The Tallwood Tradition January 2017 http://www.tallwoodmensclub.com 2017 Board of Directors President Greg Garcia Vice President Joe LeBlanc Treasurer Kim Aderman Secretary/ Communications Greg Berger Handicap Jim Bidwell Membership Bob Wahlberg Co-Social Richard Potticary Co-Social Earl Brown Tournament Terry Ruzzo Past President Scott Marshall The President s Corner Along with a new year, we have new happenings for the Men s Club. First, feast your mouse on our new-look website. (We have a secret techno-wizard locked in a closet, who performs our computer magic. No you can t have his phone number!) Take a minute to check out www.tallwoodmensclub.com. While you re there, if you have not taken the survey already, hit the link and dive in. The survey, a multiple-choice-answer-type questionnaire, should only take a few minutes. Second, the donation drive in Joe Poulin s memory, spearheaded by long-time friend and playing partner, Keith Marcroft, has been a tremendous success. We raised over $2,000 a phenomenal testament to the bonds of friendship born and nurtured here at our club!!! This terrific (sorry, Mr. Trump) response means that the fund can purchase the AED unit and bench at one fell swoop (sorry, Mr. Shakespeare; you are no Mr. Trump). Past board/management/pro shop meetings considered sponsoring a booth at the golf show to attract new members. Since the Men s Club is covering the costs of the AED, Mike agreed to pay the clubs costs associated with the show with YoPro contributing a share as well. It appears we will have a booth at this year s Connecticut Golf Show; and, if so, we will need volunteers to man it in short shifts to represent our club and express its benefits to new member prospects. To further promote our Men s Club, I am happy to report that Mike is producing an ad with the Comcast network as I write this letter, which will air regionally in the near future. Footage was shot during a few of our events last year, so you may end up a celluloid hero. So, as you can tell, we are especially active this off-season. Amongst all the activity, our design of the coming season s golf experience is taking shape. Remember, your responses to that survey are taken into consideration, as our finely-tuned, mastercraftsmen-of golf-extravaganza personnel apply their amazing (sorry, Mr. Trump) talents to our upcoming schedule. Thanks to each and every heartwarming response to the donation drive, and I extend Happy New Year wishes to all of you! Greg Garcia President
Membership Membership New member - Please welcome new/returning member David Sudol. Dave is not only a new/returning member, but his was the first application of the year! Looks like he really missed Tallwood! Renewal for 2017 To date, approximately 50 members have renewed for 2017. We are particularly looking forward to renewals from 2016 s new members! The form for 2017 membership renewal is attached or you can complete the form on line. Renewal for Regular members includes ten pre-paid tournament fees. Payments postmarked before February 1, 2017 may deduct $20.00 from the renewal amount. We are accepting applications for Young Adult (Junior), as well as Regular members. Young Adult members may require an additional form, which is available on the website. Please select your membership category and forward your payment to: Bob Wahlberg TMC Membership 8 Markwood Lane Manchester, CT 06040 Membership incentive The Board has approved a recommendation that will provide rebates to returning members who recruit new members. Beginning in January, any member who recruits a new member will receive a 25% rebate on the current year s dues, up to 100% (maximum of four new members). So, for each new member, the returning member will receive a rebate of 25% of the dues paid for the year. The membership application has been revised to include a line where the new member will indicate who referred him. Please ensure that the new member fills in that line so the returning member can receive the rebate! TMC at the golf show As Greg mentioned in his remarks, Tallwood Country Club, Tallwood Men s Club and the Pro Shop are seriously exploring the opportunity to team up at the Connecticut Golf Show in March. This is a commitment that will require volunteers from the Men s Club to man our booth in shifts over the three-day event. While we are still in the planning stages, I would ask any and all interested members to e-mail me at TMC_membership@yahoo.com (TMC_membership) with your thoughts, but most importantly, your commitment to volunteer! Get a friend and sigh up as a twosome! Payment for season passes Please note that season passes are purchased through Tallwood Country Club, not Tallwood Men s Club. Payments should be addressed to Mike McDermott at Tallwood. All comments and suggestions are welcome. If there are any questions, please e-mail me at TMC_membership@yahoo.com Bob Wahlberg Membership Director 2
Happy New Year to All. Social Your Social Directors are already hard at work planning the 2017 Kick off Dinner. This year s Kick Off Dinner will be held at the same location The Gallery located in Glastonbury. The cost will remain the same for 2017 @ $25, even though the costs of venue have gone up. John Yo Pro Nowobilski is hard at work arranging the vendors and setting up another Great Speaker for the Dinner. Our VP Joe LeBlanc may be planning something fun for the evening as well. We are trying something new for 2017. The registration for the event will be done online. Simply visit the TMC website, click on link, log in and sign up. There will be instructions on where to send your $25. Thank you to Mike Peterson for all his help on website updates and getting this working. Social Committee is always looking for anyone interested in joining our committee. New ideas are always welcome. If you are interested, please be sure to check off Social Committee on your renewal so you can be added to our emails. The Social Committee meets the last Thursday of each month for planning meetings and ideas for upcoming Social Events. We meet usually at the Elks club in Manchester or the Irish American Home in Glastonbury. Some members like to have a cold beverage at the meeting as well. I look forward to seeing all returning Social members and hope to see some new faces. Members are not required to attend all meetings, or commit to anything, but all are welcome to join our meetings and just have a cold beverage. NOTE: No meeting this month. Our 1 st meeting is tentatively scheduled for 2/24/2017 @ the Irish American Home for anyone looking to join us. Stay Warm and hope to see you at this year s Annual Kick Off Richard Potticary II and Earl Brown Cosial Tournament We have a great Tournament Committee this year and we will be meeting in a few weeks to work the 2017 Tournament Schedule. There were some questions regarding tournaments in this year s survey, so if you have an interest one way or another, please try to fill out your survey as soon as possible so we can use your input in our decisions. As always, our goal will be to create a balanced event schedule to satisfy all of our members. Lots more to come in the next few months, so ignore the snow and dream of green fairways and smooth greens that will be coming soon. Terry Ruzzo Tournament 3
Golf Shop News The Titleist Pro V Buy 3 get 4 Dozen Program was such a huge success across the country. Please email me your order NOW to get a head start on the deal. Shipment will not be until April. Need to know exact imprint, Pro V or Pro V1, special numbering (slight upcharge), etc. Price should remain the same $ 49.95 per dozen plus shipping. Titleist Thursday is a program to get fitted for clubs using all the latest computers. Events will be held on Thursdays at TPC River Highlands and is open to Tallwood members. Titleist Tech Reps will be on hand to take your order and it will be shipped to Tallwood. Check in March on Titleist.com to register on line. We are happy to announce the golf shop will be carry Sketchers Golf Cleats as well as Ecco's Golf Cleats starting this spring! There will be some changes made to the Men's Club/ Golf Shop Policies for 2017. Information will be available at the Kickoff Banquet in March. John has begun to write to some of the most outstanding golf courses within driving distance. The Golf Shop will be setting up dates to play these courses during the spring, fall and summer months. A drawing will be held to fill the group of 7 players (plus John) for each course. Request letters are being sent to Winged Foot, Baltusrol, Shinnecock, Westchester CC, Merion, Aronimink & Newport just to name a few. More details as season gets closer. John and Zac will be available for winter lessons at Torza s Range in Cromwell starting in February. Email John at pgatall@aol.com or Zac at zacstennett@gmail.com. YO PRO 4
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL: Tallwood Men s Club 2017 Membership Renewal Application MEMBER INFORMATION: NAME: ADDRESS: CITY, STATE: ZIP: PHONE #: HOME: WORK: CELL: E-MAIL: (required) OCCUPATION: MEMBER SINCE (If known) AGE (Optional) IF NEW MEMBER, REFERRED BY: I would like to assist on the following Committee(s): Social Tournament Rules Handicap MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL: Renewal is due February 1, 2017. Early Bird discount applies if the renewal is postmarked before February 1. Membership Type Renewal Amount Discount Applies Pre-paid Tournaments Total FEE DUE Regular Member (Rec d before Feb 1 st ) 5 Renewal Selection $165.00 -$20.00 $50.00 $195.00 Regular Member $165.00 $50.00 $215.00 Past President (Rec d before Feb 1 st ) $165.00 -$20.00 $145.00 Past President $165.00 $165.00 Junior Member $80.00 $80.00 Social Member $80.00 $80.00 GHIN Only $30.00 $30.00 Make check payable to: TALLWOOD MEN S CLUB Please mail your check and Renewal Application to the 2017 Membership Director: Bob Wahlberg 8 Markwood Lane Manchester, CT 06040 If you have questions, e-mail them to Bob at: tmc_membership@yahoo.com
2017 Survey Please complete the following questions to gain your perspective, submit your answers with your renewal form. The Member Guest: The tournament venue was moved due to rising costs. Let us know what you thought about the new venue; your answers will help us stay on target. The new venue was: o Right on target o I liked the previous venue better but I m not willing to pay more o I don t mind paying more to have a better venue o I didn t or don t play in this event so this doesn t apply to me Electronic Payment option. We are exploring options for electronic payment to accompany online sign-ups for tournaments requiring pre-registration. There are expenses associated with this service. Let us know your thoughts. o I want to be able to pay for my sign up online. Get me clicking my mouse! o I would like this and I don t mind paying a nominal fee o This would be convenient but I don t want to pay more for this option o I don t mind the way it is now, there s no need to add more cost to the tournaments Match Play Classics May / September In 2016 there was only MP I as the Intra-Club Ryder Cup was added. Would you like to see MP II return? (We may change the Fall MP II to 5-team flights with only 18 on Saturday and Sunday. The Spring MP I will still be 6-team flights with 45 holes.) o I d like to see both the Spring and Fall Match Play as it was in prior years o I don t want the Fall version if it means cancelling the Intra-Club Ryder Cup o I would like to keep the Ryder Cup and both MP events if possible. Match Play Club Championship We are toying with the idea of bringing back the Match Play Club Championship (held thru 1984) in addition to the current Medal Play event in July. With the full schedule that we have every year, this might be difficult to fit in, but we would like your opinions. There would be a qualifying round and at least 8 players per flight advancing to Match Play. This would not eliminate the current Pro s Trophy Match Play. o I like the idea of a MP Championship o I do not want another major that would require multiple days to complete. General Tournaments Aside from our Major events, the majority of our tournaments are LG/LN. There were approx. 