3:00 PM-TLC Board Room
Members:
President - Mr. Schepis (P)
Vice President - Mr. Snyder (P)
Secretary - Mr. Klein (P)
Treasurer – Mr. Brown
Asst. Treasurer – Mr. Voss (P)
Technology Chair - Mr. Cunningham (P)
Asst. Technology Chair - Mr. Belanger, DeLuca (P)
Social Chair – Mr. Bunn
Membership Chair – Mr. Ambrose
Communications Co-Chair - Mr. Cricenti(P); Gallagher
Interclub Char - Mr. Poleynard (P)
Golf Chair - Mr. Bellucci (P)
Asst. Golf Chair - Mr. Skipper (P)
Deer Creek Asst. Team Captain - Mr. Quinn (P)
Marshwood Team Captain – Mr. Brunton
Oakridge Asst. Captain - Mr. Warhola (P)
Plantation Team Captain – Mr. O’Donnell
New Neighbors Golf Chair - Mr. Klein (P)
Past President – Mr. Hainly (P)
P = Present
Minutes
1. Call to Order, Approval of Minutes: Mr. Schepis “gaveled” the meeting to order at 15:03. A Quorum was present. Agenda and January Minutes were approved.
2. Presidents Report: Mr. Schepis stated the Golf committee is waiting for Jerry Stoltz’s return for its next mtg. Areas of focus will be: Member engagement, Financial Sustainability, and member amenities.
o Scott Justman is doing final interviews for the 2 head-pro positions.
o A new Golf Performance & Learning center will be built at the Oakridge range. Final quotes are coming soon.
o Scott advised that more aggressive aeration will begin this summer with up to 3 courses done at once. Expect them to be closed for up to 3wks.
o LMGA was asked to not hold our events for those 3 wks. We are willing to support this in the interest of improving conditions. We also recognize most guys will sign up individually, so the amount of play may not change much.
3. The Standards committee has been replaced by the Green committee, chaired by Ken Ura. This will have equal standing with the Golf committee. The purpose is to elevate the profile of our golf courses. They also expect more effective discussion & decisions now that committees have 10 not 20 people. New chairs and officers have been named. Initial mtgs have begun. Scott Justman is on both committees.
o Dean Philippo is our liaison to & from the Green committee. He gave an informative update. He reported that Chris & Tyson are up to speed on everything going on with our golf courses and are very knowledgeable. He believes they’ve gotten a bad rap for conditions, given the driver for conditions has been budgetary. He requested our support for them, in the form of stopping the negativity. Communication to membership has increased which shrinks the vacuum that is otherwise filled by criticism.
o Actions: They will drill a 1" hole, 10” deep, remove the cores, and inject/fill holes with sand. At the end of 2 yrs 50% of the green will be replaced. Adding sand is a critical part of improving the greens drainage, a must.
o Discussed the need for the LMGA board (The LMGA Leadership team in corporate parlance), to represent club/course management and staff the best we can. We discussed that while complaining is easy, elevating the discourse, where possible is important. At least we should not perpetuate the negative talk that has become so pervasive.
o Chris & Tyson will give Dean feedback every 2wks. Suggested we have more turf talk discussions.
o Palmetto’s greens are a 1-off situation. The issue and fix are well understood by the Superintendents. This is why Magnolia, not Palmetto, will be replaced in early 2021. Magnolia will be out of the rotation for 3-4months. Magnolia has been budgeted. Greens have a 25yr life, Magnolia is 40yr old. In 2022 the same is being planned for Plantation. Other courses greens will continue to be addressed.
4. Past President Report – Mr. Hainly stated the Annual Tournament schedule is complete and was included in the annual letter to membership. His team has not yet met this yr but will start work on 2021 calendar. Going forward there will be a Pro at each event to assist Ellen. They are looking to create a feedback mechanism after each tourney to improve the events and member experience.
5. Treasures Report: No report
6. Membership Report: We’ve had some new members.
7. Communications Report: Rick wants to us get more info out about LMGA (facts, mission, and history).
8. Technology Report: Photo albums are now on the website. By clicking on the banner above the photo you can see the entire folder. There are a lot of pictures. We’ll be using cameras at Schooner cove for the KF tourney. Will be live-streaming the 5th hole during the tourney. Our Membership is at 445. Need to add a “check box” for Super Senior for sign-up.
9. Interclub Report: Gary reported we’ve played 6 matches (3wins, 3 losses).
10. Golf Chair Report: John reported the new word HC system is working well and makes our life easier. Scott Happ will take over The Hole in One pool end of Feb. Pot is ~ $400. Check the website if not sure you’re in the pool.
11. Club Captains report: Nothing new reported.
12. Communications Report: Rick asked us to send him, “good things that happen” each week so we can get more members names in the TWATL
13. New Neighbors Report: Semi-annual new neighbors scramble & lunch is 2/19 at Plantation. 60 guys will play. All new neighbors are encouraged to join LMGA. Rick confirmed that 63 of the 93 NN golfers are in LMGA.
14. Social Chair Report: No report
15. Old Business:
o Golf for the cure – Kevin Brandin & Bob H. will be our liaisons to the event. Last yr we had 140 players
o Sponsors – Jeff Werner & Frank pursuing Habershams.
o Super Senior – 11 players played today. Skins game needs to be refined.
o LM & LW mixed scramble – to be discussed/decided at next mtg.
16. New business
o By-Law proposal – defines the issues & items we’ll allow on the website and those we won’t. This was voted on, approved, and becomes policy when presenting at the annual meeting.
o Frank said we’re considering a private “turf talk” or “superintendents” talk for LMGA. Scott Justman is evaluating our request. If approved will need to decide content/format (more Q&A) and where it would be held.
o Frank is looking for speakers for the yr end event.
o Frank & Eddie met regarding the contribution from Sound View Wealth Advisors. Eddie will double donation to $5000 for new, high quality golf hats.
His request is that for the 3 trophies (POY, Super Sr. POY, BA Cup winner) they will have an inscription saying, “sponsored by Soundview”.
Plaques will also be made for the 3 trophies plus LMGA Tournament champion, LMGA President. We are looking for a permanent “home” for the trophies & plaques.
o We had another robust discussion on Putts we will mandate be holed-out, and how to handle “in the black”. The board members all want a standard and recognize there are pro’s and con’s whatever is decided. Frank will investigate further and bring back his final recommendation.
Meeting adjourned at 5:15 pm. Submitted by J.Klein, edited by F.Schepis
Next Board Meeting March 5th