the Scottsdale Private Golf Courses as more familiar faces join us after being away for the holidays.  We want to give you an update regarding the Club following the Annual Meeting held in January.   First, we want to thank John Roussel who recently completed his appointment as President as his leadership was key to another successful year as a Club as we continued to see growth in the offerings we have as a Club as well as the level of member satisfaction.  As was announced at our Annual Meeting, our officers for 2022 will be President Bob Kline, Vice President Rob Maruster and Secretary Rich Baccaro.  In addition, David Goldberg will serve as the Treasurer for the coming year.  The advisory committee assignments for the Board of Directors at Scottsdale Private Golf Courses are as follows: 

Finance – Chair David Goldberg / Vice-Chair Mike Thorell

Golf & Grounds- Chair Rich Baccaro / Vice-Chair David Wigler

House- Chair Cathy Hotchkiss / Vice-Chair Alan Sears

Membership- Chair Rob Maruster / Vice-Chair Doug Ideker

Racquets & Fitness- Chair Doug Ideker

Thank you to all of those who applied to serve on the various Advisory Committees for the year. Your support of the Club, our Staff and our offerings are key to the continued success of the Club.  This group also serves as an important training ground for the future as we utilize our Committee system to develop future Directors of the Club as that is the minimum requirement of service on the Board.  The more that our members participate to develop a further understanding of the Club as a business, the better prepared they will be successful in serving in that capacity as a Director.

Our interaction with the Club Membership at the Best Country Club in Scottsdale is vital to our future success and the Board, and we recommend that if you have any questions, comments or concerns,  to reach out to either of us.    As we reviewed at the annual meeting, some of our main goals for 2022 at the Best Country Club in Scottsdale are as follows:

• Keep an ongoing line of communication with our Club members to enhance transparency and fully utilize our Advisory Committees to ensure that our members are engaged at all times so that we can continue to improve in all that we do.

• Continue to drive improvement in all member-facing areas of the Club by providing the highest level of service possible so that the Country Club at DC Ranch continues to be the finest Club in the Valley including a reputation for service, outstanding facilities, and member satisfaction.

• Follow through with the needs as provided in the Master Plan for Improvement of Club Facilities –we are currently looking at options available to complete an update to our Golf Shop this summer as well as enhancing our back-of-the-house areas to better serve the team as in many cases we have outgrown our needs in way of storage, restrooms, and employee dining.  We are also looking at taking over the portion of our golf maintenance building that the Ranch Association currently occupies to also add storage, and workspace and to relocate staff parking to alleviate some of the stress that we see currently.

• Review & update – with full participation and feedback from every class of membership – the current Strategic Plan. To formally begin not just to look at the now known Golf improvements we look to do in the next five years or so that will coincide with our irrigation system update - but more importantly, to look beyond that, to look to the future.  Discerning what you, your families, and the next generation of families and members desire and need through surveys and focus groups, etc. 

As we stated at the Annual Meeting, we truly believe that we are in a solid position with an experienced leadership team, a strong financial position, and an engaged and supportive membership which will continue to generate a buzz in the market as we aim to achieve even higher levels in 2022 and beyond.

In Membership news, we continue to have a robust waitlist of prospective members with our current waitlist encompassing roughly 100 approved prospects in all categories which has grown the waitlist time from two to five years depending on the category of membership.  This past month alone we received almost twenty new applications. Despite the waitlist in place we continue to see a great deal of interest.  At the most recent Board meeting, the Board unanimously approved a recommendation from the Membership Committee to increase the transfer fee for Golf Memberships to $50k effective March 1 st .  This will bring our transfer fee more in line with those seen at our surrounding Clubs.   

With all this being said, we look forward to a busy next few months at the Best Country Club in Scottsdale and know that you will enjoy all that our team has planned during this time.  The calendar is packed with a number of golf, tennis, fitness and social events for your enjoyment so please make it a point to be here as much as possible as the temperatures begin to warm up!  It would go without saying that we encourage you all to make advanced reservations as many of your Club favorites will be fully subscribed.

Golf, Golf and More Golf at The Best Country Club in Scottsdale

 

Guest Play:

We certainly understand the importance of wanting to play some golf with your friends at the Best Country Club in Scottsdale and until further notice we are relaxing the guest restrictions on Sunday mornings.

Should we observe that we are limiting the number of Members having the opportunity to play those mornings, we will possibly have to limit guest play once again.

Please keep in mind that family guests are privileged to play 6 rounds in season and 6 in the summer while non-family guests may enjoy 6 rounds for the entire year.

We will keep you informed as time moves on.

Fivesome play:

Simply stated, the rules of the Best Country Club in Scottsdale do not permit fivesomes at any time. Should that ever change, we will let you know.  Regarding the pace of play, it remains at 4 hours max regardless of your mode of transportation around the course. 

The first Monday of the Month at Private Golf Club in Scottsdale, the practice areas and course are closed for maintenance and we ask that you understand the course needs a rest and time for necessary Agronomy practices be respected that day. This happens each month on the first Monday. 

The remaining Mondays throughout the month, the first tee will open for play at 11:30, with exception of Club team competitions.

Golf Course Survey:

Thanks for over 300 responses to the Private Golf Club in Scottsdale survey sent to you a few weeks ago.

The purpose was to understand what course modifications if any you would like to have considered when the course irrigation gets replaced in 2026.

We are in the process of reviewing responses with Tom Lehman, who redesigned the course in 2002, and will share your comments with him.

As a reminder, we hope that anyone feeling sick will not come to Private Golf Club in Scottsdale for any reason and we ask you get proper medical attention before you do so. If you need a clearer understanding of the policies during this time please feel free to reach out.

