Our 2014 Tournament was full of mirth and a great mix of warm fellowship, terrific golf treks, & accommodations right on the white sands of the Gulf of Mexico. The Perdido Beach Resort executed perfectly--I’ll elaborate later.

We send our congratulations to Rich Lytle, the 2014 USGFR Men’s Gross Champion, and Larry Newman, the 2014 Men’s Net Champion. In the Women’s group, we congratulate Millie MacKenzie as the 2014 Gross Champion, and Liz Grulke as the 2014 Net Champion. Hooray!

Thanks to Elaine Durmer (my wife) who played a large part of this year’s Tournament. She handled the budgets from the beginning, and during the Tournament she drove the non-golfers to fun tours--thanks Sweetie. Jim Stewart, from the Foley Club, was our Tournament Director and MC of the awards evening. Thanks to you, Jim.

We made some changes in the USGFR Executive Committee. Millie MacKenzie has finished eight years as our Executive Secretary--THANK YOU, Millie!!!!!!!--and Jim Brock has taken on those big shoes. Denny Horack has jumped into the creation of the newsletter from Nate Naden’s many years--thanks Nate. Gary Hernandez will now be the Handicap Chair and Jim Quinn has moved from the Northwest Region Director to the Southwest Region Director.

We have 10 new Members who joined us in Gulf Shores. Dennis Guiser (Beverly) from IL, Peter Koukos (Peg) from IL, Ed Happ from SC, Shyam Kotwal (Suman) from FL, Peter Towne from SC, Don Forbes from NZ, Bill Tucker from SC, Peter Knudsen from ON, Canada, Mark Snow from KS and Ed Dowaschinski from SC. Welcome, welcome.

Now, the elaboration from the 1^st paragraph. We had a practice round on Monday (Peninsula). Then, on Tuesday, we played our first scoring 18 on the same course. Some of us had to cut short at 16 holes as lightning started, and we ran back to Perdido. Tuesday evening was heavy rain into Wednesday--flooding rain 16 to 22 inches down. No courses were open--the Superintendents were strong at work to provide golf for Thursday--yes (amazing)!  Sooooo, Perdido Beach Resort opened our lobby Hospitality room quite early, manned it, and we played Bingo for the afternoon. Their service was incredible. Thanks Perdido Beach Resort.

Lastly, here’s the really important stuff for you. Go to your 2015 calendar--Right Now!--and circle the dates of May 16^th to 20^th for your Tournament at Hilton Head Island--it's our 26th. We’re looking forward to seeing all y’all in South Carolina.

In Fellowship.

Bill Durmer (Cell: 708-826-2503)
President