WGA 18-HOLE FALL GENERAL MEETING
CORTEZ PAVILION
NOVEMBER 4, 2021
The Fall General Meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Cortez Pavilion on November 4, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 9:33 am after verifying a quorum was present.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the 2021 Spring General Meeting held on March 24, 2021. Wanda Selman so moved and Pat Pochert seconded the motion. The motion passed without discussion.
President’s Opening Remarks: Donna welcomed everyone to the meeting. She introduced the league Executive committee and then introduced special guests Tom Heffer, HSV Director of Golf, Mike Socha, HSV Assistant Director of Golf, and Matt Lewarn. She thanked them for all they do to make our play days and tournaments a success. She recognized Mike with a gift for doing the pairings and printing the score cards for our play days.
Treasurer’s Report: Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that we started the year with $6,105.60 in our General fund. In 2021 we received $350 in advertising revenue, $6,650 in 2021 membership dues, $20 attributable to 2020 dues, and $42 in bag tag orders for a total YTD income of $7,062. We have $10,228.49 in expenses including administrative expenses of $293.24, $270 in Birdie and Chip-in prizes, $100.59 in meeting room rental, $175 donation to Junior Golf, $75 for the Most Improved Golfer award, $8,500 in play day prize payouts, $100 for the President’s gift, $200 for score card printing, $65.50 in Sunshine card expense, $35 for WSGA dues, $11.90 in newsletter expenses, $390.26 in yearbook expenses, and $12 in bank charges. We ended the year with $2,939.11 in the general operating fund. This amount includes $1,460 reserved for the Club Championship prize payouts.
The Member/Member tournament had a beginning balance of $144.64 and received a $1,000 donation from members of the Invitational committee. With this extra $1,000, the committee lowered the entry fee by $2, raised the prize fund, and planned for extra food and beverages during the tournament. Entry fees were $4,800. The tournament committee spent $2,699.25 on food, drink, and other miscellaneous expenses. The prize payout was $2,400. The tournament ended with a carry-over balance of $845.39. There was a question from the floor asking why the carry-over balance was higher than it has been in the past. Catherine Walsh (Tournament Chair) explained that she negotiated better food prices and when the actual bills came in, they were even lower than expected. She did not know she would have so much left over in time to increase the prize fund again. Including carryovers from the Member/Member and Invitational tournaments, we have a total of $8,496.63 in the bank.
Prizes / Awards / Statistics: Donna introduced the Prizes/Awards/Statistics Chair, Marge Harvey. Marge gave each member present a report of their individual prizes for the season and announced the members who had the most birdies, chip-ins, and eagles this season.
In the D flight, Renee Steinpreis and Mary Rittenmeyer each had three birdies. Mary also played every play day. Barb Krone, Mary Rittenmeyer, and Jeanette Keim each had four chip-ins. In C flight, Bev Raskin and Cherri Childers tied for most birdies with four each. Becky Tetu and Karen Nickel tied for most chip-ins with three each. In B flight, Robin Lambert had the most birdies with nine and Valerie Shippers had the most chip-ins with five. In A flight, Cathie Moeller had sixteen birdies and Bev Harris had the most chip-ins with six. There were four eagles this season. Cathie Moeller had three and Marge Harvey had one.
Most Improved Golfer: Donna invited Tom Heffer to the podium to announce the winner of the Most Improved Golfer award. The most improved golfer is the member who decreased their handicap index the most between November 1, 2020 and November 1, 2021. The winner is Bev Harris. Bev played 126 rounds during the period with 108 rounds played in Hot Springs Village. Her index dropped from 18.6 to 14.5.
Handicaps/Play Day Scores: Ruth Smith asked us to post our scores the day we play.
Tee Time Adjuster: No report.
Rules Committee: No report.
Scorers: Sherrie Nichols thanked the members for improving their penmanship on the scorecards.
Starters: Wanda thanked the members who volunteered to be starters.
Big Sisters: No report.
Communication / Membership / Internet: No report.
Newsletter: No report.
Yearbook and Publicity: Donna thanked Sharron Montgomery for continuing to submit articles to the Voice about our events.
Historian / Photographer: Donna thanked Charlotte McCarty for being at all our events with her camera. Charlotte commented that the most fun event of the season for her is the Member/Member shootout. She encouraged all of us to come out to watch.
Sunshine: Donna thanked Diana Beene for her service as Sunshine Chair as well as for her service as Marketing and Advertising Chair.
Nominating: Donna announced that Janice Harvey has moved. Mary Harper represented the committee at the meeting.
Parliamentarian: Donna thanked Jeanette Slattery for her support and guidance the last two seasons and thanked her for continuing as our parliamentarian.
Social: No report.
Tournaments and Representatives:
Club Championship: Members were notified via email of the tournament cancellation. Entry fees were returned at the meeting.
Crush Cancer: Three members have volunteered to be on the Crush Cancer Committee. If you would like to serve, please contact Debbie Johnson, Ann Alfson, or Betty Johnson.
Invitational: No report.
Member/Member: See the Treasurer’s report.
SWAGS & WSGA: Rebecca Huber encouraged members to participate in the SWAGS and the WSGA tournaments. SWAGS is held at the Hot Springs Country Club. The WSGA tournament will be in South Carolina next October.
Golf Committee: No report.
Hole-in-One: Emma Pinson encouraged any new members who are not in the HIO club to join and reminded us that the HIO does not have to occur on a WGA play day or event. This season there were six holes in one. The lucky golfers are Dianne Kleinke, Tricia Ramos, Catherine Walsh, Rachel Rau, Jean Mowery, and Kim Fisher.
Junior Golf: Donna called on Wanda Selman for a report. Wanda reminded us that she is not the official liaison to Junior Golf. Nonetheless, she encouraged members to volunteer next summer on Wednesdays or Thursdays.
NEW BUSINESS:
Nomination of Officers for 2022 Season:
Donna announced that Sandi Smit declined her nomination. Donna explained that because we no longer had a full slate of officers, we could not approve the remaining nominations by acclamation.
Donna asked for nominations from the floor for Treasurer and none were made. She asked for a motion to elect Barb Krone as Treasurer. Sue Bencriscutto so moved and Emma Pinson seconded the nomination. The motion passed without further discussion.
Donna asked for nominations from the floor for Secretary and none were made. She asked for a motion to elect Suzanne Kuch as Secretary. Sue Bencriscutto so moved and Emma Pinson seconded the nomination. The motion passed without further discussion.
Donna asked for nominations from the floor for Vice President / Play Day Chair and none were made. She asked for a motion to elect Nancy Pfeiffer as Vice President. Michelle Larson so moved and Sue Bencriscutto seconded the nomination. The motion passed without further discussion.
Donna asked for nominations from the floor for President. Norma Hartney came to the podium and nominated Sharron Montgomery. In her remarks, Norma noted that normally the nominee for President has board experience because she is serving as the current Vice President. As the Immediate Past President, Sharron is currently serving on the board and is uniquely qualified to serve as President in 2022. Andreae Hoosty seconded the motion. At Donna’s request, Sharron confirmed that she accepts the nomination and is willing to serve again as President. The motion passed without further discussion.
Out-going President’s Remarks: Donna made a statement addressing the current divisions within the league. She apologized to the Executive Committee, the Board, and the Members for her decisions that caused anger, distrust, and division within the league. Jeannette Slattery was at her side to show support. Andreae Hoosty also came to the podium and made a statement supporting Donna.
Andreae Hoosty said that there have been concerns and emotions, but no condemnations. Andreae recognized that Donna has been honorable and does not need to apologize. There were mistakes made and they can be corrected with member involvement. She had heard members say that they were not going to join next year, but quitting the league is not the answer. She thanked Donna for her service as President.
