Commission Members in Attendance:
Brit Lawlor – Chairman
Ron Krawczyk – Deputy Chairman
Jeff Nagel – Membership & Marketing
Joe Dabrowski – Tournament/Rules
Tara Ford – Ladies Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Michael Cioffi – Men’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Wendy Foster – Commission Member
Others in Attendance:
Jim Von Eschen – Director of Golf
Chris Johnson – Superintendent
John Mackie – Assistant Golf Pro
Ray Fell – Mayor/Member
Golf Members in Attendance:
Mike AronsenKathy Dennis
Vito Aniello
Bobbi Bauer
Mike Mislin
Motion to start meeting by Ron Krawczyk, Joe Dabrowski 2nds it; accepted by Brit Lawlor. Meeting officially starts at 6:04PM.
Membership & Marketing Report, presented by Jeff Nagel
Jeff begins by welcoming the crowd to the October meeting. He continues, since September 4th, we have 28 new members. As a reminder to everybody, Jeff mentions that the commission voted to cap the Fall membership at 30 new members. Jeff would like to thank Jimmy, John and the rest of the golf staff for everything they do as far as selling the membership on a daily basis. Additionally, Jeff thanks course superintendent, Chris Johnson, for his efforts in getting the golf course in magnificent shape. Jeff mentions that these new members are coming in and joining without the help of a true marketing team or “membership office” as some other surrounding clubs do. Of the new members, the current makeup is 24 Non-Residents and 4 Residents. Of the 28 new members, 26 are Full Members (3 Family Memberships) and 2 Weekday members. In regards to Tara Ford’s question from the September meeting, Jeff states that the Discontinued B Membership, we don’t have a definite answer as to when it will go away but currently the difference is only $200.
Tournaments/Rules Report, presented by Joe Dabrowski
We recently wrapped up our Club Championship, the winners of each flight are listed below.
Men’s Championship Flight – Kevin Lauretti – 147 (73-74)
Ladies Championship Flight – Lee Redvanly – 170 (86-84)
Men’s A-Flight – Wayne Black -158 (79-79)
Men’s B-Flight – Bob Quarte – 164 (82-82)
Men’s C-Flight – Walter Fritz 181 (95-86)
Our Fall Ryder Cup is going to be held on Saturday, October 20th; the field will be limited to 96 players. Lastly, the Turkey Scramble will be held on Thanksgiving morning, November 22nd. Joe states that he did hear from Kevin Kline of the MGA in regards to having mixed tournaments. Per his email, he in unaware of any precedent with these mixed tournaments. He will continue to look and get back to Joe if he hears anything. At this time, Joe proposes to keep the tournaments as they were this year until we get a definite answer from Kevin Kline and the MGA. Wendy Foster would like to propose doing more research on the subject, based on the surrounding clubs and the PGA. Joe Dabrowski says that he has already done some research with the surrounding clubs (Southward Ho, Hampton Hills, Knollwood) and none of them have mixed tournaments due to the fact that it’s a different golf course (based on slope). Joe continues, even though the ratings are close, the slopes are so far apart that there is no perfect way to mix the two. As the tournament chair, Joe Dabrowski is not ready to pair the males and females together with an open sign up. Joe does say that he would feel comfortable conducting tournament sign ups by the tee which you would like to play and then flighting the event from there. He finished by saying that we hope to hear back from Kevin Kline.
Brit Lawlor says to Wendy Foster and Tara Ford, that he has received three letters from female members, who all wish to play against the women within these tournaments. He continues by asking Wendy and Tara if they have any feedback from the Women at BGC, is there a consensus? Wendy states that she would like to do an audit. She continues that there is confusion on what exactly they are talking about. Wendy states that it isn’t necessarily a “man vs women” debate but more mixed teams, different types of formats, etc., saying she would like to see if any of the tournaments can be done a different way (excluding the Club Championship). Wendy continues, that although they haven’t specifically polled the membership, there has been discussion from the women about being separated and then having it be more of a challenge, difficulty, obstacle, etc. to play as a group of members, who pay the same rate. So by integrating that group into more competitive play, it should increase the engagement of our membership with our tournaments. Yes, women have complained about that, about not knowing more members, or not feeling as they are apart of the larger membership. I do not want to point to two tournaments and say that women specifically said that.
Joe Dabrowski says that there are tournaments, such as the Masters Tournament, US Open Tournament, 9 & Dines, Team 4 Ball, etc. that can be played as a mixed group. These events are played in one, open flight throughout the day, as players sign up. These tournaments are designed to be more inviting to the member who may be hesitant to sign up for club tournaments. When it comes to flighted events, Joe says there is a competitive imbalance. It is a different golf course based on set of tees, less club into the Par 3s as well as not as less trouble to carry throughout the course. Brit Lawlor would like to still research the issue, stating that we need to have a tournament schedule in place come the next commission meeting, so that it can be voted on.
