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A classic touch-up
Subdivision gets tidy for tournament

By REBECCA MCCARTHY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/02/04

It's hard to procrastinate on spring cleaning when you know that thousands of people are coming to visit. Just ask the residents of Sugarloaf Country Club, who spruced up their homes and yards for the BellSouth Classic golf tournament this week.

LAURA NOEL/AJC (ENLARGE)

Janice Tibbetts, Marvin Tibbetts (center) and son Mark (right) entertain clients and employees at their home in the Sugarloaf subdivision.

The PGA tournament, in its seventh year at the Tournament Players Club at Sugarloaf, routinely attracts more than 100,000 people — though the whims of this year's weather may reduce that number. The gated Sugarloaf Country Club subdivision opened in 1997 and now has residents living in 650 high-end homes, some large enough to house a girls' school or library branch.
 
Spectators who stroll around the golf course, such as television viewers who have glimpses into the neighborhood, will no doubt notice the gleaming lawns, well-placed flowers and masses of pine straw. Designed by Greg Norman, the Tournament Players Club golf course is in places visible from the houses.
 
"We picked up the pool toys and put down pine straw," said Silvia Wainscott, who lives a block from the golf course. "Everybody makes sure the flowers are looking good. We want people to have a nice, welcoming feeling walking up and down the streets."
 
Wainscott, 44, doesn't particularly like golf or know anything about the game or the pros who play it. Her husband, Robert, and she, and their three daughters, all play tennis, serious tennis. But she believes that the PGA tournament, which benefits Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, supports a good cause even as it brings the sports world to her home.
 
And she thinks that it deserves her support. So down goes the pine straw and out goes Wainscott for a morning of coordinating the volunteer standard-bearers, usually high school kids who accompany individual players around the course. They carry signs denoting players' scores as they progress around the course.
 
Even as security gets tighter for the tournament, things loosen up. Residents have parties and open houses for their neighbors, colleagues, employees and friends. Family members come in from out of town to enjoy the spring weather and the golf.
 
"A lot of people open their houses, and some families house the golfers," said Cathy Butler, whose husband is former Chicago Bears kicker Kevin Butler. The Butler family moved from suburban Chicago to the Sugarloaf subdivision five years ago. "Everybody has their own style. Some have food by their pool, others inside, some on the front yard. It's really a holiday."
 
Jan Privateer on Thursday hosted what she calls "a long-term, progressive party," the second-annual Open House for Ladies. Those attending the drop-in-stay-a-while event brought food, while Privateer, 50, supplied everything from iced tea and coffee to brandy concoctions and sangria. Activities centered on her deck, which overlooks the 16th tee.
 
The deck will also be the focal point for husband Pete Privateer to entertain employees from his business, Internet Security Systems, Jan said. Their daughter has come home with friends from James Madison University and other friends have arrived from Virginia. The family moved to Gwinnett from Reston, Va.
 
"We've been here for only two years, but it's such a welcoming neighborhood," said Jan Privateer, who is a golfer. "It's a very tough course, and no, I won't tell you what I shoot on it."
 
For Marvin and Janice Tibbetts, the BellSouth Classic offers a chance to show their appreciation to customers, vendors and partners involved with TIBS. Their business provides electrical systems and communication networks.
 
The Tibbettses invite people from around the country to their house in Duluth, which is within walking distance of the 8th hole. Guests can eat breakfast and lunch, examine new lighting fixtures the company is featuring, attend the tournament, relax in the couple's comfortable basement and do a little networking.
 
They can even hit a few golf balls. A few years ago, Marvin set up a practice tee in the basement and some diehard golfers always want to try it out.
 
After two months of planning for the tournament, Gerda Dale, executive assistant to company CEO Mark Tibbetts, expects to have shuttled in and entertained more than 600 people by Saturday evening. On Friday, the Varsity hot-dog-mobile was parked in the Tibbettses' driveway, offering guests a bite of the North Avenue institution's fare.
 
Among those attending on Friday were employees of the Bay Electric Co., which partners with TIBS on government contracts. This was the second year Bay's employees have journeyed south from Norfolk, Va., to join the Tibbettses' party, said employee Mark Biagas, "and we really look forward to it. It's a lot of fun, and we love supporting the PGA."