After her statement, Donna told the members that Sandi Smit had submitted a resignation letter and specifically asked Donna to read the letter to the members. Donna read Sandi’s letter out of respect for Sandi.
Donna also mentioned that Catherine Walsh has ideas for rules and guidelines that will address the situation that came up the night before the Member / Member tournament this year. The new board will likely propose some new rules to address other unprecedented situations the Board faced in 2021.
Barb Krone presented Donna with the President’s gift on Sandi’s behalf.
Donna invited Sharron to the podium and officially passed the gavel.
In-coming President’s Remarks: Sharron thanked Donna for her service and acknowledged that the job is difficult and sometimes emotions get in the way. She let members know that she will not be in the Village from January through March and has already made arrangements with Nancy on how Sharron can participate in meetings during that time. Sharron also took the opportunity to recognize all the other past presidents in attendance.
Nancy Pfeiffer also spoke to the members in her new role as Vice President and indicated that good communication is the key to our success. She encouraged all members to stay informed by attending the board meetings.
Sharron asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Martha McAlister so moved and Wanda Selman seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 10:33 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch
WGA 18-HOLE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
OCTOBER 13, 2021
AMENDMENT #2 OCTOBER 2021
The regular Board Meeting of the WGA 18 Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on October 13, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:34 AM after verifying a quorum was present.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the Board Meeting held on September 8, 2021. Wanda Selman made a motion to approve the minutes and Diana Beene seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
Treasurer’s Report: Barb Krone reported that the balance on September 1 was $16,935.35. $40.00 for new members was deposited and $13.30 was paid out for board room rental and $35.00 for WSGA membership dues. The balance in the General Fund at the end of September was $12,071.28. We deposited $150.00 in entry fees for the 9 Hole Magellan Scramble and $235 in Closest to the Pin into the Invitational Fund. The balance on September 30, 2021, in our Regions Bank Account was $17,929.05. Closest to the Pin revenue Year to Date is $1025.
Handicap/Play Day Score Recorder: Ruth Smith reported that we need to inform Tom that our Most Improved Golfer for the year date range is Nov. 1 of the previous year to Nov. 1 of the current year, not April to November as previously determined. Handicap posting is being done and all is well.
Tee Time Adjuster: Terry Benson reported that the scorecards are still not being printed correctly and that last week’s handicaps were calculated for Ponce and not Granada. Since all the player’s handicaps were done that way, it was determined that it was done fairly.
Rules: Norma Hartney reported that the reason she puts notes (such as playing by all the rules, not just the ones you like) on the Wednesday Rules Guideline that gets e-blasted is normally because someone has called her about another player not playing the ball down, etc.
Publicity: Sharron Montgomery will continue to send articles to the Voice and will send an article regarding the Member/Member tournament after completion.
Marketing/Advertisements: The brochures that we have will be updated and printed again.
Nominating Committee: Janee Jeffries reported that Janice Harvey will be leaving the committee and will not be able to attend our final General Meeting on November 4. Janee will be in contact with other committee members to appoint a new Committee Chair.
Janee also attended as our representative the Newcomers Meeting held on September 22 and talked with several interested ladies and reported that since there are so many more people moving to the Village that we should perhaps send 2 or 3 reps from the WGA to future meetings so as not to miss any opportunities. Several other things that can be done would be to have the Golf Director recognize any reps from the leagues so that any interested parties can speak to them there.
Member/Member: In the absence of Catherine Walsh, Nancy Pfeiffer reported that one team has lost one member and that the committee has made phone calls to all eligible members to fill that spot, but so far has not been able to find a member eligible in that handicap range. The “Committee Chair Catherine Walsh asked Nancy Pfeiffer” if she could play even though she only had four games and not the required five so the flight would be even. The board reiterated that the eligibility rules would exclude her from playing.
Club Championship/Handicap Championship: Nancy Pfeiffer reported that 66 have now signed up, the last day to sign up is today. One thousand three hundred twenty dollars was collected so far for appetizers and refreshments provided on the last day at Cortez. Pizza and a drink ticket worth $6.00 (soft drinks, 2 beers, 1 glass of wine) with the added bonus that if you only want one beer you would get $3.50 cash back.
Nancy has also reported that it was brought to her attention that Katie Speir has not been posting all the games that she has played on the Village courses. Discussion was held, as of the previous October 7 play day at Granada Katie had four scores posted for 2021. Ruth Smith looked up her posting history and reported that 8 more scores were posted since then. Nancy reported that her handicap index went from 3.2 to 4.6. It was also mentioned that she has not played in any League Play Days in 2021. More discussion ensued regarding if these scores were posted correctly, and Nancy declared that if a formal complaint was received, she would investigate this further.
A lengthy discussion was held regarding requiring a very low play day game minimum. It was decided to Table this requirement until January of 2022.
NEW BUSINESS
Jeannette Slattery, our Parliamentarian, has notified us that the Property Owners Association is now using “Democratic Rules of Order” instead of Robert’s Rules of Order for all meetings. We will have to change our bylaws to incorporate the new rules, advantages are that they are much simpler and easier to follow. The booklet is available for anyone to read, Jeannette has a copy.
Our next meeting will be on November 4, 2021, at the Balboa Cortez Pavilion. This is our season ending General Meeting, starting at 9:00 a.m. for social, and 9:30 a.m. for Awards Presentation and next year’s officer installation. Coffee, orange juice, and assorted pastries will be provided, please feel free to bring your own Mimosas or Bloody Mary’s.
Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jeannette Slattery, Nancy Pfeiffer seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 9:44 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted By:
Sandi Smit, VP and Play Day Chair,
For Suzanne Kuch, Secretary
Amended on October 20 & 28, 2021
WGA 18-HOLE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
SEPTEMBER 8, 2021
The regular board meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on September 8, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:32 am after verifying a quorum was present.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the board meeting held on August 11, 2021. Suzanne Kuch moved to approve and Ginny Bejma seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
Treasurer’s Report: Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that in August the General Fund started with a balance of $12,090.98. She paid the board meeting room rental of $11.40. The General Fund ending balance for August is $12,079.58.
Last month Barb reported that the Margaret Griffin Invitational Tournament had a balance carry forward to next year of $5,328.13. This included donations from the Tournament Committee members that were made to ensure the success of the tournament. The Tournament Committee met and the members who made those donations decided that they did not want their donations refunded. They instead decided that they wanted the Tournament Committee to donate $1,000 to the upcoming Member/Member Tournament. Based on this instruction, Barb moved $1,000 from the Margaret Griffin Invitational Tournament balance to the Member/Member Tournament. The Margaret Griffin Invitational Tournament now has a balance carry forward of $4,328.13. The Member/Member beginning balance is now $1,144.64. Including the balances for the Invitational and Member/Member tournaments, we have a total of $17,552.35 in the bank as of August 31.
Donna Mahle delivered Closest to the Pin proceeds at the meeting that will be deposited soon.
Play Day Chair: No report.
Birdies/Chip-ins: No report.
Closest to the Pin: No report.
Handicaps/ Play Day Score Recorder: All recordable scores will be posted by the committee on WGA play days even if a participant was disqualified from the play day game. Members are expected to post their own scores when playing on other days.
Tee Time Adjuster: No report.
Rules: No report.
Scorers: No report.
Starters: No report.
Big Sister: Catherine Walsh plans to pair any new member from this season that does not have a Big Sister with a Big Sister next season.
Membership: No Report.
Yearbook: No report.
Publicity: Sharron Montgomery submitted a lovely article to the Hot Springs Village Voice about the Margaret Griffin Invitational Tournament. The article appeared in the September 7 edition.
