Charbonneau Men’s Club

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.