Lockwood Folly Country Club Quarterly Meeting 4/24/08 The Lockwood Folly Country Club quarterly meeting was held 4/24/08, and convened at 4:30PM Board members present; Jon Peters, Ron Grabar, Don Brewer, Trish Benardo, Al Ayling, Charlie Roland, Mike Verhoosky, Paul Hursh LFCCI members attending: 57 MARKETING REPORT presented Al Ayling Replaced the graphics on all billboards DOT to replace sign at Holden Beach intersection We are the recipient of the Reader s Choice Award for Golf Courses, Brunswick Beacon. New web page has printable road directions available in four languages Revenue from package play is off significantly at Lockwood and all other Myrtle Beach and Brunswick area golf courses. One course in Myrtle Beach is down 2,000 rounds in March. Two nearby competitive courses are down 800+ rounds in March Lockwood is down 665 rounds in March April trend is down from last year This is the second year in a row of down trend in package play, which accounts for about 27% of total outside play revenue. Summer season is usually strong at Lockwood and in the past we have been able to make up for the package play shortfalls, but there is never a guarantee. Some courses have begun to lower their rates for package play and senior discount cards. There is no proof yet that this response will bring in more revenue or even more rounds. MEMBERSHIP REPORT presented by Jon Peters for Joy Buchholz 1. MEMBERSHIP One new Equity Member: Delores Mallory Three new Trial Members: Marilyn Myers, George & Arlene Berts, Dan & Kathy Kubly (Two of the three are definitely converting to Equity Membership in the next couple of months. Hopefully, all three will be doing that!) 2. SPONSOR A FRIEND no longer being used. Still would like you to Meet your Neighbors Talk to neighbors and friends about membership Send names of those you meet to someone on the Membership Committee. They will then be contacted and given information about membership.
3. MARKETING FOR MEMBERSHIP A presentation was given to the POA of Lakes of Lockwood in March describing the one time only limited offer for a six month trial membership. The presentation was given by Joy Buchholz, Dave Notter and Mary Ward. There did seem to be some interested folks and we will be following up with them during the next few months. Twenty (20) area Real Estate Agents are invited in June to participate in a presentation we will give them about our Trial Membership offering. They will be given lunch, then will either take a tour of the golf course or play 9 holes of golf. Agents will be given packets to inform prospective buyers about our offering. Area Developers will also be invited to attend a second session presenting information about a Trial Membership offering, followed by lunch and either a tour or 9 holes of golf. Date for this has not yet been determined. 4. NEW GOLFERS CLINIC will be held again in November if there is interest within the community. A flyer will be sent out asking for a response for anyone who desires to participate. Upon a good response, this will again be a two day affair and more information about the clinic will be given to you at the next quarterly meeting. If the clinic does take place, as we did last time, Equity members will be asked to volunteer their services and expertise to make it a successful venture.
PLANNING AND WEB SITE REPORT presented by Don Brewer New web site presentation
FINANCE REPORT presented by Ron Grabar
GOLF REPORT presented by Mike Verhoosky OB stakes have been replaced Local rules have been approved by the BOD and are posted in the locker rooms The superintendent would like the rakes positioned in the bunkers so that the tines are in and the handle is coming out the lip of the bunker. The Golf committee met and came up with suggestions to speed up pace of play. This information will be emailed to the members. GROUNDS AND GREENS REPORT presented by Charlie Roland The grass is coming in nicely in the fairways. The fairways will be beautiful. We've reworked a few more traps over the winter. We'll continue working on them through the year. Remember last spring, it was quite wet. We pumped the pond down at snake island and then the water spigot turned of the rest of the summer. Hopefully we get sufficient rain this year. Had some equipment problems this spring. Our big vacuum needed new bearings and impeller, this ran us $3000. The deck, pulleys, bearings and a hydraulic cylinder were replaced on our trim mower. This set us back a bout $2800. Sod was out down in many areas of the course. We leased two (2) new fairway mowers for four years. After the lease expires they're ours. Life expectancy is 12 to 15 years. We're evaluating leasing new sand pro vs. buying a used one that's coming of a 3 yr. Lease. The demo that we are testing looks great. It does a better job in the traps than our old ones. Plans are to use the one old rake for parts to keep the 2 nd one going for a couple more years. The women's tees on 13 and 15 are being upgraded. We're also going to widen the white tee on #10. With all the trees around the tee box we just cannot grow grass on it. Men's golf association provided funds to install stone and paving blocks to #10 tee.