Marketing/Advertising: No report.
Club Championship: Nancy Pfeiffer and the committee working on the tournament.
Crush Cancer: Michelle Lukasavige reports that they need new members for the committee for next year or there may not be a committee next year. Becky Dost will submit an article for the next newsletter. The discussion about the Crush Cancer committee needs to start a general conversation about recruiting new members to all of the WGA committees. Sharron Montgomery volunteered to create specific descriptions of each committee and what they do. The descriptions will be posted on the website and will be discussed at the Fall General Meeting. We will also have committee sign-up sheets available at the meeting.
Margaret Griffin Invitational: We had a lively discussion about the large carry over balance for the tournament. Donna Mahle noted the difficulties in planning the tournament and the timing of the flow of funds which led the committee members to make personal donations previously discussed in the Treasurer’s report. She also noted that we will use this money next year as it will be our 50th anniversary and we are asking the committee to make the event extra special in honor of the anniversary. We do have seed money for the tournament each year from the Closest to the Pin contests and the Shootout so we do not need to carry over a significant balance year to year. The board will ask the committee to do their best to spend all of the funds for the tournament, on the tournament in the current year.
Member/Member: Catherine Walsh and her committee are working on the tournament. The sign-up sheet will open on our website at 7 pm September 16. Catherine and her committee are grateful for the donation from the Margaret Griffin Invitational Committee. The extra funds will lower the entry fee some, will boost the payout some, and will allow for extra refreshments after the third round at Isabella.
SWAGS: Catherine Walsh is the Super Super Senior Champion (competitors over 70). Hot Springs Village was well represented at the tournament.
Golf Committee Representative: No report.
Hole-in-One: No report.
Junior Golf: Wanda reported that she will not be the liaison between the WGA and Junior Golf next year.
NEW BUSINESS
The Shamble scheduled for 9/9/2021 is a shotgun start at 3 pm. The $5 fee will include snacks for participants after play. The POA is also offering reduced drink prices after play. We have 60 participants signed up.
The POA has scheduled a Newcomers meeting on Wednesday September 22 from 10 – 11:30 am at the Woodlands Auditorium. Janee Jeffries will represent the WGA.
The POA will host a Community Fair on Wednesday October 20 from 10 am to 2 pm. It will be outdoors in the Parking Lot of the Ponce De Leon Center/ Woodlands Auditorium. The board voted to participate.
The Fall General Meeting is scheduled for November 4. We had a lengthy discussion on how to promote better attendance from the membership. We decided to investigate the possibility of an evening event with drinks and appetizers at the Desoto Club. Ellie Little was given a per person cost range and will investigate availability of the venue and menu options. We also have the Balboa Pavilion reserved from 8 am – 2 pm for a day time meeting option.
Pace of Play was our last new business item. We received a member suggestion for a new Pace of Play committee to develop a policy on pace of play and procedures on how to improve pace of play on league days. During the discussion we came up with lots of ideas on how to facilitate pace of play. We decided to form a new Pace of Play committee. This committee will develop policies and procedures that facilitate pace of play. Donna and Sandi will meet with Mike Socha and ask that he include the estimated time players should finish each hole on the score cards each week. We hope this will help members see for themselves if they are keeping up.
Next Meeting: The next board meeting will be October 13 at 8:30 am at the Coronado Center.
Ginny Bejma made a motion to adjourn and Suzanne Kuch seconded the motion. The motion passed without discussion. The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 am.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch
WGA 18-HOLE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
AUGUST 11, 2021
The regular board meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on August 11, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:31 am after verifying a quorum was present.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the board meeting held on July 14, 2021. Kim Fisher moved to approve and Wanda Selman seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
Treasurer’s Report: Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported first on the Margaret Griffin Invitational finances. The 2021 Tournament account started with $3,307.29 The Shootout added $1,087.50, entry fees added $18,900, the raffle and 50/50 pot added $1,475, sponsorships added $4,000, and the Closest to the Pin events added $790 for total funds available of $29,559.79. Tournament expenses were $24,231.66 and included $1,660.08 for food at Cortez, $1,894.50 for food at Mulligans, $2,436.75 for tee gifts, $400 for entry fee refunds, and $17,840.33 for golf fees and prize money. The Tournament balance carried forward to next year is $5,328.13.
The General fund started July with $12,020.98. We received $80 in dues from two new members in July and incurred $10 in bank fees. The General fund ended the month with $12,090.98. Including carryovers from the Member/Member and the Invitational tournaments, we have a total of $17,563.75 in the bank. Donna Mahle delivered Closest to the Pin proceeds at the meeting that will be deposited soon.
Play Day Chair: Sandi thanked the Pairings Administrator for rearranging tee times so that Sandi and her partner could go out first as a twosome instead of having to play as a twosome in the middle of the field on a recent play day. This led to some discussion on how to handle changes in tee times that may impact flight order.
Birdies/Chip-ins: No report.
Closest to the Pin: No report.
Handicaps/ Play Day Score Recorder: No Report.
Pairings Administrator: Kim Fisher reported that she tries each week to get as many late additions into the field as possible, but can’t always get everyone in because she also does her best to honor the flight order indicated on the schedule for each event. She did point out that the flight order for the pairings is not the same as the scoring flights so members may still not be playing within their scoring flight on a play day. Also, Kim has received a significant number of special tee time requests that would fall outside the flight order indicated on the schedule. After discussion, the board decided that we will continue to include a flight order for pairings if appropriate for the scheduled game. Members should take the pairing flight order into consideration when deciding whether to sign up for a play day.
Kim suggested that her position needs a different title. The Golf department actually makes the pairings each week. The Pairings Administrator makes any changes to tee times after the initial pairing are made to adjust for additions and cancellations. She moved that the board rename the position Tee Time Adjuster. Nancy Pfeiffer seconded the motion. The motion was carried without additional discussion.
Rules: No report.
Scorers: Sherrie Nichols requested that Sandi and Norma add instructions to the weekly rules email specifying that one person on a team or foursome keep the official scorecard to turn in. The official scorecard should be complete with total gross scores for each player (for posting) and total net scores for the player or team as appropriate for the game.
Starters: Wanda continues to get good cooperation from members when she asks them to be a starter.
Membership: Sherrie Nichols reported for Brenda Sallee that we have 3 new members: Sandy Foster, Shirley Davis, and Janet Calloway. We have 15 new members for the year and a total of 168 members.
Yearbook: No report.
Publicity: Sharron will submit an article about the Invitational to the Voice. Our articles seem to be printed on a space available basis.
Marketing/Advertising: Diana Beene is concerned about the low level of participation on our play days because she has heard some unfavorable feedback along the lines that the WGA is not fun anymore or that we play with the same people all the time. Other board members indicated that they had had positive feedback that we will pay more prizes this year. One of our newest members suggested that it may be that we need to properly express the benefits of membership. She joined because she heard that in addition to meeting new friends she would get to play organized golf and learn the rules of the game.
Club Championship: Nancy Pfeiffer and the committee working on the tournament.
Margaret Griffin Invitational: Kathy Norris thanked the committee and all the volunteers for working hard to make the 2021 Margaret Griffin Invitational a success. She also provided a recap for the Tournament.
Three factors made the tournament a challenge this year: we did not know until March that we could have the tournament; local businesses were not in a position to promise sponsorships until very close to the tournament; and expenses went up. In spite of the challenges in planning, the tournament was very successful. Kathy had a lot of great compliments from both visitors and members. There were a few constructive criticisms that will be addressed for the tournament next year.
