Riverhill Reporter
January 2017
From the Desk of John Junker
General Manager
Riverhill Membership,
As this year comes to an end, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you many
blessings for 2017. 2016 was another great year at The Club. Our membership numbers are
the highest in the last five years. Several improvements were completed at Riverhill in 2016.
Nate and his crew completed all but 7 of the bunkers. These will be finished in 2017. The Tree
Project was a success for the second straight year. To date we have planted a total of 49
trees. We will be putting further Tree Planting projects on hold until 2018 on the advice from the
architect we have been working with. The Roofing project at Riverhill made a huge change to
the entire Club. The Club took the opportunity to change many other aspects of Riverhill during
the re-roofing projects. Roof lines were changed dramatically with decorative dormers and
cupolas, walkways were changed, along with new lighting and a new deck for Joe Fingers
Turning Point. Again in 2017 we will be reroofing The Club due to the June hail storm. A new
Fleet of Club Cars were brought in to Riverhill in July. The City of Kerrville passed the long
awaited gray water distribution deal for Riverhill and other Kerrville entities. Thanks to many
Riverhill members for your efforts, assistance and support in making this happen. This is a great
opportunity for Riverhill Country Club.
Many things were accomplished in 2016, but still many improvements need to be addressed
moving forward. Our focus for 2017 will be to increase the value of The Club to our
Membership. This entails improved customer service levels in all areas, enhanced
communications with our members, and creative programs and events.
Thank you to each and every Member at Riverhill Country Club. Together, we made 2016 a
success. We look forward to more successes in 2017 and again wish you all many great
blessings for 2017.
Riverhill Proud!
Sincerely,
John Junker
General Manager
From the Desk of Bryan Hargrove
Membership Director
Happy New Year!! Last year just flew by. We are looking forward to an exciting year in 2017.
Memberships have leveled off the last couple of months, but we are still in a very good position.
We will continue to promote Riverhill with the enthusiasm that the members deserve. I feel that
we are blessed to live in the Hill Country and to be a part of the Riverhill family makes living here
even more special.
When I visit with prospective members, I always ask them how they heard of Riverhill. It amazes
me how people know of Riverhill. I played Riverhill while in college way back in 1976. Before
that, I didn’t even know Riverhill existed. If you would like to share with the other members how
you found out about Riverhill, send your story to me at my email address
of [email protected] and I will include it in my future newsletter articles. I think it would
be very interesting to find out how we all have become part of the Riverhill family.
Again, I look forward to a very exciting 2017. Thank you for all your support in the past and let’s
make this year the best ever. As always, I am Riverhill Proud!
Bryan Hargrove
Membership Director
Welcome to our new members who joined in December:
Riverhill Women's Association
MEETING NOTICE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12th
SOCIAL MEET & GREET 11:30 a.m.
LUNCHEON: 12:00 Noon
PROGRAM: 12:30 p.m.
LET’S ALL PRESS OUR RESTART BUTTON > IT’S A NEW YEAR…
A TIME FOR NEW HOPE , A TIME FOR NEW ASPIRATIONS,
A TIME FOR NEW RESOLUTIONS, A TIME WHEN OUR
'SPIRITS ARE NEW’
WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US AND BRING FRIENDS FOR
FOOD, FUN & FELLOWSHIP AS WE TAKE DELIGHT IN LISTENING TO HUMORIST AND
MASTERFUL STORY TELLER T. SCOTT GROSS
RWA wishes everyone a promising, fulfilling and
Happy New Year 2017!
For Reservations call Riverhill Country Club at 830 896-1400 ~ Ext. 2220
(Luncheon $17)
Golf
2016 Puerto Vallarta Pro Am Teams
Happy New Year to everyone and thank you for supporting the Golf Shop in 2016.
We are pleased to announce a staff change in the Golf Shop. Raul Smith after nearly 9 years of
service at Riverhill will be moving into part time retirement and will continue part time on our
outside service staff. We thank Raul for his dedicated service and wish him the best in his part
time retirement.
