Posted: 10/28/04

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Attended by: Bakersfield 1, Bellows Falls 3, Blush Hill 1, Brattleboro 4, Burlington 2, Cedar Knoll 2, Champlain 1, Copley 1, CC of Barre 2, CC of Vermont 2, Crown Point 1, Dorset 3, Gleneagle 1, Green Mountain 2, Lake Morey 4, Lake St. Catherine 1, Manchester 3, Montague 2, Mount Snow 1, Neshobe 2, Newport 4, Okemo Valley 1, Orleans 2, Proctor-Pittsford 2, Quechee 3, Ralph Myhre 2, Richford 3, Rocky Ridge 2, Rutland 5, St. Johnsbury 1, Stratton 1, Sugarbush 2, Vermont National 2, West Bolton 3, Williston 2, Woodstock 2

Recorded by: Mary Corey

The meeting was called to order by President, Elizabeth Walker.

Minutes of 2003 Annual Executive Committee Meeting: recorded by Nancy Bowen, were presented by Mary Corey and approved as written.

Treasurer Report: Presented by Linda Duncan, was approved.

President’s Report: Elizabeth Walker followed the formal meeting agenda, opening with the need of hiring an Executive Director. This was received with unanimous support. A motion was made to partially fund the Executive Director position by increasing State Day fees from $15. to $20. This was received with both positive and negative feedback. Loss of play concerns was expressed for those clubs with greens fees less than $20. and for participants on a fixed income.

Should Division A & B indexes be changed? It was suggested that all divisions should have an equal number of players. A rebuttal was made regarding the span of 16 strokes in A division, when all other divisions are separated by a maximum of seven strokes. Marie Tucker has run division statistics but this topic needs further review.

Should we revisit the Lakeside Membership Topic? Motion was made to continue excluding non-Real Estate club members. Motion carried.

How Should we Handle People who’s Handicap goes over 36.0 and should we establish guidelines for waivers for people going over 36.0? Kathy Allbright made a motion, any participant having paid their VSWGA State Day Participation Fee carrying a 36.0 GHIN handicap at the beginning of the year, should be able to continue playing for the entire season. Motion carried, with the stipulation, if participants’ handicap rises above 36.0, they must continue playing to the 36.0 handicap and will remain eligible for points. If participants’ handicap does not drop below 36.1 at year end, Sue Ming may be contacted for a waiver, provided they have played State Day’s for a minimum of three years.

Handicap Chair Report: Pat Job spoke on the modernization of the GHIN Handicap system. Then with course ratings, a new age of computer systems came along. Today we have 50 clubs that are linked to this system and 3700 active women golfers. Vermont clubs, for the most part, are very good at paying their fees with only a couple that need reminding.

Junior Program Chair: Mary Anne Levins wanted to commend Kathy Domenicucci for her hard work qualifying Vermont to receive Grant money for the Girl’s Junior Golf Program, with many thanks to Leo Reynolds, a semi-retired pro, with a passion for assisting junior golfers. He has helped with nine two-hour clinics throughout the state, assisting 200 Vermont girls ranging from 5 - 18 years of age with the majority being in the 9 - 13 year age group. Great improvements were seen with all students attending each clinic. Along with the clinics there was an all day camp at Equinox for girls and Leo instructed a 3-hour seminar for 21 VT club pros in the spring. This seminar focused on promoting and teaching junior golf, with an emphasis on nurturing junior girls. It was very well received. Mary Anne recommended, junior golfers should receive a 25% reduction in state tournament fees but should not get a free ride. Financially challenged juniors’ may request tournament fee assistance through the junior program.

 

Course rating Chair: Margaret Dick reported during 2004 six courses were rated, Gleneagle, Farm Resort, Montpelier, Basin Harbor, Catamount, Country Club of Vermont. The ratings were adjusted on several courses where holes have been changed. Due to the rainy season, Mount Snow and Haystack did not get rated.

Rules Chair - Shari Pfannenstein, no report.

