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Hello and Welcome to the 2016 Golfing Season. To say the weather has been “strange” is an understatement. A very mild winter allowed for an early opening officially on the 28th of March. While we are officially in Spring it appears that our Winter started a week after our opening and has persisted. As I write this note it appears there might be an end in sight and we can get back into the swing of things.
Your Board, Committees, and the Staff were busy during the winter months in an attempt to provide you the best golfing experience possible and to continue to be the “Capitol District’s Best Golf Club Value”. Without stealing the thunder from the individual Board Member reports I wanted to highlight what I consider a few hot button items. If you attended the December meeting, are on our mailing list, periodically review the website, or follow us on Facebook I apologize for the redundancy. Below are a couple of important upcoming dates. Please mark your calendars.
22 Apr – 5:00 to 7:00 PM – Members and Guests Grand Opening Cocktail Party. Come and see the improvements to the clubhouse and met the staff from Henry’s on the Green. Appetizers and a cash bar will be available. Live music by Justin Joyner will follow.
14 May – Men’s & Woman’s 4 Person Scramble. Always a fun event which fill up fast. Pick your team and start practicing.
11 Jun – Brenda Adams Fundraiser Golf Event. Expect another huge crowd for this event.
13 Jun – 7:00 PM - Stockholders Meeting. Purpose of the meeting is to discuss and approve the proposed Capitol Improvement Project. Further details can be found in the Greens section of the newsletter.
The club calendar on our website has been updated with all known activities. Things change quickly so be sure to check back often.
The article on the clubhouse renovation found below thanks by name the many members who volunteered their time, effort, and expertise to make the transformation possible. I have always marveled, and written about, the generosity of our members in taking pride and ownership in their club and volunteering for the many projects. It is what makes BSCC great. The only area were we seem to have a shortage of volunteers is candidates for the Board of Directors. This year at our Annual Stockholders meeting in October we will be electing 4 members (1 one year term and 3 three year terms) to positions on the Board. Please consider taking your commitment to your club to the next level. If you have any questions please contact any BOD member and we will be happy to share our experience.
Paul
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Clubhouse Renovation Update
The renovation has been completed, Henry’s has received their liquor license and the grand opening has been set.
I would like to share some of the financial details of the project so everyone knows and understands the money and effort that went into this renovation.
By the time we are finished paying all of our bills, Ballston Spa Country Club will have spent approximately $14,000. We spent the most on the kitchen and the electrical systems impacted by our changes. Nearly all of the electrical in the kitchen was replaced and passed the town’s inspection. We also purchased a few new pieces of equipment for the kitchen. BSCC purchased all of the wood for the renovation of the dining room overlooking the 18th green.
To date, Henry’s also spent $29,500. They paid for most of the materials and all of the new tables, chairs and TVs.
Based on the 3 year lease agreement with Henry’s, we agreed to pay them back $15,000 over the life of the lease. That means Henry’s has spent approximately $14,500 of their own money on the renovations. Also, everything that has been purchased by either BSCC or Henry’s is property of BSCC.
So, if you add up all of the numbers, the total cost for the renovation is right around $43,500.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible support from the membership. The total number of volunteer hours for this renovation exceeded 850 hours. We spent another 100+ hours on the electrical work. Charlie Escher (on Steve’s staff) is a licensed electrician and he did all of the work for us at a significantly reduced rate. Henry’s and BSCC shared this cost.
Below are the names of those individuals that contributed their time and their talents to this renovation. I want to personally thank them for their efforts. They were always there whenever I asked for their help. Not once did I ever hear no. That is what has always made BSCC so special. I could not imagine another club pulling off what we did this past winter. Think about the value of 850 hours of labor so when you see these individuals around the golf course, thank them for their efforts.
Roxanne Andrews
Jason Lowenstein
Don Cramer
Todd Manderson
Larry D’Alberto
Suzie Mansfield
Mike Farina
Tim Preston
Mary Funaro
Bill Tucker
Rick Funaro
Maxine Tucker
Pat Joseph
Mark Yale
Sue Kahler
Mike Zegarelli
Roger Laime
Dave Ziobrowski
Dan Loewenstein
Treasurer's Report
This is always a difficult time of the year to determine exactly how well we are doing financially. We have a number of members from last year that we have not heard from, so we don’t know if they are coming back or are going to resign.
