By Gary Curreri
After more than a half a century, the Crystal Lake Golf Club in Deerfield Beach has closed.
Many of the golfers sat around the bar on the final day on March 11 and spoke of the memories they had at the course. Several had moved over four years earlier when the nearby Deerfield Country Club closed in 2014.
Lighthouse Point’s Dottie Birney played at the course for five years. The 6,953-yard championship par 72 golf course was built in 1965 and re-designed by Rees Jones in 1981. It was then renovated in 2000.
“This place was nice because it was a working man’s golf course,” Birney said. “It is a nice place to meet and have fun with all kinds of people. It was a good golf course, a challenging golf course, and I am going to miss it a whole helluva lot.
“The ladies that I play with came here four times a week,” Birney added, “You could come to it, it’s a social place and this was a home away from home. It was a warm nice place. I don’t know where we are going to go now.”
Boca Raton’s John Nixdorf also came over from Deerfield Country Club four years ago. He said they had a regular Saturday group.
“It has been a great spot for the Deerfield Country Club crew to get together and play,” Nixdorf said. “They were really accommodating to us on tee times. It is sad that they are closing, and it was crippling that Deerfield [Country Club]closed…we developed a very nice community [about 20 golfers] and had people of all different levels.”
Hillsboro Beach’s Don Forster played three to four times a week at Crystal Lake. The 88-year-old recorded 13 of his 14 hole-in-ones at the Deerfield Country Club before moving over to Crystal Lake.
“I was at the Deerfield Country Club for 20 years,” Forster said. “Deerfield felt like a home because everybody knew everybody. I have a lot of fond memories there, but I am sad to see this place close too. All I do is eat, drink and play golf.”
Deerfield Beach city commissioners agreed to allow more than 400 homes to be built on the 109-acre Crystal Lake course in August 2017. A total of 290 houses and 125 townhouses are expected to be built on the parcel.
Storey inducted into FAU Baseball Ring of Honor
Deerfield Beach High School graduate Mickey Storey carved out a nice career with the Bucks before he went on to play at Florida Atlantic University and eventually a professional career.
Storey, who turned 32 on March 16, got an early birthday present just days earlier as he was among five inducted in the Florida Atlantic University Baseball Ring of Honor prior to the start of the Owls’ doubleheader win over Seton Hall at the FAU Baseball Stadium.
Storey (2005-08) was inducted along with four former Owl players, including Hugh Adams (2009-13), Bill Cobe (1981-82), Darryl Powell (1981-82) and his former Owls head coach, Kevin Cooney. Cooney was unable to make the ceremony.
The 2004 graduate of Deerfield Beach High School was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 22nd round of the 2007 MLB Draft but did not sign and was then drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 31st round of the 2008 MLB Draft.
Storey, pitched in the major leagues for Houston and Toronto, making his major-league debut with the Astros in 2012. In January, Storey was named manager of the Houston Astros minor league affiliate – the Class A Quad Cities River Bandits based in Des Moines, Iowa. They play in the Midwest League.
Storey made his coaching debut last season as a development coach with Houston’s Carolina League affiliate, Buies Creek. His assignment with the defending Midwest League champions will be his first as a manager.
Storey lives in Wellington with his wife, Monique and their three children.
