PRESIDENTS CORNER

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

It’s hard to believe we’re in our 3rd month of play in the 7-month season – guess we’re having fun.  Your Board is working hard to keep things rolling. 

Thanks for the response to our May Member Survey.  At the time of this writing, we had 107 responses in less than a week.  Your feedback will help us move forward on three efforts: an Email Directory (77% liked the idea), the Getaway (20% definitely interested with another 35% considering, pending more details), and a year-end banquet (20% definitely interested with another 60% considering, pending more details). More fun things on the horizon.    

Pace of Play is a perennial problem; however, we seem to be making progress.  Bob Odmark reports continued improvement with many finishing their rounds in 4.5 hours or less.  We have experienced several 5-hour round incidents, but with continued efforts we can minimize, maybe even eliminate these frustrating occurrences.  Your Member Survey responses on your tee box and 7-iron distance will help us encourage moving forward to improve pace of play and promote more fun – more to come on this.  Bob has discussed marshaling with our courses and most courses have agreed to work with us on this.  Ultimately, the best way to improve Pace of Play is for all of us to be more cognizant of our pace.  Several courses (Brambleton, Greendale, Heritage Hunt, PB Dye, Piedmont, Pohick Bay, Westfields) actually have a Pace of Play/Target Time listed for each hole on their scorecard.  Our goal should be 4.5 hours; that’s 15 minutes average per hole – some less, some more.  It’s doable.  Limit time searching for balls and make a concerted effort to keep sight of the group in front of you.  Here’s a suggestion: start your round by jotting down on your scorecard your time off the first tee, then write down the target time of 2 hours to the turn and 4 hours to finish.  As you make the turn, record the time below the 2-hour target time to see where you stand.  If you are within 2 to 2.25 hours, you have a good chance to finish in 4.5 hours or less.  If you’re around 2.5 hours, you’re headed for the dreaded 5-hour round and need to pick up your pace.  When you finish, record that time as well so you know if you met your target.  Hopefully a Marshal will inform groups of their pace with respect to the holes ahead.  If your group is a full hole behind, please consider moving forward to fill the gap – OK to pick up and record a par rather than risk delaying play for all others behind you.            

Do you know that ASGC started over 40 years ago?  Sixteen golfers, twelve women and four men, took part in that first outing in 1982. Now with 268 members, we’ve come a long way – proof we’re having fun. Through the considerable efforts of Tom Farley in organizing our historic Club records, I was able to scan and deliver electronic files on thumb drives to our new Historian, Chris O’Donnell and our 55+ Program Specialist, Sidney Reid.  Sidney has agreed to store these records on the County’s file server as a backup, and we continue our search for an online repository for our Club records. Future records storage as well as easier access to these historic records will help inform the Board when discussing our By-Laws and Operations.     

Kudos to our Tournament Committee: Sharon Monde, Maurice Spraggins, and Bob Odmark, who treated us to a marvelous Spring Scramble at Raspberry Falls.  They managed to squeeze us in between a devastating tornado and subsequent rains.  The lunch and awards ceremony afterwards in the clubhouse were terrific.  Also, thanks to Raspberry Falls for hosting us and contributing generous prizes, including vouchers for complimentary foursome rounds at Raspberry Falls.  The course was fantastic.

OK – that’s a wrap for the Spring Newsletter.  We’re having fun – right?  How many times did I use “fun” in this article?  Get the picture – Golf is supposed to be FUN!

Bernie Dennis

ASGC President

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Bernie Dennis

President’s Message

General Membership Meeting #2

March 13, 2024 

Lubber Run Community Center

Welcome to our 2024 Season!

As you know, we elected ASGC Officers at our General Membership Meeting on January 18th.  I want to thank you, the membership, for electing me to serve as your President for the coming year.  I fully intend to serve the Club well and look forward to working with my fellow elected officers and committee chairpersons, who assumed their positions at the January meeting.  It will be a pleasure to serve with:

• 1st VP - Frank Sauer – our iGolf Geru, who has already set up our complete season.

