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This week, we kicked off our 2019-2020 Golf season with Ladies Opening Day on Tuesday and Men’s Opening Day on Thursday. 101 ladies and 135 men partook in the festivities. Please enjoy this 2 minute video featuring some highlights of the events. We look forward to another amazing season here at Shadow Wood Country Club!

Our Shadow Wood video series “Tips from the Pros” feature Shadow Wood professionals sharing with you the knowledge of their expertise. This video features Mark Moffatt, Director of Instruction, sharing his golf tip on how to hit straighter shots by using the lower body in the down swing.

Over the past 5 years, Shadow Wood has organized and operated 6 member golf trips to some of the most prestigious golf
destinations in the world. These trips are very well received among members and attendance and interest continues to grow each year. This September, 86 Shadow Wood members along with our Director of Instruction, Mark Moffatt and his wife Tracy,
experienced the trip of a lifetime in one of the most beautiful countries in Europe: Spain! The group was divided into 2 trips, with 40 on the first trip and 46 on the second. The 12-day trip itinerary was extremely well organized and chalk full of extravagant golf
excursions, sightseeing tours, dining, and more. The itinerary catered to the needs of both the golfers and non-golfers attending the trip.

Landing in Malaga, Spain, the members traveled to their first accommodation, Hotel Almenara in Sotogrande, an elegant,
Mediterranean-inspired 4-star golf resort, where they were greeted with a Welcome Reception Dinner. The reception, held on the terrace, had gorgeous views of mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. The group was served a delectable assortment of traditional Spanish tapas and refreshing cocktails, while they mingled with their fellow travelers. Some of the members traveling together did not know each other prior to this trip and grew very close throughout the journey. Traveling with people and experiencing new things together truly creates a uniquely special bond.  

Golfing excursions were at the best of the best in the Southern Spain region, including Finca Cortesin Golf Club, Valderrama, LaReserva at Sotogrande, Real Sotogrande Golf Club and San Rouge Golf Club. The golfing in Spain was very unique compared to what our members are used to in Southwest Florida. The regions were very mountainous, with a lot of elevation changes on the courses. Mark noted that it was challenging, but very rewarding. He said the members embraced the challenge and truly had an
exceptional time playing these world class courses.

Their sightseeing tours took them all around Southern Spain, across the Strait of Gibraltar, and even to Tangiers, Morocco at the Northwestern tip of Africa for an exotic day trip. When in Tangiers, their local guides toured the members around the city, teaching them hands-on about Moroccan history while experiencing the rush of being in such a lively, exciting destination. They haggled their way through markets and bazaars for handcrafted Moroccan goods (rugs, leather, and pottery, oh my!), encountered snake charmers on the streets, rode camels through a park and on the beach, and enjoyed a traditional Moroccan lunch accompanied by live music and belly dancers.

As all good things must come to an end, this extraordinary journey ended with a Farewell Dinner back in Malaga consisting of an elaborate five course meal, and traditional flamenco dance performance. At the dinner, the members received a handmade gift- a gorgeous terracea box with the Shadow Wood logo and “Spain Trip 2019” engraved on the top. Everyone had a wonderful time,
reminiscing on all the once-in-a-lifetime memories they were able to share together and bring back to Shadow Wood.



Mark has received truly wonderful feedback from those who experienced this trip. “Wow! What an adventure.” said Mary Kunza, Shadow Wood Member. “It was far beyond our expectations not only with the golf and grand excursions but also the unbelievable
organization in its entirety. My mere words cannot explain this experience. Priceless.” Shadow Wood Member Tod Wilcock added, “What a great trip! From the golf, to the Barbary monkeys in Gibraltar, to the markets in Tangiers, it was all insightful and incredible.”

If you’re interested in experiencing one of these fabulous trips for yourself, the Shadow Wood Golf Travel Committee has an amazing trip planned for Summer 2020 to Whistling Straits and The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin. This trip offers the unique
opportunity to play up to four of Kohler’s well revered and nationally ranked courses. The highlight will be the Whistling Straits Course, which one month later will host Steve Stricker’s American team taking on Padraig Harrington’s European squad in the 2020 Ryder Cup. Team USA and Team Europe will be walking in SWCC Members' footsteps! To join fellow members and one of our Pros for what will prove to be a memorable trip, please email our Director of Golf, Andy Scrivner at [email protected].

Our Director of Membership, Danita Osborn, and Project Supervisor Jeff B. of DeAngelis Diamond take us live back to the construction site of Shadow Wood's brand new outdoor casual dining restaurant. It's been a month since our first live update and we wanted to share with you all the incredible progress that has been made! Please enjoy this short 5 minute glimpse behind the scenes of this highly anticipated expansion to Shadow Wood Country Club.