April and early May is usually the peak time for new members to sign up so we are just getting to that time frame. However, looking at data from last year, we are slightly ahead, so I’m cautiously optimistic that we can reach our budget for membership dues.
I’m also hoping that the renovation of the clubhouse will have a positive impact on our membership, if not this year, certainly next year.
Our Corporate Pass program is going very well. We already have reached our revenue from last year and we know of a few more that are planning on signing up for this program. Not sure how much we will exceed last year by, but we will exceed it.
We do have some significant expenses coming up to finish the renovations to the 8th hole. The sand is already on site, but we have bunker liners and sod to purchase to complete this project.
In addition, we had a significant leak in the ladies locker room during one of the early rain storms so we have contracted with a roofing company to get that repaired. To be done properly, it will require replacing 300 square feet of shingles.
We also had our heating and A/C systems looked at and are planning on replacing both A/C units (these are the units that are outside along the clubhouse). In addition, the air handling unit in the attic will be cleaned and refurbished so we expect to have full central air working in the main dining room areas. One of our members, Darryl Monast from Monast Plumbing, Heating and Cooling will be doing the work. I want to thank Darryl for the significant cost savings he is passing along to Ballston Spa Country Club.
Total cost for both of these items will be around $11,000.
A member has designed a beautiful new entrance sign for our club. We have priced out the materials for this project and the cost is approximately $1500 to $2000. We will provide the labor for the project but are working to raise the money to get this done sooner rather than later. We currently have about $600 committed towards the project.
If anyone is interested in providing a donation to get this completed, please contact me at 428-1354 or tucats@nycap.rr.com.
While not related to being the treasurer, I have completed an update to the Member Guidebook. All of the updates and changes were recently approved by the Board and the Guidebook has been published on our web site.
Sincerely
Rick Funaro
Treasurer |
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Greetings all. It is great see some people already out playing on our beautiful course. To those waiting for just a few more degrees, it is coming. For others returning from the south, we look forward to seeing you soon. To our new members, Welcome. You picked the best course in the area, so enjoy.
Since this is the first Fox of the season, the membership committee would like to remind you that we still have room for some new members. I was speaking with a long time member the other day, and she said that many years ago, BSCC had to cap the membership due to too many members. They capped the membership at 375. We hope that by the end of this season , we will need to do the same.
As has been said in the past, our members make our best advertisers. Please pass on the new member, Junior Executive and Student/Young Adult rates that are listed below. These rates are also listed on the website, www.ballstonspcc.com . Also on the website is a link to the newly designed New Member Information Brochure. Please feel free to direct your family and friends to this information. You can also pick up a hard copy of the brochure in the Business Office. Additionally, the committee would like to remind you that if you bring in a new member and, he or she rejoins in the following year or two, there is an incentive for you. Below is an outline of the Friends and Family Member Incentive Program.
New Membership Rates - 2016
SINGLE – 34 years of age and over
Year 1 - $1760 ($300 towards stock prepay)
Year 2 - 25% off – 2017 published rate ($300 towards stock prepay)
Year 3 - 15% off – 2018 published rate ($300 towards stock prepay)
Year 4 - 2019 published rate
COUPLE
Year 1 - $2795 ($300 towards stock prepay), Children + $100
Year 2 - 20% off – 2017 published rate ($300 towards stock prepay), Children + $200
Year 3 - 15% off – 2018 published rate ($300 towards stock prepay), Children + 300
Year 4 - 2019 published rate, Children + $400
Junior Executive and Student/Young Adult Rates
Ages for membership categories are all based on age as of 1/1/16. Fees subject to NYS Tax.
Junior Exec (25-26) - $930
Junior Exec (27-29) - $1240
Junior Exec (30-31) - $1655
Junior Exec (32-33) - $1965
Student/Young Adult (13-24) - $620
Friends and Family Member Incentive Program:
Current members who are shareholders may add grandchildren, nieces/nephews under age 13 to membership at current children rate.