Lastly, Joe states that we had 20 more members participate in this years Club Championship compared to last year. He continues by stating that participation in the tournaments have been great the entire season; we have essentially had a full field for almost every event. He states that Jimmy, John and the rest of the staff have done an unbelievable job with the tournaments. Numerous tournaments have been Split Tee Starts (using both the 1st and 9th/10th tee), which have saved on total round time; most noticeably was the recent Club Championship where we improved about 40 minutes compared to the previous year.
Brit Lawlor states that Vito Aniello sent him a letter but rather than reading such letter, he will let Vito address the issue since he is in attendance. Vito feels that we have to take gender completely out of the equation here; you have to play on a fair playing field for all. Vito (an avid bowler) states that in his bowling leagues, there have been Men’s, Women and Mixed Leagues. In previous years, some of the better female bowlers have competed in the Men’s Leagues to face better competition, which is their choice, they’re more than welcome to. He continues, in bowling, there are no tee boxes, it is simply the lane. Everybody bowls on the same lanes and therefore everything is the same for both Male and Female; because of this, the handicap system is able to work in bowling. Vito says that in golf, it is much harder because the course is wildly different from the different sets of tees. Vito believes the correct way to do so, is if the Women choose to compete against the Men, they are more than welcomed to, but it should be from the same set of tees and everybody gets their handicap adjusted. Now everybody has the same obstacles in front of them and it is now the exact same golf course. Vito states that he has no problem playing against the Women and actually enjoyed the time of the course with Sally Hayes and Donna Migdol in a recent event.
Deputy Chairman Report, presented by Ron Krawczyk
We haven’t gotten the gratuity cards but they should be finished shortly. Once they come in, I will get them stamped and sent out to the membership. Ray Fell was asks Ron, who actually gets the gratuity from the membership. Ron responds by saying that everybody receives something; the entire maintenance crew, the Pro Shop employees, the Cart Kids, etc. Ron states that everybody besides the staff at Peter’s on the Green receive part of the gratuity money. Ron asks John Mackie that when the gratuity email is sent out this season, to please include who actually receives the gratuity.
Ron also would like to address the bigger outings. Ron asks Chris Johnson, how much damage is occured during some of the bigger outings? Chris says that depending on the outing (how many players, how much they are actually drinking, etc.) it will vary. Ron would like to specifically address the Fuoco tournament, stating that he saw a mess the day after the event. Chris states that it isn’t the golfers with this event. They brought in “tanks” that are designed to go through the woods, not drive around a golf course. Brit says that Steve Fuoco says all the right things in front of the commission, but then we talk about this outing every single year. Jimmy states that this year, there was no damage, they cleaned up after themselves and it went rather smoothly. For the most part, it is not the golfers that we have an issue with but it is the volunteers that Steve Fuoco brings in to help run the event. They drink from when they first get to the course, and they don’t stop until after they finish cleaning up the golf course.
Bobbi Bauer says that the golf course is in the best shape she has ever seen it. One suggestion that she wants to make, is perhaps cutting down the phragmites on the bank of the 11th hole. She states that many people hit their ball into that area and you used to be able to hit your ball from down there. Chris Johnson states that the place is “touchy” due to the D.E.C. regulations. Chris Johnson also says that it helps with the erosion problem that we currently have throughout the canal. He finishes by saying the only reason that they get cut down on the 10th hole is so you can actually see the green.
Report, presented by Wendy Foster
Wendy state that she has nothing to report, but has a few questions which she will wait for the Director of Golf Report.
Ladies Locker Room/Food and Beverage Report, presented by Tara Ford
Nothing to report.
Chairman Report, presented by Brit Lawlor
Golf course is in great shape. As we come to the end of the season, I would like to thank Jimmy and his staff. All that you do is very much appreciated here at BGC. People tend to have short memories and really forget where this golf course was only 5 years ago. The golf course was not in great shape, we basically gave away our grill room and upstairs bar, just some really poor decisions were made. Through all of this though, one constant has been Jimmy’s positive attitude; because of this he was able to keep membership around and if not for Jim and his staff, we would not be where we are today.
Vito Aniello brings up a conversation him and John Mackie had in regard to the sand bottles on the carts being filled prior to the round. In his recent rounds, Vito had sand bottles that were basically empty, which is not conducive to keeping the course in good shape. I know John and Jimmy will take care of it but it’s just something to keep an eye on.
Discussing the cart pricing of clubs in the surrounding area, Southampton Golf Club charges $27 for a member and $37 for a guest.Brit spoke with Ray Fell in the middle of the month and suggested that the price of the carts get increased from $24 to $26, approximately 6%. I also recommend to raise the 25 trip card and the Unlimited Cart Plan also by 6%. The board unanimously votes yes. Brit will let Ray Fell know and Ray will present it to the Village Board.
