As you may have read on the Devens Facebook page we are looking to make a few small changes to our weekly league. I thank everyone for their comments and value every opinion. John Borelli created this league nearly 10 years ago and it has grown significantly each and every year since it's inception.
This is the average number of players per night for the last 6 years.
2011 - 20
2012 - 31.06
2013 - 47.52
2014 - 59.12
2015 - 66.58
2016 so far - 86.82
Thats about 430% growth since the 2011 season and there isn't much room for growth left in the current league configuration and, in fact, our participant numbers are already slipping from earlier this season. Aside from being a fun thing to do the league is responsible for keeping the courses in the ground by paying our large annual bills along with providing funds to other courses so that they can install 18 hole courses quicker. We've now donated thousands of dollars to other courses and we should all be proud to be part of the community.
I'm faced with a problem, I don't want it to stop growing but cannot add on additional work involved in running the league and I don't think we need to, in fact, I think we can make it easier on ourselves and get out earlier at the end of every league night in the process. I believe that we can take the system that Tim Seiger built and use it to our advantage. This automated system already cuts about 15 minutes off of the time you spend at league and it eliminates a lot of the leg work during check in and score reporting portions of league so all I'm really asking for here is the cooperation of everyone.
The problems are basic and manageable in smaller leagues but if we want to continue to grow we have to adapt. For the remainder of the season we will be making the following changes.
- we will be cutting off registration at 5:20pm going forward. This must remain firm. If you can't get paid and registered by 5:20 and out to your hole by 5:30 than we cannot hold up a full course. Please plan accordingly if you wish to come to league.
- we will be holding all nightly winnings until the end of the year. I already keep track of your winnings in the standings and I will create a second column with your banked money. I know it is great to be able to walk home with some cash but I think this change is for the better of the entire league. You'll be able to track everything and will either get a cash payment at the bonanza or a paypal payment within a few days of that event. If this does not work for you, I apologize and ask for you to understand that there isn't a great balance here. Mandating that you must be present to accept your cash is not what I think we should do going forward and I cannot be responsible for holding money/paying out on a ongoing and varied basis. One banked amount for everyone works best for me and I hope that's OK with you.
In addition, if everyone follows these simple guidelines we have already made significant improvement and we can continue to grow.
- Report to your assigned hole on time. The automated system places people on the course in the most efficient way possible. We've considered all course flow issues and we ask that you understand that you have been assigned that specific hole for a reason.
- Please keep up the pace of play. We all have individual styles of and we shouldn't need to change our style in order to keep play moving along. A simple protocol would be to keep an eye on those in front of your group and behind your group. If you never have to wait for a group to finish a hole but often have a group waiting behind you than your group is a creating a course flow problem and you should pick up the pace a bit.
We should be able to keep tag distribution the same and ace pot will still be paid out when hit. With banking money people can be free to stay to hang out or head home without the loss of money. You should still grab the highest tag from the board if you leave. My goal is to be done with tag distribution by 8:15. You should aim to be done with your round by 7:50pm at the latest.
Thank you for your cooperation!