MGA
General Membership Meeting
October 13, 2015

o  Meeting called to order at 5:00 pm by President Richard Stamm.
 
o  The Tip of the Month was presented first (Kenny had a lesson to get to):
Hitting your drive / shot down the target line. The correct approach is to ‘come from the inside’; that is, set up to hit the ball at the 7 o’clock position and then release the club. This approach may seem foreign to you initially – you should commit to it and practice it regularly to develop ‘muscle memory’.

o  September minutes were approved.

o  Treasurer’s Report (Don Kasper):
With 61 current members signed up, we have $1,653.93. Last month’s expenditures were: $75.00 for the Memorial bagpiper and $81.00 for flowers for a total of $156.00 spent.

o  News From the Course (Frank Beaty):
The Front Nine is now open and needs everyone’s loving care:

• Repair your ball marks and any others that you may spot while you are on the new & immaculate greens.
• Enter & exit the bunkers from the low side (do not climb up and out on the newly sodded areas – the sod still needs time to mature and take hold.
• There are still wet areas (Number 2, etc.) so be mindful to follow existing paths to avoid damaging the fairways.
• When you reach a cart path, stay on the cart path and do not allow your wheels to ‘slide’ off the concrete thereby making ‘craters’ along the edges.
• Carts may be driven in waste areas, but NOT in bunkers – if you are unsure if an area is a bunker or waste area, do not drive in it and then seek clarification.

The Back Nine is slated for reconstruction next year (shortly after Masters week).
 
o  New Business

• Sammy Hawkins Tournament - Oct 24
• Tri Course Tournament - Oct 28, Oct 30 & Nov 2
• November Match Play - Nov 13, 14, 15 & 17
• Dean Wood has proposed amending some items in the MGA Constitution. Dean went over the proposed changes and discussed the rationale behind them. We will vote (at next month’s meeting) on each change individually. The changes being proposed are:

 
Constitution Article I Name and Purpose Section 1:  The name of the organization shall be the Men’s Golf Association at Cedar Creek (MGA-CC).  The MGA-CC derives its identity from the community of Cedar Creek and is associated with the Cedar Creek Golf Club.
Rationale:  Changes the name of the club to be in conformance with the present name of the club and the association of the MGA-CC with the club from not affiliated to associated.
NOTE:  The club name is also changed in Article II Membership.
Constitution Article III Organization and Meeting Section 1.   The MGA-CC shall be governed by a Board of Directors comprised of a President, Vice President, Secretary/Communications Director, Treasurer and Tournament Director(s) each of whose duties shall be in conformance with traditional functions performed by these officers.  In the event the President is unable to complete his term the Vice President shall succeed him and will appoint a member of the MGA-CC as Vice President.
Rationale:  Removes the unnecessary adjunct “Communications Director” from the title of Secretary and provides for succession of the President who may not be able to complete his term of office together with the procedure for appointment of a Vice President.
Constitution Article III Organization and Meetings Section 5.  An annual meeting of the association shall be held in September at a time and place determined by the Board of Directors for the proper election of officers and conduct of other year-end business.  Officers may be re-elected and succeed themselves for a term not to exceed three successive years or three years total service and may not thereafter serve as an elected officer (President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer) of the Association.  Past officers may continue to serve as Tournament Directors.
Rationale:  The original intent of Section 5 impliedly was that a person may serve as a principal board member for a total of three years thus clarifying the limitation on the term of office for President, Vice
NOTE:  In regard to Don Kasper’s tenure as treasurer the change to Article III Section 5 with respect to his term of office is not affected.  Since he began his current term prior to the change he is eligible to serve another three years.
Constitution Article IV Document Amendment:  Change “two-thirds” to “majority”.
Rationale:  Provides for conformance with Constitution Article III Section 6 and other sections specifying a vote of the membership.
 
By-Laws Article I Section 2.  “…. and approved by the membership by a majority of members at any regular meeting.”
 
Rationale:  Adds clarity and consistency with the following sentence of Section 2.
By-Laws Article III Section 1:  Members of the MGA-CC must have a USGA certified handicap to be eligible for prize money. other than closest-to-pin awards at any tournament.  MGA-CC members may play in any event without participating in the tournament competition per se by declaring same and remitting the host club cost of the event only.
Rationale:  Removes eligibility of members without a USGA certified handicap from closest to pin awards and provides for participation by MGA-CC members with or without a USGA certified handicap in an event without participating in the event prize pool.

