feather sound country club october newsletter

Surf the EARTHGolfBoardshave arrived atFeather SoundCountry Club! pg. 9

Dear Members,The season we were waiting for is �nally here! Our membership is expanding, the course is roll-ing, the tennis courts are full, and the clubhouse is buzzing. Excitement and innovation are back at FSCC and membership has never been so much fun!

We are thrilled to welcome Lew Smither III, PGA Professional, as our Director of Golf. Among his many awards and noteworthy recog-nitions, Lew was voted as one of the Top 40 Instructors in the State of Florida, featured in Golf Professional, and awarded the “PGA Instructor of the Year/West Central Florida Chapter” for several years, including 2015. With his experience and knowledge, Lew will be responsible for creating fresh, innovative programs for players of all skill levels and leading our golf program into the future.

Speaking of the future, GolfBoards landed in our cart barn! GolfBoards are personal, low speed transporta-tion devices that combine a golf cart, caddy, skateboard, and surfboard. They allow players to maneuver around the green on a motorized vehicle – but with an exhila-rating twist. We’re excited to say that our acquisition of the boards gained media coverage! Bay News 9 was on site to showcase the club and cover the story that FSCC is the only club in Pinellas County o�ering this state of the art technology. The story’s online and linked on our Facebook page – check it out!

Casino Night rocked the clubhouse in September – craps, roulette, blackjack, poker, and slot machines �lled the ballroom. Guests found themselves indulging in delightful cuisine, dancing to an inspired music se-lection, and competing for prizes. It was a great evening – a huge thank you to all the members who attended and congratulations to all winners! Our Potential Mem-ber Open House was also a success; in addition to new members, several former members returned to us as a result of our improvements. Thank you to Mr. Klutts, Mr. Helmick, Dr. Finkbiner and Mr. and Mrs. Bohnet for bringing your friends to experience the Club and refer-ring new members!

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October’s social calendar has something for everyone. First, we will be introducing live entertainment on Fri-day nights! We will also host college football, Lightning and Bucs game watch parties, Costume Halloween par-ties for both adults and children, an Oktoberfest Bu�et, the Stone Crab festival, and the highly- anticipated Din-ner on the Green!

We have �nished with the tennis court irrigation system improvements. We are now scheduled for the nine Har-Tru tennis courts to be relined beginning October 29. The project will take approximately �ve days to com-plete and will create an outstanding playing surface. To put the restructured courts to good use, Mitchell outdid himself in creating a fall tennis program for every type and level of player. Head down to the hut to see the developments for yourself!

Our top Club Ambassador for August was Andrew Blik-ken, who won two months of free dues for referring three potential members to us. Don’t miss your chance to be rewarded for referring a new member in October! In this issue, you’ll �nd details for this month’s incentive. If you refer a candidate to Anita or me, we will provide a tour and review membership package options to best suit the candidate’s needs. Good luck to all those who participate in the program!

We hope you are enjoying our revised weekly email communication, where you can quickly �nd out what is happening in the week ahead with Golf, Tennis, Social Events, and Dining. We made this change as a direct re-sult of member feedback, and we look forward to gain-ing more feedback. Later this month, you will receive a short member survey, the results of which we will utilize to create enjoyment and continue to make im-provements. We value your opinion and through your feedback, we will continue to evolve into the premier country club in Tampa Bay!

With gratitude,

Tara Loughlin-IsaacDirector of OperationsFSCC

GOLF COURSE & PRO SHOPMon - CLOSED

Tue-Sun 7:00 am - 6:00 pmTee Times:

Tue - Fri 8:00 amSat - Sun 7:30 am

DRIVING RANGETue, Thu - Sat 7:00 am - 7:00 pm

Sun & Wed 7:00 am - 6:00 pm

GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCEMon-Thu 6:30 am - 2:30 pm

Fri 6:30 am - 11:30 amSat-Sun 6:00 - 9:00 am

TENNIS COURTS*Mon-Sat 8:00am-8:30pm

Sun 8:00am-6:00pm*Courts are closed every day from

12pm-3pm for maintenence & watering.

