Minutes
of the
Senior Men’s Interclub Representative
Semi-Annual Meeting
at
Hidden Hills Golf Club
June 20, 2019
The Semi-Annual Meeting of the member Club Team Representatives of the Jacksonville Senior Men’s Interclub was held June 20, 2019 at Hidden Hills Golf Club. Present were Ray Mantle and Bruce MacDonald (QH), Allen Witham and Barney Poston (HH), Vincent Celestino (MC), Mac McKernan (OP), Ralph Cunliffe (OC), Bill Basney and Mike Smith (SJ), Dick Fruechtenicht (LP), Jim Begley and Fred Track (EH), Glenn Dobrick (SG), Skip Lunsford (JG), Bob McBride (WGV), Mark Rutland (DC),Ray Cabano (ML) and John Lopiano (Palencia).
The meeting started shortly after 10 AM. Dick Fruechtenicht acted as the Meeting Facilitator and Ray Mantle acted as the Secretary of the Meeting. Dick had earlier sent out the agenda. Allen Witham welcomed everyone to Hidden Hills Golf Club and hosted the meeting facilities.
The first order of business was approval of the minutes of the December 4, 2018 Annual Meeting. By resolution made and passed the minutes were approved as earlier circulated and submitted. The minutes are posted on the SMI website.
Reports
SMI Treasurer Bruce MacDonald gave a financial report as of May 31, 2019 with a balance of $2477.41 after payment of all outstanding bills. He distributed an Excel spreadsheet and a report showing funds projected to be available for the Poston Cup prizes. Copies of these items are attached to these minutes as Exhibit A, Exhibit B and Exhibit C which will be posted on the SMI website. Payment of $303.53 to Minuteman Press for scorecards was approved. After discussion and upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed that $3,300 be available for distribution at the 2019 Poston Cup, of which $1000 would be for door prizes. It is intended to keep a reserve of $500 for unanticipated expenses.
Allen Witham reported on the scheduling dates for the 2019 season and the status of contracts either signed or sent for signature by the Clubs. The 2019 schedule to date is posted on the SMI website.
Jack Garrity, SMI’s Technology Advisor, was not present. Jack’s technology report was emailed to the Club Reps (a copy will be posted on the SMI website as Exhibit D to these minutes).
Barney Poston, SMI Chairman Emeritus and Webmaster, reported that the SMI website is operating reliably and he was not aware of any issues regarding the SMI website. Barney noted the SMI website produces a small amount of income (approximately $150) from advertisements and clicks on Google.
Appointment
Dick Fruechtenicht appointed a Nominating Committee to nominate the officers to be elected at the December 2019 meeting. The Nominating Committee Chairman is Ray Cabano, who is authorized to select others to be on the Nominating Committee. Ray invited Club Reps interested in serving to contact him.
Old Business
Skip Lunsford reported for the Study Group appointed at the December 2018 meeting to consider the pro and cons of using two sets of tees so that more senior golfers could move up to a shorter course length. A copy of this Study Group report will be posted on the SMI website as Exhibit E to these minutes. After discussion and upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, it was agreed that the SMI Tournament at Eagle Harbor CC in December 2019 will use two tees as a trial arrangement, with each SMI player free to choose his tee for himself without any age or handicap index limitation. A player selecting the forward tees will have his handicap adjusted to reflect the difference in yardage, slope and rating; an adjustment of 3 strokes is anticipated for Eagle Harbor. Discussion of the Eagle Harbor trial at the December 2019 meeting of the Club Representatives will consider whether to have further trial arrangements, etc.
Dick Fruechtenicht reported that he had worked closely with Jack Garrity on scoring at several SMI tournaments. Dick noted that Jack devotes major effort to SMI in his scoring, handicapping, statistical analysis, monthly newsletters, etc., with major benefit to SMI. Dick noted the scanning system developed by Jack is capable of handling the SMI scoring rapidly and accurately. But the difficulty is only Jack can resolve any operational problems which might occur and should SMI be looking for an outside vendor scoring system as an alternative when Jack is no longer available. Ray Mantle then reported that following the December 2018 meeting he had emailed the Golf Genius representative (Scott Johnson) proposing that SMI be awarded a limited license (at a reduced price) for those events at Clubs which did not have a Golf Genius license which would cover SMI’s use of Golf Genius scoring. In a reply email Scott stated he would take it up with senior management. No further communication has been received and no follow-up by either Ray or Scott regarding SMI’s use of Golf Genius scoring. Ray also reported he and Bruce MacDonald are investigating a live online scoring system marketed under the name Leaderboard King. At this time Ray and Bruce do not have sufficient information to make a presentation about Leaderboard King.
New Business
Glenn Dobrick reported the Sawgrass CC clubhouse remodeling, etc. is projected to be completed November 2020, so an SMI tournament cannot be scheduled for 2020. Glenn stated he will report at the December 2019 meeting on any change in the projected completion date, the availability of an SMI tournament in 2021 and the amount Sawgrass CC will expect to be paid at that time.
Mac McKernan reported on the status of the Orange Park course. He explained that since the report at the December 2018 meeting the golf course has not been maintained and is unplayable. The course is in foreclosure and the owner is seeking to sell the Orange Park golf course, but at this time no buyer has appeared. Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed it was agreed to have the Orange Park CC continue as an SMI member club pending determination at the December 2019 meeting whether the Orange Park course has been sold to a new owner who is investing the funds required to restore the golf course to an acceptable condition.
Ray Mantle made a presentation about Local Rule options under the new Rules of Golf effective January 1, 2019. Ray referred to two new Local Rules sent out with the meeting agenda and discussed their application. A copy of these items will be posted on the SMI website as Exhibit F to these minutes. Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, effective July 1, 2019 the SMI Local Rules will include these two new Local Rules, in addition to the Local Rule adopted in December 2018 affording optional relief for balls out of bounds or lost with a two stroke penalty.
Other Notes and Adjournment
The Annual Meeting of Club Representatives will be on December 12, 2019 at World Golf Village at 10AM.
There being no other business raised for consideration by the meeting, it was duly adjourned about 11:50 AM. Lunch was then enjoyed by a number of the persons present.
Respectfully submitted
/Ray A. Mantle/
Ray A. Mantle, Secretary
Exhibit A – Financial Report; Exhibit B –Excel Spreadsheet; Exhibit C – Financial Report; Exhibit D – Technology Report; Exhibit E – Two Sets of Tees Report; Exhibit F – Local Rules under 2019 Rules of Golf