42 LG/LN events, 17 events such as Best 17 or Best 8 Front and Back, 2 Stableford, 2-2MBB, and 2 Scrambles/Shambles (Spring and Fall Classics). o I like the general format from 2016. o I would like more 2MBB events. o I would like more events where we eliminate a few holes like Best 16. o I would like to see a 2 man Scramble during the season. 6
In an effort to gain your perspective on where the course needs improvement please take a few minutes to complete the following survey and submit your answers with your renewal form. Compare the following question to other public courses you have played recently. Overall the conditions of the course at Tallwood are: o Above average o Slightly above average o Average o Slightly below average o Below average What area of the property would you like to see improved first? o Parking areas o Practice areas o Clubhouse o Golf course What specific area of the golf course would you like to see improved first? o Teeing areas o Fairways o Bunkers o Areas close to the green ( chipping distance and green collars) o Greens How does the condition of the course effect your decision making involving your men s club renewal? o I renew regardless o I expect to renew but I do consider it somewhat o I renew after I weigh the issue yearly o It is becoming more of an issue and I will be reevaluating Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7
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The Trip of a Lifetime Kim Aderman and I just got back from a golf trip to Ireland. I was with a group of eight (all Tallwood guys) and he was part of a foursome (all Tallwood guys). Although we arranged it in different ways (we went separately and overlapped only on one day), we re both in agreement that this truly was the trip of a lifetime. And we re also in agreement that, if your circumstances permit it, this is something every golfer should and can do. When you set up a golf trip for southwest Ireland, there are certain courses which are the must play courses. So even though we arranged our respective trips independently, our respective groups played Lahinch, Ballybunion, Tralee, Waterville, Doonbeg and Old Head. These are the standard-bearers and should be part of any golf itinerary in southwest Ireland. Our group of eight stayed a bit longer so we also played Dooks and Killarney Golf and Fish Club. The courses were spectacular and any attempt at written description would do them an injustice. Suffice it to say, all of them run along the water and the views from the tee boxes and fairways were stunning. I think there were four key differences in how Kim and I put our respective trips together: 1. Kim used a tour operator and we didn t. I think the advantage of using the tour operator is that they do this for a living so they have the routine down pat. Doing it on your own is breaking new ground with each aspect of the planning process. Handling the financial end of it is also easier because each guy essentially pays the price charged by the tour operator for the entire package. In contrast, I dealt directly with all providers (courses, house, etc.) and paid them deposits, etc., and had each of the guys reimburse me when the bills came in so I had to keep careful track of everything. The benefit to doing it on our own is that it s less expensive. I would estimate that we saved $750-1000 per man by doing it on our own. 2. Kim s guys stayed in hotels (a couple of nights at each hotel), whereas we rented a house with 8 bedrooms that was reasonably centrally located (Killarney). Really nice and very well appointed modern kitchen with dining room table for 12, two living rooms with TVs, a patio with gas grill, internet, etc. just a ton of space. I liked it because (I) you didn t have to unpack and pack a lot you had a base of operations; (ii) the kitchen allowed us to keep food around and we actually did breakfast in before we left each day; (iii) there was a ton of room (I believe Kim s group shared hotel rooms with two to a room); and (iv) having a washer/dryer was great and all of the room allowed us to spread wet clothes out each night (yes, you can t help but catch some rain over there). 3. Kim s group rented a minivan and they did the driving, whereas we rented a motor coach and driver fit 16 for the 8 of us to take us wherever we wanted to go. The motor coach and driver were available to us for 13 hours per day after that, there s an additional hourly charge although we never needed the motor coach and driver for more than the allotted 13 hours. We liked going this way because (I) the coaches were incredibly comfortable, great for a nap especially after a long day on the course; (ii) the roads can be a bit dicey at times (can get narrow); and (iii) driving in a foreign country where you don t know the roads and have to drive on the wrong side of the road (with steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle) is more than we wanted to bite off. Going with the motor coach and driver is obviously more expensive than renting a minivan and self-driving, but we felt that, given the overall cost structure, the extra cost was money well spent (everybody reaffirmed that view after the trip was over). Kim emailed me when we both over there and seemed to think the decision on a motor coach was a good one, although as a group of only four, they really didn t have the option of going with a motor coach 4. 4 guys vs. 8 guys. I think there are advantages to both. Presumably it s easier to get one tee time for 4 than two tee times for 8. Logistics are not as difficult with 4 and probably easier to find chemistry in a smaller group (we were fortunate all of our eight guys knew each other and got along great). A group of 8 has the advantage of being able to do the motor coach, rent a house, etc. It also is more conducive to putting together different formats two man BB, individual events, etc. 9