The committee also faced a few challenges during the tournament. Our restaurant at one of the courses forgot we were coming that day. That was discovered early that morning. The restaurant staff recovered and lunch was served as planned. They worked very hard to get the food right.
One item that comes up every year is the course selection for the tournament. The committee heard that some of the ladies wanted a course other than DeSoto, so the committee selected different courses even though space would be an issue. The players were excited to play Cortez and Ponce. Our golf pros, Tom Heffer and Mike Socha, did a great job for the tournament and have some exciting suggestions for next year.
Going forward, the committee believes that we need to increase the entry fee for the tournament. A higher fee will give the committee a better idea of funds available when planning the meals and tee gifts associated with the event.
Member/Member: Catherine Walsh and her committee have started working on the tournament. The sign-up sheet will open on our website at 7 pm September 16.
WGA members are required to play 25% of the play days to qualify for the tournament which works out to 5 play days this year. It appears that many of our members stop playing on regular play days as soon as they have reached the “magic” number of days. We did have some discussion about whether we should increase the percentage for next year to increase participation in the play days. We also had some discussion about the timing of the tournament in the future. Some members propose an earlier date because more daylight would allow more teams to participate. Other members prefer a later date because they think of the event as a season ending party.
Golf Department Representative: No report.
Junior Golf: Wanda Selman reports that the summer was very successful. They did need more volunteers at Magellan on Wednesday afternoons. She hopes that more members from the WGA will participate next year.
Next Meeting: The next board meeting will be September 8 at 8:30 am at the Coronado Center.
Diana Beene made a motion to adjourn and Catherine Walsh seconded the motion. The motion passed without discussion. The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 am.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch
WGA 18-HOLE LEAGUE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
7/14/21
The regular Board Meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on July 14, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:32 AM after verifying that a quorum was present.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the board meeting held on June 9, 2021. Ginny Bejma motioned to approve and Sherrie Nichols seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
Treasurer’s Report: Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that our Regions Bank Account balance on June 1, 2021 was $16,080.51. Total revenues for the month were $43.00 ($40.00 new membership dues and one $3 bag tag). Total expenses for June were $33.60 ($26.00 domain fee and $7.60 boardroom rental fee). Our general fund balance as of June 30,2021 is $12,020.98. The carry-over balance of the Member/Member committee is $144.64. The net proceeds of $1087.50 for the CTP Shoot-Out was deposited to the Invitational fund along with $1550.00 in sponsorships and $136.00 for CTP funds. The balance in the Invitational fund is currently $6697.79. The ending balance of the Regions bank account is $18,863.41.
Play Day Chair: Sandi Smit, Play Day Chair, reported that the Rules Clinic held by Martha McAllister on July 7 at Granada was well received and very informative. Next one scheduled is Monday July 19, 8:00 AM at Balboa. There are currently 9 signed up with room for more. It should be noted that the HSV Local Rules (posted on the WGA website) have changed, namely the sprinkler head rule relief where if you were 2 club lengths from a sprinkler head that was 2 club lengths from the green surface, has been removed and can no longer be followed. The only relief from a sprinkler head is if your ball is on top of it or you are standing on it. An E-Blast will be sent out to the membership.
Birdies and Chip Ins: Marge Harvey reported that everything is up to date.
Handicap/Play Day Score Recorder: Ruth Smith reported to remind everyone playing in the Invitational that she will not be posting scores and it is up to the Committee (Mike and Tom) as to whether to post as a Tournament score or Regular Home Score. A reminder that if you post your score for the first day where you have special games (1 putt and designated Birdie hole) to post your most likely score for those holes.
Closest to the Pin: Barb has the monies for deposit for the Invitational.
Pairings Administrator: Kim Fisher originally thought that a separate email address would be a better way to handle cancellations and additions, but it may be quicker as is with personal phone and email. She wanted to remind players that if you must cancel the day of play the proper procedure is to call the Pro Shop, not the Pairings Administrator (at 5:30 AM for example).
Rules: (See Play Day Chair Report)
Scorers: Sherrie Nichols reported that everything is going well, they have added two more scorers to the committee and have enough scorers each play day.
Newsletter: Ginny Bejma will send the reminder early this time (approx. 7/19) and ask for articles by the 26th.
Publicity: The Voice has the article on the CTP Shootout and will print as they have room. No play on July 4 so no article in this week’s paper.
Starters: Wanda Selman reported to Donna that everyone is cooperative.
Big Sister: No Report.
Nominating: Janice Harvey reported that we have a viable candidate for VP for 2022 and will know soon if it is accepted. Suzanne Kuch and Barb Krone will be staying on in their positions for 2022.
Sunshine: No report.
Past President: No report.
Margaret Griffin Invitational: Field is still full, 1 team has dropped out due to injury. Everything is being worked on and going smoothly.
Member/Member: No report.
Golf Department Representative: Marge Harvey reported that she has been re-elected secretary for the 5th year and final year. Balboa renovation on track and will be paid for by the golf surcharge. Rounds are still up and package play is up.
Junior Golf: Wanda Selman still needs help for Wednesday sessions, only one left.
Next Meeting: August 11, 2021, at 8:30 AM at the Coronado Center.
Debbie Johnson motioned to adjourn, Ginny Bejma seconded the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:09 AM.
Respectfully submitted by Sandi Smit (for Suzanne Kuch)
WGA 18 HOLE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
JUNE 9, 2021
The regular board meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on June 9, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:35 am after verifying a quorum was present.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the board meeting held on May 12, 2021. Catherine Walsh moved to approve and Suzanne Kuch seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
Treasurer’s Report: Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that in May she deposited $80 in 2021 membership dues and has $40 in dues from a new member yet to deposit. She paid $175 to the Junior Golf Association and paid the room rental for the last board meeting. She also deposited $300 for Invitational sponsorships and $193 Closest to the Pin proceeds. We ended May with $12,011.58 in the general operating fund. Including carryovers from the Member/Member and the Invitational tournaments and the new deposits for the Invitational, we have a total of $16,080.51 in the bank. Sandi Smit delivered additional Invitational sponsor checks and Closest to the Pin proceeds at the meeting that will be deposited soon.
Play Day Chair: No report.
Birdies/Chip-ins: No report.
Closest to the Pin: No report.
Handicaps/ Play Day Score Recorder: Ruth Smith and Sherrie Nichols reminded us that participants should note their adjusted gross score on their scorecards in addition to their score for the game if their score on any hole exceeds a net double bogey.
Pairings Administrator: Kim Fisher reported that the pairings process is working better. PYP play days still offer challenges because the sign up process does not validate POA numbers. If a POA number is not correct, the Golf department staff has to manually look up the player and sometimes they get the wrong person or the wrong POA number.
Rules: Norma Hartney reports that determining if course conditions will impact the play day rules is challenging because the email goes out the afternoon before and conditions could change. She reminded us that the Starter will have updated rules if course conditions are worse than expected.
Scorers: Sherrie Nichols reported that on the last play day she had to adjust almost 20 scores after they were posted because the scorers did not notice actual scores exceeding a net double bogey. The scorecards that play day did not include dots for each hole which made it more difficult to see the scores that required adjustment. Kim Fisher will ask Mike Socha if it is possible to add or repurpose a column on the scorecard for Adjusted Gross Score so that participants can note their adjusted scores in a consistent way to assist the scoring committee. Scorers will take responsibility for checking the scores more carefully.
Starters: No report.
Big Sisters: Catherine Walsh reports that Sandy Mabry is the newest member of the league. Her Big Sister is BJ Connor. Total membership is 164 + 1 sustaining member.
Yearbook: Sharron Montgomery still has yearbooks for those members who have not received them. She also has some extras for new members.
Marketing/Advertising: The POA has resumed the in-person Newcomers program. Diana Beene will make sure our information is available.