• 2nd VP - Dave Hundelt – who had the Most Rounds in 2023 (55).

• Secretary – Ralph Orlik – who provides the concise Board Meeting Minutes you can read on our    website.

•  Treasurer – Rob Fairweather – who prepared our Budget and monitors our Expenses.

•  Membership Committee Chair – Mark Norman – who maintains our member database & Roster.

•  New IT & Communications Committee Chair – Madhav Panwar – who will Advise on computer & internet issues.

• Our new Historian – Chris O’Donnell – the newest Board member – is accepting our club historical records today.

•  Wellness Committee – Ruth Ann Neely – prepares and mails outreach cards on behalf of the club for bereaving members or those experiencing health issues – please report cases as they become known.

• Tournaments Committee – Sharon Monde – who is planning our Spring Scramble & Fall Championship.

• Nominations Committee – Maurice Spraggins – who identified officers for last meeting’s election and is working on this year’s Getaway.

• Past President – Art Hauptman – who will provide advice & counsel – and who is working on History Articles – “Who We Are” posted to the website and soon its companion “How we Got Here”. 

• Photographer – Brad James – who composed the fantastic 2023 video being played today.

• Scorekeeper – Mike Marron, Past President – who will coordinate the monthly Score Sheet and recognize the Player of the Month and Outstanding Players.

• Newsletter Editor – Mark Robertson – will continue The Ready Golfer

Let’s not forget our County representatives:

• 55+ Program Manager – Jennifer Collins

• Special recognition to our 55+ Program Specialist - Sidney Reid

• A very special thank you to our fantastic Golf Coordinator – Bob Odmark

My Goals for the 2024 year are to continue:

•  ASGC efforts in furthering the interests and social opportunities in Golf for individuals 55 years and older in Arlington and neighboring jurisdictions.  Providing opportunity to play at a variety of courses, in competitive and non-competitive formats, and at all skill & ability levels.

• Search for a Membership Management Software Package – an effort led by Mark Norman with Frank Sauer, Rob Fairweather and engaging Madhav Panwar & Chris O’Donnell 

o   This includes a new website platform with firewall capabilities, and  

o   Appropriate document storage capacity for Club Records

• Continue The Ready Golfer newsletter under editor Mark Robinson – all are invited to contribute material/articles.

• Continue efforts on the Operating Manual under Mark Norman – improve & sync with By-Laws.

• Conduct a successful Getaway.

• Conduct a Season Ending Banquet.

I want to:

• Emphasize Fun this season - Focus on Improving Pace of Play – we showed good improvement in 2023.

o   Review/Revise our Pace of Play Policy

o   Publish Club Rules for Regular Play

• Conduct a New Member Orientation session – scheduled for next Monday, March 18th at Lubber Run from 3:30-5:30 pm.  While billed for new members, all are welcome to attend.   

Thank you for your continuing support.  Now let’s get on with the 2024 Season.

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State of the Club ASGC 2023

Art Hauptman

ASGC President

18 January 2023

I want to begin by thanking the membership for re-electing me to a second term as President of ASGC. I appreciate your vote of confidence and hope I will live up to your expectations this coming year. In my comments today, I would like to address what I think we have accomplished this past year and what I hope we will accomplish this current year.

But first I want to acknowledge the efforts of my fellow officers this past year, noting that we have almost an entirely new slate from what it was as we began 2022. Rob Fairweather and Ralph Orlik have been faced with the daunting task of filling the vary large shoes of Rick Townshend and Harvey Doerkson in their roles of Treasurer and Secretary, respectively. And they have done very well. Rob has used his forty years of experience at OMB to give our budget a bit of a face lift. And while Ralph does not pretend to have Harvey’s storytelling magic, his minutes are well written and complete which he gets back to us quickly and accurately.

And Bernie Dennis and Frank Sauer have moved seamlessly into the roles of First and Second VP and along with Bob Odmark, have successfully led us through the transition to iGolf. All in all, the elected officers have been great to work with and I appreciate that all are willing to serve for the next year.

