The First Tee Newsletter 2021

THE FIRST TEE

Newsletter

Spring 2021

Play Golf, Have Fun!

Upcoming Events

Returning Members

Spring Drinks

Social event to thank all of our members for their patience and understanding in 2020 and to welcome you back.

Location

The Greenhouse

Victoria Golf Course

Date & Time

4/14/21 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Invitation to Follow - (RSVP required)

(Attendance may be limited based on AHS recommendations)

Upcoming Events

Meet & Greet

Orientation to help welcome our newest members into our club and to refresh those returning for another season.

Location

The Greenhouse

Victoria Golf Course

Date & Time

4/28/21 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Invitation to Follow - (RSVP required)

(Attendance may be limited based on AHS recommendations)

Member Renewal 2021

Send in your registration and payment early to reserve your spot!

On March 19th an email with instructions to sign up was sent to all 2020 members.

All new and returning member registration is to be submitted electronically

Cash and cheques can be dropped off, in an envelope, at the Victoria Pro-shop during normal working hours! Mark your envelope with your name and "Victoria Men's Club - Attn: Gerry O'Donnell"

Deadline: Wednesday, April 21, 2021

After this date your membership cannot be guaranteed
All available spots will be open for new members

You can also Register from our website (vmcgolf.ca)

Go to League Info, then click on Member Registration
Scroll down to (Click Here for Returning Member Registration!)
Fill in the form that pops up and click on Submit

Opening Day

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Opening day may be adjusted due to COVID restrictions and City of Edmonton protocols.

Watch for sign-up instructions during the last week of April.

Message from the President

Well boys, it’s that time of year again – the snow is almost gone and soon your families will be left at home for the summer.

First and foremost, I want to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to steer this ship as we try and move past the complete mess that was 2020.

Golf was an escape for many of us last year – I hope the sport continues to soar in popularity with the momentum it gained during the pandemic. I also want to thank Derrick for his 15 years as our president. His ability to balance the true characters that belong to our club all while keeping us organized and in line is unparalleled. I have some big spikes to fill, but he left an extremely stable foundation for us to build on. Thank you Derrick.

Looking ahead to the season, we have some exciting things happening in 2021. You may have noticed I am honouring my campaign promise by lowering your taxes… all kidding aside, we felt a reduction on your 2021 registration fee would be fair as COVID delayed our season last year. Returning members will see a $25 reduction, new members will pay the regular rate.

You may remember that at the AGM, we appointed a new marketing position, and these boys are really moving & shaking. They have secured sponsorships for the league this season and have a lot of exciting things planned. I will let them fill you in on the details.

For the President’s Choice tournament in July, I am working on a member-guest format. I think it will be a great way to recruit new members and I’ve found them to be an absolute blast when I have played as a guest.

The away tournament is shaping up to be one of the best. I will let Lincoln fill you in on the details, but all I can say is this track chewed me up and spit me out. But clearly, I’m a sucker for punishment because I voted to get worked over again.

In terms of the course, I believe all the repairs/upgrades should be mostly completed by the start of the season. However, I’ve heard rumblings that the contractors may have made some mistakes on the cart path leading up to 18. Because of this, Kevin told me we might need to tee off below the 18^th tee box. This is yet to be determined and I will fill you in as soon as I have the details. The work on the walkway from the parking lot to the club house is slated to take place this year. The city is yet to determine if they are moving forward with this project, stay tuned for details on that. This winter, tarps were put down on problem greens – I hope this will help with them coming back in the spring, we will soon find out. And lastly, the 8^th green is having some drainage issues, and there may be ground under repair for the right side of the green.

Gentlemen, I am really looking forward to this season. I feel the club is in a great spot and it’s shaping up to be one of the best seasons yet. I’ll see you out on the greens and be sure to come up after the round and tip a pint back and share a few laughs with me.

Aaron Anderson

Change at the Top

At the end of last season, Derrick Forsythe stepped down to end his 15 year run as the Victoria Men's Club President.

Derrick leaves the position in the capable hands of newly elected President Aaron Anderson.

As Past-President, Derrick will attend executive meetings, will take on some committee meetings and will be available for Aaron and the rest of the club to draw from his experience.

Derrick has always been a great ambassador and strong advocate for the Victoria Men's Golf Club. He will most certainly continue to be.

