Golf Committee Minutes - October 9, 2018 The meeting was called to order by Joe D Angelo at 3 PM at the Operations Conference Room. In attendance were Joe D Angelo, Ken Cushing, Jon Bachman, Bill Koepnick, Josh Sawyer, Rion Groomes, Kathy Turgeon, Mary Magnus, Diann Pryor, Dave Gillis, and Tom Petersen. Absent were Charles Lutz, Joanne Heintz and Frank Aaron. A brief discussion of the Rules of Order resulted in a minor revision of the September Golf Committee Minutes. KKPOA. Charles Lutz was unable to attend so there was no report from the KKPOA. Finance Report to Golf Committee End of August 2018 Golf Consolidated Operating Income (Before SASS) $101K loss for the month and $730 loss YTD $4K worse than Budget for the Month and $67K better than budget YTD $142K lower than YTD last year The YTD better than budget is due to staff expenses and materials & supplies being under budget. Golf Operations Program Income No program income for the Month and positive $13K YTD There was no Program Income budgeted for the year. Program Income was positive due to timing issues. When golfers play at other courses, KKPOA is charges for their rounds. In turn, Golf Operations bills Keowee Key member golfers for their rounds. YTD reflects that Golf Operations bills its members accounts more quickly than outside courses bill KKPOA. $418K lower than YTD last year Staff Expense $16K for the Month and $131K YTD
$1k below Budget for the Month and $6k below Budget YTD $140K lower than YTD last year Golf Maintenance Staff Expenses $36K for the Month and $281K YTD $3k under Budget for the Month and $26K under Budget YTD $19K less than YTD last year Materials and Supplies $16K for the Month and $35K YTD $9K over Budget for the Month and on Budget YTD $92K lower than YTD last year Golf Maintenance. Josh described a revised golf cart path traffic pattern designed to reduce congestion at the the Bistro approach for carts going to other destinations. Wadsworth crews are still on the course (we are getting our money s worth!) and are expected to be done by the end of October. We have a 12 month warrantee only on workmanship on the golf improvements. Weather related corrections/repairs that occur from now on are Keowee Key responsibility. Green cover tarps will be delivered in November. The plan is to cover the greens when the overnight temp is 26 degrees or less. There is a learning curve on this process which will be refined this winter when the course is still closed. Native grasses have been hydro seeded onto the hillsides. It is a seed blend that will provide year-round affect. Josh is using temp employees to fill out his crews, which is working out well. There is still a shortage of reasonably qualified workers to hire. Questioned about the brooks along 7, 12 and 13, Josh responded that they have had varying amounts of work done, including rock and boulder formations and sod along some edges to improve presentation.
Winter work for the golf maintenance crew. Josh cited restrooms facelift, removal of most of the fans from the course (will be sold no longer needed with new grasses), and landscaping improvements including many new planting beds near the tees and a large undertaking behind #3 green. A cohesive landscaping plan is being used to ensure uniformity of plantings throughout the course. The maintenance staff also plans at least three top dressing events on the fairways in the coming months aimed at enhancing growth and leveling remaining uneven spots in the fairways. Some of this topdressing is financed in the 2018 budget, and some unused funds from the renovation will be repurposed. Josh stressed the importance of continuing this topdressing effort, and funding has been requested in the 2019 proposed budget to that end. Efforts are underway to recover topsoil lost during the extensive rain events this spring, which will be used to augment purchased topdressing materials. Director of Golf s Report October 2018 Alex Hodgman s last day will be October 19 th. Please stop by to say thank you and goodbye to Alex. Alex has poured his heart into the Keowee Key golf program over the past four years. He will be missed by all of us. 2018 and 2019 Away Golf Play The Golf Staff is in the process of booking the first quarter of 2019. After the dates are booked, I will meet with the league reps to make any changes before the schedule is sent out to the golfers. When the driving range opens in late October, Rion will be at Keowee Key for the first two weeks. The Golf Staff will not be available to travel with the leagues. Several golf courses have changed their fees or policies regarding our play. I will update the golf course list for 2019 and send out the revised list in December. The driving range is scheduled to open on October 24th. There will be a grand opening ceremony on October 24 th from 10:00am-12:00pm. More information will follow. After the grand opening, the driving range hours of operation are: During Daylight Savings Time 8am-6pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; 9am-6pm Wednesdays. During Eastern Standard Time - Beginning November 4 th: 9am-5pm Wednesdays; 8am- 5pm the rest of the week.
