Meeting:        Board of Directors / Committee Chairs
Date/Time:     July 22, 2009 at 4:303 p.m.
Place:              Neshobe Golf Club

Attended by:            Tracy Sloan, Phyllis Simon, Mary Corey, Cindy Paquet, Sarah Lee, Ellen Sheffer, Judy Manley, Jeanne Morrissey, Deb Warner, Kathy Allbright, Suzanne Neville, Carolyn Barbieri 

Recorded by:            Mary Corey 

President Tracy Sloan called the meeting to order. 

President’s Report:  Tracy Sloan expressed her appreciation to the Board Members and Committee Chairs for being present.  She stated that we would be working from a short Agenda. 

Tournament Policies:   

Scorecards:  There was an incident at the Seniors where a scorecard had been turned in without the player’s signature.  Kathy Allbright, Shari Pfannenstein and Rodney (Club Pro) met and decided to assess the lesser penalty of two-strokes instead of the recommended disqualification.  Kathy suggested that we establish an official Scorers’ Table for Thursday’s Play, with VSWGA officials, to help direct players to an area where scores can be checked and added and cards signed without outside distractions.   Tracy Sloan and Nancy Myers were the volunteers.  It was recommended that the starters remind everyone that they must go to the Scorers’ Table immediately following play. 

Tournament Refunds:  At the present date there have been seven requests for tournament refunds, five verbal and two in writing.  The Major Decisions states “Beginning in 2009, if a woman cancels for any reason, if her spot can be filled a percentage of the entry fee will be refunded.  All other cancellations are not refundable except for special circumstances that will be considered at the Fall Board Meeting.” (10/14/08 Minutes, Page 10).   

The Board agrees with the Major Decisions.  It was suggested that any special circumstances’ refunds granted should only be a partial refund due to tournament expenses, which become a fixed cost after the deadline date. They agreed that any special circumstances’ refunds would depend upon the status of our annual budget.  This will be discussed at the Fall Meeting.  

Reserved Rainout Date Policy: During the 2008 season there were two courses that rescheduled their State Days due to rainouts.  Both opted to have a shotgun start. The feedback was everyone seemed to enjoy the shotgun Gun start. 

Reserved Rainout Date Policy:

1.  Any course rained out will have the option to reschedule.

2.  There will be no limits to the number of courses that may reschedule.

3.  The Rainout Date may host only one rescheduled State Day.

4.  Original players will have first priority.

5.  All participants must sign up through the Chelsea system. 

Motion to Change Rainout Policy:  Tracy Sloan suggested that we look into changing the State Day rainout policy requiring 2/3rds of the field to complete 18 holes for it to be declared an official State Day.  She asked for a vote on changing the policy to 9-holes instead of 18-holes. 

The majority voted to keep the 18-hole requirement, mandating that 2/3rds of the field complete 18 holes for it to be an official State Day.  Anything less will be considered a rainout.   No Change. 

Final State Day:   

MCs for 2009:  The MCs for the 2009 Final State Day will be Jeanne Morrissey and Phyllis Simon. 

Scoring:  Jeanne Morrissey requested that the VSWGA complete the scoring process the day of the Best Ball Tournament so that the results can be announced at the luncheon.  This had been the standard policy for many years but got lost somewhere in the training process. 

Final State Day Best Ball Format: 

1.  The format will be a two person Best Ball - Gross and Net using 100% handicap. 

2.  There must be FIVE equal divisions. 

3.  Teams will be placed into divisions based on the lowest individual’s USGA handicap Index.  

4.  Division splits – When a division cutoff has several individuals with the same USGAhandicap index, using their partner’s individual USGA handicap index will break ties. 

5.  TPP must be set up ahead of time for quick scoring. 

6.  Players that show up with subs will be placed into the appropriate division. 

Phyllis Simon will review the scoring format and division teams prior to the tournament.  

Final State Day Location:  Kathy Allbright pointed out that the Quechee/Woodstock central location and the quality of the courses were big factors in the success of the tournament.  She stated that other locations seemed to have low participation, plus Quechee has the space to accommodate 200 players for the luncheon.  

Suzanne Neville said that the prices are accelerating at Quechee/Woodstock, that they may be getting too comfortable and need some competition.  (Quechee charged $35 per person for a cart fee on State Day)  She will be looking into Killington/Green Mountain National, Rutland/Proctor Pittsford, and Equinox/Manchester.  

