2014 Annual MGA Meeting Minutes
December 11, 2014
Southern Hills Golf Club
Prior to the start of the meeting, we had a nice dinner of Pork Tenderloins, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes and Chocolate Delight. Thanks go out to Larry Dunaway, Rita Dunaway and Rebecca Raschke for cooking and serving the dinner. The side dishes were prepared and provided at a discount to us by Lewis Fowler of The Steakhouse. Dinner was compliments of the MGA at no cost to the attendees.
28 MGA members were present 26 voting. Russ & Matt did not vote.
Old Business:
President Jody Woodruff opened the 2014 Annual Meeting. Jody provided a recap of 2014 MGA events. Jody thanked the membership and Southern Hills Golf Club for a great year. We currently have a record 99 members thanks to a successful MGA and SHGC effort.
2014 Events:
1st Annual “Fish” Tournament (April 2014): Thanks to Bob Fisher for his $1500 cash contribution. The tournament was a great success with 60 members participating. This was a cash prize tournament.
Annual Fish Fry (not to be confused with the “Fish Tournament”): Thanks go out to Wayne Simmons for another MGA fish fry, which was enjoyed by all at his pond house.
Annual Fall Golf Trip: We took 36 players to Athens, GA for tow days of golf at Lane Creek and the UGA Golf Club. This trip was a great success. The total cost of this event to the MGA was approximately $5K
2015 Events
Bob Fisher said he would support another cash only tournament this year. Members agreed and it is proposed for mid to late April 2015.
The Weekend Trip around Oct or earlier will be put on the schedule again. Possible locations are Lane Creek for two days, the Ga. Club, Athens, and/or others suggested by members. The goal is to establish a date early in 2015 so the MGA can set it up and members can mark their calendars and make plans to attend. With the significant increase in members in 2014 the MGA may have to set a maximum number of players and/or charge additional fees to cover the event within the MGA budget.
Jody will work with Tom Flick to identify some more different type MGA tournaments for 2015 since many members suggested more variety.
Beginning in January, a committee will be selected to involve more members other than the BOD in making decisions and planning events for 2015. The hope is to have a busy year and the BOD would appreciate the help.
New Business:
Jody read items from a list of suggestions provided by Artie Smith. Many suggestions concerned course care and member responsibilities, which were supported by the members. There were no motions from the floor on any items on Artie’s list.
Corey Mason also presented a suggestion to have a quarterly tournament. Corey. The goal was to offer some variety in the golf activities for the year.
Mike Churcher raised some issues, which members discussed. He suggested: more use of handicap games to keep all players involved especially members with higher handicaps; raise MGA annual dues to include the cost of GSGA handicap for all MGA members; assign members to specific tees by handicap or Age + handicap rather than just age; and picking procedures needs to be addressed to prevent unfair teams. There were no motion/votes at the time however the GSGA handicap requirement was addressed later.
Joel Garrett identified the need for one or two weather sheds on the course to protect players during bad weather. Several members said they would volunteer to help build the structures with MGA providing the material. Jody said MGA would work with SHGC to see what can be done and where they would go.
Tracy Stephens suggested MGA set aside $1 each game to pay out best round of the day. A motion was made to set aside $2 from the $15 fee each MGA game to pay for the best net and best gross round of the day. No motion was made on this at this time.
Ron Hall suggested all eagles/birdies should be counted. Discussion resulted in a motion to count all eagles/birdies as long as the teams were of equal size (e.g. all threesomes, all foursomes, etc.).
Motion Passed: 13 yes, 5 no Suggestion was made by Corey to count all bogies in the same scenario but this did not pass.
Considerable discussion was had on modifying local rules for the MGA, with regards to if/when we would play preferred lies. Some members would like to use preferred lies (roll the ball in our own fairway) year round. Others suggested that we play the ball down year round while others suggested we keep it the same as we currently do it (preferred lies between October1 and April 1). Motions were made but neither passed: Preferred lies all year ( 8 yes, 11 no) and “play it as it lies”( 6 yes, 12 no).
A motion was made for a MGA member to be in good standing they must have a current GHIN handicap and ensure all their scores are posted. If not in good standing they must pay an additional $5 each time they play. MGA rule is the MGA team captains must post all scores in GHIN at SHGC after the round. If a member pays for GHIN handicap at another course the player must post each score. Unanimous approval.
After all open discussions were concluded, the election of officers for 2015 were conducted. Mike Keys indicated that he did not want to serve in the coming year. There was a nomination from the floor to add James Simpson to the ballot for Secretary. Motion to elect all incumbents, except Mike Keys, as well as James Simpson as Sect. passed unanimously.
2015 MGA Officers:
President Jody Woodruff
VP Bill Shively
Treasure Tim Wynn
Secretary James Simpson
The BOD and the newly formed committee will discuss any open issues from this meeting in January.
Meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote.