November Fox Monthly Newsletter

Hope you have found time to get out and enjoy your golf course. The bonus days of November appear to be dwindling and I see more 40’s on the long range forecast.  The course has been in excellent shape and Steve and the crew have done a remarkable job in keeping the leaves at bay. Optimistically we are less than 120 days from our opening.  

Membership Information Meeting

An informational meeting for the membership has been scheduled for December 4th commencing at 12:00 in the clubhouse. The respective Board members will provide information closing out a successful 2016 and outline the plans to continue our growth in 2017. An open question and answer period will follow. The popular discounted guest passes will be available at the meeting. The discounted passes will also be available during US Open week in June. 

COMMITTEES

Our bylaws delineate how we should operate our club and list some very specific requirements as it pertains to standing committees. The purpose is to involve more members in the business we own to deal with the various aspects of running our Club. The committees to be established are Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Golf Committee, Grounds and Greens Committee, House Committee, Membership Committee and Social Committee. Detailed descriptions of each required committee can be found in the members section of the web site. On an annual basis the President will solicit from the membership volunteers to serve on the Standing Committees.  If you are interested in sharing you expertise on a committee please email Laura in the business office or contact the Board member assigned to that committee. 

This will be the last Fox Newsletter for 2016. My goal is to welcome you back for the 2017 season with the April 15th Fox. In closing I wish you a happy holiday season and a safe and prosperous winter. I thank you the members for all you do to make BSCC the Capitol Districts Best Golf Club Value. 
  
THINK SPRING!!
Paul

For most of my 25 years as a member of Ballston Spa Country Club, Al Squires has been involved in making our club special. As a board member and financial controller for almost all of the 19 years he has been a member, Al has labored under the radar with a selfless dedication and loyalty that mirrors his life. He has anonymously and generously contributed funds to more projects than most members realize and is, without fail, at every Project Day delivering coffee and doughnuts he's purchased to the workers. 

If you have reason to visit the club office, you'll find Al most days in the corner, quietly working on a project such as his current obsession, trying to figure out how the club can avoid paying sales tax  on member dues.

Born in Rochester just a few months after our club was founded in 1925, Al attended Brighton High School and the New York Collegiate for Boys, before enlisting in July of 1943.

"I was assigned as an ensign on a small sea plane tender and spent a couple of years in Japan during the occupation. My duties included communications officer, navigator and ships secretary. During this time I experienced two typhoons while at sea. During one I remember looking down the length of the ship and seeing the deck bow from the force of the sea and wind."

Al returned to get his degree from RPI and added appropriate graduate studies during his degree as needed.

"In the late forties before I left  for more service in Korea, my mother sent me to fetch her knitting from  a friend's house where she had left it the day before and I met the friend's daughter, Lois Rothfuss. I asked her out and we've been dating ever since." They now have two children, Andrew and Margaret Anne and two grandsons, Matthew and Daniel.

"After getting married in Penfield Church on September 3rd, 1950, we traveled to San Francisco on our honeymoon and I left for duty in Korea from there, after reporting to COM 12 and getting transport to Valley Forge aircraft carrier, which was involved in the Wonsan and Inchon invasions. After the war I was transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in Bayonne New Jersey as a security officer."

Al's career includes being a licensed professional engineer at one point or another in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois and being a Certified Principal Public Health Engineer with the New York State Department of Health. As well, he has served as an engineer for Lozier Engineers of Rochester, Supervisor of Plant Design and Construction for Kordite Corporation of Macedon NY,  plant engineer for Metalized Paper & Board in Butler Pennsylvania, Chief Engineer for Tek-Hughes in Watervliet New York,  Director of Rodent Control, New York State Department of Health and later Director of Milk and Food Sanitation.

He finished his professional career as an independent consulting engineer. But wait, there's more. One day he was looking at some of his tools and wondering how to best rid them of the rust that was slowly corroding them. 

