LOCKWOOD FOLLY COUNTRY CLUB BOARD MEETING March 8, 2011 The monthly meeting of the Lockwood Folly Country Club Board convened at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Attending: Board: Jon Peters, Charlie Roland, Sharon Van Dusen, Myrna Robinson, Mary Ward, Dave Notter, Jan Kelley, Don Brewer Staff: Jason Crawford, Janette Schroeder, Jeff Ruth On motion of Don Brewer and second by Myrna Robinson, the Minutes of the February 8, 2011 meeting were approved by email vote as amended at the meeting. STAFF REPORTS Jeff Ruth submitted a written report which is appended to these Minutes. Janette Schroeder reported that we are on budget as to the bottom line. The auditors will be here to perform the annual audit on Thursday. EZLinks hardware and software will be installed next week. The present owner of Help-U-Sell accepted our compromise offer for repayment of the outstanding debt. Jason Crawford reported on the improvements made to the area on the right side of #9 green in the aftermath of removing the oak tree. Because of the tree, that area had been devoid of grass and roots had been growing in the sandtrap. Jason s crew installed sprinkler heads before re-sodding to enable the new sod to flourish. Otherwise, the crew has been engaged in grinding tree roots and repairing worn out traffic areas. Jason has spoken with Dale Clemmons and Gordon Ackley regarding a program to grind up tree limbs for use as mulch on the golf course. These discussions are in a very preliminary stage. In consultation with Jeff Ruth, Jason has prepared a proposal for refurbishing the tee area of the driving range. The driving range is in a deplorable state. It has been repeatedly sanded to the point where very little grass is growing. The proposal calls for Jason s crew to do all the work with the exception of grading the approximately 34,000 square foot area (leveling and re-contouring). The entire area would then be re-sodded with Bermuda grass. The cost would be approximately $15,000 and would require the range to be closed from Tuesday following Memorial Day until Friday, July 1 st. 1
The lease is up on our greens mowers. We are now paying $1200 rental per month. The price would go up to lease new mowers. Jason proposed that we extend the lease one more year and move from a 3- year to a 4-year lease on this equipment. Our two fairway mowers will come off lease in January of 2012 at which point we will own these mowers. Our current lease payment for these fairway mowers is $27,000 per year. These mowers should last another six years, so we ll have $27,000 to replace other mowers. The biggest equipment need right now is a sprayer. Ours is ten years old. We could finance at $686 per month for a 48 month term. This model has been a good one and Jason would like to have another of the same type. Jason concluded by saying that the above are the major equipment needs for this year and that otherwise he believes we can manage. He believes it to be a good idea to extend our leases for a fourth year and to change from 3 to 4 year terms. COMMITTEE REPORTS Committee reports from House, Marketing, and Membership are appended. OPEN BUSINESS Members of the Board met with Jan Kelley and Jeff Ruth on February 15 to hear a report from their trip to a WECT marketing seminar in the previous week. Based on their recommendation, Board members agreed to hear a presentation from WECT personnel on February 23 regarding a television commercial spot for the golf course. Following the presentation on the 23 rd, the six Board members in attendance (Kelley, Robinson, Van Dusen, Ward, Notter, Peters) voted to move ahead with purchase of production of a 30-minute spot and 900 placements of that spot over the course of the year in and around local programming. (Peters made the motion and Ward seconded.) The Board also instructed Kelley to attempt to resell a portion of the 900 time slots to a local realtor or realtors who would in turn mention Lockwood Folly in their commercials. The Lockwood Folly POA declined to participate in funding the commercial. Myrna Robinson moved to accept the resignation of Susan and Richard Pearce with no redemption requested. Don Brewer seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Based on a suggestion by a member, the Board considered the benefits of allowing junior golfers to play free at Lockwood Folly. Several courses in the area allow free play for juniors, and families with junior golfers patronize those courses rather than Lockwood Folly. Members holding a Full Family or Full 2
Individual (including Senior) playing package already have the privilege of hosting juniors to a free round of golf. Don Brewer moved that after one p.m., golfers aged 15 and under be allowed to play free when accompanied by a paying adult. Jon Peters seconded. The motion passed with 7 votes, and 1 abstention. Dave Notter reported that we are making our numbers so far this year, though expenses are up slightly due to purchase of chemicals and gasoline. After a brief discussion, Don Brewer moved that we accept Jason Crawford s proposal to refurbish the tee area of the driving range. Myrna Robinson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The money for the driving range project will come from the Capital Improvements Fund. Don Brewer explained to the Board the new web-based forum he has set up for Board members as part of Google Groups. Use of this forum places all discussion of a topic in one convenient place and eliminates the untidiness of ever-expanding email strings that are difficult to follow. Club members have questioned the fact that some Lockwood Folly residents (including some residents who have resigned from the country club) are playing at Guest Rates. After a general discussion, Jon Peters moved that Lockwood Folly residents who are not members of LFCCI may not play at Guest Rates. Sharon Van Dusen seconded this motion which passed unanimously. It was also brought to the Board s attention that non-member residents are using their personal motorized golf carts when playing golf. Walking the course with a pull cart is a clearly defined member privilege. The existing policies and procedures also appear to contemplate that use of a motorized golf cart is limited to club members, but there is no explicit existing prohibition for non-members. Don Brewer moved that the use of motorized golf carts remain a privilege for club members only. Charlie Roland seconded this motion which passed unanimously. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m. The next Board meeting is April 12, 2011. The next quarterly meeting is April 28, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. ACTIONS: 1. The Board voted to purchase a 30-second television commercial from WECT in Wilmington, including production of the spot and 900 airings of the commercial over the course of a year. A portion of the 900 slots will be resold to a local realtor. 2. The Board voted to accept the resignation of Susan and Richard Pearce with no redemption requested. 3. The Board voted to allow junior golfers (age 15 and under) to play free after one p.m. when accompanied by a paying adult. 3
4. The Board voted to refurbish approximately 34,000 square feet comprising the tee area of the driving range in accordance with a proposal by Jason Crawford, using monies from the Capital Improvement Fund. 5. The Board voted that Lockwood Folly residents who are not members of LFCCI may not play for the Guest Rate. 6. The Board voted that the use of motorized golf carts on the course be limited to members of LFCCI. HEAD GOLF PRO S REPORT Jeff Ruth 1. Have 20 in March Madness Pool and looking for 68. The Happy Hour and Drawing s Party addes another benefit to being a member. It will also add another $1000 for people to spend in the golf shop. 2. Merchandise for the golf shop is starting to come in. Companies such as Adidas, Divots, Nancy Lopez, and Jo Fit will all be in shortly. FootJoy and Adidas golf shoes will be brought in as well to fill in sizes. 3. A beginner golf clinic will begin March 21-25 and followed with another one on April 4-8. The goal is to try and get one new member and one upgrade to membership. If we don t get a membership, hopefully they will have enough interest to come and hit balls at the range and play more golf at Lockwood. 4. Creating an employee manual for golf shop staff, cart attendants, starters and rangers. 5. Working with the Chamber of Commerce to try and make the event on August 27 th great for Lockwood, Prostate Cancer Research and The Chamber. 6. Working on pricing for everything from Local Rates, Package Providers, and Senior Rates. 7. EZ-Links training all next week. I see some real positive signs for the community. People are excited about playing better golf. I think we will see better results in tournament participation and more merchandise sold out of the golf shop. I will continue to focus on creating a fun and rewarding atmosphere for the membership while trying to bring in every outside dollar possible. HOUSE REPORT Joe Troiano Repaired the water coolers at half way house and #13 Painted the latticed wall in half way house. Thanks Russ Kleinbauer. 4
Repaired leaky toilet in men s room at #13. Thanks Charlie Roland Pressured washed the oyster shell floor in foyer of club house. Pressured washed the oyster shell walk ways around the club house. Thanks Mickey Manor. The pressure washing did not take up the dark traffic areas in the foyer. Mickey tried a cleaning solution on the floor before pressure washing. Maybe think of another alternative. (Maybe steam cleaning). Moved the employee smoking area, from entry door to bag drop, to outside patio. Need to get another outside ash tray like we have leading from the bag drop. MARKETING REPORT Jan Kelley WECT TV 1. Working with creative department on 30 second spots for April start commercials 2. Filming to start when fairways green up 3. Anne Arnold contracted with LF to add her adjoining commercials to air consecutively with ours Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce Hosted luncheon for their Board Jeff gave golf demonstration and a tour of LF facilities for future Chamber sponsored tournaments Visitors Guide Magazine 1. Finalizing new ad w/ coupon for magazine Holden Beach Vacations 1. Created flyer for Summer Junior Clinics 2. Created coupons to be emailed to incoming guests Oak Island Seashore Drugs 1. Created coupon for 24,000 packages 5
Brochures restocking local realtor establishments with coupons/brochures Sea Scape Ladies 9 hole golf group 1. Renewed agreement for 2 nd & 4th Thursday group play MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE Sharon Van Dusen The main accomplishment for this month is scheduling with Jeff a beginner Golf Clinic to be held for a week for non members in Lockwood. 1. The first will be held on March 21 thru the 25, from 3 to 4 P.M, with practice after each day. I have contacted the 3 new homeowners in Lockwood, and 3 ladies are ready and eager to learn. We have room for one more and I am following up on this. All of these have never played golf before, so it will be a very individual sessions with only 4 women. The week after these lessons, I will go out with them in the late part of the day to play 9,10,11, walking with 4 clubs to feel comfortable on the golf course. I did this 4 or 5 years ago with 3 other women, and they are now all playing golf. The next beginner golf clinic will be held April 4 thru the 8th, again 3 to 4 P.M. Limit 6 2. Two more homes Sold in Lockwood. First house on Channelside (Spec) Home. Owners are not coming down yet from Fayetteville, N.C. Second house on Oyster Shoals. New property owners are Susan and Danny McDuffie, and the property just closed this week. Susan has just retired and her husband will be retiring in October. She is coming down in the next 2 weeks, will be in contact then. 3. Discussions on local rates, how they must be more then members, especially now. 6
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