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