Nominating: Janice Harvey is still working on filling the Vice President position for next year.
Sunshine: Diana Beene thanks the members for letting her know when it might be appropriate to send a member a card. She does a check to make sure the information that she receives is accurate before she sends the card.
Margaret Griffin Invitational: Sandi Smit gave the report for Tournament Chair Kathy Norris. The tournament is now full and Kathy has a waiting list. Kathy will need volunteers for both days of the tournament.
After the discussion at the last board meeting, the tournament committee has decided not to require each member of a team to contribute a minimum number of scores each round. There will still be a maximum difference in handicap allowed between team members.
Member/Member: WGA members will be required to complete five play days by September 16 (inclusive) to qualify to play in the tournament. Participation in the Invitational does not count towards the five play days. Catherine Walsh will include this information in the next newsletter.
Golf Department Representative: Marge Harvey reported on several Golf Department sponsored events. The recently completed Couples Invitational Tournament had a full field for the first time in a long time and went smoothly. The Golf Department is trying to reinstate the Nine and Dine program. The revised program requires participants to sign up as foursomes. The Short Game Challenge has been cancelled because of lack of interest. The Par 3 tournament is still on for June 14.
There was a lengthy discussion regarding the placement and color of the new orange tee markers. It appeared to some members on our recent play day at Magellan that the orange tee markers were placed where the gold markers usually are and that the gold markers had been moved back. On holes where the orange and gold markers were located in close proximity, the color of the orange markers was so close to that of the gold markers that members were confusing the two. Marge will report the WGA observations to the Golf Committee.
Junior Golf: Wanda Selman reports that there was a good turnout of both participants and volunteers for the first day of Junior Golf. If anyone wants to volunteer on Wednesday afternoons, they should be at either the Magellan practice area or the Granada driving range at 3 pm.
Next Meeting: The next board meeting will be July 14 at 8:30 am at the Coronado Center.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:32 am.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch
WGA 18 HOLE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
MAY 12, 2021
The regular board meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on May 12, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:33 am.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the board meeting held on April 14, 2021. Kim Fisher moved to approve and Nancy Pfeiffer seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
Treasurer’s Report: Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that since the last board meeting we received $80 in 2021 membership dues and did not incur any expenses. We have $12,196.08 in the general operating fund. Including carryovers from the Member/Member and Margaret Griffin tournaments, we have a total of $15,772.01 in the bank. Closest to the Pin proceeds and sponsorships for the Margaret Griffin Invitational will be deposited in May.
Play Day Chair: Sandi Smit, Vice President and Play Day Chair reminded us that the Long Game Clinic is this afternoon and there are a couple of spots available due to last minute cancellations. Everyone on the waiting list is already included.
Birdies/Chip-ins: Marge Harvey reported that there were 23 birdies and 17 chip-ins on the last play day.
Closest to the Pin: Kathy Norris reported that there are openings for two more teams in the Closest to the Pin Shoot-out scheduled for Monday May 17.
Handicaps/ Play Day Score Recorder: Ruth Smith reported that the reporting process is all worked out. She reminded us that we need to write down our probable gross score if we pick up.
Pairings Administrator: Kim Fisher reported that the pairings process is better and that they are still working through some issues.
Rules: No report.
Scorers: Marge Harvey reported everything is OK.
Starters: Wanda Selman happily reports that nobody says “no” when she calls for a volunteer.
Big Sisters: Catherine Walsh reports 11 new members to the league. Total membership is 163 + 1 sustaining member.
Newsletter: No report.
Yearbook: No report.
Publicity: There was a nice article in the Voice on April 20.
Nominating: No report.
Crush Cancer: There are 94 players signed up for the Crush Cancer play day tomorrow. Kim Fisher designed and made special golf towels for the winners of each flight. Valerie Shippers hand painted four wine glasses for each of the gift baskets given to the winners of the Closest to the Line and Closest to the Pin contests. There will also be a raffle for three sets of custom head covers made by Debbie Johnson and a raffle for a piece of faux stained glass artwork by Bev Raskin.
The play day is the only Crush Cancer event planned by the WGA 18-Hole league this year. The committee is looking for new members. In particular they are looking for someone who can coordinate with the other golf leagues in the Village to organize and run group activities such as the golf sale and Crush Cancer dinner we have had in the past.
Diamante is going to host a Crush Cancer tournament on September 27. Liberty Mutual will be involved again, but will not be a named sponsor. Diamante is not looking for planning help, but may need volunteers the day of the tournament.
Margaret Griffin Invitational: Kathy Norris reported that 45 teams have signed up and 41 of those have paid. 62 teams is a full field. Kathy will contact golf groups in Little Rock to promote the tournament. She reports that sponsorships are a problem this year both because of COVID and because the tournament does not have charitable status. Mulligan’s at Ponce and Rafaella Rose at Cortez offered very good deals on the food and are considered in-kind sponsors. The tournament will include lunch at Cortez on the first day. The last day at Ponce will include a buffet breakfast, beer during the shoot-out, and burgers and grilled chicken after play is completed. The cost is $150 per person again this year.
Kathy also indicated that the committee needs more active members to ensure the success of the tournament. In addition to tournament planning, they will need volunteers for both days of the tournament.
For the last couple of years, the tournament rules have contained a provision that each member of a team must contribute six scores per round. This is in addition to the maximum allowed difference in handicaps between team members. Ruth Smith expressed concern that this is a “double penalty” for some teams and may be suppressing sign-ups. The minimum hole contribution requirement has not been advertised and the committee will take Ruth’s concerns into consideration when making the rules this year.
Member/Member: Catherine Walsh did not have a detailed report but did note that Marge Harvey is keeping the participation statistics that they will use to verify that a member is qualified to play in the tournament.
Golf Department Representative: Marge reminded us that on Monday June 7 the POA Golf Department and the Golf Committee are hosting a Short Game Challenge at Magellan golf course with net proceeds paid out to the participants. Also on that day and at Magellan golf course, the Rotary Club will host their 1st Annual Ball Drop fundraiser. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards student scholarships. The fundraiser will also include a silent auction and other games. The timing of the events should allow people to participate in both the POA and Rotary sponsored activities.
Marge was asked how a golfer should report issues with conditions at a golf course. She told us that issues with a course should be reported to the Golf Committee. She was also asked about ratings for the orange tees at each course. She replied that the regular rating at Balboa which has been delayed by rain will happen before the orange tees are rated.
Junior Golf: The league received a letter from the Junior Golf Association board asking for a donation. The WGA 18-Hole league usually donates $175 to junior golf. Debbie Johnson moved that we make our usual donation. The motion was seconded and passed without discussion.
Wanda Selman reported that player orientation is June 1 at 4 pm at the Balboa Pavilion. The first practice session is June 2. They need volunteers on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 4:30 pm at the practice area at Magellan and from 3 to 4 pm at the Granada driving range. They also need volunteers on Thursdays to drive the golf carts for the play days. The season ends July 29.
The Junior Golf Association membership is $35 and is good for green fee discounts all year. In addition to golf education, the association also provides school scholarships to some members. Wanda will compose an e-blast for the WGA membership with more details about the program.
Other Business: Pace of play continues to be an issue. Not every course has marshals and the ones that do vary in their willingness to enforce pace of play. Previously Sandi and Donna volunteered to act as marshal before or after their tee times. Wanda Selman has also volunteered. Our goal is to encourage our members to keep up with the group ahead of them.