Danita Osborn, Director of Membership, takes you live to the construction site of Shadow Wood Country Club’s brand new outdoor casual dining restaurant, and chats with project supervisor Jeff B. of DeAngelis Diamond. They discuss the progress made so far, and what is to come. Enjoy this behind the scenes sneak peek!

2019 Season Ending Celebration "Sand and Sea!"

The 2019 Season Ending Party was a wonderful celebration to culminate the end of another successful season here at Shadow Wood Country Club. It’s always great to see our members having a blast at the Club; eating, drinking, laughing, dancing, and enjoying life here at Shadow Wood with their friends and family. Thank you to everyone that joined us. For those of you departing in the summer time, safe travels, and we look forward to your return! For those of you staying in town, we look forward to more fun times with you at Shadow Wood over the summer.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 20th Annual Men’s Legacy Invitational! This year, we had 154 teams with guests from 118 clubs all over the nation. A special congratulations to our overall champions Mr. Michael Dunn and his guest Mr. Robert Kletjian, and our father-son champions Mr. Jack VanPelt and his son Mr. Jon VanPelt. We are excited to share this special video capturing all of the spectacular moments from the 2019 Men's Legacy Golf Invitational and look forward to continuing the Legacy tradition next year at Shadow Wood Country Club. Please sit back, relax and enjoy the video!

Shadow Wood Country Club's 2019 Ladies Legacy Golf Invitational was a fantastic event. Our members and their guests enjoyed a journey down "The Silk Road" at this themed 2-day premier golf event. There were 94 teams that joined us, including guests from all over the state and the nation. We thank everyone that joined us and are looking forward to continuing the tradition of excellence with next year's Legacy event. In this video you'll see the extraordinary journey the ladies enjoyed on the Silk Road at Shadow Wood Country Club!

In this special Behind-the-Scenes video, Executive Chef Richard Crisanti takes us on a tour of East Fork Creek Gardens, a local aquaponics farm in Fort Myers, where they are growing fresh, organic artisan lettuce for Shadow Wood Country Club. Chef Rich took a trip to the farm to learn all about the processes in growing the lettuce, and the inner workings of the farm, and got to sample delicious fresh fruits and vegetables along the way. East Fork Creek’s aquaponic farming method uses less than 10% of the water used in conventional growing, and no pesticides, herbicides, GMOs or chemical additives are ever used in any step of the growth process. A top priority for our culinary team is to provide sustainable, unprocessed, locally grown ingredients straight from the farm to your table! We hope you enjoy the tour.

Our Chefs at Shadow Wood work hard to provide our members an exceptional dining experience. With a wide variety of tastes and preferences to accommodate from such a diverse membership, it is important to provide options on all ends of the culinary spectrum. Amongst our innovative breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, our endless dining choices range from casual to gourmet. For our wine enthusiasts, we offer Fine Food and Wine, Vintners Wine Dinners, and Wine Tastings. Foodies will enjoy a plethora of various gourmet events offered year-round. For those who opt for a lighter fare, our Casual Dining options include Brick Oven Pizza Night, Taco Night, Burger Nights and more. At select social events, our culinary team offers exciting Live Action Stations where they prepare the food right in front of your eyes! There is something for every taste palette and dining preference at Shadow Wood Country Club.

Featured Entrées:
Roasted Rack of Lamb & Bouquet Salad

A top priority for our Chefs at Shadow Wood is providing quality food from sustainable sources, and we do so by acquiring farm to table from local farmers and seafood from sustainable fisherman not harming the environment with practices such as overfishing. “At Shadow Wood, we take pride in ensuring the sustainability of our food. We do so by buying from vendors that produce natural, hydroponic, GMO-free, and pesticide-free ingredients,” said Executive Chef Richard Crisanti. As environmental needs are evolving, and food sustainability is becoming more and more important, it is our commitment to be ethically responsible in this sense. “We work hand in hand with our vendors to know exactly where our food comes from and won’t bring in anything that is subpar in quality,” he added. For example, the Steelhead Trout currently offered on the menu is raised in pure Rocky Mountain spring water, in the heart of Idaho, raised from their own elite pedigree, 100% traceable steelhead eggs.  

Featured Entrées:
Tropical Lobster Salad & Skillet-Roasted Steelhead Trout 

One of the many benefits of dining at Shadow Wood Country Club versus a regular restaurant establishment is that our Chefs are here solely to serve you. They use your feedback to constantly improve and evolve our dining options. We change our dining menu every few weeks to keep our offerings fresh and relevant, while still providing your classic Club favorites. We always make sure to provide heart healthy, gluten free, and vegan dishes for our members. To go a step further, our culinary team takes our members preferences into very careful consideration while serving them, by keeping record of various allergies and dietary restrictions to ensure a dining experience catered to them.