Current members signing up a new 2016 members will earn the following reductions off their dues. These reductions are per member, but cannot exceed the recruiting member’s dues. The reductions are based on the new member category
New Member 2017 2018
Junior Exec 150 75
Single 400 200
Couple 600 300
Senior 200 100
Finally, I would like to thank the membership committee for their hard work and time spent throughout the winter to work on ways of improving the club experience and bringing that experience to new members. The members include Cindy Walkanowski (Chair), Joyce Bassett, Dick Cody, Don Cramer, Bob DeMarco, Rick Funaro, Heidi Harkins, Kevin Keelan, John Lockwood, Kate Oppedisano, Lauren Petraske, Bill Tucker, and Todd Manderson (ex-officio). Several of us spent a weekend at the Capital Region Golf Show. Next issue , we’ll let you know about the raffle winner.
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I want to welcome everyone back and say hello to our new members. We have been open now for a couple weeks which seem strange for upstate New York. Our typical opening dates range from the beginning of April to around the middle of the month. This past winter was lacking in snowfall totals. Every time a snowstorm would head our way, a southerly flow of warm air pushed our temps up enough so we would just get rain. This trend was good for our turf because we never had to deal with ice on the grass or snow mold disease. The course really came out of the winter looking good and is greening up more and more every day.
Having minimal snow to slow us down we were able to work outside almost every day this winter. We started with the major project on the 8th hole. As I’m sure you know by now and were explained to in detail at the member meeting in December, the rest of the spruce trees to the right of this fairway have been removed to make way for the new fairway bunker. An outside crew came in and removed the remaining trees and ground the stumps. They then loaned us a bulldozer to remove old stumps and shape the bunker. A few weeks ago we installed a drain line from the bunker and across the fairway. This was done to drain the bunker so that it doesn’t flood. Right now we are waiting for the entire area to dry out. Freshly dozed ground takes a while to dry out and to firm up. Once the area is dry enough to be worked, we will grade and sod the entire area around the bunker and next to the fairway. The areas up next to the trees by the road will be seeded. The bunker itself will be smoothed and have drainage installed (connected to the drain line installed across the fairway). Lastly a liner will be installed followed by the sand. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will be able to resume the bunker project in the next few weeks. Completion of this project will not take long once we are able to get in there. I will send out an email for volunteers when we work on the sod and sand. More hands make light work.
Another area that we worked on this winter is our new sod nursery behind the #14 green. We have never had a sod nursery and it is a necessity for golf course maintenance. Most golf courses have one. Every season you are going to lose some grass on a collar of a green or perhaps a skunk (or fox) will rip up a tee or green. By having a sod nursey you can simply grab the sod cutter and get nice bent grass sod to replace the damaged area immediately. In previous years, when a fox digs up a green (remember #5 green a few years ago?) or a collar needs repair, we have used turf from the front practice green and also #2 approach. The sod nursery will eliminate our need to remove turf from these playing surfaces. The area behind #14 green will have full sun and drain well. It will also have irrigation that will be controlled from the irrigation controller. During the winter, the trees were removed and the area was leveled. The irrigation will be installed next and then old aerification plugs will be spread to make the root zone mix. Hopefully we will have sod strong enough to be used for course repairs by the end of the season.
We also removed some trees to the right of #15 fairway. In this area grass has always had trouble growing because of the trees. We removed some of the trees and covered the area with old aerification plugs. The area was seeded and straw was spread to hold the moisture. It has been a busy winter for us. As you can see, the amount of work that has been accomplished was remarkable. Not having to deal with lots of snow definitely helped us. Hopefully the temperatures will continue to warm up and we can get this season in full swing. |
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Welcome back for another great season and happy spring. I hope everyone had an enjoyable winter. April has stated off a little wet and cold but that is should behind us soon. The course weathered very well over the winter, the greens are in mid season shape thanks to the mild weather and the hard work of Steve and his crew.
The mild weather allowed Steve to work on the 8th hole and get a large portion of the needed work completed, the bunker is constructed and the ground around it is rough graded. Once the weather permits the goal is to complete this project and we will be looking for volunteers to help. Check the website and your email for more information.
Work is also well under way on the sod farm located between 14 and 15. This will provide us the ability to re-sod areas of the course as needed while saving the expense of having to buy sod. Tree work was also done over the winter to allow more sunlight and better growing condition on the course.
At the fall membership meeting the greens complex renovation project was presented. This is a multi-year project that will refurbish our greens and bunkers. Based on your feedback the greens committee and Steve developed a plan that will renew eight green complexes on the course. The project breakdown of the cost and work to be done over the life of the project is listed below.
A detailed hole by hole cost was presented at the December meeting and can be found on the BSCC website by going to the members section/Member Resources/December 2015 Membership Meeting.
