Call to Order: President John Coyle called the meeting to order at 9:00am

Pledge of Allegiance was led by: Jim Pollard

“Special Presentation”:  New member Bill Sandahl addressed the members concerning his club repair and re-gripping service.

Roll Call by Secretary John Whitney

Absent: Chris Marshall, Steve Warren, Dan Cameron, David Shaw, Ken Gordon, Rich Davidson

OFFICERS:

President: John Coyle, Vice Pres: Ron Hagedorn, Secretary: John Whitney, Treasurer: Clarke Sharar, Club Liaison: Richard Warburton, Member at Large: Bob Shakespeare, Member at Large: Dale Erickson.

Committee Chairmen:

Handicap/SCGA: Stephen Warren, Membership: Doug Hodson, Tournaments: Chris Marshall/Bob Shakespeare, Publicity: Dan Cameron, Hearts and Flowers: David Shaw/Dave Levandowski, Hole-in One: Ken Gordon, Social: Vacant, Rules: Byron Harvie, AM Sweeps: Ken Gordon, PM Sweeps: Vacant, Past President: Doug Hodson, Parliamentarian: Dale Erickson, Canadian Representative: Rich Davidson, Webmaster: Jim Pollard.

Minutes:  Without objection, the minutes of the General Membership meeting of November 20, 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. Beginning Balance: $15,918, Deposits: $15,559, Expenses: $3595, Tournament Expenses: $500, Withdrawals: $3595, Hole-in-One Receipts: $875, Current Men’s Club balance: $27,882.66.  More money has come in since these figures were recorded and those dollars will be included in next month’s report.

Clarke reported on the Eclectic Tournament.  Net proceeds after all expenses = $825.30

Officers Comments/Reports:

President, John Coyle:

7:30am/12 Noon tee times will remain in effect (Wednesday Sweeps) for the remainder of the year.  There will not be any Sweeps play on December 26 (AM or PM).

Our “Team” game (random selection by computer for A, B, C and D players) will continue this Wednesday the 19^th of December.  “Teams” will be played once a month for the rest of the season and then be reviewed to see if we will continue next season.

John has encouraged First Tee of Palm Desert to apply for consideration as our Charitable Tournament this year.

Mr. Coyle sent our sponsors a Christmas Card with a thank you note for supporting our tournaments.

John received a Thank You card from Erma Hanks for our contribution to the Flag Fund ($250).

Channel 98 has not proven to be reliable for Frost Delays.  Members have been advised to call the Frost Delay number at the Pro Shop (760-341-5877) until we can come up with a better system.

Mr. Sam Anziano will be our guest speaker for the January 15th Membership meeting.

VP, Ron Hagedorn:  N/R

Secretary, John Whitney: N/R

Treasurer, Clarke Sharar:  See Financials above

Club Liaison, Richard Warburton:

December 26^th will be open play (AM, PM), no Sweeps.

Bob B. and Byron Harvie are working on the possibility of some local golf rules, specific to our Course.  Stay tuned.

We will have a “Divot Party” this Thursday the 20^th at 7 am.  Please bring your sand containers, have some coffee with the doughnuts that are provided and prepare to hit the links.  Last year we had a great turn out and lots of fun.

Andy Diaz has set a goal for the Greens to be between 8 ½ and 9.  They are in great shape.

Bob Larsen organized maintenance teams for each green last year and the volunteers did a fantastic job. We are encouraging more volunteers to step up this season.  Many of our PDG organizations/clubs were represented on these teams (Women’s Club, Road Runners, etc.) and we encourage even more people/groups to participate. We have received $530 for further maintenance equipment (ball mark tools) from the various organizations and thank them for the funds and work on the greens.

Member -at-Large, Bob Shakespeare: N/R

Member -at-Large, Dale Erickson: N/R

Handicap, Stephen Warren:

Please continue to post your scores.  When keeping score and turning in your card, please take the time to write legibly.

Membership, Doug Hodson:

We have 279 members, including 38 new members

Tournaments, Chris Marshall/Bob Shakespeare:

The individual Eclectic has come and gone successfully.  We welcomed 118 golfers for this two- day event, beginning on December 5^th and finishing on December 9^th.  Everyone had a great time as always.  Activities such as 50/50, black out boards (2), “Closest to the Pin” on #7 and #17 and “Hit the Green” holes (4 and 14) were well supported and profitable for the Men’s Club.  We thank the loyal staff of women who were instrumental in making each activity fun.

We met our objective of having fun, meeting some friendly neighbors and providing competition among residents of PDG.  We also paid out to 47% of the field.

Our next tournament, The Member/Member, is scheduled for January 9^th and 12^th, 2019.  Entry forms are ready and available in the Golf Room.  Entry deadline is Saturday, January 5 at 5 pm.

The format is 2-person scramble on day one and the “Pinehurst” format on day two.  For Pinehurst, golfers choose the best ball of both drives; that ball is played for the rest of the hole.  The golfer whose drive was not chosen hits the second shot and then they play alternate shot until they hole the last putt.

Preparations are underway for our Member/Guest, scheduled for February 8, 9 and 10, 2019.  Orest Kruhlak is back to run the Horse Race, our kickoff event of the weekend.  We are hoping for a full field.  Sign up as soon as possible.

We thank our volunteers who make these tournaments possible and fun; they wouldn’t be the same without your help.

Publicity, Dan Cameron: N/R

Hearts & Flowers, David Shaw:

Dave Levandowski will take over responsibilities for sending out Get-Well and Thinking of You cards.  We appreciate that Dave is stepping up to fill the position being vacated by David Shaw.

Recent Get-Well Cards have been mailed to Tom Dearey, Chico Anzures and James Pierce.

 Hole-in-One, Ken Gordon: N/R

Social, Vacant

SCGA, Stephen Warren: N/R

Rules, Byron Harvie:

Byron presented many of the new Golf Rules that take affect on January 1, 2019.  See the MGC website for a summary of popular rules that are changing and a short video of the “Top Twenty”.

AM Sweeps, Ken Gordon: N/R

PM Sweeps, (Vacant Position):  See AM Sweeps.

Past President, Doug Hodson: N/R

Parliamentarian, Dale Erickson:  N/R

Canadian Representative, Rich Davidson: N/R

Webmaster, Jim Pollard:  N/R

OLD BUSINESS: 

One of our members addressed the “Team” play format.  He said that many members just want to play with their buddies and not arbitrary pairings.  He felt this issue should have been taken to the entire membership before making it mandatory.  John Coyle said it was a decision the Board made and was within its authority to do so.  We explained that this is a one-year test and a decision will be made to continue (based on input from members) or delete this format if it is rejected by the membership.  More on this topic at the end of the season.

NEW BUSINESS:    N/R

CLOSING REMARKS (PRESIDENT):  None  

ADJOURNMENT.  President John Coyle adjourned the meeting at: 10:50 am