VSWGA NEWSLETTER
Volume 1 Issue 2 November 15, 2002
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In this Issue:
v Match Play Championship a Reality!
v Junior Girls Program taking shape
v Junior Girls Match Play Championship in the Works!
v USGA State Team Championship being held in 2003
v Two New State Day Courses for 2003
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Match Play
Championship a Reality!
The VSWGA will be
adding a new major Championship to its schedule for 2003. After two long
years of discussion and research, the VSWGA will be adding a Match Play
Championship to its tournament schedule in June of 2003. The tournament
will be held on June 13 - 15, 2003 at Crown Point Country Club in Springfield,
VT. Details are being worked out at this time; tentative format will be a
stroke play qualifier on Friday, June 13th in an afternoon
shotgun. The number of qualifying spots and flights will depend on
the number of entries. Match play rounds will commence on Saturday with
two rounds being played on Saturday and working down to two rounds and/or finals
on Sunday, June 15th. Please check the website for more information on
this new tournament - updates will be posted as soon as the details are worked
out. Entry forms will be available on the website and in the 2003 State
Day Book.
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Junior Girls
Program Taking Shape
A meeting was held at Rutland
CC on October 20th, 2002 to kick off plans for a Junior Girls
Program, long overdue in the VSWGA!
Many wonderful ideas and plans were discussed and a lot of positive
energy was exhibited at this meeting!
Karen Casavant, Northfield CC, is heading up this program - below is a
listing of some of the ideas and projects that she and her volunteers
discussed:
v
Leo Reynolds,
PGA Golf Professional, and his staff have offered to donate three days of their
time to put on clinics for girls in the Northern, Central and Southern sections
of our state. These clinics will be
two hours in length. The details
and dates are still being worked on at this time. As soon as dates and times are known,
correspondence will be sent to clubs, high schools and local media so that it is
well publicized. Information will
also be posted on our website.
The idea behind these clinics is not only for the young girls of our state to learn the basics of golf, but also adults will be encouraged to sit in and learn the basic fundamentals of teaching so that they can help out some of the young girls at their own clubs. Leo has coached many young women around the state who have gone on to successful golf careers in college and elsewhere and he plans on asking some of these young women to help with this program. We also are encouraging any and all members of the VSWGA who want to help out and donate some of their time with these clinics.
v
Mary Anne
Levins from Rutland CC has offered to help out with our inaugural Girls Match
Play Championship - see news item below for more
information.
v
There was talk
of getting girls to play in a few of the State Days, although it was not
determined how that would work - would they play their own ball, or play some
other “fun” format? This is an idea
that will need some more time to research.
v
A lot of other
great ideas were discussed at this meeting and the Committee would welcome other
thoughts and ideas from anyone.
This is a program that is long overdue in our state. Our association has progressed rapidly
over the last few years with programs like the Chelsea Tee Time system; however,
in the area of Junior Golf, we’re still in the dark ages! Kudos to Karen for taking steps to bring
us up to speed!
Junior Girls
Match Play Championship in the Works!
As mentioned in the article above, the VSWGA will be conducting a Junior Girls Match Play Championship for the first time in the history of the VSWGA. Ralph Myhre Golf Course has committed to hosting this event which is scheduled for July 29 - 31, 2003. Mary Anne Levins from Rutland CC has volunteered her time to get this event off the ground. Mary Jane Shomo, also from Rutland CC, and Leo Reynolds will be helping out with this event. Mary Anne brings lots of experience with her - she grew up playing competitive Junior Golf and knows what works and doesn’t work. We are very lucky to have her knowledge and background helping us with this! Again, details are being worked out at this time, but please check the website frequently as any and all information will be posted there as soon as it’s available.
The Committee will be looking
for housing for the girls in the area, so if you have any contacts, please get
in touch with any of the people listed above. The VSWGA feels that this will be a
tournament that will showcase the talents of the younger golfers in our
state. It is our hope that we will
be able to bring some respect to girls golf by offering this kind of
tournament!
Every two years the USGA hosts a State Team Championship for both men and women. The men’s and women’s events are held separately but concurrently. The format is a team stroke play championship consisting of not more than three players from each state; however, two players may represent a state. Collegiate players are not qualified. The VSWGA participated in the Inaugural State Team Championship, but has failed to send a team since. This year’s Championship will be held at Wellesley CC in Wellesley, MA, September 16 - 18, 2003. We are encouraging our members of the VSWGA to start thinking about this event and urge anyone interested in participating to apply. There will be application forms on the website and in the 2003 State Day Book. This event is open to amateur golfers residing in the state and who have been nominated by the VSWGA Committee. The VSWGA will contribute a total of $1,000.00 to help subsidize the team’s expenses.
Selection criteria is based upon (but not limited to):
v Participation / performance in the Amateur, Mid-Amateur, Seniors, Tri-State, NEWGA, State Days
v Recent winners of home course Club Championships
v Maximum handicap index of 12.0
Two New Courses
Added to the State Day Program!
We are pleased to welcome two new courses to our State Day program: Arrowhead Golf Course and the Links at Lang Farm. Both are Executive Courses - Arrowhead is 9 holes and Links at Lang Farm is 18 holes. Don’t let the word “executive” fool you! We have been forewarned that both courses will provide an excellent test of golf and will get you to use many of those clubs in your bag that you carry around just for the sake of having 14 clubs!! Please give these courses a try this season!
Did You Know
...?
Did you know that you will not find the term “sand trap” mentioned anywhere in the Rules of Golf? The correct terminology for that fun little playground is a “bunker”. Impress all of your friends with your golf savvy by using the term “bunker” (and try to avoid gettin in one)!