OPCC Newsletter - March 2024 : simplebooklet.com

PRESIDENT'SLETTERby Matthew DeVincentis, Club PresidentOFFICERSMatthew J. DeVincentis President devincentis.matthew@gmail.comFinance, Long Range Randall A. Vincek1st Vice Presidentrvincek@me.comLong Range Chair, Membership Chair, Golf Dr. Geoffrey J. Schweikhard 2nd Vice President gschweikhard@gmail.comGolf Chair Frank C. Muggia Secretarydvmatty@aol.comHouse Chair, Legal\Insurance\HREdward P. SchneiderTreasurereps45@buffalo.edu Finance ChairBOARD OF DIRECTORSGary P. Brownebrowneco@verizon.netBuildings Chair, Long Range, Pool & TennisMichael F. Leydeckermleyd@aol.comBuildings, GroundsA. Dale Schaeferadschaefer@verizon.net Grounds Chair, Long Range Patrick J. Sgroipats@sgroifinancial.com Finance, House Michael J. Sullivanmjjunior22@yahoo.comPool & Tennis Chair, GolfPreston L. Zarlockpzarlock@phillipslytle.comLegal\Insurance\HR Chair, Member EtiquetteScott E. Zylkascott.zylka@gmail.com Member Etiquette Chair,MembershipIf you have a topic of discussion or issue you would like brought to theBoard’s attention, you can email the Board at board@orchardparkcc.com The Member Etiquette Committee (MEC) has an email address as well. Ifyou have any grievances or violations of OPCC etiquette that you wouldlike to communicate to the MEC, you can email the MEC atEtiquettecommittee@orchardparkcc.com A R E M I N D E R T O A L L O P C C M E M B E R S Dear Members,I hope this message finds you well and in good spirits. I want to extenda thank you to those who have provided their candid feedback throughour membership survey. Your prompt and insightful feedback isvaluable to the Board, Long Range Committee, and management teamin focusing our efforts on areas that are important to our membership.The survey window closed on Thursday, February 29th, and the LongRange Committee will now spend time gathering and analyzing thedata. The initial stages of our pool project commenced in February with ournew 4-series pool boiler arriving and being put in place. As many areaware, our previous pool boiler had been failing over the past severalyears and its replacement was necessary for proper and consistentheating of the pool. Over the next month, the venting for the poolboiler will be constructed, in addition to the installation ofreplacement sand filters. Additionally, the re-plastering of the poolfloor will take place in early spring, which is several years past due.This helps with the structural integrity of the pool, smoothing out theabrasive and irregular patches, prevents leaks, and increasing waterquality. This capital project is another step in improving our clubfacilities for all Members and guests.As we finally begin to enter into the early stages of spring, we haveseveral great events lined up in March. Our Easter Brunch and EasterDinner events are always memorable, and we have our family and kidfriendly Easter Egg hunt at the end of the month. We will also bebringing back our Sushi night, with several unique options from ChefEvan, in addition to a Wine Dinner and Parent’s Night Out planned forother Saturday’s in March. Take care,Matt DeVincentis

