General Membership Meeting of February 20 , 2018

Call to Order: Vice President Rick Yeo called the meeting to order at 9:00am

Pledge of Allegiance was led by: Dennis Hanks

GUEST SPEAKER:  LARRY BOHANNON, Local Golf Sports Writer
Larry has been reporting on Golf in the Valley for many years and is connected with a number of professional golfers on the PGA tour.  He is also well versed on Golf in the Valley and what the future holds in store for the area, consistent with trends across the Country.  There is no doubt that: the cost of playing 18 holes, the time it takes and demographics play major roles in the dwindling industry.  Millenials are not embracing golf, for many of the reasons previously stated.  Those kids who try golf through First Tee or family interests, lose contact with the sport around high school because they are active in other sports, have to work or cannot afford it.

Larry projects a number of Courses in the Valley will close over the next few years but gave PDG kudos for what we have built here.  Our Course is the desired length and style that has a chance of surviving.  As Arnie, Jack and a host of legendary icons of golf have suggested, we need to look at what distances give us the best chance to hit the clubs Pro’s do so we can experience similar feelings of accomplishment.  Shorter courses should make golf more affordable, increase satisfaction and not take 4 to 5 hours to play.

Roll Call by Secretary John Whitney
President: Doug Hodson, Vice Pres: Rick Yeo, Secretary: John Whitney, Treasurer: Gary Druckrey, Club Liaison: Bob Larsen, Member at Large: John Coyle, Member at Large: Tony Tilt.

Committee Chairmen:
Handicap/SCGA:  Clint Jay, Membership: Brian Duckworth, Tournaments: Orest Kruhlak, Publicity: Dennis Hanks, Hearts and Flowers: David Shaw, Hole-in One: Ken Gordon, Social: Howard Hudson, Rules: Byron Harvie, AM Sweeps: Ken Gordon, PM Sweeps: Vacant, Past President: John Coyle, Parliamentarian: Dale Erickson, Canadian Representative: Chris Marshall, Webmaster: Jim Pollard.

Absent Board Members:  Doug Hodson, Clint Jay, Brian Duckworth, Howard Hudson, Dale Erickson, Jim Pollard

Minutes:  Without objection, the minutes of the General Membership meeting of January 16, 2018, as posted on the Men’s Club Website, will be approved by unanimous consent.  Approved.

Treasure’s Report: The Treasurer’s report is posted on the bulletin board. Balance forward: $30,264.60, Deposits: $11,823, Expenses: $20,451.87, Register Balance: $21,610.73, Tournament Fund: ($5,010) Current Men’s Club balance: $8,957.49.

Officers Comments/Reports:

President, Doug Hodson:  Rick Yeo reported for Doug that we have observed too many golf carts with one person per group, rather than members riding together.  This causes strain on the fairways that can be avoided.  Please double up and try to run only two carts per group.  There are exceptions (eg. Smokers) or another reason that should be cleared by Bob in the Pro Shop.

VP, Rick Yeo:  N/R

Secretary, John Whitney: Approval of last month’s minutes.

Treasurer: Gary Druckrey:  See Financials above

Club Liaison: Bob Larsen:
Bob asked how members rated the condition of the Course and there was a resounding approval.

The recent Divot party was a big success.  Approximately 70 people (men and women) showed up to walk the fairways and fill divots.  That many people made short work of filling divots and then availed themselves of 6 dozen doughnuts provided for their efforts.  Raffle prizes were handed out and everyone seemed to have a great time.

PDG hosted the Interclub Golf matches on February 15^th.  The Course was in great shape, thanks to Andy Diaz and his crew.  The support team, organized by Ken Dobson, Bob Breidenbach and Doug Hodson got the show off to a great start and the food and beverage staff sealed the deal with a Gourmet meal.  The PDG team defeated Chapparal soundly and remains in first place.

The Oasis team recently played a practice round at PDG.  Members of the team commented on how great the course, especially the greens looked.  Bob told them about our Green Maintenance teams and then sold them three of the long-handled repair tools.  The PDG team appreciates how well members repair ball marks and keep our greens the best in the Valley.

