Yesterday we had our first golf committee meeting of the season so I thought I would post the minutes.
Golf Committee Minutes
Meeting Wednesday, 31st October, 2011.
In attendance
B. Dyer (Chair), Tim Skogen, Jennifer Dammeyer, Tom Shephard, Ronda Manspeaker, Tom Sprott, A. Zamiara, A. Wilkes, K. Davis, P. Friedman, B. McAlpine.
The Chair opened the meeting by complimenting management on the significant improvements to the golf course, landscaping and deck areas. There was general consensus by the committee on the quality of the work performed.

Report from the Course Superintendent – Tom Shephard. Tom advised that the ‘greens enlargement program’ has now been completed and that the greens are essentially back to the same size as they were when the course first opened (Over the years, their size had diminished). Tom did say that in some cases, the new exposed turf wasn’t the same as the core part of the greens, and so remediation is underway. Tom also advised that he has received significant new items of golf course equipment that will increase the productivity of his crew. Included is a small boat to be used for removing weeds from the lakes. The ‘bird man’ is back in action, as the geese are returning earlier than in prior years. On October 24th, fire ant problem areas were dealt with. We were advised that some of the history for overseeding the course was lost due to computer drive problems – reinforcing the need to ensure that all key data is fully backed up. Tom later described a couple of issues affecting the turf grass on the course. One was the presence of Pythium Blight - a fungal disease which has the effect of taking out the rye grass. This occurs on both greens and fairways and requires chemical treatment. In addition, Tom was regularly spraying resurgent Bermuda as a consequence of a sudden hot spell which occurred a few weeks after the reseeding. This explains the yellow patches on the course.
Tom then outlined the renovation work that had been done on several holes – which we regard as Phase 1 of the long term plan. He also mentioned that, even though the course is built on sand, it was still necessary to install better drainage in some bunkers. The reason for this is the existence of contaminates, which restricts the normal drainage process and ends up with what Tom described as ‘puddling’.
Tom responded to some questions from the committee as follows
 Where DFCC stand in relation to the Audibon certification process. He advised that they are currently working on the quality of water, but that there are several sections of the certification process still to go.
 The committee was advised that Tom is in the process of adding sprinkler plates to replace those missing
 Tom said he would look into the height of the Tree on hole #1, which is a bit low and catch some taller private golf carts.
 There were discussions about the inadequate condition of the comfort stations. Tom advised that Jose is now in charge of this and that he reports to Tim, who said he would definitely look into this. It was suggested that a checklist process would be useful regarding the quality inspection process
 Tom said he didn’t anticipate ropes on the course after the initial 2 week period was over. He said that the jury was out on the use of gates, and the absence of gates going forward is a distinct possibility – to be subsequently decided upon. However, it was suggested that green stakes be inserted to block traffic in certain high traffic area.

Report from Head Pro – Jennifer DammeyerJennifer welcomed every one of us back for what is her 11th season at DFCC, and said she was confident this would be a good season and was very pleased with the personnel in place. She advised that the new interim’s name is Ryan Webber - from Wisconsin. Another new face is Dustin Andres in the pro shop and Tim Webb who will work ‘outside’. Jennifer advised she is very pleased with the new hires. David Perla is in charge ‘outside’ and this includes the valet service. Dan and Bryan have returned and they both are now experienced in the practices and customs of DFCC.
We were advised that the changes to the course will affect (in a minor way) the rating and slope. As the improvement work is still ongoing this means that our rating change may not be over. Jennifer will change the score cards for the men’s rankings, but not the women - the next planned review for the ladies tees is scheduled to be 2015. Jennifer emphasized that whatever changes occur, it will be minor and no change will be in effect until the score cards are changed.
Jennifer mentioned that each year, Clubcorp have a tournament for teams from all the courses they own. Last year it was at Barton Creek, but it has not yet been announced where it will be next year. Jennifer plans to provide information about the 2012 tournament so that our members can start planning their teams and their participation in the qualifying process here at DFCC. By having a few functions, in the next 4 or 5 months, fundraising can be implemented to reduce the costs for participants.
Jennifer will move ahead on the ‘adopt a hole’ program and introduce it via the weekly wire.
The committee discussed the difficult issue of members who do not follow the rules (both etiquette and required) of the golf course. In particular, discussions focused on those who infringe golf cart ‘etiquette’. It was agreed that peer pressure can work, but can be difficult and not always successful. This topic will be addressed in the weekly wire. The committee was told that the Board of Governors could, if necessary, strike a Grievance Committee to deal with difficult cases, but that this route should be regarded more as ‘one off’ rather than routine.


Report from General Manager - Tim SkogenTim outlined the long term planning process for the golf course. To provide for ongoing funding, he advised that in August 2011, he submitted a capital requisition request for funding to ‘HO’ and he hopes to hear shortly on the outcome. The next agenda item on the plan is dealing with holes #5, 6 and 14th. He was also asked if hole #2 was to be dealt with and he replied affirmatively. When the work is complete, all 18 holes will receive new sand. Tim outlined how the scope of the project had changed. We were advised that originally, the club planned to carry out the ‘bunker sand project’ itself, without professional assistance. However, a decision was made to have the work done using outside professionals. This resulted in a more comprehensive plan being drawn up – extending over a longer time frame. However, over the long term, Tim concluded that this certainly was the right way to go. BoG Chair Ronda Manspeaker outlined the positive role that the Golf committee played in the development of the golf course long term plan and, at the same time, providing the necessary support for Tim Skogen and his management team when requesting funding for the work.
Golf Course committee membership matters
Brian outlined the structure for the committee which has 3 ex officio positions currently filled by Bobbie McAlpine, Pam Friedman and Andy Zamiara. In addition, there are 6 other 3 year ‘seats’, which are subject to transitional processes as follows (The ??? indicates a vacant seat)
1 year remaining – Brian Dyer and Annika Wilkes
2 years remaining – Karen Davis and ???
3 years remaining – Tom Sprott and ???
So, there are two spots remaining to be filled. As our goal is to have 50/50 male/female representation, we therefore need 1 man and 1 woman to fill the ranks. It was unanimously agreed that Karen Knowles would be asked to join the committee, effective the next meeting. However, as there were potentially several men candidates it was agreed that we would confirm their willingness to serve prior to voting. Once we have a final list, we will vote on this by email, prior to the next meeting.
Next meeting
Wednesday Nov 30th at 2 pm in the private dining room