2012 in Review - The Santaluz Club

JANUARY 2013
2012 in Review
I trust you all had a wonderful and fulfilling
Holiday Season! As I reflect on the past year, I can’t
help but marvel at how fortunate we all are. We
live, recreate, and socialize in this great place called
Santaluz! We have a tremendous Club, in the midst
of San Diego’s finest community, made up of the best
people imaginable. The Club and the community have
grown into one of the most desirable places to be in
the entire state.
2012 was a bridge year for The Santaluz Club. It was
the year “the training wheels” came off, and the Club
was completely self-funded without the developer’s
support. And what a successful year it was! As has
been communicated by the Finance Committee and the
Board, the Club’s operating profit before depreciation
will be close to $600,000. This was driven by
better than projected Membership sales in all three
categories, very strong food and beverage revenues,
excellent retail sales, and
strong expense controls.
The Club projects to
finish the year with 336
Golf Members, 166 Spa/
Clubhouse Members, and
225 Hacienda Members.
New Members joining
The
Santaluz
Club
totaled 27 Golf, 23
Spa/Clubhouse, and 16
Hacienda. We send a
warm welcome to all of
you!
The Club reinvested
$540,000 into capital repairs and maintenance. You
will be able to see this investment around the Club
in the form of a new golf cart fleet, an updated golf
bag storage system, new utility vehicles for both
the golf course and golf course maintenance, a deep
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Continued from p. 1
A REVIEW OF 2012
tine aerification machine for the
greens, irrigation pump equipment
and alarms, pool pump equipment,
resurfaced pool deck, resurfaced
roadway and parking lots, Spa
reception area and courtyard
remodels, water heaters, A/V,
televisions, computers, sound
systems, and a miscellaneous
assortment of food and beverage
and facility equipment.
Our
capital replacement budget for
2013 is $504,000 which should
be covered by the 2013 gross
operating profit reflected in
the 2013 budget. Scheduled to
occur in the upcoming year are
the following projects: Carpet
in the Hacienda lobby, Athletic
Center, and Women’ Locker
Room; reupholster and refinish
the furniture and floors in the
Clubhouse main dining room;
cushions and umbrellas for the
pool; golf course equipment
replacement; replace the irrigation
heads for the golf course; resurface
tennis courts; new banquet chairs;
and a variety of smaller projects.
Once again the Club featured
a full calendar of events and
activities. The 10 year Legacy
Celebration was the social
highlight of the year. The three
day event featured an open house,
hot air balloon rides, Santa Maria
style chuck wagon BBQ, music,
vendor displays, trolley tours
around the community, a mayoral
proclamation by Mayor Jerry
Sanders declaring September 29th
as Santaluz Day, and a concert by
the fabulous Beach Boys! This
was a collaborative effort between
The Santaluz Club, Santaluz
Maintenance Association, and
Santaluz Community Council,
and showed true community
spirit as all three groups worked
together to bring you the 10
year anniversary celebration.
Spooktacular was back again with
record attendance and both the
Summer Luau and Art and Wine
Festival were as popular as ever.
Both the Men’s and Women’s
Member
Guest
tournaments
received rave reviews from all
participants.
Congratulations
go out to the winners of all
the Santaluz tournaments held
throughout the year.
More
importantly, a HUGE thank you
to all who participate in one way
or another. There were so many
opportunities, such as the Turkey
Trot, Tennis Leagues and clinics,
golf clinics and tournaments,
swimming class or lessons, spin,
Pilates, yoga, or other personal
training
classes,
basketball,
spa seminars and enrichment
series, literary lunches, Wine
Wednesdays, Camp Santaluz,
Biggest
Santaluzer,
cooking
classes or just general Club usage.
Without your support, the Club
would not be the success it is. The
Club’s website continues to evolve
into a functioning tool. On line
tee times and court reservations
are working very well, the event
calendars and promotional flyers
are very useful for planning
your social activities, all Club
documents are updated and posted,
the Member roster is current, and
the Board and Committee pages
and communication links are well
received. In addition, the Club
worked with the SMA and the
SCC to enhance and upgrade the
public site at www.Santaluz.com.
If you haven’t seen it, I highly
recommend you take a look, as it
is a wonderful representation of
our community and Club.
The Club’s annual survey
conducted in October, once
again showed an excellent level
of Member satisfaction. Twentynine of the thirty-six categories
surveyed show an improvement
over 2011 results. Be confident
that the Board and staff will be
working in 2013 to improve any
deficiencies, as well as fine tuning
all areas of operation and facilities.
Your Board and Committees
have been active this year guiding
the Club through our first year
without developer funding. As
noted above, the results show
what a fantastic job they have
done. The Finance Committee has
had a steady hand on managing
the cash flow and reserves
while positioning the Club on a
solid financial platform for the
upcoming years.
The House
Committee has created, promoted,
and supported the great events
which have helped make food and
beverage so successful in 2012.
They were also instrumental with
the design and rework of the Spa
courtyard and retail area. The
Hacienda Committee successfully
worked on some challenging
policy and operational issues this
year. The Golf Committee once
again oversaw the outstanding
calendar of tournaments, team
and league play, and Member
events, while addressing policy
and procedure questions. The
Greens Committee has provided a
careful watch over the golf course
conditions and slope upkeep. The
Golf course condition continues
to be the highest ranked category
in the Annual Member Survey.
The Membership Committee
was able to attract 26 new Golf
Members, 20 new Spa Members,
and 14 new Hacienda Members.
The ending Golf Membership count is 336,
which is short of the Committee’s stretch goal
of “The Drive to 345”. Consequently, there will
be no yearend drawing for the referral prizes, but
look for an exciting new opportunity in 2013. In
the meantime, please keep your referrals coming
in to Membership Director Kelly Collins. As we
all know, the Club is much more fun when you
are surrounded by your friends and associates.
The newly formed Facility Committee has
started to review and evaluate long term capital
improvement projects for The Santaluz Club.
Ideas being considered include an expansion and
enhancement to the co-ed dining area outside by
the practice putting green, expansion of the Fresh
Roast kitchen and indoor dining, a comprehensive
short game practice area, and a permanent private
event area. Please remember these are long term
projects and are only in the discussion phase at this
time.
While the Club celebrated its 10 year
anniversary this year, so did several key staff
members. Please join me in congratulating Dale
Standfast – Controller, Sean Horton – Facilities and
IT Director, Jeremy Whiting – Golf Professional,
Jim Timke – Director of Agronomy, Jeff Miller –
Golf Course Superintendant, César Pena – Assistant
Golf Course Superintendant, Richard Malzahn –
Golf Course Administrative Assistant, and 5 team
members of Jim Timke’s Golf Course Maintenance
Crew. Extend a hearty hello to our new team
members joining The Santaluz Club this year: John
O’Brien – Athletic Director, Robert Gensler – Golf
Professional, Taylor Gobar – Member Services
Coordinator, Ivan Cedeno-Gilardi – Sous Chef,
and our recently certified Sommelier – Luis Lopez.
Live Music
Fridays at the Clubhouse
Jan 4 Jan 11 Jan 18 Jan 25 Feb 1 Sounds of Brazil
Kristi Krause
Money Pennies
Collin Elliot
Taryn Donath
6.30-9.30pm
Call 759-3133
Enrichment
Join us monthly for evening
seminars with guest speakers
who aim to enrich your
overall being
Call 759-3104
RSVP Required
Golf/Spa Only
PRESENTS
Cheers,
Jim MacDonough
General Manager
The Santaluz Club
Thursday Jan 24
Thursday Feb 28
Literary Luncheons
January 29, 2013
11:30am
RSVP 759-3104
Meet the author, Janice Steinberg,
and enjoy a themed luncheon, along
with the chance to discuss the book
with fellow bookworms!
My personal thanks and appreciation go out
to everyone who contributes to the Club and
community of Santaluz. Without the support,
commitment, dedication, and volunteer efforts
of the residents and Members, and hard work of
the staff, we would not have this dynamic place
called Santaluz. I am grateful to you all, and look
forward to an even better 2013!
Series
$65++ per person for Luncheon,
including a copy of The Tin Horse