Golf Maintenance will perform general maintenance on Wednesdays from 7am-9am until Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 22 nd. After this, Wednesday s hours will revert back to 8am-5pm until the grass begins to actively grow in the spring. Be sure your last range ball is struck at the posted closing time. This is necessary so the staff will have the remaining daylight to hand pick the sodded areas of the range until the sod is sufficiently rooted to support the range picker traffic. Cart Staff will have golf carts available for use between the staging area and the driving range only during driving hours. The practice putting and chipping greens will be closed when low temperatures require them to be covered. There will be occasional interruptions to the schedule while the Club project is underway. Hogan company workers will at times need access to their project via the golf cart path and on those times the facilities will be closed. Every effort will be made to give golfers two days notice prior to these closings. A prorated fee of $27.50 ($13.75 per month) will be charged for the Annual Range plan, or golfers may buy tokens for $3 for 40 range balls. I have begun the 2019 budget process. I added a cart staff supervisor to each opening and closing shift. This staff member will be directly responsible for the outside operation opening and closing procedures each day. Annual Driving Range Fees. One of the KKPOA Board directives to the staff was to maximize the revenue. As per the golf course fee survey, our driving range fee is far lower than the other courses on the survey. See the comparison fees: Keowee Key - $165, Pickens - $200, Conestee Falls - $225, The Walker Course - $250 and each additional family member $125 and Tellico Village - $275 and Family plan at $400 I called the Dell Webb golf course to verify their plan because at $100 it looks like a steal. The $100 gets you $2 off a $5 bucket. I am recommending to the KKPOA Board that the 2019 Individual Annual Range Fee increase from $165 to $180 and add a (new) Family Annual Range Fee at $225. The GC also discussed the fee for a bucket of balls token. Subsequent to this recommendation a motion was made by Cheryl McRae, and seconded by Kathy Turgeon, to support Rion s recommendation to the KKPOA board that: to increase the Individual Annual Range Fee to $180; to offer a Family Annual Range Fee (immediate household) at $225, and also to increase the range ball token fee to $4. After discussion, the motion was carried unanimously.
KKLGA 9. One new member reported this month. The league had an enjoyable adventure at Kingwood CC and plans to return next year. Their closing event, including dinner, will be on 11/14. They are working on 2019 executive board selections. KKLGA 18. Also had an outing at Kingwood recently. Their closing event and dinner is 11/6. The KKLGA 18 executive board for 2019 is set. Subsequent discussion indicated a desire of both leagues to work together more closely. KKMGA 9. Added one new member (now 83). Proudly announces 93% compliance in score postings last month. Their closing event in November has yet to be determined. The KKMGA 9 reiterated its willingness to volunteer to help the golf staff with bags, balls, etc. during busy times. KKMGA 18. Reports 5 new members. Attendance up on Mondays since they started going to Falcon s Lair (closer). Interclub tournament recently at Kenmure CC. We came into it in last, but won the last day, moving us up to third. We had to give the trophy, which we won last year, to the Cliffs Valley CC. KKMGA closing event is the Turkey Shoot on 11/8, followed by the Annual Awards Dinner and board elections. Committee on Pro Shop Standards. A comprehensive list of suggestions was compiled by the committee and shared recently with Rion Groomes and Scott Irwin. It consists mostly of suggestions which should have little or no financial effect. This committee came about as the Golf Committee charter requires the GC to advise, support and give feedback to the Golf Staff. The goal of both committees continues to be an enhanced experience for all golfers at out NEW course. New USGA Rules for 2019. A plan is in the works for a clinic to be held in late November or December, which will also be recorded for publication on the website. The new golf rules, suggested by the USGA, can be adopted (or not) as local rules. The league representatives to the GC were asked to review the rules suggestions and advise which of them will be adopted by their leagues, before the content of the clinic is finalized. Elections. Joe D Angelo said we have 7 candidates thus far for the 4 positions open on the 2019 Golf Committee. He called attention to the Golf Committee Charter and its requirements for the makeup the GC. Additional member applications may be received prior to the cutoff date of 10/31/18.
The GC will review all the candidate applications at the November 13 meeting. All of them will be submitted to the KKPOA board along with the GC recommendations. The golf committee reminds golfers to tip cart staffs, where ever you are playing. The next Golf Committee meeting will be November 13, 2018 at 3 PM in the Operations Conference room. There being no further business, Joe closed the meeting at 5:22 PM.