Hello gentlemen, and welcome to the 2018-2019 season of the McCleery Men’s Club! In case you missed the 2018 AGM, let me introduce myself: I am Dr. Christian Guenette, and will have the great pleasure of leading the charge as your McCleery Men’s Club Captain for 2019.
Before I begin with my welcome message, I’d like to remind you, in case you’ve been putting it off, stop procrastinating (you know who you are), and click on the following link to RENEW NOW – in order to come up with an accurate budget for the upcoming season, you need to “put your money where your membership intentions are.”
OK, reminders provided. Now, on to my 2019 welcome message:
Formed in 1959, the club is entering its 60th season! If you want to see some of the history of this great club, glance over at all the trophies on display at the McCleery golf course, and read the plaques for the names of those who have come and gone. Last year, we had a great core group of guys, and look forward to another year of competitive and social golf with the same, and hopefully larger number of golf enthusiasts as new members join in on the fun!
As your Club Captain for the 2019, my goal is to maximize participation from all club members – with something in it for everyone: Stroke play, Match play, Stableford, Best ball, Better ball, etc.
When you look at the tournament schedule (posted soon), you will notice a couple of things that might tweak your interest: 1) on net-only tournaments, I’ve added a prize for top-gross score (to keep the lower handicappers competing for the “best golfer” award in each of these tournaments); 2) more trophies: I’ve re-activated of a number of dormant pieces of hardware, so you get more chances to have your name immortalized on one of our trophies; 3) a new, 2-man team event (2 flights) that will be played in 3 stages – similar to the QBE shootout. Prizes will be awarded for each stage, plus the best aggregate score for the 54-hole tournament will be awarded the Molsons Cup trophy.
NOTE: In order to make this 2-man team event as fair as possible, we will be splitting the club members into 2 flights, based on handicaps. Once the list is posted, you can either select your own partner (minimum aggregate handicap factor), or sign up as a single and a partner will be provided. Take a look at the dates of all 3 stages, and make sure you and your partner can make it out to all three events, so you are in the running for the Molson’s Cup trophy at the end of the season!
Finally, a bit of housekeeping tidbits:
Similar to last year, Parks Board has granted us 3 tee times on Saturdays (12 players), and 7 tee times on Sundays (28 players). Deadlines to sign up for the next weekend’s tournament will be Monday (at noon). If you don’t sign up early enough, you will probably miss a chance to play. Please be sure to get your name in to as many tournaments as possible, to increase the prize-pools, and stay in touch with the Mcleery Men! NOTE: if we get more sign-ups than allocated tee-times, the ProShop may be able to accommodate us (but no promises) – so, the earlier we have the numbers, the better.
NEW for 2019: New formats for KPs and Skins will be announced at the beginning of the season – that will see more $$ allocated to players from weekend to weekend – keeping us all in the game and awarding some excellent shot-making! As a hint to what’s coming up, expect more KP markers on the course, and less random lottery winnings based on Siri’s hole-selections…
ALSO NEW – some rule changes for the 2019 season will be taking effect starting January. We encourage all members to become familiar with these changes, and act accordingly in the tournaments. We play by the official rules of golf, with only a few “local rules” exceptions. The rules will be enforced to ensure fair play and prize allocation – AND if you don’t know the rules, it is not a valid excuse when you break them. Remember: if you’re in a precarious position and are not sure what to do, ask one of your playing partners for a ruling before proceeding. If both of you are not sure, play 2 balls, then ask the Committee at the end of the round to determine the correct course of action.
Looking forward to serving you as your Captain this year. If you have any questions or concerns, please forward them to my email address (mccleerygolfclub@gmail.com), and I will do my best to respond within 24-48 hours.
As I mentioned near the beginning of this message, a tentative Tournament Schedule will be posted soon, so you can see the full range of events that are proposed during the 2019 season.
PLEASE NOTE: The Committee reserves the right to alter the dates/formats/prizes for these events whenever budgetary, weather, or other considerations make it necessary or preferred to do so in the interest of the Club.
Best,
Christian.