Epcc chap5
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The document provides an overview of the history and development of the El Paso Country Club over the past 100 years since its founding in 1906. It discusses improvements and renovations made to the club facilities and grounds over time. It also profiles several professional golfers who started their careers at El Paso Country Club and achieved success on the PGA Tour. The club has maintained financial stability and continues to be a premier country club in the region.
Epcc chap5
- 1. 82 El Paso Country Club
- 2. 83 5Chapter “In its one-hundredth year, the El Paso Country Club has become an important part of the foundation of our city.”
- 3. 84 El Paso Country Club To date, the twenty-first century has been a period of capital growth for the club. Exquisite remodeling in many club areas continues. The membership is full, spilling over into a waiting list, and the club is completely free of debt. In its one-hundredth year, the El Paso Country Club has become an important part of the foundation of our city. As members, we owe thanks to that group of founding fathers whose love of golf led them to develop a club where sportsmanship goes hand in hand with good fellowship and pride. The club looks much different today than it did in May of 1998 when Bill Dahlberg was hired as the general manager, from the clubhouse building to the golf course, swimming pool, and tennis areas. The membership profile has changed during this period as well. The average age of our membership in 1998 was sixty-six years old, but because of the many young families that have joined the club in recent years, today’s average age of our membership is fifty-four. In October of 2005, the club had a membership campaign that brought in eighty-five new members to various membership categories, bringing our total membership to 799. One of the long-range goals of the Board of Directors was for the club to become more family-friendly while adding young members and increasing their participation in club activities. Much of that goal has been achieved, and there are more family activities being planned. There are many more tennis, golf, and swimming programs for children than in the past with other programs on the way. TheElPasoCountryClubToday While making all of these improvements, the club remains debt-free and continues to be the premier country club in West Texas and Southern New Mexico.
- 4. 85 Meanwhile, Swanson, Hietala, Fields, and Baryla are aiming for the main PGA TOUR. Their preparation spans competition on four tours, Nationwide, Asian, Canadian, and Texas Tight Lies. Also, very worthy of mention are the generosity and support of membership and the EPCC Board of Governors who have greatly aided these professionals, all of whom have been taught by Bill Eschenbrenner. 85 EPCC:TouringProCapital During the past forty years, EPCC has been directly connected with more touring professionals than any other club in America. This group of fourteen players began with Ben Kern, who was sponsored on the PGA TOUR from 1966 to 1975 by members headed by CPA Paul Borschow. Others with El Paso connections include Lee Trevino, Tim Norris, Joel Edwards, Steve Haskins (son of famed UTEP basketball coach Don Haskins), J. P. Hayes, Paul Stankowski, Rich Beem, Kristi Albers, Rick Todd, Dan Swanson, Ryan Hietala, Todd Fields, and Chris Baryla. Trevino, Hayes, Stankowski, Beem, and Albers have long and distinguished careers, which are featured separately in individual stories within this book. The others have had different degrees of success, ranging from a PGA TOUR win (Norris and Edwards) to victories on the Ben Hogan Nationwide Tour (Haskins and Todd). Norris, who won the 1979 College All- America Golf Classic, later was sponsored by EPCC members and won the 1982 Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open in record fashion. He averaged less than 65 per round for a tournament record of 259. Edwards also won once on the PGA TOUR (Air Canada) after graduating from EPCC’s junior program. Haskins, who was a contemporary of Edwards and another product of the club’s junior program, was a multiple winner on the Ben Hogan Tour. Todd, the current UTEP golf coach, also was a two-time champion on the Hogan Tour and winner of the Asian Order of Merit. Both Haskins and Todd have retained their skills and will soon be eligible to try the Champions Tour. Rich Beem and PGA trophy. (EPCC)
