Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – The Evolution of the General Manager Concept Begins (1987) 

When Temple Terrace Outdoors transitioned to a private club, their organization chart, if they had one, would have literally reflected “management by committees”. A committee either did the work themselves or if there was a paid employee in that area of the business, he or she “worked for” the responsible Committee.

The Head Pro worked for the Pro Shop Committee, although he had a degree of autonomy because he had a personal services contract to fall back on; the Head Greens Keeper worked for the Greens Committee; and the Club Manager, when there was one, worked for the House Committee. When the first bookkeeper was hired, she worked for the Finance Committee, etc. Remember the $40,000 annual operating budget the Board based the initial $10 a month Senior Dues on in 1958? Well, most of that money was allocated to the Greens Committee, but other Committees were given a small piece of it.

The Social Committee was given a budget for the year of about $800 and maintained their own checking account to manage it. When they held those quarterly dinner dances at the hotel in downtown Tampa, their objective was to break even. If they estimated the cost of the food, the band and the room rental would be $1,500 and they thought 300 people would attend, they’d price the tickets at $5 and use their budget to make up for any overestimating or maybe buy a few door prizes.  The books of the club only reflected a net $800 entertainment expense over the course of the entire year.

The Tournament Committee ran the tournaments and kept their own books, the Entertainment Committee worked the same way; when they started the July 4^th event, they used their budget to buy the fireworks, but when they held events that required buying a ticket to attend, the objective was generally to break even.

Things changed a little after the clubhouse was built and a Clubhouse Manager was hired. Committees still did their food and beverage events; they just used the club’s new facilities. The House Committee was still in charge of the F&B operation; the Clubhouse Manager was more like a lead employee. It was the committee or the Board that usually set prices. When a member ordered the 60-cent  burger and fries plate with a couple of beers, there was no detailed ticket generated for tracking sales, only a piece of paper with $1.15 on it that was usually paid in cash. Not what you would call a tightly controlled operation.

Throughout the sixties, things evolved somewhat and in 1967 they began identifying food, liquor and beer sales on individual tickets. Not many details on F&B revenues generated during this period are available, but there is a reference to the food and beverage sales for one month being $5,000, split into 60% liquor sales, 22% beer sales and 18% food sales. (Obviously, “Man does not live by bread alone”).

In the seventies, Boards began paying a little more attention to the cost of those sales, but committees still had different priorities on pricing strategies, i.e., sometimes to maximize member participation and other times to make a little money.  

Around 1980, the Board began placing an increased level of emphasis on the need to treat the Food & Beverage operation as playing a strategic role in the Club’s financial survival; however, their inability to reach real consensus on their bottom-line objective was probably a big part of the reason there were seven different Clubhouse Managers during a five-year period and nine in less than seven years. 

The problem came to a “head” so to speak at a Board Meeting in July 1987 when, as the last item on the Agenda, President Vince Head appointed Brian Hawke, Bud Wilmath, Ed Simmon and himself to function as a “GM Concept Committee” to study the idea of hiring a General Manager (GM) to handle all the Club’s day-to-day operations.

In October, Brian Hawke presented the Committee’s recommendation that the Board begin searching for a General Manager to be in place by the end of March 1988 and that current Club Manager, Hal Hedges, be a candidate for the position and be given the responsibility on an interim basis. 

Under the General Manager concept, the Board’s role would change significantly, moving from “operational” and “tactical” to “strategic”. No longer would the Board or a Committee set the menu price of that Hamburger and French fry plate. That would be the GM’s problem to solve. The Board would define an F&B strategy, and the GM would determine the tactics to get there. The message would be consistent; no longer would two or three Committees with differing objectives be in the ear of the Club Manager or the Greens Keeper.

In 1956, the original seven-member Board knew they didn’t have the time, the money or the expertise to be successful without adding a lot of employees they couldn’t afford to pay, so they chose to spend a majority of Club revenues on physical infrastructure and depend on committees comprised of members to accomplish most typical “employee” functions like bookkeeping, event planning, new member recruiting and even direct supervision of their few actual employees.