In accordance with the bylaws we are seeking membership approval in order to move forward. The total cost of the project is approximately $100,000. This is a multi-year project with a goal of completion within 5 years. A membership meeting will be held June 13th at 7PM to vote on this proposal. Additional information will be provided over the next month for you to review.
The spring project day will be April 30th starting at 830am. One of the main projects that we hope to complete is the painting of the restroom on 6 and 14 in addition to the cleaning of the flowers beds and mulching. Hope to see you on the 30th.
Mike
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Items that the Golf Shop has been working on and accomplished.
1.Golf Shop Website and Point of Sale Changes include the following:
a.Members Tee Time booking is enhanced and with a Tee Time drop down on the Home page that allows members to book and see the entire tee sheet of who will be playing for the day 7 days a week. We have set it up so the members can book 7 days in advance. There will be no need to upload or have a separate link to the Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, or Holiday Tee Times that they are used to doing. All will now be viewed on the main Tee Sheet.
b.The Public will now be able to book on our website under the Tee Time Tab marked “Public.” The Public will be able to see our available Tee Times along with the rate including carts. We will also put a “Hot Deal” on our tee sheet daily which is exactly what Golf Now produces on their website but we will now receive 100% of the revenue instead of it going to Golf Now. We can put the “Daily Hot Deal” under any available Tee Time that we choose. We can send all of this information to our outside database to get them used to booking online which makes it easier for them instead of calling.
c.I have set up the Public Tee Times so the log in information for the each player is with their email address. This is another way that we will capture email addresses to enhance and grow our outside database list. Once the Public Books a tee time, the time will show up on the golf shop real time tee sheet, the public will have to reserve the time with a credit card but it will not be charged. They will pay for the reservation when they check in to play. The tee time days that will be available to the Public will be Monday thru Thursday. The other 3 days will be blocked out. The public will be able to book 5 days in advance.
d.Members will be able to pay their account balance through our website when they log in to their account if they choose. This will only allow them to pay the balance of what they have been charged using our Point of Sale System that we use through Club Prophet Systems. They will not be able to pay any membership dues as we chose to do that billing through Quick books. They will be able to use a credit card to do so and this revenue will be directly deposited into Ballston Spa Country Clubs Bank account as it is when anyone pays in the Golf Shop. This is secure as Ian Versaw from Club Prophet has instructed me that they have over 1000 accounts that use this feature today.
2.I am working on a program with BMW of South Albany through one of Ballston Spa Country Clubs Corporate members Luis Pabon on a corporate discount for our Shareholders. Our shareholders will be able to purchase or lease a vehicle through BMW Corporate at a discount exclusively offered to us and not available to the public. They must be a shareholder to receive the discounted offer.
Golf Instruction
We have put together various golf instruction packages. Stop by the golf shop for more details. Start now and get the swing in shape early.
Calendar of Events
Once again, I would like to remind everyone to use the calendar on our website for all activities and events will always be updated. We want everyone to always be aware of what is happening at our club on a daily basis. |
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Ballston Spa Country Club and Henry's Irish Tavern in Ballston Spa have partnered to open a new, extensively renovated restaurant at the golf course, aptly named Henry's On The Green. Henry's owner Matt Hickey says the collaboration was a natural. "Ballston Spa Country Club has always been a great golf course with the best conditioning in the area. Like Henry's Tavern, it offers a top quality product at a reasonable price and now with the dramatic improvements to the clubhouse, BSCC members and other customers will be able to enjoy Henry's popular menu in a very inviting atmosphere that pays homage to the almost century old club. The restaurant provides excellent views of the golf course from the dining room, trophy room, front deck and gazebo."
Starting on Friday April 15th, Henry's On The Green will be open for 7 days a week from 11:00 AM to "whenever". There will be entertainment every weekend and a Grand Opening on April 22nd beginning at 7:00 PM, with Justin Joyner playing everyone's favorite music. The menu will be similar to Henry's Tavern with some add‐ons, such as pizza and will offer daily specials.
Henry's On The Green will be available for all events, including weddings, retirement parties, showers and golf tournaments with a capacity of 125 plus. To book a tournament, call PGA Professional Todd Manderson (518‐885‐7935), and for all other events, contact Dave Foster (518‐339‐5150).