I also want to share an insight based on my experiences this year. I’ve come to realize that the 325 members of ASGC are a diverse group in their age, experience, whether they are still working or retired, golf proficiency and many other characteristics. What I now understand is that for ASGC to be a successful organization it is important to serve all our members in a fair and reasonable way. We just can’t cater to the best players or the more frequent players. We need to be a club that serves the needs of all our members.

With that said, we have made progress on a number of the ideas that I expressed upon taking the reins at last year’s meeting. These include:

-      Successful implementation of the iGolf system thanks principally to the efforts of Bob, Bernie, and Frank.

-      Continuation of the player of the month awards that were initiated under Don Collier’s leadership in 2021.

-      A great Scramble in May and Tournament in October thanks to the leadership of Sharon Monde and Maurice Spraggins

-      We also had a successful Getaway with 40 members participating in Sept

-      And we had an End of Year Dinner in early November which I think those who were able to attend enjoyed.

But there is more to do as there always is. Several of the objectives that I laid at the beginning of last year are still works in progress. These include:

-      Reduction in slow play. Maurice Spraggins has put together a package of ways we could promote ready golf which we will discuss at the February board meeting and then present at the March general meeting.

-      Setting up a system by which members could pay by credit card, Venmo, or other methods. Rob Fairweather and Frank Sauer are spearheading looking into the possible payment options.

-      Reintroduction of an ASGC newsletter. Bob Odmark started doing some weekly newsletters this past year, but I think we have found an editor in Mark Robinson to renew monthly newsletter.

-      Orientation for new members. Bob Odmark has the lead in putting together an orientation for new members this year in addition to helping set up some get togethers during the year.

In addition to what we discussed last year, there are other initiatives for the coming year including:

-      The Board voted earlier this month to go with an equitable draw/lottery approach for iGolf this year based on our experience last year. Frank Sauer will discuss this later in this meeting.

-      I think we need to consider whether to redo the website or develop a new website that provides members with a firewall that allows them to make payments and communicate with other members without worrying about internet security. Bernie Dennis has the lead on this.

-      Dennis Macdonald who I rely on a lot has put together an operations manual which will help guide the Club going forward. This will include some changes in how we do things to clarify responsibilities.

Enough for now. I’ve set aside time at the end of this meeting to allow for Member discussion. I hope you’ll let us know what you think.

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ASGC State of the Club

Art Hauptman

ASGC President

7 March 2022

Ten Ideas for Enhancing the ASGC Experience

• Successful Implementation of the new iGolf System

• Reduction of Slow Play

• Continuation of Player of the Month Awards

• Club Tournament and Scramble This Year

• Club Getaway in Lancaster PA – Sept 13-15

• Allow VENMO, Pay Pal and Credit Card Payments for Fees

• Reintroduction of the Divoteer Newsletter

• Orientation for New Members

• Greater Opportunities for ASGC Members to Socialize

• End of Year Banquet

State of the Club 2022 – Art Hauptman

I wanted to use this opportunity today to examine how we can better carry out the primary mission of ASGC -namely, enhancing opportunities to play golf and to socialize for Club members this year and into the future. I also think we need to take steps improve the operation of the club. That topic will be covered in part by the discussion later this morning regarding the proposed revision of the by-laws and the need to adopt an operations manual later this year.

With regard to improving ASGC golf and socializing opportunities, here are ten ideas that I think will help move us forward:

Successful implementation of the new iGolf system. This is priority one. One of the things that COVID revealed is that the system we have relied upon for the past decade needs a new look and iGolf gives a chance to do that. Frank Sauer and Bernie Dennis will be reporting on iGolf later in this meeting and they along with Bob Odmark will be coordinating throughout the year. 

Reduction of slow play. For many of us, slow play is the bane of our ASGC existence and a chief impediment to a better golf experience. To try to come up with a plan to reduce slow play, I’ve asked Dale Strawser to head up a committee to make some recommendations. David Tate and Dan Olson have also agreed to help in this effort as will Bob Odmark as he ultimately will bear the burden of achieving a speed up in play.

