Members,

The 2016 golf season is near and the (sometimes) warmer weather is already making the golf course a popular destination. We look forward to another successful year and lots of great memories. The Golf Committee would like to communicate a few key messages to the membership as we approach the official opening of the golf season.

We would like to thank Ken Dardis for his significant contributions to the committee over the last several years. Ken successfully led the committee through a number of critical issues, key decisions, and past as well as upcoming events.

We would also like to thank the Chairs of the Women’s Golf Committee. Mary Guilfoile continues as 18 Hole Chairperson and Mary Rose Driscoll takes over as 9 Hole Chairperson from Mia Kinahan. We thank each of them for their leadership of the Women’s Golf program.

Golf at Stanwich remains exceptionally healthy across all categories of membership. Record numbers of rounds continue to be the trend for our club and 2015 was no exception. More than 21,000 rounds were played last year. This level of activity is encouraging, but it will require us to remain focused on the challenges associated with a very popular golf course.

Additionally, tournament golf remains popular with members and an important part of the Club’s culture of high quality golf. However, it can, at times, slow play and reduce course availability for those not competing. The committee will continue to monitor and adjust the number of events and participants as necessary to appropriately balance the needs of all members.

On that note, congratulations to last year’s Club Champions – Craig Manchuck and Susana Vik!

Fortunately, we have an increasingly vibrant Junior Golf Program. The Committee would like to remind parents of junior golfers to be responsible for their children’s behavior and etiquette. There’s nothing better than an outing with your kids, but please use that opportunity to help them learn the game and all that comes with it.

Hosting high quality events continues to be a focus for us as we endeavor to support golf at the highest levels in every way we can. We will be hosting the Women’s Ivy League Championship at the end of this month, the Wyndham Cup (formerly Canon Cup) in July and the MGA French-American Challenge in October.

Please note that The Witch, the Men’s 3-day Member-Guest Tournament, will occur slightly earlier this year than in years past due to our hosting of the Wyndham Cup. The Witch is scheduled for July 15-17.

The Committee would also like to highlight changes to the Men’s Club Championship. These changes are intended to address the “marathon” nature of the current format and to more appropriately balance the needs of members not competing in the Men’s Club Championship over the Labor Day weekend. First, players will qualify for the Championship Flight on one of three qualifying dates. The qualifying dates will be forthcoming shortly. Second, we will be limiting the number of non-championship flights to five flights. More details on these changes will be discussed in the coming weeks.

Finally, in order to minimize the number of unutilized tee times, the Golf Staff would like to ask members to register to play in the Saturday Scrambles by noon on Friday (and by noon on Tuesday for the Wednesday Scrambles).

Key dates/events over the next few months (please refer to the website for additional dates)

April 13           Women’s Opening Season Cocktail Party

April 15           Men’s Opening Day Stag Night

April 16           Men’s Opening Day Tournament

April 20           Women’s Opening Day

April 22-24      Women’s Ivy League Tournament

May 7              Mint Julep Cup (One Day Member-Guest and Kentucky Derby Party)

May 22            Husband & Wife Championship

May 28-29       Men’s Member-Member Tournament

June 8              Women’s Twilight

June 11-12       Men’s Stroke Play Championship

June 25            Mixed Member-Guest Tournament

July 4               Varick Stout Championship (Net Stroke Play Championship)

July 14-17        “The Witch” (Men’s Member-Guest) [please note earlier than in past years]

July 21-22        Semloh Invitational (Women’s Member-Guest)

July 25-28        AJGA Wyndham Cup

Key initiatives underway per the Greens and Grounds Committee (Chairperson, Ed Laux)

Upper portion of the range was completely re-sodded for the first time in 10+ years

Three state-of-the-art artificial mats are being trialed on the far left side of the lesson tee

One inch of sand has been added to all fairway bunkers

Bunker edge on the right side of #1 right greenside bunker has been raised

Bunker edge on the left side of #3 left greenside bunker has also been raised

Chipping area to the right of #4 green has been extended

A first cut of rough will be trialed on #7, beginning in August (after M-G and Wyndham Cup)

Gold tee on #12 was moved to the right, putting it in line with both the Blue and Black tees

Bradley Green bridge over #15 pond has been completely refurbished

On behalf of the Golf Committee, I’d like to wish everyone a 2016 golf season filled with great times with family and friends!

Sincerely,

Bryan Jennings
Chairman, Men’s Golf Committee