What a wonderful place to spend time on the links with your friends in a great climate. Hilton Head Island provided good temps, bright skies, and soft breezes. And, we bunked at the Sonesta Resort—the #1 hotel on the island.  While we were competing against Rotarian buddies, but we talked to all & y’all--& laughed a lot.

Our 2015 Tournament yielded really fun golfing, yet great competition. We send our congratulations to Rich Lytle (from Hot Springs Village, AR), our Men’s Gross Champion. Jim Hardy (Florida) is our Men’s Net Champion and Millie MacKenzie (Oregon) is our Woman’s Champion. In addition, Rich Lytle teamed with Peter Towne (Hilton Head--hmmm) and pulled out the win for the Team competition. Hooray.

Peter Towne was also the MC and he kept the fun on-going for the golfers and spouses. The spouses saw three interesting tours.

• The Gullahs are descendants from slaves prior of the Civil War. They are fantastic weavers who use grasses, palm fronds and pine needles to create beautiful baskets.
• The Rose Hill Mansion built during the Civil War. It is a great mansion.
• Dolphins in the Calibogue Sound. What playful animals—fun, fun.  
  

The Tournament Director was Ed Dowaschinski from the host Rotary Club: HHI Sunset Rotary. Ed didn’t miss a point. And, with his merry Sunset Club troop, they took care of the USGFR folks from everywhere, and then gave us the information on how to really have fun. Thanks much, Ed.

Now, we look ahead to our 2016 tournament venue—Albuquerque, New Mexico—September 24 to 28, 2016. Jim Easley, President of the Rio Rancho Sunrise Rotary Club, will be our Tournament Director. We will be bedded at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa. The courses will be Twin Warriors & Santa Ana. For the non-golfers, we’ll have tours of Jemez Trail, Bandelier National Monument & Los Alamos and a trip to Santa Fe via the Turquoise Trail. And, a great bonus for us--the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta begins right after our tournament. Plan to stay 3 or 4 days more & see the sky filled with balloons (and you can hotel at the Regency Tamaya for 3 days at the lower cost). We’ll look for y’all.