Continuation of player of the month awards. Last year Don Collier initiated Player of the Month awards. I think that was a very positive step and I hope we will continue with those this year.

Club Tournament and Scramble this year — Another consequence of COCID we have not had a Club Tournament for the past two years. We were able to initiate the Art Gosling Scramble last year thanks to Susan Ciochetto’s good efforts but it was in the fall again mostly because of COVID restrictions. I hope we can back to having a spring Scramble and a tournament in the fall. To that end, Bob has identified Raspberry Falls for the club tournament this year on October 6th and I’ve asked him to see if we can arrange for a Scramble this spring. We also will have a scramble as part of the Getaway in September.

Club Getaway. Speaking of the Getaway, as you all know, Bill Dawson has done a great job as our Getaway leader for many years but had decided to hand over the reins. Before I knew that I would be president this year I volunteered to coordinate the Getaway. I am doing my best to fill Bill’s big shoes. I’ll have more to report later this morning but we are aiming for a Getaway in Lancaster this year on Sept 13–15.

Allow VENMO or credit card payments of Club fees and greens fees. As you know, for many years we have depended on members mailing checks for the ASGC fees and for greens fees for scrambles and tournaments. I’d like to explore us offering more convenience for members to pay by VENMO, Paypal, or credit cards for both the annual Club fees and greens fees. To make this more user friendly, I’d like to suggest that the Club absorb the transaction fees.

Reintroduction of the Divoteer newsletter. Bill Lawson late last year suggested that it would be good to re-introduce the Divoteer newsletter after many years in hibernation as a way to improve communication between the Club and the membership. I think that is a good idea and I’ve started to explore with a couple of members what would be the possibility here. 

Orientation for New Members. One of our members with institutional memory suggested the other day that we should get back to having an orientation for new members so that they become aware of the Club’s rules and opportunities as quickly as possible. I think that is a great idea and with this speech I’m asking Bob to see what might be possible on this score. 

Greater opportunities for ASGC members to socialize with each other. When I played in the scramble with Joe Kiehl last year, he mentioned that for years he has been hoping to organize a poker night among interested members but there didn’t seem to be an effective way for members to communicate among themselves. I’ve asked Bernie and Frank to explore whether that are more advanced ways for us to communicate among ourselves behind firewalls. 

End of Year Banquet. Some years ago, the Club sponsored an end of year banquet which provided an opportunity to make awards and for members to mingle among themselves and with spouses in a more social environment. I would like to explore the possibility of doing this.

On organizational issues:

 While I know all of you are here to play golf, there is also the reality that we need to have an organizational structure to make that happen and it is the judgment of many that how we operate ASGC needs to be refurbished. 

By Laws Revision and Operations Manual. To that end, Don Collier in October authorized a review of the by-laws and appointed a distinguished committee that included Bernie Dennis, Chuck Haddon, Dick Irwin and John Mashaw. That group has worked very hard over the past several months and against all odds produced a revision of the by-laws which will be discussed later this morning and hopefully approved by the membership.

During the by-laws review, it also became obvious that it would be desirable to have an operations manual to help better define how we operate as a Club. With this in mind, I have asked Bernie Dennis and Dennis Macdonald to put together a draft operations manual over the next 6 months and I have asked two past ASGC presidents, Bruce Needham and Mike Marron, to review the draft manual. I have also asked Bernie and Dennis to keep track of the changes in th by-laws to determine whether amendments are needed in time for review by the membership in January 2023.

Sorry to have taken so long but I thought it important to provide a State of the Club at this time. To conclude, I want to say that I and other members of the Board as well as Bob Odmark are always available to hear from you. Look for us on the course or afterwards and please feel free to email me or others with your views. Thank you very much for your attention.

And now let’s have a great year for golf.

