It was his swan song, of sorts. Barry Brumfield became our Head Professional in 1985, the eighth Golf Pro in the Club’s history following Bob Clark, William Hackney, Will Rogers [No, not that one!], Walt Tebaldi, Vito Machado, John Zontek and Jack Kendricks. Barry liked to be close to his work; for his first 20 months at CCCC, he lived in a trailer in the Maintenance Yard. After four years at the helm, Barry announced that he would be leaving to become the Head Pro at the San Jose Country Club. There was one piece of unfinished business: Barry would play in a fund raising American Cancer Society Golf Marathon at CCCC, as many holes as possible in a 24-hour period. The event took place beginning at noon on Monday, August 1, 1989. After 24 hours, 222 holes of golf and a check for over $4,000 for the ACS, Barry limped off the course. Barry’s scores ranged from a first round 70 to a midnight 84. During darkness, Barry played a Nightlite glow ball and was joined by Examiner sports writer Mark Soltau, who, apparently with better night vision, shot 83. Barry was later heard to complain about the loss of distance with the glow ball. “Hitting two woods and an iron to a par four isn’t easy.” Welcome to the world of senior golf, Barry.
Think about it - 222 holes of golf in 24 hours? That’s over 18 holes per hour. Jeez, it’s like playing with John Teverbaugh or Bob Brotherton….
As 1989 became 1990, memberships were selling for $24,000 and we had a list of anxious buyers waiting to join. We were learning from the oil companies, and by May memberships went up again to $27,000. Something about supply and demand….
Assistant Pro Joe Curry kept the Pro Shop humming during the search for a new Head Pro. Joe reminded most of us of our favorite grandfather and had the personality to match. Meanwhile, the search for a new Golf Pro found a great replacement in the hometown of Burl Ives and Jerry Van Dyke - Terre Haute, Indiana. Ray Goddard was the Head Pro and Director of Golf for the city’s two golf courses and held the course record on the municipal Forest Park course with a 61! Uh, that’s gross, not net. Ray had also been quite the college basketball star in his day. He took over in January, 1990 and became Head Golf Professional number nine. With the Pro Shop now running smoothly, we look to the golf course, where things weren’t going so well.
In the 1950’s, about 1,000 Monterey pine trees were planted on the course. Earlier, this history column mentioned the drought in the early 1970’s and its devastating effect on our trees and shrubs. It was about that time we learned Monterey pines weren’t the best choice for our 100 degree summers and adobe soil. Consultants predicted a severe die-out and by 1990, their prediction was proving accurate. The Greens Committee recommended a $37,000 tree and shrub replacement project. It was funded by a $72 assessment and by mid-year, the dead trees had been removed and 680 new trees and shrubs planted. Fortunately, not all the experts were correct; four different tree experts told the Greens Committee that the demise of the signature oak tree on Hole 12 was imminent….
Water and water storage and delivery systems were always an issue. Even with two wells producing 250,000 gallons a day, we needed more, especially during the mid-summer months. The storage pond needed to be dredged to hold more water and eliminate silt that clogged pumping equipment. We hired geological consultants who reported that CCCC was located on top of a prolific underground reservoir, and talk quickly turned to the possibility of drilling another well. Diablo, Sequoia and Marin were facing similar water problems; all tried to drill for water with negative results. The search for affordable solutions and a source of funding went on.
One solution – a tried and true option in the past – was the sale of surplus land. The Real Estate Committee determined that four unused parcels of our property were buildable and had a value of roughly $6.9 million. When a poll of members found that the majority favored the sale of land rather than an assessment, work began to ready one of the parcels for sale. Members were pretty clear about what they wanted done with the proceeds: put it right back into the golf course!