Commission Members in Attendance:
Ron Krawczyk – Deputy Chairman
Jeff Nagel – Membership/Capital Assessment
Joe Dabrowski – Greens
Kevin Lauretti – Handicap/Capital Assessment
Mike Mislin – Violations
Ryan Stanley – Tournament
Tara Ford – Women’s Locker Room/Beverages
Members in Attendance:
Dennis Maguire, Bob Scalia, Vic Cisario
Others in Attendance:
Jimmy Von Eschen – Director of Golf Chris Johnson – Golf Course Superintendent
John Mackie – Assistant Golf Pro Maureen Veitch – Village Mayor
Rita Temple – Resident
Ron welcomes everybody. 6:00 start. Jeff motions to accept, Joe 2nds
Violations Report, presented by Mike Mislin
Nothing to report.
Women’s Locker Room/Beverages Report, presented by Tara Ford
Nothing to report.
Tournament Report, presented by Ryan Stanley
Ryan would like to thank everybody who played in last month’s events. Starting with the Presidents’ Cup, congratulations to our overall champions, Ralph Gallo and Sally Hayes. The rest of the flight winners are:
Men’s A – Joe Dabrowski – 16 Points
Men’s B – Michael Rau – 15 Points
Men’s C – Brian Strauss – 19 Points
Men’s D – Frank Loiacono & Stephen Larado – 12 Points
Men’s E – Bob Scalia – 19 Points
Men’s F – John Gennusa – 19 Points
Men’s G – Paul Rummel – 14 Points
Men’s H – Ralph Gallo – 23 Points
Women’s Flight – Sally Hayes – 21 Points
The Team 4 Ball event saw 20 teams in the field, with our winners coming in at a score of Net 58. Congrats to Mark Miller, Mark Amone, Willy Newham and Jim Dowd for their performance. The rest of the winners were:
Pos. Foursome Prize Total
1 Mark Miller + Mark Amone + William Newham + Jim Dowd $200 58
2 Michael Diperi + Robert Quarte + Dave Thomas + Bob Scalia $160 61
3 Robert Bernard + Rick Tourin + Jerry Varrichio + Robert Varrichio $140 61
4 James Cottone + Joe Ferme + Lou Stravinsky + Anthony Pepitone $120 61
5 Jon Coleman + Joseph Dabrowski + Jeff Nagel + Bl[Joe Ferme] $100 62
6 Frank Lavacca + Thomas Longo + Robert DeLuca + Michael Gentil $80 63
To finish, Ryan mentions the upcoming events:
– Summer Match Play: brackets and phone numbers are posted in the Locker Room with no shots being given inside the flights. Please play your matches on time.
– US Open Tournament (June 14th): Sign up at the Starter’s Booth on the day of play. Your net score plus the 3 players you select. Low 4 person score wins.
– Governor’s Cup (June 21st): 2 person combined stableford, flighted by total combined index.
– Red, White & Blue Scramble (July 6th): 6 holes from the red markers, 6 holes from the white markers and 6 holes from the blue markers (you select which tees you play). You will make tee times for this event just like a regular weekend.
– Men’s Member/Guest (July 17th): Sold out in a day and a half, looking forward to a great day.
Tara states that she is disappointed in the lack of participation from the women for the Summer Match Play. Including Tara, there were only 2 other women who inquired about the tournament, with nobody signing up. Due to lack of participation, Tara also states that the women are thinking about not hosting a Member/Guest event. Regarding the Summer Match Play, Jimmy asks Tara if it would help if there were handicaps involved. Tara says it is the same format as the WMGA matches so she doesn’t see why. Both Jimmy and Tara agree that more formats to encourage play and not post a score are needed to get involvement during the week but the weekend events are your more competitive events. Jimmy also says that if we get 6 women that come to us this week and say they want in for the Match Play, we’ll run it. Jimmy says that some of our ladies are playing in other games on Tuesdays because they are more competitive. At the same time, Jimmy says that we are teaching more and more women and hoping to grow from there.
Greens/Course Assessment Report, presented by Joe Dabrowski
Mr. Dabrowski says that grass is growing and Chris is in full swing with his top-dressing programs. Joe continues, letting membership know that the fescue is beginning to grow so please keep all carts (push carts, motorized carts and electric carts) out of these areas. In regards to the increasing number of ball marks to show on greens, Joe asks members to walk towards the front of the greens to look for them – being that our greens tend to be firmer, most balls land on the front of greens.