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Wishing Gary Keppel a Retirement Full of Health, Happiness, and Friendship A bittersweet moment has arrived in the grounds department, as I announce theretirement of Gary Keppel, Assistant Grounds Superintendent, after 37 years ofemployment at Orchard Park CC. Gary Keppel joined the OPCC Family in 1987 atthe ripe old age of 25, being hired as a grounds laborer by Head GroundsSuperintendent Alex Marshall. For the next 7 years, Gary learned the ins and outsof the turf industry, developing a passion for not only course conditioning, butthe game of golf (Gary is currently a 6 handicap!). In 1994, Gary was promotedto Assistant Grounds Superintendent by new Grounds Superintendent Bob Kelly. For the past 30 years, Gary has held the position of Assistant GroundsSuperintendent at the Club, helping prepare the course for countless rounds ofgolf/tournaments and overseeing multiple projects. The icing on the cake wasGary helping oversee the installation of the double row irrigation project thispast fall. I would like to take this moment to personally thank Gary, not only for his yearsof dedication to the Club, but for him being a true professional and for hisassistance during the grounds leadership transition in the fall of 2022. It’s a truetestimony to his character. Gary will be retiring in early March, and the team willbe celebrating him at the Annual Employee March Pot Luck Lunch on Tuesday,March 12. Solar Eclipse – The Path of Totality Starting in mid-February I started hearing multiple conversations about theupcoming Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, as Buffalo, NY is in the path oftotality. I can attest to how spectacular this phenomenon is, having personallyexperienced a solar eclipse in the path of totality while living in St. Louis in 2017.It is easily one of the most extraordinary natural wonders I have ever witnessed.For this upcoming eclipse, the Club will be having a viewing party from 2:30pm –4:00pm on Monday, April 8th on the Patio. Please check out the Solar EclipseViewing Flyer for more information.Club Wide Software Upgrade | Club Systems Group Jonas Encore With the kitchen floor project in the rearview mirror, the department heads and Iare busy working behind the scenes on the building of the Club’s new softwaresystem. We will be upgrading to Jonas Encore, after many years withClubSystems Group. The current timeline is for this software upgrade to go live on April 1, 2024. Overthe next two months there will be increased communication on the Jonas EncoreSoftware upgrade. Thank you in advance for your patience as the team learnsthis new program over the course of Spring ’24. TEAM Stephen Feuz, CCMGeneral Managerstephen@orchardparkcc.comMaureen E. LounsburyControllermaureen@orchardparkcc.com Gary Occhino, PGAPGA Head Golf ProfessionalPGA Director of Instructiongary@orchardparkcc.comKevin JohnsonSenior Assistant Golf Professionalkevin@orchardparkcc.comChef Evan ThurExecutive Chefchefevan@orchardparkcc.com Dan WeitzelDirector of Groundsdan@orchardparkcc.com Jamie BallClubhouse & Events Managerjamie@orchardparkcc.com Jacob SchamelDirector of F&Bjacob@orchardparkcc.com GENERALMANAGER'SNEWSOFFICE HOURS Monday - Friday9:00am - 5:00pmCLUBHOUSE HOURS (March)Sunday - TuesdayClubhouse ClosedLunchWednesday - Saturday11:30am - 3:00pmDinnerWednesday - Saturday5:00pm - 9:00pmGOLF SHOP HOURS Starting Friday, March 15Weather DependentWednesday—Saturday11:00 am - 4:00 pmPHONE NUMBERS Clubhouse 662-4471Fax 662-1664Halfway House 662-4472Golf Shop 662-3806Grounds 662-5312by Stephen Feuz, CCM | General ManagerTransitioning into retirement, Gary looks forward tocontinuing his Membership at Gowanda Country Club,as well as working on their grounds crew part time, as itis right around the corner from his home in Collins, NY.Outside of golf, Gary looks forward to spending moretime with his wife Cathy. Thank You Gary for all you have done for Orchard ParkCountry Club. You will always have a home here at theClub.

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GOLF SHOPNEWSby Gary Occhino, PGAHead Golf ProfessionalThe Golf Committee and Golf Professional Team arepleased to provide some new information on theupcoming golfing season: Open Play Times on the Tee SheetSimilar to prior years, tee time reservations will still berequired daily through the 3:50pm tee time. New in2024, beginning at 4:00pm daily, there will be open playwithout the requirement of a tee time reservation.Golfers wishing to play after 4:00pm will simply need tocheck-in with the Golf Starter. More in-depth details willbe provided in early April both via email and in themonthly newsletter.Reserving Tee Times In AdvanceIn prior years, tee time reservations could be made 7days in advance, beginning at 12:00am. Given thefeedback from the Membership regarding this nuance,the 2024 tee time reservations for 2024 will be able tobe made 7 days and 3 hours in advance, beginning at9:00pm. Example: a person desiring a Friday, May 17thtee time, can now reserve that time starting Thursday,May 9th at 9pm in the evening.9 Hole Round GHIN ScoresNew in 2024, GHIN will create an 18-hole score for everyposting. This means that GHIN will take any 9-holeposted score and add another “expected” 9-hole scoreto it, instead of the 9-hole score being held in the queuefor another 9-hole score. This is a GHIN decision that isindependent of OPCC.Handicap Committees and CapPatrolThe Handicap Committees at OPCC operate with the goalto ensure fair and equitable tournament play. The OPCC has three handicap committees: A Women’s 9-Hole league Handicap Committee.1. A Women’s 18-Hole league Handicap Committee.2. A Men’s and General Membership HandicapCommittee.3.The Women’s 9-Hole league Handicap Committee workssolely within the 9-hole league participants. This isapproximately 85-100 ladies.The Women’s 18-Hole Handicap Committee works solelywithin the 18-holw league participants. This isapproximately 35-40 ladies.The Men’s and General Handicap Committee reviewsparticipants in Men’s tournaments and reviews postingpractices of everyday, non-tournament play. Handicap Committee members will peer review postingpractices of OPCC members. Golfers are required to posttheir score on the same day of play. If a member fails topost his/her score on the same day of play, a committeemember may reach out to the OPCC member. Dependingupon situation, a penalty score may be issued.CapPatrol is a software program utilized by the HandicapCommittees. It is a peer-review system designed topromote fair and honest play for everyone. CapPatrolprovides the handicap committees of private clubs withaccurate, timely and readily accessible information,utilizing 42 data points to arrive at a golfer’s properhandicap index for tournaments. More detailedinformation can be found at cappatrol.com. Please feel free to direct any questions to Head GolfProfessional, Gary Occhino: gary@orchardparkcc.com.New Fleet of Club Car Golf CartsOne of the 2024 CapEx purchases for the Club is abrand-new fleet of Club Car Golf Carts, with the fleetsize increasing from 56 carts to 66 carts. This fleet sizeexpansion will better meet our daily play and tournamentneeds, along with reducing long-term wear-n-tear on thecarts. As approved by the OPCC Board of Directors, 2024 cartusage fees are: 9-hole rider $12.50 (tax included) 18-hole rider $25.00 (tax included) Season Pass $1000.00 (tax included)Driving Range ‘AccuRange’ AppIn 2023, the Club partnered with AccuRange tocustomize a digital map of our driving range. Through theAccuRange app, this digital map shows yardages to eachspecific range target. For Members still looking todownload the Accurange app in 2024, there will be tagswith QR codes to download the app, which will beaffixed to the range ball crates or to the bagstands. We recognize not all Members will have their phone withthem on the driving range. To provide a qualityexperience for Members without mobile devices, we willhave yardage boards on the range that show thedistance to the main targets.Guest PassesNew in 2024, there will no longer be physical guestpasses being issued. Instead, for Members who receiveguest passes for pre-paid dues, the golf shop will have apersonalized guest account log for you. When you arebringing a guest for a round of golf, please stop into theGolf Shop to register your guest, and sign for accuracyand tracking of guest pass usage.

