August 30, 2023
Commission Members in Attendance:
Brit Lawlor – Chairman
Ron Krawczyk – Deputy Chairman
Joe Dabrowski – Greens
Kevin Lauretti – Handicap/Course Assessment
Others in Attendance:
Jim Von Eschen – Director of Golf Mike White – Member
Chris Johnson – Course Superintendent Pat Comiskey – Member
John Mackie – Assistant Golf Pro Mary Butler-Person – Member
Greg Fox – Parkland Golf Management Bob Scalia – Member
Cheryl Russell – Member Arlene Trigg– Member
Dennis Maguire – Member Jill Silverman – Member
Jim Fedge – Resident/Starter Mike Foster – Member
Wendy Foster – Member Will Newham – Member
Motion to start meeting by Ron Krawczyk, Joe Dabrowski 2nds it; accepted by Brit Lawlor. Meeting officially starts at 6:03PM.
Commissioner’s Correspondence, presented by Brit Lawlor
Mr. Lawlor has one piece of correspondence from Cheryl Russell and the Women’s Cross County Association.
“To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Cheryl Russell, and I am the tournament sites chair for the Women’s Cross County Golf Association. (WCCGA) I am writing to provide you with some information about our organization and request a date for one of our tournaments in 2024.
The WCCGA was established in 1950, we will be celebrating our 74th anniversary this year. We are proud to have a membership of over 160 women, representing 44 private clubs in Nassau and Suffolk County. Our organization conducts 10 to 12 tournaments per season, with the aim of promoting competitive golf amongst Long Island women.
As we plan our upcoming events, we kindly request your clubs consideration in hosting one of our tournaments in 2024.
Angela Corey Mattis is our member delegate. I am also personally writing this letter as a Bellport member. I am a Board Member on the WCCGA along with six other active members who belong to Bellport Country Club. The WCCGA REQUIRES that each members club host a tournament once every three years. This year due to a wait list the Board has decided to drop members whose clubs do not participate. The last time Bellport hosted a women’s Long Island event for WCCGA, WMGA or WLIGA was in 2017.
Some basic information. We request to play on your Ladies day (Tuesday) and would be delighted to invite your ladies group to start with our shotgun. We make every effort to minimize any disruption to your day. Generally, we begin with the 7:30 a.m. registration and Continental breakfast, followed by a shotgun start either 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. with a buffet lunch served after the tournament. Scoring is done by the pro shop and presented to our tournament representative to be awarded during lunch. Although we do not know the format of the tournament at this time, all par 3’s are closest to the pin contests. The WCCGA will provide $25 to the pro shop for a pro shop gift certificate for each of those winners.
Please note that while our members do not pay green fees, each member will be responsible for paying a cart fee and food and beverage. Typically, we handle billing through interclub arrangements. However, I understand that Bellport does not participate in interclub billing. Given this, we can have each player visit the pro shop individually to make their payment. The WCCGA is flexible and willing to accommodate your preferred method of payment for golf and F & B.
Should you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me either via email or phone. We greatly appreciate your consideration and support.
Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Cheryl Russell
Sites Chair WCCGA”
Brit mentions that he spoke with Jimmy Von Eschen and they are both down for it but have to ask Village to waive green fees, in order to proceed. Cheryl Russell mentions that her and Jill Silverman came to the Village for this golf course; both they and their friends love the place and they want to show it off. Cheryl states that there are roughly 160 people in the organization, all with a handicap of 18 and lower. She mentions that the field size will ultimately be determined by the tournament but want to secure course first. Brit finishes by saying that he and Jimmy will bring it up to the Village Board and ultimately, they will have the final say.
Deputy Chairman Report, presented by Ron Krawczyk
Nothing to report.
Greens/Course Assessment Report, presented by Joe Dabrowski
Mr. Dabrowski begins talking about the aeration that took place last week. Joe says that greens, fairways and tees all got aerated over the last three days. He continues to state that he was putting today and they’re recovering quickly. Joe says that Chris is happy with what he saw and thinks they should be pretty good for Member/Member and will be unnoticeable by Club Championship weekends. Joe continues, saying that greens surrounds will be done in due time as he gets time throughout the Fall.
Looking towards the Winter Project, Joe says that we are getting quotes for tree removal (to enhance playability) and some new tee signs to go hand in hand with the new teeing areas. Joe says that he, Jimmy Von Eschen and John Mackie went out to measure approximate yardages; the current 8th Red Tees is actually 360 yards, compared to the 380 yards that it reads on the scorecard. Joe mentions that when the redesign was done in the late 90s/early 00s, there was an additional tee that was added. Using this 360-yard tee on 8, would allow the handicap to match the men’s and it would allow the entire course to play at a Par 71. The new yardages would approximately be… Back – 6300 yards, Back/Middle – 6000 yards, Middle – 5800 yards, Middle/Front – 5300 yards, Front – 5000 yards, with the MGA rating the course from these three areas (Front, Middle, Back) and the respective combo tees (Middle/Front, Back/Middle). To close, Joe states that the MGA will be coming in October to rate these tees for both men and women and we will begin the 2024 season with new yardages, ratings and a scorecard to correspond with the changes.
Mary Lou Keating asks about the new water machine on the 16th green and specifically how come there is no ice out there. Joe says that the ice was never getting used and thus the ice machine, and specifically the condenser, was constantly breaking. As it continued to get burned out, the refrigeration company suggested doing this. To close, Joe mentions that they have this system in most schools as well as Laurel Links Country Club, since the water comes out cold, they felt that it wasn’t necessary for the ice.
Tournament/Handicap/Course Assessment Report, presented by Kevin Lauretti
Mr. Lauretti mentions that he is reporting the monthly tournaments for Ryan Stanley, as he was unable to make the meeting. Kevin begins with the results from the Women’s Member/Guest Tournament; Gross Division winners were Cheryl Russell, Mary Adamczyk, Bobbie Bauer, Rosie Teribile (68) while the Net Division winners were Sally Hayes, Donna Migdol, Michele Lemoal-Gray, Frances Gottfried (55). Kevin would like to thank Michele White, Lisa White, Angela Matus, Tara Ford and Debbie Cappozi for putting on a great day for everybody. From those who we spoke with, sounded like the day went great and people were happy. Moving onto the Mixed Pinehurst, we had a great turnout with 16 teams. Below are the winning teams from the day:
1st – Jim Cullen & Michele Lemoal-Gray – 62
2nd – Tom Laguardia & Kathy Laguardia – 63
3rd – Tony Caggiano & Sally Hayes – 64
4th – Matt Rizzo & Jill Silverman – 65
5th – Patrick Dowd & Sue Magner – 66
Looking forward to this weekend, Kevin mentions that the Member/Member will be taking place all three days. Kevin states that tee times have been sent out today and with the course healing nicely from aeration, it should be a great weekend. Lastly, Kevin mentions the Club Championship which will take place on September 23rd & 24th as well as September 30th & October 1st. The flights and dates will be broken up by the following:
September 23rd & 24th
| Flight | Indexes | Tees to be Played |
| Women’s B | 18.7 & Higher | Red |
| Men’s B | 10.7 – 16.7 | Blue/White Combo |
| Men’s C | 16.8 & Higher | White |
September 30th & October 1st
| Flight | Indexes | Tees to be Played |
| Women’s Championship | 18.6 & Lower | White |
| Men’s Championship | 6.6 & Lower | Black |
| Men’s A | 6.7 – 10.8 | Blue |
Pat Comiskey asks Kevin about a Women’s B flight. Kevin states that these are the flights for the 2023 event.
In regards to his other duties, Kevin has nothing to add. He states that Joe covered everything about the Winter Project and nothing to note in regards to handicap.
Superintendents Report, presented by Chris Johnson
Chris states that aeration went super well, as weather was perfect and the golf course is officially in recovery mode. Chris continues, stating that with all the recent rain, his crew is back into grass cutting mode but they’re doing great.
Director of Golf Report, presented by Jim Von Eschen
Mr. Von Eschen states that the golf course has been busy, stating that the course is up about 3,000 rounds from last year which in turn effects the daily course conditions. Jimmy says that the pace of play has been slow at times but there have been lots of ball marks and divots throughout the golf course. In regards to the pace of play issue, Jim states that we have spoke with the groups and some improvements have been made; we thank them for this.