When you see Derrick out on the course or around the Club house, give him a shout out to Thank him for his many years of dedication towards our Club.

Thank you Derrick!

Treasurers Report

Greetings fellow Vic Men's Golf Club members!

For your reference, we have attached a copy of the annual Financial Statement of Operations, dated Sept 26, 2020. The statement was presented and unanimously approved at the 2020 AGM. Chris Suvan, official auditor for Victoria Men's Golf Club also provided a separate auditor's report attesting to the accuracy of the financial results as evidenced in the supporting records and reported in the Statement of Operations. The surplus of $7,239 allowed us to lower fees for returning members in 2021.

As treasurer, I also provide an updated financial report for review purposes at every Executive committee meeting throughout the year. Due to the Covid related constraints, we have now converted to processing 99% of our transactions electronically using e-transfers for revenues and expenditures.

In my opinion, we are in an excellent financial position to deal with any operational requirements for the 2021 golf season. So swing away with financial confidence. Cheers!

Gerry O'Donnell

Treasurer,

B Comm, CPA, CGA

2020 Financial Statement

Club Captain’s Corner

Welcome new and returning members to the Victoria Men’s League 2021 season. I am excited to be your Club Captain for another year!

For those new members, the main responsibilities of the Club Captain and Assistant Captain are to organize and run the Interclub team. Men’s Interclub is a match-play format competition between Edmonton and area golf club men’s leagues. Our team will be comprised of five guaranteed spots (Club Champion, Head Pro, Club Captain, two Captain’s picks) and seven qualifiers. The qualifiers will be the top seven players with the lowest gross scores coming from two out of three qualifying rounds. The three qualifying rounds will be listed in the newsletter’s tournament schedule.

For those who didn’t make the 12-man team but played in at least two of the three qualifying rounds, you will be considered as alternates and can possibly be called upon at some point to fill in and play. The times and dates for our Interclub matches will be determined by the Edmonton Golf Association (EGA) and I will update the club once they have been posted.

I will also be responsible to help new and returning members with any questions and/or concerns about the rules of golf and conditions in our club and at our course.

Here’s to a full season with great weather, great company and great golf.

See you out there!

Mark Gibson

Welcome to Wednesday

Welcome to the Victoria Men’s Golf Club for the 2021 season!

After the last year, I am ready to turn the page to a new season and maybe a return to our normal routine.

My role is to make sure that Wednesdays run smoothly and to have your experience with our club be an enjoyable one. My goal is always to exceed your expectations and to have your experience with our club be welcoming, all-inclusive and long lasting.

Wednesday Men’s Club will run from May 5^th until September 29^th, and as always will go rain or shine.

There will be information sent out with instructions on how and when to

sign-up as well as the format for prize pay-outs.

I hope to be able to move back to normal hole prize and flight prizes as we had in 2019. At the very least, we will start the season with prize pay-outs the same as last year.

I hope you all have a fun and enjoyable season, as well as play some good competitive golf.

I look forward to meeting all our new members and re-connecting with our returning ones.

Play well, have fun!

Mike Pickard

Match Play

Hi everyone, I will again be heading up the singles and doubles match play tournaments for friendly competition against fellow club members. Here are the highlights for this year:

These tournaments are optional
Handicaps are used to ensure competitive play among different skill levels
Tournaments start near the beginning of the season and will see half the field eliminated each round until winners are declared near the end of the season
Participants schedule their matches with their opponents during regular Wednesday play or any other time as long as it’s before the allotted deadline for each round
There is hardware for the champions and cash for all those making it to the final rounds
Early or later tee time preferences on sign-up to get early matches played near your preferred availability
Deadlines are strictly adhered to
Singles and doubles deadline dates are staggered as to not conflict with each other for those playing in both tournaments
Optional celebrations and condolences following the round upstairs in the clubhouse

Sign-up and further detailed information will be communicated as we start the season.

Play well!

Allan Nalli

Handicap

What is a handicap?

Handicapping enables golfers across different skill levels to compete equitably.

At Victoria Men’s Club, we use the handicap index to determine the course handicap when competing on Wednesday night tournaments or weekend tournaments.

