Glitz, gifts and golf for the Lady Niners

Deb Maloney

In the spirit of Christmas, 64 Lady Niners donned their red, green and glitzy apparel for a fun nine hole drop out scramble. Teamwork on the Coyote Course was followed by a very elegant luncheon complete with snowmen hostess gifts and over the top desserts.

Niner President Marci Yenerich greeted golfers and welcomed special guest Grace Thompson, a 2001 founding member of the Lady Niner Club and its first president. Our club has since grown to 166 members.

An annual contribution for the Community Food Bank was collected. In addition to a basket of food items, monetary donations exceeded $625. Thanks to all who so generously contributed!

Annual awards were presented to the many participating golfers in the Birdies, Chip-ins, and Ringers Tourney. Top winner for Birdies was Diane Hernandez with four and for Chip-ins was Cheri Sipe with four. On the Ringer Board, Diane Hernandez won low gross score and Janet Mathis won low net score. Best putter was Pat Crane and most improved golfer for this year was Catherine Thiele. Karen Conner, chairperson for the annual tourney, presented awards.

Our Lady Niner Club Champion for 2014 was Jan Topolski. In an emotional moment, Loretta Halboth received a special award from President Marci for her outstanding contributions to the Niner Club.

A highlight of every Christmas luncheon is the installation of the officers for the upcoming year. Marci Yenerich, outgoing president, acknowledged the Board she has worked with for the past four years: Sherry Gall, vice president, Shirley Gray, secretary, Bonnie Smith, treasurer and Tournament Chairs Jan Topolski, Althea Critchlow and Priscilla Wright.

The Lady Niners have enjoyed President Marci the past four years as much as Marci admits enjoying her time as our leader. She comments, “This group of Quail Creek ladies is a fun and supportive group of golfers who enjoy golf, camaraderie and planning events. I am pleased to have Sharon take over as Sharon has the right stuff to carry on with the Board members who have served with me.” Marci will stay involved as the Niners’ publicity chair and she thanks all the Niners for helping her during the last four years.

The new 2015 Board is President Sharon Paxson, Vice President Cheri Sipe, Treasurer Bonnie Smith, Secretary Cathy Coleman and Tournament Committee Althea Critchlow, Jan Topolski, Sherry Gall and Shirley Gray. A big thanks to Alyce Mancini for chairing the election nominees.

Many thanks go to Christmas event organizers: Carol Walden, Sue Gunter, Cheri Sipe, Shirley Gray and Sherry Gall. Truly a gala event! Thank you!

The Lady Niners are planning an extraordinary event for March 12. It is our annual invitational and we will be entertaining ladies from neighboring communities for a day of golf, lunch, raffles and fun! This year’s theme is Putt ‘N On the Ritz, encouraging top hats, glitz and a red, black and white color scheme. Each year the Niners make this event a winner, even bringing in a profit designated for assisting our middle school students at Continental School. So mark those calendars and join in the fun!