2023 Annual Report
This is a publication for the members of Charbonneau Men’s Club (CMC) from the Board of Directors. Your suggestions are welcomed.
The mission of the CMC Board of Directors is to provide great golfing experiences for all skill levels for the community of golf at Charbonneau. The keys to our success are the many volunteers on the board, committees and at events.
Table of Contents
President’s Message
Financial Report
Current and Future Board Members
President’s Message
After several years of COVID-19 virus impacts on the play of the Men’s Club, we returned to near normal play in 2023 with the resumption of our traditional “Men’s Invitational” which had been cancelled for the prior 3 years. This year’s concerns were primarily related to a potential downturn in the economy which could have an impact on sponsorships. All other traditional activities continued throughout year including the season long Hole-In-One rewards and resumption of the Charbonneau Cup.
With all of that said, generally it appears that most of our members truly appreciated having the course open and looked forward to playing. Like last year, many of our members played more golf this year than they had normally played since Covid limited alternative activities.
Membership
Our membership reached the 236 level this year which is similar to the last couple years. The average handicap for our membership is just over 20, compared to the national average of about 14. Our reputation as a welcoming and respectful club continues to attract new members.
REGULAR MEN’S CLUB PLAY on Wednesdays and Saturdays was comparable to last season. The number of special event participants was also comparable to last year: Men’s Night Out averaged around 72 players, Spring Handicap had 49 and the Club Championship had 41.
Golf Genius
Our increased play numbers over the last couple of years can be attributed to the use of the Golf Genius program which the Board decided to fully implement in 2021 after trialing it on a limited basis during the 2020 season. This program provides our members with an electronic sign-up process for Wednesday and Saturday games. For days of individual games, Golf Genius randomly assigns foursomes which allows a true mixing of participants. For days when team games are played, Golf Genius randomly balances the foursomes, so team handicaps are similar. This provides a balanced assignment of teams for team games and a “mixing” of players on individual play days. The result of this is that everyone has an opportunity to play if they choose. This approach has been particularly effective for new members who get to meet other members each time they play.
- The NINE-HOLE DIVISION committee members continue to improve the support for 9-hole events which gives all our members a choice of playing 9 or 18 holes. Regular play days are Wednesdays and Fridays when there are a number of tee times blocked off for 9-Hole players. Members who want to play sign up for their tee times with the Pro Shop.
- HANDICAP REPORTING VIA GHIN PROGRAM AND MOBILE APPS. Implementation of the New World Handicapping System a few years ago brought a new computer-based score reporting program plus mobile apps for use in reporting from cell phones. Handicaps are updated nightly so they are as current as they can be. The new reporting system provides information in terms of handicap history and your current “My Card.” You can also “follow” other golfers and see their handicaps. The Men’s Club continues to offer seminars on the new GHIN system and our members seemed to have adapted well and learned from each other.
Scoring Committee
The Charbonneau Golf Club is not big enough to have a staff member who would manage the Golf Genius program, so our Club is doing it through volunteers. Tom Taylor and Bill Stout lead a group of Men’s Club volunteers who send out notices of upcoming golf events, input scores into Golf Genius, produce and post to our website each event’s winners and money won, if any. This year’s volunteers include Bill Moir, Gregory Benesh, Mike Brown, Glen Ferguson, Joe Fieweger, Lee Zinsli and Bruce Stone. When you see one of these volunteers, please thank them for the work they are doing to support our Men’s Club
- THE TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE, led by Gene Harp and Tim Tyler, are responsible for managing all of our regular weekly and major events and make changes as appropriate. Regular Wednesday and Saturday play days continued throughout the year and many new games were tried for the first time to see how the members liked or didn’t like them. This Committee also managed the two Member-Member events where players got to choose their partner.
Men’s Club Website
The Men’s Club website is an excellent source of almost everything you need to know about the Charbonneau Men’s Club. It can be located on-line at “mc.golfcharbonneau.com.” All Men’s Club golf schedules and results are posted in the Charbonneau Golf Home tab. At the Tee Sheets tab, you can view the annual game Calander and Tee Sheets for upcoming games. At the Results tab, you can review the results of any game played this year. The Player Statistics tab provides up to date lists of all members and their contact information as well as a list of where all members stand in the lates Player League Standings
- A MEMBER’S DIRECTORY is printed and distributed at the beginning of the season in April. Feedback from members is that this is an important document produced by the Board to help members network and make plans for playing golf. In addition, the directory information is updated regularly on the website.
