A Message From the Committee…
RACDG NY Metro Chapter members,
As you all have noticed, our little group is getting much bigger and much more established. Over the past few weeks the Competition Committee has been meeting to take this little corner of the golf world to new heights. Due to the tremendous and diligent work of Tom Pillar over the past couple of weeks we are officially a non-profit organization, RACDG NY Metro, Inc, and have ourselves a website (more on that below). Concurrently, we have been discussing the best way to add some structure going forward which we believe will be the foundation to achieve our ultimate goal, the camaraderie of playing golf together and having friendly competitions while doing so.
It’s important to note, we encourage everyone to make of this club what you want, from just a few events to play in every year to a full blown obsession that makes your significant others question if you can REALLY be spending this much time talking with your “golf friends”.
Without further ado, here’s our plans and what will be needed from you to make this happen:
1) GHIN – thanks to Shannon we are a registered club in the Met Golf Association! What does that mean? We can host handicapping services! It is optional for those who want it and/or don’t have another club they already get GHIN services from. $35 for the year and you will have an official USGA/GHIN index through MGA. That’s cheaper than most clubs around the MGA and beyond.
2) Events – our goal is to schedule one event per month from May – October. Don’t feel like you need to play in all of them – they’ve been planned with geographic diversity in mind with the expectation that most will only play in 2-3. Our goal is to offer events in different price ranges but keep in mind that our area is not cheap, especially when blocking a lot of times well in advance. It’s worth noting that these are official events, or “majors”, and we fully endorse informal gatherings whenever people want.
The first two events we’ve identified are listed here
· May: Bethpage Red (Date tbc). Approx. $125/person (they don’t do in-state discounts for groups).
· June: Inness (Accord). Targeting Friday, June 25. 2-man team event. Cost would be $225/person, for an all day pass. Capped at 32 players.
More information to come on the Bethpage event when they release their full calendar.
The Inness (Accord) event is ready to go. We will be taking $100 deposits through the website to secure your spot and this will go live 8.00pm Monday evening.
3) Chats – We will be starting a separate Events & Playing Opportunities chat. We get that the “main chat” can be overwhelming. Hopefully this encourages as many people as possible to be involved. Everyone who joins the club for the year will be invited to that chat. Feel free to use it to set up casual rounds, mini-events, etc. - but please try to keep the “non-golf playing opportunity and event” stuff off there as much as possible. And, don’t feel bad at all if you prefer to leave the main chat once you’ve joined the other one, we appreciate some are here just for the golf and not the constant banter. We expect each event to have a separate chat, hosted by it’s organizer, to go over event specifics, logistics, etc.
4) Website – Alongside the original chat and the new events chat, the website should be considered the third head of this golfing Cerberus. The website will be expanding over the next few weeks and as events get more locked in and numbers confirmed we will be releasing the signups on the Events page. During events we will be able to host live leaderboards so anyone who could not make an event can follow along with developments in real time. Alongside these exciting developments you can also use the “Membership” page to sign up for your handicap and pay your…
5) Dues – Annual membership for this year is $29. For those that joined after our event in October we will offer a trial run. Pay your dues now but, for whatever reason, if you’re not happy with what we offer by July 1st we’re willing to refund you in full. Dues can be paid directly on the club website and all funds will go directly back to the club’s operating expenses. We will provide full transparency into where your money is going! Generally speaking, it will cover:
a. Trophy costs and setup fees for events
b. Admin costs for the website & club establishment
c. Entry into the season long match play tournament
Events Schedule:
1) Match play – beginning in May (or sooner), concluding by October. Must play 1 match/month. Like last year, we’ll try to group people as geographically as possible.
2) May - Bethpage Red - date TBD. Approx $125 includes greens fee & meal (carts & range are separate. Yay bureaucracy!)
3) June - Inness (Accord, NY), Friday, June 25: $225/person all day pass, 2-man teams - max of 32 players.
4) July - Ryder Cup: NJ vs NY/CT (TBD on date and location)
5) August - Yale or TBD other CT course
6) September - Pinehurst trip with UK/Carolinas chapters (this may already be full based on previous conversations but will iron out details in the coming weeks)
7) October – The Shut. Year end event. Either Sat or Sun Oct. 8/9. Looking for Knoll West if they will host us, otherwise it will be somewhere else in NJ, maybe back at Rock Spring
Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or comments (we know you will) at Committee@racdgny.com or the contact form here on the website.
All the best,
Competition Committee
Chris Daley
Dan Birnbaum
Jack Edmonson
Shannon Harlow
Liam Keller
Tom Pillar