Golf: Santa Ana Country Club celebrates 100 years

Richard Dunn

SANTA ANA HEIGHTS - Joy and pride filled the air Saturday night as

Santa Ana Country Club members sang happy 100th birthday to its venerable

golf club.

For the estimated 500 members and guests, the Centennial Celebration

was a nostalgic journey through the club’s 100-year history with great

detail and elegant ambience throughout the clubhouse and 14th tee.

Following formal presentations, headed by centennial committee

chairman Paul Watkins, a video production of the club’s history

captivated the audience on two large screens.

“(The video) was very moving. It brought back a lot nostalgic

memories, and it came at a time when we really needed to have a change

(following the terrorist attacks on America),” said Fran Dye, whose

family has owned a membership since 1946.

For an evening, SACC Chief Operating Officer Jeff Schlicht and the

centennial committee were able to shed some light during a very dark time

in the world.

“This celebration is not just another party, but a statement of our

strength,” Schlicht said.

A stunningly and tearfully performed national anthem opened the formal

festivities, followed by the singing of “God Bless America” with a full

color guard, then a moment of silence for the victims of the tragedy.

After the video presentation, all the past club presidents gathered

around the large cake for a cutting ceremony on stage, with Watkins,

current SACC men’s club president Ken Shelton and women’s club president

Jan Cencel doing the honors. Fireworks went off beyond the lake at No.

14.

“It’s been an incredible effort,” Shelton said of the 22-month

Centennial Celebration planning.

For SACC Director of Golf Mike Reehl, who started working at the club

in 1968 as a bag boy, it was an emotional night, considering all that’s

Reehl has seen and experienced at the club.

“For me, I’m so proud to be a part of this club. It’s a special night

for me,” Reehl said.

Dye, Jackie Voelkl and Jean Baker, all past ladies club presidents at

Santa Ana Country Club, sat together at a table while enjoying the

evening’s live orchestra on the special occasion.

“It has been fantastic,” Voelkl said, “especially with all the

circumstances in the world right now. We needed something like this to

get it off our minds. I’ve got a grandson in the Air Force.”

Santa Ana Country Club, the oldest golf club in Orange County, is

still one of the few golf-only private clubs in Southern California.

And, while the members don’t want swimming pools or tennis courts

added to their facility, it remains an exclusive club with hefty

initiation fees.

“You could have bought the entire golf course for what a whole

membership is today,” said Baker, referring to the fact that the club

paid $71,000 for its current property in April 1923, when Orange County

Golf Club moved from the Castaways to Santa Ana Heights and renamed

itself Santa Ana Country Club.

Dye’s late husband, Clark, paid $350 for initiation fees in 1946, but

for the strong, proud SACC members, it isn’t about money.

“They’re the most wonderful members here,” Dye said. “It’s more like

family. We’re more like country folk here. We don’t put on any airs at

this club. In fact, this club was started by farmers and ranchers.”

Originally named Santiago Golf Club and based at Peters Canyon in what

is now the Orange Park Acres area near Irvine Park, the club moved to the

Castaways in Newport Beach in 1912.