Men's Putters Club History 2006-2014

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2006-2014

Bill Galitz

The roots of our club were planted in 2006. About mid-year Arizona Traditions resident John Stewart asked a number of male residents whether they were interested in participating in a Men's Putters Club. Receiving positive feedback, an "interest" meeting was held in our Sports Bar. About ten attended, including myself. At this meeting a final decision was made to establish the club and it was named "The Old Duffers Putting Club." Eventually club officers were selected, John Stewart becoming President, Chuck Kuckkahn Vice-President and Jim Lawson Secretary/Treasurer. John and Chuck are no longer with us, both having passed away in the last four to seven years. John's memory lives on in the form of our John Stewart Trophy, the annual award given to the putter with the most season holes-in-one. (After John's death this trophy was established in his memory by the new executive board.) Jim Lawson is still a member of our club, you'll run into him on the Great Eagle Green on Fridays.

Friday was selected as the putting day so as not to conflict with the AZT Horseshoes Club days of Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. A number of members of the new putting club were also horseshoes club members. Our putting venue was the Arizona Traditions Golf Club nursery green located behind the course's 17th green and 18th tee. Check-in and payout was held in the Arizona Traditions Golf Club club house. The putting rules we followed were those currently used by the AZT lady putters organized in 2003. These were based upon national rules where lady putting is said to have been first established in the Palm Springs, California area. With experience we would soon modify these rules to suit our own needs.

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2006-2008

After our mid-year 2006 "interest" meeting where it was decided to establish a putting club it took some time to organize our program. By-laws and putting rules had to be established and membership applications and scorecards developed. We borrowed heavily from materials used by the Arizona Traditions Lady Putters. One major problem was we did not have flagsticks so the AZT lady putters graciously let us use theirs to begin our inaugural season. One rule the ladies followed was that putters could only walk on the green when actually putting. Since most of us were experienced golfers and our group was small we felt allowing walking on the green feasible so we permitted it.

Everything finally came together and the first day we putted on the Arizona Traditions Golf Club nursery green was December 15, 2006. At that point we had sixteen paid memberships and fifteen of us walked the green on this first day. Like the ladies we putted only 18 holes. Two of us from this initial group remain putting, Jim Lawson and myself. During this season several other current members joined the club; Roland Benesch, Chuck LaRosa, Phil Russell and Jack Swain. Throughout the season we added a total of fourteen new members, ending our first year with a total membership of 30. Our average season attendance was 18 per session. Payouts were one dollar for each hole in one, our largest session payout being $29. Club records show that we paid Arizona Traditions $398 for nursery green flagsticks on February 2, 2007. It has faded from my memory whether this was 1) to order the flagsticks, or 2) our receipt of the flagsticks.

Our second season began on November 9, 2007 and 19 of us participated at the opening session. Again we putted 18 holes with hole-in-one payouts being one dollar. The season's highest session payout was $33. In late February the club implemented a new Mystery Hole Payout of $5. Fourteen of these Mystery Hole payouts depleted the club treasury by $70. Out total membership for the year was 32 but our average session attendance was down to 15. Current members who joined the club during this second season were Carl Larson, Richard Silady and Bill Tegan.

The club-by-laws restricted the executive term to two years so at our annual meeting in March, 2008 a new executive board was elected. The new officers were:

President: Bill Tegan

Vice President: Phil Russell

Secretary/Treasurer: Bill Galitz

Director: Gary Olson

Director: Jim Lawson

A compilation of putter holes-in-one statistics found the putter with the most aces (41) in the 2007-2008 season was the newly elected club Secretary/Treasurer.

Late in the summer of 2008, as the new board prepared for our third season, a problem arose that threatened the club's continued existence.

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2008-2009

Late in the summer of 2008 the two new board members permanently residing in Arizona Traditions (Bill Tegan and myself) were planning our next season when yhe crisis arose. New AZT golf course management advised us that their fee for this new season would be $5.00 per person instead of $2.00. This would raise our putting fee from $4.00 to $7.00 per putter, an increase of 150%. (For the women the increase would be 250% as they had only paid a $1.50 putter fee to the golf club.) Aligning our club with the ladies club, we did some research and found all other putting clubs were paying $1.50 or $2.00 to their respective golf clubs. We felt that to accept the clubs unreasonable monetary demand would have a detrimental affect on membership and could possibly lead to our Club’s demise.