- COURSE CONDITION: Under the direction of our golf course superintendent Matt Collier, the golf course is in very good condition, particularly the greens which continued to be faster than typically seen at Charbonneau. Faster Charbonneau greens make the transition to putting on other local courses, which typically have faster greens, much easier. Also, about half of the course’s bunkers got new white sand last year which was much appreciated. A big thank you from the Men’s Club to Matt and his team for doing such a good job on our home course!
Financial Report
CMC operates on a fiscal year from November 1 to October 31 of the following year. CMC remains in good financial condition, breaking even for the 2022-2023 fiscal year for activities other than the Invitational. CMC has cash reserves of $16,500, which is an increase of $2200 from last year, mainly due to a successful Invitational event.
To give you a better idea of how CMC finances work, the condensed budget for 2024 breaks CMC operations into two categories: (1) General Revenue and Expenses, which includes events where no entry fee is charged; and (2) Event Revenue and Expenses, where the event has a charged. Note that in 2024, the Invitational will be handled by the Pro Shop and is therefore not included in the CMC budget.
The budget projects a loss for General Revenue and Expenses of $4696. General Operations are paid for by the Member’s dues and the charged dues fail to cover the General Operation expenses. Profit for Event Operations cover some of the General Operation deficit, leaving a projected loss of $2726. The Board of Directors has decided to use some of the previously accumulated surplus to cover this deficit.
The condensed budget shows the many General Operation activities paid for with Member’ dues. These activities are consistent with prior years, as are the activities contemplated under the Event Operations.
Regarding Member dues, the annual dues will be $100, of which $41 goes to Oregon Golf Association for GHIN support. To incentivize early payment of dues, a discount of $20, resulting in an annual dues amount of only $80, will be given to Members that pay their dues prior to December 31, 2023. Early payment of dues allows for early entry of membership information into the GHIN system and preparation of the printed membership roster. Members will not be able to post scores after 12/31/2023 until dues are paid and the GHIN roster with OGA is updated. Early payment of dues helps CMC in its administrative duties.
Condensed versions of the 2023-2024 CMC Budget, as well as the projected Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet for the CMC fiscal year 2023-2024 are attached.
Chabonneau Men’s Club Board
Existing and Nominated Members
There are twelve (12) members of the Board of Directors, each serving three-year terms, such that four terms expire each year (see table). The nominating committee has proposed:
- Four members to fill the three-year terms (2023, 2024, 2025)
- Tim Tyler
- Lloyd Johnson
- Ron Swanson
- Michael Williams
Greg Benesh
Greg and his wife Bee moved to Charbonneau in June 2021 from Inverness, IL, a northwest suburb of Chicago. All their children now live in the west, two in Seattle, one in Portland and one in Hilo, Hawaii. The pandemic made clear the need to move closer to them and the 5 grandchildren.
Both Greg and Bee grew up in New Jersey and met at Ridgefield Park High School. Their first date was the senior prom. This year was the 50th anniversary of their marriage.
Greg went to Rice University in Houston, the class of 1972. After college, Greg and Bee moved to the Hartford, Ct area, where he worked as an actuary for Travelers Ins. In 1989, Greg joined MetLife, working in the Chicago area. After retiring from MetLife in 2012, Greg then joined Dearborn National, a subsidiary of HCSC (Blue Cross of IL, TX, etc.), first as their CFO and later as President and CEO.
After his second retirement began in January 2019, Bee and Greg traveled extensively until March 2020.
Greg’s volunteer work has included coaching his children’s soccer and basketball teams, being treasurer and president of their neighborhood pool club, a cub scout den “mother”, a finance advisor for two Catholic churches, and singing in the folk group, choir, or as a cantor at various churches over the years.
They are very happy to have found Charbonneau. Greg is enjoying the golf and bridge here, while Bee is active in the knitting group, book club, Social Niners and CWA.
Tim Bonino
I was Born in Northern Wisconsin and raised in Michigan’s beautiful and wild Upper Peninsula, I am a proud Italian and Yooper. I spent my formative years in Sault Ste. Marie, “The Soo”, mostly shoveling snow and trying to stay warm. I have been fortunate to have attend Lake Superior State College, Western Michigan University, University of Montana, and Seattle International University and have Bachelor degrees in Biology, Pharmacy, and an MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies. While at Western Michigan in Kalamazoo I met my very sweet and patient wife, Judy, and we will have been married 47 years this November. We have three daughters and 6 grandchildren. Both Judy and I have been retired for 8 years, and moved to Charbonneau 5 years ago.
