B.A.G.S. - Rhode Island Division
2011 Year End Newsletter
Our 20th season has come to an end. 2011 was another good season for B.A.G.S. Despite tough economic times in the state and a general drop off in the sport, we still were able to generate sufficient interest and participation to provide our members with a good field size (and resulting prize fund) and a good level of competition. B.A.G.S. mission is to provide its members with the opportunity to participate in competitive golf tournaments, meet other like minded golfers, and to improve their game by playing different courses under tournament conditions. Judging from the response and the improvement in many members’ handicaps over the course of the season, I am confident that we continue to successfully achieve our objective for a large majority of our members.
This year, we were able to increase the number of Private club events, and will continue to do so. The Private clubs are mostly hurting financially, and B.A.G.S. is able to take advantage by offering our members the opportunity to play a varied selection of Private Club events at a reasonable cost.
Thanks to our 2011 tournament sponsors– Attorney Anthony Leone, Ameriprise Financial – Carl Ehmann, and Golfer’s Warehouse. Our Sponsor’s generous contributions of gift certificates and merchandise were given out as additional tournament prizes. Our sponsor’s contact information is listed on our BAGS – RI Division website. If you know of other businesses that would benefit from exposure as a B.A.G.S. sponsor for 2012, please contact me.
2011 Order of Merit:
Congratulations to Dick Burt, who played consistenly well over the course of the season to win his third OOM title. Dick was our inaugural (1992) season champion and won his second title in 1999. Joe Capone gained momentum by winning the Net "B" division of the division championship, and stayed near the top of the standings right through the end of the season, finishing 2nd. Paul Dumont, who made a significant commitment to B.A.G.S., had a good chance to finish second, but was unable to edge out Joe at the last event of the season.
Lou Izzi, our "most improved golfer" for the season, also made a strong commitment to B.A.G.S., and led the order of merit for a time in the middle of the season. Lou is a college hockey coach, and was unable to maintain his level of participation the last month of the season, ultimately finishing 4th. The next four spots were filled by B.A.G.S. veterans - Al Latour, Alan Horlbogen, Al Ferretti and Don Denuccio. The top ten were filled out by Alain Morin, whose game improved significantly during the season, and Bob Degnan.
This season marked our inaugural "Weekender order - of - Merit" competition. 28 members paid the $10 entry fee - 100% of the entry fee was paid back to the top five finishers. Order of Merit points were awarded among the participants at weekend events only. Dick Burt was the champion, Lou Izzi finished 2nd, Al Latour was 3rd, Ray Hodges was 4th and Dennis Flis finished 5th to take the last money spot.
Complete OOM standings are available on our website.
Hole-in-One / Closest-to-Pin Pool:
Over the course of the season, $1,750 went into the pool. There were no holes-in-one during the season. Each of the five closest to the pin shots for the year won a B.A.G.S. credit voucher for $350.
Ray Hodges had the closest shot of the year - Ray "lipped out" an ace - his shot ending up just 6" from the hole (Laurel Lane #15),. The remaining closest to the pin winners were . Greg Leigh, John Phillips, Ed Guertin and Dick Burt - it took a shot of 2' 5" or closer at one of the measured holes to finish in the top five.
NOTABLES:
The best gross scores of the season were 1 under par rounds - Tim Stravato at Meadow Brook and Rich Bracker at Newport National. Bob Degnan shot an even par round at Crystal Lake, as did Tim Stravato at Whaling City. The best stableford point total for the season was 44 points - shot by Alan Horlbogen at Meadow Brook, Fred Keating at Richmond CC, and Steve Daigneault at Swansea. Well Done!!
The Rhode Island Division championship tourney was contested at Meadow Brook and August 20 & 21. Many members commented that Meadow Brook was a good venue for our Club Championship. B.A.G.S. "rookie" Mike Snyder took low gross honors with an 11 over par effort (79 - 76 = 155), good for a 7 shot win over Bob Degnan. In the net "A" division, Mike and Jim Beauregard were co-winners with 69 stableford pooints. In the Net 'B" division, Joe Capone ran away from the day one contendors with 38 stableford points on Sunday - for a total of 69 points and a five shot win over Tom Fedyszyn and Alain Morin.
A complete list of winners for each event is listed on the tournament results page on our website. Congratulations to all tournament winners throughout the season.
MOST IMPROVED GOLFERS:
Membership in B.A.G.S. generally leads to improvement in most of our member’s golf games. Each season, as part of the USGA handicap program, each club receives a listing of its most improved golfers, as measured by the difference between early season and end of season handicaps.
The top 5 most improved golfers were Lou Izzi, Dick Rotelli, Alain Morin, Ed Sullivan, and Ed Hewitt. The top 25 most improved appear on the "member statistics" page.
HANDICAPS:
Your year end USGA handicap cards are available on-line at GHIN.com. If you registered your email address, you should be receiving a notification at each revision. If you would like me to print out a label, please contact me.
SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT SEASON:
2012 will be our 21st year. I would be grateful if you would take the time to comment on what you liked or did not like about B.A.G.S. and things you feel I could be doing different or better.
Please provide your comments on the following topics:
1. Courses you would like to see added or deleted from our schedule.
2. Tournament formats and betting pools .
3. Scheduling, including the inclusion of more or fewer upscale courses.
I do make a sincere effort to incorporate your suggestions and ideas to improve B.A.G.S. You can send me a written note (write or E-mail to jrooks@bagsri.com). I would like to hear from as many members as possible. If you enjoyed B.A.G.S., please tell others, if you did not, please tell me !! You can send me an email, written note, or post your comments on our facebook page for all to see.
NEW MEMBER REFERRAL PROGRAM:
Please send me names and addresses of your friends and associates who might be interested in joining B.A.G.S.. I will send them a brochure (beginning in late January, 2012). You will earn a $ 25 B.A.G.S. credit for each of your referrals who join at the normal full price membership rate (this offer is not valid for existing or former members).
Thanks again for making our 20th season another good year - without your participation and support, B.A.G.S. would not be possible. You may email or contact me at any time on my cell phone (617) 697-1784. Membership renewal letters and 2012 season schedules will be mailed prior to the start of the season. Many of our events for next season have already been booked - please check our website for a preliminary schedule of 2012 tournaments.
I wish you and your family a healthy and happy holiday season, and a good winter. See you in the spring !!
Sincerely,
James Rooks
Director - Rhode Island Division