"I started researching the conventional means of eradicating rust and came up with an improved product that worked very well. I consulted with a patent attorney with the intention of selling my product to a major industrial manufacturer but he convinced me that corporations would take the product and give little in return, so I started my own company, initially called Bradford Park Corporation and now known as Bradford Derustit Corporation. It's now owned by my daughter and it sells to mainly industrial accounts."

His world travels are as varied as his career, taking him to Alaska, Canada Italy, Peru, Bermuda, England, Scotland, Turkey and Greece for vacations and Britain, France, Switzerland, Germany and The Netherlands for work purposes.. 

So what does a man with such a varied experience do now, at the age of 91? He collects Horatio Alger books, builds his own computers, is an avid movie watcher and has worked diligently researching his family's genealogy, discovering a connection with Kate Middleton's home town and a possible connection through his father's side to the Royal Stewarts of Scotland.

Al contracted Lyme disease a few years ago and is dealing with a heart condition that has curtailed his golfing for the past couple of years - but guess what? He's hoping to be back on the links next year and lists that, as well as "Trying to understand cats and women, in that order, although I'm predicting failure in both cases", as short term goals. 

His long term goal? "To be part of the Ballston Spa Country Club's 100th anniversary celebration." 

It may be a coincidence that Albert Tegg Squires has the same birth year as Ballston Spa Country Club but it just seems so appropriate. 

Tucker

The golf season is continuing to slowly wind down. It has been a great year, and we hope to see all of you again next season. We are working on the budget and dues structure for next year.  Once finalized, we will send out to the membership.  Please continue to share with friends and family. 

Attached is the newly revised Corporate Pass Program.  Please share with friends and family who may be interested in becoming Corporate Pass Holders. Once again, thank you for your continued membership in Ballston Spa Country Club and have safe and healthy winter. 
 

Ballston Spa Corporate Pass Holder Program

 
This newly revised program allows Corporate Pass Holders (CPHP):

Program Benefits and Cost:

Hard to imagine this is the last Fox article of the 2016 season.  This season for me seems to have flown right on by.  Even with our early opening back in March.  I don’t think you could script a better season weather wise than the 2016 season.  Having little to no snowfall during the winter gave us a dry golf course in March which led to our early opening.  Below average rainfall keep the golf course busy everyday throughout the season both with golfers and maintenance.  And even today as I write this fox article we are expected to have above average temps for today.  I hope you took advantage of the beautiful weather this season and got out to golf as much as you could.

We are continuing with our typical mowing and setup of the golf course every day.  Leaf and needle cleanup is an ongoing battle everyday as well.  We also have been working on our bunker renovation.  We have completed all of the #1 renovations and the bunkers on #9.  We continue work on the back side of #9 to create gentle mounds that are easier to chip out of and easier to maintain.  This area will be sodded hopefully before winter hits.  I want to thank the volunteers for their help on these renovation projects.  I could not have done so much work without you and still maintained the golf course.  I want to also thank the members for their patience while this work was being completed.  The temporary greens worked great for letting us continue to work without interruption.

Before the snow arrives or the frigid temperatures of winter blow our way we need to get the golf course ready for winter. This starts with blowing the irrigation system out.  This is a two day job that blows all the water out of our irrigation system.  Next is a final mowing of the golf course and spraying the course for snow mold.  The turf can actually get a fungal disease under the snow and prevent it from looking as good as it is now in the spring.  The greens will get deep tined one last time as well.  This will create open deep holes for water to drain down through in the fall and spring.  The greens will also get top-dressed one last time as well.  Finally the greens’ covers will go on.  Completion of these jobs is dependent upon good weather which is sometimes hard to get in November and December.  Of course it also has to be done before the first big snow as well.  We try to keep the course open as late as possible but we also need good weather to complete these important jobs. 

That being said: Thanks for a Great season! I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season. I hope that we have a mild winter so we can have an early start to the 2017 season. See you in the spring!



