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27 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | March 2015 | From The President – Gerry Edmonds: Spring is in the air! Mornings are a little less chilly, plants are beginning to show their colors and the coots are getting ready to make their way home. Just as with nature, the Golf Club is also showing signs that spring is here. We are playing our first major tournament of the year, we are beginning to dispense with our jackets on Tuesday mornings and we are anticipating our first banquet of the year. The Club's Presidents Cup is now underway and likely will be complete as you read this. Tournament Chairperson Dave Balser made some subtle changes to the way in which players were paired for this match play event. As a result, the first day of competition resulted in some exciting matches and held a promise of more to come. Our Spring Banquet is scheduled for March 21 in the Ballroom. Social Committee Chairperson Sue Mushallo has been organizing this event in which the members traditionally salute the winners of the President's Cup and the 2014 Most Improved Golfer. As usual, the evening will feature games, raffles, a slide-show from Blair Becker, and, of course, good food. Members, please set aside the date and buy your tickets at either the clubhouse on Tuesdays mornings or at the Lodge. Revision of the Club's two governing documents, the By-laws and the Procedures, Guidelines and Rules is mostly complete. Helen Johnson, Henry Negrete, Chaz McManis, Ross Thomas and I have put in some time and effort to ensure the documents both reflect the intent of the founding members and provide a path for governing the Club as we move forward. Revision of both documents will have been completed in time for the Club's Board of Directors meeting in mid-February and for presentation to the members at the first quarterly meeting later in the month. Last but certainly not least, Sharon Buckley, Linda Negrete and Carrie Stephens are gearing up for our St. Patrick's Day sweeps. I am sure they will have a few surprises and decorations for our carts on that day. As it is the day we all can be Irish, please join in the festivities and wear a bit o' the green. From the Tournament Chair – Dave Balser: To play in our Tuesday games sign up a week in advance at our prior event or use the sign up sheet located on the bulletin board in the Lodge Game Room, which is available until Sunday noon. Late sign-ups may contact Dave at dbalsertournamentdirector@gmail.com or (760) 436- 6139. March Schedule: 3/3, Check-in 7:30 am Low Gross and Low Net by flight 3/10, Check-in 7:30 am Low Gross and Low Net by flight 3/17, Check-in 7:30 am Partners Scramble by flight 3/24, Check-in 7:30 am Low Gross and Low Net by flight 3/31, Check-in 7:30 am Partners Best Ball by flight Here is the schedule for the Major Tournaments this year: 05/19 MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT-ECLECTIC ROUND 1 05/26 MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT-ECLECTIC ROUND 2 09/01 FOUNDERS CUP MATCH PLAY 09/08 FOUNDERS CUP MATCH PLAY 09/17 FOUNDERS CUP MATCH PLAY 09/22 FOUNDERS CUP MATCH PLAY Note: All others will play Low Gross and Low Net 10/06 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 10/13 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 10/20 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP Note: Best 2 of 3 Rounds From the Membership Chair – Ross Thomas: Not much new to report from the membership chair this month. We have one new member, Edward Sanders, and we welcome him to our club and hope he enjoys the fellowship as well as the competition within the club. This brings our membership to 160 members as of the beginning of February. This then brings me to the real message of this month's newsletter. We have many members, who for one reason or another either don't play with us at all, or play only once in great while, or are very selective about what type of games they play or have health issues keeping them away from our weekly games. Whatever the reason you have for not playing, I would like to hear from you and see if there is something we can do or change that would improve the club and bring you back into the fold on a more regular basis. Please use the email below to correspond to me with your concerns or suggestions. We continue to welcome new members to the club, so take a moment and pick up a membership application from the Lodge front desk and join in the weekly competition and fellowship the club has to offer. Ross Thomas, email, rthomaspa@yahoo.com. From the Rules Chair – Melody Lewis: This month I will address the #5, #6, #7 and #8 most misunderstood rules. These are the rules set in place by the USGA. Please remember that "local rules" will override the rules mentioned here. The #5 most misunderstood rule is the "Yellow Water Hazard." We do not have "yellow stakes" here at Hemet golf club. However, your options would be: 1. Play it from the hazard without grounding the club. 2. Replay the shot from the original position incurring a stroke and distance penalty. 3. Draw a line from the hole to where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard and drop anywhere behind that point keeping the point between you and the hole incurring a one shot penalty. You MUST hit over the hazard. The #6 most misunderstood rule is "removing objects in a bunker." You may not move or remove any loose impediments in the bunker unless they are foreign to the area. A local rule is in effect here. You may remove stones from bunkers. Twigs, leaves, pine cones etc. may NOT be removed. Play the ball as it lies. The #7 most misunderstood rule is "Lost Ball or Out of Bounds." After looking for a maximum of 5 minutes, you must go back to where the shot was originally played from and replay incurring a stroke and distance penalty. A local rule is in affect here as well. We have shortened the search time to 2 minutes. If you believe your ball to be out of bounds or lost, hit a provisional to save time. The #8 most misunderstood rule is "removing loose impediments." If, in removing loose impediments, you accidentally move your ball, you must return the ball to its original position and access yourself a 1-stroke penalty. Golf is one of those games that can be deceptively simple and endlessly complicated!