Mike Waldron, Executive Director, Georgia State Golf Association recently said:

“The Landings Club has been an outstanding host for several GSGA competitions over the past few years. We are excited to come to the Deer Creek course for this year’s Amateur Championship. Qualifying rounds are getting underway this month around the state to complete the field of 156 competitors, who we know will be welcomed with open arms by the club’s members in July.”

The Georgia Amateur Championship began in 1916, when 14-year-old Bobby Jones captured the inaugural title. The championship is open to male amateur golfers who are GSGA members and are residents of Georgia. A field of 156 competitors will play the first two rounds with the low 70 and ties making the cut for rounds three and four.

Last year’s champion, Russell Henley, set a tournament scoring record of 16-under-par 268 and captured his second-straight Georgia Amateur title by 8 strokes over David Noll Jr. of Dalton. He became the first champion to claim back-to-back titles in 15 years. Only eight golfers in the history of the Championship have won consecutive titles. Twenty-four of the 64 past Georgia Amateur Champions have gone on to be inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.

Previous venues for this event included the Country Club of Columbus, The Savannah Golf Club, The Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, Capital City Club, Atlanta, Augusta Country Club, Sea Island Golf Club- St. Simons Island and many others.

The Landings on Skidaway Island is located less than ten miles south of historic Savannah, GA. Six championship golf courses frame the center of this premier gated residential community set on a 6,500-acre island. Members enjoy four elegant dining clubhouses, miles of walking and biking trails, 34 tennis courts, two deep-water marinas and a variety of other coastal amenities. Named “one of the nation’s best residential communities” by the Urban Land Institute, homes at The Landings range from $250,000 to $1 million plus; home sites from $120,000. For all your Savannah real estate needs, look no further than The Landings. More information is available by calling 1-800-841-7011 or by visiting The Landings Company website at: www.thelandings.com

Kei Nishikori of Japan won the singles tournament, defeating Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6-4, 6-0, while the doubles team of Jamie Baker and James Ward of Great Britain bested the team of Bobby Reynolds (United States) and Fritz Wolmarans (South Africa) 6-3, 6-4.

Attendance at the 2010 Tail USTA $50,000 Savannah Challenger surpassed the previous year’s total of 3,200, and there were capacity crowds during several days of the week-long tournament.

Several other successful events were held in conjunction with the tournament, including a Landings Kid’s Day Clinic sponsored by Palm Avenue that gave children a unique opportunity to interact with tennis professionals, a Ladies Day featuring special prizes for the women in attendance, a players party at the Village Bar and Grille on Skidaway Island, and a Pro-Am in which 100 percent of the proceeds were donated to the Savannah Community Foundation.

Benjamin Wilder, director of the Greater Savannah Sports Council, praised both the tournament’s facilities, as well as the level of competition.

“The Savannah Challenger was once again a great success in the eyes of the Sports Council,” Wilder says. “The Franklin Creek Tennis Center was immaculate, which makes it the ideal place to watch tennis, and furthermore, I couldn’t say enough about the quality of players and their impressive skill level.”

For a complete wrap-up of the 2010 Tail USTA $50,000 Savannah Challenger, including detailed information about the qualifying rounds and main draw competition, please visit www.savannahchallenger.com. For information about The Landings on Skidaway Island, Savannah’s premier residential community, voted Savannah’s Best Real Estate Development, visit www.The Landings.com or call 800-841-7011.

The Landings Company presented a $3,400 check to Community Health Mission on February 4th as a result of a fund-raising effort held during November and December of 2009 at The Landings on Skidaway Island. The presentation was made at the Community Health Mission office by Mr. Chuck Koepke, Chairman of The Landings Company Board of Directors. The donation was accepted by Dr. Amos Timna, Nurse Practitioner Crystal Height, and Dr. Miriam Rittmeyer, Executive Director of the Community Health Mission,.

On November 21, 2009, The Landings Company, the real-estate arm of The Landings on Skidaway Island, opened its 2009 Holiday Designer Showhouse to benefit the Mission. The 4,800 square foot Design House was located within The Landings, Savannah’s premier residential community. Six talented local designers transformed the empty home into an extraordinary beauty, complete with paint, furniture, accessories, and holiday decorations. During its five open weekends, hundreds of people visited the Showhouse, enjoyed the interior design, and generously contributed to the Community Health Mission. “It was a huge project and the decorators did a fabulous job”, said Rosemary Longueira, Director of Public Relations at The Landings Company. “It was exciting to see the generosity of the visitors and to be able to contribute to an organization that is setting the standard for helping the uninsured in Savannah”.