Along with some summer-residing lady putter officers we held a couple of not very friendly meetings with the new golf course manager. We were never able to convince him that his price increase was unacceptable. He did offer us one compromise, free coffee during our check-in process at the golf club house. We reminded him that coffee before putting would require a facility to deposit "processed" coffee and no such facility was available. We rejected his offer.

When things look bleakest one lady putter officer, a former resident of Happy Trails, suggested we investigate whether we could putt at the Great Eagle Golf Club nursery green used by the Happy Trails ladies putting club. This green was conveniently located just inside the cart/walking gate to Happy Trails. We contacted the club manager, Keith, and he welcomed us with open arms, saying his fee would be the same as we had been paying at Arizona Traditions. Now, a putting venue problem solved, in addition to planning for our new season we had to coordinate a move to a new venue.

Now able to fully concentrate on our program, since we felt check-in and payout at the green would be inconvenient we chose AZT's Neighborhood Center as the location for these activities. Another early action was to change the club's name from the "Old Duffers Men's Putting Club" to the "Arizona Traditions Men's Putting Club." We felt the term "Old Duffers" did not accurately reflect the excellent golfing capabilities, and relatively young ages of many of our potential members. We were concerned that the existing name might discourage some residents from joining so in October the club by-laws were amended to reflect our new name.

Program-wise, our goal was to provide a greater variety of competitions, to increase payouts, and to provide less-skilled putters more opportunities to receive monetary rewards. Looking to expand payouts we established a program to reward scores in addition to holes-in-ones. We established handicaps and began a payout for the lowest gross and net scores. Since putting 18 holes was passing fairly quickly we also explored ways to extend our putting morning. Our solution was the initiation of a program we called "special events." These events, run after our 18 holes of regular putting, included events like a nine hole most aces team competition, an individual or team "shoot-out, and a long hole putt competition.

We also learned that Happy Trails did not have a men's putting club so, since we were now using their golf club's nursery green, we began to solicit members from our neighboring community. Three Happy Trails residents joined our club in our first season at Great Eagle, including Paul Stark who remains a member today. Also joining us during this season were AZT residents and current club members Tom Cosgrove, Larry Dustrud and Dick Leins.

The Arizona Traditions lady putters, having vacated the AZT nursery green, had left behind several benches. We moved them to Great Eagle for the ladies and refurbished them, providing seating for all putting clubs using the green. Over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays we also invited our wives and lady friends to join us, a tradition we maintain today. For publicity we also began submitting monthly articles to AZT's monthly publication Traditions Today.

At our annual meeting in March two new directors joined our executive board, Richard Silady and Paul Stark. Richard assumed chairmanship of the set-up committee and Paul became the Happy Trails coordinator. Club members also approved post-season putting beginning in May and pre-season putting in October. Our luncheon was held at China Buffet.

The member with the most season holes-in-one was the president, Bill Tegan with 50. At the completion of our first season at Great Eagle our membership had expanded to 38 and our average weekly attendance was 23.

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2009-2010

At our kick-off meeting in October, now having welcomed new members from Happy Trails, we expanded our membership offer to other senior communities in the Surprise area. The first to take advantage of this offer was Ed Archambault from Sun City West. Ed continues putting with us and is now "official" club photographer. His many photos will be found on or website. At his meeting it was also announced that the maximum score on a hole would now be 3. We had done an analysis and found that so few 4s were recorded on holes that the 3 limit would slightly speed up play. Among the season's several special events (36 hole most aces and most points, 6 long holes with funnels, short hole 2nd 18, etc.) was the new "perfect attendance" award to be held on the first Friday of each month.

Over the summer we had purchased a storage container for our flagsticks, tee markers, score boards and other assorted equipment. These items would no longer have to be stored in a club members garage and hauled to and from the green each week. In our pre-season and year-end holiday putting we also invited our wives and lady friends to join us. In addition to Ed Archambault, those club members who joined us this season and are still putting are Larry Czochara from AZT, and Gene Milleville, Jerry Penningroth, and Sam Throm from Happy Trails.

Late in 2009 the Great Eagle Golf Club was purchased by the same organization that owned the Arizona Traditions Golf Club. The new Great Eagle manager was the same individual who had tried to significantly raise our putting fee at AZT in 2008. The lady putters board feared they would now "...find themselves at the mercy of one person..." who had previously tried to raise putting fees. Consequently, the Lady Putters submitted a proposal requesting that the AZT Homeowners Association construct a putting green within a community green space. Maintenance would require among other things "Keeping the grass short (mowing several times a week)" and "Moving holes once a month." The Men's Putters Club was asked to join in this proposal and we refused to do so because 1) we now had members from Happy Trails, 2) lawn grass was not a suitable surface for putting since most of our members were conditioned to properly constructed and maintained golf course greens, 3) maintenance of this green would require a lot of work, 4) little parking was available at the proposed site, and 5) we were happy at Happy Trails. Without our support the ladies pushed ahead with their proposal. The months ahead would be rocky for our club and the ladies.