The approach worked well while the Club was small enough to produce handwritten, one-page financial statements from their “check book” accounting system and, it was feasible to run down to the local grocery store when they ran out of hamburger buns, and they were able to keep track of event schedules and accounts payable deadlines on their desk calendars. But over the course of thirty years, that original $40,000 Operating Budget had grown to over a million dollars and the complexities of management had increased proportionately.

The specific reasons offered by the Committee for justifying the move included the following:

• “Board members who handle club business generally do not have the experience, nor are they willing to devote the required time to the task they have been assigned.”
• “Regular turnover of Board Members does not allow us to take advantage of the benefits derived from consistent management and adherence to long term planning. As the Directors change, so do their interests, devotion and abilities.”
• “The Club is a business with over $1,000,000 annual revenues and should be professionally managed.”   
  
  

Said another way, how many corporations would survive if they were run by a Board of Directors, elected in a popularity contest, completely turned over every three years and were led by a different “Chairman of the Board” almost every year? 

Under the proposed General Manager Concept, committees, chaired by Board Members and staffed by other interested members, would continue as an essential piece of a business model designed to rely on the “wisdom of the many” rather than the “wisdom of the few”. Committees would continue to provide critical resources for generating and evaluating ideas and doing the heavy lifting in areas such as member recruitment and in creating and promoting the Club’s social calendar. Additionally, they would provide valuable resources to aid the Board in performing its fiduciary responsibilities to the membership and in periodically measuring the membership “pulse“ through formal surveys .

Yes, their new business model not only encouraged, but required significant member involvement to help create a sense of community and ownership within the membership and to ensure an ample supply of candidates who shared a common vision of the future were available and “trained” for filling Board of Director vacancies. 

Under the GM Concept, the committee role merely transitioned from one of “supervising” every club employee to one of “advising” the Club General Manager. It’s noteworthy that Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club has functioned very successfully with a seventeen-member Board of Directors and sixteen separate standing committees as required by their By-Laws.

The only name on the Organization Chart directly beneath the Board’s would now be the GM’s; all the other names would be responsible to a General Manager who “reported to” the Club President and “served at the pleasure of the Board”, as opposed to his prior role of “working for” the President and/or a committee.

The following events occurred some months before the “full time professional” General Manager decision was implemented by the Board; events that illustrate why the change was critical to the future of the Club.

In the first instance, the Chairman of the House Committee, before giving a new Club Manager his marching orders on food and beverage pricing, asked the Board for their opinions on “What was the Board’s objective for the F&B operation?  Should it be treated as a Profit Center with the objective of making money?  Should it be managed to break even? , or should it be treated as an amenity provided for paying dues and budgeted at what would be considered an acceptable level of loss in order to encourage member participation and maximize dues?

The following “guidance” is documented in the meeting minutes as having been offered by the other Board Members, “We want monthly statements on profit and loss.”….”We strive to break even.”……“The intent is to generate whatever profit we can and put it back in the total operation”……“The Board’s objective is to break even or show a profit.”….. (After discussion) “The Board is not to monitor compliance with objectives, but to analyze”…….”.Each committee should draw budgets and live within the budget.”…..“The Board cannot do everyday decisions, which is why we have Chairmen and Managers.”……”The Board cannot dictate price or quantity.” ….“The lounge should be run by the manager, performing in the manner for which he was hired.” (Restated as) “…….” in the manner under which he was hired, under the direction of the House Chairman and the Committee.” 

The pertinent question here is, had you been the House Committee Chairman who received this “guidance” from the Board, how would it have shaped your message to the Club Manager?

But assume the Chairman and the Club Manager reached an agreement on the objective and, for the sake of simplicity, agreed liquor sales should be budgeted, and priced, at a 50% Cost of Sales (COS) ratio.. (For example, if the liquor in a standard drink cost $1, the drink would be priced at $2)  Well, sometime later, the Board questioned why the actual COS ratio was so much higher than the budgeted ratio.  The Chairman suggested part of the problem had to be Rocky (the guy who ran the Men’s Locker/Card Room where he also mixed and served drinks to the members.) 