GM, Roberta, will take the lead in ensuring that the practice net balls are cleaned more often and Bob Breidenbach will investigate alternative net materials to mitigate the black, waxy residue that is deposited on the balls after striking the net.  (Update): Roberta reported that an extra set of golf balls has been purchased.  Now the crew can clean and rotate sets every other day, which should improve, if not eliminate the dirty ball problem.

Andy Diaz reported that the practice green, next to the Tennis/Pickle Ball courts, was recently reseeded with a Poa Trivialis/Bent Grass mixture.  This combination is used by many of the Courses in the Valley and if successful in our trial may be used for over-seeding the greens next season.

Rick Yeo asked if the traps will be worked on this year.  Bob replied that Andy will use the trap on the practice area as a test.  They will rework the trap this summer and then from there we will have to see.  Andy will try to turn the sand a little deeper, to soften it up but they have to be careful not to dig too deep and bring up worse dirt/sand and debris.  It was also suggested that when the traps are raked (by Andy’s crew) that they rake the sand “down” to the normal hitting area rather than up the sides.  Bob will pass that along.

Member -at-Large, John Coyle:  John reinforced Doug Hodson’s concern about too many carts per group on the course.  See Bob B. for exceptions.

Member -at-Large, Tony Tilt: N/R

Handicap, Clint Jay:  John Whitney presented information from Clint. We sent $9792 for 271 renewals to SCGA.  This is in addition to the check we previously sent for 32 new members who joined after 11/1/2017.  We have since received one renewal which brings our total to 304.

Email delivery of membership cards and gift cards to active members began last week.  New members added after January 18, 2018 with an email on file with the SCGA will receive their benefits package within a month of joining.

30 members who do not have email addresses in the GHIN system will receive their membership and gift cards by US mail in 4 to 6 weeks.  Clint had originally created an email address under his name for them, with SCGA approval.  Clint was told the computer only sent one out and it went to the person with the lowest GHIN number (Jim Tatum).  Clint went back to them and deleted the 30 emails that he had created for them.  Those accounts are closed out and all 30 members will receive their cards by mail.

Membership, Brian Duckworth: N/R

Tournaments, Orest Kruhlak:
We had a record turnout for the Member/Guest tournament.

The Club Championship application is available in the Pro Shop.  There is no entry fee and all members are invited to play.  Your membership fee covers participation in this event.

There is interest in a Mixed Horse Race (April 7^th at 4 PM).  If there is enough interest we will put it together.

Publicity, Dennis Hanks:  N/R

Hearts & Flowers, David Shaw: A Sympathy card was sent to Linda Hertz for the loss of her husband Milt.

Hole-in-One, Ken Gordon:  N/R

Social, Howard Hudson: N/R

 

SCGA, Clint Jay: N/R

Rules, Byron Harvie:
Byron will be our speaker in March with a review of the new Golf Rules.

AM Sweeps, Ken Gordon:  N/R

PM Sweeps, (Vacant Position):  N/R

Past President, John Coyle: N/R

Parliamentarian, Dale Erickson:  N/R

Canadian Representative, Chris Marshall:  “Good luck to the Americans and Go Canada for CanAm”.

Webmaster, Jim Pollard:  N/R

OLD BUSINESS:

There were no additional candidates or nominations for next season’s Men’s Club Officers.  There will not be an election this year as the current positions are filled.  Those members present voted in: John Coyle: President, Ron Hagedorn: VP, John Whitney: Secretary, Clark Sharar: Treasurer, Bob Shakespeare: Member-at-Large, Dale Erickson: Member-at-Large, Rich Warburton: Liaison.

Jim Olsen thanked the Men’s Club members for their support through his health ordeal.

NEW BUSINESS:

Member Greg Quaid suggested that we return to arbitrary pairings for afternoon Sweeps, rather than members organizing set foresomes each week.  Participants are not meeting new Members which is important for increased fellowship.  He even suggested that it would be better if we allowed two members who are friends to be paired up with two people they do not know.  Incoming President John Coyle indicated that his administration will address this situation next season.

CLOSING REMARKS (PRESIDENT:  NONE

ADJOURNMANT.  Vice President Rick Yeo adjourned the meeting at: 10:15 AM