On your Victoria scorecard you are required to enter your course handicap (e.g. 16) not your handicap index 21.9 (the index is used to determine your course handicap on any course with a slope and rating), and your full name on the scorecard to be eligible for Wednesday night and weekend competition. NOTE: course handicap is always a whole number (no decimals).

In 2020 the Golf Canada has adopted the World Handicap System (WHS). Here are some highlights:

Handicap Index will be based on the lowest 8 of the most recent 20 rounds
A limit of Net Double Bogey on the maximum hole score (for handicapping purposes)
A calculation considers the impact that playing conditions (including course set up and weather conditions) might have on a player’s performance each day (that is why it is recommended you enter your scores on the day of play and before midnight local time – this ensures your score is included in the analysis for the Playing Conditions Calculation – PCC)

To avoid any confusion with the revised handicap rules for the WHS, it is advised to enter your hole by hole scores on the date played on the Golf Canada website to ensure your handicap is calculated correctly.

Hole by hole scores, entered on the Golf Canada website, is also required to ensure your eligibility in the VMGC ringer board competition.

If you have more questions about the golf handicap, please go to the Golf Canada link: https://www.golfcanada.ca/handicapping/

Sample question: How do I post a score for a hole with a temporary green?

Answer: If the hole’s character and playing length have not been altered and you can play hole under the Rules of Golf, then you can post your actual score on the hole. Otherwise, you must post a Net Par for the hole.

Or if you have specific questions, you can ask an expert:

https://www.golfcanada.ca/ask-an-expert/

Your Handicap Chair…

Peter Leong

Marketing and Promotions

Myself and Chris Suvan are excited to head up the newly launched Victoria Men's Golf Club Marketing & Sponsorship committee for the 2021 season!

In regards to marketing, our aim is to get the word out about our great club.

We also want to enhance our members' experience via some brand new marketing initiatives.

In respect to sponsorship, our goal is to partner with great locally based businesses and provide mutually beneficial relationships that promotes our club & their organization.

Everything we secure is with the aim of improving our club and our members' golf enjoyment.

Stay tuned for more exciting announcements & here's to an amazing 2021 season!

Reed Clarke

Tournament Chair Address

Welcome new and returning fellow golfers!

Hopefully, by the time we start, the worst of the pandemic is behind us and we will return to some semblance of normality.

Weekend tournaments offer lots of variety as there are different themes and a slightly different scoring format for each. We have a couple of weekend tournaments every month, usually on Saturday mornings. Some tournaments also include meals or food vouchers to provide added value for each participating member.

Please see the list of 2021 tournaments below.

Weekend tournaments create an environment that encourages friendly competition and playful banter. This also allows members to get to know each other by gathering after their round to enjoy the camaraderie over food & drinks. Tournament prize winners will be announced and trophies presented. Each tournament trophy is unique and the winner(s) will have their picture taken for our website and other social media. Door prizes may also be drawn but you must be present to win.

This year, we have a dedicated promotions/marketing/sponsorship person who will endeavour to provide more and better prizing for our tournaments to increase excitement and value.

Looking forward to meeting everyone, sharing some laughs and having a great & memorable year of golf!

Lincoln Chow – Tournament/Weekend Chair

Doug Krystofiak – Assistant Tournament/Weekend Chair

Edmonton Golf Association

Celebrates 100 Years of Golf

This summer marks the Edmonton Golf Association’s (EGAs) 100^th year promoting the game in the city.

For an organization that’s been around that long, the EGA remains a mystery to most local golfers. If you’re not a club champion or a member of your Interclub team chances are you’ve never heard of the organization.

Kent Coulter, President of the EGA is out to change that reality. A former head of the River Valley Junior Golf Program run out of Victoria and Riverside, Coulter understands more work needs to be done to raise awareness and communicate what the EGA can deliver to member clubs.

Over the past winter the EGA created a special task force that will focus on meeting the needs of clubs and individual members. It’s almost like they’ve been sitting in on our AGMs for the past five years…

As part of their effort to deliver on that goal, the EGA is planning a number of events for the coming golf season. These include:

Free rules clinics;
At least one tournament that focuses on fun;
Continuing with Interclub play;
The Tournament of Champions event in the fall; and
Communicating with non-EGA member clubs inviting them to join the Association.

The EGA has one tournament confirmed for the summer – a scramble at Vic on June 26^th. A good warm-up for our Away Tournament the next day.