Comments from the Crowd
Pat Comiskey – Pat begins by bringing up the expansion of the 4th green, specifically the front section that currently has a couple sprinkler heads inside the green. Pat would like to see the two-club length rule implemented. After some clarification about the rule, Joe Dabrowski explains that this shouldn’t be an issue in due time as we don’t expect those sprinklers to be inside the green come the future. Joe Dabrowski reiterates that they are still working out what areas on 4 will be green next year and which areas will not, but does state that it will be smaller and should inside the sprinklers.
Mike Foster – Mike begins by letting the Golf Commission and the rest of those in attendance that he is the chairman of the Village Finance Committee. He continues, stating that the Village is trying to determine which improvements are considered Village responsibility and which improvements should be coming out of the course assessment fund (members). Mike says that when spending any of the course assessment money, that should be going in front of the Village Board. Joe Dabrowski says to simplify it, he always thinks about wants vs needs. If the club wants it, it should be taken from course assessment and if it is a need, it should come from the Village; Mr. Foster says that Joe is wrong. Brit Lawlor states that in the past, once the Golf Commission comes up with what improvements they want to make, it is then brought to the Village Board and the Village approves the money being spent. This year, Brit says that they will meet with Mayor Maureen Vietch and Trustee Nathan Rohermeir. Kevin Lauretti reiterates that the spending of the money is always signed off by the Village Board.
Mary-Lou Keating – Mary-Lou begins by stating that we used to do 9 & Dines but have stopped, she would like to know what happened to them. Brit states that when the grill room became very public, we lost some ability to do it but believes we can bring up the discussion; Brit says he will talk with Ryan and have them speak to Peter’s as well as the caterers. Brit mentions that the price always was an issue in the past because of the food, but he will have Ryan look into it. Pat Comiskey asks if we are required to hold member events at the catering hall. Bob Scalia says that no member events are required to be at the caterers, to which Jim Von Eschen clarifies that all member events must be done at caterers per contract but when they gave up the grill room, Jimmy went up and spoke with caterers to okay the use of the grill room.
Wendy Foster – Wendy would like to know how to communicate feedback, wish list, etc to the Golf Commission members. Brit says that all of our emails are on the bellportgolfclub.com website and that the corresponding commission member should be addressed accordingly. Joe Dabrowski also mentions that they can be approached around the course and that ideas are always taken from the monthly meetings.
Mike Dioguardo – Mr. Dioguardo brings up the tree that is just East of the 5th green, next to the cart path. Mike says that he can’t believe the tree did not fall in the recent wind and storms. Chris Johnson states that every tree person who comes to look at our trees, they always mention how that tree is still structurally strong and safe.
Bob Scalia – Mr. Scalia asks how many players are in this weekend’s Member/Member tournament. John Mackie answers that there are 5 flights of 4 teams, so 40 players, which he states is about our average in this event. Mr. Scalia would like to see it played not on a holiday weekend as he believes we will get more participation. Brit Lawlor states that the history of this event goes back at least 50 years, all being played on Labor Day weekend; Mr. Lawlor believes that this history holds some precedent when asking to change the event. Brit says that loyal competitors to the event say it is their favorite tournament of the entire year, even stating that he can not play in it anymore due to home restrictions but adored the event when he was able to play. Mr. Scalia says that he would like to see it move to 2 days one weekend followed by 1 day the next weekend, having the event take two weekends to play. Brit says that he does not see this event changing but will mention it to Ryan Stanley. Mr. Von Eschen mentions that all of the BGC tournaments used to be held over 2 weekends but people complained that they couldn’t commit over both weekends; he continues saying that the club used to have many 2 day events that people begged us to drop to 1 day events. Jimmy finishes by saying that not everybody has to play in every tournament and that is okay, people love this format and handicaps can change a lot over the course of two weekends. Kevin Lauretti asks if it is more of a Labor Day issue or a three-day issue to which Mr. Scalia says that it is more the three days.
Mary Butler-Person – Mary begins by stating that she is relatively new to golf but comes from a business background. She states that it has seems that the demographic at Bellport Golf Club has changed over time and she believes that there should be more input from membership, and suggests a survey to help make decisions. Brit says that they are more than willing to listen and make reasonable changes based on suggestions. Joe Dabrowski says that when you continue to make changes, you upset those who are already happy.
Meeting officially ends at 6:38PM