WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

A question often asked is where the money the Montana State Golf Association collects actually goes.

The majority of the MSGA budget is made up from the fees each member club of the MSGA collects from its individual members or what is known for lack of a better designation as the "handicap fee." This is clearly a misnomer that should probably be rectified since only a portion of this "membership fee" goes for handicap purposes.

Much of the funds so collected are disbursed for what must be termed "the good of the game."

The biggest expenditure in the annual MSGA budget is for junior golf. Last year the various junior golf programs cost $33,341. The biggest items here were for travel and other expenses for the various junior tournaments throughout the state and expenses to send Montana teams to various national competitions. MSGA president Gary Sissons of Bozeman said, "we (the MSGA board) recognize that junior golf takes a tremendous amount of our revenue but we feel it is money well spent. I doubt any Montana golfer would disagree. Junior golf and the involvement of our kids in the game is the future of the sport."

The MSGA also supports golf above the junior level. This year it contributed $5,000 to the Frontier Conference for the state's smaller colleges and annually donates $5,000 to both the University of Montana and Montana State University for their women's golf programs.

Add to that a yearly stipend of $5,000 to the Montana State Womens Golf Association and another $4,000 to the Peaks and Prairies Golf Superintendents Association and it is obvious your money is being spread around the game.

WOMEN NAME SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

The Montana State Womens Golf Association has named its scholarship recipients for the 2000 season.

The four outstanding high school golfer-scholars will be honored at the MSWGA Honors Banquet July 19th during the State Womens Amateur at Briarwood in Billings. Each will receive a $500 scholarship from the organization.

The quartet includes Briane Woods of Laurel; Katie Whitbeck of Billings; Amanda Schulte of Big Timber and Lisa Winslow of Whitefish.

The stipend is intended to defray the cost of the girl's education and is not restricted as to where it can be used.

A SEARCH FOR A SOLUTION

In recent years it has become increasingly difficult for the four "major" championships in Montana to find a home. The Montana State Golf Association has come up with what it, hopefully, feels is a solution.

Courses throughout the state have become reluctant to take away a block of time from their members to host the Mens and Womens Amateur, the Mens Mid-Amateur or the Seniors. They do not feel it is economically feasible; do not recognize that there is a certain "historical obligation"; or acknowledge that hosting such events is a valuable public relations tool or, in some cases, all three.

MSGA president Gary Sissons of Bozeman is in the process of obtaining volunteers to serve on a special committee to address the problem. Sissons says he wants to recruit representatives from the MSGA, the Montana State Womens Golf Association, the Seniors group, club managers, club pros and greens superintendents. He says this group will then meet with the board of directors of all of the 18-hole courses in the state. He hopes in this way more clubs will recognize the value of hosting a state event, not only from a monetary standpoint but from an extrinsic value, and will agree to "get on board." He said, "we hope by doing this we can get more clubs that currently host championships." He said that he also envisions the diversified group formulating policies and contracts which could be entered into to insure that the sponsors of the four "majors" would know several years in advance where the various championships would be conducted.

FRONTIER CONFERENCE GETS BOOST

The Frontier Conference, which includes all of Montana's smaller colleges, has begun a golf program for both men and women. Now the fledgling program has received a boost from the Montana State Golf Association.

Last year the MSGA contributed $628 to the infant program which was used for trophies and to otherwise support the conference tournament.

The MSGA role has increased.

At its recent spring meeting the board of directors of the MSGA voted to give $5,000 to the conference this year. Each of the 4 schools which have both a mens and womens program (Carroll, Western, Montana Tech and Rocky Mountain) will receive $1,000 each. Northern, which has a womens program, will receive $500 and an additional $500 will go to the conference for its annual tournament.

Last fall the conference conducted seven tournaments and this year another tournament will be added when Westminster College of Utah adds a golf program. There is also a spring season and this year the conference conducted three spring tourneys where the Rocky Mountain women qualified for the national championships.

The MSGA, in making its contribution, recognized that the majority of the players on the Montana teams are graduates of high school programs throughout the Treasure State.

NEW HANDICAP SYSTEM?

The Montana State Golf Association is currently studying the feasibility of a new handicap system for the State's golfers.