Rocky had told him, he “Charged house brand liquor prices on all drinks.”  In fact, “I don’t even stock normal whiskey because those people are not used to drinking that kind of booze.” He said they also pressured him to “over pour”. (When I joined the club years later this was referred to as a “Lynka drink”) Considering that premium brands of liquor usually cost two, three or even more times what house brands cost, this approach would appear to be a classic example of “losing money on every drink and trying to make it up on volume”.

But the important question is, what did the Board do about it? The minutes make no reference to any corrective action being taken. Should we assume that at least some of those Board Members had a personally vested interest in not interrupting the system Rocky had in place?

At any rate, by February 1988, the GM Search Committee had reviewed eighty-one resumes, had interviewed sixty of them, including five in person.  After much discussion and debate, it was decided to take the Committee’s recommendation and negotiate a contract with Hal Hedges, the current Acting GM. The contract period would allow three different Boards to not only evaluate Hal’s performance but would enable Boards to evaluate their own adjustment from an operational role to a strategic one.

• February 1988 Score Card Newsletter – Vince Head’s “Presidents Message” Frank McGhee has served on the Greens Committee for several years now and has established excellent rapport with Doug Hughes. Frank is a 13 handicapper who would probably be Club Champion if there were no trees or out-of-bounds on the golf course.

• May 1988 Score Card –  “Frank McGhee popped up a drive on #9 leaving him with 180 yards to the green. No problem, five iron into the cup, for his eagle 2.”   

At the May 31, 1988, Organizational Meeting of the new Board, President Wathen named Brian Hawke Chairman of a newly formed Legal Committee established to deal with the extraordinary number of legal matters the Club was involved in at the time. Within a period of months, the Committee, with the more than able assistance of Club Attorney Jim Whittemore resolved a number of legal matters involving club employees, ex-club members, ex-club employees represented by club members and club vendors and contractors represented by outside firms. Cases included:

1. “The Club General Manager (Hal Hedges) signed his contract with one minor change regarding fraternization.  The part on fraternization was removed from the contract.” (There must be an interesting story behind that change)

• “After a lengthy summary on (Ex-Office Manager) Joanne Ferrara’s case by James Whittemore, Club Attorney, the Board authorized Mr. .Whittemore to settle the case in favor of Ms. Ferrara for no more than $5,000.”

• In a case involving a seemingly professional “Workers Comp Filing” kitchen employee, the Club settled for a $30,000 Worker’s Comp claim because, “He presently complains of severe low back pain, headaches which began after the second accident, right arm weakness, and pain radiating into the lower extremities.  The claimants treating orthopedic physician confirms the legitimacy of these complaints even though he can find no specific disc herniation or positive test results. (Actually, it’s not hard to accept the legitimacy of the “complaints” , but what about the legitimacy of the “pain” .)

• A check for $7,500 was received from Mr. Delotto as payment in full for his less than perfect installation of a less than perfectly designed and delivered air conditioning system.  Other associated lawsuits were still outstanding.

• In what seemed like a rather strange ruling in a case that somehow ended up in court, “the judge orders club to pay for thirty chairs at $160 each and for Chillura to keep the other thirty chairs“.  I have no idea what the problem was with the chairs because it was never documented in the minutes, but it must have been significant because it took over a year to be resolved.  Assume the problem was the chairs only had two legs; wouldn’t the effect of this ruling be that Chillura had sixty chairs with two legs each and he managed to dump half of them on the Club? (Is that what they mean by, “Equal justice under the law”?

• In another air conditioning related suit against the architect, who was also a member of the Club, and the company that provided the equipment, the Club, after a two-year battle was awarded a $20,000 settlement by the Court.

• July 1988 – A membership application from Future Club President Bill Taylor and wife Donna was accepted and they entered the Social-Waiting list at #3. 

• August 1988 – Peter Palmer and Peter Hobson were approved for Social Memberships; Peter Palmer attended the University of Illinois on a football scholarship, sang the National Anthem before every game in full football uniform and went on to star in the title role of Lil Abner on Broadway and in the movies; Peter Hobson didn’t do any of those things, but as of today, he’s still a member of the Club.

