Candidate Bios

The Annual Membership Meeting will be held on Spetember 19. Voting will take place on proposed Bylaw changes, as well as seats on The Board.

Candidate Bios are posted below in alphabetical order.


*R.T. Davis (Golf Member)
R.T. Davis graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. in 1961 with a degree in electrical engineering. Following his graduation and earning his aviator wings, he embarked on a 26 year naval career, reaching the rank of Captain. His two tours of duty in Vietnam resulted in 140 combat missions. From 1975 to 1977, RT was Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron 66 aboard the USS Independence. He received his MS in Computer Systems Management from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California.

Following his career of service he entered the private sector with Telecommunications Systems (TCS), a satellite communication firm, headquartered out of Annapolis Maryland. He was Vice President of the South East Region.

He has served on the Board of Directors of the property owners at Wolf Laurel, and is currently on the Roads and Security Board. RT has been a member of the WLCC membership board since 2004. He has served on various committees and Boards in the Tampa area where he and Scottie, his wife of 48 years, reside during the winter. He is the father of two grown sons and has three grandchildren.

He and Scottie have been coming to Wolf Laurel for 9 years and they both appreciate the friendliness of the people and the beauty of its surroundings. If elected, he would continue to move the Club forward in a positive way, building on the remarkable progress made during the 10 year history of Wolf Laurel Country Club.


*Tom Eller (Golf Member)
Tom is a native of Asheville, N.C. and currently lives in the Charleston, S.C. area. He and his wife Darnell have been coming to Wolf Laurel for several years. They recently built a home on Trillium Lane where they spend most of the summer. As a member of WLCC he believes that the Club is one of the most valuable assets to the Mountain as well as an enjoyable experience. He also feels that it is vital to the values of the community. Because of this he is serving on the Wolf Laurel Country Club Membership Committee, the Finance Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee. This gives him a unique insight into the needs and future direction of the Club as well as being prepared to serve on the Board.

In addition he serves the community as a board member of the WLPOA and Roads and Security. With this additional background he believes there is an opportunity for all organizations and interest to work together to make living on the Mountain a more pleasurable experience.

He has other board experience including serving on the Lodge Board, the HOA of Fairway Dunes in Wild Dunes, S.C. , Chairman of the S.C. Guaranty Association as well as other positions. He holds a BSBA degree with additional educational work in executive management and other areas. He is now retired from the Hartford Insurance Group where he was responsible for the management of the property claims for twelve states and other areas. In addition, he managed the large catastrophe claims throughout the U.S. This work experience included managing a large staff as well large sums of money. He feels the above experiences would be helpful in serving on the Wolf Laurel Country Club Board.


*Jerry Isom (Golf Member)
Jerry Isom is a founding member of Wolf Laurel Country Club and he and his wife, Jo Ann, have been residents of Wolf Laurel for 11 years. He is a retired college administrator, professor, and coach.

He is an incumbent Board member and has served for six years, three of them as vice-president. He has also served on the board of a country club in Florida. He was vice-president and president of Eagles Nest Homeowner’s Association for a total of three years and was on the Blue Mountain Homeowner’s Association Board of Directors.

Jerry believes that a superb golf course is imperative for the health of WLCC. He has been Chairman of the Greens Committee for the past 8 years and has invested much time in helping bring about significant improvements to the golf course.

He was responsible for helping open the pro shop facility, which included opening new lines of credit for merchandise and purchasing staple items. This was done before Bobby Anglin arrived as our new golf professional.

He was also committee chairman in charge of WLCC personnel.

He is guided by a belief that a planning focus, fiscal integrity, member input and exploring extended amenities for members are critical ingredients for our survival kit.


*Richard Jennings (Social Member)
Richard is a native of Waterloo, Iowa. His wife, Barbara is from Houston, Texas. They reside in Columbia, South Carolina and have four children and two grandchildren.

Richard received his BA and an MA in Speech Communication from the University of Northern Iowa and an MFA in Theatre from the California Institute of the Arts. Richard has been a Professor of Speech, Theatre and Film at the University of South Carolina for almost thirty years. Richard is also a professional film and television actor and director. He has acted in over a hundred professional stage productions from New York City to Los Angeles. Richard owned a communication consulting business for several years working with major corporations and individuals.

Barbara and Richard have owned their vacation home in Wolf Laurel for ten years. Richard has been consulting and helping to design the Ebbs Chapel Theatre for the past several years and look forward to the day when it will serve Wolf Laurel and the community as a cultural and performing arts center. The Jennings hope to retire to Wolf Laurel in three to four years. They love the country club and all of its wonderful people and events.


*Brent McCaghren (Golf Member)
My wife, Betsy, and I have owned our cabin on May Apple Lane in Wolf Laurel for over 24 years. We have 4 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, and 3 grandchildren. We have had a long connection with Western North Carolina, since all 4 sons went to Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain and 2 graduated Christ School in Arden. All of our sons learned to ski at Wolf Laurel. We love the mountains.

