
Stuart Smith, PGA – Director of Golf
ssmith@somersett.com
At the age of 3 Stuart began hitting balls in the backyard of his Los Angeles home. His family moved to Rocklin, California in 1966 into a house located on the 6th hole of Whitney Ranch Golf Club which was undoubtedly the driving force of Stuart’s love for the game. As an only child, he spent endless hours on the golf course and even laid out his own golf course in the backyard. Stuart was active in junior golf. He qualified for two US Junior Amateur Championships (1978, 79) and was the youngest winner of the Roseville City Amateur Championship (1978). Stuart played college golf at UCLA alongside teammates Corey Pavin, Steve Pate, Tom Pernice Jr., Duffy Waldorf, and Jay Delsing where he recorded the lowest round shot by a Bruin at Bel Air Country Club – 64. He went to the Round of 16 in both the Trans-Mississippi Amateur (1980) and the US Amateur (1980). Stuart graduated with a BA in Sociology and turned professional in 1984. His pursuit of the PGA Tour lasted 9 years where he went to the final qualifying stage for the PGA Tour four times (1986, 88, 89, 90) thus earning his playing privileges on the Ben Hogan Tour and Nike Tour – now known as the Nationwide Tour. Stuart played the South African Tour (1985-92) enjoying his best year in 1989 with a win in the Palabora Classic and two third place finishes ending 6th on their money list for the year. Stuart switched gears and became an assistant golf professional at Sierra View Country Club in Roseville, California in 1992. If he wasn’t going to play for a living, he was certainly going to follow his passion for golf. In 1993, he left Sierra View and went across town to a new facility, Granite Bay Golf Club. Stuart spent 13 years at Granite Bay working his way up through the ranks to Director of Golf. In 2007, he moved to Reno taking on the role of Head Golf Professional at Somersett Golf & Country Club where he is currently the Director of Golf.
Stuart still enjoys being competitive and was Northern California PGA Player of the Year in 2004 earning him a spot in the 2005 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Stuart was named Sierra Nevada Junior Golf Leader (2007) and Sierra Nevada Chapter Player of the Year (2009,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016). In 2010 Stuart was recognized by the Northern California Section PGA as Junior Golf Leader of the Year. Stuart qualified for and participated the 2011 PGA Championship @ Atlanta Athletic Club, 2013 PGA Championship @ Oak Hill Country Club, 2013 Senior PGA Championship @ Bellerive Country Club and the 2014 & 2016 Senior PGA Championship @ Harbor Shores Golf Club. Stuart made the cut palyiong all four rounds of the 2014,2016 Senior PGA Championship finishing T70 and T60. Stuart will look to better those finishes in the 2018 Senior PGA Championship again at Harbor Shores.
In 2016 Stuart received the highest honor a professional can have in his/her PGA Section – Professional of the Year. It is quite an honor to be recognized by his peers as the best of the best.
Stuart is a highly regarded teacher and is one of 150 Certified AimPoint Green Reading Instructors in the US.

Tanya Polli, Director of Membership and Marketing
tpolli@somersett.com
Tanya has been a Nevada resident for over thirty-five years bringing a wealth of experience in all aspects of Tech, Marketing, Medical as well as Non-Profit.
Prior to joining Somersett, she was involved with the start up of Nevada’s first Business Improvement District, bringing creative marketing, economic development, and homeless initiatives to Downtown Reno.

Kevin Roth, Controller/HR Manager
kroth@somersett.com
Kevin has been a Nevada Resident for 40 years, both in Las Vegas and Reno. He comes with an array of knowledge in Gaming, Finance and Accounting. Kevin started his career with MGM International working his way up through Cage operations to Director of Cage/Credit and Collections. His resume includes Excalibur Hotel and Casino, Bellagio, Circus Circus, The Venetian and Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway.
Kevin also branched out into the government non-profit sector as Director of Finance and Administration for Sierra Nevada Job Corps.

Robert DiPietro, Director of Maintenance
rdipietro@somersett.com
Robert has been a Class A Golf Course Superintendent for 20 years. He has been the Superintendent at Somersett Golf & Country Club since it’s inception where he worked directly with the golf course designers at KBR Design overseeing construction and the responsiblity for grow-in and opening of all 27 holes. Robert also performed the grow-in of Arrowcreek Golf Course where he opened that course and was course superintendent of ArrowCreek’s 36 holes. Robert also was the Regional Superintendent for a major golf management company in Northern Nevada and Northern California. Other previous positions include Spyglass Hill, Newport Beach CC, and Palm Valley CC.

Jonathon Johnson, Director of Food and Beverage
jjohnson@somersett.com
Jonathan brings an extensive background in the Food and Beverage industry having served as the Manager of Charlie Palmer Steak and Briscola, Manager of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and General Manager Oceana at the Peppermill. Jonathan has served as the Beverage Operations Manager at the Peppermill for the past 7 years overseeing 14 bars and outlets, 135+ staff along with changing the culture of the department through accountability, on-going training programs, and a hands-on leadership approach.
In addition to overseeing a multimillion operation, Jonathan’s responsibilities also included profit and loss statement, COG’s, labor, guest service, mixology/menu development and implementation, staffing, ordering and inventory levels, along with proper records and documentation, critical control points, health and sanitation.

Michael brings a diverse background in both Culinary and Law Enforcement. Michael graduated from the Culinary School at TMCC in 1989. He moved to New York in 1993 and worked his way up to becoming an Executive Chef for two different restaurants. In 1995 Michael pursued his interest in Law Enforcement and received his Criminal Justice degree. Michael continued working in Law Enforcement until 2013 when he decided to retire and continue in his culinary career. Michael returned to Reno in 2013 and began working at the Atlantis Casino and Resort. Michael was the Executive Chef for Café Alfresco as well as the Purple Parrot Buffet. In 2021 Michael attended the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone to further his knowledge in Asian Cuisine which he used to open the Red Bloom restaurant in the Atlantis. Michael also served as the Executive Chef at Bistro Napa. Most recently Michael was brought on as the Executive Sous Chef at the new Legends Bay Casino where he was soon promoted to the Executive Chef position.