April 2004
Newsletter
President's Message
It’s a great
time of the year - the sun's a little warmer, the grass gets a little greener,
the days a little longer and Glass Hill is open for your use and enjoyment again!
Your Board has been hard at work over the past few months developing water
proposals, making new equipment acquisitions and addressing necessary By-Laws
changes.
During the winter, a committee chaired by Jeff Hatzinger
explored alternatives relative to Glass Hill's Waiting List, and voting
classifications. The Board reviewed their recommendations and adopted a new
Waiting List Policy detailed later in this letter. The Board also approved
recommended changes to our By-Laws highlighted on your enclosed copy of the
By-Laws. Some of the changes are cosmetic, and have to do with being more
consistent with our language use. A current nominating committee member
recommended the by-laws change that allows for election of nominating committee
members in the same fashion as is used in selecting your board of directors.
Some members will be confused and concerned regarding our proposed changes in
voting rights, so amongst all the rumor and innuendo I'll attempt to set the
record straight. First, we were challenged by at least one member to correct
the inequities surrounding membership classifications, specifically relative to
cost, and the dilution of the Single Member vote's value when considering
Couple and Family Classifications. Second, Annual/Special Meeting voting
eligibility issues and general confusion regarding eligibility and quorum
questions will be simplified and resolved by adopting the Committee's
recommendation to the Board and the Board's approval of those changes regarding
voting. A lack of action on our part could result in another lawsuit -
something I'm sure none of us wish to endure again. The club’s attorney has
reviewed all by-laws changes.
The Board recently embarked on a new
venture partnering with Adam Helmer to develop our own Web site for internet
communication and interaction, event notification, Policy changes and document
retrieval. We look forward to unveiling this positive change at our Annual
Meeting in May.
Waiting List
Following the Committee's
recommendation, the Board approved the re-opening of the Waiting
List under the following provisions:
1) The existing Waiting List
consisting of approximately 59 names maintains their current order
in acceptance eligibility, with the
following exceptions having priority:
A) Medical Deferments granted to
qualifying existing members
B) New qualified applicants under
the Dependant Policy
2) The opening of the Waiting List
will be formally announced at our upcoming Annual Meeting.
3) Applications for
Membership, with the accompanying $100 Application Fee, will be accepted on a
Lottery placement basis for consideration during the period of June 21st
through August 9th, 2004. All applications
postmarked by August 9th will be eligible for
the lottery.
4) Qualified applications postmarked
and received after August 9th will be placed on the Waiting List in the
order they are received.
5) Per current Policy the Waiting
List will be capped at 50% of the Membership Cap, amounting to 115 names.
Please make every effort to attend the Annual/Special Meeting to be held
at Unity Hall in Barneveld at 7:00PM sharp on Thursday, May 13th. You can park
at the Town of
1) Fill in the name of your
appointed representative at the top.
2) Complete date where indicated.
(13th day of May, 2004)
3) Complete execution date below on
the date you sign the Proxy.
4) Sign and Print below line all
eligible names as follows:
A) 1 signature and name for Single
Membership.
B) 2 signatures and names for
eligible Couples Members over 21.
C) Multiple signatures and names for
eligible Family Members over 21
5) Have your proxy signature(s)
witnessed by another person where indicated “in the presence of”.
As always, it is my personal,
and the Board's overall goal to represent the combined interests of all Glass
Hill members. We welcome your
input, and especially welcome any
interest to become involved either through Committee or by personal
volunteerism. My thanks go out to all who've participated in the continuing
evolvement of Glass Hill.
Happy golfing,
Wink Doolittle, President
Senior Men's League
The Thursday morning league begins play at 9:00 am May 20th, and
will run for 20 weeks, ending September 2nd. Each member may invite up to 3
guests (55 and over) to participate and will assume responsibility for
appropriate fees for course/cart usage. There are no League fees - you pay only
when you play. Any questions please call Joe Zipprich
at 826-3716.
Ladies League
The annual Wednesday Morning Ladies
Golf Leagues luncheon is being held, May 1st, 1PM at Sweet Basil in Barneveld.
The league will start on Wednesday, May 5th at 9a.m. Anyone interested in
joining can call 831-2743 or 896-2029 for more information. We would like to
say a very special thank you to our past officers, Jean Bray, Pres. and Jackie
Kessler, VP for a job well done. This year’s officers are Mary Evans, Pres.,
Barb Smith, VP, Lorna VanBuskirk, Treas., and Sharon
Jones, Secty. Two of our members have passed away
since last season, Gail Qualley and Audrey Sherman.
They will be greatly missed.
Glass Hill Website
As mentioned in the previous
comments by President Doolittle, the Glass Hill Golf Club will have its own
website soon. At this writing, it is
expected to be launched around May 15th.
Please make note of the domain name: www.glasshillgolf.com . It will become the future of up to date
information regarding the club’s activities and should prove most valuable in
keeping the members informed of happenings related to outings, tournaments,
course conditions, board actions, leagues, and many other items. It will be integrated over time and is
expected to eventually alleviate some of the time and expense of periodic
mailings to those who are internet-equipped.
Several individuals will have access to the site to ensure that there
are timely updates and changes as
necessary.
From the board of directors:
A decision was reached regarding the
dates of two annual events at the club:
1. The MEMBER/GUEST TOURNAMENT will be held
on the 3rd weekend in July each year
2. The CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP will be held on the
3rd weekend in August each year.
Please mark your calendars
accordingly.
Course Superintendent
This year we have a few minor
renovations and changes made to Glass Hill to which I would like to draw
attention. I’ll start with the out of bounds which has been removed from
the left side of the fairway #1. I
decided there really is no use for this O.B. line as it only serves to slow
play and does not protect any adjacent property. There is still O.B. on the right side of the
men’s fairway protecting the parking lot and pavilion. The sand trap on the left side of the #1
green is in the process of being converted into a grass bunker as many of you
may have noticed last fall. This
particular bunker had problems with encroaching roots from the surrounding
maples as well as a tendency to gather various sticks, leaves and debris. We have done some rerouting of the cart path
on #2 near the green. Where the old path
used to come perilously close to the greenside bunker it will now run closer to
the tree line and away from the green.
This project will take some time to grow in as it’s a shaded gravelly
area, we will be considering much of that area ground under repair for the
summer so play it accordingly. Various
greens throughout the course are being slightly enlarged to regain some of the
surfaces lost to attrition over the years, others are simply being
enlarged. The most notable of these will
be #5 green on the left side. It will
take some time to recover from the lowered mowing height and for the new over
seeding to take affect, but will eventually recover to give us some more area
on that side of the green for putting.
Our last notable change is the
addition of several new trees throughout the course. Over the next couple of years we will be
planting new trees in various locations to try and improve upon the course
layout. The majority of our efforts will
be in transplanting hardwoods to break up the pines that divide our
fairways. This past fall we planted
trees on #’s 4, 5, 7, and 9. I ask that
all golfers take relief from these trees if you are in danger of harming them
with your swing or ball flight. I hope
someday we can all enjoy them as full grown trees. That’s all for this year, as always please
feel free to present the directors with any comments or suggestions you’d like
passed on to us. I look forward to
another fun summer with family and friends here at Glass Hill. See you out on the course!
Frank Shaler
Bob Hardiman,
Sr. Gazebo
The family of Robert Hardiman, Sr., with the approval of the Glass Hill board of
directors, will be erecting a gazebo shelter in memory of long-time Glass Hill
member Robert Hardiman, Sr. which will be placed on
the course. The course superintendent
will work with the family on the exact location for the shelter, which should
serve for years to come as an attractive and practical addition to the course.