VERMONT STATE WOMEN’S GOLF ASSOCIATION 

Meeting:       Annual Executive Committee Meeting
Date/Time:   October 2, 2007 9:30 a.m.
Place:            Crown Point Country Club

Attended by: Basin Harbor 1, Bellows Falls CC 2, Blush Hill CC 1, Bradford 1, Brattleboro 2, Burlington CC 1, CC of Barre 1, CC of Vermont 2, Cedar Knoll CC 6, Champlain 2, Crown Point 4, Dorset 2, Enosburg Falls 2, Essex 1, Gleneagles 2, Green Mountain 2, Killington 2, Lake Morey 2, Lake St. Catherine 1, Montague 2, Mount Snow 1, Neshobe 2, Newport 2, Okemo Valley 2, Orleans 2, Proctor Pittsford 2, Quechee 2, Ralph Myhre 1, Rocky Ridge 2, Rutland 2, St. Johnsbury 5, Stratton 1, Tator Hill 2, Vermont National 1, West Bolton 2, Williston 1, Woodstock 1 

Recorded by:            Mary Corey 

President’s Report: The meeting was called to order by the President, Sue Ginnett welcomed everyone and asked that the Board and Committee Chairs introduce themselves. She thanked the Club Reps for a job well done and expressed a need for more training which would make their jobs easier.  

Sue introduced Suzanne Neville, the Director of Administration, stating how she was responsible for publishing the State Day Book and having it ready for publication by March.  Suzanne maintains the Chelsea System, takes care of the mail, answers the telephone, responds to e-mails, contacts all of the golf courses, sets up meeting etc.  She has firmed up a two-year contract with Burlington Country Club to host the Seniors in 2008 and the Mid Amateur in 2009 plus a one year contract from Vermont National for the Mid Amateur in 2010. In addition to her other duties she has taken on the task of starting up the 1^st Tee Junior Program for 2008.                                                                                    

Secretary’s Report:  Mary Corey asked if the Club Reps had received copies of the 2006 Annual Executive Committee Meeting Minutes.  They had not received copies but did not want the minutes read, there were no questions or amendments. The minutes were approved as written. 

Treasurer’s Report: Tracy Sloan reported a projected net income of $8,000. for 2007 then opened the floor for questions on the Treasurer’s Report.  An explanation of Executive Board Expenses and Restricted Funds Income was requested: Executive Board Expenses is a summary total of supplies, support overhead cost, bookkeeper’s salary, insurance and payroll taxes. Restricted Funds Income is compiled of our Computer & Intern Grants money. The Treasurer’s Report was approved as stated.

Committee Chair Reports for Discussion and Approval:  Sue Ginnett opened the floor for questions and discussions:                            

Website Report. Cindy Paquet is the Web Site Administrator and has done an outstanding job with designing, maintaining and updating the VSWGA website. Per Jim Farrel’s remark in 2007, he has seen many website’s throughout the country and Vermont was one of the best. Cindy also sends out all of the Press Releases for our major tournaments.  

Course Rating: Carolyn Barbieri expressed concerns over not having enough trained raters. There were 16 courses due for rating in 2007 with only one being completed.  The problem lies in having only one Team Leader available this summer.  The majority of the courses to be rated were in the north while most committee members live in the central or southern part of the state.                         

It is imperative that we have more volunteers from the north as well as a USGA Course Rating Seminar, Jim Farrel proposed having a seminar when people are available, sometime around the third week in May.  He also suggested the possibility of attending seminars in Florida or other states during the winter months.  Rating Seminars are the same everywhere.   

The courses prefer to be rated on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Re-ratings do not have as high a priority as the required 10 year ratings nor do they take as long.  To help us out the VGA has offered their assistance with six or eight of their Team Leaders.  There are a few perks to being a volunteer, the VSWGA will reimburse mileage and the USGA suggests that the courses provide a free round of golf for each rater.  Elizabeth Walker will co-chair the rating committee.  