MSGA president Gary Sissions of Bozeman recently announced that the current handicapping system in use in Montana is under study by a committee with a decision on the future to be announced sometime next year. He said, "right now there are a number of innovations and a number of different systems in operation throughout the country. The committee is looking at all of them with an eye toward getting what is best for our Montana golfers." He said the new system may well be a nationwide system which would allow Treasure State golfers to input scores from throughout the country and obtain their current handicap on a similar basis. "We've got a lot of things we have to look at," he concluded, "and I hope the state's golfers will bear with us."

COURSE RATING - WHAT'S GOING ON?

If your course is one of the many in Montana which is awaiting a course rating or hasn't been rated for some time patience is the byword.

Montana seems to be building golf courses on a daily basis (it isn't that bad but there is a lot of construction throughout the state) and of course those tracks need to be rated as soon as possible. Additionally, there are a lot of layouts, particularly nine holers and some in the remoter sections of the state, which are high on the list.

The ratings, which are the responsibility of the Montana State Golf Association, are gradually getting up to date. The fact that the MSGA maintains only three rating teams (to ensure quality control and continuity throughout the state) coupled with the fact that the teams are composed of volunteers who must coordinate time and their own personal schedules causes obvious delays. Couple that with the aforesaid problem of great travel distance in some instances and you get an idea of the problem. Incidentally, as said, the teams, usually five or six people, get nothing for their efforts except actual expense money. They must take several days a year to properly rate a course (usually four to five hours) and must visit a site twice. Additionally, most volunteers attend at least one training session per year. Keep that in mind the next time you feel you're not being tended to.

Another factor that many golfers do not recognize when discussing course ratings. The United States Golf Association requires brand new courses to be rated every three years for the first nine years. This clearly puts a burden on the teams. Older, established courses get rated every 10 years unless there are major changes which alter to a substantial degree the playability of or difficulty of a course, such as new greens, extensive bunkering or something of that nature.

Remember, there are currently 83 courses in the state of Montana. The teams are doing their job as fast as humanly possible.

NEW MEMBER OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard G. "Dick" Phillips of Sidney has been named as a new member of the Board of Directors of the Montana State Golf Association. He replaces Dave McPherson of Glendive, who has been on the board for several years. Phillips was born in Jersey City, N.J. on May 20, 1949. He played baseball in college and did not take up golf seriously until being re-introduced to it by the editor of this newsletter while attending law school at the University of Montana. Phillips now carries a more than respectable 7 handicap. Phillips came to Montana in 1972 to attend law school and has never left. He and his wife moved to Sidney following graduation from Law School. He was in private practice there until 1990 when he was elected District Judge for the Seventh Judicial District. He has occupied that post since.

He is active in his community having been a member of Kiwanis for 21 years and on the volunteer fire department for the past 20.

His wife, Jeannette, is presently working on her Masters degree at MSU in Bozeman. He and his wife have three children: Patrick, 26, a professional musician in Minneapolis; Megan, 24, a recent graduate of the University of Montana who is serving a year with VISTA; and Matthew, 21, a junior at the University of Montana.

McPherson has been awaiting a replacement for some time after serving several years on the board. Board members from eastern Montana are more difficult to find and serve the game with a bit more ardor since attending board meetings and other board functions requires a good amount of sacrifice of time and money because of the travel time and distance involved.

WOMEN NAME HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Two women who need no introduction to Montana golfers will enter the Montana Womens Golf Hall of Fame this summer.

CeCe Studer (Feltman), formerly of Billings, and Mary Ann Rodman of Whitefish were selected for honor at the spring meeting of the Montana State Womens Golf Association.

Feltman was named to the Hall in the Player category while Rodman was selected in the category for Meritorious Service to the game.

Feltman, who currently resides in Austin, Texas, won the Montana Womens Amateur three times (1984, 1987 and 1988). She also won the State Class A High School championship three times while representing Billings Central. She joins her older sister, Kathy Wiggs, in the prestigious Hall. She won the state Juniors title in 1982 and was a dominating factor in state golf from there on. After her high school career she played at New Mexico State for four years and later served as assistant coach at NMS. She also played on the LPGA Tour for one year.

Rodman has been heavily involved for at least the last 20 years in junior golf and womens golf not only in the Flathead, where she lives, but throughout the state. She was very active in the reorganization of the state junior golf program by the MSGA several years ago and has been a factor in the growth of that program since that time.