Sweat equity provided the labor to install it. They are also contributing $1,000 toward replacing the pump house between the 16 th green and 17 th tee. The work will be done with volunteers. HOUSE REPORT presented by Paul Hursh Projects noted at the last quarterly meeting have either been completed or are near completion. Cart barn repairs and improvements are finished. The pro shop is sporting new windows and the entrance door by the desk has been replaced. Big mike is in charge of a new counter and storage cabinets which are under construction and will be arranged to facilitate desk activities. Master gardeners, Dave and Brenda Mills are hard at work designing a new foliage arrangement to spruce up the cart wash area. The tin cup café patio has been cleaned up and new table and chairs added. The cement tables and benches are re arranged and ferns added for effect. Other improvements are planned by Russ and Marlene Kleinbauer s hard working committee. They recognized this area as visiting player s last impression of our facility. I have sweat equity profusing everywhere: Jim Platukis and Leroy Knopfle have been hard at work painting the cart barn and pro shop. I call Mickey Manor to do a job and before I hang up it is completed and done well. Jim sparky Bowers is always available for electrical problems. I confess sometimes I m a bit impetuous. I asked Jim, maybe a third time, if he had finished an assignment and he politely replied he had just brought his wife home from the hospital after a lengthy procedure. I apologized. One time, after searching the tennis court and golf course, my informants spotted Tony Regnier vacuuming leaves around the pro shop. Amazing!! PRESIDENT S CLOSING REMARKS presented by Jon Peters REVENUE TRENDS The economy is on everyone's mind and certainly the/impact of escalating fuel costs, increased air fares, and over the top food prices have an impact on how people view spending their leisure time. These and other factors are combining to have both long and short term impact on our golf community and business. Beach rentals are taking a down turn and people are staying closer to home. Throughout the area golf play is down. We are approximately $44,000 down compared to the same period last year, and at that time we were $23,000 down from the previous year. So all in all we can say we are approximately $51,000 down. Our package play for March was short by several hundred rounds. However, on a brighter note, a neighboring course is short by several thousand rounds. We
are looking into how we can increase our play and revenue, but there are some factors that we just cannot control. ADOPT A HOLE Around the course you can see the work of Sharon van Dusen and her sweat equity volunteers. Most of the holes are beginning to show the sure signs of spring and early summer. I have been assured that things should be looking spectacular for the upcoming season. Two new hole managers have signed on, Bobbie Platukis on #5 and Cheryl Washburn on #3. A special thanks to Don Kehoe for his 10 years of attention and care for #3, you deserve a break. CLUBHOUSE A build/design company has been approved by both Boards and we are in ongoing discussions with the POA Board on all the issues surrounding the clubhouse and proposed property transfer and other negotiated elements. Once we have come to mutual agreement on all of the issues and it is documented, we will be coming to the equity membership to present all the information we possibly can including estimated total cost, cost per POA member, and other elements of the negotiations so that you can make informed decision concerning the future of proposed clubhouse. DRESS CODE Another reminder, we are a 4 Star course, please dress appropriately and remind all your guests to do so. BALLOT RESULTS There were two ballot issues to be considered; the establishment of a $500,000 line of credit and a new by law defining the role proxy and quorum. According to the by laws, to pass each item must be approved by a legal majority of the equity members. The line of credit passed with a majority of 72%. (159 votes cast) The proxy and quorum passed with a majority of 89%. (132 votes cast) 18 ballots were not marked and so were not counted. Member Questions: Q: The soil and sod keeps collapsing into the pond on hole #17, and the water level is decreasing. Is there anything being done about this? A: Jason is working on solutions to repair the problem and hopefully it will be repaired soon.
Q: Why are we marketing areas like Lakes of Lockwood, when they could pay local rates? A: At this time we are using all options available to us to try to market Lockwood Folly and obtain more members. Q: What was the course appraised for when we had the appraisal done for the line of credit? A: We have not gotten the report back yet, but expect to soon. Q: Will we be able to put the documents and minutes on the web site? A: Yes Q: Is the grass being blown into the ponds on purpose? A: Some is still being blown into the ponds, although we are trying to keep that from happening. The majority of the brown grass from the winter fairways was blown in from recent storms and winds. Q: Have we considered using a starter? A: Yes, this is being addressed by the board at the present time. Q: Are fivesomes allowed? A: Per policy, fivesomes are allowed per the discretion of the proshop. It is only intended to allow when play is slow. Some groups have joined together during play, which is not allowed. Q: Regarding the new quorum bylaw; are the BOD present included in the membership? A: It is the understanding of the BOD that they are not included in the quorum. Q: How many hours does an employee need to work to qualify for free play and why are they just charged $15 per guest. A: The employee play privileges are being addressed. At present there are no set hours and they may have 3 guests a month at $15 each, which is the norm for area courses. Meeting adjourned at 6:05PM