Newport Beach Country Club Magazine Winter 2020 | Page 4

WELCOME
HELLO TO OUR NEWPORT BEACH COUNTRY CLUB
MEMBERS AND THE ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY.
“W
e’re just getting started on the golf course!”As I connect with members around the
club and the community, I often fi nd myself responding to questions and discus-
sions in the same way over and over again. Right now, the topic of conversation is
the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to the recent work on hole seven and the practice facility.
From nearly every angle around the golf course and clubhouse, the views of the NBCC property
have been greatly improved with the range barrier replacement now looking tight, straight and pur-
poseful, and the dramatically improved aesthetics around the tee complex at seven has converted
what was one of the least-impressive portions of our venerable golf course to one of the prettiest
locations, with improved landscaping, new trees and adjustments to the cart path route.
Regarding playability, the challenges presented by the new fairway bunkers at seven—including
the bunker on the right, which is now the largest bunker in area on the entire golf course—force
players of all ability levels to make new risk/reward calculations off the tee to fi nd the fairway and
to set up a second shot into an expanded seventh green with the same daunting slope that, for years,
has left NBCC members putting for birdie walking off the green shaking their heads and carding
a bogey. The essence of the challenge at hole seven remains even as the look has been modernized
and the tee area has been beautifi ed. Congratulations to golf course architect Casey O’Callaghan for
his efforts, as the changes have been universally well-received.
Throughout 2019, Scot Dey and the NBCC Golf Course Maintenance Team have worked dili-
gently as they continue to raise the bar on day-in, day-out golf course conditioning, and the results
were simply spectacular. The Kikuyu grass fairways have remained consistently plush and nearly
fl awless, and the effort to reduce the amount of cool-season grasses in the rough and out-of-play
areas (the Poa annua and rye grass types that cause the multicolored “mottled” appearance) that
began a few years ago is really starting to show results. For decades, Newport Beach Country Club’s golf course has been the
unoffi cial “most playable” course in Orange County, and Scot’s team is now working hard to make it the most consistently
well-maintained and beautiful. The landscaping improvements around the practice range are another harbinger of more
improvements to come, and NBCC members can look forward to showing off their course with pride in the coming weeks,
months and years.
And there is no better way to enjoy our historic Billy Bell-designed parkland layout than by leaving the golf carts in the
staging area and enjoying a round of golf on foot accompanied by a caddie: to carry your golf bag, rake bunkers and even
to help with reading the trickier-than-they-look NBCC greens. John McCook, Robbie Maurer and the PGA staff at NBCC
are introducing a state-of-the art caddie program in 2020 that the club has long been planning. NBCC members can now
book a caddie from a stable of local youngsters that will elevate the golf experience and allow members to focus on their
shotmaking and enjoying the Southern California sunshine rather than driving a golf cart or carrying their own bag. Those
who have never played with a caddie are in for a treat, as this is the way the game is really meant to be played, and John and
his team are thrilled to bring this program to NBCC and its membership of avid golfers, as this program really represents
the “icing on the cake” of the improvements our owners have driven at NBCC for the last several years. One last time, “we’re
just getting started on the golf course!”
Fore!
Casey Kaut
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NEWPORT BEACH COUNTRY CLUB MAGAZINE
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