A season innovation was the establishment of a club tourney. Held in March, it lasted three weeks and was a holes-in-one elimination tourney. This different format was chosen to distinguish it from the season-long most holes-in-one tourney. Held over three flights, the flight championship winners were Bill Tegan (A), Ed Steineke (B) and Dick Liens (C).

Another innovation was establishment of an annual Most Valuable Putter award. At our annual meeting our first MVP was Chuck Kuckkhan. A meeting agenda item was the election of officers for 2010-2011. Since no nominations for new officers were received the current Club President, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer and the Directors agreed to serve another year. To do so, however, required a modification of the by-laws to eliminate the two-year officer term limit. The club membership approved a by-laws change that allowed officers serve more than two years.

At the conclusion of the season our membership stood at 51, nine members being residents of Happy Trails. The winner of the season's Most Holes-in-One tourney was Richard Silady with 48.

In May the Executive Board, to honor our founder John Stewart, created an award to be given to the club member with the most season holes-in-one. The John Stewart award was to forever recognize John for being the founder of the Arizona Traditions Men’s Putting Club, and also for his long and dedicated service to the club. The first winner of this award, Richard Silady, donated a trophy to the club as a permanent memento of John's accomplishments. This trophy was to be given to each succeeding season's holes-in one leader.

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2010-2011

Over summer the lady putters continued to push for their own green in Arizona Traditions. The prospective venue had, however, changed to a green space adjacent to Happy Trails. Unfortunately, one club member lived across from this green space and, joined by another club member, they strongly opposed installation of this green. Their opposition was interpreted by the lady putters as also the position of the Men's Putters Club. This was not true. We informed the ladies that Men's Putters position had always been that our club ... "has never taken, and will not take, a position that neither supports or opposes the Lady Putters attempt to build a putting area within AZT." We also reminded the ladies that individual members of any organization have a right in a democracy to take individual positions on any matter.

Damage had been done to us, however. A number of our club members whose wives were lady putters resigned from men's putters. Similarly, several members of the AZT Horseshoes Club resigned saying they did not want to participate because a number of horseshoes members were also Men's Putter Club members. It was on this contentious note that our new season began. (To this day a putting green for the women has not yet been built in Arizona Traditions.)

In our club championship held in March the flight winners were Larry Dustrud (A), Carl Larson (B) and Sam Throm (C). At our Annual Meeting the Executive Board was re-elected to another term and the Most Valuable Putter (MVP) award was given to Larry Dustrud. The putter with the most season holes-in-one with 46 was Paul Stark, and he was given possession of the John Stewart Trophy. At the end of the season our membership had shrunk to 46, primarily due to the loss of members because of the issues with the lady putters proposal for a green in Arizona Traditions.

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2011-2012

Compared to season's past 2011-2012 was a docile year. No controversies occurred that had to be addressed. The club was saddened, however, by the death of our founder John Stewart in September 2011.

We continued to putt 18 holes followed by various special events. In February Bill Tegan announced that he had to step down from club presidency. I was asked to complete his term and Dick Leins was appointed to complete my term as secretary/treasurer.

Our club tournament in March was reduced to two flights and the Flight A winner was Ed Archambault and Phil Russell captured the Flight B trophy.

During the season Ed Archambault created and implemented our Google website which we still currently use.

At our Annual Meeting in March Dick Leins and I were elected to continue as President and Secretary/Treasurer. For our Most Valuable Putter award the Executive Board authorized that two awards be presented, one each for an Arizona Traditions and Happy Trails member. The AZT MVP was Tom Cosgrove and the Happy Trails MVP was Tom Harding. At this meeting the membership also authorized expanding our putting morning from 18 to 36 holes in order to provide a longer putting session. For the second 18 we would only "one putt" for holes-in-one. To cover the additional payout the membership authorized increasing the daily putting fee from $4.00 to $5.00.

The winner of the John Stewart trophy was Ed Archambault with 44 season holes-in-one. Our membership remained stable, we ending the season with 45 members.

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2012-2013

This season we initiated our new 36 hole putting session. We also implemented a new Team Championship. Four teams were established, each team being led by a past winner of the John Stewart Trophy for most season holes-in-one. These team captains were Ed Archambault, Richard Silady, Paul Stark and Bill Tegan. The competition was broken into four segments; November-December, January, February and March. The winner of each segment and the season received payouts.

In November a holes-in-one record was set. Mike Schmid navigated the first 18 holes in a seven under par 29. His scorecard: 121 222 122 - 15 221 122 112 - 14 = 29

Our club tourney was held in March. The overall champions were Larry Atherton in Flight A and Carl Larson in Flight B. In Flight A Roland Benesch won the 1^st Consolation and Phil Russell the 2^nd Consolation. In Flight B the respective 1^st and 2^nd Consolation winners were Tom Cosgrove and Bob Tomisser.

In our first team competition the season winner was Team Tegan, narrowly edging Teams Archambault, Silady and Stark.

At our Annual Meeting the Most Valuable Putter award was given to Mike Schmid. The current slate of officers were also re-elected for 2013-2014. I remained club President and Dick Leins, Secretary/Treasurer; Phil Russell, Vice-President; and Richard Silady and Paul Stark Directors, retained their offices

In the John Stewart Tourney Richard Silady emerged victorious with 77 season holes-in-one. The race was not decided until the last day, I finishing 2nd with 76 aces followed by Harry Evans with 75.

We concluded the season with 45 members.

MEN'S PUTTERS CLUB HISTORY - 2013-2014

Over the summer the benches our club had refurbished for the lady putters when we moved to Great Eagle had deteriorated and were becoming unusable Together, the Arizona Traditions and Happy Trail ladies clubs decided to each purchase three new benches for their club and share them among themselves. When not in use the ladies decided to chain them to the fence at each end of the green so they could not be stolen. Their storage positions were at the far east and west ends of the green, positions not readily usable for us. We found ourselves "Benchless in Happy Trails" for the new season.

Fortunately, the Arizona Traditions community unknowingly came to our rescue. Over the summer community management wanted to replace two wooden benches at AZT's horseshoe pits with two white benches that matched two other white benches already at the pits. The red wooden benches were to be trashed. I saw a solution to our "benchless" problem, the benches were ideal for men's putters at the green. In my capacity as president of the horseshoes club I secured community permission to sell them to the putters club. We did so and then moved them to the green. We were no longer "Benchless in Happy Trails."

These two benches have an interesting history. The wood they are constructed of originally comprised the AZT horseshoe pit backboards. Because these backboards were quite tall horseshoe club members could not stand behind them for protection and easily see the pit in front of themselves. So, the boards were eventually greatly reduced in height and a high see-through wire fences were added. Horseshoe club members then used this discarded wood to construct the two benches, as well as a large table that still sits at the pits. So, as you rest your weary butt on these benches imagine all the horseshoes that may have once pummeled the wood upon which you sit. As far as the ladies putters are concerned, we welcomed you to use our new benches, even if you did not reciprocate.

Early in the season club member John Fetch recommended that we create a most-holes-in-one tournament for members who did not arrive until after the year-end holidays. The competition for the John Stewart trophy was a season-long endeavor, a tourney in which those here only part of the season could not win. The Executive Board reviewed John's request and readily agreed with his proposal. Thus was born a tourney that would only consume January through March. After much discussion about naming, the board, very creatively, settled on calling it the "Winter-Spring Tourney."

In December Mike Schmid tied a club record with 10 holes-in-one over the 36 hole round. Mike shared the record with Larry Dustrud who had also scored 10 aces a few years earlier.

In our club tourney Flight A championship in March Jerry Penningroth edged Larry Millar and I in an 18 hole playoff that went extra holes before the winner was determined. Our putting in the playoff was quite a bit less than sparkling. The Flight B champion was Manny Miron.

At our Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon at China Buffet our Most Valuable Putter Award was presented to Harry Evans. We also made a charitable contribution to the First Tee youth golf program.

In the John Stewart Tourney I managed to come out on top with a season total of 88 holes-in-one. Trailing were Richard Silady (78), Paul Stark (70) and Harry Evans (68). In the Winter-Spring Tourney, when it became evident that the same putter could win both tourneys, the board decided that should this happen, the trophy would go to the second place finisher. It happened and the trophy was awarded to Larry Millar who finished second. The winner of the season's team competition was Team Silady.

(To be continued)