January 2021 Newsletter
LETTER FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER JIM BULTEMA
Looking Ahead
Letter from the General Manager
The Railside team is looking forward to another busy and fun year ahead. We have been and will continue to be hard at work during the off season to prepare for the upcoming golf season. We have course updates, new team members, and are planning on some great events this season. Look for more information about all of these throughout this newsletter.
A quick overview of things to come:
Membership Matters
Do you know someone who is interested in becoming a member here at Railside? If you refer a new member, you’ll receive 25% off 2021 dues. For more information about this promotion please contact Jennifer.
The Union Pavilion
We have a new addition to The Union Pavilion, The Union Trolley! Take a peek at what this means for events further down in the newsletter. Spots are filling up for 2021/22 weddings at Railside, so if you know a bride or bride-to-be who has her eye on the Union Pavilion, encourage her to reach out to Donna soon.
As always, thank you for your continued support of the club,
Jim Bultema
General Manager
FROM THE PRO MATT KOETS
Upcoming Golf Season
2021 Golf Events Calendar
Our 2021 Golf Events Calendar is here! We have created this years calendar as a PDF, so that you are able to download and print at your own convenience.
Download 2021 Golf Events Calendar
New Assistant Golf Professional
Please help me in welcoming our new assistant golf professional, Brad VanGorder. He will be a great asset to the club and we are excited to have him on our team. Look for a letter from Brad further down in our newsletter.
Winter Travel
We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with OpenRounds. OpenRounds is an exclusive online platform offering streamlined private club tee time accommodations, providing our members direct access to other private clubs nationwide. Access to the OpenRounds network is included in your Railside club membership, and the platform is easy to navigate at your convenience.
As you travel this winter and beyond to areas like Florida, Arizona, Las Vegas, Hilton Head, and more, use OpenRounds to set up rounds for you and your guests at 260+ partner clubs nationwide, including 30+ Golf Digest Best in State courses and multiple PGA Tour and PGA Champions Tour event hosts. Register now and explore OpenRounds’ extensive network of partner clubs throughout the country!
Whether you’re looking to drive to a club locally or fly to another area of the country, OpenRounds enables YOU to book exclusive rounds on YOUR time as a part of your Railside club membership. And if you ever need suggestions on where to play, or questions about the process, the OpenRounds Concierge Desk can be reached at yourcaddy@openrounds.com or 888-765-7707.
Ship Sticks
The PGA Professional Staff is also a partner with Ship Sticks. Ship Sticks offers a unique service to our membership. Through this partnership, we are able to ship your golf clubs and luggage to any destination at reduced prices. Ship Sticks insures and personally tracks every shipment. Ship Sticks will email you tracking information, inform your destination that your clubs are on route to them, and send you an email when your clubs arrive. We also have Ship Stick boxes that will give your clubs an extra layer of protection. Ship Sticks is partnered with UPS and FedEx, so you are receiving industry leading logistics at discounted rates. All shipping services are available: Ground, 3 Day, 2 Day, and Priority Overnight. Contact us in the golf shop for more information or to get a quote.
FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT JEFF SMITH
Around the Course
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We’ve been pretty busy around here these past few weeks. Taking advantage of the favorable weather in the month of December to improve our front nine bunkers. About 2 leads of sand have been taken out or moved around to make a more consistent bunker. Also there has been dead trees cut down on #4, #8, and #9 for safety and should help turf growth in those areas. Lastly we are repairing bridges on #10 and #18. This upcoming spring our goal will be to fix #11 and #6 bridge.
Things to come this month will be pretty normal for this time of year. We’ll continue to get ready for the upcoming year, painting tee markers and flag sticks. We’ll be making oil changes and fixing any repairing any machinery that’s needed.
Have a happy and safe start to 2021!
Jeff Smith
Golf Course Superintendent
Meet Brad
Hello, my name is Brad VanGorder and I have been hired at Railside as the new Assistant Golf Professional. I am very excited to have the opportunity to work alongside Matt Koets and be a part of the community and culture that this club provides.
Personally, I was introduced to the game of golf when I was about 4 years old. I played competitively in high school at Rockford, where I graduated in 2016. My start within the golf and hospitality industry started in 2014 at Cedar Chase Golf Club. With interest in the business world and a passion for the game of golf, I enrolled in the PGA Golf Management program at Ferris State University. I graduated in mid-December of 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Business and will be accepted as a Class-A PGA Professional in early 2021. I am a proud Bulldog!
During my time at Ferris, I accumulated over 17 months of internship experience at a variety of private facilities, all offering a different standard of service. Facilities I have previous experience at include The Polo Fields Golf & Country Club in Ann Arbor, MI; Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, MI; and Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, FL. Each of these facilities have offered different and unique experiences that I will look to use and apply here at Railside.
I look forward to meeting everyone and will do my best to introduce myself. Stop in the Pro Shop or stop me around the facility. Again, I look forward to meeting you all and being a part of the great team here at Railside Golf Club.
Brad VanGorder
Assistant Golf Professional
Welcome New Members
Join us in welcoming our newest members!
Robert Butler
Josh Lambert
Tim Walcott