I have always been interested in outdoor activities, running, sky-diving, mountain climbing, hiking, biking, soccer, travel, and golf. All have provided new friends and experiences, and wonderful opportunities to learn and grow and hone my sense of humor. Several have provided artificial joints and exciting times in various medical institutions as well. Golf came to me later in life and those of you who have seen me play can attest to that. I love the game and comradery, and look forward to helping with the Charbonneau Men’s Club.
Mike Brown
Mike graduated with a BS degree from San Diego State University in 1969 and a Masters in Genetics in 1972. He worked at San Diego Children’s Hospital and UCSD Medical school. In 1977 he and his wife, Sandee, moved to Portland to join The Oregon Health & Science University’s Clinical Cytogenetics Lab, part of the Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU. Mike was involved in early research resulting in the development of leukemia treatment drugs.
They moved to Charbonneau in 2012 and fell in love with this community. After retirement in 2015, he has been playing golf and supporting the Men’s Club. He works with the Tuesday golf group assisting cleanup of weeds and tree trimming and helping with the installation of the yardage markers on sprinkler heads for all 27 holes. Mike believes the main focus should always be the friends and fun we have while playing this wonderful game of golf.
During his first term on the Board of Directors, he served as Secretary. In 2016, he was reappointed to the Men’s Club Board to complete the term of a resigning board member. Since then, he has served as Vice-President, liaison to Charbonneau Golf Club, Inc., Co-Chair and Chair of the Invitational Golf Tournament.
Joseph Fieweger
Joe and wife, Mary (married 50 years) have lived in Charbonneau for 8 years. They are thrilled to be in the Charbonneau community and continue to take part in community, social and golf activities.
Joe grew up in Wisconsin (Neenah) as well as The CA Bay Area (Burlingame). His family was involved with the Paper Industry. Joe graduated from the University of Notre Dame (1971) with a BA in Economics. He worked several years for National Starch & Chemical (Unilever division) selling modified polymers to Papermakers and mills traveling all the Midwestern states. Joe became Midwest Sales Manager, and the Fiewegers resided six years in Naperville (Chicago).
Without ever visiting the NW, he accepted the promotion to run the Portland sales office (1992) settling in West Linn. When the paper industry largely left the NW, Joe worked in M&A for a Lake Oswego firm.
Through that responsibility, Joe was asked to help commercialize a medical device company in Irvine, CA. He took on the challenge.
Mary and Joe moved to Irvine, CA in 2005 and together grew that company for the next 10 years. During that time, they established residency in Southern California. It was a rewarding experience working with and training eye surgeons throughout the world.
Joe and Mary have three grown children, as well as 5 grandchildren. Today, he is a member of the Charbonneau Men’s Golf Club scoring team, past President and member of the Notre Dame Club of Portland, an officer in the Knights of Columbus in Wilsonville, and a sports trivia nut.
Spencer Groshong
I was born and raised in Bandon, Oregon and in 1967 graduated from Oregon State University with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Forestry. In 1967 I joined the Naval Reserve, serving in Vietnam from 1969-1970.
In 1973, my career in the wood products Industry began when I was hired as a Sales Coordinator for Willamette Industries. Over the next thirty-nine years I was employed as Regional Sales Manager for Columbia Forest Products, Product Sales Manager at Roseburg Forest Products and most recently as Sales Manager for several small manufactures in Corvallis, retiring in 2012.
Over the years I played tournament tennis around the Pacific Northwest until I was forced to retire because of bad knees. After two partial knee-replacements I switched to the sissy sport of golf. I played at Springhill Golf Club in Albany for several years until the lure of our five grandchildren drew us north to Charbonneau.
The first year we were here, I organized a group of fellow ‘golf’ fanatics’ who were interested in playing golf year around. This group grew from a core of eight golfers to where at last count, there are 69 golfers on my invite list. Currently, 32-36 play in a ‘team-format’ on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
My wife, Robin and I make our home on Village Crest Lane and enjoy everything about living here.
Gene Harp
In the early 60’s there was a one 9 hole golf course in Klamath Falls; Reames Country Club. I was a poor farm kid and walked 3 miles each way during my seventh and eighth grade summers to caddy. The course was closed on Mondays and caddies could play all day long with the rental clubs. Having played a lot of baseball growing up I had no trouble hitting the ball…..direction not so good, but the golf bug had bit me. Like many others with school, family, kids and careers I played little golf until late in my professional career i.e., 33 years in educating kid’s most of those as a MS and HS Principal. When Quail Valley golf course was built near Banks, I spent the evenings teaching kids the basics of the swing. We were able to field both a boys and girls golf team the following year. I was principal at Banks HS at that time.
I marshaled the Fred Meyer Challenge a number of times, the Women’s U.S. amateur at Pumpkin Ridge and the Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater. My son and I carried the score banner behind Tiger Woods when he won the US amateur in 1996. A great memory.
Including the Pacific amateur, the Mesquite amateur and Walla Walla invitational, I was fortunate to have played well in those tournaments in addition to the Langdon Farms Senior championship and the Quail Valley Senior championship several times. A lucky day to shoot my age at 69 (Langdon) and a 79 on St. Andrews Old Course. Most famous people I have golfed with….Sandy Koufax at Quail Valley and Danny Ainge (Phoenix Suns). My professional golf idol has always been Lee Trevino. There are a number of “famous” people whom I admire in our Charbonneau golf community, most notable to me …..Jimmy Gibbons and Allen Southwell.
My Wife of 54 years, Kathy, and I really enjoy Charbonneau, the golf community and the many friends we have made. Golf is such a great equalizer. Once you step on the tee it makes no difference who you are, what you do or did, where you are from or who you know….the game speaks for you.
I will contribute my time to the Charbonneau golf community and Men’s Club Board in whatever manner I could best serve.
Lloyd Johnson
I was born and raised in Lebanon where I graduated high school in 1970. I graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington in 1974.
My wife, Bonnie, and I have lived across Miley road from Charbonneau for 34 years. We have two daughters and a grandson living in Salem and Olympia.
Nearly all of my career involved providing high technology solutions for businesses around the country. Notably, I was the founder and sole employee of CommercePath in 1990 which grew to over 100 employees providing B2B distribution of mission critical documents from mainframe computers. The business was sold to a Fortune 500 company in 1997. The technology I invented is still in use today.
In 2000, I started a hobby business, Woodturner PRO, where I write and sell design software for woodturners and wood workers around the world. As the only employee, I have relied on technology such as search engine optimization, social media, a website with an online store, forum and photo gallery to organically grow the business. Now a thriving retirement business, the website now does all of the heavy lifting while I work on my golf game.
I now serve on three non-profit boards where I use web technology to provide members information, training, support in a welcoming and easy-to-use online environment.
I welcome questions and suggestions from new and old members and look forward to making the club’s online presence to be as user-friendly as possible.
Richard McLeod
Richard is a “born and raised” Oregonian. While he enjoys to travel, he has not found a better state to live. After growing up in Springfield, he moved to Beaverton where he met his wife Carol. They moved to the beautiful Dundee Hills and raised three sons on 15 acres. Richard and Carol moved to Charbonneau in 2017 and truly enjoy the community atmosphere here.
Richard attended the University of Oregon and then transferred to Oregon State University where he graduated with a BS in Pharmacy in 1979. He spent the next 22 years working in hospital pharmacy in acute care, clinical, and administrative Pharmacy. In 2001, he shifted his focus to the pharmaceutical industry as a Medical Outcomes Specialist with Pfizer. To further his career he went back to school and earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Florida in 2007. Richard finished his professional career as a founding member of the Board of Directors at Pacific University School of Pharmacy, as well as an adjunct faculty member.
Volunteering and mentoring are important aspects of a life well-lived. Richard has spent many years in support of Special Olympics of Oregon which includes coaching athletes in basketball and golf. He is also a member of the Emergency Preparedness Public Safety (EPPS) committee as well as the Medically Trained Residents (MTR) committee.
While Richard is a “later in life” golf enthusiast, he enjoys the camaraderie and socialization of the Men’s Club. He also enjoys wine, camping, and yoga.
