The following are the minutes of the Brewster Golf Commission meeting held on 6/19/2012 at the Captains Golf Course. The meeting was called to order at 4:30 PM by Rob Harris.
Commissioners present: Rob Harris, Chairman
Cindy Bingham, Vice-Chair
Lori Arnold
Jeff Odell
Jim Ehrhart
Marc Fontaine
Anne O’Connell (arrived at 5:05pm)
Staff present: Mark O’Brien, Director of Operations
Others Present: Ginny O’Loughlin, Women’s 9-Hole Assn.
Jim Foley, liaison from Selectmen
J. Ehrhart made a motion, seconded by C. Bingham to approve the minutes from the May 15, 2012 Golf Commission meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
Association Reports:
- Ginny O’Loughlin reported that the Women’s 18/9-Hole Association scramble was rained out on June 13th, but the dinner took place in the pavilion with many good comments about the food. She also reported that the combined women’s associations gave a $1,000 scholarship to Rachel Bernstein, a graduating senior from Nauset Regional HS. She also reported that Helen Corey and Nancy Segall are in the finals of the Summer Cup.
- Rob Harris reported that the Men’s Association gave a $1,000 scholarship to Charlie Brooks, a graduating senior from Nauset HS.
- Jeff Odell reported that the Friends of the Captains raised $2,800 from the tournament even though it was rained out and that the total raised for the year is $6,275. They have now paid in full for all the patio furniture.
Public Comment:
None
Superintendent’s report
M. O’Brien read a report from S. Mann in his absence. The following questions came up from the Commission:
The sand on the Port seems fluffier than the sand on the Starboard. It was noted that more work has been done on the Port bunkers and that is the reason. M. O’Brien stated that any time we add bunker sand now it is a denser grain.
Are we going to install the astro-turf carpet on the path from the 6th Port green? M. O’Brien stated that we are going to do this.
Crane flies are still a problem. S. Mann will be applying a treatment soon to address this issue.
Are going to put up fencing along Starboard #7? Funding has not been secured for this but will be addressed during the capital planning process.
Can we fill in some of the big sink holes for a temporary fix? M. O’Brien will bring this up with S. Mann.
Marketing Committee:
M. O’Brien will be contacting vendors soon about proposals for marketing and promotion of the Captains.
No news on signage.
J. Odell stated he thinks we should considering participation in the College Card. M. O’Brien is still against it.
Member Tee Time Allocation Formula:
M. O’Brien distributed a memo that indicated, based on the ratio of membership revenue to budgeted golf course expenses, indicates a minimum of 29.1% of tee times be allocated to the members. This would breakdown as 50% on one course and 8.2% on the other course. The current allocation on the non-member course is 12.5%.
M. O’Brien recommended maintaining the current allocation of 12.5% because he did not feel confident that there was enough demand to warrant increasing the number of guest times, and on the possible negative impact this could have on future membership revenue.
Discussion followed. M. Fontaine made a motion to make no change to the current member tee time allocation, seconded by J. Ehrhart. Motion adopted unanimously.
Director of Operations Report (Mark O’Brien):
M. O’Brien presented the financials for May.
AFP refund requests for George Malone and Robert Morse were approved. A credit of $235 toward the 2013 membership for Richard Golden was approved.
M. O’Brien reported that there are currently 337 “Early” members, 327 “Morning” members, 43 “Twilight” members, 6 “Charter” Non-Resident members, 146 Non-resident members, 39 Resident Junior members, and 2 Non-resident Junior members.
M. O’Brien reported that the “Fun” tees are now going to be referred to as the “Family” tees and that Cindy Bingham has gone out to mark the tee locations and prepared a scorecard for the new course alignment. The total course yardage is 3,841 for 18-holes, and is only available on the Starboard course. M. O’Brien will publicize with email blasts and newspaper ads.
Discussion took place regarding marketing memberships directly to Ocean Edge residents. This will be looked into.
Long-Range Course Improvement Plan:
R. Harris reported that he, Mark O’Brien, Steve Mann, and Marc Fontaine toured the course to come up with a list of improvements for the golf courses. This will be incorporated into the golf course capital plan.
R. Harris stated that since this was his last meeting on the Commission, that it may be proper to appoint a nominating committee for Commission officers. It was decided that this was not necessary and that nominations will be accepted from the floor at the next Golf Commission meeting.
Other Business:
· J. Odell asked about succession planning in the event that any upper management positions are unexpectedly vacant. M. O’Brien stated that this was basically in place with organizational chart of the golf course and that this would be a matter for the Selectmen.
· Tee time system problems were discussed. M. O’Brien said that he is still working on the issues with Chelsea.
· C. Bingham expressed thanks to Rob Harris for all his hard work on the Commission and all of the Commission members echoed those sentiments.
· C. Bingham, as Vice-Chair, will prepare the agenda for the next Golf Commission meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for July 10, 2012.
J. Ehrhart made a motion to adjourn, seconded by A. O’Connell. Motion approved unanimously.
Mark O’Brien, Director of Operations