Albany Country Club
November, 2021
ACC Newsletter
Board of Governors and Officers President James Harris, Jr. Vice - President Adam Neary Secretary Christine Caputo Granich Treasurer David Suozzo
President ’ s Message We hope you have enjoyed ACC this year; as we prepare for the festivities of November and December, the club has a packed schedule and numerous fun events planned. Our team put together a grand narrative and flipbook, starring Courtney in her breakout role, showcasing all the fun and holiday events the club is known for. The club at its peak employs over 100 people and is led by a small core group of department heads and a solid team. We offer a new modified grill room menu and continue the great specials from our talented culinary team. The comments from brides and their families have been overwhelmingly positive. The golf course and pro shop received high accolades from the members and numerous guests. Our annual meeting had the largest turnout in years and had great dialogue and comments, though a bit too lengthy (we will not let that happen again). The Board was excited to share all the work produced by the committees and the focus on ACC offering more to you. A huge thank you goes out to the 274 members who responded to our recent survey, providing us valuable feedback necessary for us to improve areas of concern and expand the highly functional areas we have. The data will enable our management team to offer the services and amenities you are looking for. As we approach year - end, we ask for your continued support in providing a small token of appreciation to our hardworking staff and contributing to our employee holiday fund, all of which goes to the employees. We have worked hard on the balance of the short - term and long - term needs of the club, and we spent over $400,000 on capital improvements, many of which no one sees. In the next two to three years, we expect to spend at least that amount. At the current time, we have 225 golfing members and 111 social members; we would love your assistance in promoting the club and helping us gain a few more members to help us grow the club. Our commitment to you is to have a safe and enjoyable place for you and your family to relax, socialize and play. Thank you for being part of making ACC a memorable place we all enjoy; please feel free to contact me at president@albanycc.cc with any questions, concerns, and compliments,
Dr. Peter Fisk Thomas Cullinan Jeffrey Bryant Jeff Buley Dr. Mark Fleck James Lozano Trevor Morison Terence Seery John Sica
General Manager Rocky Staples rstaples@albanycc.cc
Assistant General Manager Kimberly Aperance kaperance@albanycc.cc
Controller Jennifer Reohr jreohr@albanycc.cc
Director of Membership Sara - Becca Smith sbsmith@albanycc.cc Director of Golf Glenn A. Davis gdavispga@albanycc.cc Golf Course Superintendent Marcus Prosser mprosser@albanycc.cc
Tennis Professional Shannon O ’ Sullivan tennis@albanycc.cc
Jim Harris, Jr. , President
Manager ’ s Message
As we prepare to wrap up the year, I hope our members can look back at 2021 with fond memories of many happy times spent at Albany Country Club. We have had record numbers of members attending many of our events, as well as playing golf and tennis, and it ’ s been really wonderful to see the excitement and energy back at the Club. We learned a lot during COVID and I truly believe that having to refine and re - imagine the way we do business has elevated our service and experiences, and made us a better Club overall. As we head into the holiday break our staff is busy with plans to make 2022 even more spectacular!
In our recent membership survey, you told us you want to see more events, especially family - friendly events, here at the Club, and that ’ s
exactly what we are planning for the new year. Although we are normally completely closed for the first six weeks of every year, in 2022 we will be hosting two Friday night dinners in January, followed by a romantic Valentine ’ s Dinner, and a gourmet Burger and Beer Night in February. The Winter Carnival that was so popular this year, will return in February to kick - off the start of our social season. A French - themed Wine Dinner and Trivia with Karaoke are planned for March, with a Tapas Night and a Cocktail Party announcing the opening of golf and tennis in April. One event many families asked for the return of was the Fall Festival, so we ’ ve already begun work on planning that for October. We are very excited to have platform tennis open throughout the winter to give you another reason to come out to the Club. This cold - weather activity is played on our heated and lighted courts, with windscreens added this year for even more comfort. We ’ ll have a kick - off event on December 3 rd to introduce the game to those of you who are new to platform tennis and build our community of players. Our increased focus and event planning for platform tennis has come about through the requests and suggestions of our members. We welcome the opportunity to work with you to make these things happen. By now I hope most of you have had an opportunity to meet Sara - Becca, our new Director of Membership, who has been attending as many of our events all throughout the Club as her schedule permits. Her infectious enthusiasm and cheerful personality are helping us welcome new members and get them involved, and she is always available to meet your friends and other referrals to give them a tour. As you bring friends, family and colleagues out to the Club for holiday celebrations, please take an extra moment to introduce them to Sara - Becca and let her have their contact information for follow - up. The best new members for our Club are the ones you already enjoy spending time with! I want to thank all of our members for your commitment and loyalty to Albany Country Club, and for your wholehearted support during these challenging two years. We are all a family here at ACC, and it has meant a lot to share the ups and the downs together, building a stronger, closer and more successful Club. I am proud of all of our staff for their unparalleled commitment and the passion they have poured into their work. As we close out 2021 there is no place I ’ d rather be than right here with my Albany Country Club family. I wish all of you a warm and wonderful holiday and all the best for 2022! Director of Membership, Sara - Becca ’ s Message
Thank you to Wayne Cable for more than 30 years!
Wayne Cable will be retiring at the end of this year from Albany Country Club after more than 30 years. We can ’ t thank him enough for his dedicated service over the years and wish him well in his retirement.
Director of Membership, Sara - Becca ’ s Message
I am closing in on my second month as Director of Membership at Albany Country Club, and what a whirlwind it has been so far! I have enjoyed meeting so many of you during this time. Over the past two months, I have worked with Club leadership, staff, and members to coordinate member retention and
recruitment efforts. Projects like the Member Experience Survey are just the start as I learn more about the club and how best to be an ally and liaison for the members.
