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Pace of Play – Some Data (Division 1)

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Why is the 15 minute Gap so important?

Well, the gap time measures a tee group’s separation from the group immediately ahead. If there is more than about 15 minutes separation, the groups are separated by a full hole.

Once a group loses sight or contact with the group ahead, they sometimes lose their perception of pace and fall behind even further.

The following chart show the actual Play Time and Gap for Division 1 at all Tee Start courses for 2016.

  1. For most groups, the gap separation is less than 15 minutes – GREAT!
  2. If the gap is less than about 8 minutes, the group ahead may be slower and blocking
  3. The yellow highlight – gaps between 16 to 25 minutes – too slow but not critical.
  4. The red highlight – gaps from 26 to 50+ minutes.  These are very serious.
  5. The red highlights usually show a very slow time.
  6. The fast groups in the early tee positions show the course conditions
  7. Slow group early in the tee positions will slow and block several groups behind
  8. Unfortunately slow play problems are magnified on the Shotgun Starts (different data set)

Where were you in these groups?  What could you do to play faster/ keep up? Every group is responsible for enforcing pace of play within their group.

Bottom line:

  • A few slow groups can impact many groups on the course
  • Keeping Up with the group ahead (Minding the Gap) is very important

Everyone can have a bad round.  It is very important to shake off a bad hole or two.  And it is important to all of us for everyone to play quickly, and as a minimum stay up with the group ahead.

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2017 Board of Governors, Officers and Committees

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The 2017 Board of Governors, Officers, and Committees

These are member volunteers who are running your golf association.  Please take the opportunity to thank them for their efforts.  Our volunteers are a great group of guys focused on making the Association better every year.

We also welcome your participation.  Volunteers are the lifeblood of the organization.  We need committed, talented members to help make things better.  Volunteer as a Starter / Scorer or to help with the tournaments.  Join a committee and use your organizational, leadership or technical skills.  If you have technology skills (or want to learn), we can use your help on the website, newsletters, and more.

Every year we have openings on the Board of Governors for each division.  Throw your hat into the ring to represent your Division (talk to your VP or any officer).

Talk with any Committee Chair about helping their committee.

Download (PDF, 29KB)

Metro Seniors Donate to First Tee in 2017 – Membership Meeting

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Looking for a way to make more space in your garage or basement?
Get those extra golf clubs and old but usable bags and even used (or new shoes) to the Metro Seniors Member meeting on March 21 and make a donation to First Tee.  Maybe you can even get a tax deduction for 2017 for your donation.
Metro St. Louis  Seniors Golf Association has scheduled for First Tee to take your excess golf gear for use with their charity program for kids.
First Tee will be at the Kirkwood Community Center about 12:15 – 1:00 on Tuesday March 21 – right before the annual spring meeting.  Get there early, make your donation, and meet friends at your Division Table before the meeting.  Parking gets full early.
Donations of clubs, bags (no alcoholic wording), balls, tees, ball markers and slightly used (or new) shoes will be accepted.
Want more information about First Tee – CLICK HERE
With the 2nd Swing Club Donation Program you can put any of your old equipment to great use and make a huge impact. The value of your used clubs and equipment is sent to us as a cash donation.

HERE ARE A FEW TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR EQUIPMENT DONATION:

First Tee has an online donation form that includes a detailed valuation for lots of equipment.  If you use their form, you can get a detailed tax valuation summary for your donation.

Click here to get started.

  • When completing the donation form, fill in our chapter name to ensure the donation is directed to us (there are 165+ chapters so this is important!).
  • If you have equipment to donate that you cannot find in the system, add it to your shipping box and make a note in the “notes” section of the donation form.
  • You can also donate golf balls, apparel, golf bags, range finders, etc. 2nd Swing’s staff will process the items and contact you about their donation value.
  • When shipping your equipment to 2nd Swing, please print your FREE shipping labels and include a copy of your donation summary in each box. The donation summary can be printed directly from the website or from your email confirmation.
  • A donation receipt will be sent to you within 3-4 weeks of receiving the donation. Our chapter will receive your donation within a month.

President’s Letter to Membership

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METRO SENIOR’S PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Welcome to Metro St Louis Senior’s Golf Association and the 2017 season! We have made some changes that will hopefully make the 2017 season more enjoyable and quicker. Some of the off-season changes are:

  1. Continued improvements to the two websites – golfstlseniors.org and ourgolfstats.com
  2. Expansion of the Play-It-Forward Initiative to allow ALL players to move up if they choose on every course AND all Special Events.
  3. A great slate of Special Events at Whitmoor, Annbriar, Pheasant Run, Missouri Bluffs, Woods Fort and Columbia Bridges in addition to the 25 weeks of regular weekly play.
  4. Addition of Acorns, The Legacy, Incline Village and Old Florissant; dropping of Quail Creek, Normandie, Mystic Oaks and the Hills at McKendree.
  5. Revision of The Policy and Procedures Manual.
  6. The ability to pay the regular dues via credit card.