The Season Begins at Scottsdale Private Golf Courses

                                         

The best is yet to come at Scottsdale Private Golf Courses this season. We typically believe that once we get to President’s Day, we are usually off to the races away from the cold and wet days at Scottsdale Private Golf Courses.

We also know the match play competitions will start soon with approximately one month to complete each match through to the finals. The next series of fun competitions are the Member Guest events, which for the ladies is the Desert Diamond Classic in March, moving forward with the five-match formats which seem to be very popular at Scottsdale Private Golf Courses.

Ladies, please keep in mind that as the number of lady golfers at the Best Country Club in Scottsdale has grown greatly when the sign-up opportunities are available on Foretees, the field size is limited to the first 60 teams who sign up. 

 

Next up for the Men is the long-standing Round Up Member Guest event, with 60 teams max as well; playing in the 5-match format that many enjoy in late April.

Lastly, will be the Men’s Stampede Member Guest in May with the same 5-match format but playing over two days with 27 holes played on the first day and 18 on the second round.

All of these are the source of not only spirited competitions at the

Best Country Club in Scottsdale, but many friendships are formed over these few days.

Healing the Back so you play Scottsdale tennis

I feel that each day brings a new opportunity to not only enjoy life, but also to get healthier, stronger, and happier! One of the most common injuries I have seen in clinical practice over the years has been back pain and it affects many who play Scottsdale tennis. The goal of this newsletter is to discuss how to improve the functional strength and mobility of the back. There are many root causes of back injuries but the common denominator is pain! Often so severe it can weigh heavy on both the mind and body! So, how do we rid the body of unwanted pain and tension? How do we improve our recovery and restoration? How can we forge and strengthen the back so you can play Scottsdale tennis with ease? Many back injuries occur by simply bending and twisting to pick up their kids or grandkids, playing golf at Scottsdale golf club, tying the shoes, and then all of a sudden, the back slips out and the legs crumble. Such simple movements become the pebble in the shoe which can remain persistently painful. Our task as your Fitness and Wellness staff is to help resolve this! Whether you have pain or not, we want to help coach you with your fitness goals! We want to help you be healthy and fit for life! Stop in today or email us to get started! Prevention The best prevention for back injuries and pain is daily movement, proper posture, and proper breathing. But what if there is an injury already present and the pain has been there for years? Well, we have to rehab this area. The problem with the injury rehabilitation process, especially for the back, is that moving hurts! And so then the training process becomes unbearable. We often guard painful areas so much in order to not move them, but we must realize that inactivity weakens the area as well. So, this pickle between having to move the body to rehab the area and protecting the back so we don’t injure it more creates this uncertainty of what to do and where to start, but I always say we must start presently! You have to take inventory of your health at Scottsdale golf club! Come get an assessment at Scottsdale golf club with one of our professional trainers so we can help design a plan of action. The Assessment Process The assessment process takes you through a series of gentle movements to determine the area of concern. There are many levels to the tissues of the back and we have to determine where the problem is! Is it a muscle tightness problem? Then you need more flexibility training. Is it nerve? Maybe your alignment is off. Is it a nutritional deficiency? Sometimes it is all of these. From the movement and health assessment, we can then design a training program tailored to meet your needs. “How long is this going to take?” is always the first question. The best answer I have is that it takes 4-6 weeks to adapt to a single training cycle. This means consistent and disciplined work 2-3x per week for 30-45 minutes, for at least a month is what is often what it takes to at least get stable results. It will also take some time to teach you the movements required in the program and step by step we build a foundation of strength in the core, hips, and back which can get you the pain relief you need to get through the day without taking NSAIDs, muscle relaxers, pain meds, etc. We are not looking for quick fixes, we want your pain resolved for good and we have designed a program for just that! Warming Up on The Power Plate This is a phenomenal tool that helps to loosen connective tissues, improve blood circulation, and excite the nervous system. These alone can bring pain relief. Before your workout, stand on the power plate at level 2 or 3 for 3-5 minutes while doing some gentle overhead reaches, half squats, toe touches, and alternating step-ups. These movements will begin to loosen and prepare the tissues. This device was originally used by NASA as a tool to help with muscle atrophy and osteoporosis which occurs from being in zero-gravity environments. Use these movements to activate and strengthen the legs and to warm the tissues before you go play golf before you work out, play tennis, etc. No matter what, however, make sure you warm and limber yourself up first!

Scottsdale golf club Grass Conditions are Fantastic

We have received many positive comments regarding the great playing conditions at Scottsdale golf club  “The rough is fantastic, it definitely makes the course much more difficult” to “The pin locations have been really good and different since opening day.” Along with the higher cut of rough this year the fairways were shaped much differently than in past years to create more angles on each hole at Scottsdale golf course. These are a few of the changes you will see around the golf course this season. Another positive for the golf course is we have recently hired three new staff members to complete our new desert landscape team. This is something that I have been trying to put together for a few years, so to say that I am very excited to have a dedicated team to maintain the surrounding desert areas on the golf course is an understatement. On to my next topic…FROST. Winter has brought some unseasonable cooler weather this year. We have had a few cool mornings with some frost already. This was not what I was hoping for this early in the season. Frost can be very damaging to the turf grass at Scottsdale golf course and we want to make sure we are taking all the precautions to preserve the density and consistency of the golf course playing conditions, and minimize any risk of turf damage. We ask for your patience during these times. Lastly, here is a friendly reminder to everyone of “The Pride of Ownership Program” here at the Scottsdale golf club. Please repair all ball marks. Please enter/exit bunkers in the lowest area possible. Please fill all divots with the sand/seed mix provided by the staff. Please drive carts on fairways. Please keep push carts in designated areas. Please rake bunker after each shot. Thank you all for your help with using these simple Scottsdale golf course etiquette practices!