Featured Entrées:
Tuxedo Tuna & Pan Seared Scallops

To provide top quality cuisine, we enlist only top quality talent. Our head Chefs, Executive Chef Richard Crisanti and Chef de Cuisine Boun Chanthavong have a combined 40 years in the culinary industry. Both Chefs graduated from top culinary universities; Chef Rich from Johnson & Wales and Chef Boun from Le Cordon Bleu. Chef Rich is a Certified Executive Chef (CEC), a World Certified Executive Chef (WCEC), a Certified Culinary Administrator (CCA), and a Certified Culinary Evaluator. He is the President of the ACF (American Culinary Federation) Caxambas Chapter of Southwest Florida and received the Presidential Medallion Award at the national convention in 2017. In 2013 and 2014 he received the honor of Chef of the Year through the Caxambas Chapter. Chef Rich is a member of many prestigious culinary societies such as the Disciples of Escoffier and the Chaine des Rotisseurs. Chef Boun is a Certified Executive Chef (CEC) and has been an active member of the ACF (American Culinary Federation) for over ten years. He recently placed first at the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association’s “Farm to Table Vegetarian Signature Competition" with his delicious Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini Cannelloni featured below.

Featured Entrées:
Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini Cannelloni & Roasted Beets with Apple Salad and Pesto Vinaigrette

We truly do have the best of the best here at Shadow Wood, including flavorful cuisine, top notch wine events, unparalleled culinary expertise, and distinguished service. All the aforementioned characteristics attribute to what makes Shadow Wood one of the top Clubs in Southwest Florida, and the Club where people are proud to belong!
 

Golf Tip with Mark Moffatt

Our Shadow Wood video series “Tips from the Pros” feature Shadow Wood professionals sharing with you the knowledge of their expertise. The video below features Mark Moffatt, Director of Instruction, sharing his golf tip on an exercise that will help you hit further with your current swing technique. Mark earned his Class "A" PGA Membership at Pinehurst Resort where he was a Golf instructor and a part of the operations team for the 1999 US Open. In 2000, Mark opened The Club at Mediterra as Head Golf Professional. He was one of the first 100 PGA Professionals to earn the "PGA Certified Instructor" designation and is also a Jim Hardy Plane Truth Certified Instructor. This year, Mark was recognized as the 2018 Southwest Florida Chapter PGA Teacher of the Year.

Tennis Tip with Scott Harrington

Our Shadow Wood video series “Tips from the Pros” feature Shadow Wood professionals sharing with you the knowledge of their expertise. The video below features Scott Harrington, Head Tennis Professional, sharing his tennis tip on forehand volley. Scott Harrington joined Shadow Wood in 2012 as an Assistant Tennis Professional and was promoted to Head Tennis Professional in 2013. He has been a member of the United States Tennis Professional Association for over 20 years. Scott is also the seasonal Tennis Director at the Siasconset Casino Club in Nantucket, Massaschusetts. Scott was an All American tennis player at Palm Beach College and ranked #1 in the nation Men's USPTA Open Doubles.

New Year's Eve Gala at Shadow Wood

We were pleased to have 150 members join us to ring in the New Year at the Club at our annual New Year's Eve Gala. Our members danced the night away accompanied by live entertainment from Paul Vesco Band, gourmet food live action stations, culminated by a grand balloon drop at midnight. Please enjoy this special live action video created from the highlights of the night. It was truly a special evening. Thank you to everyone who joined us and Happy New Year!

Last week at Shadow Wood, we hosted a 2 day Junior Golf Camp for the children in town for the holidays. It was a huge success with over 30 kids participating each day! It was wonderful to see them having so much fun either learning the sport of golf, or building upon the skills they already have. In the video below, you’ll see the juniors in action participating in the day’s activities such as snag baseball, birdie ball tic tac toe, and more.

Flyover Friday! Please enjoy a video flyover of Hole 16 on the South Course at Shadow Wood Country Club. Let us know in the comments which course & hole would you like to see a flyover video of next; with 54 holes of golf at Shadow Wood there are plenty to choose from!

Flyover Friday! Please enjoy an early morning video flyover of this beautiful Par 4 on the 11th hole of the North Course at Shadow Wood Country Club. Let us know in the comments which course & hole would you like to see a flyover video of next; with 54 holes of golf at Shadow Wood there are plenty to choose from!

In the video below, “Catch of the Day with Chef Rich”, Executive Chef Richard Crisanti prepares a 70 pound Swordfish fresh from the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for a special Bistro Dining menu feature for our members this weekend. The featured dishes will be an appetizer of Swordfish Kabob with Pina Colada Sauce or an entree of Grilled Swordfish with Pineapple Salsa and Black Rice. Please enjoy this behind-the-scenes video of Chef in action, and make sure to stop by the Club to try these delicious dishes for yourself!

