OFWW Newsletter March 2024
Message from the President
It’s great seeing the surge in Bash and Play Day participation with the beautiful southeast Texas weather! The increase in participation does, however, bring with it a reminder for us all to maintain a reasonable pace of play. Slow play usually results in a lot of standing around time during which players can struggle to maintain focus on the game which often leads to increased frustration levels. Over time it can also lead to a reduction in event participation.
The OFWW Special Golf Rules ( https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/9972745625546016418 ) include items to facilitate a reasonable pace of play. These include allowing putts within a scorecard length to be picked up and taking “max double bogey” score on a hole, as well as recommending that everyone play “ready golf”. Stan Coburn (Tournament Chair) has also adjusted Bash Formats by having all players on the same tees and occasionally limiting teams to three players. These generally help when followed, but there are opportunities for individual players to improve how they play the game as well.
The linked Golf Monthly article - “11 Ways to Improve Golf’s Pace of Play” (https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/golf-rules/how-can-we-improve-golfs-pace-of-play-81378) includes good tips for addressing some of the more common causes of slow play. I encourage everyone to read the article while sipping your favorite beverage, contemplate which may apply to you, and adopt them into your future rounds.
The Golf Monthly article also indicates how “course setup” can impact pace of play as well - something I hadn’t considered when this topic has come up in the past, but makes sense and could be applicable in COK. I plan to mention these setup items to COK Management at the next Golf Committee meeting.
“You swing your best when you have the fewest things to think about” - Bobby Jones
David Wenner, OFWW President
March Bash
Please check in with Chris when you arrive so we can be sure we have complete teams or adjust as needed.
If you need to cancel during the signup period, you can go into Golf Genius during the signup period and cancel. If you need to cancel after the signup period, please send an e mail to both Tim and Stan letting them know as soon as possible including the night before Christopher.Reiner@invitedclubs.com or Stancoburn20@Gmail.com
If you don’t cancel you will still be charged the registration fee.
Sign up will be using Golf Genius. Please look for the mail with the sign-up link or you can go to KCC-OFWW.GolfGenius.com.
Please feel free to send Stan a note with any comments or suggestions. Stancoburn20@Gmail.com
2024 Preliminary Bash Schedule
The monthly bashes are a team event and a great way to meet new people and compete for slightly higher cash prizes.
The bashes are generally held the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 9am except for January (3rd Tuesday) and December (1st Tuesday).
March 12 - Island
April 9 - Lake
May 14 - Marsh
June 11 - Lake
July 9 - Forest
August 13 - Island
September 10 - Marsh
October 8 - Forest
November 12 - Island (Breakfast, Meeting & Draft Before)
December 3 - Lake (1st Tuesday and Social After)
A social with beer and soft drinks is usually planned after the bash in the scoring area for all bashes except for November and December.
Please remember that this is a preliminary schedule and subject to change.
February 2024 Bash Results
Play Days
The play days are a great way to have a tournament type competition and win some money. Stroke play in one of 3 flighted fields for a very small entry fee. You sign up for any available tee time and you can meet other golfers by signing up to play with different golfers each time.
You can also find the results for each play day under the results tab on the OFWW website.
Couple of things to note:
You do not need to check in at the pro shop before the play day. The starter notes the information for billing.
You must enter your score in the Golf Genius app. You do not need to turn in a paper scorecard.
You do not need to enter your score into the GHIN system. The pro shop transfers it over.
Payouts for winning are credited to your golf shop credit book account once a month. Players should check the amounts to verify they are correct. Questions about the amounts should go to Chris Reiner.
The play day participants are sorted into 3 nearly equal groups based on a handicap ranking for skins game and for performance payouts.
We are playing lift clean and place for all rounds between November 1 and March 31.
If you sign up for a play day but then find you will not be able to play, we are asking that you cancel your teem time. No shows result in having less than a foursome, cause us balancing problems with the flights and create unequal payouts. To help with this problem and to make things easier for you to cancel at the last minute we are implementing the following procedures:
The sign-up sheet will now stay open until 6:30 am the day of the playday.
If you can’t play, please cancel before that time. This will also allow players to sign up until that time as well.
