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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Advisory Commission Minutes 09272022 GOLF ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES, SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 City Hall, Galesburg, Illinois Meeting Called to Order: Meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by Steve Cheesman. Roll Call: Present: Rodney Bunch, Steve Cheesman, Jerry Reynolds, Paul Sandborg, City of Galesburg: Director Parks and Recreation Elizabeth Varner, Parks Superintendent Don Miles, Head Golf Professional Bryan Luedtke Absent: David Selkirk, Greenskeeper Matt Miles Minutes: August minutes were approved with motions from Rodney Bunch and Paul Sandborg. Greenkeeper Report: Parks Superintendent, Don Miles, provide the Greenskeeper report for Matt Miles, with a brief discussion. The greens have had the groomer units go over them again to reduce organic matter at the surface and additional water leaks have been addressed this past month as well. Greens were deep solid tine aerated with sand and fertilizer applied to help heal up the holes. Bryan asked about the Tee’s being aerated, and Don Miles replied they would be aerated. Greens have been rolled several times to smooth them out. There has also been spot seeding in the fairways. The commission expressed the greens have looked great this summer. Golf Professional Report: Bryan Luedtke provided a report to the commission. Currently the computer system is down and is needed for the weekend events. Commission members asked about the importance of a laptop. A laptop makes it so Bryan can be mobile. Bryan reported that August rounds of golf were up by 300 rounds (4,702). There were 4400 in 2021, and 4702 in 2022. Revenue is slightly up with $3700 in merchandise in August, due to tournaments. There is approximately $3,000 in merchandise credit out. There were 108 golfers who competed, on a beautiful day, in the Cubs vs. Cards tournament. Jumping J’s is a new event and had 40 players for a mini shot gun start. He reported the Knights of Columbus canceled their event. Overall, the golf outing has been good, as well as the food and beverage for the events. Email communication is also good. Bryan reported that the Galesburg High School has had multiple events with the WB6 Conference meet having 7 teams. Jason Runbom was the winner of the WB6 Conference meet. The GHS Invite was held at Bunker with 96 players, which encompassed 17 teams. This included boys and girls. They rented all the carts and the scooters. Jason Runbom also won the Invitational, shooting 69. John Crowl tied for 2nd. Kirsten Hopping also played well. The Regional will be at Valleyview on September 28. The top 3 teams will go to State. Upcoming Events: There are 48 players signed up for the Year End Superball scheduled for October 1 with 12 teams. There were 14 teams in 2021 so they are currently down 2 teams. This is a four-person “Super-Ball”. The Peoria Sand Trappers outing is on October 6th, and currently has approximately 70 registered to play. Bryan is hoping for 80. Old Business: Rodney Bunch would like to have the golf course set hours for returning a cart, and suggested 8:30 p.m. He would like to propose this and have a closing time. Jerry Reynolds thinks there should not be an evening set time. It was suggested that 15-year-olds not be part of the closing crew. It was also discussed that staff should not “over-regulate”, as there will be problems no matter what they do. Asking to have carts in at a set time would be a major policy change. A sign was suggested for the 10th tee, with Bryan suggesting that people will be upset if the cart is due in at 8:30 p.m. Steve Cheesman inquired about how we can have kids work late. There are regulations we need to follow. Jerry did think that two staff are needed at closing for safety purposes. Bryan stated that a staff member is usually only alone for about 15 minutes, but that he has ensured staff has stayed with the females at closing. Overall, it was expressed that having set hours would be hard to enforce and some may quit coming to Bunker Links. Confrontation on the golf course if not good and does not reflect positively. Elizabeth Varner provided golf course cart hour comparisons from six different public courses. The majority of golf course management believed good customer service was to not be rude and to encourage golfers to not bring the carts in late. The Golf Courses also were experiencing the same issues of carts coming in late at times. Most stated their closed at sunset/dusk. None of the courses had a set hour to close, especially with changing of the sunlight with the seasons. There was one golf course, Palmer Hills in Bettendorf, IA which had GPS Carts so they could send messages out to send carts back for communication. Peoria stated that “most” of the time the carts were not an issue, despite golfers sometimes pushing it to get the carts back in at sunset. Rodney suggested expanding the golf course by moving the #16 tee back to make it longer. He believes it would gain 15 yards, and that our course is too short. Paul Sandborg is happy with the length of the course. Bryan stated that the ladies feel it is too long and is one of the hardest courses. New Business: The cutoff for pro shop credit is on October 31. Commission asked about an October special. Bryan stated that the October special will start on October 10th and be $19 for 18 rounds of play, with a cart. Citizen Comments: None Meeting was adjourned. REMINDER: NEXT GOLF ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING WILL BE OCTOBER 25, 2022 AT 4:00 P.M. IN THE ERICKSON CONFERENCE ROOM AT CITY HALL.