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Letter from President Don Collier

Well, folks, it has been quite a year, given the problems with vaccines, sign-ups, frost delays and all the other vagaries of CY 2021. We started March 16 with a clinic at Virginia Golf and golfed every week until November 4 at Heritage Hunt. All of our Executive Committee members (see said page on the ASGC web site) have volunteered their time and efforts to make this a fun activity for all golfers. I am compelled to mention a few who were involved on a daily basis with the administration of the Club - Bob Odmark and Bill Dawson (ret'd) as Golf Coordinators, Rick Townshend as treasurer and provider of sign-up sheets, and Bernie Dennis who tracked members and those aspiring to join. All your volunteer officers and committee chairpersons are worthy of thanks for their efforts, and again I refer to the list of them on the website.

In addition to the weekly golf, we enjoyed a retreat in Williamsburg at three of their fine golf courses, and the scramble there yielded a slew of winners of golf balls arranged by Tournament Chairperson Susan Ciochetto, who, by the way, put together a second successful and fun scramble locally in October with a handy lunch bag for all, and cash awards for other winners. Regrettably, the annual competition for a Club champion had to be cancelled at the last minute due to poor conditions at the selected site. This tournament will be resumed next year at an appropriate course.

Your golf coordinator reported that members played 4,200 rounds of golf at local courses through the year, spending in excess of $220,000 in the process. Bob expects to send to you a questionnaire to determine which courses you prefer to play, and ones you prefer to miss. By the way, the Executive Committee voted to limit play to April through October, thereby shortening the season and reducing the exposure to bad weather at both ends.

A major change is unfolding regarding sign-ups: the Executive Committee voted to engage iGolf to manage our monthly sign-ups in a time-tested, automated sign-up system that is widely used by country clubs, and has been vetted by the Internet and Communications Committee. The system exacts a start-up and monthly fees, but our Treasurer assures us that CY 2022 can be paid from existing balances, due mainly to the cancellation of the individual-play tournament. Assuming the system satisfies members, there may be an assessment of around $6 per person for CY 2023 and subsequent years. Detailed instructions on how to use the system will be presented to you prior to the 2022 season.

Other major changes are taking place: for one, Harvey Doerksen, who has been the Club Secretary for too many years to count, is retiring as Secretary effective after this round with the Executive Committee (it will be on the ASGC web site). A new Secretary is being sought. Also, a new coordinator, Sydney Reed, has been hired by the County and she will be able to meet you in person at the January meeting. And if you know anybody who wants to edit an ASGC newsletter, please contact me and/or John Mashaw.

Look for an announcement for an annual membership meeting on January 19, 2022 at the Lubber Run Community Center, where we will see projected golf courses for CY 2022; conduct elections for Club officers; and receive detailed instructions for use of the iGolf system.

In the meantime, please enjoy your time off as well as hearty Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons."

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Letter from President Don Collier

Well here it is the month of May and I haven’t communicated to you since February, and the reason is mainly that the sign-up process was troubled and is being refined as we speak. I wanted to see that problem abated before I issued another set of comments. Golf is one of the physical activities not completely encumbered by the virus in most areas, and participation has been at an all-time high.

A lot of credit for progress goes to Bill Dawson and the IT and Communication Committee, staffed by Rick Townshend, Dennis Macdonald, Bernie Dennis, Bob Odmark and Frank Sauer. They have put in numerous hours to sort out glitches in the system, and devising affordable options for smooth operation. The June sign-ups went with minimal hiccups, and hopefully future ones will be glitch-free.

We are rapidly approaching 100 percent vaccination against the corona-virus, and demand for single-use carts along with it. So golfing in the future will be back to the routine we became accustomed to before the pandemic. Yay!

A special thanks to Brad James for his photography. I hope you have visited the website to look for your picture as well as all the other active golfers. That will help us get better acquainted with each other, and make for more camaraderie. Good work, Brad.

Aside from my formal duties, let me remind you that Bill Dawson has put together another great Getaway in September at Williamsburg. Please see his details of the retreat on the website if you have not already signed up.

That’s all for now. Have a great golfing experience with ASGC!

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From the AGSC President

Fellow golfers, Dale Strawser as past president, has not only done a splendid job on your behalf in 2019-2020, but he has now handed me the baton for 2021-2022. I bid you welcome, and I pledge to do my best to make golf as fun and efficient as is possible through the organization known as as the as the Arlington Seniors Golf Club, ASGC.

Here are some words to you from Rick Townshend, our Treasurer, whose views match my own: 

“Welcome to the 2021 season of the Arlington Seniors Golf Club. We wish to extend special greetings to our new members. The purpose of this message is to inform and educate all members and especially the new members on how the league works and the resources that are available to make it easier to sign-up and play the varied courses that are available this season. This message is designed to help all get acquainted with the websites and tee sheets that are used to play. It is not a complete encyclopedia on all things golf but is a good start.”

    “The club, ASGC, has a long proud history of serving senior golfers in Arlington and Northern Virginia for over 30 years. We are one of the largest senior leagues in Virginia and regularly get inquiries from other league about advising them on their leagues. We are sponsored by The Arlington County Parks Seniors Services Department. At least half of our members must be Arlington County residents. That is why it took some people longer to be invited. But you made the cut and now are part of the finest Senior Golf League in the State.”

You will not only get further information from Rick about the website, you will soon see instructions from Bob Odmark, our coordinator, regarding the schedule of play for 2021; plus, you will get instructions for how to sign up for play each week. As a reminder, AGSC has limited - at least until we get a handle on the distribution and effectiveness of vaccines - the play for each member to once per week. We may be able to relax this limitation after we see how well the vaccine is distributed and is working. For other rules regarding play in this club, I refer you to the portion of the website that deals with rules of play.

Thank you for being a member of AGSC. I look forward to seeing you and golfing with you this season. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at jdonaldcollier@verison.net.

Don Collier

President, AGSC

February 20, 2021

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From the President Feb. 2021

Our general meeting will be virtual on Thursday Feb. 11 at 10:00 am. Just log into your computer. A reminder will be sent out on Wednesday. The pizza will be virtual too!!

We have a great line-up of courses this year. They will be announced at the meeting and uploaded onto the ASGC website. Thank you to Rick Townsend for setting up our new site and keeping it operational.

Golf courses have had a booming business for the last two years. Some courses have more players than they can handle and this put us in a bad bargaining position regarding single rider carts. Bob Odmark has negotiated with all of the courses we played in the past. Most of the courses gave us the discounts we received in the past, but some have had an issue with single rider carts. Our goal is to keep everyone as safe as possible so we had to eliminate some of our favorites this year and add some new ones. Bob will explain this on Thursday.

Bob Odmark is taking over the full-time coordinator position with Bill Dawson helping as needed. Thank you, Bob for all of your hard work in this Off Season and Thank You Bill for doing all of this for many years prior.

The seven-play minimum is waived again this year. We do not want someone to feel like they have to play a course that feels unsafe.

Bill Dawson is planning “The Getaway” again this year. Details will be out soon.

We are in interesting times: the virus, vaccines, masks, single carts and trying to navigate through it all. But know this, the board members have your best interests at heart and Don Collier will do a fine a job as your next President. He will take over at the meeting on Thursday.

I get to serve as immediate Past President for the next two years which means, I don’t really have a job, but I get to vote. Kinda sounds like retirement doesn’t it?

Our bylaws state that a President can only serve two consecutive years. Wow, it went fast.

I would like to close with “KUDOS To YOU”. We, as a board, have battled slow play for years. The last two years you have stepped up and completed most rounds in 4 hours or less. “Thank You” to all of you. Remember, golf is like a one lane road; you can go as fast or slow as the car (or foursome) in front of you. Please keep up the nice pace of play.

Please get the vaccine, wear your mask and take precautions. Hopefully this will end soon and we can shake hands again buy Hole-In-One drinks in the clubhouse.

I look forward to seeing, and playing, golf with you this year.

Dale Strawser

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