Golf Commission

The following are the minutes of the Brewster Golf Commission meeting held on March 6, 2010. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 PM.

Commissioners present: Bob Weiss, Chairman Cindy Bingham Rob Harris Jeff Odell Karney Ovian Joseph Shaw, Honorary Commissioner

Staff present: Mark O’Brien, Director of Operations Steve Mann, Superintendent

Others present: Anne LeMaitre, Pres. Women’s 9 Hole Ass’n Alan Godfried, CCMGA Mark Fontaine, CCMGA Pat Eggers, Secretary

The minutes from the February 2, 2010 meeting were reviewed. A motion made by C. Bingham, seconded by R. Harris, to approve the minutes passed.

CORRESPONDENCE

• A Charter NR AFP wrote to request a leave of absence for the year due to knee replacement surgery. A motion made by R. Harris, seconded by C. Bingham to approve the request passed.
• M. O'Brien approved donation requests for foursomes to RHCI, Children's Cove and Gosnold on Cape Cod. Numerous other requests were declined.
• 2 new NR members that took advantage of the Pay Now/Play now offer in the fall will not be joining this year due to an injury to Paula that will require significant care.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT

• Financials for February were distributed previously, and due to the limited activity there was nothing to discuss.
• Through yesterday, memberships were coming in at a faster pace than last year. Total membership revenue is $260K vs. $130K last year. This includes the fall Pay Now/Play Now memberships.

BREWSTER GOLF COMMISSION March 16, 2010

MARKETING REPORT

• J. Odell reported that the Golf Show in Boston was well attended. Mark worked the show on Sat., and Jeff on Sat. and Sun. They collected 800 interest slips for the email list. Also as a result of the show, efforts are underway to develop package tours with Heritage House. Other hospitality package offers will be pursued with local Brewster B & B's to see if there is any interest.
• Nauset Newcomers will be soliciting their members to see if there is interest to resume a weekly golf league during the shoulder season.
• Brochures for the Captains course have been placed in the Plymouth visitor's center, and will be placed in the other town information center's when they open. The visitor's center on Rt. 25 is not scheduled to open at all this year due to state budget cuts.
• The marketing efforts of Golf on Cape Cod were discussed.

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

• S. Mann reported that the 40 week staff members are back this week. The 32 week staff will be back in a month. The pipe replacement project is done except for clean up and sodding. There will be some ground under repair areas. The course overall is in pretty good shape. There has been very little snow mold. About 300 trees have been taken down to remove dead/dying trees and to improve sunlight to tee and green areas. Steve is working for approval to buy a stump grinding machine since it is more cost effective then renting one for all the stump work that is necessary.

OLD BUSINESS

• J. Odell reviewed plans for the 25th Anniversary celebration for the Captains golf course on May 24th. The course will be offered to the public at the 1985 rates ($20 greens fee and $8 cart fee). The afternoon golf tournament will have a dinner to follow with a $50 price to include golf, cart, dinner and favor. A motion made by J. Odell, seconded by C. Bingham to approve the afternoon shotgun passed.

NEW BUSINESS

• On behalf of the CCMGA, A. Godfried and M. Fontaine presented their proposal to replace the Thursday afternoon scramble with a new twilight league for CCMGA members. This would be for 48 players in a two man team format with competition against the other teams throughout the season. Details were distributed. CCMGA will handle all the administrative details of running the league, but needs the tee times to be reserved for this purpose. Discussion followed. M. O'Brien advised that the Thursday Scrambles generally averaged 16 participants, and was in favor of the proposal. It is hoped that this new league will provide a more competitive golf opportunity for some of the CCMGA members who are not participating in the Wednesday block times, help increase membership in the CCMGA and add more value to membership at Captains. A motion made by J. Odell, seconded by C. Bingham to approve the request for block times for the twilight league in place of the Thursday Scramble passed.
• CCMGA presented a second proposal to create a prime time Member-Member event in the summer months. They would like a Saturday afternoon shotgun event in July, with 100 players. Discussion followed, with concerns raised about the need to shut the course down at 10:30 am during prime time in order to accommodate a 2 pm shotgun. This is not a viable option financially.
• C. Bingham asked if there was any update regarding the potential for Captains to get the Solo Rider, a handicapped adaptive golf cart that RHCI apparently has a grant for and had asked if there was interest. M. O'Brien advised that Captains would be very interested in pursuing this with RHCI, but had not heard back from them as yet.
• C. Bingham asked to have a subcommittee appointed to make recommendations for sponsorship and donation gifts to the course. For example, replacing the tee marker signs on each hole might be a good opportunity for a sponsor or memorial gift. In lieu of signs on donated items, a Sponsorship board could be utilized in the Pavilion. K. Ovian volunteered to work with Cindy on developing the concept. Discussion also followed as to the appropriate signage and/or plaques to name the Pavilion in honor of Stote Ellsworth. The subcommittee will also make recommendations for that initiative.
• R. Harris distributed a draft of the updated Policy Manual for review. He highlighted the changes, and will be looking for feedback and input prior to the next meeting when a final version is expected for approval. B. Weiss thanked Rob for all his hard work in updating the manual.

Since there was no other business, the next meeting was set for April 6 at 1 pm. A motion made by C. Bingham, seconded by K. Ovian to adjourn the meeting passed, and the meeting adjourned at 3:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Eggers Secretary