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As we hit March, that means a couple of things: 1. Weturn the clocks ahead in the beginning of the month and2. Spring officially begins at the end of it. Fear not thewinter days will soon be over and warmer weather willhopefully be visiting the region in April. As the winterhas gone on, we had a couple of good storms, that didmake a mess of the course as well as we identifiedareas that need drainage work done to them. The heavysnow followed by the heavy rain with melting, caused afew areas that have old drainage to fail. Even though itwas cold in February, we were able to get the courseopen for play for at least a few days which was kind ofa rarity in WNY since the past two years we weren’table to get out on the course in mid-winter. As the colder weather has shown up in this corner ofthe world and the ground has frozen a bit, we havebeen able to get out onto the course to do clean-upform the winter storms that had high winds. Many bigbranches, limbs and a few trees came down during theheavy winds that came along with one of the storms. Wealso have been working on taking down a bunch ofdamaged trees from the wind and also Silver Maplesthat are in poor health around the course. All this workis being done in house as we are doing the cutting,chipping and also moving the heavy wood forprocessing at a later date, for firewood. Hopefully, wecan get a couple of good weeks of frozen ground tocontinue this process. Many have noticed the water on #1 approach on thetees side and the digging there in that area. Thedrainage in that area has collapsed with the highwaters from the creek, pipes silting in and also the ageof the drainage that was installed there. We haveplanned a big drainage project in the Spring, most likelyApril timeframe, as to alleviate the water there andmake that area drier throughout the upcoming yearsahead. We will be installing new drain lines as well asfinding any old drain lines still working and runningthem away form that area. The old drain lines were runinto the creek through the wall in that area so we willbe reutilizing those. Hopefully, everyone has been having a great winter thusfar. We have been diligently working on the FF and E aswell as cleaning the course up for the Spring ahead andthe golf season to start. Fear not as we are almostthrough winter and hopefully the groundhog was right inits early Spring projections. Hopefully we will be seeingeveryone out on the course soon!THE SODSQUADby Dan WeitzelDirector of GroundsOPCC CAMPUSDRESS CODEGeneralRespectable country club casual dress, including appropriate golfattire and tasteful denim, is permitted in the Grill Room andaround the Club. Tee shirts, athletic tank tops, athletic leggings,miniskirts, hoodies, etc. are not permitted in and around theClubhouse. Sweatpants, gym shorts, jogging shorts, and cargoshorts are also not permitted. Athletic slides and flip flops for menare considered inappropriate for all club dining areas. Sandals forgentlemen are permitted in outdoor dining areas but areconsidered inappropriate for indoor dining areas. Gentlemen maywear hats with the brim facing forward in outdoor dining areasand the locker rooms. Swimsuits are not permitted in theClubhouse or Clubhouse dining outlets. Any clothing that is torn,frayed, or excessively wrinkled is considered inappropriate.Club Casual: Khakis, trousers, including Bermuda length shorts, ortasteful denim with collared shirts for men; casual slacks ortasteful denim with appropriate tops for ladies. Gentlemen’s dressshirts that are designed to be untucked, which include TommyBahama, UNTUCKit, and collared shirts that are full button frontare permitted in and around the Clubhouse. All men’s golf shirtsmust be tucked inside men’s trousers or shorts, unless otherwiseapproved by management.Please visit our website for detailed descriptions of BusinessCasual, Smart Casual, Formal Attire, and Black TieGolf Course AttireFootwear: Only soft spikes are allowed. Open toe shoes, flip flopsand sandals are not to be worn on the golf practice facility or golfcourse.Golf Attire for Men: Men are required to wear a collared shirt,with sleeves, that is tucked in. Hats are to be worn facing forward.Gym shorts, tennis shorts, jogging shorts or short-shorts are notpermitted. T-shirts, denim of any kind are not permitted. Golfshorts must come within four inches of the top of the knee.Golf Attire for Women: Ladies may wear golf shirts with a collar,golf shirts without a collar but with sleeves. A woman’s golf shirtmay be untucked providing it is within two inches beneath the beltline. Skirts, skorts, slacks or capris are permitted with theunderstanding they will come with four inches of the top of theknee. Gym shorts, tennis shorts, jogging shorts or short-shorts arenot permitted. T-shirts, denim of any kind are not permitted.Golf Attire for Juniors: Junior Golfers are required to follow thedress code requirements as outlined above.SPECIAL EVENTSby Jamie BallClubhouse & Events ManagerSaturday, March 9Cinema & Crafts along with Parent’s Night OutSaturday, March 30Annual Easter Egg Hunt & Photos with the Easter BunnyUPCOMING KIDS EVENTS FOR 2024:Sunday, April 28Family Sundae Sunday*Kid’s Bingo Night is scheduled to take place in the Fall

