Nashville Chapter - American Singles Golf Association March 2009

Transcription

1 CELEBRATING 16 YEARS OF SINGLES GOLF IN AMERICA Nashville Chapter - American Singles Golf Association March 2009 From the President In last month s newsletter, I mentioned that my primary goal this year was to gather the voice of our members so that we can focus on making improvements targeted to your needs. An anonymous survey was sent and 34 responses were received (out of 92). Although I was hoping for more responses, it was a sufficient sampling to determine overall satisfaction and areas for improvement. A summary of the results are as follows: Membership Meetings: The location (Logan s) did not receive favorable ratings (only 42% rated it satisfactory). Most of the comments involved the crowded conditions and poor service. As most of you know, it s difficult to find a central location that will accommodate our needs. However, we will investigate other possibilities. If you have any recommendations, please contact me. Social Activities: The variety of activities showed a need for improvement (only 51% were satisfied). There were many good suggestions that I will forward to our Social Chair, i.e., sporting events, movie night, TPAC, General Jackson Showboat, hiking, etc. Bowling did not receive favorable results (29% satisfaction). Apparently, golfing and bowling don t mix, so we need to consider other winter activities (cards anyone?). Golf Outings: (Note - the survey had a few general questions involving our golf activities. Our Golf Chair, Jerry Wendling, sent a detailed survey and will report the results to you via ). All the golfing questions received favorable results except one: Opportunity to play with different members. This has been a continuing challenge and I will work with Jerry to see how we can improve this situation. Overall Satisfaction: I m happy to report that 82% were highly satisfied with our association overall. This is important to realize that, although there are areas to improve, we have a robust chapter that continues to provide an outstanding source of social enjoyment. One last note in case you missed the notice, a fellow member passed away last month from injuries sustained from an automobile accident. Tom Purcell was an active golfer who will be remembered by many of us as a friend with a ready smile and quick wit. He loved socializing with our group and will be sorely missed. ~Gary Carson Just Around The Corner! Golf season is rapidly approaching! Yeah! Are you ready? If you lack the tenacity of Charles for cold weather golf or if you haven t been fortunate enough to have traveled to warmer weather to play during the winter you should be thinking about getting ready for the season. What can you do without leaving home? Stretching and flexibility exercises. Definitely, practice putting on your carpet. Check swing positions in a mirror. What about your body in a proper address position? Check your alignment. Check a square club face. Practice your grip! (It s said Ben Hogan did one hour per day!). Slow motion swing simulations to train muscle memory. Build a pre-swing routine so you will not be so nervous trying to hit that little white ball. Much of this can be done without a club in hand! You can find help with all this in golf magazines or instruction books. Don t practice bad habits! With the new season on the horizon I have new ideas for our group. I hope to create a golf outing atmosphere that will be an enjoyable experience for all our members. Obviously, everyone will not be completely happy with the format, or the scoring, or the pairings, or who knows NEXT BIG NATIONAL EVENT: Memorial Day Weekend at The Homestead, May 22 to May 25 Details at National Website: ASGANational@aol.com New Office Hours: 8:00am to 4:00pm, M-F (Eastern) National Office: or GOLFMATE To join ASGA or renew your dues, contact the National Office at above number or go to Regular Meeting Date: Third Tuesday of each month Next Meeting: March 17th, 2009 Meeting Location: Logan s Roadhouse 2400 Elliston Place (Vanderbilt/Centennial Park area) Our Website: Our Hotline: (See next page for list of officers and board members.) To join, renew dues, make a change of address, phone, etc., call National Hotline at left.