Turtle Update:   

Average Rounds:  Nancy Myers submitted an update as to how the new 2009 Turtle System was progressing. The report showed a course might be averaging rounds of 4 hours 25 minutes and then a group comes along (one that receives a warning) and plays in 4 hours 45 minutes.  It then takes 7 or 8 groups for the rounds to come back down to 4 hours 30 minutes. 

Feedback:  The committee received some negative feedback at the beginning of the season complaining that they did not like the feeling of having to watch the clock. There was an e-mail from someone that felt she was speaking for a lot of D and E players.  She definitely did not like the system and felt that D and E players could not play that fast and would not enjoy their rounds.  Shari’s Pace of Play article addressed these issues.  The committee feels they have relaxed a little and realize there is a way to play fast without rushing. 

Possible Improvements: There are two things that could be better: 

Finishing Time:  The finishing time seems to be an issue.  Whenever anyone objects to their warning, they always reply, “There is no way we finished 23 minutes behind.”  We don’t know if this is a misconception on their part, they didn’t go to the scoring table immediately, or the finishing times are inaccurate. 

E-Mail Warning: The second issue is - The committee is sending the warning letters by e-mail.  They assume that most people read their e-mails frequently, but there is no confirmation that anyone actually knows they have been warned.  The e-mail notification seems to be the most timely and least expensive method of contacting offenders. 

The Board praised the Pace of Play Committee (Carolyn Barbieri, Nancy Myers, Shari Pfannenstein, and Mickey Potwin) on their outstanding job!  It is such a joy to play State Day without waiting on every shot. 

Nominating Committee: Phyllis Simon will chair The Nominating Committee.  There will be six Committee Members, two from the north, Phyllis Simon and Jeanne Morrissey, two central, Ellen Sheffer and Carolyn Barbieri, and two from the south, Judy Manley and Sarah Lee.  

Duties:  The nomination committee is responsible for finding VSWGA members who are interested in serving on the Board.  They will make a list of all interested candidates with a brief summary of each person’s qualifications, etc. This list will be submitted to the Board; the Board will select a Slate of Candidates to be presented to the membership at the Fall Meeting with an option of adding any nominees from the floor. 

Open Board Positions:  There are three positions to be filled on the Board:   

Mary Corey, Secretary, 2^nd term position expires 2009.

Phyllis Simon, Vice President, 1^st term position expires 2009.

Nancy Myers, Director – Central, 1^st term position expires 2009 

Mary Corey has served her maximum term of two years and will be leaving the Board. 

Course Ratings:  Tracy Simon announced that we are so far behind in our course ratings that the VSWGA stands a chance of losing our funding for failure to perform the mandatory course rating service.  Carolyn said she prefers to have at least six on each team.  We desperately need more raters and team leaders.  Regardless of how many volunteers we have when it comes to the actual course rating date everyone seems to have a prior commitment. 

Other Business: 

State Day: 

State Day Carts:  Mary Corey suggested that we put a cap on State Day Cart Fees.  No course would be able to charge our members more than their standard rate.  Tracy Sloan said we could not tell the clubs what they can charge for a cart.  It was suggested that we contact the courses requiring carts a few weeks prior to the State Day to find out how much the cart fees will be for our members.  This would give us time to post cart prices on the website early enough for players to cancel and go to another State Day. 

State Day Timeframe:  Jeanne Morrissey asked the Board if we could set a State Day tee timeframe from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00/1:00 p.m.  The problems being that courses are accepting tee times from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. making it an extremely long day for the volunteers.  There were several members that agreed but one individual said their course wanted as many players as possible and the volunteers worked in shifts.  This issue was not resolved but will be discussed at the Fall Meeting.

 $25 Participation Fee:  Members that only play in the major championships who pay the $25 Participation Fee are not eligible to play State Days unless they pay another $10 late payment fee.  This does not apply to first time participants. 

Broken Flags:  Suzanne Neville said that we have several broken VSWGA tournament flags that need to be replaced. 

VSWGA Tee Markers:  Suzanne Neville checked into purchasing new wooden tee markers but found they were too heavy for her to handle.  She has found a synthetic material that looks like wood but is lightweight and very attractive.  There will be two markers for each tee box.  The tee markers will be imprinted with the VSWGA emblem on one side and the hole number on the other. 

Meeting adjourned at approximately 6:00 p.m.

Next Meeting: Burlington Country Club, Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Time: TBD (sometime following play)

Minutes completed July 26, 2009