Commission Members in Attendance: Others in Attendance:
Brit Lawlor – Chairman Jim Von Eschen – Director of Golf
Ron Krawczyk – Deputy Chairman John Mackie – Assistant Golf Pro
Ryan Stanley – Tournament / Membership Liaison Chris Johnson – Superintendent
Jeff Nagel – Membership & Marketing John Daley – Member
Joe Dabrowski – Greens
Mike Mislin – Violations
Mike Cioffi – Men’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Tara Ford – Ladies Locker Room/Food and Beverage
Don Maxwell – Handicap
Motion to start meeting by Joe Dabrowski, Ron Krawczyk 2nds it; accepted by Brit Lawlor. Meeting officially starts at 6:05PM.
Chairman Report, presented by Brit Lawlor
Brit starts with one piece of correspondence in regards to Frank Turso. He has not played since July 8th and is asking for proration from then through October; Frank does have doctor’s notes. Commission unanimously accepts. Moving on Brit brings up the 2021 golf season and specifically, the waiting list. For the first time since the early 2000s, BGC has a waiting list. Brit states that we as a commission has to come up with a plan for both new and returning members. Jim Von Eschen states that maybe this year was an anomaly, but we believe people will continue to work from home and continue to golf. With 400 members and another 30 on a waiting list, we have to know where we stand by the end of January. Brit states that in a letter to go out in October, we will explain very clearly what the implications will be if you pay late as well as if you are not paid in full by the time the waiting list is released. He continues by saying that the Village will be very strict with budgets in the future and there’s the possibility that things will be cut if numbers aren’t reached. Jimmy believes that we should call the first 10 people on the waiting list and give them a week, after that call the next 10 and give them a week, etc. This will allow other returning members to come back. Tara Ford has the idea of pay in full by January 31st and then give the. membership a two-week grace period to pay the late fee. After those two weeks, you then open up to. the waiting lists. The commission unanimously likes that idea, using February 1st and February 15th as the “Paid in Full” and “Two Week Grace Period” date, respectively. Brit states that he will put together a rough draft of the letter to go out to membership.
Greens Report, presented by Joe Dabrowski
Greens aeration is done and finished. The timing of the aeration helped the greens heal much faster than in previous years. Joe says that the green surrounds and some tee boxes will be done throughout the next few weeks; fairways are to be done in the middle of October. Lastly, on greens aeration, the holes themselves were not visible in about 10 days.
Violations Report, presented by Mike Mislin
Nothing to report.
Men’s Locker Room/Food and Beverage Report, presented by Mike Cioffi
Nothing to report.
Tournaments/Rules Report, presented by Ryan Stanley
Last Saturday we held our 2020 Member-Member Tournament. Ryan states that he did not hear any complaints in regards to it not going all three days. The results for that tournament were as follows:
Men’s A Flight: Victor Cisario, Frank Lavacca………………………40 Points
Women’s A Flight: Michele Lemoal-Gray, Linda Oconnell….19 Points
Men’s B Flight: Brit Lawlor, Jim Cullen……………………………….33 Points
Women’s B Flight: Lisa White, Tara Ford …………………………..4 Points
Men’s C Flight: Bob Scalia, Robert Quarte………………………….22 Points
Men’s D Flight: Jerry Flora, Bruce Palladino……………………….13 Points
Men’s E Flight: Neal Smith, Jerry Andritz……………………………17 Points
Men’s F Flight: William Ayers, Steve Clemente…………………..8 Points
Continuing, Ryan states that the Club Championship is scheduled for the last weekend in September. He continues; after talking to Jim Von Eschen and some other commission members, we will be doing the Championship with 1 Male Flight and 1 Female Flight. Ryan says that there will be no restriction as to who can sign up as far as handicap is considered. Additionally, Ryan states that there are serious talks about a Net Tournament in the Fall, especially considering we will most likely be cancelling the years Ryder Cup.
Membership & Marketing Report, presented by Jeff Nagel
Nothing to report; we covered that in the beginning.
Ladies Locker Room/Food and Beverage Report, presented by Tara Ford
Nothing to report.
Handicap Report, presented by Don Maxwell
No new complaints on the new handicap system.
Deputy Chairman Report, presented by Ron Krawczyk
Nothing to report.
Superintendent Report, presented by Chris Johnson
Chris states that Joe really covered a lot but the greens aeration went very well. We fertilized the greens prior and after aeration, which helped out tremendously. The greens were able to close in roughly 10 days because of the fertilizer. Chris states that once the fertilizer grows out, the greens will pick up speed, especially as the cooler weather and nights come. He says that they will top-dress the greens every two weeks as well as verti-cut in the Fall. Chris suggests that we close for 3 days next year and do tee boxes as well. He states that doing so will only leave fairway aeration, but that won’t occur until the Fall.
Director of Golf Report, presented by Jim Von Eschen
Just a quick point to make from Von Eschen; he states that if rounds are going to stay the way they are, I believe that we should go to Parkland and get another person for Chris’ crew. Additionally, a bigger crew on the weekend would allow us to get the golf course cut faster, being able to open an extra tee time. He states that this time of year, we lose tee times weekly to lack of daylight. The extra crew member could have us do a split tee on the weekends if we want, which again, would open up much more tee times. He concludes that either way, an extra crew member would go a long way over the course of a year.
Comments from the Crowd
John Daley – John would like to start by congratulating Jim Von Eschen for making the course playable to all members throughout the golfing season. We were able to endure six straight weeks of brutal heat and humidity and nothing died so kudos to Chris and his crew. John states that it seemed that aerating earlier in the year has seemed to work. Additionally, he believes the wall behind 18 green must be cleaned up. States that the members paid for that wall but “can’t even see it”. John finishes by bringing up the fairway bunker on 15, specifically the fescue on the sides of the bunker. He suggests putting plastic planking on the East side so that the ball goes much further into the bunker. Brit Lawlor and Chris Johnson state that the plastic planking would look terrible and cause much more maintenance. Brit states that he, Chris Johnson, Joe Dabrowski and Jim Von Eschen will look at it and try to come up with a solution to make it safe.
Meeting concludes at 7:19PM.