Tournament Procedures Chair Report: Kathy Allbright reported that overall State Day’s and State Senior/Mid-Amateur and Amateur Championships went very well.  

Tournament Results:  

Juniors: No results available.                       

NEWGA: Susan Choi of Massachusetts won the 51^st NEWGA Championship with a total of 225 for the 54 stroke play championship. Kimberly Wong of Vermont was the Championship Runner-up and also won the Junior Championship Division with a 54-hole score of 227.  

Tri-State: The Vermont Team won the 2007 Tri-State Tournament in Rockland, Maine by a slim nine point margin over the always tough New Hampshire Team.

Ruth Raymond Jones Memorial Seniors Tournament was hosted by Haystack.  Reggie Parker of Ekwanok won the Ruth Raymond Jones Memorial Senior’s Championships at Haystack by a 11-stroke margin over Kathy Allbright.   

Vermont State Women’s Golf Association Championship: Molly Aronsson of Burlington Country Club won her second consecutive Vermont State Amateur Championship at Enosburg Falls Country Club with a three-day total of 221 with a six-stroke lead over Reggie Parker of Ekwanok.  

Mid-Amateur Championship: Tiffany Maurycy of Williston fired a final round score of 78 to overcome Jeanne Morrissey’s three-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round of the 2007 Mid-Amateur Championship at the Ralph Myhre Golf Course.            

Handicap Chair Report: Harriet Parot reported through the September 14^th revision we have 3222 active women golfers utilizing the GHIN handicap system here in Vermont via the VSWGA.  We, as an association, have billed $49,467. in GHIN handicap fees to member clubs.  One club had to be temporarily shut off but all GHIN fees carried over from last year were collected by early May of this year, which gave us a fresh start going into this season.  There are only a couple delinquent clubs with no anticipated problems.   

                        The VSWGA and member clubs that are currently licensed will need to revisit the club licensing process again during the time frame beginning January 2008 through 2011.  It will be as simple as either attending a seminar held by the USGA or taking the seminar on-line and passing a short quiz.  Upon completion you will receive immediate results and a notification goes to the USGA and Harriet. 

                        A question was raised, if you have a membership for two clubs, will both clubs be billed for your GHIN fees?  The answer was yes, but you could request to have only one active handicap.  If you have two active handicap cards, the lowest handicap will be used.   

                        Scores from Europe cannot be posted.  They do not have the same rating system.    

Junior Program Report: The 2006 season was a great success.  The VSWGA would like to THANK Mary Ann Levins for her time and dedication. She has been a major factor in the huge success of this program.  The Junior Golf spent $2,100. and has $14,000. earmarked for the Junior Program.  For 2008 Vermont will be starting a First Tee Program - a Tiger Woods Program for Junior Golf.   

State Day/Points: The Director of Administration, Suzanne Neville and the VSWGA Intern, Kathy Kahn conduct State Day operations. 

a.  Carts at State Day / Clubs do not have to rent a half cart to players.  Suzanne recommended calling the club but a suggestion was brought to the floor to place a * beside clubs refusing to rent a half cart, maybe the Club Rep could approach the Pro asking if they would consider giving a half cart price if they bumped up the regular cart price by one or two dollars to offset the difference in lost revenue. 

b.  To cut back on printing expenses, it was suggested that the club addresses be deleted from the State Day book and placed on the website.  Metropolitan areas sell books with the club information and directions for $5.  Our State Day Book has directions from the major highways but there are a few wrong turns that should be corrected.  It was suggested that we have a book made available for $3. or $4. dollars.  This was rejected, the majority felt the VSWGA should cover the expense with our surplus funds and keep everything in the State Day book. 

c. The State Day Points Chair recommended that the Final State Day Teams have handicap max differential of five strokes.  This was a recommendation made by the State Day Points Chair.  The recommendation was rejected!   

