Charbonneau Villager Newspaper January 2021 | Page 20

By DON MASON

History of Men ’ s Club

As we start the new year , it is a good time to reflect upon the history of the Men ’ s

MASON

Club . Much of the historical content for this article is based on Ian MacMillan ’ s book “ Golfing in the Village of Charbonneau ” ( 2014 ) ( permission granted to use the content for this article ).

The Charbonneau Men ’ s Club started in 1975 as the Charbonneau Golf and Country Club Association with 73 Charter members . The first Club Championship , held in 1976 , was a 36-hole medal competition with each player submitting his best 18-hole score . By 1979 , the club had grown to 150 members . Typical Wednesday morning play grew to 30 players with Saturday mornings usually 75 players , which reflected that many of the club members were still working during the week . The first Invitational was held upon completion of the green course in 1979 and had 160 entries .

With completion of the green course , the club ’ s membership grew to around 250 members the following year . By 1988 , membership grew to 296 and continued to grow to a peak of 327 as Charbonneau

was built out with additional homes .

During the 1990s , golf began to decline in popularity and Men ’ s Club membership dropped accordingly as some courses began to close . Over recent years , the Men ’ s Club membership recovered to some extent and was 232 during the 2020 season .

Three current Men ’ s Club members , Bruce Stone , Dave Massing and Clair Simmons claim to be the longest continuous members of the Men ’ s Club . They have formed a lifelong friendship and often play together on Saturdays .

Bruce joined in the Men ’ s Club in 1982 . He won the Men ’ s Club Championship in 1997 , 2002 and 2003 . He continues to be one of the lower handicap golfers in the Men ’ s Club and is known for his consistency of play .

Dave joined the Men ’ s Club in 1985 and Clair in 1986 . These two spearheaded the recent successful effort to renovate Green No . 9 which had been a dream of Dave ’ s for more than 25 years .

Very busy golfers in 2020

With much of our regular activities limited by the pandemic , Charbonneau residents turned to the golf course for exercise and camaraderie . For the GHIN reporting year from March 1 to Nov . 30 , Charbonneau Men ’ s Club members posted 8,408 rounds . This works out to an average of 42 rounds of golf per reporting player . This of course does not account for other golf rounds that aren ’ t reported to GHIN where individual scores are not reportable such as scrambles or other rounds played outside the reporting period .

Last month ’ s Villager article mentioned how Alan Southwell and two others had played 220 rounds in one calendar

year , which was thought to be a Charbonneau record . This year , Charbonneau resident Kelly Slayton played 243 GHIN reported rounds between Willamette Valley , where he is a member , and Charbonneau .

Here ’ s a list of other Men ’ s Club members who had busy years playing at least 100 rounds during the GHIN reporting season :

� Dale Owen , 164

� Dave Massing , 158

� John Meyers , 150

� Al Landis , 142

� Bill Bray , 140

� Barry Corno , 140

� Bill Stout , 137

� Tom Taylor , 128

� Don Lloyd , 127

� Jim Homolka , 110

� Jim Bartlett , 110

� Bruce Stone , 107

� Tim Tyler , 103

� Andy Schindler , 103

� Ron Leeper , 102

� Bob Weise , 102

� Ken Waldron , 102

Tentative major events schedule

For planning purposes , the Men ’ s Club is anticipating no pandemic impacts to our normal schedule . As required , adjustments will be made and communicated to this preliminary schedule for the 2021 season as was done during 2020 .

� March 27 : Charbonneau Cup begins

— season-long , net-score competition

� April 3 : Tee-off Breakfast followed by

golf

� May 5 : Men ’ s Night Out

� May 15 / 16 : Spring Handicap

� May 22 : Double Elimination Match

Play , first matches

� May 31 : Memorial Day Couples

Event

� June 16 : Men ’ s Night Out

� June 25 / 26 : Men ’ s Club Shootout

� July 5 : Independence Day Couples

Event

� July 14 : Men ’ s Night Out

� July 24 : 27-hole Match Play

� Aug . 5 / 6 : Men ’ s Invitational

� Aug . 21 / 22 : Club Championship

� Sept . 6 : Labor Day Couples Event

� Sept . 22 : Men ’ s Night Out

� Oct . 2 : Charbonneau Cup Championship

� Oct . 8 : Season Finale Dinner

� Oct . 16 : Annual Business Meeting

with breakfast and golf

Rule of the month

This month ’ s rule review addresses what happens when you accidentally hit the ball with a practice swing or it is knocked off the tee accidently . The rule differs depending on where the accidental hit occurs :

� On the tee box : In this case , when a

practice swing accidently hits the ball or you accidently knock the ball off the tee , you are considered to not have made a stroke , thus you are allowed to re-tee the ball without penalty . See

Rules 6.2b ( 5 ) and 6.2b ( 6 ).

� On the putting green : An accidental

movement of the ball on the putting green is treated in the same manner . You simply put the ball that was accidently moved back to where it was before the unintentional hit , without penalty .

� In all other areas : Since your ball is already in play , causing your ball to move accidentally in this instance is not a “ made ” stroke and you have to put the ball back in its original position . However , you will be assessed a onestroke penalty under Rule 9.4 .