The funds will pay for medical care for a full medical exam, wellness programs such as nutrition classes, diagnostic screening tests such as Pap smears and mammograms, and access to medication. “It is a great New Year’s gift for our patients,” said Dr. Miriam Rittmeyer.

Community Health Mission (formerly Community HealthCare Center/Savannah Health Mission) gives medical help to the uninsured. The mission of the CHM is to provide access to primary health care in a dignified and compassionate way. How people are treated during a visit to the clinic is as important as the medical treatment they receive. It is composed of a Board of Directors, a Medical Advisory Board, an Ethics Committee, a paid staff and volunteers. Run by 19 paid staff and 65 community volunteers (physicians, nurses, health promoters), Community Heath Mission provided 19,867 FREE patients visits in 2009 to the uninsured in Savannah.

CHM serves a diverse population of patients who are unable to afford health insurance and don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. The majority of patients are women working in small businesses or in jobs that don’t pay benefits. The health care offered by CHM is valuable to the community as well as patients. “It’s important because you can diagnose at an early stage cervical or breast cancers, as well avoid complications from uncontrolled diabetes,” Dr. Rittmeyer said. Early diagnosis means a better chance of success and avoiding emergency room visits. When the community doesn’t invest in primary health care and diagnostic tests, it pays in more expensive treatment later. “It’s more costly to the hospital and the patient,” she said.

The Leukemia Cup fundraising regatta is our big annual outing where we head upriver to the Savannah Yacht Club for a day of racing, followed by an afternoon of telling stories about each other, followed by an evening banquet where many of us are joined by our spouses and we tell stories about each other. This year we had four boats make the trip with a combination of veterans of previous trips and newbies€¦we like having the newbies along since then we can tell our old stories and jokes and feel as though they€™re fresh.

Contrary to the forecast, the weather was perfect. A steady breeze with occasional gusts and lulls to keep you alert, and comfortably warm temps, and no rain. We attended the pre-race briefing where they misinformed us about some of the details the conduct of the race. That led to some confusion and hasty communication on the water but we got our collective act in harmony with them in time for the first race. There was a fifth Rhodes 19 in our class, the Hornet, sailed by some J24 sailors from SYC. It was good to have them show us the way€¦and they were interested in learning about our schedule and meeting us in the future for our races.

Sinbad€™s crew of Todd Williams, Sue Gotch and Bailey Cronin took the honors for The Landings boats (we€™ll leave The Hornet out of this part of the discussion). The races were tightly contested with lots of close crossings and crowded mark roundings. Our fleet raced concurrently with two Melges scows and one of them got knocked down in the path of the other resulting in a solid collision (no injuries). In the final race we had three boats rounding the lee mark and there was contact in that crowd resulting in minor boat damage and major discussions about who was guilty. Bearboat, steered smoothly by Grace Palmer, neatly avoided the accident scene and scooted past.

The results below are the €œuncorrected€ order of finish. The Leukemia Cup is a fundraiser and each boat is awarded points for its order of finish, and additional points for the contributions raised by its crew. For the fifth consecutive year, the crew of Grace Palmer, Joe Witten and me took the first place trophy thanks to Grace€™s pursuit of contributions for this worthy cause. She was also the top Junior fundraiser, and the second biggest fundraiser overall. Grace got involved with this event when she was not quite thirteen years old and she turns seventeen next month and is still an active supporter. And this is just one of this young woman€™s many contributions€¦keep it up, Grace!

By the way, Bearboat was almost caught in our shameless purchase of the winner€™s trophy by Dorothy€™s Slipper and Mike Rouzee€™s very generous, but ultimately second best effort to buy the lead. Your contribution is greatly appreciated, Mike€¦and there€™s always next year. Thanks also to all those who contributed in support of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I€™ll provide a more complete breakdown of the overall Savannah Yacht Club results when I receive them.

The 2009 Tail USTA $50,000 Savannah Challenger, held May 2-10, 2009 at The Landings on Skidaway Island, was recently awarded the Special Tennis Event of the Year award by USTA Georgia. The award was presented by USTA Georgia at an awards banquet on October 24 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta.

The 2009 tournament, which was held May 2-10, attracted more than 3,200 fans and featured 64 world-ranked tennis professionals vying to win highly coveted ATP ranking points in addition to prize money. The Special Tennis Event of the Year award is awarded to a tennis event other than a sanctioned tournament that brought recognition to the sport of tennis or a particular association.

The Landings will host the second-annual $50,000 Savannah Challenger May 1-9, 2010. A portion of the proceeds from the 2010 tournament will be donated to The Savannah Community Foundation to be distributed among local charities. For more information on the 2010 $50,000 Savannah Challenger and to learn about sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.savannahchallenger.com.