The Final State Day Teams will be placed in the flight of the lowest handicap player.  Bases on a field of 50 two-person teams, the Flights are broken down with ten teams in each.  The A, B, C, D, E Divisions is just a flight name with no relation to our handicap divisions, it could have been named 1^st Flight, 2^nd Flight, 3^rd Flight, 4^th Flight, 5^th Flight.  

d.  The Most Improved Divisions are based on your beginning handicap Score. The season begins as of August 31 of the prior year and ends August 31 of the current year. Example: If your handicap is 17 (which is B Division) on August 31 of the prior year and drops to a 12 (which is A Division) by August 31 of the current year, you will be eligible for the B Division most improved.   The most improved awards have not been distributed in the traditional manner for the past two years but will resume as stated in 2008. 

e.  Closest to Pin Contest: A motion was made to combine the funds and split the pot equally. The A & B flights on one hole, and the D & E flights on another hole.  The C flight would be placed with the smallest group. Motion did not pass.

The motion was amended: Select two holes and everyone has a chance too win.  Amendment passed. 

The new motion: Closest to The Pin Contest, combine the funds from all flights and split the pot equally.  Select two holes and everyone has a chance too win.  Motion passed.  (Funds will be paid out in chits) 

f.  Chelsea System: On State Day selections, if you do not want to be placed on an alternate list select a second choice. 

g. Courses hosting State Day’s select the tee time hours available for play, they can range from a two-hour window to six hours, unfortunately the VSWGA does not have any control over the tee time hours, we can only recommend not dictate.                                                                               

 

h.  Posting Scores: Individuals post their own scores for the majority of our State Day tournaments.  There are two or three courses which have elected to post the scores for us to ensure the postings are timely and accurate.  This has caused duplicate postings which inflate or lowers the handicap and cannot be corrected immediately (meaning manually). 

A motion was made: Every individual must be responsible for posting their own scores for all State Days.  Motion Passed  

i.  State Day Posting Sheets: An individual asked why State Day’s no longer prepared a Club Posting Sheet.  Kathy Allbright responded that it was extra work for the committee and the majority threw it into the trash but if you really wanted a Posting Sheet, to be used as a tool for verifying your players have posted their scores, let the committee know when you sign in.  A recommendation was made from the floor for Club Reps to use the Chelsea List, it may not capture walk-on’s or cancellations but would be accurate the majority of the time.  

Rules: Shari Pfannenstein is the Rules Chair, Kathy Allbright is her assistant.  There were no rules’ workshops this summer.  Shari stated the USGA would be making major rules changes for the 2008 season and training should be made available.  Next year she would like to have a workshop at Proctor Pittsford.  The workshop should be about four hours including a lunch break.  A large segment of the workshop will be conducted outside on the Putting Green, Bunker Station, Tee Box and Hazards.  Visual instruction has proven to be more effective.  The first sessions will be scheduled late May or early June.  As a learning tool, it was suggested to review the weekly rules’ questions on the VGA’s website. 

Shari suggested forming a VSWGA rules committee, volunteers were Jane Becker and Mary Corey.

Having the rules books available upon request through the VSWGA proved to be a success and will be repeated for the 2008 season. 

Others: 

Not enough time to cover other topics.  

Topics for Discussion and Approval: 

Pace of Play: Kathy Allbright addressed our pace of play problem: It needs to be recognized that if a group falls behind in play - or is holding up the field with open holes in front of them and they do no pick up their pace they should be subject to pace of play penalties.  It is a continued complaint that State Days can be abnormally slow and I do feel that until we start assessing penalties this will not improve.  Use of a gate keeping with start times and times at the turn and at the end could help keep players on tract - but would require additional people at a course to monitor this.  Not all courses have rangers but if other state day players see that the group in front of them has open holes and are not making an effort to pick up the pace,  then someone in the group that is waiting  - should say something to them. Ie; “We have noticed that you are falling behind and would appreciate it if you would try to catch up.”  If no effort is made and they continue to fall behind that group should be subject to penalties - unless valid explanations can be made.  Overall everyone should take the ownership to comment if we see that a group is falling behind and need reminding to pick it up.  Remember you have fallen off the pace if: 