Details on the tournament will be coming out later this spring. What I can tell you is the focus will be on fun. I’m trying to get them to adopt our club final format (hitting fairways and greens or suffering a penalty) as it appears to be the quickest way to move scramble events along.

If you have any questions on the clinics, the tournament or anything else related to the EGA, feel free to get hold of me forsythe.db@gmail.com.

See you on the green boys – can’t wait to get back at it this year.

Derrick Forsythe

Away Tournament

Trestle Creek Golf Course

Sunday, June 27, 2021

First Tee Time (Approximately 10:30 am)

Only 50 minutes away from the west side of Edmonton, enjoy a spectacular golf experience as the course weaves through creeks, lakes, forest and hills. They also have a large practice area with a two-tier 360-yard driving range as well as separate chipping & bunker areas.

We have a limit of 52 players so please sign-up early. The cost is $95 per person and includes driving range access, 18 holes, power cart, tournament fee & GST. More details to come...

Club Championship

All members or associate members, require eight men's club events, from May 5th until August 12th, to compete for flight prizes in the Club Championship or to become Club Champion.

All members or associate members, with less than eight men's club events, are still welcome to play in the Club Championship, within a social flight, eligible for hole prizes only.

Men's club events include

Wednesday play
Tournament play
Interclub play
Match play outside of regular men's club schedule

Club Championship weekend - NO playing or practicing on the course is allowed after 8pm the evening prior to the beginning of the tournament

Players found on the course after 8pm will be disqualified!

During Club Championship NO music will be allowed on the course.

During Club Championship ALL cell phones must be set to silent.

All RCGA rules will be in effect, except where local rules supersede.

Tournament Sponsorship

Our sponsorship program allows members to market their company or services to fellow members. This provides a great opportunity to increase exposure while providing excitement and interest for our tournaments.

Sponsorship Levels

Platinum

$500 plus

Gold

$250 - $499

Silver

$100 - $249

Bronze

$99 or less

Please contact Lincoln Chow for more information regarding sponsorship

Email: lchow66@gmail.com Cell: 780-445-8082

2021 Club Sponsors

As we move forward with our new sponsors for this upcoming season,

please support them in any way you can.

We look forward to a wonderful year together!

The Victoria Men’s Golf Club would like to announce a new sponsor for the 2021 season.

The Greenhouse Restaurant at The Victoria Golf Course.

The Greenhouse Restaurant is one of Edmonton's Premier River Valley Dining Destination’s.

At the Greenhouse Restaurant they aim to be more than just another golf course restaurant. They aim to provide handcrafted meals, using the finest of ingredients and providing genuine hospitality, in warm & welcoming settings that highlight the beauty of Edmonton’s majestic river valley. These venues are meant to be shared with the community, regardless of whether or not you have golf clubs in tow.

The views at Victoria will offer a picturesque setting of Edmonton’s exquisite river valley and a chance for you to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Find your spot on the patio, take in the beauty this city has to offer and allow yourself to truly relax.

Book an event or if you are looking for catering, The Greenhouse is for you!

Mark Kalynchuk - Chef

Weronika Kundera - General Manager

Paul Shufelt - Owner + Executive Chef

The Greenhouse/ The Workshop Eatery/ Woodshed Burgers/ Robert Spencer Catering

Greenhouse Website

The Victoria Men’s Golf Club would like to announce a new sponsor for the 2021 season.

SYC Brewing Co

At SYC Brewing we have made every single beer on the same belief; that a beer should be more than just a combination of ingredients. Above all, a beer should be absolutely tasteful, familiar, and magical to drink. Our creations use fundamental basic honed through millennial, using just the same four ingredients. However, we have adjusted and fine-tuned our ratios to create something of our own unique experience.

We took a big leap when we started SYC (Show Your Craft) Brewing. We wanted to make beer for the believers and the give a try-ers. For those who are not scared to show who they truly are.

Feature Beer - Clock Out

(Light and crisp lager – ultra crushable beer)

SYC Brewing Website

Big news!

We're partnering with another great local #yeg company for the 2021 season.

We're super pumped that Goat Track Social Club is now the official apparel sponsor of the Victoria men's golf club!

GTSC is creative collaboration of friends who after decades of collective experience decided to build something different. Something social. Something for everyone.

Check them out The Goat Track Social Club