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18 HOLE LADIESby Hillary RuhWe are always welcoming new lady golfers to the 18 HoleGolf League! Come join our fun group! We play on Thursdaymornings and we have A, B, C & D flights by handicap. If youare interested in joining our golf league please contactHillary Ruh, our golf chairwomen at hillruh@gmail.com orMaureen in the OPCC main office.Here is our schedule of events for 2024:May 2 Pro Shot Opening ScrambleMay 9 Medal Play May 16 ABCD Tournament with Opening Luncheon May 23 T&FMay 30 Hosting District WIGTATee times starting at 8am Solheim Cup - 2 Gal Match Play Alternating shots starting at 10:20am for 18 hole league golfers June 6 Least Putts June 13 Irish Rumble June 20 & 21 Two Day Invitational June 27 4 Gal Best Ball July 4 NO GOLF - HolidayJuly 11 NO GOLF - YatesJuly 18 Guest Day July 25 9/18 Charity DayAugust 1 Skins Game August 8 & 9 Two Day Championship Tournament August 15 Hosting WGAWNY Ladies TournamentNo Golf for 18 Hole LeagueAugust 22 & 23 Travis 2 Day August 29 Mystery Threesome September 5 NO GOLF - AerificationSeptember 12 Medal Play September 19 Tee to Green September 28 Pro Shot Closing Scramble & Closing DinnerIf you were an 18 holer last year you are automaticallyrenewed and billed for 2023. If you choose to opt out youmust contact Maureen in the main office. Hello Ladies! How great it was to see everyone back at theClub! Your Women’s Division has been working hard,planning some fun events that we hope that you will enjoy!Keep reading to see what we have planned so far thisyear!We welcome Tracy Hemmerling to the Board. She is goingto assist with Entertainment. We are always looking for newideas, so please feel free to share any ideas/suggestionswith any member of the Women’s Division Board. We meetagain in early March, if you have any questions, concernsor suggestions, please get them to us before March 13,2024. A list of our Board members is below.The Mitten Tree was a huge success and all of thedonations were greatly appreciated! In January, theWomen’s Division delivered over 70 new hats and mittens(all sizes) to Family Promise. Family Promise is anorganization that keeps homeless families together untilthey can get back on their feet. If a family becomeshomeless, normally men and women are separated andneed to go to separate shelters. Family Promise helps tokeep everyone together during such a difficult time. Thankyou to our secret Santa who hand knitted over 20 hats!!The Women’s Division Charter document continues toremain at a stand still, after nearly 2 years of work! Wecontinue to hope for approval soon with the new Board ofDirectors. Stay tuned! Looking for a fun evening out with friends? Please join usfor Charcuterie Night on March 21st! We will be creating abeautiful take-home Spring charcuterie board under theguidance of a local Orchard Park business, A Board Above!The evening includes a glass of wine and desserts. Webegin at 6:30pm, and it should take about an hour or sodepending on how many attend. Please call the office nowto make your reservation. We must have at least 10 ladiesby March 8th or the event will be canceled. See theattached flyer for more information. Hope to see you there!Save the dates!! On May 2 we will be hosting a “Mother'sDay Boutique Fashion Show”! We will have vendors to shopfor your Mother’s Day gifts, dinner, and a fabulous fashionshow! More details to follow, please add this event to yourcalendar! One more date to reserve-October 2nd will beour Lucky Name Evening with a theme of “Pretty in Pink”!We look forward to these and more events and hope youwill join us! Sincerely,Kim Browne-ChairpersonKcrowleybrowne@gmail.comWomen’s Division Board members:Nancy Ippilito (Secretary), Ann Diem (9-hole golf), HillaryRuh (18-hole golf), Tracy Hemmerling (Entertainment),Noelle Barth & Tracey Amico (Tennis), Sarah Pieri & AmyGlowczynski (Lucky Name)WOMEN’S DIVISIONby Kimberly Browne

OPCC Newsletter - March 2024

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