1.  The group on a par 4 is walking off the green when you’re getting on the tee. 

2.  The group in front of you has already teed off the next hole when you are arriving to a par 3. 

3.  Players are on the green on a par 5 and you are teeing off. 

4.  Realizing you are off pace and trying to catch up as soon as you see that you are one shot behind is easier than catching up when it is 2-3 shots out.  We all need to help keep the pace for everyone playing...be aware and learn how to move faster in-between shots.  It is very distracting to other players in your group if only one person is slow, a little instruction on being ready to play will help, if you notice someone is slow, give them pointers on how they can help pick up the pace. 

Other Helpful hints to pick up the Pace of Play: 

1. Let faster players through on State Day’s. 

2. If you are having MAJOR PROBLEMS on a hole and cannot get over a hazard - there is no drop area on the other side - you are holding up players behind you - you may pick the ball up and just write you max with an X on that hole and write DQ beside your score.  There is NO PENALTY!

 

Pace of Play alternative: A suggestion was made to change the State Day format from stroke play to a Stableford/Quota point system, this game enables players to pick up when they reach their max on a given hole .. if your handicap is 24 the max you can post is an 8 .. if you have an 8 .. pick up your ball and write 8X on the score card.  No penalties assessed but you lose one point.  

Kathy Allbright will Chair a volunteer committee to research the possibility of using a Stableford/Quota points system.  Jane Becker introduced the idea and will assist along with many other volunteers.  

Other Business:   

            Not enough time to discuss any other business.       

 New Business:

Tournaments Procedure changes for 2008: Kathy Allbright wanted to highlight some of the changes for 2008. 

At the Mid Amateur the first day was a Shot Gun start - it was a 4 ½ hour round and most of the players liked the format.  The second day we had a partial Shot Gun start with the top 20 having tee times - this round was over 5 hours for the players with the tee times. 

This year the banquet meal was planned after the first day and was served immediately following golf for all of the Championships.  There were a few that missed the more formal atmosphere but the majority loved this new procedure,  it allowed the traveler to attend without spending many hours in the car going back and forth or trying to find a place to shower and change.           

Elect new Board Members: The slate recommended by the Board was:

Tracy Sloan

                        Judy Manley

                        Polly Gadbois 

The floor was opened for nominations, Suzanne Neville nominated:

                         Sarah Lee

The Board has three open slots with four nominees, so it was determined that a vote would go to the floor.  A show of hands was used to vote on the nominees.  The women who were nominated were Tracy Sloan, Polly Gadbois and Sarah Lee. 

A Motion was made to create the new slate of Tracy Sloan, Polly Gadbois, Sarah Lee. 

   The motion passed.                                                                                    

The Slate of nominees was approved. 

Purchases for 2007:            

New Laptop for the Website Administrator.      

 

Announcements: 

2007 VSWGA Major Tournaments:                     

 

Ruth Raymond Jones Memorial Seniors’ Tournament: Burlington, VT at Burlington Country Club, date to be determined. 

Vermont Women’s State Amateur: Wilmington, VT at Haystack, date to be determined. 

New England Women’s Golf Association: Unknown 

Vermont Women’s Mid-Amateur: Enosburg Falls, VT at Enosburg Falls CC, date to be determined.  

USGA Representative: Sue Ginnett introduced our USGA Representative, Jim Farrel.  He commented on it being refreshing to see so many take an interest in running the organization and being involved in such detailed discussions on the issues. He agreed we need more education on rating and would be happy to work with us.  Jim announced the USGA has a two 2.5 million-dollar budget for assisting golf programs and was happy to say we had been approved Grants for our Intern position and the Computer System Intern for 2008.

 

Closing:  

Suzanne Neville thanked the Club Reps for attending and working with her throughout the year.  She felt it was impossible to make everyone happy all of the time but it had been a successful season.