TVGC Considering
Financial Offer From OSI
The economy, finances and making sure the budgets stays in the
Black have become major management topics among owners and operators of small
nine-hole golf courses and this has now prompted the Roscoe Twin Village Golf
Course (TVGC) to explore a $188,500 conservation easement offer from the Open
Space Institute (OSI).
Bob Anderberg, New York OSI general counsel explained the OSI offer
before the Clubs certificate holders June 27 at the organizations club
house.
Anderberg explained that OSI protects scenic, natural and historic
landscapes to ensure public enjoyment, conserve habitats and to sustain
community character and achieves its goals through land acquisition,
conservation easements, regional loan programs, fiscal sponsorship, creative
partnerships and analytical research.
He acknowledged that much of OCI's work in New York is accomplished
through a permanent fund from Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace endowment in
2001.
All of OSI's work is directed by a consistent conservation strategy
that emphasizes permanent protection on a landscape-level scale and the program
since its inception in 2000 has made more than 70 loans and grants for nearly
$80 million to protect 1.6 million acres valued at over $530
million.
Under the proposed environmental easement Anderberg explained that
TVGC would not be able to develop the land or sub-divide it and that they would
be able to continue as a golf course, ownership would not change, no fracking
would be allowed, the club house building could be expanded up to a total of
3,000 square feet, additions could be made to the maintenance shop building, a
golf cart protection shelter could be added to the course and there would be no
restrictions as to what the club does within the club house.
The 29-acre nine-hole 2,045 yard par 32 TVGC is presently appraised
at $400,000 and would receive from OSI the total sum of $188,000 but after
paying taxes the total figure would be approximately $141,000. TVGC could opt to
received payments over a five-year period of about $32,000 per
year.
Certificate members attending this meeting voiced positive and
negative responses with those supporting the OSI offer saying that the $32,000
per year for five years would help the club purchase needed maintenance
equipment, help with club house improvements, add new sand and upgrade the sand
traps and allow the purchase of additional golf carts.
TVGC board of directors treasurer Chuck Husson, a strong supporter
of the proposal said that the only way the club has been able to stay out of the
red is money received from an annual year-end fund raiser but that there was
never enough funds to make needed club improvements. Husson said the club has
lost membership, expenses are up, income is down and the club can not continue
to depend on the end of the year fund raiser to keep it out of the red. He
projected that with the easement the club could make needed improvements and be
financially sound for at least 10 years.
Several certificate board members expressed concerns that in their
opinion the club was meeting existing expenses, that the easement would not have
any affect on the present assessment and that some land owners who have made
these arrangements with OSI regretted what they had done.
Of the 24 certificate members attending this informational meeting
18 voted in favor of exploring the offer from OSI and agreed that consideration
should be given to hiring an attorney with environmental easement legal
background to examine the OSI easement proposal.
The TVGC board will also mail a ballot to all certificate club
members.
Golf Tip
By Robert
Menges
Restricted Back Swing: Some times you are faced
with a shot, which will not let you take a full back swing. We all would love
to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway all the time, but, unfortunately at
times we find ourselves off the fairway and under a tree. In this case we might
not be able to take a full back swing.
When you are faced with this shot, you should choose a club you are
comfortable with. Remember you want to make sure you get your ball out of
trouble. When you set up, you should take a practice swing to see how much room
you have before you are going to contact the tree. If you break a branch during
your practice swing it is a penalty, so be careful. On your set up, place the
ball back in your stance slightly and try to keep your feet closer together.
When you start your swing, you must remember to let your shoulders bring the
club back. A mistake I see people make is to use your wrists to pick the club
up. Once your shoulders have turned, cock yours wrists by pointing your thumbs
at the sky. Once you start your down swing you want to keep your balance by
keeping your lower body still. Make sure you hit down on the ball and follow
through with your arms and hands staying lower than usual. Many people call this
a punch shot. Keep your eye on the ball longer than you normally do to make sure
you get solid contact.
It is important to get the ball back in play so you don't loose too
many strokes. It is not always the right choice to hit the perfect shot in this
case.
Robert Menges is a golf pro at the Swan Lake Golf &
Country Club, Mt. Hope Road, Swan Lake. He is available for private lessons and
if you have a question or subject you would like covered, he can be reached at
292-0323 or via e-mail at menges@hughes.net
The
Putting Tip
By Joe
Bermel
Practice your putting only on days that end in
Y.
Absolute key to consistent putting is repetition practice
sessions.
That's how we build Confidence so when we play a round we can
perform with absolute competence and skill.
Practice (30-minute sessions as an every week
process.
We need to keep 3 key areas sharp, MIND, EYES,
HANDS.
Joe Bermel is available for private lessons, group, corporate,
organization and golf-shows-tournaments. His special edition DVD "How To Put
Well" is available by calling 631-589-1384, at his Web Site
www.ThePuttingDoctor.com or by email at
joe@theputtingdoctor.com
Ed's Outlook
A note to all our local golfers......we want to make sure that your
golfing achievements get recognized so please give us an email or phone call if
you or one of your golfing partners scores a hole-in-one or shoots a round of
golf equal to their age......or anything else that would make good golfing
news.
Ed's Outlook and this column are written by Ed Townsend, a
consultant to the amateur-professional sport of golf and to several golf writers
associations. If you have a topic that would make good reading, or have golf
scores, standings or tournament information, Ed can be reached by phone at 845-439-8177, by
email at edwardctownsend@hotmail.com or by fax at 845-205-4474. For
full coverage of our column visit our Web Site at http://bght.blogspot.com. We
are also on Facebook.
IDENTIFICATION OF PHOTOS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
Bob Anderberg, general counsel for Open Space Institute
addresses the subject of an environmental easement to certificate members of the
Roscoe Twin Village Golf Course.
The Roscoe Twin Village Golf Club clubhouse.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment