Golf Commission

The following are the minutes of the Brewster Golf Commission meeting held on May 10, 2011.  The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM.

 

Commissioners present:                  Rob Harris, Chairman                                             

                                                            Cindy Bingham, Vice-Chair

                                                            Lori Arnold

Jeff Odell

                                                            Marc Fontaine

Anne O’Connell

Jim Ehrhart

Joe Shaw, Commissioner emeritus

                                                                                                                                                           

Staff present:                                     Mark O'Brien, Director of Operations

                                                            Steve Mann, Superintendent

                                                                                                                                                           

Others present:                                  Su Ballentine, Finance Committee Liaison

                                                            Anne LeMaitre, 9-Hole Women’s Assn.

                                                            Judy McCarthy, 18-Hole Women’s Assn.

                                                            Jean Arnold

                                                            Ralph Ingineiri

 

R. Harris called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

 

ASSOCIATION REPORTS:

• Judy McCarthy reported on the Earth Day clean up effort sponsored by the 18-Hole Women’s Assn. There were 12 women and one man that participated and they did a great job sprucing the place up.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT:

• Ralph Ingineiri complimented the staff on the good customer service they have been providing this year.

 

C. Bingham introduced Antonella Fernandes of the Back Nine Café who will be taking over the food service in 2012. She gave a brief overview of her plans for the operation next year.

 

The possibility of serving alcohol on the golf course next year was discussed. M. O’Brien commented that ourselves and the Barnstable courses are the only courses on the Cape that currently do not offer this service. He thought that this service is expected by the customer and it is a disadvantage if it cannot be offered. M. Fontaine was concerned about additional trash on the course if this was approved. M. O’Brien suggested that golfers currently smuggle beer cans out there now and that he did not believe there would be more of a trash problem. J. Odell made a motion, seconded by L. Arnold, to endorse the use of a beverage cart that could serve alcohol on the course. The motion passed unanimously. It will now be up to the food and beverage operator to apply to the Board of Selectmen to have this included in their liquor license.

 

M. Fontaine brought up discussion of the solar panels. It was reported that the Golf Commission would have input into the siting of the panels.

 

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS REPORT:

• M. O’Brien reported that the Captains will be entering into a 4-year lease purchase agreement for a SoloRider golf cart.
• The financials through April were discussed. The fiscal year numbers are still down, but the calendar year is up due to the strong winter revenue we had.
• Membership numbers are down across all categories. We will have more definitive data at the end of May.
• There were three requests for refunds of AFP fees for medical reasons. They were from Harry Kavoogian (resident), Tom King (resident), and Nora Osganian (charter non-resident). None had played any golf since April 1, 2011. R. Harris made a motion, seconded by C. Bingham to approve the refund requests. Motion approved unanimously.
• The Housing Assistance Corp. and a young man raising money for “Cell Phones for Soldiers” requested having a closest to the pin contest in June and August respectively. Since these requests fall within the Commission guidelines, M. O’Brien has the authority to set a date for these events.
• The Nauset Football benefit outing in June requested selling raffle tickets all day long on the day of their event on one of the par 3’s. It was decided that they could only sell the tickets on one of the par 3s during their event. Tickets will be allowed to be sold at the clubhouse on the day of their event.

 

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:

• We are now at full staffing levels.
• There was no damage to the irrigation system from the flooding of the pump house over the winter. We are not sure about the fertigation system, however. This will be determined once we start this system up in June.
• The aerification process is complete with the exception of 3 fairways on the front 9 of Starboard and 3 fairways on the back 9 of Starboard. The reason these fairways were not completed was due to a breakdown of one of the fairway aerifiers. They will be completed at some point based on availability.
• We have not yet experienced any bug problems.
• The irrigation pumps have been recalibrated and it was found that we were not pumping as much water as previously thought.
• The new tees and repaired sink holes are growing in very nicely.

 

COMMISSIONER’S COMMENTS:

• R. Harris reported that the view of the course on Google Maps looks great.
• R. Harris asked about the summer patch problem. S. Mann reported that we have not applied the summer patch application as yet. This is because the soil temperature needs to be at least 65 degrees for three days in a row before it is applied. We will apply the fungicide as soon as the soil temperatures allow.
• R. Harris recognized the efforts of Jeff Odell, Bill Magetteri, and Walt Ostapchuk for the job they did clearing out the weeds from the pond on Port #14. It looks great.
• C. Bingham asked if we could incorporate a monthly report showing the balance of the Receipts Reserved for Appropriation Account. M. O’Brien said this will be done.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

• C. Bingham requested a discussion on the Comp Play policy. M. O’Brien stated that the policy allows comp play to the Nauset Boys & Girls golf teams, Junior Golf Day, Town employees (after 3:00 p.m.), PGA and GCSAA members, and donated gift certificates for charities. Discussion followed and it was decided that no change to this policy is in order.
• The recent Town Meeting was discussed and the misinformation that was stated from Town Meeting floor. It was decided that making the rounds to various interested Town organizations may be in order to educate the resident s about the golf operation. This will be done as we get closer to the Fall Town Meeting.

 

MARKETING REPORT:

• L. Arnold reported that we are now on Facebook.
• J. Odell reported that coupons were distributed to players from a recent outing here at the Captains from United Technologies.
• L. Arnold reported that survey cards are being distributed to customers at the pro shop desk.

 

SUGGESTION BOX:

• Jean Bassett requested that those players who wish to walk the front nine and take a cart for the back nine, be allowed to pay for the 9-hole cart when they check in and then have the staff park a cart by the 9^th green for them to pick up when they make the turn. M. O’Brien said he would do this on a trial basis.

 

The minutes from the April 5, 2011 meeting were reviewed.  A motion made by J. Odell, seconded by C. Bingham, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously with the exception of J. Ehrhart who abstained.

 

At the next meeting, the member/guest tee time ratio will be discussed.

 

Since there was no other business, a motion was made by J. Ehrhart to adjourn the meeting, seconded by C. Bingham. The motion was approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m.