• It was recommended that we should support our home course by having a MGA tournament here. It would show our support and appreciation for both the course and the Grille.

 
The meeting was adjourned @ 5:45pm
 
Minutes prepared and respectfully submitted by Dean Spiro, Secretary - MGA

MGA
General Membership Meeting
September 8, 2015

Meeting called to order at 5:00 pm by President Ken Brace.
August minutes were approved.
Byron Vanier gave the Treasurer’s Report:

​As of 8/31/15, we have 131 members and a balance of $1,199.93 in the treasury. We had an expense of $17.70 at the Sweetwater tournament, and have upcoming expenses of $150 in September. These are the $75 for the bagpiper and $75 for the flowers associated with the Memorial Service to be held at the 7th Green on 9/18.


TIP OF THE DAY:

Kenny’s tip of the day was on hitting the ball from the inside and how to set up to curve the ball left or right.

NEWS FROM THE COURSE:

Frank Beaty reported on and narrated a slide show on the course renovation:
Sodding was done on the rough parts of the second fairway,
The new sand in the bunkers is soft and white and the bunkers are almost completed,
Every green is ready to play and all collars have been redone,
Fairways have been rolled once and will be rolled again. All are coming in nicely, but there are still some rough spots,
Cart paths are still being repaved with concrete,
New videos of the course of the renovation have been posted to the MGA website.
A question was raised as to whether the green tees will have real tee boxes. The answer is “yes,” and eventually a set of par 3 tee boxes will be installed on the course also.

THE RULES OF GOLF:

Bill Robinson explained the rules about how to determine whether a player’s ball is in a waste area or a bunker and how it affects the player’s options should the lie be unplayable.  

OLD BUSINESS:

The next MGA tournament will be the  3-day tri-course tournament. The dates and courses are: 10/28—Woodside; 10/30—Pointe South; and 11/2—Mount Vintage. The fee is $125 per player, including the prize fund and $95 per player for casual players. Players will play the gold tees and “lift, clean, and place” and equitable scoring will apply. Payouts for each day and overall are planned. Details are on the MGA website.
The Match Play Tournament will be held on November 13, 14, and 15 at Cedar Creek Golf Club. Current format is for 4 flites of 8 players. Prize fee will be $15 and the MGA will pick up the cost of golf and carts for the semi-finals and finals. Details are on the website.

The Crystal Cup will be played this year on Friday, September 18. Sign up sheet is in the Pro Shop. The pairings party will be on Thursday, September 17. The MGA Memorial Service will be held at 8 am on 9/18 near the 7th green. The MGA will purchase flowers and pay for a bagpiper to play at the ceremony. Gary Frazier will sing as he has done in the past.

NEW BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Earl Bennett announced that volunteers are needed to drive a van to take local veterans to the Augusta VA Hospital. The van is picked up at the DAV in Aiken. Speak to Earl if you wish to volunteer.

The annual MGA drawing that awards a tournament entry fee (not including the prize fund or the 3-day tournament) to two MGA members was held and Tom Murphy and Bill Egge were the winners.

Outgoing President Ken Brace then made some closing remarks about his assessment of the current condition of the MGA and some of his hopes for the future. He believes that the MGA is in very good shape from a membership and financial standpoint and thanked all the members for their enthusiastic participation in helping to fix up the golf course and supporting the Silver Bluff Golf Team and other local charities. He thanked Jim McNair for all the hard work he is doing to renovate the Cedar Creek Golf Course. He also hoped that a successful Member-Guest Tournament could be held in the future along with a new tournament that would raise money for the MGA and other worthy causes. He concluded his remarks by awarding the President”s Awards for 2015. The awards went to Dick Leach for his overall outstanding service and generosity to members of the MGA; and to Bill Robinson and George Montgomery for their diligent and good-humored presentations on the rules of golf to many of the MGA meetings.

A new slate of officers was nominated and the floor was opened for additional nominations. There being no additional nominations, a vote was held to approve of the new officers and they were elected unanimously by the MGA members present. They are: President–Richard Stamm; Vice-President–John Moynihan; Secretary–Dean Spiro; and Treasurer–Don Kasper. Their term in office begins on October 1, 2015.

The Meeting was adjourned at 6:08 pm

Respectfully submitted, 

Ken Sabol
Secretary