Oh my, it’s you guys; just the thought of you brings me to tears. How can I ever thank the thousands of Members who have driven onto Gibbes Island over three decades adequately? How do you thank a group of thousands for the gift conferred on me so many years ago to help birth this wonderful “experiment in simplicity”? I can’t competently, but try I must.

It’s been almost a year since I left the SGC Directors Position for retirement to the mountains of NC, and not a day goes by without a thought, and email, a text or a call from some branch of this magnificent extension of my life. And its doubtful that this changes until the day I stand before the Lord! What a place it was, what a place it has become.

From the earliest days of Tim Moss, PGA, one of my true mentors, and Bob Walton, from the posh offices at HHI Circle, it was special! From a modest trailer that sat where the Caddie Parking Lot lies today, to Bob Wardle and Dick Deal, the Saviors of Secession, dirt roads, portable toilets, Alvin Ord’s Sandwiches, and Joe McGee cooking burgers on the grill each Sunday outside the Golf Shop, that is now the Caddie House, it was special. From John Davis and his titanic efforts, money problems, course problems, pad-locked gates, revitalization, players, more Members, tournament dinners for hundreds in town, no housing, to fateful 9/11, a day that changed the world...it was special! And now? A most wonderful clubhouse filled with warmth, simplicity and vitality, wonderful accomodations on Gibbes Island, a glorious golf course so well designed, achieved by one of the finest men I have ever met in golf, Bruce Devlin, delightful food service and drinks on the patio, buses to take you to town, buses to pick you up in Charleston or Savannah (thank you Wilson), the Caddies, oh how wonderful they are! Now, it is a complete package. In 35 years, we’ve seen it all.

It wasn’t easy, for the most part it was a fight every day for something...a fight for money, for survival, and for simplicity, as intrusions were plentiful. But the fight was fought by every Employee, and for one reason, really only one reason: FOR YOU, the Member of Secession Golf Club. Yes the ideal of establishing a great national golf club was front and center, certainly, but supporting and advancing the dream of all the Members is what moved me every day, as it did every employee there in those hard and dark early days. And THAT is where the love relationship began, in the fight. I fought for you, Dick Deal fought for you, as did Billy Robinson, Joe Magee, Franklin Newell, Jason Hildreth, Greg Crum, John Davis, Jimmy Arnet, Bert Carter and Dave Precop. They were all there in the early days, when this Club was just a pipe dream, and our love affair with this Membership was born out of those grand, yet difficult times. As prosperity encompassed our efforts, the relationship between the Member and Employee grew ever deeper, for from prosperity, a new perspective grew, one that we all shared: the dream had become reality!! Oh my, what a sweet gift!! We saw new generations arrive as old ones departed, we saw new innovations and amenities arrive, signs of progress and prosperity, the course evolved, as all “open, links style” courses inherently do, growing into an absolute beauty!! Does the gift of walking those golden fairways late in the afternoon ever cease to bring joy to the soul?? And what about the reward at rounds end...the famous Back Porch?? There are precious few places better in the game of golf. And as time marched on, and the effort prospered, the love affair of Employee and Member grew ever deeper.

Then, as is life, people must leave: both Member and Employee alike. Sadness, certainly, but after the sadness, there still remains a glorious gift...memories for an eternity. Warm remembrances that fuel the soul! The thousands of hugs and kindnesses shown from Member to Member, from Employee to Employee, from Member to Employee and Employee to Member. It is a love affair, and it’s this love that evokes my “penning” of this letter to you.

How can I begin to say thanks to all of you, in any significant way, for the support, love, kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity given to me and my family through three decades plus of laughter and sorrows, failures and successes. I can’t...I can’t do it justice. My efforts of gratitude for the love shown to me will be wholly inadequate, but words must be written, if only in vain.

Your love, your support, your fire, your compassion, your trust in my efforts, in everyone’s efforts at the club, was the stimulus needed to push this effort over the line, leaving me with the greatest professional accomplishment of my life, one that no one will ever take away, one that never diminishes over time. And in the wake of that effort, a thousand dear friends were born on every continent in the world. Oh my, my! In my mind, wealth, real wealth, is not about the largess of ones banking account, but richness in friendships, and in that paradigm, in that calibration, I’m one of the wealthiest people walking the face of earth! And I have you, each of you, the Secession Member, to thank for that.

So as life moves on, as it invariably does for all, I reflect on all the kindness and simply say a heartfelt, deep and abiding “Thank You”. We will see each other at times, infrequent I’m sure, but know that if we never meet again on this earth, you have blessed my life in a very special way, a life rich in memories, support and friendship. What more could a man ever ask for??

May God mightily bless you all in His Grace, Favor and endless Mercies!