The pair will be honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet on July 19 during the 83rd Montana Womens Amateur Championships which are being conducted this year at the Briarwood in Billings.

Editor's Note: Here is an interesting and heart warming story we culled from the most recent issue of The Perfect Lie, the news letter of the Peaks and Prairies Golf Course Superintendents Association.

ALL FOR JOHN
Jim Peacock, Meadow Lake Golf Course, Whitefish, MT

An interesting man involved in the golf industry visited my shop this spring. He is a player, architect, designer, engineer, manager, director, superintendent, laborer, organizer, businessman, student, networker, mechanic, pitchman…and a great dad. A dad? What does that have to do with the golf industry? This man, Steve Espinoza, built a golf course in his yard for his son, John, after John expressed interest in playing golf. Usually I cringe when a person talks about building a backyard green (let alone an entire golf course), but I am excited for Steve and his boy John. I have offered him my help and after hearing about the Espinozas, you may want to do the same. Like most people attacking a backyard golf project, Steve did not understand the entire picture involved in producing and maintaining a golf course, but his standards were not real high. He just wanted a place where John could play some golf. Originally he was just going to have a single green. That green ballooned to nine greens on a ten-hole layout (one green is used more than once). John's Golf Course in Eureka, MT, covers ten acres with the longest hole at 320 yards and the shortest at 143. John's Golf Course does not have greens fees. People play for free. Because the golf course generates no income, it has no operating budget, and it ties up Steve's land, time, money, and energy. Most of you are probably wondering if this guy is nuts. About now you should be saying, "Steve, take the kid to a real golf course. Greens fees are cheaper and easier." Nothing is as easy or as simple as we would like. Steve built this golf course as an effort of love. John has Down syndrome. When John expressed his interest in golf a few years ago, Steve thought why not? He had John hitting balls in the yard, but he had strong reservations about driving John from their home in Eureka to the courses in the Flathead Valley to play. Golfers are not very patient about slow play, and honestly, the people running courses are not either.

John needed an outlet. He was hitting balls in the yard, but that was not golfing. Besides, a wooded yard is a poor driving range. And make no mistake, John is an enthusiastic golfer. All of you have that one member/passholder at your course that plays every day and is a permanent fixture on your fairways (while driving you half crazy). Compared to John, that person is a once-a-year hacker. This kid plays golf from sunup to sundown. "He plays for twelve or more hours every day," Steve said. "I like golf," John told me. I asked John about his first round this year and he said, "I got par on the first hole."

With John's passion for golf, Steve decided to build a green in the yard. He had help from friends, got advice from a local superintendent and Jacklin Seed donated a little seed, and just like that he was started. "You know, that green is still my best green," Steve told me. After the green was built, Steve thought it might be nice to have a fairway where John could hit longer shots to the green. A friend volunteered his bulldozer to clear trees and do the shaping. Steve started to have bigger thoughts.

Steve began contacting courses around the country. On only Steve's fourth call, he hit the mother lode. He spoke with a club in Las Vegas, and they had just purchased a fleet of equipment. They had a lot of old machinery, and Steve was willing to drive 1500 miles to trailer equipment back to Eureka. They gave the Espinozas a Greens Master 3000, a Toro walk-behind mower, a cart, and parts. They even took the time to sharpen and repair everything before Steve came.

There seems to be no end to people's generosity. Steve's networking has given him connections from New York to California. A country club in Los Angeles gave Steve a large deck mower, which is John's favorite machine (John proudly boasts the ability to mow all the roughs in four hours). Another course gave him a LF-100 and a bunch of reels. Another course gave him one hundred Rainbird sprinklers. A country club in Oregon donated irrigation controllers. Steve did not have solenoids and could not afford Rainbird's price, but after hearing their story, Rainbird gave them solenoids for free. Irrigation pipe has been salvaged from many courses' dump piles. Parts and equipment have come from all over. Many local courses have provided time, labor, and materials as well. Buffalo Hills, Crystal Lakes, Whitefish, Couer d'Alene, Meadow Lake, and the Iron Horse are but a few. In all, Steve estimates he and John have received donations of time, labor, equipment, and materials exceeding $100,000. When talking about everyone that has helped, Steve says, "There are so many people, I can't name them all. I have gotten some really positive feedback. It's a good feeling. People visit our house and say, 'Wow, you really do have a golf course.' The first rule at the golf course is we do it with no money!" Steve has to tell this to all the people coming in to help.