TENNIS OFFICEMon-Thu 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Fri 8:00 am - 3:00 pmSat-Sun 8:00 am - 12:00 am

DINING ROOMMon CLOSED

Tue 11:30 am - 9:00 pmWed-Fri 11:30 am - 9:30 pmSat-Sun 11:30 am - 5:00 pm

*The bar closes one hourafter food service

19th HOLEMon & Tue - CLOSED

Wed - Fri 11:00 am - 5:00 pmSat & Sun 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

FITNESS CENTERMon - CLOSED

Tue 7:00 am - 6:00 pmWed-Fri 7:00 am - 9:00 pmSat.-Sun 7:00 am - 5:00 pm

HOURS OF OPERATIONCLUB DIRECTORYMain Line / Reception

Director of OperationsTara Loughlin-Isaac

Food and Beverage DirectorChef Jeff Arbogast

Golf Course SuperintendentMike Strube

Membership & EventsManager Anita Fabrizio

Accounting/MemberServicesMeghan Forehand

Director of GolfLew Smither III

LPGA Professional Brianne Murphy

Tennis DirectorMitchell David

(727) [email protected]



(727) 572-6654 [email protected]


[email protected]

(727) 202-4060 [email protected]


[email protected]


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Mel & Maureen CrewsRussell & Roberta Alessi

Ryan CitronJake Nellis

We hope you feel immediately at home amongour existing membership! You’ve joined a

wonderful group of people.

As members, you’ll come to see the benefits ofbelonging to longtime Club such as Feather Sound.

PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWEST MEMBERS!

Men’sPick Up Game

(8:30a Shotgun)

Skins Game(1:00p TT)

Men’sPick Up Game

(8:30a Shotgun)


Ladies’ Day 6:00p RushTournament

Stag Party

Rush Tournament(1:00p Shotgun)

Rush Tournament(1:00p Shotgun)(9:00a Shotgun)

Ladies’ Day(9:00a Shotgun)


GOLF COURSECLOSED

GOLF COURSECLOSED

Sunday Quota Game

(8:00a TT)

2:00p Ladies’Golf Clinic

Men’sPick Up Game

(8:30a Shotgun)





Men’sPick Up Game

(8:30a Shotgun)

GOLF COURSECLOSED

Sunday Quota Game

(8:00a TT)


Men’sPick Up Game

(8:00a Shotgun)

Members Play

12p Junior Clinic

12p Junior Clinic

(8:00a Shotgun)

GOLF COURSECLOSED

Sunday Quota Game

(8:00a TT)


Sunday Quota Game

(8:00a TT)


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25

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27

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14

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28

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15

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1 2 1 2

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23

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29 30 31

For more information or to sign up, please contactJim Epstein at (727) 455-3354

or Lew Smither at (727) 565-0649

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

GOLF CALENDAR - OCTOBER 2015

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Autumn is here and the weather has been great for the course and those who are out playing! The summer rains are drying up and the course is �rming up nicely. The rains had made menial tasks challenging, as the ground became too saturated for our mowers to get out and mow. Scalped turf and o�-color turf conditions are improving as we are striving to get back to our regular mowing schedules to provide desirable playing condi-tions. The rough became excessively tall, making it di�cult to mow and play upon. We are gradually getting the rough height down but are doing so cautiously, since severe scalping removes a majority of the plant’s leaf tissue and causing slow root growth, which will cause the turf to stop growing for a period of time. Oddly enough, dry spots can be problematic on putting greens following extended rainfall. Many putting greens have sandy root zones that drain well. To make matters worse, putting greens have shallow roots during the summer months. The combination of a shallow root system and well-draining soil can cause drought stress on greens. It is important to manage and monitor soil moisture to reduce the likelihood of turf thinning as we prepare for the upcoming winter play season.

