Bluegrass Concert

Carolina Trace Country Club held a Bluegrass concert that was attended by over 150 members in the main dining room. The band, Bluegrass Experience, performs professionally throughout the U.S. and was named the World's Champion Bluegrass band. The band features 4 lead singers, tight instrumental work, great harmony, and a diverse selection of traditional favorites of re-engineered folk and rock songs, along with original material. Band members shared information about the history and evolution of bluegrass music too. This was a great concert enjoyed by those who have followed bluegrass music for years, as well as for those who experienced authentic live bluegrass music for the first time.

Sunday Couples Championship

The season ending event of Sunday Couples is the Championship Tournament, played October 27 and 28 by 37 couples. Congratulations to Low Gross Winners Marcia and Lee Connor posting an impressive 154, pictured on the left. Congratulations also goes to Low Net Winners Jan and Fred Heins, who posted the Tournament low net score of 122. Making the scoring more admirable was the fact that 18 holes of the Championship were played as Pinehurst Alternate Shot (often referred to as Divorce Golf). The next season of Sunday Couples golf will kick off with play starting in February when new Co-Chairs Shelia and Bill Fox join Co-Chairs Sue and Rick Hodges.

Ladies Who Lunch

The Ladies Who Lunch is one of the Club's fun social groups that meets once a month for lunch, music and casual conversation. Assistant Manager, Jenny Allred prepares a special drink for each meeting. If you attended October's meeting you could enjoy the Baltimore Zoo, a drink that puts the "happy" in "happy hour." Special thanks goes to Ann Ashton, Cass Clinger and Jenna Miller who welcomed and invited Marketing Director Sara O'Leary to October's social gathering. All new members of the Club had a personal invitation to attend October's meeting. Due to the upcoming busy holiday season, the LWL will meet again in January. This is a great group to join--no reports, no minutes, just a very fun social gathering.

Cooking Demonstration with Chef Marty

Executive Chef Martin Shapter prepared a one hour demonstration on how to prepare low-fat, low-calorie meals while not compromising taste for the upcoming holiday season. It can sometimes feel the 'battle of the bulge' is a battle too tough to fight, especially around the holiday's. But, Chef Marty demonstrated how to produce low-fat foods in a timely manner that fulfills your craving for a delicious holiday meal. During the demonstration, Marty prepared a low-fat, low-calorie sun-dried cranberry Waldorf salad, sweet & spicy pork tenderloin, and a low-fat, low-calorie pumpkin cake. Members who attended the cooking demonstration could take home many recipes and were able to get tips on other holiday meals to save time and calories.

Wood Carving Class

For the past five years, world-class wood carver Rich Smoker, a renown instructor and judge, visits Carolina Trace Country Club to teach a class on wood carving. This year, Members had the opportunity to carve and paint two different types of ducks. Member Marjorie Schmidt had convinced Smoker to come to Trace and teach a class five years ago, and he has been coming to the Club ever since then. Schmidt use to take lessons from Smoker in Ocean City, Md. The hospitality of our Members is truly one-of-a-kind. Many other wonderful Members also host Smoker and treat him to dinner during his visit.

Chippers and Muggles Sandhills

The "Chippers" and "Muggles" are two groups of couples who travel to various courses in the area for golf, followed by dinner at an area restaurant. We also schedule a yearly overnight "road trip" to a more distant destination such as Myrtle Beach or the mountains. In addition to our two groups, there are a number of other "Sandhills Groups." Most of the groups have 6 to 8 couples; some couples are in more than one group. A few years ago the "Muggles" (named from the Harry Potter movies) challenged the Chippers to a friendly match. A trophy was purchased to be awarded to the winner. This year's match, the third of the series was held October 21st. The match ended in a tie so the trophy wil be engraved with the names of both groups and will be shared. We would welcome similar challenge matches with other "Sandhills" groups. Everything is on a very friendly basis and we have a lot of fun at dinner and cocktails after the match, discussing how well (or poorly) we all played. If other people are interested in a challenge match they can contact Jim & Sharon Morris (Muggles) or Terry & Mary Lynn Riddle (Chippers).

MGA Championship

The MGA Championship was a two-day tournament, 36 hole stroke play, net event. Pictured from left to right are the four flight winners: Flight 4, Hal Kaisen, Flight 3, Bob Balant, Flight 2, Red Davis, Flight 1, Richard Pruchnik.