Superintendent Report, presented by Chris Johnson
We had some hurdles with aeration, yet again. Over an inch of rain last night which slowed us down a little. Additionally we were down a few people due to the “Aeration Flu”, but the crew did what we had to do. There is still some work to be done on the course, so it will open at 10AM tomorrow. Chris Johnson states that overall, he is happy with how it turned out. Chris would like to thank everybody for the support throughout the year. Lastly, Chris would like to thank Ray Fell and Jim Von Eschen for allowing me to host an association event this past Monday. Some peers throughout the industry and some industry reps came out and the course really shined. We had a lot of compliments afterwards from people who had no idea that BGC even existed.
Director of Golf Report, presented by Jim Von Eschen
Saw a lot of old friends at Chris’ event the other day and they couldn’t believe how we were in such good shape. We held a Titleist fitting today which was a huge success. Jim states that overall, we sold about 10 Drivers, 5 sets of irons, 6 wedges and a couple hybrids. He states that Titleist loves us with the amount of work that we do with them. We fit about 9 people today, in the Spring we sold about 27 wedges and we plan to do another club fitting in the Spring.
Our outing schedule still continues. Jim states that besides Columbus Day, we have an outing every Monday until November 5th. During the week, Jim says that the tee times will move back to 8:30AM and 7:30 on the weekends, with the Pro Shop opening up a half hour before the first tee time. Jim states that it will be tougher to get early tee times on the weekends since we will start to lose daylight. The Pro Shop will get complaints, but we’ll manage as this happens every year.
As far as the Club Championship goes, we had 31 groups, which basically maxed out the golf course being able to use both tees (front and back). It saves a huge amount of time when it comes to pace of play. Jim states that although it puts some stress on Chri Johnson and his staff, we had a lot of compliments on the tournament pace of play. Wendy Foster states that it was one of the best Club Championships that she had played in but she has received some questions as to why there weren’t two Ladies Flight. Jimmy states that we really didn’t have enough Ladies to create a second flight. Tara Ford asks what the cut-off is for that second flight to come into play. Jimmy answers by saying the lowest handicap in the flight was an eleven, adding eight strokes to that put us at a nineteen handicap; there were only three Ladies over a nineteen handicap. One of the issues that we have is, Ladies wait to see if there will be two flights before signing up, so when there is only enough Ladies for one flight, they don’t sign up. Kathy Dennis would like to give Anne Marie Strauss a lot of credit for competing throughout the weekend. Jimmy adds that she has competed in the event for the past two years. We reached out to those higher handicaps and told them that we were only going to have one flight, and all three Ladies didn’t hesitate to say they wanted to play. Jimmy states that ultimately we look to create a field of eight people. If we took the 11 players in the flight, it would be an odd number whichever way we cut it off. There were a lot of Ladies who normally play in the event who were away or had prior commitments. Additionally, we had a lot of the newer female members ask to see if they were eligible to play. Jimmy states that unfortunately the newer members would have to wait until the 2019 Club Championship but going forward, he believes there will be more participation. Jim states that next year he would like to see three flights in the Ladies Championship.
Vito Aniello states that we need more female members. Wendy Foster responds by saying we need to give them opportunity to play, talking about changing some things, making some more night leagues, changing formats of tournaments, etc. We’ve been talking a lot in general about ways to bring in more players but we have to think about a way to open more doors for the women to feel comfortable and want to play. She states that she agrees, completely, but in the current state, we need to do more things in order for that to happen. On the topic of membership, Jeff Nagel would like everybody to know that over the last three seasons, we’ve brought in about 180 new members. He continues, not that it has been easy for us to gain members, but it hasn’t necessarily been a problem for us. Bobbi Bauer asks how many have been female members. Jeff Nagel responds that just this fall alone, we have brought in six female members.
Ray Fell add that over the last few years, Jimmy has done a lot for us to get younger as a club. He proposed the Associate Membership which, although it started out slow, it has sprouted in recent years. Ray adds that even though he was skeptical, once the Associate members turned 40, they have all joined as Full Members. He continues that the commission may want to think about getting rid of the Twilight membership. He states, as we grow as a membership we have to remember that there are quite a few members who enjoy playing late in the evening. Just the other day, he was in the locker room and somebody was just looking to play a quick 5 or 6 holes. Ray states that as people are paying $5,000 a year, we have to keep their rights in mind. These people join a private club so that they can play a leisurely round, late in the evening. Jeff Nagel would also like to add that we should be thinking about making BGC completely private, where you either join, or you can’t play.Using Port Jefferson CC as an example, if you are not a member, you can not play at the course, even if you are a resident of Port Jefferson. Jeff thinks that this will actually help gain members throughout the village. Wendy Foster asks if there is a way that we can even see how many residents are playing throughout the season. Jim Von Eschen states that yes, we actually keep track of play and can get her the information.
Kathy Dennis mentions that she knows of many ladies who play, but we need to get them involved with possibly group lessons. Brit states that this would be much easier to do with the proposed practice facility. Jim Von Eschen states that we currently do groups of lessons with females. The group of ladies set up the times with either Jimmy or John privately, when the time and course availability work.
Meeting concludes at 7:04PM.