Overall, the experience was incredible. Although we went to play golf, the score was incidental to the beauty of the courses we played. All of the holes were interesting and many incredibly memorable. We undoubtedly took as many shots on the courses with our cameras as we did with our clubs. I doubt that any of us will have this type of golf experience again. The country is beautiful and the people are incredibly friendly and outgoing. The towns are very engaging and the pubs were just great. A few random thoughts: Start the planning process early. Kim and I both began putting our trips together last fall for a September trip. Tee times fill up quickly. Bring clothes for all conditions and do expect some rain and wind (though you ll likely have a number of really nice days as well). Although Kim s group had better weather than we did (we had two bad rain days and he had one), most of the days were very comfortable. Be prepared to walk. Although a few courses have golf carts, some limit their use to those who have a medical note saying use of a cart is medically necessary and some don t have carts at all. You really get caught up so much in the experience that, even if you typically take a cart at Tallwood, you hardly notice/mind that you re walking. Just assume that a cart is not an option and you won t be disappointed. It s not necessary for everybody to have a caddie. They re fairly expensive (40 euro not including tip) and most of them, if caddying for somebody else, will alert you to where to play your ball or how to read a green (for which you give them a nice tip at the end of the round). In Kim s group of four, they generally had two caddies who would carry two bags each. Be aware that the courses do not guarantee the availability of caddies so at least in the experience of our group, we had some caddies who were exceptional and others who were basically carrying your bag but not otherwise that helpful. Lesson inquire about the experience of the caddie they intend to assign to you. Food whatever you may have heard about food, our experience (and I m a pretty picky eater) was that the food was very good. The guys who were more adventurous and tried some traditional Irish dishes were always happy with their selections A suggestion if you re going over and intend to play for a week or longer, take a break from golf in the middle of your stay and see some of the country. As much as I love the game, nine consecutive days of golf was a lot. I could easily have used a break midway through just to regroup. More importantly, there is so much to see over there that it s really a shame not to experience what they have to offer beyond the golf course. Special note the trip for was made even more special by the fact that my son was part of the trip. Doing something like this with someone special made it even more incredible and will be something I always remember as one of our best times together. So the cost? For starters, anybody traveling from this point forward has the advantage of flying nonstop out of Bradley to Dublin (a few hour drive to southwest Ireland) which was not an option when we booked (out of Newark). The Bradley/Dublin service just started and roundtrip cost seems to run around $600 +/-. For our group of eight, the cost of nine rounds of golf, the house, the motor coach and driver, and airfare (nonstop out of Newark into Shannon - $680) was about $3000. For Kim s group of four, for seven rounds of golf, hotels and minivan rental and gas, they also spent around $3000 per man (not sure if this figure included airfare). Those are the essentials you need to get there, have land travel arrangements (you could probably save a few hundred bucks by renting a minivan and self-driving), and paying the greens fees. Beyond these costs, you have some control over how much more you spend. Are you going to use a caddie, rent a pull cart or carry your bag? (in our opinion, you need at least one caddie per group). Meals are another item. If you rent a house (as we did), you can do all of your own breakfast and/or prepare some of your own dinners (we didn t do the latter). On the other hand, Kim s group stayed in hotels and an Irish breakfast is often included in your room rate. How much you choose to spend at the 19 th hole or on souvenirs from the pro shop is purely a matter of personal choice. Beginning with a starting figure of $3000, the cost of your discretionary expenses as outlined above will run you another $1000-2000. Not the cost of your average round at Tallwood, but well worth it once for the trip of a lifetime. It s truly something you ll look back on forever. The takeaway on this is that you can do it either with 10
the help of a tour operator or, if you re willing to take on some of the work, by arranging it yourself. My group chose the latter and everything went off without a hitch. If you re interested in putting something like this together or have any questions, give Kim or me a call or catch us in the clubhouse and we d be happy to share the information we ve collected in putting our trips together. No sense in re-inventing the wheel! Hit em straight! Elliot Solomon 11