- 5. 86 El Paso Country Club86 El Paso Country Club PaulStankowski A three-time All-America at UTEP, Paul Stankowski has won twice on the PGA TOUR despite a series of injuries and an opening round 70 at the 2006 Qualifying School. He rallied to finish T8 to regain his PGA TOUR card for the 2007 campaign after playing the last two seasons of a medical exemption. Stankowski, whose promising Tour career began in 1994 with help from EPCC members,hasbeenhamperedbyoperations on both wrists and LASIK surgery. His breakthrough year came in 1996 when he won the Nationwide Tour’s Louisiana Open, earning him a sixth alternate spot for the Tour’s BellSouth Classic the following week. He proceeded to gain entry into that tournamentanddefeatedBrandelChamblee with a birdie on the first extra hole. The sudden-death victory against Chamblee gave Stankowski the distinction of being the only player ever to win Nationwide Tour and PGA TOUR events back-to-back. He capped this fine season with another pair of victories after the official Tour ended, winning the Lincoln- Mercury Kapalua International and Casio World Open in Japan. This was a strong prelude for the 1997 campaign when he qualified for the Tour Championship after finishing a career- high twenty-first on the money list. The highlight of that year came with his impressive triumph in the United Airlines Hawaiian Open in a playoff against Jim Furyk and Mike Reid. In addition to his accomplishments on the course, the oft-injured Stankowski is known for being an expert analyst for the Golf Channel and XM Radio’s PGA TOUR Network. Paul Stankowski, winner of the 1996 BellSouth Classic and the 1997 United Airlines Hawaiian Open. (Mike Norwich)
- 6. 8787 KristiAlbers Kristi Arrington Albers, who represents Vista Hills and El Paso Country Club, has been a winner at every level of golf, rang- ing from junior competition to the LPGA Tour. As a young golfer, she won the Sun Country Junior State Championship and was a high school star before graduating to the University of New Mexico. Her college career was even more impres- sive. Kristi was a First-Team All-American in 1984–85 and three-time All-Conference player. She also won the 1984 New Mexico State Invitational, New Mexico Amateur Championship, and Dick McGuire Invitational. Following her distinguished amateur career came a quick transition to the professional ranks as she earned exempt status at the 1985 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Her twenty-year LPGA campaign began in 1986, and she surpassed the $2 million mark in earnings during 2003. The highlight of her LPGA career came ten years earlier when she won the 1993 Sprint Classic in Tallahassee, Florida. Winner with a wire-to-wire performance, Kristi withstood the pressure to post a nine-under-par total of 279, one stroke ahead of Rosie Jones on the difficult Killearn Country Club course. The victory, which came after two second- place LPGA finishes in 1992, was very well deserved and rewarding. In fact, the $180,000 winner’s share of the $1.2 million purse, was more than she had won in any of the seven previous years. Kristi, who married El Paso television sportscaster Fred Albers in 1987, was a regu- lar competitor on the LPGA Tour, playing in an average of twenty-five events each year, until the birth of their son, Austin Frederick, in 2001. Since then, she has limited her LPGA appearances but still is an excellent player and familiar figure at El Paso Country Club. Kristi Albers Kristi Albers, winner of the 1993 Sprint Classic. (Kristi Albers)
- 7. 88 El Paso Country Club88 El Paso Country Club RichBeem Rich Beem, a former assistant professional at El Paso Country Club, rose toward the top of the PGA TOUR in 2002 following regional success in the Sun Country PGA Section in 1998. A graduate of New Mexico State University (1993) where his father, Larry, was golf coach through 2004, Beem is a study in perseverance. He earned Player-of-the- Year honors after victories at Socorro and Truth or Consequences during the 1998 Sun Country Mini-Tour and capped off this local dominance by finishing T8 in the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. Beem then made a strong impact nationally by winning the Kemper Open in only his twelfth start on the 1999 Tour. It was worth $450,000 in contrast to the $5,000 he earned for winning the 1998 Conrad Hilton Open at Socorro. This was merely a preview of his best year when he won The International and a major, the National PGA Championship, over Tiger Woods. His one-stroke victory over Woods, keyed by an eagle on No. 13 and a thirty- five-foot birdie putt (16th) at Hazeltine in Minnesota, led to a final round 66 and 278 total. This clutch finish from three strokes off the pace marked the first final round come-from-behind triumph in a major since Paul Laurie rallied from ten back to win a playoff at Carnoustie, Scotland, in the 1999 British Open. Beem also finished T6 at the World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational to total $1,950,000 in three August starts and propel him to the world’s No. 16 ranking. He remains a factor on the tour because of his PGA victory’s five-year exemption and has come a long way since quitting the game temporarily in 1995 to sell cellular phones and car stereo systems in Seattle. From left to right: Rich Lerner, The Golf Channel; Rich Beem, winner of the 1999 Kemper Open, the 2002 International, and the 2002 National PGA Championship; and Izzy Kahn. (EPCC) His renewed interest in the game came after watching fellow El Paso resident J. P. Hayes win the 1998 Buick Classic. He rallied to finish T8 to regain his PGA TOUR card for the 2007 campaign after playing the previous two seasons on a major medical extension.
- 8. 8989 El Paso Times, August 5, 2002. El Paso Times, August 19, 2002.
- 9. 90 El Paso Country Club90 El Paso Country Club J.P.Hayes John Patrick (J. P.) Hayes is a popular, regular member of the El Paso Country Club and the PGA TOUR, for which he first qualified in 1992. A graduate of UTEP and the PGA Q School on five occasions, Hayes has earned more than $6 million on the TOUR and Nationwide Tour. His breakthrough on the PGA TOUR came in the 1998 rain-shortened Buick Classic at Westchester (N.Y.) Country Club. J. P. had struggled before this prestigious event, having broken 70 only once in nine tournaments with earnings of just $16,712. This drought came to a sudden end after impressive rounds of 66-67-68—201 to tie Jim Furyk for the title over fifty-four holes. In the playoff, Hayes sank a seven-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to earn $324,000 and an all-important two-year PGA TOUR exemption. From 1999 to 2001, he was oftentimes a contender with ten top ten finishes before his banner year in 2002. Early in that year, Hayes had a TOUR record-tying eight consecutive birdies during the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic at PGA West’s Palmer Course. The Wisconsin native continued to play well, finishing in the top five for the third straight year at the Greater Milwaukee Open. Next came his second PGA TOUR triumph, at the John Deere Classic, forged around his tournament course record 10-under-par 61 in the second round en route to another record, 22 under 262 total. He almost repeated the feat in the 2006 John Deere Classic, closing J. P. Hayes, winner of the 1998 Buick Classic and the 2002 John Deere Classic. (PGA TOUR) with Sunday’s lowest round of 65, but John Senden’s 68 gave him a one-stroke victory over Hayes.
- 10. 9191 El Paso Times El Paso Times
- 11. 92 El Paso Country Club92 El Paso Country Club
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- 13. 94 El Paso Country Club94 El Paso Country Club
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- 15. 96 El Paso Country Club96 El Paso Country Club AMessagefromBillDahlberg Club Manager 1998–2008 The club looks much different today than it did in 1998 from the clubhouse building to the golf course, swimming pool, and tennis areas. The membership profile has changed during this period, as well. In 1998, the average age of our membership was sixty- six years old, and today’s average member is fifty-four years of age. In 2005, the club had a membership campaign that brought in eighty-five new members to various membership categories. One of the long-range goals of the Board of Governors was for the club to become more family-friendly while adding young members and increasing their participation in club activities. Much of that goal has been achieved, and there are more family activities being planned. There are many more tennis, golf, and swimming programs for children than in the past with other programs on the way. The interior of the clubhouse has under- gone a complete renovation with new carpet- ing throughout the building. The ladies’ and men’s locker rooms and public bathrooms have been totally renovated along with the adult bar and dining area. Our fitness room was enlarged and furnished with new state- of-the-art equipment. Two of our older tennis courts were demolished in 2006, and two new post-tension courts have replaced them. A slide was added to the swimming pool area, and this addition further increased our membership participation. Our parking lot has been resurfaced and is now complete with newly planted islands and additional lighting. A new lake was added in the spring of 2006 to help make the golf course drought- resistant. We have also added three wells for our lakes in the last three years. All of our golf course equipment is in great condition as we have replaced equipment as it was needed. All of our equipment is well short of its expected lifespan. Our biggest issue of 2006 was the one- hundred-year flood that the city of El Paso and the club had to endure in August. The club and the west side of the city had more than fourteen inches of rain in a five-day period, which caused much damage to the city’s drainage ditch that runs through our golf course. The flood washed out three cart crossing bridges and two walking bridges. Plans are underway to determine the most cost-effective way to repair the drainage ditch and rebuild the bridges. Much has been accomplished during my tenure but only because of the support of the membership and their willingness to provide the funding for the many projects. Through my entire employment at the El Paso Country Club, I have felt very fortunate to have been employed here as the general manager. It has been a great honor, joy, and pleasure for me. The members have always treated the staff and me with great respect. There is still much more that needs to be accomplished to keep the El Paso Country Club as the premier country club in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. A long- range planning committee has been formed to assess where the club needs to be in the year 2020 and beyond to make that a reality. The members have been very supportive of me, even when they may have disagreed with the Board of Governors and me on certain issues. After ten years, I can honestly say that I look forward to going to work every day. I remember that after the first few months of working at the club, I told my wife that I loved my job and the club, and unbeknownst to me, I had been in training all of my life for the general manager’s job at the El Paso Country Club. Bill Dahlberg, General Manager, EPCC. (EPCC)
- 16. 9797 CentennialVideoIsLivingHistory In addition to this one-hundredth- anniversary book, the El Paso Country Club Centennial (1906–2006) was featured in a video presentation made for the members to see living history. Narrated by Fred Albers, this colorful DVD was produced in two parts—the club’s evolution from humble beginning and the gala centennial party one hundred years later as the margaritas flowed. This first portion of the well-done DVD features several members recalling some of the good and tough times that the club has experienced since its founding for a membership fee of fifteen dollars. Throughout war, depression, drought, and flood, the club has survived and prospered, ranking as a national leader. Perhaps the most important fact about EPCC’s success, however, has been its equality or lack of prejudice. Creed and skin color simply do not matter. This is synonymous with El Paso Country Club, whose hospitality is just as notable. Centennial DVD Cover. (Neil C. Baker)