Central Intelligence Agency’s Invitational Golf Tournament and Charity Dinner Coming to Hammock Beach in March
If I told you how I found out, I’d have to kill you. Participants will include supporters of CIA Charities, corporate execs and celebs, including Alan Kalter of The Late Show with Dave Letterman.
Palm Coast, FL – August 13, 2014 – GoToby.com has learned that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) will host its annual Golf Invitational Tournament and Charity Dinner Auction at the Hammock Beach Club’s Ocean Course in March. The closed event will be attended by healthcare partners that support the CIA charities (code name, Compass Rose), C-level executives and national TV celebrities, including Alan Kalter from The Late Show with Dave Letterman.
General James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, who reports directly to the President, typically attends the event each year. So too do General Michael Hayden, retired Director of the CIA and Mrs. Hayden.
So who is this event’s Palm Coast connection? Director of the event is GoToby.com reader and a long-time consultant to the CIA, John Orr. John’s primary residence is in Palm Coast though he is often in Connecticut to be near his NYC Rockefeller Plaza office where he is Chief Strategy Officer of Rockefeller Consulting.
Each year, Compass Rose picks a different charity inside the Intelligence group as beneficiary of the tournament’s proceeds. The first year was families of fallen CIA operatives. The second year it was for families that had their parents killed in Embassy bombings. The next year was “Pets to Vets.” Assorted soldiers returning from the Middle East with brain injury received a trained shelter dog for their assistance. That event raised $114,000 for the charity.
This year's chosen charity works with a list of 20,000 World War II and Viet Nam veteran’s in need.They will fly qualifying vets to Washington DC to visit the memorials. At last year's dinner auction, a Bret Favre autographed helmet fetched $5K, an Aaron Rogers autographed helmet garnered $6K and someone paid $10K for a signed George W. Bush bike shirt.
Compass Rose is also the name of the health plan for the Intelligence Community. The Compass Rose is the insert of the CIA emblem seen above and on the floor of the CIA in movies and in the news.
Perhaps when Alan Kalter returns home, he can let Letterman know where Palm Coast is.
CIA-It’s all hush, hush!
Rumor is the Ocean Course is to be made into a park and houses by then with a kayak trail. In exchange the Hammock gets a retention pond and a another multi use trail. Fairways to driveways and all that. Everyone knows golf is dead. Recently spent 2 weeks up north, played golf most days, same courses as 8 years ago when I lived in that area, all still open and making $. Wonder what’s wrong with golf in Palm Coast? Hmmmmmmmm, I wonder if it isn’t the rotten local economy, too many foreclosures and too many realtors and developers trying to make a quick buck.
Reply to Palm Coast, NJ
In a recent 60 Minutes segment, the CEO of Taylor Golf addressed the many challenges facing the golf industry going forward. Formerly luxuriant courses going to seed due to over-supply were shown. It’s true that there were more golf-centric communities built in the South and West than any other region. Supply outstripped demand. Then the economy tanked.
In Palm Coast, the construction of the Grand Haven Course, two Hammock Dunes courses, two Hammock Beach courses and one at Grand Reserve put pressure on the four original Palm Coast courses, leading to the closing of one; Matanzas Woods. But the population of the Palm Coast metro, which includes all of Flagler County, has more than doubled in population since 2000. Growth has slowed but is ongoing, illustrating the country’s continuing North-to-South migration.
You also mention the “rotten” Palm Coast economy. While our unemployment rate remains high, the total number of jobs has increased significantly. Construction, both residential and commercial, is on the rise. Aveo is close to breaking ground on their new facility. And you can expect more good news on the economic development front soon.
The Hammock area is particularly healthy. The Hammock Beach Resort is experiencing its best summer ever. The resort is moving forward with county planning staff to finalize plans for additional rooms and meeting facilities. New beachside home starts are on the rise too.
Palm Coast’s growth is more modest than during the period in which Flagler was the fastest growing county in the country two years running. I, for one, think that today’s pace of growth is preferable. Palm Coast is simply too nice a place to live, especially given the relatively low cost of living here compared to the cost of living at other really nice places to live.
Yes, our foreclosure rate was high, but the inventory is shrinking quickly and home prices are rising. Yes, there are too many realtors, but there have always been too many realtors. I am less negative than you on the developer “quick buck” argument. I live in a condo built by a developer. I doubt that you built your residence on your own. Palm Coast would not exist if it had not been conceived and created by a developer.
Resonse to the response!
I came here to retire, live in a quiet homeowner neighborhood, play golf, boat, relax. No, I do not live in a home that was built by a developer, it is a custom home built by the then owner on a golf course. I have spent countless hours attempting to maintain what is left of the integrity of my neighborhood. I am now surrounded by renters who have no stake in my neighborhood, they let their kids run amok, the losers who own the golf course behind me do not take care of it unless I bug Ms Grossman. I’m surrounded by renters because of all the foreclosures around us. A local realtor recently rented a home with an active Lis Pendens down the street! The realtor who sold me this house? She told me “once a golf course, always a golf course, they cannot change the zoning”. She also assured me that there were no renters in my neighborhood. She said all of this in front of a title officer at the closing. Our neighborhood is ignored by the city of Palm Coast. Honestly, I am itching to find someone liable for this mess.
Federally Ordered Golf Courses – Recreational Area
Toby – Do you know if the four sisters golf courses are the only golf courses in the state of Florida or the only golf courses/recreational areas in the United states that were ordered to be built by the Federal Government of the United States – more specifically Ordered and encumbered by the Federal Trade Commissions’ Consent Agreement F.T.C. C-2854?
Thank You.
George Edward Chuddy
P.S. RE: Posted by Palm Coast, NJ – Which Golf Course are your referencing ? Thank You.