Bill Stout
Bill grew up in Portland and married Kathy his high school sweetheart while attending PSU. He graduated with a BS degree in economics. He then enrolled the first year of the MBA program at PSU and earned a degree in finance and marketing while working at the Portland branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. Following a short tenure at the bank he worked at Jantzen Sportswear for 15 years as Men’s Group controller and then as a marketing rep, and finally for 28 years had his own business in retail consulting specializing in liquidations.
Bill and Kathy moved to Charbonneau in 2010 and both have become active golf enthusiasts. He is currently chairman of their HOA and on the scoring committee of the Men’s club. He takes great joy in living by his Christian values and looks forward to serving on the Men’s Club Board.
Ron Swanson
In Ron’s younger years , he grew up with 7 kids, Ron’s parents traveled with all 9 of us during the summers to nearly all 48 states in a big car pulling a camping trailer. We snow skied, water skied, boated, camped, golfed, and did things as a family. Ron graduated from Lyons Township High School in La Grange, IL, a suburb of Chicago, 1970. Ron then started college at the University of Idaho, Moscow in Music Education, but finished his education with a BA in Business-Marketing (+ Minor Music) at the University of Northern Colorado / 1979 In 1981 Ron started with NCR (5th largest computer company in the world at the time), and one year later secured a promotion to Retail salesperson, where he learned to also program.
In 1986 Ron was promoted to NCR headquarters, Dayton Ohio, and in 1988 was awarded his NCR Retail franchise in Portland, OR In 1993 Ron took a position as an Interface Programmer with PYXIS Corporation, a Medical Computer System located in San Diego. Ron was given several awards, but he enjoyed the promotion to International Interface Programmer most, where he got to travel the world for over 3 years, installing systems. Ron and wife Sue, just marked their 30th wedding anniversary.
We have 3 daughters that live close in the Portland area, and 7 grandchildren. We both retired around 2017, and after raising our children and living in Gladstone for 25 years, moved to Charbonneau in 2018 Rons current interests include: Scanning and transcribing (old) sheet music, golf, playing Big Band Tenor and Bari Saxophone, and previous oversight of a recent web site for online band music. Sue is a retired RN and an active member of the Charbonneau Emergency Preparedness and Public Safety Committee. Her last RN position was at Providence Willamette Falls/Milwaukie as Infection Control Mgr. She is a Graduate of University of Oregon (OHSU now) 1973.
Tim Tyler
Tim has been a Charbonneau resident since August 2019. His wife Deb and he lived on two acres in West Linn for 23 years where they enjoyed various 4-legged friends on their property including llamas; various goats, a few chickens, and protector cats.
Tim was born and raised an Oregonian, living in east Multnomah while attending David Douglas HS and was the number two man on the golf team! He attended Oregon State for 2 years in business, followed by 2 years at George Fox in HR Management. He received an MBA at George Fox using a new degree completion program at Wacker Siltronic Corp where he worked in various manufacturing management roles.
After leaving Wacker, he joined Nike as a manufacturing manager at the air sole facility. He enjoyed many challenges working with individuals in other locations on campus and across the world. While at Nike, became a product tester for golf where he enjoyed testing dry fit and storm fit gear, and at times, keeping the items!
Tim left Nike to create, develop, and implement training/certification programs at Lam Research in Tualatin. After 10 years, our training programs had been implemented in various facilities in other countries.
Their current and future retirement goals include but not limited to road trips! That is Deb and Tim’s preferred exploration style. Fly in, rent a car, and explore for a week or two. As long as they have their clubs and bikes, they are happy campers.
They love meeting new people here at Charbonneau. Such a great mixture of people from so many backgrounds. They feel very fortunate living here and look forward to many years in this community. Tim is meeting additional Wilsonville residents by delivering Meals on Wheels which he finds very rewarding
Michael Williams
EDUCATION University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, BA 1968 University of California, Hastings College of the Law San Francisco, California JD 1974
MILITARY US Army 1969 to 1970 Military Intelligence, Ft. Lewis, Washington
EXPERIENCE Williams Fredrickson, LLC and its predecessors 1974 – 2021. Licensed to practice law in Oregon and Washington. Admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Oregon and Washington. General business office practice representing large national companies with Oregon presence and local business entities. Substantial practice in business litigation. Substantial practice in eminent domain representing condemning agencies and landowners. Served on multiple client boards and committees over the last 50 years including the Wilsonville Planning Commission, 1978 to 1994.
ACTIVITIES: Skiing, bicycling, golf and traveling