News

It’s hard to believe that summer is winding down. The days are getting shorter, the nights a little cooler and the kids are already back in school. We certainly have noticed a difference at the Club in the last few weeks with less junior activity and over 100 seasonal employees saying their goodbyes and going back to school.

In talking with the various committees, the feedback on the staff service levels have been excellent this year. For the first time in several years, our staffing levels were nearly full in all areas of the Club and the team leaders were able to focus on training and effectively running the departments. The management team at the Club has met with all seasonal employees and have discussed options for the 2023 season; our hope is to bring as many of the staff back to the Club as possible to keep continuity with the members. With so many staff members being high school or college aged young adults, many will apply for the Egypt Valley Scholarship. If you haven’t yet seen the communication from the Club on the Egypt Valley Scholarship Foundation, please look for it in the coming days and consider supporting this worthwhile cause!

With the coming of fall, we start to look at all of the things that need to happen to keep the property and membership strong. Not only do we aerate the courses, we begin many other maintenance projects around the grounds and clubhouse. All of the members that have been able to golf during the last few weeks have noticed the cart path replacement project. We invested over $125,000 in cart path maintenance this year and have further cart path upgrades budgeted for the coming years that fit in with the Golf Course Master Plan. Our Greens and Finance Committees have been tasked with making recommendations to the Board for further capital projects over the next year and we expect to possibly see some of that work start as early as this fall. Our dues structure transition to operating dues and capital dues—combined with the capital planning tool developed by Management and Club Benchmarking—should give us the blueprint to upgrade or replace the highest impact areas of the property in the coming years.

As it relates to membership levels, Hunter Stringfellow and the team have continued their good work of showing prospective members all that Egypt Valley has to offer. We continue to maintain full membership levels and currently have 11 applicants on the waiting list for playing membership, and other prospective members interested in joining the waitlist. We have received very positive feedback from the membership at large this year, and while we always have some turnover at the end of the year, we are expecting a very steady membership base heading into 2023.

On September 26, we will have our annual meeting of the membership at the Club, where we will discuss various departmental updates. You have likely already received notices of the nominations for the Board of Directors, as well as a proxy vote to return to the Club if you can’t attend in person. While I encourage all members to attend the annual meeting in person if possible, please submit your proxy vote if you are unable to attend. It’s imperative that we get enough representation from the members to have a quorum and conduct the Club’s business.

Finally, a few “thank-yous” are in order. First, thank you to the Nominating Committee of Katy Lewis, Mark Mossing, Kasie Smith, Joe Amaya and Paul Flynn for their time and dedication of vetting potential board members. It’s not easy to vet members and recruit them to the board role, but it’s critical to our long-term success.

Second, thank you to Troy Schrock for agreeing to run for the open board position. For those who don’t know, Troy has been a member for over 20 years, and has spent nearly 10 years on the House Committee; his skills and knowledge will be very helpful in guiding the Club forward.

Lastly, we all have to thank Mike McGivney for his six years on the board, including several years as Vice President and Secretary. Mike’s love for Egypt Valley and concern for the member experience and making this Club the best place it can be is evident from the first time talking with Mike. While he is looking forward to being “just a guy” at the Club going forward after retiring from the board, if you see him please tell him “thank you” for everything he has done to make Egypt Valley the special place that it is.

Justin Karl
Club President