Merchandise Credit

All credit on the books is to be used on in stock merchandise only.  I can special order shoes for the credit to be used on but all other credit needs to spent on the product that is in the golf shop.  I appreciate your support throughout the season and hope that you all enjoyed this season. 

Golf Tip

As the season winds down, a few things to look forward to for the following season is a bit less on the golf swing side, and more on the fitness side.  Anyone who is interested in trying to get their body into shape or more flexible, let me know and I will put together some stretching and other exercises to help you.  This is the start of becoming to be a better player.  It is what you do in the off season that can really help you to play better during the season.


Kudos to the Maintenance Staff

We have had a golf course this season that has been 2nd to none.  I have played in different places this season and spoken to many players all around our area, and the buzz for the season is that Ballston Spa Country Club is the place to be for exquisite conditions.  Steve Solsky and his crew have done an incredible job this season once again.  I have agreed with them all along and as we continue to grow our membership, you all should be very proud of the product that we have to play on here at Ballston Spa Country Club.  Our golf course has taken on many changes over the past 10 years and whether some have agreed to the changes or not agreed to them; we have some of the best turf conditions out there in the area.  I would like to take the time to recognize Steven Solsky and his staff for the timeless effort that they have provided for us this season.  I have have heard not one negative comment about our turf conditons all season.  Job Well Done.

Here are the 2017 Service Fees for the following season.  There has been a small increase in these fees as the revenue generated here is used to pay staffing for the golf shop operation.  

Revenue Distribution

Over the past few years, I have heard a few questions as to my Salary and revenue.  I would like to explain the reality of the distribution of funds so all can understand the process.  The revenue that is generated from the club storage and driving range fees is part of my contract here at Ballston Spa Country Club.  What some may not be aware of is the fact that also included in that contract is that the Golf Professional is to pay his staffing for the entire season.  The Golf Professional receives $15k from the golf club to cover the Payroll expense.  The payroll expense for 2016 was $47,000.  As this number has been very consistent over the past few seasons, one might ask where is the balance of the revenue come from to cover the rest.  That is where the driving range and club storage fees come in to help out to raise the additional $32k to reach that $47k number so the Golf Professional can break even on this expense.   Over the past few years, this number has not been met so the additional revenue comes from the Golf Professionals Salary or Profit Margins on the golf shop to help get to that break even point.  With more and more people shopping on the internet, the sales have dropped consistently which in turn, brings the golf shop margins down.

The Golf Professional does not receive any revenue from carts or green fee that the club takes in during any season.  He is paid $100 for any outside event/tournament that has 24 players or more where this past season was 35 events in total.  This additional revenue that is generated generally goes towards payroll for running the events.  This past season we had 16 of the 35 events that had 72 players or more and 8 of the 16 had 118 or more.  One person can’t do all of the necessary duties that are needed to be done to make these events successful so the event comes back the following season.

I hope this brings some clarity to the questions and if anyone would like to discuss with myself or the BOD, we would be happy to do so.  We want to be transparent on all aspects for the membership.



We have nearly completed our first season with Henry’s on the Green and I wanted to take this time to thank all of the Henry’s staff for their hard work and dedicated service throughout the year.  This past season has been a learning experience for all involved and through the combined efforts of our restaurant committee, the BSCC Members and the staff at Henry’s, we have been able to overcome obstacles as they came up.  Henry’s plans to stay open for as long as the course is open, and they have a few banquets booked in the month of December.   I think that everyone can agree that this past year has brought many positive changes to clubhouse, through the hard work of volunteer’s and the Henry’s staff.  

The restaurant was able to open in mid-April and held an open house at the end of April to showcase the clubhouse renovations to the membership.  Throughout the season the restaurant was able to serve the membership and leagues in addition to providing services for many special events/tournaments and was able to book live entertainment/dancing.

I will be transitioning over as the new chairman of the restaurant committee and in the next couple of months I plan to welcome back returning members of the committee and I will be looking for new volunteers.  Positive as well as negative input form the members is always welcome and you can contact me directly or through any of the Board of Directors.