Steve and John welcome people to John's Golf Course. It is a place where kids and disabled people play. In fact, they invite all sorts of disabled kids to play there all the time. This is a course without the stuffiness of a formal golf setting. You can play at any pace. You hit as many shots as you want, and you might even enlist their dog to retrieve balls for you. I am making a trip this summer to play a round with John myself. Steve appreciates any help anyone can give when they visit, and please remember, this is his home, and he has a lot of pride in what they have created. Also, good luck beating John, he sounds like a ringer.

What can you do to help the Espinozas? Frankly, Steve needs all the things we need for our daily operations, but at a smaller scale, and his membership does not care if it is new. Steve says his biggest need is seed and fertilizers. He will take the odd bags you have laying around; we all have some of those. Inventory your facility and I am sure you will find something for John's Golf Course. This is a wonderful thing Steve has done for his son and the local community in Eureka, and I hope the individual courses represented in Peaks & Prairies will find a way to help. To add a twist to Steve's situation, Steve has received a lot of items that he may never use that some of you might need. He has numerous LF-100 reels as well as a lot of other parts. He wants the things he cannot use to go to someone who can.

Every time I have spoken with Steve, he is boiling over with excitement. Steve's pride in John and the enthusiasm this father and son share over John's Golf Course is overwhelming and more than a little contagious. Every little bit donated to the Espinoza family will more than pay for itself with the feeling you get from helping. Steve and John are inspirational. Steve's title in the golf industry has to fall under the category of "Great Dad." If you can help these remarkable people, call Steve's home at (406) 889-3685. Please try to remember the first rule at John's Golf Course, "We do it with no money." However, I can assure you that your help is priceless.

GUEST EDITORIAL
by David B. Fay, USGA Executive Director

The voluntary relationship that state and regional amateur golf associations share with the USGA has flourished for more than 100 years because of a joint commitment to work solely "for the good of the game." The slogan is the USGA's, but it clearly applies to the other amateur golf associations as well. These state and regional associations are the backbone of the USGA's ability to administer the game. Without them, we would not be able to carry out the majority of our programs and services.

Perhaps because the goals and functions of state and regional associations are so similar to those of the USGA, it is often assumed that those organizations are part of the USGA. They aren't. These associations operate independently in conjunction with their own memberships and boards of directors, but they are tied together by their common commitment to golfers.

State and regional associations undertake vital work to ensure the future of the game from coast to coast. At the forefront are programs for juniors, turf research and a host of educational programs. Through charitable foundations, many associations have created innovative career-orientated intern programs, provided inner-city alternative golf facilities and distributed millions of dollars worth of college scholarships to deserving caddies.

Meanwhile, state and regional associations have made perhaps their greatest contributions in the handicapping area. They have made it their responsibility to ensure that the handicap system functions across the country in accordance with USGA guidelines.

In today's environment of computer technology and Internet-led innovations, some clubs and courses may ponder moving away from traditional handicapping formats. They may consider doing their handicapping "in-house" using a national computation and starting time reservation company with the Internet as its communications backbone. At the other end of the spectrum, some club professionals and managers advocate installing a "stand-alone" computation service at their facility.

Either scenario holds the potential for bypassing state and regional associations completely. However, it is only through a state or regional association that one can obtain complete handicap services that include comprehensive course measuring and course rating programs, along with educational seminars, reference manuals and an experienced support staff. It should also be recognized that fees charged by non-profit state and regional associations for such services are not handicap fees. Rather, they are membership dues - funds that are invested back into the game in the form of many meaningful services.

State and regional associations have worked in voluntary and enduring partnership with the USGA for decades. They will continue their unheralded, yet vital, role to provide the best possible services for their many constituents. The USGA will make every effort to ensure the health and viability of these amateur associations.

MONTANA CUP GETS NEW MONIKER

The Montana Cup which annually goes to the winner of the competition between the state's top amateurs and its outstanding pros has been renamed.

In the future this prized piece of hardware will be known as the McNally Cup.

