Summer 2016 | Sea Island Life Magazine Spring/Summer 2016 | Page 74

ISLAND NOTES The Proposal JAMIE HYERS PHOTOGRAPHY As Todd Dowling took a lesson from Mike Cook at the Sea Island Golf Performance Center, he was reminded how beautiful the lush waterfront driving range is—determining it to be the perfect spot to propose to his now fiancee, Rachel Tanner. On Dec. 20, 2015, Dowling sent Tanner and her father, a former Army pilot, on a private helicopter tour of the island while he waited on the range to surprise her with a marriage proposal. As helicopter pilot Will Troutman slowly came in for a landing on the expansive greens, Tanner could see Dowling and the white and pink waist-high letters below which spelled out “Marry me.” “Rachel had no clue what was going on,” Dowling says. “She kept re-reading the sign because she was in disbelief. Everyone involved did a great job at keeping it a secret, especially her dad.” While the moment might now be a memory, the location will continue to be a special place for the future bride and groom. Dowling notes, “We are spending the first night of our honeymoon at The Lodge at Sea Island, which is right next to where the proposal happened. Sea Island [is] a special place to begin with, but now it’s very sentimental to us.” Leading the Way Sea Island’s Golf Club is celebrating the accomplishments of several residents and instructors from its grounds as they embark as captains, coaches, and leaders in the sport. Sea Island will be represented at the annual Palmer Cup by U.S. team coach Mike Cook, who has been a teaching instructor at Sea Island Golf Club since 1991. The team golf competition will take place June 24-26 at Formby Golf Club in England. Then at this year’s Ryder Cup, the biennial match play event between American and European golfers, Sea Island Golf Club member Davis Love III will serve as captain. The event will be held Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. John “Spider” Miller will also captain the U.S. team during the 2017 Walker Cup to be held at the Los Angeles Country Club. The match between two teams, U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland, will be a return for Miller who also coached the team during the 2015 competition. St. Simons Island resident and active community member Diana M. Murphy begins her sixth year as a member of the USGA Executive Committee and first term as president in 2016. As the 64th president of the USGA, Murphy will be the second woman in the association’s 121-year history to be nominated president. 74 SEA ISL AND LIFE | SPRING/SUMMER 2016 From left: Mike Cook, Diana M. Murphy, John “Spider” Miller, Davis Love III