Next Meeting: The next board meeting will be June 9 at 8:30 am at the Coronado Center.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:44 am.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch
WGA 18-HOLE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
APRIL 14, 2021
The regular board meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on April 14, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:40 am.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the board meeting held on February 24, 2021. Ginny Bejma moved to approve and Sherrie Nichols seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
Treasurer’s Report. Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that since the last board meeting we have received $300 in advertising revenue from Bob Sweeten, $1,210 in 2021 membership dues, and $30 in bag tag orders for a total income of $1,540. Since the last board meeting we have incurred expenses of $794.62 for administrative expenses, yearbook printing, and scorecard printing. We have $12,116.08 in the general operating fund. Including carryovers from the Member/Member and Margaret Griffin tournaments, we have a total of $15,568.01 in the bank. Barb noted that she still needs to deposit the Closest to the Pin proceeds from the first two play days.
Play Day Chair. Sandi Smit, Vice President and Play Day Chair reported that we had 79 players for our opening scramble and paid 39. We had 72 players for the April 8 play day and paid 35. There are 74 signed up to play on April 15. Kim Fisher reported that this participation level is in line with what we experienced last year.
Birdies/Chip-ins. Marge Harvey reported that the reporting and tracking processes are working fine.
Closest to the Pin. Kathy Norris was not at the meeting. Donna reported that the participation levels are as expected. She will remind Kathy to forward the tournament share of the funds to the Treasurer in a timely manner.
Handicaps/ Play Day Score Recorder. Ruth Smith was not at the meeting. Donna reminded us not to post our scores on play days. She asked us to encourage / remind our friends to post scores on other days.
Pairings Administrator. Kim Fisher reported that Mike Socha has taken over scorecards from Tom this year. There is a learning curve involved so she asked members to check that their handicaps are correct. The handicaps on the scorecards are based on the Friday prior to the play day so they may not be exactly as shown in GHIN on the actual play day. We are looking for big discrepancies that cannot be accounted for by rounds posted the week prior to the play day.
Currently we only get one scorecard per group or team – printed on card stock. Donna will follow-up with the Golf department to see if we can get a second scorecard printed on regular paper for each group or team so that we can have two people keeping score.
Rules. Norma Hartney will continue to provide an email prior to the play day that contains any special rules for the day. The Play Day Chair may also provide an email prior to the play day that contains any special information about the day’s particular game.
Scorers. Sherrie Nichols reported that the Scorers committee continues to struggle with messy scorecards. Please write the scores as neatly as possible. For games that require a gross and net score, the gross score goes above the line and the net score goes below the line. For the games with more complicated scoring, the committee will create an example scorecard that will be displayed at the Starter table.
Starters. Wanda Selman was unable to attend the meeting. She reported to Donna that when asked to be a starter, overall cooperation from the members is good.
Membership. Brenda Sallee was not at the meeting. In response to a question about our membership, Donna reported that we have 162 or 163 members.
Newsletter. Ginny Bejma reported that she will start reporting the reason that the league sent a Sympathy card to a member. To protect the member’s privacy, she will not report the reason the league sent a Get Well or Thinking of You card. The next newsletter deadline is April 26.
Yearbook. Sharron Montgomery is still distributing the yearbooks. If you have not received yours, please contact Sharron.
Publicity. Sharron Montgomery did submit an article to the Hot Springs Village Voice about our first play day, but it did not appear in the April 13 edition. It will appear as space is available. She did note that the results article for the same play day submitted by Janice Pomerleau was included in the most recent edition of the paper.
Nominating. Janice Harvey was not at the meeting. Donna introduced new member Janee Jeffries who is also a new member of the Nominating committee.
Margaret Griffin Invitational. Kathy Norris was not at the meeting. Donna reported that the “Save the Date” email has been sent to past participants and the official invitation is to come. The courses have not been finalized because of the logistics associated with the post play awards luncheon. The tournament committee wants to know if we must use the format described in the yearbook. Because the yearbook has been printed, the tournament will be a two-day best ball event. Approval of the board is required to change the format for next year.
A question was raised about the official name of the tournament. Sherrie Nichols pointed out that the name Margaret Griffin did not appear in the Save the Date email. Consensus of the members present is that we voted in 2019 to replace the word “Invitational” with “Memorial” in the tournament name. This change allows us to continue to honor Margaret and also allows us to publicize the event through the ASGA. Donna agreed to review prior meeting minutes to confirm the name change and she will remind Kathy that we need to include the complete tournament name in our communications.
Member/Member. Catherine Walsh was not present and did not send a report to Donna. Donna did have an inquiry from a member on how we count play days for the purposes of qualifying for the tournament. The answer is found in WGA Standing Rule 9 which states that the tournament requires that participants have completed 25% of the prior WGA league play days. If a member withdraws from a play day game competition after having started play, then she has not completed the play day even if she continues to play the remaining holes after withdrawing from the game. Similarly, a member who is disqualified from a play day event will not be counted as having completed the play day.
Golf Department Representative. Marge Harvey reported that May 1, players renting POA carts are expected to ride two to a cart. Players who request to ride alone in a POA cart may be required to pay for the extra seat (exception for threesomes if only two POA carts are used).
Marge reported that on Monday June 7 the POA Golf Department and the Golf Committee are hosting a Short Game Challenge at Magellan golf course with net proceeds paid out to the participants. Also on that day and at Magellan golf course, the Rotary Club will host their 1st Annual Ball Drop fundraiser. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards student scholarships. The fundraiser will also include a silent auction and other games. The timing of the events should allow people to participate in both the POA and Rotary sponsored activities.
Junior Golf. Wanda Selman reported to Donna that Junior Golf will happen this year. They need volunteers on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 4 pm at the practice area at Magellan and at the Granada driving range.
Other Business:
Rules Walks. At the Spring General Meeting, Tammy Hutchins-Frye announced that she and Martha McAlister were planning a walking rules seminar. The first seminar was a test of concept held on Granada #12 while the course was closed. The participants found the session helpful so Martha agreed to hold more sessions. They will be publicized and sign-ups managed in a manner similar to the Short and Long Game clinics.
Board Meeting Location. We received a large bill for our first board meeting at Coronado Center. Donna investigated the charges and resolved the matter. In the future we will be charged the usual hourly rate for the room we use at the Coronado center. We budget $100 per year for our room rental. Although there may be some venues that charge a little less, the consensus is that we want to support the POA and have a consistent meeting place. If POA charges go up, we will investigate other locations.
Pace of Play. Some members complained about the pace of play on the most recent play day. Often there is not a marshal available on our play days to help us with pace of play. Donna and Sandi have volunteered to act as a marshal before or after their tee times to encourage our members to keep up with the group ahead.
Next Meeting. The next board meeting will be May 12 at 8:30 am at the Coronado Center.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:52 am.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch
WGA 18-HOLE SPRING GENERAL MEETING
BALBOA PAVILION
MARCH 24, 2021
The Spring General Meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Balboa Pavilion on March 24, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 10:33 am and welcomed everyone to another year of WGA. The invocation was given by Charlotte McCarty.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the 2020 Spring General Meeting (Fall meeting not held in 2020). Wanda Selman moved to approve the minutes and Sue Bencriscutto seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
President’s Opening Remarks. Donna welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted that 2021 begins our 50th year as a league. She introduced the league Executive committee and then introduced special guests Tom Heffer, HSV Director of Golf and Mike Socha, HSV Assistant Director of Golf.
Director of Golf Report. Tom thanked the WGA members for our support during the past year of COVID restrictions. Tom gave us some exciting updates regarding golf operations in Hot Springs Village.
Restaurant operations at Isabella, Granada, and Desoto. The Golf department is very excited about the new restaurant operations at these three golf course restaurants. Mr. Jones, the new operator, is focused on serving daily golfers at these courses. He will also have a tournament coordinator to support the Golf department in tournament planning and execution.