While playing a round or looking out at the course from the clubhouse, you may have noticed the maintenance sta� hand watering or running the irrigation system throughout the golf course. Now that the rainfall will not be as abundant, we have to water areas that typically dryout faster than the majority of the course. These tend to be the elevated areas such as mounds, bunker faces, and tee/green complexes. We are doing our best to apply water only where necessary so that we minimize irrigating areas that tend to hold water longer.

Many herbicides for weed control are rain-safe within a few hours, but it had been a challenge to schedule frequent chemical treatments amongst the sporadic showers this past summer. We recently just made a pre-emergent herbicide application to the entire golf course to prevent winter weeds (such as poa annua), along with a post-emergent herbicide for weed control as we move into the cooler months. Our fertility programs are �nally back on track after we postponed fertilizer applications; we did not want the rains to cause our nutrients to leach away. Lake maintenance has been a challenge, as near record rainfall had the City of Largo discharging almost 700,000,000 gallons of treated water into our lake system in July and August. With the lake water moving swiftly through the lake system, chemical treatments were not exposed to the hydrilla long enough to kill it. The Club recently met with the City of Largo’s treatment plant manager and they are going to brie�y postpone discharging wa-ter in to our lake system long enough for us to get great chem-ical exposure to the hydrilla with our next chemical treatment that is scheduled to take place October 1st. As always, we encourage our golfers (and their guests) to please �ll their divots and repair their ball marks .. PLUS ONE OR TWO ..

Thanks!

Mike StrubeGolf Course SuperintendentCell# 727-433-4552

You strive to improve, but for some reason, you’re not making the progress you want. Whether you go to the practice range for hours, take multiple lessons from the professionals or friends, read magazines or watch videos, you still don’t see any improve-ment in your game. Why? Is it a mental problem, a physical problem, or is it the equipment you’ve chosen?

It’s di�cult to go to the practice range and practice if you don’t have a clear understanding of “what to work on” in order to im-prove. If you aren’t motivated and don’t see signs of progress or success, you’re more likely to avoid practicing. Let’s establish a game plan so you have quality practice sessions, which will lead to greater success with your game.

The adage, “Practice Does Not Make Perfect; Practice Makes Permanent” is completely true. With golf, like so many sports, knowledge and concentration are vitally important. With each swing or stroke, the brain needs to have a concept of the task it is about to perform in order for the muscles to react appropri-ately. If the brain doesn’t have a clear image or picture, the body does not perform with consistency. Therefore, to develop these concepts, it is necessary to practice on the practice range where you can focus and visualize the correct positions or movements you desire.

When going to the practice range, you need to establish your goals and objectives before you ever step onto the green. What do you wish to accomplish? The goal is to create the perfect swing or stroke consistently under all conditions and situations, but getting to that point is a step-by-step process. Focus on one aspect of play at a time – which is why practicing is so important. It allows you the freedom to build con�dence, which turns into trusting your body’s reactions in all levels of play.

Be patient with your thoughts and actions on the practice green; don’t focus on the mantra of, “I have to lower my score!” The practice range is a great place where one can be re�ective and think about the motion or positions desired. When you keep up your practice and focus on each step of the game (and not on the end goal), you will see the results you desire.

Practice

withLew Smither III, PGA

withMike Strube

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TENNIS CALENDAR - OCTOBER 2015


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Doubles Tactics 101

1. TOUCH AND PLACEMENT ARE FAR MORE IMPORTANT IN DOUBLES THAN KILLING THE BALL–ESPECIALLY WITH VOLLEYS AND OVER-HEADS! Getting too “hungry” often just ends up becoming a wristy or swinging shot that ends up in the net or long.

2. GET YOUR FIRST SERVE IN! Roger and so many other pros I’ve worked with emphasize this over and over again for doubles. As soon as you miss your �rst serve, your opponents get into “attack” mindset (or should!) on your second serve. Take a little pace o� to boost your 1st serve percentage. Or consider using a higher-percentage slice serve (versus �at) as your �rst serve: it may have less pace, but the ball will be trickier for your opponent to handle. The team with the highest 1st serve percentage in doubles has a big advantage.Doubles great Liezel Huber mentions this along with 4 other “Top 5 Doubles Tips” in this USPTA Tennis Resources video.

