Category — Men’s Golf Association

Sixty-two members attended our Opening Day dinner Friday evening, March 26th.  At the dinner, we held a fifty/fifty drawing intending to donate one/half the funds raised that evening to purchase meals for our friend and fellow member Bill Golden and his extended Golden/Balla family.  David “Huffy” Huffman drew the winning ticket and, in an act of extraordinary generosity, promptly returned the envelope containing $335.00 to the committee instructing us to use the funds on behalf of the Golden/Balla family.  At our April meeting, the WMGA committee decided to set aside all of the funds ($670.00) pending a recommendation from Bill’s close friends; Gil McGeorge, Bob Farley and Huffy, as to how to appropriately expend the funds in memory of Bill.  Good deeds need to be recognized so, on behalf of the WMGA and the Golden/Balla family I am proud to simply say to Huffy and The Waterfront staff, “Thank you”.

Also at our April meeting, Al Fuzi reported that we successfully recruited 12 new members.  “Welcome!”  And, to Al, “Thanks for managing the successful new members campaign.”

Last year, sixty-three members participated in the annual Tri-Member tournament, making it the second most popular tournament of the year.  (The Member-Member tournament with 66 golfers was the most popular tournament.)  The 2010 version of the Tri-Member promises to be every bit as much fun as last year.  So, mark your calendars for May 15th, get your three-men teams together and sign-up to play! 

Hit Em Straight,
Mike Nee, Committee Chairman

By: Mike Nee, Committee Chairman 

At the March meeting, members of the MWGA discussed the pros and cons of using “common tees” for certain men’s tournaments this year.    Roger Wells (working with Rich Ickes) provided the committee with a hole-by-hole analysis of how common tees for tournaments could be implemented.  John Parrish presented an alternate analysis that differed in certain aspects from the view presented by Roger, but was similar in other aspects.  The issue is controversial with your committee representatives weighing in with good arguments on each side. At the end of a lively discussion, the committee unanimously agreed to ask the Wednesday/Friday golf groups to use common tees a few times and then report members’ opinions of this experiment to the committee.  Roger and John, working with Rich, agreed to reconcile the differences in their proposals.  If you have any thoughts about common tees for men’s tournaments, please contact Rich, Roger or John.

The committee also adopted a budget for 2010 that included a free fish fry for WMGA members the Friday of the Opening Day Tournament (which I hope you attended).  Furthermore, the budget calls for no year-over-year increase in the cost of the Member-Guest tournament scheduled for the last weekend of June.  So, mark you calendars and make arrangements with your guest.  As in the past, this tournament will be spectacular. 

Hit Em Straight!

By: Mike Nee, Committee Chairman

Opening Day is just a few weeks away so re-grip your clubs, buy some new balls, clean-up your golf shoes and get ready another season of great golf at the Waterfront!  Here’s the plan for our Opening Day Tournament.

We’ll kick-off festivities in the late afternoon of Friday, March 26th with a putting contest and social hour on the club patio, weather permitting, followed by a fish fry to be served-up by Fred and his staff at no cost to WMGA members.  That’s right – free fish!  Following dinner, we will have a brief kick-off meeting to discuss upcoming events and answer any questions you may have about activities planned for the year. 

The next day, Saturday, March 27th we will kick-off the golf season officially with a “3/2/1 Best Net Ball Tournament” – that is, each foursome will count three balls on par 3 holes, two balls on par 4 holes and one ball on par 5 holes.  Of course, prizes in the form of pro shop credits will be awarded at the end of play to the winning teams and to those players who are “closest to the hole” on the par 3 holes.  The cost will be just $25 plus cart fee per player.   So, sign-up early and join the fun.

By: Mike Nee, Committee Chairman

As winter sets-in with a purpose, Eric Fansler and Roger Atkins are busily planning tournaments for us for next year.  While dates are still tentative, they have recommended to the committee-as-a-whole that the following tournaments be held in 2010:                                 

• Opening Day
  March 27
• Master’s Tournament
  April 11
• Tri-Member
  May 15
• Member/Guest
  June 24 – 26
• Member/Member
  July 16 – 18
• Club Championships
  August 7 – 8
• Willard Cup
  To Be Announced
• Closing Day
  To Be Announced

Members who have participated in these tournaments in the past do so year- after-year for only one reason:  They are a ball!  If you have thoughts about ways to enhance these tournaments, give Eric or Roger a call.

If you are looking for a game this winter, call Mike Monroe (719-2221).  He and Joe Brown are managing the “Winter Golf League” this season.  Simply stated, once or twice a week during the winter months, depending upon the weather, they will team you and others up in threesomes or foursomes using either a best two-ball or best three-ball format.  Anyone with an established handicap may participate.  So, get rid of your “cabin fever” and join the fun.

The men’s golf association holds its meetings at the club house commencing at 5:00 PM, the second Tuesday of each month.  Any member of the association is welcome to attend.  In fact, I encourage you to do so if you have an issue you want the committee to address.  Alternatively, if you prefer, you may discuss issues with any member of the committee who would be more than willing to convey your thoughts to the committee as a whole.

Several members have expressed concerns about the course being too wet at times. At the October committee meeting, Read Harris provided us with the following explanation:  (1) Most holes have a single row of heads down the middle of the fairway; thus, the middle of fairways may receive more water than necessary in order to keep the edges from dying. (2) Modern irrigation systems may be adjusted readily to reduce or increase the amount of water applied to a golf course.  The Waterfront watering system is a mechanical system that cannot be adjusted easily.  Individual watering heads are adjusted daily to add or reduce watering time. (3)  Sometimes, heads do not shut off and sometimes heads stop rotating.  Normally, these conditions are discovered and corrected by the grounds crew before the start of play.  (4) The right side of 18 is wet primarily because water flows to and stays in the low areas. Drainage has not helped over the years because French drains do not control surface water without exposed gravel.

Committee members thanked Read for his explanation and, not withstanding concerns about course wetness, they expressed their appreciation to him for the fine job that he and his crew do in keeping the course in excellent shape.

Hit Em Straight,

Mike Nee, Committee Chairman