Joe would like to make if known that the commission will begin to start planning their winter projects soon; he would like any suggestions to be brought to the individual commission members. Mr. Dabrowski reminds people that these winter projects are things that improve overall playability throughout the golf course. Joe says that he is wanting to see an alternative cart path get tested out in a couple of areas, rather than blacktopping. Ron Krawczyk steps in and asks each commission member to come up with something for the next meeting; he also asks membership to email Joe if they have a realistic idea that could help.
Membership Report, presented by Jeff Nagel
Jeff states that we have had a couple of new (resident) members join recently to bring our total to 401 members. Jeff also says that we have a total of 35 Juniors, which is great for the future of the club and the game.
Handicap/Course Assessment Report, presented by Kevin Lauretti
Kevin begins his report talking about the Purple Horse report. Kevin says that the golf commission, let alone the golf membership, is still waiting for the report to be finalized. Mr. Lauretti states that Trustee Rohermeir said we should have it for this meeting but still nothing. Kevin tells the membership in attendance to continue to contact Village Hall, the Mayor and the Trustees to see when we will get the finalized report. As a reminder, Kevin says that the commission was told that the report would come in December and at the time of this meeting, it is almost June.
Superintendent’s Report, presented by Chris Johnson
Chris says that he and his staff are going full speed now. He says that it feels like the heart of the season came fast but Chris is excited.
Director of Golf Report, presented by Jim Von Eschen
Mr. Von Eschen starts off letting everyone know that Kyle is back to work! He says that Kyle is doing excellent and will be back on a limited basis to start, but he is in good spirits. Women’s and Men’s Tournament Days have started but have been slow due to the weather, which also sees the course a touch down in play through May. Looking into June, the course will hold two outside outings – YMCA, June 9th and ISF, June 30th – both days will see the course closed. Jimmy reminds all that pace of play has been good but there are still some groups to be spoken with on a repeat basis. He continues to say, keep up with the group in front of you and if an entire hole opens up in front of you, just let the group behind play through. Lastly, Jimmy talks about the Remind App (text messaging service) – he says that the app has changed where you must download the app itself. Jim mentions that once downloaded (select YES for push notifications) you will receive updates as notifications.
Comments from the Crowd
Bob Scalia – Mr. Scalia asks for any update on the lease to the caterer. Ron Krawczyk says that the same operation will be running the same way for the next year. Ron reminds Bob that we are still waiting for the Purple Horse report. Ryan Stanley mentions that in conversation with the caterers, they have offered to pay for repairs and they want to stay but the Village is waiting for Purple Horse report. Ryan says that currently, they are not booking any events past the Spring of 2027, which is how far in advance weddings are booking.
As Mayor Maureen Veitch walks into the meeting, Tara Ford opens the floor to her in order to clear the air on any confusion. Tara asks Mayor Veitch when the commission and the club will see the finalized report from Purple Horse – Maureen says that hopefully it will be finalized in a months’ time but she did speak with Brit Lawlor about the essence of the report and still feels that the golfers need a place to go after their round. Mayor Veitch says that in regard to some of the bigger projects the Village is looking to bundle multiple Village projects together in order to get a better rate on borrowing money. Tara is concerned about the caterer’s ability to book future events, including golf outings, which do contribute to the course’s budget. Tara states that if the caterers don’t survive, then in turn the Village may struggle with less money coming in year after year – although Tara is not a resident, she says she owns a business in the Village and is part of the community, so she is invested. Maureen says that they are in the process of who is going to run the entire space, and they are looking at all options, including using the current building in an alternative way. Tara asks what the current caterers are looking for in terms of a lease – Mayor Veitch says that they are not currently talking about that. Ryan Stanley asks the mayor about opening upstairs the upstairs restaurant, do we hear this in a month and how does this relate to the Purple Horse report? The mayor responds by saying that tennis should be folded into the enterprise fund and these golfers and tennis members need a place to hang. She continues, saying that the report talks about the findings of the irrigation system and the need to be invested in. Tara Ford says that these all seem like long term projects, whereas the caterer’s lease is more of a short-term issue and is very time sensitive. Mayor Veitch says that she is not going to discuss that in public.
Kevin Lauretti asks the Mayor about the Purple Horse report which was due in December and specifically, why the report is still in draft form, 6 months later. He also asks about when it will be available for the public, including the golf membership. Mayor Veitch states that the Village had a public meeting for the residents when they discussed the marina and she plans to do the same (also open to members) for the golf course. She says that the public meeting would include drawings and information, a Purple Horse who is willing to do a Q & A. Ryan Stanley states that the Pro Shop is a major concern and is falling apart – Ryan asks if that will be included in the Purple Horse report? Mayor Veitch says that the report will cover that but it will be done in phases, agreeing that it is in dire need of repair.
Ron Krawczyk thanks Mayor Veitch for her time and ends the meeting at 6:34PM