• October 1988 – As part of the TTWGA’s 50^th Anniversary Celebration, the “50^h Anniversary Scramble, Sandwich Buffet and Dance” was enjoyed by seventy-five enthusiastic couples.” The winning team included Dennis & Ann Rezabek, Bill & Joyce Rexford and Janet Oxley.    

• December 31, 1988 (Saturday/11:04 am?) – Wes Turnipseed had his first Hole-in-One after forty years of playing golf. A 175-yard five wood on Hole #8. (What a great way to start your New Year’s celebration.)

June 1989 was an interesting month

• George “Rocky” Rockwell, the Locker/Card Room Attendant retired after more than thirty years working at the Club.  A member golf tournament, staged in his honor, generated a retirement gift of $2,500.

• Reggie Sedita was named Chairman of the Entertainment Committee and if there was ever a committee whose members embodied the committee name, this was it; Ray Bryant, Ron Jackson, Tony Valdes and John Buntin (plus a couple of others who probably didn’t get many opportunities to speak.)

• The Club’s total number of Social Members surpassed 100 for the first time and the Board quickly voted to raise social dues to $20. (Ominous?)

September 1989 – Chef Tony was caught taking food home and was terminated. In a separate incident, two other kitchen employees were terminated for stealing and the Locker Room Attendant who replaced Rocky was caught stealing liquor and was fired. The chef was replaced by two people, Bill Salmi and Chuck Phelps, who split the job, and the Chef and Sous Chef pay checks equally.

On Valentine’s Day 1990, Chefs Bill and Chuck walked into the Accounting Office, handed their keys to Marca, said they had “had enough” and left. Peter Murphy was hired as Chef on a thirty-day trial basis. (He failed the trial)

• October 1989 – The Initiation Fee was lowered from $3000 to $2500, and a $500 refundable Deposit was added for Senior Membership.

• February 21, 1990 – “Mr. Iacovella moved that the Board of Directors establish the position of Director of Golf effective March 1, 1990. The duties and remuneration will be established by the Greens Committee. Mr. Ferlita seconded the motion. The motion passed without dissent.”   (Could this be the start of something big or the beginning of the end of something “Little”? )

• March 1990 – Myra Newman plays Hole #4 in exactly “1” stroke.

• March 5, 1990 – Board votes to terminate GM Hal Hedges “immediately”, but later agreed to accept his letter of resignation

• March 26, 1990 – Chat Nichols was hired as the new General Manager on an “at will” basis.

• June 1990 – Chat Nichols was terminated as the General Manager.

It had taken thirty-two years for a Board to realize their talents were best suited for playing a strategic role in directing the Club as opposed to the day-to-day operational role the early Boards were required to assume. (Colonel Sanders probably fried a lot of chicken when he first started out, but if he had stayed in the kitchen, none of us would have ever heard of KFC.)

But in a three-month period barely two years after the General Manager Concept was implemented, the first GM, Hal Hedges was fired, the second GM, Chat Nichols was hired and fired and the Board was back to square one.  

No reason was documented for Hal Hedges’ termination, but there had been plenty of signs throughout his employment. There was an incident where his chef and a couple other employees accused him of drinking on the job and his defense was he didn’t drink on the job. “Only one for the road after work”, the chef “was out to get him fired by running up food costs”. However, Hal did admit he “kept an empty gin bottle filled with water around so he could occasionally let an employee see him take a drink from it, as a test of that employee’s loyalty to him.” (Hmmm?)

Hal seemed to change chefs regularly, but the quality of the Club’s food and food service were a constant topic of concern at Board Meetings. He was also involved in an unusual incident in June 1989 that raises questions about his management abilities. The Tournament Committee, which included him, was reporting on the Member/Guest Tournament. Their report included the following: “Income was within $50 of budget”…..”Everything was at cost”…..”Members received more prizes and gifts than ever before.”…..”Pro Shop made more money than ever.”…..”Club lost $3,455 on Member/Guest”. (I believe a follow-up question, or two directed Hal’s way would have been in order.)

Finally, assuming the reason he was fired had nothing to do with the items mentioned above; maybe his departure had something to do with that “fraternization” clause he negotiated “out” of his employment contract.    

At any rate, the Board decided to defer looking for a new General Manager until the next budget cycle began in April 1991. In the interim, the three department Heads, Marca Hall – Accounting,  Gayle Farmer – Dining Room/Lounge and David Del Rio, the newly hired Chef would all report to the House Committee.

Once again, this attempt at “management by committee” was anything but successful:

• In September, Gayle Farmer, the Dining Room/Lounge Manager was terminated.

• In October, Chef David Del Rio was promoted to Clubhouse Manager and a new chef was hired.  By the end of the year, food costs would become “way too high and we are investigating”.

• In March, the House Committee report included the following: ”Labor costs are also out of line. Overtime is the culprit. After repeated demands David Del Rio, our Clubhouse Manager, is still unable to stop overtime. David is a good cook and a hard worker but cannot control costs. He is simply too easy going to make the necessary difficult decisions.”

• “David Del Rio has requested a move back to the kitchen as the chef. We have accepted his request. He will however continue as Clubhouse Manager until a replacement can be made.”

March 1991 Board Meeting – “At this time we would like to ask for the Board’s approval to hire a “General Manager”, not a Clubhouse Manager.  We need a manager to be in charge of the entire operation.”

April 15, 1991 – Ken DeMott named General Manager    

Board announcement to the membership – “He is in charge of the entire operation including clubhouse, accounting office, pro and golf course. We have told Ken that we are not happy with the clubhouse operation nor the accounting office. We have informed Ken that we want the food quality, food service, quality of personnel, accounting operation and the general atmosphere upgraded.   

This was definitely a pivotal day in the history of the Club. Could this be the first Board to really believe managing the Club with a rotating volunteer Board of Directors was not a viable option? Maybe they just saw something special in Ken’s skill set, but as it turned out, Ken DeMott would be the perfect General Manager to turn the Club’s fortunes around……………until he wasn’t.

In all fairness, I suppose there could have been other talented managers at one point or another who weren’t given a chance to show their “stuff”, but for the most part, based on what’s recorded in the Minutes, there had been a continuous stream of managers blowing their own horns for successes, blaming their employees for failures and never challenging their many bosses.

Ken definitely “hit the floor running”. In his first few months he implemented a purchase order system in all departments for approval of expenditures over $200. He got Board approval on a formal Club policy on the terms and conditions for banquet sales. Rather than give the Chef the pay raise he had been promised, he added a “commission” incentive to his existing salary. He implemented a “postmortem” for analyzing the results of every golf tournament, banquet and other major social Club event and took responsibility for compiling and reporting a majority of the financial information reviewed at Board meetings.

• On April 25, 1991, a severe thunderstorm knocked down 37 trees on the golf course. The low bid for tree removal was $17,000 (Welcome to TT Ken DeMott)

January 1, 1992 – The Hang-Over Open

Following the Club New Year’s Eve party attended by over 400 people, the first in an unbroken string of Club run, early morning New Year’s Day Hang-Over Opens was held. The tournament was actually originated as an “unofficial” Club event in the early 70’s, by Sammy Ellis and a number of his friends. Sammy was a retired major league baseball pitcher who lived directly behind the 18^th tee.

The earlier tournaments were primarily limited to low handicap golfers playing five- and six-man scrambles. Although his official position is he “couldn’t wait to be old enough to participate”, Don Whittemore was somehow able to provide the following details on those early years, but few details on his own participation. According to Don:        

“It was purely for fun.” —“  “No one was allowed to wear golf shoes.”—“everyone was required to have a drink on the first tee.”—“Some of us , no make that some people, actually slept in their cars at the Club to avoid missing the 7:00 am start time”—“All rules of golf etiquette were suspended and participants were encouraged to yell, scream and do anything except make physical contact with the guy hitting a shot.”—“Phil Reid occasionally broke that rule and did some things that, fortunately for him; the statute of limitations has expired on.”—“The winning team would treat for breakfast at Fat Man’s BBQ.” – “ It was anything but a real tournament, just a few guys who were still, say, in a good mood from the night before and wanted to continue the New Year celebration.”—“Over the years, more and more guys joined in the fun with as many as fifty players showing up, even some non-members.”

