The following are the minutes of the Brewster Golf Commission meeting held on October 6, 2009. The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM.
Commissioners present: Bob Weiss, Chairman Cindy Bingham Stote Ellsworth Rob Harris Josephine O’Connell Jeff Odell Karney Ovian Joseph Shaw, Honorary Commissioner
Staff present: Mark O’Brien, Director of Operations Steve Mann, Superintendent
Others present: Ed Mahan, Finance Committee Liaison Pat Eggers, Secretary
The minutes from the September 1, 2009 meeting were reviewed. A motion made by K. Ovian, seconded by R. Harris, to approve the minutes passed.
CORRESPONDENCE
- The following organizations wrote letters of thanks for support and/or recent donations of foursomes to support their events: o Gosnold on Cape Cod o American Red Cross – Cape Cod Chapter o Rally for a Cure – 18 Hole Women's Association o LCOC – Beat the Pro event raised $12,562
- M. O'Brien advised the commission that he had approved donation requests from the following organizations: o Cape Cod Women's Golf League – charity tournament o Stoney Brook School Parents Group o Nauset Regional High School Gymnastics
BREWSTER GOLF COMMISSION October 6, 2009
- The following donation requests were denied: o Dennis Firefighters o Wellness Warriors o Baptist Church o St. Francis Prep o Juvenile Diabetes Research
- Mark distributed a list of all 34 recipients of donations of foursomes during the current season.
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
- Financial reports through September were distributed previously and reviewed. September was a good month, bringing the results back to even for the fiscal year on greens fees. Good financials for September were attributed to the good weather and late Labor Day, and the increased stability in the economy compared to last year at this time. Calendar year is still off $50,000 compared to last year, of which $40,000 was lost in June due to the poor weather. Play totals are up over last year, although member play is down because number of members is down. Fiscal year final results will not be released until Mark has a final meeting with Charlie Sumner after Town Meeting.
- Pro Shop – gross profit margin in September was 27%, and 22% YTD. Golf club inventory is being reduced aggressively this month. Club inventory in January was $75K, and is now down to $35K. B. Weiss complimented Mark and especially Jay Packett on the good work done to improve inventory management. They reduced the days on hand by more than half. Revenues realized to date exceed the $0.35/dollar that would have been received by selling the entire lot off to a dealer. R. Harris noted that since no new purchases of inventory have been made, caution should be used in making future projections from current pro shop performance
- To date, there are 64 new Non-resident AFP's, of which 10 paid the full amount. Only 15 of these had previously been members of the Captains course.
BREWSTER GOLF COMMISSION October 6, 2009
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
- S. Mann reports that the golf course is in great shape, and has rebounded well from recent aeration. There are some problems in places with dollar spot disease that appears to be exhibiting chemical resistance to treatment. A pathologist from UMass is coming to sample it so it can be treated more effectively.
- Staff reductions are proceeding according to plan, with all summer help gone by the end of the month. The irrigation system will be blown out the first week of Nov. The warrant article for Town Meeting will include funding to fix the pipe problem discussed last month, and a new tractor replacement. The Finance Committee approved both requests unanimously; the Selectmen approved the pipe unanimously, and voted 3-2 to approve the tractor.
- New sinkholes opened up on holes #7 and #12. There have been four break-throughs this year. These are roped off and filled when they occur. S. Mann noted that there is a map designating about 50 locations where the course developer buried trees that are now breaking down, causing the problem. This will continue to deteriorate and will ultimately have to be addressed.
NEW BUSINESS
- M. O'Brien presented some new financial projections for FY 2010 with the influx of the new NR AFP's and plans to review them with Charlie Sumner. There were some projections for residential AFP's with the current fee, some expense reductions that have been realized, and an average June performance. The net result is a return to the town of about $192K forecasted for 2010.
- R. Harris distributed an analysis of play data for residential AFP's to assist in evaluating alternate proposals for fees for next year. He looked at frequency of play, time of day of play and day of week of play. The concern is retention of the 154 players that only played 9 rounds or less in the year — well below breakeven for membership. There were not a great number of members playing a high number of rounds. The data was used to quantify the impact of several of the proposals that have been suggested, and the assumptions were discussed. He also noted that member turnover is high —— there have been over 500 different new members since 2004. Every year the course lost on average 150-175 members, although last year was a new high of 244 lost.
BREWSTER GOLF COMMISSION October 6, 2009
- C. Bingham has revamped and rewritten the Rules and Information Guide given to new members. Commissioners were asked to review the draft and bring back and suggestions or changes for the next meeting. B. Weiss thanked Cindy for taking the initiative to do this work.
SUGGESTION BOX
- Harriet Von Thaden wrote to request that the water jug on #14 Port be moved to #12 or #13, since they are long holes, and there is a big gap between water coolers on that part of the course. M. O'Brien will do that next year. She also asked for a discounted cart rate for members for next year as is available in Dennis. Mark noted that all member fees are being analyzed and reviewed for next year.
- It was also noted that now that more events are held in the Pavilion at night, the lack of lights in the parking lot is a problem that may need to be addressed.
25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
- J. O'Connell reviewed plans for the celebration planned for next season. Volunteers are working on the details for the day, which include a golf tournament and meal. The date selected is May 24th, with no rain date. There will be a limit of 144 players for the golf event.
Since there was no other business, the next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, November 3 at 1 PM. A motion made by J. Odell, seconded by C. Bingham to adjourn the meeting passed, and the meeting adjourned at 6:07 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Pat Eggers Secretary