2007 State of the Association Address

Gentlemen,

The state of the association is sound.

We finished up 2006 slightly off our target of cash reserves, our costs in 2007 will increase slightly, but the changes detailed below will bring everything back in line with our stated goals. We look forward to a fun year.

You’re going to be hearing from me quite a bit in the next few days as we try to get the New Year off to a good start.

This is going to be a long message but it contains important information and changes in the association. Please read it carefully.

Board of Directors:

First and foremost, the new board of directors for 2007.

Tom and Meghan Halley will remain on as Secretary/Treasures and Official Cashier, respectively, and will continue to handle the money. I will remain (begrudgingly) as president and Phil Josephson will be taking over the tournament director position from Jose Diaz.

On a personal note, I would like to thank J.R. for his assistance as tournament director for the past five years. He has been the driving force behind everything the association has done and we wouldn’t be as professional as we are without his efforts. It has been a pleasure working with him and I am fortunate to have forged a lasting friendship with him and his family. Thank you, J.R., very much, for everything.

Annual Dues and Tournament Fees:

Beginning this year, the board of directors will pay their annual dues but will not pay the tournament fees for the tournaments in which they play. I, personally, did not want to be the first president to make this rule, but we feel that it is only fair to be compensated for our efforts and, hopefully, it will encourage fellow members to participate on the board in the future.

That said, the annual dues for 2007 will be $125.00 and the tournament fees for this winter (Jan–Apr) will be $120.00. The cost of a round of golf has increased slightly from the county and the cost of catering has also risen. The price for the summer tournaments will be determined once we get a figure from the county.

Tournament Registration Policy:

You may only register for an upcoming tournament AFTER the previous tournament has been played. Example: You may not sign up for the February 2007 tournament until the January tournament has been completed. The reason is simple … we’re not smart enough to juggle multiple tournaments and it reduces the possibility of no-shows. Any registrations received prior to the completion of the previous month’s tournament will be ignored.

The tournament director, Phil Josephson, will send out a confirmation notice to each member when they register.

No-Show Policy:

If you sign up for a tournament, receive a confirmation and do not show up without notifying the tournament director in advance (meaning, the Friday before the tournament), you will be considered a “no-show”. Notification of a cancellation on the morning of the tournament will be considered a no-show. A guest no-show will be the responsibility of the inviting member.

“No-shows” create a lot of work on the mornings of the tournaments, especially when it’s a two-man team format. Plus, as I’ve mentioned numerous times before, it’s just damn rude.

Therefore, members who no-show for a tournament will be personally named in the tournament results recap and charged a $25.00 no-show fee on your first offense. Subsequent violations will result in the penalty fee and a suspension of your playing privileges for one month. Chronic no-shows will be expelled from the association.

I don’t know how to put any more plainly.

Prize Monies:

There will be an adjustment in the prize money this year.

First Place, Low Gross: $ 50. (Selected tournaments)
First Place, Low Net: $100.
Second Place, Low Net: $ 75.
C-T-P and Long Drive: $ 25.

When the tournament calls for a two-man team format, the winners will split the prize money. We gave away way too much prize money last year in team formats ($525 per tourney) and hope to secure a few sponsors for this year’s tournaments. Any member willing to sponsor a tournament (or knows of a sponsor), please contact the board of directors.

Handicaps:

From now on, all members must have an established USGA handicap. This means that all members must input at least five scores into the GHIN system to receive an official handicap. New members, or members who do not have the required five scores, and do not have a handicap will be ineligible for tournament prizes.

Another advantage of having a handicap with the association is a discount at the Links Grill. All members will receive a 10% discount off their entire party’s bill at the restaurant by showing his KBMGA handicap card upon payment.

Guest Policy:

This is a tricky situation. On the one hand, we’d like for members to bring guests to participate in the tournaments and feel it’s a good way to introduce potential members to our association.

On the other hand, we currently have 99 members in the association and are only allowed 48 spots per tournament and feel that our members should have a priority to play in the tournaments.

This is not a problem in the summer months when half of our members bail out of the heat and head up north. But it does cause some concern in the winter months when a majority of the members want to play.

Therefore we will introduce “guest stand-by” dates for guest play during the winter months. You may register a guest during these months, but they will be subject to cancellation should we have a wait list of members wanting to play.

If anyone can think of a more equitable way to handle this, I’m all ears.

Pace of Play:

This is becoming an increasingly nagging problem with the course. Therefore, strict penalties will be levied for slow play.

Beginning with our January 2007 tournament, our tournament director, Phil Josephson, will not play but will ride around and marshal the tournament pace of play. He will first warn the offending foursome and then assess penalty strokes according the USGA recommendations.

Beginning in February, and for all subsequent tournaments, fellow member Gregg Moroze, who is a ranger on the course on Saturday’s, will marshal our tournaments. Greg has been a long-standing member of the association but is unable to play in the tournaments due to his ranger responsibilities. (You’ve probably seen him wolfing down breakfast and lunch on our tournament dates.) He will have total authority to maintain our pace of play. (Note to self: I should probably ask Gregg first if it’s ok with him, ya think?)

Other News:

Along with the President’s Cup award, this year we will introduce the Sterling Cup awards. This is a tournament within a tournament sponsored by The Law Offices of Phil Josephson. Details regarding the Sterling Cup will be sent out later today. We thank Phil for suggesting and sponsoring this event.

I believe that’s all for now, but things always change. We will update you should any occur. I will be updating the web site in the coming days and will bring to your attention any important changes.

I thank you all for your continued support of the association and I look forward to a tremendous year of fun, food, drinks and, oh yeah, golf.

Sincerely,

Bill Hayes
President KBMGA.