Needless to say, when the club took over the tournament, most of the “high octane influenced” tournament rules were modified. According to Don, “the players even had to wear shoes. It was simply not the same.” 

April 22, 1992 – The “Little” Issues Get Big

It was near the end of the April 1992 Monthly Board Meeting and discussions were centered on the latest version of the Annual Budget that Ken DeMott had prepared for approval by the Board initially and ultimately by the membership at the May 19 Annual Meeting. While discussing potential opportunities to exercise budget cuts, “the question of the $6,000 stipend being paid to Jim Little for his work as Director of Golf” was being considered.

It was generally agreed the position had been created to “supervise the upgrading of the golf course in cooperation with the superintendent” and Jim felt he could “accomplish such improvements in a year”. After agreeing the desired improvements had essentially been accomplished, it was pointed out that recent conversations with Jim “suggested he would be willing to give up the position”. A motion was then made and approved to eliminate the position and save the $6,000 stipend being added to his salary. The board also asked that Mack Carneal (President) and Don Whittemore (Pro Shop Chairman) “brief Jim Little on the Board decision”. 

There’s no record of how or exactly when the message was delivered, but looking back thirty years from my comfortable position, I’m confident it couldn’t have been an easy conversation to in effect, tell a man, “Thanks, you did a great job and as a reward we’re cutting  your salary by $6,000 a year”.  At any rate, on April 29, seven days after the Board Meeting, the following “Dear Mack” letter was received:

“It is with great regret that I must tender my resignation as Golf Professional at Temple Terrace G & CC. I am leaving with the warmest regard for you and the members of the club. The past six years have been very rewarding for me and my family. Hopefully I will be able to secure a position in the area and continue our friendship.”      

Sincerely, James T. Little    

At a hastily called Special Board Meeting days later to address the letter of resignation, a meeting that was also attended by more than a few angry members, A motion was made that Club President Mack Carneal contact Jim Little the following day and tell him it was the will of the Board and of all the members present at the meeting “that Jim Little be approached by the President offering reinstatement as Director of Golf with a salary (increase) of $6,000 and as Golf Professional”. The Board unanimously approved the motion.

There’s no record of why he refused to reconsider; maybe he was just too insulted by the original decision; maybe he had already been offered a better position or maybe he had other reasons for leaving and this was just the final impetus to the decision; but his decision was obviously final.  

The Annual Membership Meeting held on May 19, 1992, was attended by a vocal group of Jim Little supporters who had demanded, by petition “the best interests of the corporation would be served by removal of board members”. They had circulated a total of forty-four petition pages for signatures. Fourteen typed pages for each of three individual board members and, as if it were a last second decision, two handwritten petition pages for removal of the rest of the board. The signature totals for each of the three individuals were 123, 123 and 130. The two hand-written pages for removal of the rest of the Board had thirty signatures, well actually thirty-one if you want to count the woman named Peggy Bass, who signed her name and commented “You’re all sick”.

Once again, having no details on the actual discussion at the Membership Meeting, I assume it was loud and lively. But at the end of the day, the motions to remove the three individuals all passed and the motion to remove the rest of the board was defeated. 

So why were the members so much angrier at three individuals than at the rest of the board? I went back and reread the Minutes of the April 22 meeting looking for an explanation. I noticed one of the three had made the comment about previous conversations with Jim Little, another had made the motion to eliminate the Director of Golf position and the third had seconded the motion. But this was a total Board decision, the motion was made at the end of a long discussion during which no one had voiced any serious objections. Literally anyone could have made and seconded the motion, why punish the guys who happened to hold their hands up first?

Convinced there had to be some other “anti-Jim Little” sentiments held, I reread Minutes from several more meetings looking for answers. The only open issue I found was the “unresolvable” ongoing issue of how to assign week-end tee times in a manner that kept everybody happy.