2 NASHVILLE CHAPTER of the American Singles Golf Association President Gary Carson Chairman of the Board Judy Cummings Vice President Marsha Canady Golf Chairpersons Jerry Wendling Out of Town Golf Chair Bob Blaylock Social Chairperson Tommy James Membership Chairperson Rosslyn Beard Communications Chairperson Diane Mitchell Secretary Shelley Darling Treasurer Susan O Reilly Susan.oreilly@comcast.net Newsletter Editor Ann Kelly akellytn@bellsouth.net what, all the time. So, my goal is to set up our schedule and formats so that each of you can find a minimum of five outings on our total schedule that are pleasing to you. If I accomplish this I will feel we have had a very successful season. To do this I think you need to know the outing schedule and the formats. I will publish as much of the entire season schedule as is possible before our first event. Additionally, the formats for at least the first six outings will also be published with the schedule. This will allow you to shop which outings will provide the most enjoyment for you and your game. Direction for selection of the majority of formats, courses, etc. will come from your responses to the survey. I think the survey did a respectable job of describing our group, your wants and desires regarding much of the thought that must go into setting up a golf outing. I will have those results in an to you shortly after you receive this newsletter as well as placing it on our local website. To think about: what can you do to help speed up play? How about continuous putting? ~Jerry Wendling, Golf Chair Membership We had several guests at our Feb. 17th meeting. Peggy Lee is a former member and is considering joining us again. We would love to have her back with us. Our other guest was Jeanne Martin. She has been online reading the newsletter and decided to come to the monthly meeting. Hopefully she will join us soon. We understand Barbara Donoho has a broken ankle and is on the mend. She is at home, so feel free to send her a card Dottie Eckman has had a few health issues lately and we wish her well. She has been with her daughter, but will be home soon. Keep these folks in your prayers and I will try to keep you updated. I think most everyone knew about the wreck that Tom Purcell had a few weeks back. Tom was a fighter, but he did pass away a few days after the accident. He will be greatly missed. His commitment to NSGA was unbelievable. He played in most of the outings last year and would be so humorous at the social gatherings. At the Super Bowl party, he was so excited about his new haircut and his thinner body. Again, keep his family in your prayers. Hopefully the weather will be warmer in a few weeks and we'll all be back out hitting that little white ball. Keep those new members coming in. ~Ros Beard Out Of Town Events Call me today to see if there is still an opening for our April outing for the horse races and golf in Lexington, Ky. The Keeneland gates open at 11am. General Admission is $5 per person. The first race is at 1:10 and races are run about every half hour. Mutual windows open at 12:30 with a minimum bet of $2. Tailgating at Keeneland is free - enter Gate 2. Please contact Tommy James at if you prefer to play golf on Friday. Tommy is arranging some tee times for the nonracers. We currently have over 40 members attending the event from Nashville. We plan to meet at Peggy Rambicure's Friday evening to discuss the days winnings. Saturday morning we will meet at Land's End Farm at 10 am for a tour by Lexi Calabrese. We will return to the University Club for a Burger Brunch with a 1:30 shotgun start on the Wildcat course to follow. Saturday evening we will be at the Signature Club for dinner and dancing. Sunday's finale will be at the Marriott-Griffin Resort golf course with a 8:30 shotgun start. Cost Legal Advisor Joe Lackey Do you want to update your personal information on our chapter s roster? You can now do this yourself. Simply click on the MY ACCOUNT link at the national website (SinglesGolf.com). You can update your address, phone, add your cell phone, change handicap, etc. Doing it yourself takes the burden off of your chapter leaders so they can spend more time on the golf course and less time on the computer!

3 for the event is $180 for 2 nights lodging (double occ.) and 2 rounds of golf. Our Seventh Annual Battle at Tim's Ford in Winchester, TN against Atlanta will be the weekend of May We have a limit of 24 players for this one event. Please contact me to be added to the back-up list of players. Last year, due to injuries, etc we had to use 7 back up players. The current player list is as follows: Men Ladies 1. Bob Blaylock Linda Oddo 2. Tommy James Susan O'Reilly 3. Jerry Wendling Judy Cummings 4. Jim Lazenby Shelley Darling 5. Gary Carson Roz Beard 6. Charles Smith Diane Mitchell 7. Eddie Manson Jean Arnold 8. Jerry McNall Pat Collins 9. Joe Huskey Marsha Canady 10. Darryl Westbrook Ann Kelly 11. Joe Lackey Morene Townley 12. Lee Thomson Mary Martin Thomson Jerry Strebel Barbara Hellman 14. Claude Pass Judy Degady We will again have optional golf on Friday at the Bear Trace Course for $35 and the arrival dinner at the Bluegill Grill starting around 5 pm. No registration form is needed. Just send me your $170 payment plus your latest golf handicap and whether you are playing on Friday or not. Our Tenth Anniversary of our Tennessee- Carolina Challenge will be the weekend of June 19-21st. I will begin a registration list at our March Membership Meeting. Format and agenda will be basically the same as last year. Details will follow next month. Mark the date of your calendar now. ~Bob Blaylock ABOUT OUR MEMBERS Happy Birthday to these members: Ralph Abate - 03/30 Dave Anderson - 04/04 Dottie Eckman - 03/22 Frederick Evans - 03/06 Jan Howard - 03/13 Mike Kelley - 03/14 Ann Kelly - 04/10 Ardell Morrow - 03/02 Susan O'Reilly - 04/07 Linda Oddo - 03/27 James Price - 03/01 Dan Stewart - 03/26 Larry Yoders - 03/31 These members are up for renewal: (date shown is last day of membership) Marsha Canady - 03/31/2009 Dottie Eckman - 03/31/2009 Mike Kelley - 03/31/2009 Monty Kincaid - 03/31/2009 Jerry McNall - 03/31/2009 Kathy Robbins - 03/31/2009 Welcome newest members: James King - Joined 01/21/2009 Peggy Mathes - Joined 01/26/2009 Roy Stalnaker - Joined 02/26/2009 These members recently renewed: Jean Arnold Marlene Gale Jeff Hough These members did not renew their dues: (date shown is date membership expired) Dody Belcher - 02/28/2009 Michael Cherry - 01/31/2009 Paul Hubbuch - 01/31/2009 Joseph Huskey - 02/28/2009 Tom Moore - 02/28/2009 Thomas Myers - 02/28/2009 Darlene Randolph - 02/28/2009 Mary Spencer - 01/31/2009 Debby Vick - 01/31/2009 Our chapter currently has 90 members Been There - Done That! It was a sunny morning, a little before 8.00 am, on the first hole of a busy course, and I was beginning my pre-shot routine, visualizing my upcoming shot when a piercing voice came over the club house loud speaker. "Would the gentleman on the woman's tee back up to the men's tee please!" I could feel every eye on the course looking at me. I was still deep in my routine, seemingly impervious to the interruption. Again the announcement, "Would the man on the woman's tee kindly back up to the men's tee." I simply ignored the guy and kept concentrating, When once more, the Man yelled, "Would the man on the woman's tee back up to the men's tee, please!" I finally stopped, turned, cupped my hands and shouted back "Would the loud mouth with the microphone kindly keep quiet and let me concentrate on my second shot!"

4 CELEBRATING 16 YEARS OF SINGLESGOLF IN AMERICA AMERICAN SINGLES GOLF ASSOCIATION MARCH, 2009 Event Dates: May 22-25, 2009 Just Announced Over 60 Signed-Up Already! In 2005, 300+ ASGA members attended our annual Memorial Day Reunion at The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. We haven t been back since. After three great years at Pinehurst, members felt it was time for a change. (Isn t this the year of change? ) Choosing a location for this many golfers always presents its issues. We can t simply take any hotel in any city and move 300 folks from golf course to golf course. But once you re in Hot Springs, you ve got everything within arms reach: a beautiful hotel with a bunch of your friends, food, fun, fellowship and fairways. The Homestead is a unique venue in itself. It s difficult to think of a president of the United States who has not visited or stayed there. Calvin Coolidge and his wife celebrated their honeymoon there. It s history goes back ten years prior to when our nation was founded (1766). The Old Course, on property, has the longest continuous operating first tee box in the country. If you like history, this place is historical. If you like hanging out for 3-4 days with fellow members and having more fun than you can imagine, you need to look at what we have to offer. All details are on the website: SinglesGolf.com/homestead and you can certainly review the enclosed registration form. We announced this via a national broadcast recently, and within two weeks of the announcement, 60 people had already signedup. There s no need to wait. You can register now and the hotel will not charge the package price until April 22. We have many other events scheduled for you this year as well. All events are posted at SinglesGolf.com/events Want to Go to the Homestead Free? Well, as you know, nothing in life is really free. But this is pretty close to free. Here s the deal: you know people. We know that. Simply get a friend, relative business associate to start a new chapter in a new city and if at least ten folks join the new chapter by May 20th, your registration for the Memorial Day event at the homestead, a $539 value, will be paid. Simply refer them to our start-up page at SinglesGolf.com/start and let s get it rolling. For more info, contact Tom Alsop at GolfASGA@aol.com. How s Your New Year? We re not talking resolutions here, but your chapter. Hopefully by now, your new Board of Directors is operating in full fashion and all positions are filled and your chapter management folks are fully trained. In late January, we held training webinars for incoming chapter presidents and each of your four committee head positions (golf, social, membership and communication) so everyone ought to know their duties and responsibilities. The first job, of course, is to have fun. If you missed any of the leadership webinars, just go to the Chapter Management section of SinglesGolf.com and there s plenty of information there to help you do your job a little better. If at anytime you believe your chapter needs a little advice or you re just concerned about anything, you re welcome to use the CONTACT US form on the website and we ll be back in touch usually same day. Never hesitate to contact ASGA about anything! Is Your Website Updated? Golf season is officially open by declaration of Mother Nature. She s also asked that you update your website with a lot of new and exciting information. Why? Because those new folks checking us out want to see a whole-lot-of-things-goin -on and if you ve only got one event planned for the Spring, well... think about it... would you join? Your golf and social committees should be hard at work putting together an agenda, so get that stuff posted right away. In February, the national website got 621 unique visitors EACH DAY. And just like all politics is local, people join SinglesGolf to see what s going on locally. So give your website a run-thru and see it for the first time through the eyes of a new person visiting your organization for the first time. Make sure all the links work and that there is ample contact information and your chapter looks EXCITING! Did you know your chapter can get a free website? If you re paying $ per year for your site, you can have your own as a sub-site of the national site. Your new chapter website would be Think about it! Two New Chapters Forming We re happy to announce ASGA has two new chapters being created. David Greiner and Robin Sutton are forming the Fredericksburg, VA chapter. Juanita Crawford is getting the Winter Haven, FL chapter off the ground. - - Tom Alsop, President/Founder, ASGA GolfASGA@aol.com

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