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Minutes of the 2009 Hidden Hills Country Club January 8, 2009
The Annual Meeting of Team Representatives began promptly at 10 a.m. Roy Gulick, the Meeting Facilitator, welcomed everyone and introduced the 19 meeting attendees. · Appendix A lists the attendees. · Appendix B lists the Action Items from the meeting. Proceedings A. Report from the Tournament and Handicap Chairman, Barney Poston · The 2008 Season. First, we all congratulate Jacksonville Golf and Country Club for winning our season championship. 2008 was a great year. It couldn’t have been successful one without the efforts of you Team Reps and our Scheduling Chairman. Thank you. (At this point the group applauded Barney for all of his work during the season.) During the year nine different teams won first place in our ten regular matches plus the Brady Cup Match. We played 1,440 rounds, paid our Member Clubs $72,000, and awarded our players $10,560 in prizes. Our players won more than $5,000 in door prizes at the Brady Cup Match at Deerwood · E-mail List. Our list contains 273 addresses, including 60 new players. I again request that all Team Reps help me by editing your players’ addresses and then ask me to delete the e-mail addresses of any players who are inactive · Database of Players. The database of players numbers about 660 with 60 new players added in 2008. I request that all Team Reps help eliminate some players by viewing the ‘Handicaps’ web page and then ask for deletion of those players who are inactive Action: Team Reps check the Web Site Handicaps page, review their list of players, and then ask for deletion of your inactive players. · Web Site. We have renewed our Web Site hosting plan until December 2010 at a cost of $92.74. Old Newsletters are on the Site. ‘New player information’ will be added to the Site. This will help cut down on pre-match announcements · Bank Account. Our current balance is $302 with Citibank. The plan was to end the year with $400. That happened, but then the Web Site renewal came due. The arrangement with Citibank is a good one, and it allows all banking to be done online · Scoring. Our computer scoring program is now three years old. It maintains past records. Some minor errors persist, but it’s performing well overall. We will try to have more quiet areas assigned to do the post-match scoring. This may cut down on errors · Check Lists. I now send a Checklist for our match to the host club Pro each month. This is the first year that we have done this, and it is working very well · Successor Chairmen. Roy Gulick and I have been in our positions for quite a while now, and, just as you are, we’re getting older. It’s time that someone younger stepped up into these jobs. Successors must be handy with Excel, Word and e-mail programs. I ask that Team Reps actively look among your players for someone who might be interested in serving in these roles. It would also be great if someone new could maintain our Web Site
B. Report from the Scheduling Chairman, Roy Gulick · 2008 Scheduling. Many thanks to all Team Reps for assisting me with the scheduling of your home course match. The procedure worked extremely well this past year. There were changes, as expected, and they were handled easily. We’re flexible · 2009 Schedule. There have been recent changes in the 2009 schedule, one as recently as yesterday! These changes affect two dates: the April match at Magnolia Point and the May match at Osprey Cove, which is now on a Wednesday. Note also that there are two matches scheduled in September and none in October. All matches start at 9 a.m. with one exception: an 8:30 start at Sawgrass · 2010 Planning Schedule. We’re on a 16-month rotation: the 15 Member Clubs plus the John Brady Cup Match at a neutral site. The planning schedule indicates the month when we plan to play at your club. I will suggest a particular date, but it’s your Pro Staff who actually selects a date when they can host our group. In that regard, note that in January no club is indicated for the Annual Team Reps Meeting that month. I request that one of you volunteer your club to host the meeting. Think about it, and then let me know later during this meeting. Note, too, that no club is indicated for the John Brady Cup Match. Your suggestions are requested. (Team Reps responded with Timucuana, North Hampton, and South Hampton; Barney and Roy will make the selection later) · Scheduling Procedure. One year in advance I will contact you, suggest a date, and ask you to coordinate with your Pro to finalize the date. Once you inform me of the chosen date I will forward three copies of a Memo of Agreement signed by Barney and me, and ask that you and your Pro sign it. You’ll retain one copy for yourself, your Pro retains one, and you mail the other signed copy to me A suggestion was made to put a sample agreement on the Web Site, and Barney agreed to do that. Action: Put a sample Memo of Agreement on the Web Site.
C. Discussion
1. Speed of Play – Judd Schwartz · Speed of play is still too slow · It is tough to speed up play with 120 players; it’s going to be a slow day · Start earlier · If a group is too slow, have a ranger speed up play, and if the group doesn’t speed up then they should all forfeit that hole · At a recent qualifying round, our Pro wanted to penalize slow play, and he gave a few warnings and planned to penalize by subtracting Points. This was so poorly received that we dropped the idea and haven’t revisited it · Have the home team sit out the match in order to reduce the field · Treat the match as a social event; tell your players that they shouldn’t sign up if they expect to play a fast round; it’s an all-day event · Allow for “gimmees” and use easier pin placements · Appoint a Captain for each foursome to prod the group along · Players should pick up when they’re out of the hole, but they don’t; remind them · Have box lunches at the turn to speed up play and make the day a little shorter Motion #1. Serve box lunches. Motion failed, 13-2 Motion #2. Tee off at 8:30. Motion failed, 12-3 Motion #3. Appoint a Speed Captain in each foursome. Motion passed, 14-1 Action: Team Reps talk to their teams regarding speed of play Action: Barney Poston will appoint a Speed Captain in each foursome Action: Develop a checklist for the Speed Captain to consider in performing his job. Larry Dismore will develop the list and send it to Barney and to Skip Lunsford for use beginning with the Jacksonville G&CC Match
2. Slow Play – Ball-hawking; Lost ball without hitting provisional – Ray Mantle · Ray related a recent incident where ball-hawking slowed play, and another incident when a player did not hit a provisional ball and then had to return to the tee to hit another. All of this wasted time · No ball hawking should be allowed; our Speed Captains should enforce this · There was a suggestion to make hitting a provisional ball mandatory, but that’s not required by the Rules of Golf. Nor was there any support for disqualifying such a player on that hole. There was agreement that the Rules of Golf and our Local Rules should be followed in every situation 3. Handicap Limitation – Barney Poston · We now impose a 38-Point limitation for new players. In past years we could not check home handicaps easily, but now we can easily check those handicaps on the Internet. Perhaps it’s time to remove the limitation · The limitation works, why change it? Motion: #4. Retain the 38-Point limit. Motion passed, 14-1
4. Brady Cup Prizes – Barney Poston · Are we awarding the right prizes at the Brady Cup Match? · There was general agreement that we are awarding the right prizes, no change is necessary · In the recent drawing, the strips of paper with the names became intertwined like a bird’s nest and stuck together. It would be easy to fix this by using tickets or a random list. Barney Poston agreed to look into this for the next drawing Action: Barney Poston will review the name-drawing procedure
5. John Brady Cup Prizes – Skip Lunsford · We should have a cash prize for the season’s winning team · We could easily set aside $80 per match for Brady Cup prizes; the math works · The group discussed this for some time, without action (but see Item #7) · Barney announced the amount that each team won in prizes this past year
6. Handicap System – Roy Gulick · The USGA restricts golfers to one handicap index. It’s simple to check each golfer’s current USGA handicap index on the Internet. Should we use our golfers’ current handicap index for our matches? · Discussion of this item overwhelmingly favored keeping our present handicap system, citing our past negative experience with a former member club and pointing our that many organizations keep their own handicaps
7. Pricing for 2010 – Roy Gulick · Last year and for 2009 each player pays $50 and the host club gets $48. The remaining $2 is split between our prize fund and our Handicap Chairman · Several Team Reps (at least four) said they had been asked to press for an increased payment in 2010 and some indicated it was mandatory · A prize for the Brady Cup winners resurfaced during this discussion · After more discussion there was general agreement that an increase is in order, as is setting aside funds for a prize for the Brady Cup winners Motion #5. Raise the price to $55 in 2010. The club gets $52. $1 goes to the Brady winners’ prize fund, $1 to the general prize fund, and $1 to the Handicap Chairman. Motion passed 14-0, with one abstention Action: Scheduling Chairman to reflect increase in the Memos of Agreement
8. Other Matters of Interest
Motion #7. Stop doubling the Brady Cup Match Points. Motion failed, 12-3
Barney pointed out that if Team Reps will advise him of such a situation, they can ask him to remove such a player from the database, with due cause. That player can later start playing with us again as a new player, new handicap
Action: Gary Owensby to arrange for next year’s Team Reps Meeting
The meeting adjourned at 11:35.
Appendix A — Attendees
Chairmen Barney Poston Tournament and Handicap Roy Gulick Scheduling and Public Affairs
Team Reps Club____________ Basney, Bill San Jose Bryce, Jim Ponte Vedra DeMarco, Tony Osprey Cove Dismore, Larry Hidden Hills Dobrick, Glenn Sawgrass Gulick, Roy Magnolia Point Halverson, George Marsh Landing Lunsford, Skip Jacksonville G&CC Mantle, Ray Queen’s Harbour Ochiltree, Jock World Golf Village Owensby, Gary Eagle Harbor Schwartz, Judd Deercreek Spring, Dave Marsh Creek Strickland, Earl Orange Park White, Bob St. Johns
Observers Club Blinn, Tex Hidden Hills Flemming, Jef Magnolia Point (Recorder) Gesdorf, Bill Jacksonville G&CC
Appendix B — Action Items
All Team Reps: · Check the Web Site Handicaps page, review your list of players, and then ask for deletion of your inactive players, and · Talk to your team regarding speed of play.
Barney Poston: · Put a sample Memo of Agreement on the Web Site. · Appoint a Speed Captain in each foursome. · Review the Brady Cup name-drawing procedure.
Gary Owensby: Arrange for next year’s Team Reps Meeting at Eagle Harbor
Larry Dismore: Develop a checklist for the Speed Captains to consider in performing their job. Send the list to Barney Poston and to Skip Lunsford for use beginning with the Jacksonville G&CC Match.
Roy Gulick: Reflect the increased price in the 2010 Memos of Agreement. |