Commission Members in Attendance:
Brit Lawlor – Chairman
Ron Krawczyk – Deputy Chairman
Ryan Stanley – Tournament
Joe Dabrowski – Greens
Tara Ford – Women’s Locker Room & Beverage
Kevin Lauretti – Handicap/Course Assessment
Others in Attendance:
Jimmy Von Eschen – Head Golf Professional Pat Comiskey – Member
Chris Johnson – Golf Course Superintendent Mary Butler-Person – Member
John Mackie – Assistant Golf Professional Gary Duff – Member
Lorraine Khuen – Village Trustee Mike Dioguardo – Member
Lisa White – Member Bob Burton – Member
Cheryll Russell – Member Michele Lemoal-Grey – Member
Michael Auerbach – Member Mark Miller – Member
Arlene Trigg – Member Jill Silverman – Member
Bob Quarte – Member Christine Klein – Resident
Motion to start meeting by Ron Krawczyk, Joe Dabrowski 2nds it; accepted by Brit Lawlor. Meeting officially starts at 6:04PM.
Deputy Chairman Report, presented by Ron Krawczyk
Ron begins by stating that the yearly gratuity card has been sent out and he has already begun to receive some donations. Ron says that donations will be distributed to Chris’ staff, Jimmy’s staff as well as Nicholas, our locker room attendant. Lastly, Ron wanted to let Chris know that the greens are still fantastic.
Greens/Course Assessment Report, presented by Joe Dabrowski
Mr. Dabrowski says that Chris’ crew is in Fall cleanup mode; the fescue is getting cut back, collars and approaches are being aerated, leaves are getting blown daily. Joe continues, during the Winter, the course will see new tee signs, new tee markers (plates) with hopefully some money remaining for tree removal. Joe says that we have already received quotes for the tee signs/markers and we are waiting on tree removal quotes. As far as the plates go, Joe would like to the plates all one color with the tee itself being the distinguishing mark.
Handicap/Course Assessment Report, presented by Kevin Lauretti
Kevin begins stating that he doesn’t have much to add in addition to what Joe said in regards to Course Assessment but did want to add some bunker work that will be getting done. Joe seconds this and mentions that some bunker entrances/exits will be fixed throughout the Winter. Brit Lawlor chimes in and lets the room know that because we overshot the budget during last years project, they will have less going into this Winter; Brit mentions that the number is roughly $75,000. With that price, Brit believes we should be able to get everything done that we wish to. Additionally, Kevin mentions the ongoing green expansion that you can see currently on the course. Pat Comiskey asks Kevin about the 4th green and what grass is green as opposed to collar? Kevin responds, saying that there is a clear distinction in grass height now. He explains that the green expansions will be cut as close as we can with sprinklers in mind.
Women’s Locker Room & Beverage Report, presented by Tara Ford
Tara says that she played in an outing at the club this past Monday. She says that the course was well received with the entire outing with a lot of great things to say.
Tournaments Report, presented by Ryan Stanley
Ryan begins his report with past tournament results. Starting with this past month’s Club Championship, Ryan would like to congratulate our Women’s Champion, Debbie Capozzi and our Men’s Champion, Kevin Lauretti. With a two-day score of +27 (171) and +5 (147), Debbie took home her first title while Kevin won his 3rd (2020 & 2023). Through the last month, we battled rain and essentially all the elements but we were finally able to declare a winner. The remining flights/Net results are below.
Men’s Championship Flight – Gross
1 Kevin Lauretti +5 77 70 147
2 Anthony Pepitone +14 77 79 156
3 Lou Stravinsky +17 78 81 159
4 Larry Trinkwald +18 78 82 160
5 Jeff Nagel +19 80 81 161
Women’s Championship Flight – Gross
1 Debbie Capozzi +27 82 89 171
2 Lee Redvanly +39 90 93 183
3 Angela Matus +50 97 97 194
4 Michele White +57 96 105 201
Men’s Championship Flight – Net
1 Larry Trinkwald +6 72 76 148
2 Kevin Lauretti +7 78 71 149
3 Jeff Nagel +9 75 76 151
4 Victor Cisario +9 70 81 151
Women’s Championship Flight – Net
1 Debbie Capozzi +9 73 80 153
2 Lee Redvanly +21 81 84 165
3 Angela Matus +22 83 83 166
4 Michele White +35 85 94 179
Men’s A Flight
Gross: Tom Ford +24 86 80 166
Net: Michael Rau +6 73 75 148
Women’s A Flight
Gross: Lisa White +52 94 102 196
Net: Tara Ford +18 88 74 162
Men’s B Flight
Gross: Mark Mirocco +23 83 82 165
Net: Mark Mirocco +3 73 72 145
Men’s C Flight
Gross: Walter Fritz +24 82 84 166
Net:
To close out the year, Ryan states that the Closing Ryder Cup will be held on Saturday, November 4th. The event will be $80 and it will include breakfast and lunch with a 9:30AM shotgun start. Additionally, we will have our Thanksgiving Scramble on the morning of Thanksgiving. Looking to next season, the tournament schedule is all but set besides the two member/guest dates.
Chairman Report, presented by Brit Lawlor
Brit lets those in attendance know that he will be speaking with Nathan Roehrmeier this week in regards to the pricing on the Winter projects. Brit says that we are still waiting for a few things to come in, but will be suggesting to Village Board shortly. Lastly, Brit would like to mention Mark Miller and specifically what he does for the surrounding community. Brit played in a couple of different outings that Mark has put on throughout the years but he states that we should be lucky to call Mark a Bellport Golf Club member.