Mark Duncan has been in the Golf Shop for about 1 ½ years now and is being promoted to the
1st Assistant. Taking Mark’s spot as 2nd Assistant is Chris Blanchard. Most of you already know
Chris as he has been working for us on our outside staff for about a year. As a staff we will being
getting in lots of training over the winter and gearing up for a great 2017 season.
Due to harsh winter weather, the Winter Scramble was postponed a week and ultimately
cancelled. It is on the 2017 calendar and we hope for better weather next time.
Congratulations to our December Member-Staff Scramble winners: Charlie Digges, Niel Powers,
Blake Laird and Matt Trevino. Our next Member-Staff Scramble is on January 26th at 3:00.
The 2017 tournament calendar is ready. The listing is below and it can also be found on
www.riverhillcc.com or there are copies in the golf shop.
January 21st – The Team Putting Championship – 2-Person Best Ball
February 18th – The Par 3 Challenge – Individual Stroke Play within flights
March 14th – Riverhill Cup Matches begin - Individual Match Play
March 25th - 26th – Spring Member – Member 2-Person Teams - One Net Best Ball
April 22nd – 23rd – Senior Men’s Club Championship – Flighted by age, Individual Stroke
play
May 18th – 20th – Byron Nelson Invitational – Member-Guest - One net best ball, stableford
scoring
June 20th – Riverhill Team Championship begins – 2-Person teams, flighted best ball match
play
September 8th – 9th - Ladies Club Championship – Individual Stroke Play
September 22nd – 24th - Men’s Club Championship – Flighted by tee played, Individual Stroke
play
October 20th – 22nd – Fall Member – Member Match Play – Net Best Ball Match Play
November 10th & 11th – Collins Cup – Ryder Cup style format
December 1st – Golf Shop Christmas Sale
December 2nd – Winter Scramble – 2 person scramble
Aerification dates will be:
February 20th – 22nd , June 5th – 7th and November 13th – 14th.
We will once again be conducting our Junior Golf Camps. The dates for our three camps are:
June 20th – June 22nd
June 27th – June 29th
July 25th – July 27th
Camps will cover putting, short game, long game, rules and etiquette. Lunch is included and the
kids can go home cool and refreshed with pool time each day after camp. The cost is $125 per
week and applications will be in the golf shop and on the website.
Phase 3 of the 3 year tree planting project will postponed at this time. We have consulted with
the architect that helped us pick the locations and it has been determined that more tree planting
at this time will over crowd the course and that tree cleaning is what should be focused on.
Thank you to each of the 50+ members that contributed to the project. The trees are alive and
well. They will continue to enhance the course in the years to come for everyone to enjoy.
New for 2017 will be the USGA has presented a local rules change for the Dustin Johnson
incident at the US Open. If your ball is accidentally moved on the green, in the process of
addressing the ball, marking or remarking ball there is no penalty and the ball is to be replaced.
Our first club event of 2017, The Team Putting Championship, will take place Saturday afternoon
January 21st at 2:30. We will transform the back 9 greens into an 18-hole putting course and the
format will be a 2 person best ball. The entry will be $30 per player including prizes and
appetizers, call the golf shop to sign-up.
This is a good time of year to look at your grips. Grips should be changed out once a year and
twice a year for golfers playing twice a week or more. The golf shop has plenty of grips in stock
and if there are special ones you would like we can order them for you. If you would like the golf
staff to evaluate them for you just bring them by. Turnaround on grips is typically about a day.
As we move into the Spring the club companies will be releasing their new product. With that in
mind we offer a trade-in program that allows you to return your old golf clubs and most GPS
units for credit book and the credit can be used for merchandise purchases in the golf shop.
If you are a business owner and looking for logoed product we can order custom golf balls, shirts
and hats for your business or for your tournament outing. Stop by so we can show you samples
or help with the order. If anyone has a lead on a golf outing please contact the golf shop so we
can help secure the event. These events are vital to the health of the club and we can provide
golf, lodging and food and beverage.
Golf Tip of the Month:
With the cold weather this time of year and the new fitness center being open, now is the
perfect time of year to get in there and work on your flexibility and conditioning.
Fairway Feats:
Fred Apffel – Hole in One #8 5 iron 180 yards Dec. 16
Dan Ostos – shot 79 on Dec. 21
Men's Golf Association (MGA)
As regular readers know, I often use this column to give a shout out to noteworthy individuals.
This month it is almost all about shout outs.
Every leader of an organization such as the MGA has three primary responsibilities: Preserve
the mission of the organization, protect the viability of the organization, and advance the success
of the organization. As our leader of the last two years of the MGA, Ford Smith has performed
admirably in all three areas. Ford has made the decision to step down at the end of this year,
and we want to thank him for his hard work serving the MGA as a board member and as the
president.
A second shout out goes to the board members and leaders that will continue to advance the
success of the MGA in 2017. Mike Wilson has graciously (well, pretty much graciously) agreed
to step in to the president’s role. We also have three new board members – Raymond Holloway,
Greg Shrader, and Larry Howard. Thank you, gentlemen for stepping up. Or being railroaded.
Whatever.
I would also like to give a shout out to the board members that are ending their terms at the start
of 2017, Jim Carter and Jim Holloway as well as Ford Smith. Thank you, gentlemen. It is the
willingness to volunteer and participate that keeps the organization moving forward.
One last shout out for the year. Ken Ricks and Phil DeMasco worked together with the MGA,
the RWGA, and the RWA to coordinate and collect money for the Blue Santa program here in
Kerrville. They proved to be good choices. Ken and crew proved remarkably adept at twisting
arms! Between the groups, we raised over $3,500 and the RWA collected a whole bunch of toys
at their dinner. I think we caught the city by surprise, and a whole bunch of families and kids will
have a much better Christmas as a result.
We also helped brighten Christmas with a standing tradition for the MGA. At our annual meeting
early in December, Ford presented checks to each person on the maintenance staff in
appreciation for the fine work they do in keeping the course in great shape. And this year, with
more normal rainfall, it truly is in fine shape.
Now on to 2017. The first quarter calendar is being finalized as we speak, and when it is done
you will find it here, on the website, and in your e-mail inbox. We’ll be going to three play days
per month, usually one Thursday and two Saturdays. The board is working on one truly special
play day per quarter and more social events to accompany these events. So stay tuned. It is a
truly amazing value for the $30 you pay every year to belong. Yes, dues are increasing by a
measly five dollars, the approximate price of one Titleist Pro V1. So keep those golf balls dry
and we’ll see you next year.
Niel Powers
New officers for 2017
President, Diana Howard
Vice-President, Terry Terrell
Secretary, Wendy Danford
Treasurer, Lynn Perilloux
Riverhill Women's Golf Association - RWGA
Riverhill Women’s Golf Association finished the year with our annual luncheon on November
30th in the beautifully decorated Grille. Thank you to the chefs and serving staff for a lovely
setting and delicious food. The members and guests looked just as lovely, fun to see each other
without the caps and visors!
Second half ringer board winners are as follows:
Carol Swanson, 1st low gross, Carol Powers, 1st Low net, Jenny Mitchell, 2nd low net and Lynn
Perilloux, 3rd low net. For the Green tees, the winners are Jane Kutach, 1st low gross, Nancy
DeYoung, 1st low net, Marlene Grothues, 2nd low net, and Sally Peterson, 3rd low net.
Contact Jane Kutach for your winnings or see her at the January meeting. Thank you, Jane, for
keeping the ringer board last year.
Most Improved players for the year are:
Green Flight, Sally Peterson and Red Flight, Cheryl Smith
The new yearkicks off with a meeting on Wednesday, Jan 18 th at 9:00 a.m., Scramble
shotgunstart at 10:00.
January 25th is ACE of the Month, 10:00 a.m. shotgun AND a Happy Hour Q & A with Matt at
5:30 p.m.
If you have been thinking about playing golf with the Riverhill Women’s Golf Association, this is
the perfect time to join and get in on the fun. Call the Pro Shop to sign up or contact any of the
officers listed above. We want to get to know you!