3. BE CLEAR ON YOUR SHOT CHOICE DURING RETURN OF SERVE. Most often, aim for sharp-angled cross-court returns (medium pace! place-ment more important than power!) to pull your opposing returner wide. Do this well, and you’ll buy time to move into net, open up the opposing court, and set up you and your partner for a winner.4) VARY THE SPEED AND HEIGHT OF YOUR RETURN OF SERVE– and decide how you’ll return before your opponent serves. Just like volleys and overheads, have a target and strategy in mind before you hit the ball. After seeing your opponent’s serve one game, you’ll probably have a good enough sense of what to expect.• Option A: Medium-paced short-angled return (to pull opponent

at baseline way out wide out)• Option B: Hard drive• Option C: Lob (short backswing, usually over opposing net

player)

4. TO ATTACK THE OPPOSING NET PLAYER (AND ON APPROACH SHOTS) KEEP THE BALL LOW AND USE MEDIUM-PACE ANGLE SHOTS. If you hit a shot at/near the net player and it’s low, they’ll have to hit up, which means you’ll be able to move into net. And when you hit angle shots, this pulls the opposing teams out of position and buys you time to approach net. Recognize the short balls and opportunities and move into net whenever possible, where most points in doubles are won!

5. ALWAYS HAVE A TARGET IN MIND BEFORE YOU HIT YOUR VOLLEY OR OVERHEAD. Choose a target that buys you some leeway if you’re tight or mishit (i.e., don’t aim for 2 inches from the baseline! Aim for wide boundaries of service line, or opposing net player’s feet, etc).

6. MOVE WITH YOUR PARTNER AND COVER THE MIDDLE! Move with your partner (L and R, up and back–think of “windshield wipers” mov-ing as a unit) and follow the ball. If your partner (or opposing player) is pulled out wide, one of you should be touching the center line of the court with one foot to be covering the middle. There’s only one exception to moving like windshield wipers: if you hit the ball to the middle of the opposing court, you and your partner should move in slightly towards each other to cover the middle.

7. COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE– DURING AND BETWEEN EVERY POINT! Talk to each other during every point (You! Me! Go! Stay! etc). And communicate between every point, whether verbally or just physically: whether you talk strategy about the next point, tell your partner “way to go”, or simply give each other a high-�ve, you’re connecting– a key ingredient to sustained success in the match.

8. THE NET PLAYER SHOULD SIGNAL EVERY TIME BEFORE YOUR PART-NER SERVES (including before the 2d serve)• Closed �st = “stay”• Open hand = “poach/switch.”• (From T-formation) Pinky pointed down = “I’ll move L after you

serve”• (From T-formation) Index �nger pointed R = “I’ll move R after

you serve”9. DURING MATCH WARM-UPS, ASK THE OPPONENT YOU’RE WARMING

UP WITH TO FEED YOU SOME OVERHEADS: This will both give you time to loosen up your shoulder AND will send a signal to the oppos-ing team that you know what you’re doing

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CLUBHOUSE CALENDAR - OCTOBER 2015

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DINING EVENTS

Please RSVP to [email protected] for all events above

GolfBoards are now available for player rental!�e GolfBoard, a state-of-the-art, personal, low speed transportation device, is a combination of golf cart, caddy, skateboard, and sur�oard. It allows players to maneuver around the green on a motorized vehicle – but with an exhilarating twist.

Feather Sound Country Club golfers will be able to control their GolfBoards using an ergonomicallydesigned thumb throttle, which allows the user to

smoothly accelerate and decelerate with a maximum speed of 10 miles per hour. �e machine features gentle-on-turf traction tires, military grade engineering, and industrial grade electric motors.

Feather Sound Country Club not only appreciatesthe product for its elegant manufacturing and design, but for its low impact, environmentally consciousrechargeable battery.

Surf the EARTH.

SPECIAL OCTOBER PRICING!Rent a GolfBoard today forthe same price as a golf cart!(Premiums will go into effect November 1st)

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8th Annual Bert Smith Chillounge Night St Petersburg, FLNovember 21, 2015 | Straub Park @ 6:00pm

Tickets available NOW!$25 per person -or- $100 per person for the VIP Experience

visit www.chillounge.com to purchase your tickets today!

- official sponsor -

Wine glass painting classes are one of Tampa’s favorite activities. A 10 oz. wine glass, paint brushes, aprons, and all necessary supplies are included for your use. If you prefer a larger glass for wine, then ask for a FREE upgrade to the 20 ounce.

You may choose an already-created design or invent one of your own. We start the class with general instruction, then aid students through the process. Not an artist? Don’t worry! To make the project even easier, we provide templates inside the glass so they can be traced. �e glass will be dishwasher safe and we provide instructions on future cleaning, care, and handling.

Please RSVP to [email protected] or 727-573-5666 byFriday, 10/9. �e cost is $40 with wine and appetizers included!

Tuesday, October 13th 7:00pm – 9:00pm (RSVP by Oct. 9th)$40 (wine and appetizers included!)

Wine Glass Painting Class

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Introducing our Director of GolfLew Smither III comes from a family with an established background inthe golf industry. Mr. Smither began his golf career in Sarasota, Florida, and has worked in a variety of Florida Clubs. Not only a PGA Professional and exceptional golfer, he prides himself on his ability to educate country club staff members – in addition to coaching and mentoring more than 12,000 golfers in his tenured career. Golf Digest magazine rates Mr. Smither as one of the top 20 teachers in the state of Florida, and has given him this award for the past 10 years straight. He is also a recipient of the North Florida Section Teacher of the Year award, and is a four-time Teacher of the Year in the West Central Chapterof the North Florida PGA. Mr. Smither comes to Feather Sound Country Club with his wife Terry, his son and daughter-in-law, and his three grandchildren. An outdoorsmanat heart, he spends his time boating, fishing, and watching Buccaneer football. Mr. Smither looks forward to meeting and greeting eachmember, creating camaraderie and ensuring the best golfingexperience at Feather Sound Country Club.

October Club Ambassadors Program

Refer a golf member:NO CART FEES in the month of November!

Refer a tennis member:FREE LESSON with Mitchell David!

Refer a social member:$50 food and beverage credit

Contact Anita at [email protected] for more information and your chance to win!

PerformingFriday, October 9th

6:00pm to 9:00pm

They say time �ies when you’re having fun – but can you believea month has passed? We’re once again hosting a Parents’ Night Out (PNO) event! Our PNO occurs the last Friday of each monthat the 19th Hole. This month, PNO will run from 7-10 PM onFriday, October 30th. This fun, relaxing evening is a wonderfulopportunity for your children to enjoy socializing with thechildren of other Club members. Our dedicated caregiverswill provide video games, toys, puzzles, coloring books andyummy treats!

Please RSVP to [email protected] by October 18th toreserve your spot.

We hope you have fun on your night out – because we knowthe kids will be having a blast!

Friday, October 30th

7:00pm - 10:00pm

Sunday, October 18 - 3:00pm – 5:00pm Hayrides - Painting Pumpkins - Costume Contest - Games & Prizes!

And, it’s FREE!

Saturday, October 24th

6:00pm

$75 per person

ADULTS ONLYHALLOWEEN PARTY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH7:00pm - 11:00pm

$40 per person

Costume ContestPrizes

Dinner & Dancing

Dinneron theGreen

Saturday, October 24th

6:00pm

$75 per person

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Thank you to everyone who came out to our first Casino Night!

And a specialcongratulations to ourBIG WINNERS!!

2201 Feather Sound DriveClearwater, FL 33762

www.fscc.club

feather sound country club october newsletter

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