Director of Golf Report, presented by Jim Von Eschen
Jim would like to thank the Commission for putting in the time and effort all year as it is a volunteer position; Jimmy states that they are what make the golf course “go”. Jimmy says that after many weeks, we finally got our Club Championship in; thank you to everybody who braved it out all weekend. Lastly, Jim says that we are approaching the amount of rounds we did last year (23,000). Pre-Covid, we were doing 18,000 rounds with our peak Covid being 25,000 rounds. Jim mentions that a 95-acre course, with our membership should be doing 17,000 – 18,000 per year. Jim credits Chris Johnson and the rest of Parkland for having the course hold up over the course of the year.
Changing the topic, Jim states that next year is the 125-year anniversary of golf in Bellport. Jimmy states that the Pro Shop has been speaking with sales reps and as far as logos go, we don’t want to go with something big, as we worked so hard to get the current logo. For our 125th year logo, we will be adding the year “2024” in gold to our current logo. Jim notes that they 125-year logo will not have the “BGC”. We went through multiple versions but this one kept it unique and simple. Jim states that hats and some other items in the shop will have the 125-year logo but he notes that all merchandise will be found on a special “Members Only” website.
Superintendents Report, presented by Chris Johnson
Touching on what Joe Dabrowski said, Chris says that there are still some areas near the Pro Shop and practice putting greens that need to be aerated and seeded. Chris says that his crew is about 2/3 of the way done with a fine fescue (which was recommended by the USGA). Chris continues, saying that leaves will start to fall rapidly very quick and will eventually become the crew’s main focus. Mr. Von Eschen comments that if we can get to some of the Winter bunker prep while Chris still has crew here, we will deem the bunkers to be lift, clean and place for the rest of the season; Joe Dabrowski says that if this does happen, it will be after the November 15th posting deadline.
Comments from the Crowd
Bob Burton – Mr. Burton would like to start by thanking the Pro Shop, Parkland and the Commission for the job they have done throughout the year. With that being said, Mr. Burton would like to bring up the future of ball washers and membership totals at BGC. Brit Lawlor says that we are happy with the current number of members and believe that we can operate comfortably at that level. As far as ball washers, he hands that over to Tara Ford and Kevin Lauretti as Brit says he has said his thought on ball washers in the past. Both Tara and Kevin state that we are looking for a minimalistic course that doesn’t have any extra items on the course as that takes away from the beauty the course offers. Tara steps up and says that this decision is an entire board decision, and it is something that has been thought about for years. Jill Silverman suggests getting the ball washers on the carts when we release the carts; Brit says that it is something we can consider in the future and add the extra cost to the cart price. Additionally, Bob Burton would like to see more sand bottles for the walkers as BGC has a big walking community. Brit says that they have done this in the past and they have disappeared; some members still have and use them but the majority of them are nowhere to be found. Brit does mention that the loss of Tom Curley effects the divots tremendously. Mike Auerbach suggests buying small pouches (to be filled with divot mix) and having walkers carry them throughout their round. Bob Quarte suggests starting with ball washers on just the par 3s but also including a bucket for broken tees – Pat Comiskey says that at Island Hills they used a cheap cemetery vase. Bob Quarte ends by asking to play lift, clean and place for the rest of the year throughout the sand traps because lack of raking. Brit says that if you wish to play that inside your group, feel free but in BGC events we will not be playing such. Jim Von Eschen says that he met with the Inwood CC Greens Chairman, and he said they did away with their rakes except for stroke play events (they play the ball down). Michele Lemoal-Grey exclaims that Inwood does indeed have rakes in their carts; Jimmy Von Eschen reiterates that this is what the Greens Chairman told him.
Mark Miller – Mr. Miller begins by thanking Brit for his previous kind words but swears that was not the reason he came down here tonight. Mark claims that the staff at BGC is unbelievable – the young kids down there are hardworking, caring, and just good people. Mark continues saying that he asks for a bunch, from his various outings to his daily requests, and he gets told no more than others. He says that being told “no” is what makes this place so great. In regard to ball washers, he says he used to ask Von Eschen for ball washers daily. Mr. Von Eschen told him to notice how many ball washers he sees when he plays the higher end/exclusive courses that Mark gets to play; Mark states that none of those courses have a ball washer whereas the not nice courses have them galore. Mark would like to see the Starters talk to each and every group about pace of play, repairing divots and general care of the course. Jimmy Von Eschen also says that if you can’t put sand in for whatever reason, you can always replace the physical divot.
Mike Dioguardo – Mike played today and was in many traps, most of which were not raked. Mr. Dioguardo asks what can be done to make sure this gets better next year? Lastly, Mike asks if we are comfortable doing 23,000 rounds for the year with the current membership? Jim Von Eschen believes that we will eventually get back to pre-covid numbers of 18,000 – 19,000. Jim also says that we have an active 400 members and says that we could also be a membership that does 19,000 rounds with 600 members. Jim ends by saying we are happy with the current number of members.
Mary Butler-Person – Mary would like to start by thanking John Mackie and the grounds crew; Mary showed John a tree that she thought was dangerous for the rest of membership – Chris and his crew limbed this tree and others, so thank you for that. In reference to sand divots, Mary says that she uses a full bottle on the front and another on the back 9, not to mention the ball marks that she is constantly fixing. Pat Comiskey says that fixing ball marks and sanding divots should be part of the culture at the course; leave it better than when we got there.
Meeting ends at 6:36PM.