Tennis
We had a great day of tennis at the December tennis mixer. Thanks to everyone for donating
toys for the Kerrville Police department Blue Santa . I'm sure the many kids around town had a
better Christmas due to your kind donations.
The 2017 tennis calendar is out and we have many events for you to come out and enjoy tennis
and improve your games, keep fit and healthy while socializing at the Riverhill courts. Last years
mixers were great coinciding with Wimbledon and the US Open Tennis events so we hope to
build on these again this year and make them even better. In the spring when weather begins to
warm up the singles leagues will begin as last years had some great matches and results. We
have added another Las Vegas Tennis Pro Am event for the month of March to go also with the
usual event to be held in October.
Don't forget the weekly tennis drills we have for Men and Women to participate in and work on
improving your tennis strokes and fitness to help you enjoy playing more with your friends. The
children's spring, summer and fall clinic dates are listed and we are ready to help them learn or
improve their tennis skills and games also.
The children's clinics take a break over the holidays and then resume once school has started
and the kids are settled in again, they begin Monday January 30th.
As I am beginning my 11th year here at Riverhill, I am looking forward to another great year here
on the tennis courts.
Happy New Year From Riverhill Tennis.
Riverhill Tennis Calendar 2017
January 30th (Mon) Spring Junior Clinics Begin
Monday Tuesday & Thursday
10 under & beginner clinic 4:30pm to 5:30pm
Intermediate 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Tuesday 6-7 pm & Saturday 9-10:30 am
Advanced Junior Clinic
Session1 January 30th to February 23rd
Session 2 February 27th to March 30th (No class Spring Bk)
Session 3 April 3rd to April 27th
Session 4 May 1st to May 25th
February 21st (Mon) Our Lady of the Hills Tennis Team Practice begins.
March Date 13th & 14th (Mon-Tues) Las Vegas Pro-Am Tennis Event
March 12th – 19th (Mon – Fri) Spring Break
March 20th Spring Singles League/Ladder Begins
April 15th (Sat) Spring Tax Day Tennis Mixer
June Kids Tennis, Fun & Swim camp
Session 1 May 30th to June 2nd
Session 2 June 6th to June 9th
Session 3 June 13th to June 16th
Session 4 June 20th to June 23rd
June 5th (Mon and Wed) Intermediate /Advanced Kids Clinics
Session 1 June 5th to June 28th
Session 2 July 3rd to July 26th
Session 3 July 31st to August 16th (3 Week session Pro-rated)
July 1st (Sat) Wimbledon Tennis Mixer
July Kids Tennis, Fun & Swim Camp
Session 5 June 27th to June 30th
Session 6 July 4th to July 7th
Session 7 July 11th to July 14th
Session 8 July 18th to July 21st
August Kids Tennis, Fun & Swim Camp
Session 9 July 25th to July 28th
Session 10 August 1st to August 4th
Session 11 August 8th to August 11th
Session 12 August 15th to August 18th
September 2nd (Sat) US Open Tennis Mixer
September 28th (Mon) Fall Junior Clinics Begin
Monday Tuesday & Thursday
10 under & beginner clinic 4:30pm to 5:30pm
Intermediate 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Tuesday 6-7 pm & Saturday 9-10:30 am
Advanced Junior Clinic
Session1 August 28th to September 21st
Session 2 September 25th to October 19th
Session 3 October 23rd to November 16th
Session 4 November 20th to December 14th
September Fall Singles League/Ladder
October 7th, Saturday, Houston Ladies Tennis Mixer
October 23rd& 24th (Mon- Tues) Las Vegas Pro-Am Tennis Event
December 9th (Sat) Christmas Tennis Mixer Donate Toys for Blue Santa (Kerrville Police
Department)
Weekly Tennis Events
Men’s and Women’s Drill: Saturday 9:00am to 10:30am
Men’s and Women’s Drill: Tuesday 6:00pm to 7:00pm (Play Doubles After)
Ladies Morning Tennis Drill: Thursday 9:00am to 10:30am
Singles League/Ladder: Spring, Summer and Fall Sessions
Junior Tennis Clinics
Monday Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Year round, Check with Garry to see what
Group is best for you.