Starting in 2017, we will be able to pay for all golfing activities via credit card, noting that over 60% of the golfers have availed themselves of this alternative. One of our major initiatives for 2017 will be Pace-of Play. 2017 improvements will include:

  1. The aforementioned Pace-Of Play Initiative. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT our intent to have play in 3 ½ hours or 5 hours. The goal is 4 ½ hours with no more than 15 minutes between completing groups. We will monitor slow groups and penalize them as appropriate. A KEY to completing your round in getting your green card immediately upon the completion of your round – do not go to your car first!
  2. We will once again offer discount cards for the ease of carrying and the ease of use. Please let us know of your usage of these cards.
  3. We are offering at least nine shotgun starts (all Special Events will be shotgun starts) with some divisions, probably 1 and 2, having even more.
  4. Another new initiative related to pace-of-play is that we will max your scores at 9 strokes, regardless of hole type (par 3’s, 4’s or 5’s). Our study indicated that this will not affect any money winnings or handicaps, merely speed up play – a win-win for all of us.

We will also be getting your opinions on many topics via surveys, so please take the time to complete them to make your voice heard. Unlike other elections, popular votes do win here.

This is the 45th year of Metro Seniors! It succeeds because of VOLUNTEERS, new ideas and our love of golf. As I’ve said before, I will listen to all suggestions and even complaints, but if you have a complaint, come with a suggestion that will make the situation better.

Good luck with your golf in 2017.

Bob Zaruba – President

Revised Division 2 Scheduled Dates

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The Division 2 Weekly Tournament Schedule has been changed slightly.  We swapped dates for Aberdeen (originally May 12 – now June 2) with Columbia (originally June 2 – now may 12).  All terms and conditions remain the same.  All other dates remain the same.

The scheduled on this website have been changed and this will be included in the Member Directory for the March Member Meeting.

Revised schedule  – 2/13/2017

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Ham and Beer – Golf Event During July Break – Divisions 1 and 2

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Larry Roth is organizing an extra golf outing for members of Division 1 and 2 for July 7, 2017.  This  is the week we don’t have a regular weekly tournament scheduled.

It is scheduled for Deer Creek Golf Course.  Details in the attached flyer.

All questions to Larry Roth, please.   larry@lgr-sri.com

Download (PDF, 113KB)

 

 

Good Scorecards – How To

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You completed a great round of golf over the morning. You had fun with friends. It was a beautiful day.

Now finish the tournament properly with accurate, legible scorecards. An incomplete, incorrect, or sloppy scorecard can ruin the feeling. Take as much time on your scorecard as you would caring for your favorite clubs.

Tips To Accurate and Quick Scorecards (thanks to Tom King)

  • Each foursome / threesome should keep 2 course scorecards, 1 on each cart.
  • Get good pencils – and perhaps a couple for each cart. The course and Metro Sr have plenty available. Many errors in your score totals and data entry are caused by writing too faint to read.
  • Mark Start Times on both Course Scorecards when the Tee Group takes the tee box (when the first player addresses their ball). Most tee group starts have about 10 minutes separation at tee off, when the group ahead has moved out of range (200 to 250 yards).
  • At the end of play, these cards should be exchanged so that the other cart can check a card for legibility and accuracy, for scores, totals, times as well as names and player numbers. If you can’t read a scorecard, we can’t either.
  • Any discrepancies should be resolved among the playing group BEFORE transferring the information to the “green card”.
  • The guy with the best handwriting should record them on the Universal Scorecard (“green card”).
  • Have 1 or 2 players make a quick, final check of scorecard scores and totals, to find transposition errors.
  • The most legible Course Scorecard checked for completeness, signed, and turned in with the Universal Scorecard.

It may take a couple extra minutes to do it right, but wouldn’t you rather spend 5 minutes on your scorecard so the 5 hours you spent on the course is recorded accurately?

 

Closest To Pin Locations – Weekly Tournaments

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The Division VPs have the primary responsibility for selection of the CTP holes and positioning (Forward and Back) for each weekly tournament.

Rick Hines, VP Division 5, has prepared a suggested CTP location for each weekly tournament that is included here.  (See Below)

We expect that most Divisions will be using these positions for 2017.  However, the VPs may make changes as they feel appropriate and will confirm via email to the Starters before a tournament.   Since most of our courses continue from year to year, we will make CTP changes as needed for new courses added to the weekly tournaments,

This will give you a peek before you get to the course.  Another resource for you.

Selection of the holes requires some thought to make this competition fair and challenging without picking holes that are excessively long or short.  We try to have both a Forward and a Back CTP on each of the front and back nine.  However, some courses don’t have a good layout.

Forward CTP Holes

  • 110 to 115 Yards Average
  • 145 Yards Max
  • 83 Yards Min

Back CTP Holes

  • 140 to 145 Yards Average
  • 165 to 170 Yards Max
  • 100 to 105 Yards Min

Six courses will have both the Forward (Red) CTP and the Back (Yellow) CTP on the same hole.  This is to prevent having exceptionally long or short holes.  For example, not many players can make the 190 yard par 3s at The Prairies or Florissant or the 225 yard 18th at Normandie.

The STARTERS are not required to select the CTP holes.  They will use the VP email instructions or use the suggested CTP holes and position in the spreadsheet.    However, STARTERS will still prepare the CTP Cards for the selected holes and get these to the first group or the hole assigned group.  This can be done a day or two  BEFORE the outing.

We will simplify the Starter’s Instructions and delete the detailed description on selecting Closest To Pin locations for each weekly tournament.

Suggested CTP for 2017 Weekly Tournaments

Download (PDF, 35KB)