What can the Chicago District
Golf Association offer?

by Tom Richardson
Glencoe Park District
&
Robert Markionni
Chicago District Golf Association

"The Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) is a nonprofit association of member clubs located in Illinois and three surrounding states. The organization, formed in 1914, is run by amateur golfers for the benefit and promotion of golf in the district," according to "At A Glance," a CDGA publication.

The Facility Management Section of the Illinois Park & Recreation Association (IPRA) "...serves its section members in their pursuit of the advancement and promotion of quality recreation facilities in the State of Illinois," according to the IPRA publication,"Facilities In The State Of Illinois Directory."

On the surface, these two statements of purpose seem generally compatible. Past Winnetka Park Board President Ray Zanarini, also a CDGA board member, knew better and saw the possibility of a strong association between the two entities. A meeting among IPRA staff and Facility Management Section members and staff/leadership of the CDGA confirmed that each association had a great deal to offer one another. This is a case of the

public and the private meeting to serve the needs of one another.

What can the CDGA offer?

Membership in the CDGA will provide many benefits to your golfers, the administrative personnel at your club and your course.

Benefits to your golfers include: an official USGA Handicap through Golf Handicap Information Network (GHIN), administered by a full-time staff knowledgeable in all areas of golf administration; the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of tournaments, which have been expanded this year; a quarterly golf magazine, "Chicago District Golfer," which will keep golfers up-to-date on the latest news in the world of golfing in general and in the CDGA in particular.

Services provided to the administrative personnel at your club include: support and assistance from a full-time staff of golf administrators who are extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of the sport and can answer questions quickly and efficiently; a comprehensive schedule of seminars and workshops that key personnel at your course can attend. (The CDGA recently conducted a Handicap Conference for member clubs in which more than 220 individuals representing almost 70 CDGA clubs participated); a service to handle handicap emergencies that arise on weekends and holidays; and a handicap manual that explains policy and procedures as well as the GHIN system in detail.

Services and benefits to your course include: the services of the CDGA Turfgrass Advisor Dr. Randy Kane who will answer turf questions and, on request from your superintendent, visit your course. There is no charge for this service to member clubs. Another service to courses is that the course will be measured and rated by the highly-qualified CDGA rating team. A third service is a service that recommends how the holes on your course should be handicapped (stroke allocation) which is available upon request.

What can IPRA offer?

Simply put, more members means the CDGA can expand its services and develop new programs. Much the way IPRA, NRPA and other organizations respond when asked how they could improve, they answer, "By expanding the membership base so that our services can reach more people."

As CDGA membership continues to grow, CDGA will be able to increase services and attain the goals set for itself. The obvious benefit of that is that members' courses and their golfers will have a more diverse and larger group of people with similar interests to talk to and help improve themselves.

Some barriers

Until recently, golf courses could not join the CDGA. Membership could only be extended to a men's and/or women's golf club at the course. A golf club is defined by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as: "...an organization of at least 10 individual members which operates under by-laws with a committee appointed of the USGA Handicap System. Its members must have a reasonable and regular opportunity to play golf with each other and be able to personally return scores or score cards for posting. An organization of amateur golfers at a public golf course is considered a golf club, provided that it satisfies the conditions stated in this paragraph..." (CDGA requires 20 individual members).

It is these clubs that are eligible to apply for CDGA membership. If accepted, the golf club as well as the golf course receives benefits or membership. At many publicly owned facilities, men's and/ or women's golf clubs and the course management personnel do not always communicate, and many of the managers do not realize the services available to them through the CDGA.

On the other hand, many of the men's and women's golf club officers are unaware of the CDGA services available to the administrative personnel at the course. It is desirable, therefore, that the golf clubs and course managers work more closely in order to take full advantage of all CDGA services.

Another problem that arises is when these golf club memberships are full, there is a waiting list to join. Also, many golf clubs have weekly events, tournaments, etc. Let's say that the clubs' weekly events are on Saturdays. There are some individuals who would like to join, but they work every Saturday and cannot participate in the events. As a course manager, you probably do not want to tell potential club members that they can or cannot join. A solution is to form a second golf club at the course. As long as the club meets all USGA requirements, it can apply for CDGA membership and receive all of the benefits.

New CDGA memberships

Several meetings were held with CDGA Executive Director Dennis Davenport and Director of Handicapping and Member Services Robert Markionni. As many as 27 public golf course operators affiliated with IPRA were involved in two of the meetings. A result of those meetings showed universal agreement that a closer association between the CDGA and the golf courses with which IPRA has contact would be desirable.

To accommodate public courses that do not have men's or women's golf clubs, the CDGA board of directors approved the creation of a facility membership which began last March. Clubs that apply for and are accepted as facility members will receive the following benefits: course measuring and rating for a reduced fee; eligibility to attend CDGA sponsored seminars and workshops; participate in the CDGA Annual Survey; the services of CDGA Turfgrass Advisor Dr. Kane; and a limited number of association magazines, "Chicago District Golfer," sent to the facility for distribution.

Individuals who play golf at facility member courses are not eligible to participate in the CDGA tournaments and are not eligible to receive the benefits of individual membership which includes handicaps.

If, within a reasonable period of time, the facility forms a golf club and applies to the CDGA for membership, the club will receive credit or a refund for dues and fees paid to the CDGA while a facility member.

The Chicago Park District's six golf courses became CDGA's first facility member and will now analyze the benefits and decide whether to become associate or regular members beginning next year.

The goal of this article is to make public golf course operators aware of another way to improve services to golfers. The Chicago District Golf Association has much to offer. It is willing to help and has shown that through its working with IPRA and some if its public golf course administrators.