Marco F. Benedetti

Happy 4th of July!!! I look forward to seeing everyone at the fireworks’ display and enjoying the barbecue. I want to thank you for your participation in the golf events, themed dinners, and other multiple events planned by the staff and committees. I had the pleasure of attending the Bingo event recently and was excited to see the membership’s support of a great fund-raising event. It is great to see the Club so vibrant.

The Irrigation Project continues to move along on schedule. The trenching of the main lines is complete and work around the greens and fairways has commenced. Our installer has been very diligent, working six days a week to complete the project. Based on the last update, we should be able to complete the project during the month of July.

I hope you had a chance to attend the Town Hall Meeting with Chris Myslow and the senior staff. It was well attended, and we received some good feedback from the membership. We will investigate options to see what can be done to improve the women’s locker room and appreciate their concern. I would suggest that we defer the discussion on the forward tee boxes and the placement of forward tees until we complete the project. Where tee markers are placed on how the course is rated will have input from the USGA.

A couple of budget updates. I am pleased to communicate that we met our target for Initiation Fees for the year but fell short on the Due’s revenue halfway through the year. We are still attracting new members but are currently short of the 339 full equivalent members we had hoped to be at by the end of June. Fortunately, our operations have been efficient, and we have had a fair number of outside events that have offset the revenue shortfall and remain on budget.

We have started the budgeting process and have scheduled meetings with the Long-Range Planning Committee, to look at capital needs, and we will be convening the By-Law committee shortly. Our Nominating Committee is starting up and we will begin to reach out to the membership for three new Board of Governors to fill a three-year term that will begin November 1. If approached, please consider running for the Board, it is a satisfying role and there is always something to work on.

The upcoming Ralph Haas Invitational is scheduled for the end of July and while we are close to selling out, we are not there. We did sell out the event last year at 72 teams and are currently at 69 teams. I encourage you to register and play if you have not done so. It is a premier event to participate in and the guests that come are always impressed by the quality of the event.

As always, thank you for your continued support. Looking forward to seeing you around the Club.