Commission Members in Attendance:
Brit Lawlor – Chairman
Ryan Stanley – Tournament / Membership Liaison
Jeff Nagel – Membership & Marketing
Joe Dabrowski – Greens
Tara Ford – Ladies Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Michael Cioffi – Men’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Others in Attendance:
Jim Von Eschen – Director of Golf
Chris Johnson – Superintendent
John Mackie – Assistant Golf Pro
Mike Mislin – Member
Motion to start meeting by Jeff Nagel, Joe Dabrowski 2nds it; accepted by Brit Lawlor. Meeting officially starts at 6:01PM.
Membership & Marketing Report, presented by Jeff Nagel
As far as membership goes, we currently sit at 363 total members. This number is up roughly 15 from where we stood at this time last year. As we continue to state, it is important that we get hard caps for membership totals and do so before we have too many members. Jim Von Eschen states that our budget for the year is done off of what we expect membership to be at; for example, we proposed a budget of $1.3 million for next year. Continuing, he states that we obviously don’t want it to get to the point where we people can’t get tee times or pace of play becomes a serious issue. Jeff Nagel asks what days are currently the busiest at BGC. Jimmy answers that Wednesdays and Fridays are probably our busiest days with Saturdays being the next. The Men’s Club (which averages 60-70 players each week) contributes to the busy Wednesdays but even after the men finish, it is very busy throughout the afternoon.
Greens Report, presented by Joe Dabrowski
Our greens aeration will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, right after the Ryder Cup. The new bunkers on 2 and 3 are finished with the mounds being finished this week. Joe continues, hopefully later next week the mounds and backside of the bunkers will be hydro-seeded. Finishing, the golf course is currently in great shape and looking forward to see it in the Summer.
Ladies Locker Room/Food and Beverage Report, presented by Tara Ford
I would like to advocate for a couple more benches like we got at the end of last season. There’s just a few more spots where they would be very helpful. Tara continues by saying that about 5 more benches would be ideal. She has noticed that already on the first hole, the one bench has moved to behind the Black tee markers. Tara believes that one would be nice by the Red tee markers as well. Chris Johnson just asks Tara to get him a list of where the new benches would need to go; she will do so the next time she is out. Chris does say that these benches wouldn’t be stained until the Winter time, but once we get them and put them together, they will be out.
Men’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage Report, presented by Mike Cioffi
Nothing from anything as far as the Restaurant or Locker Room.
Tournaments/Rules Report, presented by Ryan Stanley
We had our first tournament (Master’s Tournament) earlier in the month and due to the weather (rain) we had 14 players. Anthony Pepitone won the event with a total of 277. This weekend we have our Opening Ryder Cup; 9AM start with a Rules Seminar prior to the start and a lunch afterwards. Ryan states that we have a full field for the event and the weather is looking to be good. We are holding our annual WMGA team matches on Thursday, May 9th; the golf course will be closed until 11AM. Ryan continues, our first outing is scheduled for May 13th and the President’s Cup will be held on May 18th and 19th. The President’s Cup is an individual stroke play event. Upcoming in the month as well is our Ladies and Men’s Clubs; the Ladies will begin on May 21st and the Men on May 22nd.
Superintendent Report, presented by Chris Johnson
Going off of what Joe said, the construction went well when it wasn’t raining and ultimately, we are happy with how they came out. As Joe said earlier, we will hydro-seed and get some grass growing sooner rather than later. Aeration on Monday and Tuesday will be done with smaller holes so it will be different for us and we will see how it goes. Chris states that we are looking to open everything up around Memorial Day Weekend.
Director of Golf Report, presented by Jim Von Eschen
The bridge going to the 10th green/11th tee is suffering from an extreme erosion problem. Jimmy states that he and Jason Crane looked at it last week and it can be fixed for the time being; ultimately the erosion along the creek bed is the bigger problem. Jimmy says that going back 10 years, the end of the canal, on the bay side, used to be dredged every other year to the point that you used to be able to hit your ball from the canal, depending on the tide. Jason and his crew will be able to repair the bridge during the days that the course is closed due to aeration. Jimmy states that it bulkheading is something that will have to be done eventually but it will cost a lot of money. Going down the left-hand side of the 9th hole, Jim states that we made that area a Red Penalty Area rather than an out of bounds. Other than that, there isn’t much more to add. We’ve been busy throughout the Spring (when it’s been nice) and intend to have a busy Summer down at the course. Last but not least, Jimmy says that Chelsea (the company used for our Tee Time reservation system) has come out with an app that will be compatible with your cell phone and iPads. This will make the interface on these devices much more user friendly and will only cost us $600 for the season. The Commission unanimously votes to get the app.
Brit concludes the meeting at 6:40PM.