The Member Experience Survey that so many of you responded to was a major project to kick off with, and your responses have helped me learn more about you, the club, and how we can make ACC the best club that it can be. As we move forward, whenever we have projects or changes that address the concerns and desires brought up in the survey, we will let you know. Without your valuable input and insight, we can only do so much. If you missed the Annual Meeting and my report, you can access the summary of the survey results here.
As you may have heard, this winter we will be unveiling a new website. The new public side of the site will present prospective members, event hosts, and guests
with an informative and modern site that is easily navigated. For the members, the new website and member portal will provide an upgraded online experience. As part of the upgrade, we will be sending out requests for updated contact information. We will be sharing the family and contact information we have on file for you and asking you to make any changes or additions that we should know about, like contact information for spouses and dining allergies. With both our current website and with the new one, you are invited to log into your member profile anytime, update your information and even add a photo of yourself to your profile. We are excited about starting 2022 with a fresh look and comprehensive member directory for you! While I have been working on meeting as many new members as possible by attending social events, golf league end of season events, and many of the ladies ’ activities like bowling and Mah Jongg, I have also been working on creating a robust prospective member recruitment program. Our best source of new members is you – our current member! If there are friends or business associates that you would like to invite to become members of the club, let me know. I would be happy to contact them. I hope that if you have comments or suggestions for the club, you won ’ t wait until the next survey to share them with me. Your feedback is important to me, and as Rocky likes to say, we are always willing to give new ideas a try! Together we can make the club and membership experience one that is welcoming and lasts a lifetime.
Congratulations to our Tournament Winners Chili Buns Duncan Mackenzie, Lynn Momrow - Zielinski, Ed Brown and Lorraine D ’ Aleo Robert Trent Jones Cup Trey Sgroi and Joe Parrottino
I look forward to the holiday season and hope to see you at the Club soon!
Grille Hours
Join us in Welcoming our Newest Members
Tennis Individual Gregory Peda
Wednesday - Saturday
Lunch & Dinner
Jr. Golf Individual Matthew Rentz
11:00 am - 8:00 pm
President ’ s Plaque Terry Bender
Holiday Toy Drive
Employees ’ Holiday Fund
Each year, members are given the opportunity to contribute to the Employees ’ Holiday Fund. The money received is distributed as holiday gifts to over 100 hourly employees of the Club, including the golf shop, pool, snack bar, grounds, maintenance, locker rooms and food and beverage departments. Any donation you can make towards this Holiday Fund will be greatly appreciated. Your generosity will provide our employees a financial “ Thank You ” for those who have worked extremely hard and diligently over this past year providing the high level of service we have become accustomed to at Albany Country Club. To distribute this fund to the employees in a timely manner, we ask that all contributions are made by December 1 st . At that time, a committee of Board Members, along with the General Manager, will supervise the disbursement of this fund. Once again, thank you for your continued patronage of our club. Without your strong support, none of the Club activities we enjoy would be possible.
This holiday season, please join us in bringing smiles to the faces of children and families served by Northeast Parent & Child Society and Parsons Child & Family Center Join us at ACC in collecting unwrapped toys. A donation box will be located next to the Christmas tree in the living room from November 29th to December 15th. You can also donate online at www.neparentchild.org.
Membership Year
Just a reminder that all members (except those relocating more than 75 miles from the club) will be responsible for 12 months dues commencing January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.
James Harris, Jr., President
2022 Prepaid Dues
2022 Prepaid Dues Forms will be mailed in the next few days. As a reminder, in 2021 the Board consolidated all dues, fees, and capital funds into a single invoice. This straight - forward billing structure can be payable either monthly over the year or through two prepayment options: full prepayment due by 12/31/21, and a two - part prepayment option with half due by 12/31/21 and the balance due by 3/31/22. To receive the respective full value of passes and dining coupons, payment must be received on or before the stated dates. Passes and dining coupons will be pro - rated for payments received after these dates.
Pro Shop Holiday Hours
Holiday Parties
Remember that someone special! The holiday season is a great time to redeem your sweeps!
Friday and Saturday December 10, 11 and 17, 18 12:00 - 6:00 pm
It ’ s time to book your holiday party!
Business or Family Parties, Brunches, Lunches, Dinners or Cocktail Receptions. Contact Kim at kaperance@albanycc.cc or (518) 765 - 2851 x 204
Through November 14: The Pro Shop will be open Tuesday - Sunday from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm depending on daylight. After November 10th, the Pro Shop will be closed for the season, except for the holiday hours above.
Platform Tennis
We ’ ve heard from a number of members about their interest in playing platform tennis this fall and winter and we couldn ’ t be more excited. This cold - weather activity is played on our heated and lighted courts. This year we are adding windscreens to the courts to make the experience even better for our members. Don ’ t worry though, we will not be blocking the view for bystanders! This year we are instituting an online reservation system so that we can keep track of when the courts are in use and reduce the possibility of double booking. Reservations will be for one court at a time for either one or two hours. Another reason we are moving to a reservation system for platform tennis is so that we can arrange to have a key available to you so that you may access the clubhouse restrooms if the building is not open during that time. And lastly, after the great success we had in fully booking our first platform tennis event, we will be hosting an all - levels kick - off event on Friday, December 3. This event will include instruction and open play, along with complimentary hors d ’ oeuvres and a selection of beverages. You can see the event details and register here. There are only 16 spots available so be sure to sign up quickly! This event will be a great way for anyone new to platform tennis to meet other players and learn the basics!
Whether you are new to the game or one of our regulars, we hope to see you out at the courts soon!
December 3, 2021 Platform Tennis All - Levels Kick Off Event 5:30 – 9:00 PM $10 Per Person plus tax, no gratuity
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