WGA Club Championship

Another beautiful day in North Carolina as runner-up Marcia Connor and Club Champion Diane Conti played the 18th hole on the Lake course. The 18th hole decided the WGA Club Championship. (Pictured from left to right: Runner-up, Marcia Connor, Head Golf Professional, Mike Krick, and WGA Club Champion Diane Conti)

Women's Tennis Championship

The finals for the Women's Club Tennis Championship were held on our state-of-the-art courts. The final pairings were Connie Currens and Kathy Scardino vs Susan Violon and Jane Johnson. The match took the better part of two hours and was only settled by a 10-8 tie break. The Violon/Johnson team (pictured) emerged as the winners at 4-6, 6-3, 10-8. The other semi-finalists were Pat Gautier, Louisa Heffelfinger, Cynthia Wicker and Evelyn White. Tennis at Trace is in peak performance.

1st Round, 2nd Round

3rd Round, 4th Round

Michel Dussault wins Club Championship at Trace

The Club Championship semi-final and finals were held on September 28th and 29th. The final four competitors teed it up on Friday morning. Michel Dussault played 2005 Club Champion Fred Berman and Lee Connor faced off against Bill Guwang. The semi-final match was played on the Creek Course. Dussault closed out Berman on the 17th hole and Guwang finished off Connor on the final hole of play. The finals, played on the Lake Course, took place on Saturday the 29th. Dussault made a great save on #1 and held the lead for the entire match. Guwang held his ground until the back nine and Dussault used a great iron shot to finish the match on the 15th hole. Connor was the winner in the consolation match over Berman. (Pictured from left to right is Bill Guwang and Michel Dussault)

The 1950s in Style

Member Guest Cocktail party featured the music, people, movies and fun of the 1950s. Our dining room was transformed to the styles of the fifties. When CTCC plans a cocktail party, added touches by our Assistant Manager and Executive Chef help make the evening fun and memorable. Our waitstaff dressed for the occassion and notable guests made an appearance.

Couples Member Guest Begins Today

Each year we look forward to this fun tournament. Sixty-two couples will enjoy this fun and fall-festive three day event.

October 4: Practice Round; Registration; Buffet lunch; Mixer-Cocktail party

October 5: Lake and Creek course tee times; The better net ball of men and the better net ball of Women; Lunch at the Clubhouse (Lake course); Lunch on #7 at the tee (Creek course); Putting contest

October 6: Lake and Creek course tee times; Two best balls of the foursome; Lunch at the Clubhouse (Lake course); Lunch on #7 at the tee (Creek course); Cocktails; Dinner-dance and awards

Rally for the Cure with the Ladies 9 hole group

Tuesday, October 2nd the Ladies 9-hole group played in a golf tournament Rally for the Cure to support Breast Cancer Awareness month. Fifty-seven ladies participated in the tournament and raised $1,140 for the Susan G. Komen foundation. Each participant donated $20 and in addition to raising awareness, enjoyed a 'pink luncheon' with guest speakers and received a one-year's subscription donated from Golf for Women magazine. Guest speakers included Arenetta Gardner the Director of Radiology at Central Carolina hospital and Peggy Davis a certified midwife (who delivered two babies that morning). The speakers gave a presentation on topics of self breast exams, early detection, risk factors and digital mammograms. Sanford's local hospital, Central Carolina, has the updated equipment for digital mammograms.

The tournament had two contests with Celia Sharer wining closest to the pin and second place went to Pat Parker and Joan Havill. This great event was chaired by Jan Carlson and co-chair Paula Gloecker. All of the money raised went directly to the Komen foundation.

Annual Street Fair

The Annual Street Fair had record attendance this year on Sunday, September 30th. Over sixty vendors displayed crafts, artwork and items for sale. Special visitors and performances included the Temple Theatre Teens, Lee County orchestra, WLHC-FM Life 103.1, CERT mobile command center and the Carolina Trace volunteer fire department. Kathy Duff won the 50-50 raffle, which collected $500. Half of the money collected from the raffle went to the Club. Anyone could buy a raffle ticket for $1 or 6 tickets for $5. Phil and Carole Petraglia ran the hospitality table including the 50-50 raffle. The Heffelfinger's grandaughter purchased a raffle ticket at the ripe age of eight months old. The Street Fair was a fun event for everyone.