Newsletter – Page 48 – Metro St. Louis Seniors Golf

2018 Season Started – Pace Information

04/15/2018 by dlwicks@sbcglobal.net

The new season is now officially underway. All our 18 hole divisions (Div 1-5) completed the first tournaments.

Scores for Division 3, 4, and 5 are in. Div 1 and 2 are in the mail. Check out the top scores at OurGolfStats – CLICK HERE

We also have our first Pace of Play results for Div 1-4.

Generally we are doing well. We did have a few groups that fell behind and slowed groups behind.

We will continue to measure Pace of Play. Our targets are 4:30 pace with less that 15 minute finish gap for each group. Most groups already finish with less than a 10 minute gap. Your Division VP will be able to help groups that are having problems. Groups or individuals who are frequently “slow” will be warned and asked to improve.

Start Gap and Finish Gap are important indicators. Div 3 had an average Start Gap of less than 7.7 minutes for 34 tee groups. Other divisions averaged 1 to 2 minutes longer. Taking a minute or two to each tee off simply delays everyone behind. Adding 1 minute to each start tee off can delay the last groups’ start time by 15 to 20 minutes.

Almost everyone should be able to start their round about 8 minutes after the group ahead.

Please be at the start tee box ready to get started as soon as the group ahead moves off. Start your tee off as soon as it is safe to hit. Have everyone in your tee group ready to hit. Don’t make the groups behind wait for you.

Division 1 at Incline Village. We started with good weather, but had a 30 minute lightning delay. We had only 19 tee groups (about 70 players) – due to lower headcount in Div 1 and distance to the course. Adjusting for the delay and restart sequences, the pace was about 4:31, with the fastest group in at 4:20. Start gap and finish gap both averaged 8.8 minutes.

Division 2 at Emerald Greens. Strong turnout at 26 tee groups, about 100 players. Pace averaged 4:31, lead by about 10 tee groups in the front who finished in 4:15 to 4:20. Unfortunately there were 6 tee groups, mostly starting on the front nine who had big finish gaps – between 17 to 23 minutes. Later groups who started on the front finished about 30 minutes slower than the late groups who started on the back nine. Only one group finished over 4:50. Start gap averaged 8.6 minutes, but finish gap was 10.7 minutes – indicating that the later groups were falling behind.

Division 3 at Aberdeen. With excellent weather we again had a huge turnout – 34 tee groups, 130 players. Average time was 4:38, a great time for this many groups. Last year we had 4:31 average pace. The fastest group was 4:26. Three groups finished between 4:50 – 4:53, two of these immediately followed the only group with a large finish gap > 15 minutes. Start time gap was 7.7 minutes and the finish gap was 8.1 minutes.

Division 4 at Wentzville. Turnout was strong with 31 tee groups, about 120 players. Average pace was 4:38, again a good time. Start time gap was 8.7 minutes average – groups were a little slower getting started. Finish time gap averaged 9.4 minutes. There were 5 groups with Finish gaps over 15 minutes. The fastest group was finished in 4:20. Unfortunately three groups finished over 4:50 and they did slow the groups following.

Division 5 – Data not yet available.

Smartphone Scorecard Aid APP for 2018

04/09/2018 by dlwicks@sbcglobal.net

Looking for the right tee choices (forward/back with colors) for the weekly tournaments?

Want to make sure you have the right member names and numbers for scorecards?

We have a smartphone app for that!

It will work for any smartphone (or tablet or PC) with internet access. You simply go to the division form webpage and the form pots up. No apps downloaded. No security issues. It works great with a touch screen.

You simply select the course and number of players. You can then select each player (for name and number) and the selected tees for the outing. This is a simple “lookup” form. You will still fill out and submit the paper scorecards.

This type form will be the basis for our future electronic scorecards. One form for each 18 hole division (Divisions 1 – 5) with the most recent player listing, courses and tees.

This version DOES NOT have scoring. You do not have to complete the form or submit any data.

However, this is a start to get you used to using the mobile data platform. When we add scoring, you will already be comfortable with the form.

This form does allow information on starting groups (Tee Sequence Number) and Start and Scorer Times. We will be testing this for pace of play logs.

Want to see it? Sure you do!

Simply click on the following links for each Division.

Division 1 https://enketo.ona.io/x/#pzyD

Division 2 https://enketo.ona.io/x/#pzUv

Division 3 https://enketo.ona.io/x/#pzUT

Division 4 https://enketo.ona.io/x/#pzUM

Division 5 https://enketo.ona.io/x/#pzUX

You can access it on you smartphone by copying the same link to your smartphone browser.

Note: Select 2, 3, or 4 players to get 2, 3, of 4 players selections respectively. This keeps the form shorter.

Also, if you complete the form including the Start and Finish Times, you can submit the form and the data can be added to our Pace data.

Finally – I will be forming the Mobile Scorecard Committee soon to start testing of the full scorecard form. This will include collecting and submitting real scores for outings in test mode.

Want to Help? Contact me – david.l.wicks@gmail.com

First Tee Collection / Donations at 2018 General Meeting

02/09/2018 by dlwicks@sbcglobal.net

Looking for a way to make more space in your garage or basement?

Get those extra golf clubs and old but usable bags and even used (or new shoes) to the Metro Seniors Member meeting on March 13 and make a donation to First Tee. Maybe you can even get a tax deduction for 2018 for your donation.

Past President Bob Zaruba is organizing Metro St. Louis Seniors Golf Association collections at the General Meeting for the First Tee Charity. Donate your excess golf gear for great use with their charity program for kids.

First Tee will be at the Kirkwood Community Center about 12:15 – 1:00 on Tuesday March 13 – right before the annual spring meeting. Get there early, make your donation, and meet friends at your Division Table before the meeting. Parking gets full early.

First Tee gladly accepts golf clubs that are no older than 15 years old, golf bags that are in good usable condition and golf balls. Sorry, we cannot accept anything with alcohol advertising.

Want more information about First Tee – CLICK HERE

With the 2nd Swing Club Donation Program you can put any of your old equipment to great use and make a huge impact. The value of your used clubs and equipment is sent to generate cash donations.

Can’t make the General Meeting???? You can still make a donation that will benefit First Tee of Greater St. Louis. The following directions will help.

HERE ARE A FEW TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR EQUIPMENT DONATION:

First Tee has an online donation form that includes a detailed valuation for lots of equipment. If you use their form, you can get a detailed tax valuation summary for your donation.

Click here to get started.

When completing the donation form, fill in our chapter name to ensure the donation is directed to us (there are 165+ chapters so this is important!).
If you have equipment to donate that you cannot find in the system, add it to your shipping box and make a note in the “notes” section of the donation form.
You can also donate golf balls, apparel, golf bags, range finders, etc. 2nd Swing’s staff will process the items and contact you about their donation value.
When shipping your equipment to 2nd Swing, please print your FREE shipping labels and include a copy of your donation summary in each box. The donation summary can be printed directly from the website or from your email confirmation.
A donation receipt will be sent to you within 3-4 weeks of receiving the donation. Our chapter will receive your donation within a month.