Posted: 12/16/01

State Day Tee Time System Considered

The VSWGA board is seriously considering purchasing a computerized phone system for handling state day tee time reservations. The system would include hardware, customized software, and toll-free phone lines. This is a copy of the letter which was sent on December 15th to the club representatives. There will be a meeting on January 15th to vote on this proposal. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please contact your club rep or a VSWGA board member prior to the meeting.

Dear Voting Member of the VSWGA:

As you know, the call in procedure for State Day tee times has been a major concern for our organization for many years. Many suggestions have been formulated over the years; but in our opinion, none with as much appeal as the Chelsea System. The Chelsea System is a computerized phone system that could be tailored to our specific needs. It would offer an automated tee time call in system and centralize tee times for each of the 51 VSWGA member clubs. Some of the benefits would be…

• Calls could be made via a toll free number (no more long distance phone calls!).

• There would be a range of predetermined time for calling in (to be set by us). It could be a time frame of a week or more, and the system would accept calls 24 hours a day (no more endless busy signals!) The "phone" computer would ask for your State Day choice and preferred tee time. Once selected, you would be asked for an identifying number for each player in the group. Each State Day participant would be assigned a number. This could be a new "Participation Fee" number or our present GHIN numbers. An advantage of using a participation fee number is it would help identify qualified, paid State Day Participants. Once the cut off date for tee times passed, you would make a second toll free call to find out which of your choices was selected.

• The system entails a true lottery system. It would not matter if you were the first or last to call in, everyone would have the same chance of getting her first choice. As we progress using the system a "history" of player participation would be created. That history would be taken into consideration when assigning tee times.

• Once the cut off date passed, the tee sheets for various State Days would be printed and forwarded to the appropriate Club Reps via fax, email, or "snail mail".

• The system would prevent double booking. Once an identifying number has been used, the system prevents a duplicate entry.

• The Chelsea System is the only system of its kind that can be linked to GHIN. It has the capability to transport the list of State Day competitors to the GHIN computer. Current handicap indexes could be linked to GHIN numbers, creating up to date State Day sheets with appropriate course handicaps already calculated.

• The Chelsea System could be used to set pairings for State Tournaments, and again integrate with GHIN.

If purchased, The VGA has offered to house the system and phone lines at the VGA Office at Rutland Country Club without charge. Jim Bassett, Executive Director of the VGA, is supportive of our possible undertaking; and although the VGA does not presently have a need for the system, Jim does foresee a possible need in the future to help manage his VGA State Tournaments. Therefore, the VGA might be interested in sharing costs down the road.

A briefing and informational meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 15, 2002 at Rutland Country Club for VSWGA State Day Reps from each club. If it is absolutely impossible for either of your two voting members to attend, please send a representative with your proxy vote.

Obviously, this would be a major undertaking for the VSWGA and merits your full involvement as Club Rep. It would be a sizeable purchase and would require at least 50% approval of the voting members. We realize we have just touched on explaining the system and its capabilities so we look forward to your questions and concerns. The meeting will give us an opportunity for constructive discussion and evaluation; and together we can make a decision that will best serve the entire VSWGA membership. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please call Elizabeth Walker at 802-464-5683, or email her at esw@sover.net.

Looking forward to seeing you on January 15^th, and best wishes for a happy holiday season!

Sincerely,

The VSWGA Board

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