I have been an attorney for over 39 years, and since 1971 have been with the same law firm in Winter Park, Florida. Before “retiring,” I was the administrative partner in charge of the Winter Park office, and continue an affiliation as “senior counsel.” During the last 25 years of active practice, I also had the pleasure of serving as City Attorney for the City of Winter Park.

I have served on numerous Bar committees and with local civic and charitable organizations and since retiring have become involved with the Hospice Golf Tournament. Betsy and I are charter golf members of the WLCC.


*Earlene Shofi (Golf Member)
John and I moved to Wolf Laurel five years ago and although I am a native of Tampa I consider Wolf Laurel my home.

My work experience includes employment with General Telephone (now Verizon) as an administrative assistant in customer relations. I became assistant to the Chairman of GTE and was assigned to work on major customer related issues for the Chairman. Thereafter, I moved to College Park Maryland and began work at AT&T and was appointed as department head of long-distance fraud investigation where I worked for several years before moving back to Florida when I resumed my career with GTE/Verizon in the public relations department.

Working for large public utilities corporations in customer and public relations was not only a challenge but an education in learning to find amicable solutions for varied and often difficult problems.

Wanting to spend more time with our children, I left GTE/Verizon and founded my own property management company. When John retired, I also retired and we found our home in Wolf Laurel.

Although I am not an accomplished golfer, I love the game and have found that it's a great way to meet people with like interests. I served as Chairman of the Tampa Palms Women's Golf Association and was on the Tampa Palms Golf Committee for three years, both jobs were extremely rewarding. I was also asked to serve as Chairman of the Tampa Palms Golf for Charity Tournament. This became a very successful tournament in the Tampa/ St. Petersburg area and was always sold out well before the tournament started.

Being one of the founding members of the Wolf Laurel Women's Golf Association is one of my proudest achievements. I have had the honor of serving as Chairman for two years and also have served on the WLCC Golf Committee. Through the WLWGA we have been able to better communicate with each other, welcome new members and encourage more women to play golf. My involvement with the WGA has also brought me, and many of our WGA members, into close contact with other regional country clubs and programs, which I feel gives WLCC good positive exposure.

Our club is facing many challenges and I want to be part of the solution process through open and objective communication with Club members and the Board. I truly feel my career and country club experience well qualifies me to serve on the Board of Directors of Wolf Laurel Country Club.


*R.E. "Ed" Stormer (Golf Member)
After earning a B. S. in Business Administration, Ed began his 28 year career with The Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA). He spent the first 22 years in operations at several manufacturing locations. After earning and Executive M.B.A. in 1991, Ed spent the last 6 years on the financial side of the business and retired as Manager, Operations Analysis.

Following retirement, Ed provided consulting services to his former employer. His wife Karen served with distinction in the role of V.P. Income Distribution.

In terms of club leadership experience, earlier this decade, He served a year as Treasurer, a year as V.P./ Treasurer and a year as President of The Seabrook Island Club. At the time, The Club consisted of 1,300 members (now 1,700+), two 18 hole golf courses, two pools, 14 tennis courts, an equestrian center, a clubhouse, two restaurants, and 14,000 Sq. feet of conference space.

During Ed's term as president, The Club changed strategic direction from a conference/resort/member club to a member oriented club. The Club withdrew from the conference business and outsourced the resort villa rental business, resulting in a dramatic reduction in overhead.

Ed also served two years as Treasurer and one year as Chairman of the Board of The Seabrook Island Realty Company, a wholly owned subsidiary which generated an average of $400,000 a year in cash for the parent Club.

On the mountain, Ed serves on the Membership Committee and as Treasurer of the annual Hospice Benefit event.

Ed and Karen have been part time residents of Wolf Laurel for 5 years.

I'm Ed Stormer and I approved this message, and respectfully request your vote.


*Terry Swartzwelder (Social Member)
Terry Swartzwelder and his wife Lana have owned a home in Wolf Laurel since 2004 and always been a member of Wolf Laurel Country Club. Terry has a vested interest in Wolf Laurel and is excited to have the opportunity to serve and help the club in any way possible.

Terry was in the housing and golf course business for 20 years. He was general manager of Cypress Lakes Golf and Country Club, a 1500 unit community with two18-hole golf courses and a restaurant. Terry was VP of Eaglebrooke Golf and Country Club, a 750 unit community with a country club and restaurant. As general manager and VP Terry was responsible for overseeing all operations of the communities and club houses and all supervisors of each division, the sales manager, golf pro, golf superintendent, and food and beverage manager. Terry reviewed and approved the budgets for each department, was responsible for personnel recruitment, training and retention and all personnel management, was responsible for sales and advertising and was involved with the development of the new clubhouse for Eaglebrooke and the second golf course at Cypress Lakes. He reported directly to the owners’ of the corporations.

Terry served on the Wolf Laurel membership committee, was past president and current member of Casa Loma Condominium Association, and he served on the Manufactured Housing Industry Board.

Terry is partner in Wolf’s Crossing Realty in Mars Hill.

Biographical sketches with running candidate photos are posted in the lobby of the Country Club.

Further Info
This Week at WLCC
Current Monthly Calendar
The 2009 Annual Calendar

See you soon...

Filed Under: The Board