Ballston Spa Country Club http://www.ballstonspacc.com/ is located at 1366 Route 67 (Amsterdam Road) and Henry's Tavern http://henrysirishtavern.com/ is at 19 Front Street in Ballston Spa (518‐309‐ 3584). |
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I don't know much about commentators in other sports because I rarely watch any sport other than golf. As a result of this monomania, I have come to see myself as an expert (some would say a snide picker of nits), when it comes to appraising golf announcers' efforts. To but- tress my wannabe authority on the subject I have read memoirs by respected golf commentators, including Johnny Miller, Ben Wright, Jack Whitaker, Peter Jacobsen and Henry Longhurst.
Self-styled expert or not, we all have our opinions about who we like and who we think is the worst golf announcer on television and we all have our pet peeves about how golf is covered. For example, if I were producing a golf broadcast, I would eliminate showing all tap-ins and just show the replay if the putt didn't go in - a rare occurrence. What really gets my knickers in a knot though, is the actual reportage.
I'll start with what is considered the most prestigious golf broadcast in golf - the recent Masters coverage by CBS, the network generally con- sidered the best in the business when it comes to golf. I realize the commentators need to fill five hours with witticisms and interesting reparteé, but consider the following:
- A shot that was left in the bunker was described as "an unnecessary mistake." As opposed to all those mistakes we deem necessary for whatever reason.
- Spieth and Rory are paired on Saturday. Jordan chips to about 2 feet, marks his ball and walks away. McIlroy has about a twenty foot putt and as he addresses the putt we're told "Rory will be next to play." Really? We're not going to see one of the caddies have a go at it?
- Peter Kostis watches Smylie Kaufman's ball go sailing over the 3rd green and tells us "He hit that harder than he wanted to." Who would have guessed?
- A putt comes up short of the hole and we're told, "This putt comes up short." Sigh.
- Kostis likes telling us why a putt didn't go in. "It was never on line" or, "that putt was never high enough." Pete, are you implying that some putts that miss are actually on line or high enough for a while but then suddenly go off line or too high? Johnny Miller says he likes to follow Henry Longhurst's dictum that you should never talk over a shot or describe something obvious to the viewer. Predicting the result of a shot is a no-no, because (a) the viewer is about to see the result for herself and (b) if your prediction is wrong you look like a fool.
- On Sunday, Willett is lining up a seven foot putt and Kostis says he needs to be careful because of the wind. Which was raging at about 6 miles per hour
- No one ever says a putt is breaking simply "left" or "right", it's always "left to right" or "right to left", or worse, "from his left to his right."
- Then we have the post round interviews with Tom Rinaldi asking probing questions like "How did you feel after acing the 575 yard second hole?" Okay, I exaggerated, but you get my point. When Holly Sonders was interviewing Rory at the 2014 US Open she intro- duced a question with "After the 13th hole, you went to the 14th...", which was weird, because most players go back to the 5th hole after the 13th. Dottie Pepper's interviews had much more meat on the questions and her commentating was, I thought, interesting and concise.
- In the past, other gems of wisdom have come from Chris Berman: "This hole is playing hard today, we're seeing a lot of fives." Mike Tirico: "Well, it is a par five." And another Bermanism: "That puts him two over par for a round of 73." The golfer he was talking about had just finished the fourteenth hole.
- Tom Weiskopf described Spieth's 2015 Masters victory with great probity and insight: "It is what it is." That's right up there with "Tomorrow is another day" when it comes to profound thoughts.
- n 1978 Hubert Green has a three foot putt on the 18th to force a playoff at The Masters, which he misses, costing him his first chance at a major victory and a ton of cash and fame, and Vin Scully thinks it 's appropriate to quote Kermit the Frog: "It isn't easy being Green."
- The most cringe-worthy statement in golf? "That was a great golf shot!" As opposed to what? A great slap shot? A great jump shot? We are, after all, watching a golf tournament.
Ah well. I suppose we'll never get another commentator like Henry Longhurst who was never a wallflower, announcing once that "There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that golf as played in the United States is the slowest in the world," or describing a golfer's chipping as "He's all hands and wrists, like a man dusting furniture" or discussing the yips and saying he personally didn't suffer from them but he was a carrier.
I suppose we'll never get another commentator like Henry Longhurst who was never a wallflower, announcing once that "There is
It is what is I suppose, but we can find hope in the knowledge that tomorrow is another day. |
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