The change was made during the annual meeting of the Montana State Golf Association to honor former board member Dave McNally of Billings. McNally, once top pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, championed the idea of the annual competition and worked tirelessly to make it a reality.

The competition, based loosely on a Ryder Cup format, brings together a team of amateurs chosen primarily from scoring in the State Amateur and a team of pros selected in season long pro-am competition. It has made great strides and has become a target toward which both amateurs and pros work hard. Several amateurs have been heard to say that they compete in the State Amateur not because they feel they have a chance of winning but to have a shot at being selected for the Cup.

MONTANA STATE GOLF ASSOCIATION HAS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Montana State Golf Association quite possibly has an image problem. It is certain that in its new executive director it has a man who intends to work on it. Jim Opitz of Helena, who took over the position in early March from Fraser MacDonald of Butte, is looking forward to what he views as a challenging job and he is loaded with ideas. "I don't want to come in and change everything," he remarked "but there are some things we can do right now." The biggest item on his list is getting all aspects of golf in Montana working together. He said "I think at least some people view the MSGA as just a bunch of 'good old boys.' That is simply not true. It's a bunch of dedicated people but we have to get more people involved."

Along these lines he is looking to involve the Montana State Womens Golf Association, the Seniors, golf professionals, club managers and green superintendents. "We are going to seek input from everyone. We're going to face some hard work but we can get a lot of people involved and that is all for the good of the game."

Opitz, who graduated from Missoula Loyola High School and then attended both the University of Montana and Carroll College, is no stranger to challenges. He started his teaching/coaching career at Stevensville where "I coached everything." He started the golf team at Stevensville and recalls "the membership to the golf course was $5 and they gave you a key to the gate."

After his stint at Stevensville he moved to Helena where he coached at one time or another every sport at Helena Capital including one memorable year, 1983, when his boys team won the State Class AA basketball championship. He is currently activities director for the Helena school system, a post he has held for 7 years and will continue.

His post at Helena fits him uniquely for the job of executive director. He says "I enjoy the administrative side of athletics, coordinating volunteers and putting on events." That is a major portion of the job he is undertaking with the MSGA and the State Mens Amateur at Yellowstone in Billings in July will be his maiden voyage. A job he is looking forward to. He started this job back in 1993 when he became a Public Links liaison with the United States Golf Association. "That gave me an opportunity to see the relationship between a governing body and what it means to the game. I saw all the things an administrative group like the USGA or the MSGA does like rules, tournaments, greens sections and I realized how complex it was and it looked like fun." He added that through that experience and his short tenure with the MSGA he found out "how many people are involved even in a state like Montana and what these many volunteers mean to the game. I'm amazed at the number of hours some of these people are willing to work."

In addition to trying to bring all aspects of the game together, Opitz said he saw a couple of other issues he'd like to address. "We (the MSGA) has to do something more to make it attractive to courses to host one of the four major tourneys (Amateur, Mid-Am, Womens Am and Seniors) so we can get more clubs on the rotation. We have to increase awareness of what the MSGA does and what it means to the average player. We also have to increase public awareness of where the money we receive goes. It doesn't just flow into a black hole."

Sounds like a tall order but Opitz sounds like a man who can accomplish it.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO MSGA TAX DEDUCTIBLE

The Internal Revenue Service has made it more attractive than ever to contribute to the MSGA or to leave bequests to the group in furtherance of the game.

The IRS recently issued a determination letter that makes the MSGA exempt from federal income tax but more importantly, allows the deduction of gifts, contributions and bequests.

The determination letter is the result of a great deal of work including restating the original Articles of Incorporation and the filing of a large amount of documentary evidence. As a result of this the IRS issued the letter in which it said the MSGA could reasonably expect to be viewed as a publicly supported organization.

What this means in simple English is that there are numerous changes that will have to be made in IRS reports from the MSGA.What it means to the average person in Montana interested in the game and the work of the MSGA is that "bequests, legacies, devises, transfers or gifts to (the MSGA) are deductible for Federal estate and gift tax purposes."

That means the MSGA can accept such contributions and bequests and you can take the deduction. This, hopefully, means over the years the MSGA will be the recipient of monies from those who wish to further the game in the State of Montana.

Proceed to the Fall 2000 Newsletter HERE!