Orange tees. Tom recognized Karen Nickel, WGA and Golf Committee member, for raising enough money to put orange tees on every course.
Closest to the Pin tournament. Tom recognized Rhonda Haynes for again organizing the Closest to the Pin tournament for 2021. He is pleased that we will be able to have this very popular tournament this year.
Course maintenance. Spring aerification is underway.
Course ratings. Balboa rerating has been delayed and will be rerated as soon as possible.
COVID restrictions. The POA is going to slowly ease restrictions. Buckets and bag stands are now available on the driving ranges. On April 1, the foam will be removed from the cups and we will be allowed (but not required) to remove the pins when putting. Also on April 1, the Golf department will recommend two riders in POA carts. On May 1, the rakes will return to the bunkers and the Golf department will only allow two POA carts per tee time. If a member of a foursome using POA carts wants to ride alone there will be a charge for the second seat. Also on May 1, there will be no limit on play day sign-ups and shotgun tournaments will be allowed.
Skills clinics. Mike Socha will be offering skills clinics. The clinic's attendance will be limited to 15 students.
Play day pairings. Mike Socha will be doing the pairings for the WGA this year.
Treasurer’s Report. Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that we started the year with $6,105.60. In 2021 we have received $50 in advertising revenue for the yearbook, $6,290 in 2021 membership dues, $20 attributable to 2020 dues, and $15 in bag tag orders for a total YTD income of $6,375. We have $709.83 in expenses including administrative expenses of $105.67, newsletter expenses of $11.90, yearbook expenses of $390.26, $200 for scorecard printing, and a small bank charge. We have $11,770.77 in the general operating fund. Including carryovers from the Member/Member and Invitational tournaments, we have a total of $15,222.70 in the bank.
Handicaps/Play Day Scores. Ruth Smith reminded us that she posts our play day scores. She is also our contact should we need to correct errors in any scores we post ourselves. She also reminded us that the Orange tees are not officially rated and should not be posted in GHIN. Donna confirmed that the WGA does not have any play day games using the Orange tees.
Play Day Chair. Sandi Smit, Vice President and Play Day Chair noted that the short and long game clinics announced for the WGA are limited to 14 participants because she is automatically included in the clinic. She asked that any member who wants to be on the waiting list or who needs to cancel to email or call her directly rather than using the league email address.
Sandi also noted that because there was not a Fall meeting last year, we did not present Donna Mahle with the traditional gift for serving as President of the league. Sandi presented Donna with a beautiful afghan that Sandi made especially for Donna.
Membership- Big Sister / Little Sister. Donna thanked Catherine Walsh for coordinating the Big Sister / Little Sister program this season. There was a reception for the new members and their big sisters just before the general meeting in lieu of a luncheon this year. The Big/Little sisters who are participating in the first play day will be paired together.
Donna introduced the ten new members and their Big sisters:
Liz Edwards / Ellie Little
Bert Gianulis / Rita Violett
Sandy Gibbs / Sue Bencriscutto
Janee Jeffries / Janice Harvey
Ying Luckey / Wanda Selman
Sara Pilgrim / Pat Highland
Tricia Ramos / Kathy Metzger
Andrea Renner / Sherrie Nichols
Sharon Starwalt / Jeanette Keim
Kim Winter / Martha McAlister
Pairings Administration. Donna introduced Pairings administrators Kim Fisher and Terry Benson. Kim explained how the system works and how to make cancellations and additions requests.
Rules Committee. Donna introduced the chairman of the Rules committee, Norma Hartney. Norma reminded us of Standing Rule 20 (page 27 of the 2021 Member Yearbook). We observe the rules of golf including the HSV Local Rules and the WGA Standing Rules. Additionally, you will receive an email each week prior to our play day with any additional rules that may apply for that day. These additional rules will also be posted at check-in for each play day.
Prizes / Awards / Statistics. Donna introduced the Prizes/Awards/Statistics Chair, Marge Harvey. The Birdie book will be available in or near the golf shop on each play day so that members may record their birdies, chip-ins, and eagles after completing play.
Closest to the Pin Contests. Donna introduced Kathy Norris as the Invitational Tournament Chair. The Closest to the Pin contests are part of the fundraising for the tournament. The Golf department is removing the foam from the cups on or before our first play day so we may use our regular measuring equipment to determine the distance a ball is from the pin. We plan to provide hand sanitizer on these holes, but members are encouraged to carry their own sanitizer.
Starters. Donna introduced Wanda Selman as the Starter committee chair. Wanda reminded everyone that the starters hand out scorecards and collect the closest to the pin money each play day. She asks that we answer her call and agree to be a starter if she asks. She asks for volunteers who live near the course and is mindful of their tee time when assigning shifts.
Play day scoring. Donna introduced Sherrie Nichols as the new Scoring committee chair. Sherrie and Donna thanked Jeanette Keim for her years of service as chair and her continued support as a committee member.
Communication / Membership / Internet. Donna introduced Brenda Sallee who maintains the website and membership database, and manages email communications to the league members. Sharron Montgomery assists as needed.
Newsletter. Donna recognized Ginny Bejma as the newsletter editor. Ginny was not able to attend the meeting.
Yearbook and Publicity/Marketing. Donna introduced Sharron Montgomery as our past President, as the Yearbook editor for 2021, and as our Publicity and Marketing Chair. Please contact Sharron if you did not get your yearbook at the meeting or if your information is not correct. Sharron also has league bag tags. They are available for $3 each.
Janice Pomerleau and Diana Beene are also on the Publicity and Marketing committee. Janice will submit play day results to the HSV Voice and Diana keeps our brochures in the pro shops
Historian / Photographer. Donna introduced Charlotte McCarty as our league photographer and historian. Charlotte posts the photos on Flickr and she also creates a physical yearbook for each year including photos from all of our events. These books are at the Balboa clubhouse.
Sunshine. Donna introduced Diana Beene as our Sunshine chair. If you know of a member who needs a lift, please let Diana know.
Nominating. Donna introduced Janice Harvey as the chair of the Nominating committee. Janice reported that she and her committee will be looking for volunteers to serve as Secretary and Vice President / Play Day Chair for our 2022 season. Barb Krone has agreed to serve another year as Treasurer and Sandi Smit will serve as President in 2022.
Parliamentarian. Donna introduced Jeanette Slattery and thanked her for continuing as our parliamentarian.
Social. Donna introduced Social chairman Ellie Little. Ellie did a wonderful job finding and distributing door prizes to lucky members during the meeting.
Tournaments and Representatives. Donna introduced the tournament chairs and golf group representatives. She invited members who would like to serve on any of the tournament committees to contact the chair directly.
o Club Championship is chaired by Nancy Pfeiffer.
o Crush Cancer play day chair is Michele Lukasavige.
o Invitational Tournament chair is Kathy Norris. This year the tournament will be held at Cortez and Ponce on July 22 – 23. Kathy has sent “Save the Date” notices to past participants.
o Member / Member tournament chair is Catherine Walsh. Catherine reminded members that they must play in at least 25% of the play days to qualify for the tournament.
o Closest to the Pin Tournament is chaired by Rhonda Haynes. Rhonda explained the details of the tournament for our new members.
o Marge Harvey and Karen Nickel are our representatives to the POA Golf Committee
o Wanda Selman is our representative to Junior Golf.
o Emma Pinson and Robyn Kisling run the Hole-in-One Club. Emma reported eight holes in one in 2020: Cindy Hopfensperger, Martha McAlister with two, Joan Archer, Sharon Bressler, Rachel Rau, Pat Lujan, and Tricia Ramos. Emma reminded us that the Hole in One club is not exclusive to the WGA.
NEW BUSINESS:
Play Day Payouts. Donna reminded members that the Board announced after the board meeting on February 24, 2021 that the Scoring committee will award prizes to approximately 50% of the field of players each play day. The awarded points will be as stated in Rule 12 – 5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for 5th or more.
On-course Rules Seminars. Tamhra Hutchins-Frye introduced herself to the membership and announced that Martha McAlister and Joanne Arnold are going to conduct on-course rules seminars. Members interested in participating should contact Tamhra.
Next Board Meeting. Donna reminded members that they are always invited to attend the monthly board meetings If you want to add a topic to the agenda, please email Donna directly. The next board meeting will be April 14 at 8:30 am at the Coronado Center.
Donna asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Catherine Walsh moved to adjourn and Diana Beene seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 11:31 am.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch
WGA 18-HOLE BOARD MEETING
CORONADO CENTER
FEBRUARY 24, 2021
The regular board meeting for the WGA 18-Hole League was held at the Coronado Center on February 24, 2021. President Donna Mahle called the meeting to order at 8:34 am after verifying that a quorum was present.
Donna asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the season ending meeting held on November 4, 2020. Wanda Selman moved to approve and Jeanette Keim seconded the motion. Motion carried without discussion.
President’s Opening Remarks. Donna opened the meeting by telling us that there is a lot of interest from our membership on how the league will be run this year. She has also been filling the role of Publicity Chairman and has placed articles in both the HSV Voice and in the weekly POA Village Digest. She reported that she is actively recruiting someone to fill the Publicity Chairman position. She also reported that she has revived our Flickr account and that Charlotte has already posted the pictures she has from last season.
Play Day Chair. Sandi Smit, Vice President and Play Day Chair noted that the play day schedule for 2021 is on the website. She recently corrected the schedule to include the flight information and whether a player may pick up.
Treasurer’s Report. Barb Krone, Treasurer, reported that we have received $50 in advertising revenue for the yearbook, $5200 in 2021 membership dues, $20 attributable to 2020 dues, and $9 in bag tag orders for a total YTD income of $5279. We have incurred newsletter expenses and a small bank charge totaling $14. We have $11,370.90 in the operating fund. Including carryovers from the Member/Member and Invitational tournaments, we have a total of $14,822.63 in the bank.
Membership. Donna Mahle reported that members of the Diamante Ladies leagues have expressed interest in also joining our league. The POA and Diamante have made an arrangement that a member only has to join GHIN once and it will apply to both organizations. If someone pays their GHIN fee through Diamante, they still need to submit the POA GHIN form indicating that they paid through Diamante and they are eligible to join our league.
Catherine Walsh reported that we have 8 new members so far for 2021. All of the new members have been matched with Big Sisters. Because of the continuing COVID-19 restrictions, we decided that we will not have a formal Big/Little Sister luncheon this year. We decided that we will invite the new members and their big sisters for a meet and greet before the Spring General meeting. The Big Sister committee will provide light refreshments for this group. As is our tradition, the Big/Little sisters will be paired together for the first play day on April 1.
Brenda Sallee reported that we have 146 paid members, including the 8 new members. She is still waiting to hear from approximately 20 members from last year that have not yet renewed. She reports that many are waiting to hear the particulars of the league operations for 2021. We will publish a yearbook in 2021 so it is important that these members renew soon. Sharron Montgomery is coordinating this.
Most Improved Golfer. Standing Rule 15 outlines how we determine the league’s most improved golfer each year. We would like our most improved golfer to be an active league participant. Kim Fisher moved that we amend the existing rule as follows (additions in red). “To be eligible, a player must have been a member of the WGA 18-Hole League the previous year, played at least 25% of the available play days (excluding the Invitational and Member/Member tournaments), and posted at least 20 scores during the past 12 months from HSV courses listed on the first page of this book.” Wanda Selman seconded the motion. After discussion, the motion passed.
Spring General Meeting. Continuing COVID-19 restrictions make it impossible to have our traditional meeting at an indoor venue. The POA advises that we may use the Balboa Pavilion for free as long as it is not reserved by another group. To take advantage of the free space, Donna proposed that we hold the Spring General Meeting at the Balboa Pavilion and that we not serve food. The tentative date for the meeting is Wednesday March 24. We plan that the Big/Little Sisters gathering will be at 10 am and the General Meeting will begin at 10:30.
Play Day Payouts. Standing Rule 12 Prizes specifies that the Scoring committee will award prizes to approximately 30% of the field of players. For the 2021 season we will have a large play day prize fund because we did not pay prizes for the 2020 season. Brenda Sallee moved that for the 2021 season we increase the percentage of the field paid from 30% to 50%. The awarded points will be as stated in Rule 12 – 5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for 5th or more. Barb Krone seconded the motion. After discussion, the motion passed.
Play Day Operations. Donna reported that we will be operating our play days in 2021 under the existing POA COVID restrictions. The 1 person to a cart restriction will continue to limit play days to 84 players. We may be able to have more than 84 participants if we have members riding in their personal carts. In addition to play day prizes, we would like to have our usual Closest to the Pin contests and award prizes for birdies, chip-ins, and eagles this season.
We are intending to have the Invitational tournament this year and the Closest to the Pin contests are part of the fundraising for the tournament. Rather than using our existing measuring equipment which requires removing the flag from the hole, Donna will confirm with the Golf Department that we can use a regular tape measure to measure from the edge of the cup. We also plan to provide hand sanitizer on these holes. If we are allowed to have Closest to the Pin contests, we will require Starters to collect the money from participants. Wanda Selman is willing to serve as the Starter committee chair.
Play day participants usually enter their birdies, chip-ins, and eagles by writing the information in a notebook. This requires touching the book and a pen. Donna will also confirm with Tom that we can resume this method of recording birdies, chip-ins, and eagles. If the book is not allowed, we will come up with a different recording method.
Club Championship. At the board meeting in November, Nancy Pfeiffer, Tournament Chair, sent a written proposal to the board that we add a nominal entry fee for the Club Championship. Nancy was not able to attend the November meeting in person, so the board tabled the discussion until the next meeting. At this meeting Nancy moved that we charge a $20 entry fee, payable at sign-up, to play in the Club Championship. Catherine Walsh seconded the motion. During the discussion period Nancy stated that the fee would provide a more stable budget for the event. This will allow the organizers to provide better tournament payouts, provide refreshments, and may also increase player commitment to complete all three tournament play days. After discussion, the motion passed.
Crush Cancer. Jody Brennan reported that the Crush Cancer play day will be May 13 at DeSoto as shown on the league schedule. Michele Lukasavige is the Crush Cancer contact this year. We will not be having a gathering or luncheon because of COVID restrictions, but there will be on-course events. The proceeds will again benefit CHI St Vincent Foundation for cancer research. There will not be a golf sale in 2021.
Jody also reported that some of the proceeds from the golf sale in 2020 were lost in the mail. If purchasers paid for their items by check at the 2020 sale, they made the checks payable to CHI St Vincent Foundation. These checks were gathered together and mailed to CHI St Vincent Foundation. Unfortunately, these checks did not arrive at the Foundation. Cash from the sale was accumulated and Michele Lukasavige sent a personal check to the Foundation. The Foundation has this portion of the funds. The Crush Cancer committee will prepare a newsletter and a newspaper article describing the situation to explain to anyone who wrote a check why their check has not cleared. We hope that at least some of them will decide to send a second check to the Foundation.
Next Meeting. The board agreed that we do not need to meet in March. The next board meeting will be April 14 at 8:30 am at the Coronado Center.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:14 am.
Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Kuch