State Day Points Chair: Sue Ming reported for this year we had 495 participating players including 74 new players. There were 3212 rounds of golf played and 581 points earned for a value of $17,433.00. Country Club of Vermont will be back with us again in 2005 along with Bradford Golf Club. Bakersfield is a little shaky, but we may be able to hold on for the upcoming season. Sue praised Marie Tucker for a job well done. She reported the Association was awarded a $3,000. Computer assistant grant. A $500. Travel scholarship was awarded to be used for USGA Tech Week.

State Day penalties were overlooked during the 2004 season but will be enforced in 2005.

The focus for next year is to increase everyone’s computer skills and provide better communications with all club reps.

Website Report prepared by Cindy Paquet was presented by Elizabeth Walker. Appreciation was given to Cindy for her continued excellence maintaining the website which she created for the VSWGA seven years ago. New features added this season, were, tee time postings for major tournaments with daily results on those tournaments. Major tournament results, news items of historical value for 2004 will be moved to the Archive section. All schedule, application, directory, course, and rules information for 2005 will be added as soon as it becomes available from Sue Ming. Cindy thanked Marie Tucker for forwarding all results and the tee time information.

Tournament Procedures Chair: Kathy Allbright reported the Tournament Procedures Handbook had been completed during the 2004 season. This is an invaluable piece of information designed to assist tournament chairs.

VSWGA Match Play Championship: Hosted by Orleans Country Club. Kathy Allbright reported , due to poor participation the 2004 tournament was cancelled. It will be rescheduled for 2005.

Tri-State: Hosted by Boothbay Country Club, Boothbay Harbor, ME. Elizabeth Walker reported Vermont was victorious. We had a 20 point lead after day one. The final scoring was Vermont placing first with 161.5 points, Maine second with 125.0 points and New Hampshire third with 118.5 points.

Senior Amateur: Hosted by Crown Point Country Club. Kathy Allbright reported Reggie Parker, from Ekwanok Country Club won the 2004 Ruth Raymond Jones Seniors’ championship at Crown Point CC by three strokes over Crown Point’s Gennie Vogal.

NEWGA: Hosted by Rutland Country Club in Rutland VT. Kathy Allbright reported Reggie Parker of Ekwanok Country Club in Manchester Vermont has become only the third Vermont Golfer in history too win the coveted New England Women’s Golf Association Championship, following in the footsteps of the legendary Mae Murray Jones of Rutland and Holly Reynolds of Morrisville.

State Amateur: Hosted by Country Club of Barre. Kathy Kimp, tournament chair, prepared the report which was presented by Elizabeth Walker. There were 94 participants registered. Seven were juniors. The ladies were graciously welcomed by members, staff and volunteers alike. The course was in great shape and it was a close contest right to the end. Andrea Brown of Williston won the championship with a two-stroke lead over Kristin Turcotte-Mahoney of Rutland. Third place was a tie with Reggie Parker of Ekwanok and Ashlee Marcell of Procter-Pittsford, trailing by three strokes.

Mid Amateur: Hosted by Brattleboro Country Club. Elizabeth Walker congratulated Mary Ann Levins of Rutland on winning the 2004 Mid-Amateur Championship. Only three strokes separated the top three places. It was a close tournament and came down to the last couple of holes. Andrea Brown came in second place, two strokes behind Mary Ann. Deirdre Morris of Proctor-Pittsford came in third, trailing by only three strokes.

New Business: The Senior Amateur for 2005 will be hosted by The Ralph Myhre Golf Course in Middlebury, VT and Haystack Golf Course in Wilmington, VT will host Tri State in 2005.

 

Nominations Committee: A slate of nominees was presented by Roberta Lynch to fill five slots on the Board.

Three Year Term - Elizabeth Walker; Linda Duncan; Cheryl Hoar

Fill One Year Vacancy ( Harriet Parot) - Pat Job

Fill Two Year Vacancy (Jeanne DiBattisto) - Kathy Williams

The Slate of nominees was approved.

Elizabeth Walker concluded the meeting by thanking Pat Job and Margaret Dick for their many years of dedicated service. The meeting was adjourned at 11:36 a.m..

Next Meeting: Rutland, VT, November 9, 2004, 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m.

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