Flights will be balanced at that time and will not be adjusted once the round starts.
If a player is a no show, or does not finish the round, they will be charged the $3 fee.
We are hopeful these changes will help you and help the play days run smoother.
The play day schedule for March is:
March 12 - Island
April 9 - Lake
May 14 - Marsh
June 11 - Lake
July 9 - Forest
August 13 - Island
September 10 - Marsh
October 8 - Forest
November 12 - Island (Breakfast, Meeting & Draft Before)
December 3 - Lake (1st Tuesday and Social After)
The OFWW policy allows any member to play the forward tees on the Island course without any restrictions. OFWW members can also elect to play the Combo Tees with no restrictions. Please make sure you indicate that on the tee sheet when you sign up.
Golf Genius OFWW Member Portal
All of the content for the OFWW is in the Golf Genius Member Portal. Please visit the site at WWW.KCC-OFWW.Golfgenius.com or using the GG App every once in a while. Lots of good information, play day and bash results, event sign up and other information. Updates and Training materials, including FAQs to help with the complete transition to Golf Genius (GG) can be found under the “News” tab.
OFWW Interclub
The Kingwood OFWW has two teams that participate in the "North Houston Retired Senior Men's Golf Association". Each team plays home and away matches at other participating clubs, usually on Thursdays. It is a great way to meet people, participate in exciting competitions and play different clubs for just a cart fee. You do not have to play every week.
From the end of February to mid October, the teams play weekly matches with 11 other country clubs in the North Houston and Montgomery County area. The clubs include April Sound, Atasocicta, Bentwater, Elkins Lake, Hearthstone, Lake Windcrest, Northgate, Panorama, River Plantation, Walden Lake Conroe and Walden Lake Houston. It is a great way to play these other courses for just a cart fee.
The 2024 season will start at the end of February. To join a team contact:
Joe Blankenship - Captain Marsh Team (joeblankenship54@gmail.com)
or
Patrick Freeh - Captain Lake Team (execgolfer@yahoo.com)
Or reply to OFWWkingwood2022@Gmail.com and one of the captains will contact you.
OFWW Member Hole-In-One
Congratulations to Joe Baehl for his hole in one on #14 of the Forest Course during the OFWW Play Day on February 20th. Joe used a 9 iron on the 115 yard hole. The shot was witnessed by his playing partners Charlie DeVoe, Dick Ellis and Tony Larossa. Joe is a member of the hole in one club and earned $360 for that shot.
To join or resign from the Hole in One club please go to Golf Genius using this link Join HIO Pot https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/8279458090852566906
If you get a hole in one during a playday or Bash to please notify Chris Reiner Christopher.Reiner@Invitedclubs.com and Jack Alexander at Jalexand76@Aol.com about that. The Golf Genius system doesn’t necessarily flag your hole in one, for example if your score on that hole is tied with somebody else. Please tell Tim the hole and course, witnesses, club used, enclose a picture if you took one, etc. If you are in the hole in one pot Chris can get the payout process started.
Please do participate in the HIO pot and win some money to buy your playing partners drinks.
2024 OFWW Officers
Please feel free to reach out to any of the officers with your questions, comments, and suggestions. The board works hard with the club pros, primarily Tim, to run the play days, bashes, and other events.
2024 OFWW Officers
President David Wenner david.wenner@icloud.com
VP Alex Mentakis mentakisa@gmail.com
Secretary Jack Alexander jalexand76@aol.com
Treasurer Marty Blick martinsblick@gmail.com
Tournaments Stan Coburn stancoburn20@gmail.com
IT Support Brent Johnston oedude@suddenlink.net
Lake Team Captain Patrick Freeh execgolfer@yahoo.com
Marsh Team Captain Joe Blankenship joeblankenship54@gmail.com
Member at Large Gilles de Beaumont gdebeau@gmail.com
Treasurers Report February 2024
The OFWW is currently tracking closely to budget.
Please feel free to contact David (President) or Marty (Treasurer) if any questions about the financials.
Kingwood Country Club Tournament Director Chris Reiner
Chris can be reached at 713 647 1779 and his e mail is Christopher.Reiner@invitedclubs.com