Commission Members in Attendance:
Brit Lawlor – Chairman
Ron Krawczyk – Deputy Chairman
Jeff Nagel – Membership & Marketing
Joe Dabrowski – Greens
Mike Mislin – Violations
Ryan Stanley – Tournaments/Membership Liason
Mike Cioffi – Men’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Tara Ford – Women’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Others in Attendance:
Jim Von Eschen – Director of Golf
John Mackie – Assistant Golf Professional
Chris Johnson – Superintendent
Ray Fell – Member
Bill Niosi – Member
John Daley – Member
John Robilotta – Member
Bill Herrick – Member
Michael Dioguardo – Member
Kevin Lauretti – Member
David Smith – Member
Motion to start meeting by Jeff Nagel, Joe Dabrowski 2nds it; accepted by Brit Lawlor. Meeting officially starts at 6:03PM. Brit starts by thanking the large crowd for showing up to the last meeting of the year.
Violations Report, presented by Mike Mislin
Nothing to report
Women’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage Report, presented by Tara Ford
Nothing to report, thank you to all for a great season.
Deputy Chairman’s Report, presented by Ron Krawczyk
Ron states that the gratuity fund is just about all funded and it will be delivered to the appropriate places on Sunday.
Greens Report, presented by Joe Dabrowski
Joe begins by stating that leaf cleanup is still going. The crew began to take the sod off of the 1st tee box to begin our Winter Project. Through the last storm, Joe states that we lost some trees which have been cleaned up and removed. Joe asks Jimmy about the fill for the Winter Project; Jimmy states that when we need it, it will come. Chris Johnson piggy-backs off of that and says that he does not want to move the fill twice.
Membership Report, presented by Jeff Nagel
Jeff states that billing has already gone out and we have received some payments. He reminds everybody to pay prior to February 1st. Per Ray Fell, the current waiting list sits at 186 people. John Baldassarri asks if Weekday Members have the ability to upgrade to a Full Member, even though the waitlist is robust.
Tournament Report, presented by Ryan Stanley
It’s the end of the season; we held our annual Thanksgiving Day Scramble with the results as follows:
Front 9 Tournament
Low Gross – Team Wichert
Low Callaway – Team Crothers/Gigante
High Score – Team Ford
Closest to the Pin in 2 Shots: Hole 3 – Mark Jarmek
Closest to the Pin: Hole 4 – Jeff Comiskey
Back 9 Tournament
Low Gross – Team Gambino
Low Callaway – Team Gianuzzi
High Score – Team Foster
Closest to the Pin in 2 Shots: Hole 17 – Bob Bernard
Closest to the Pin: Hole 10 – Mike Carey
Superintendent Report, presented by Chris Johnson
Leaf cleanup has been going on for about a month now but we have started to strip the sod off of the 1st tee as Joe stated. December 20th is the tentative date for when tree removal around the 1st tee is going to begin. Chris also states that he has started to poke some holes in the pond’s liner and it is draining quickly. He continues, stating that once it is drained, we can start taking things out and filling in (with dirt) to the amount we want. Chris would like to thank everybody from membership, Parkland and especially the Village for another great season.
Men’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage Report, presented by Mike Cioffi
Mike starts by stating that the flagpole is ordered, with installation being somewhere prior to Christmas. As far as the erosion project, things are going great; some drone footage was able to be taken with data slowly beginning to come in. Jimmy would like to thank Mike for all of the work he has been doing in regards to this project. Mike continues, stating that him and Ron have a plaque for the flagpole dedication at the Opening Ryder Cup. The pole itself will cost roughly $9,000 with it getting approval from the Village board. There are 3 board members who are very adamant about getting lighting on the pole which we still have to figure out. John Baldassarri asks if a lot of people know about the flagpole project. Jimmy states that it has been word of mouth so that it doesn’t get back to the specific member, but yes we feel many people know about it.
Director of Golf Report, presented by Jim Von Eschen
Thanksgiving scramble was a huge success with almost 90 players. Jimmy states that it seemed as though everybody had fun and everybody was out by 12:30PM. He continues, saying that the 2022 Tournament schedule will be up on the website soon. Jimmy would like to thank the entire Commission, Parkland, Chris and his staff. He finishes, stating that December 12th will be our closing date.
Comments from the Crowd
John Baldassarri – John asks if there is any possibility of booking guest in advance, prior to 1 day in advance. Jimmy says that we are trying to go back closer to where we were pre-Covid and have members being able to book 5 days out and 3 days out with guests. Jim also states that if people begin to abuse this, we will simply suspend all internet privileges. Additionally, John asks about changing the White out of bounds stakes to Red Penalty Area stakes to speed up play. Brit states that the White OB stakes are there because that is the edge of our property line. Brit and others suggest hitting a provisional ball to speed up the pace.
John Daley – John priced out new lighting for the Locker Room. He says it will only cost $700 for the lighting and the broken switches. Brit says that he will speak with Ray Fell in regards to that.
Ray Fell – Ray would like to thank the Golf Commission for their work over the years. He states that the golf course has been in wonderful condition throughout the year. Ray would also like to give kudos to Jimmy and his staff for creating a friendly environment for the membership.
Vic Cisario – Vic asks if the flags on the other side of the cart path by the 1st tee are for the new teeing area. Brit explains that yes, the tee will be moved to the other side of the road with a Championship teeing area next to the netting, not too be used all the time but when needed.
Bob Burton – Bob asks for an update on the driving range. Brit explains that yes, we are slowly moving everything to the West to create some room. Although it is a small process, we are moving in that direction of a practice facility.
David Smith – David would like Brit to elaborate on moving the 1st tee West and if the 18th green or the 9th tee would have to be moved as well. Brit explains that the tee on 1 will simply be moving from the East side of the cart path to the West side of said path. Brit continues, stating that neither the 18th green or 9th tee will move.
Bill Herrick – Bill would like to start by thanking Jimmy and the Commission for publicizing these meetings. In regards to the tournament schedule, he liked the way it was set up and enjoyed playing the different tees in the Club Championship; he asks if the Club Championship tee situation will change going forward. Jimmy says that it will not change; we will continue to take the low index for the year and base the tees/dates off of that. Bill would then like to bring up the mound on the right of the 16th green. He states that he can’t take his motorized push cart over that mound, so it slows play down having to take it on the cart path. Brit and Jimmy both mention that prior to that mound being there, people would constantly take their cart that way, killing the grass and making the area unplayable, hence the mound. Bill also believes that our bunkers need a renovation. Brit responds by saying that a bunker renovation would cost millions of dollars, something that we do not have. Brit continues, stating that Chris adds drainage and fixes a couple of bunkers each Winter.
Brit Lawlor would like to thank the entire Commission, Jimmy and his crew as well as Chris and the rest of the grounds crew. Ron Krawczyk makes a motion to end the meeting, Joe Dabrowski 2nd it. Meeting officially ends at 6:42PM.