We had over 200 members celebrate the holiday season at the Club with our newly formatted Holiday Celebration event. Along with a new event, we wanted to give you a new way to relive the festivities of the evening with a special live action video created from the highlights of the night. It was a lively evening full of food, drinks, dancing, and laughter. Click the video below to check it out; We hope you enjoy! Thank you to all who attended, and happy holidays!

Golf Tip With Mark Moffatt

Our Shadow Wood video series “Tips from the Pros” feature Shadow Wood professionals sharing with you the knowledge of their expertise. The video below features Mark Moffatt, Director of Instruction, sharing his golf tip. Mark earned his Class "A" PGA Membership at Pinehurst Resort where he was a Golf instructor and a part of the operations team for the 1999 US Open. In 2000, Mark opened The Club at Mediterra as Head Golf Professional. He was one of the first 100 PGA Professionals to earn the "PGA Certified Instructor" designation and is also a Jim Hardy Plane Truth Certified Instructor. This year, Mark was recognized as the 2018 Southwest Florida Chapter PGA Teacher of the Year.

In April 2018, Shadow Wood began the summer-long renovation of its South Course, led by world renowned golf course architect, Rees Jones. The North Course renovations he and his team completed last summer were met with very positive accolades from our membership and we are confident and excited about his proposed plans for the South Course. To see Rees Jones’ master plan for holes 1-9, please click here. To see the master plan for holes 10-18, please click here. We are currently 4 months into the renovation and our Golf Course Maintenance team has reported that it is going on schedule and the results are phenomenal thus far. Throughout the journey, our Director of Agronomy, Eric Ruha, has documented the progress of this huge project. Read all about his thoughts and observations from this renovation below!

April 19, 2018:

We are now completing the 9th day of construction on the South golf course led by Architect, Rees Jones along with his associate, Bryce Swanson. The weather conditions are perfect for construction and will keep the crews moving in the right direction.”

May 5, 2018:

“The construction crew is moving along nicely on the back nine of the South course with these dry, warm days. They enter their 5th week of work on May 7th. We are looking forward to a two day visit from Rees Jones and Bryce Swanson to approve some green surfaces this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. We are tentatively scheduled for Tiff Eagle green planting the last week in May on holes 10 through 18.”  

May 9, 2018:

“Construction continues to progress on the back nine South. Our most recent tour from Rees Jones this past week was very productive with the approval of several green surfaces and the placement of some specimen oak trees. These trees will be in strategic areas of the rough and will frame the holes from the tees in certain areas.”

May 30, 2018:

“This May is on the books for receiving a record amount of rain in a short amount of time. We are working closely with the construction company on the South to keep on track. We are working towards a day to grass the back nine greens with #18 and the large putting green being constructed as we speak. When the greens are ready, the Tiff Eagle, Ultradwarf Bermudagrass sprigs will come in from Georgia and will be hand planted on the approved greens surface from Rees Jones.”

June 13, 2018:

“We have achieved a special milestone with the South course renovation project! Greens were grassed upon final approval from Rees Jones last Thursday. Pike Creek Turf Farm brought a crew down to hand shake the harvested sprigs and cut them in with a tractor/roller. They completed the back nine and the large practice putting green by 2 p.m. that day. My team then waters on a nonstop schedule during the heat of the day. New sprigs require constant irrigation in the first few weeks as there is no significant root structure to sustain the tiny plants.”

July 23, 2018:

“The South course renovation continues to move along smoothly. Last week's milestones are as follows:
- Rees Jones and Bryce Swanson toured the course on Monday,  July 16.
- Bunker lines and contours were approved on the final bunkers to be completed on #18 and the entire front nine.
- The last three greens surfaces (7, 8 and 9) were approved for grassing on all nine greens,  July 19.
- Greens were grassed in Tifeagle Ultradwarf Bermuda on Thursday,  July 19, as scheduled with Pike Creek Turf's crew out of Georgia.
- The back nine greens completed their 45th day of growth yesterday as we enter the 7th week of grooming this new turf.
- Rees and Bryce were impressed with all progress and processes.”

August 13, 2018:

“The South Course renovation remains on schedule and is going well! In the first photo, we can see hole #10 with some nice Tifeagle Ultradwarf greens that are now in their 10th week of growth. While they look green and lush, many more practices still need to be accomplished this summer to have them smooth and true and ready for play this season. In the second photo, looking from the back of the green of hole #2, we can see the newer Tifeagle greens turf at just 3 weeks old. These greens will catch up to the back 9 soon with the dedication and hard work from your Shadow Wood maintenance team!”

We are looking forward to unveiling the finished renovation project to our members and their guests this season. Stay tuned for more updates as our Golf Course Maintenance team continues to make great strides towards completion of the South Course renovation!