The current version of the debate was a little more heated than usual because Julian Serles was involved. Julian served as the Club’s Parliamentarian at the Annual Membership Meetings and as the world’s parliamentarian during the rest of the year. With Julian, there was no gray area, only right and wrong and he was the arbiter. He was a man of many talents and eager to offer help, but there was often a significant emotional cost for his services.

Julian was upset at a lot of people, including the Pro, because he was unable to get to the bottom of a rumor someone had accused him of erasing their name from the week-end tee sheet and replacing it with his own; thus, creating an “unsolved mystery” that was never resolved but definitely got a lot more ink than it deserved. Were the three Board members involved? Did it matter?

I discovered later, there was another major factor in Jim Little’s decision to leave. There was a group of members, apparently including some Board Members who believed Jim made “too much money”. He knew this was the case and was concerned it would impact his next employment contract.

Too much money! Well, he did get all the cart revenues, but this was Temple Terrace, the only club around where you could drive your own cart and not pay Trail Fees. Not only that if you didn’t own a cart, you could also bum a ride with someone who did and the Pro didn’t make any money there either. Basically, he depended on outside tournaments for cart revenue.

He also had an opportunity to make money on merchandise sales, but once again that wasn’t as lucrative as it may have seemed. According to his contract any tee gifts or prizes the Club bought for tournaments had to be priced at ten percent over cost. With all the outside tournaments, he obviously got cart revenues, but they weren’t required to buy pro shop merchandise. In fact, the Italian Invitational, spent $10,000 a year on tee gifts and prizes, but their contract stipulated those purchases would be at cost.

In the Club’s budget for the first year after Jim left, the Board estimated the net pro shop income from cart rentals, cart storage and merchandise sales as $62,000 (and Jim would have had to pay his wife, who worked in the Pro Shop, and the Assistant Pro out of that.) If he made “too much money”, it was either from giving lessons or from side bets he made on the golf course.      

When it was over, a popular Pro had resigned, three board members were voted out, another board member resigned because “he never wants to go through that again”, a lot of long-time friendships were either ended or strained, and the Club was looking for a new Head Pro.     

The next Board Meeting was held on June 2, 1992. It began with the incoming President Jim Roberts expressing “the Board’s appreciation to Jim Little and his family for their many contributions to the Club during the past six plus years.”  Jim Little was then asked to give his guidance for the Club’s immediate future.

He suggested “membership” be the number one priority and noted that during his tenure the Senior Member Initiation Fee had been raised by $1000 plus a $500 deposit had been added. He predicted, “If we raise the monthly dues, we are likely to lose another 15 to 25 members, just like we have for the past three years.” (It’s noteworthy the membership numbers distributed at that meeting reflected 397 Senior Voting Members, the first time in twenty-seven years (1965) the total had dipped below 400.

Other 1992 Highlights:

• The maximum allowable number of Senior Voting Member was lowered from 465 to 430 plus five Senior Non-Voting Members

• A Summer Membership Program was considered but it was decided to “wait until next year”

• After winning the Club’s Individual Match Play Championship in 1990 and then again in 1991, Don Whittemore apparently began feeling his age and was forced to rely on brother Jim to help him win the 1992 Club Four-Ball Match Play Championship. (Doesn’t he have a day job?)

• June 1992 – Future Club President Jim Craig and wife Becky accepted for Senior Voting Membership.

• In July, Carl James was selected from a slate of three finalists as the new Head Professional. In his initial contract, he would not “own” the pro shop but would receive a commission on all net sales. An ownership option would be considered in future contracts.

• In December President Roberts complimented (future President) Bill Taylor for doing a “fine job to date”  (Bill had been added to the Board after the Jim Little fiasco)

• December 1992 Board Meeting – “Jerry Flatt is no longer a member, but he still owes us $1,258. He has been contacted three times and has promised to pay. A registered letter has been sent. He will have to pay the entire amount in order to receive a refund of his $500 bond.” (So how many of you think Jerry went for that deal?) “

• “Again, this year we are experiencing a rash of golf bag thefts from the course, the clubhouse and open garages.” Yes, this was always a problem during the holidays. Senior Member Don Coyne once had clubs stolen from the golf cart his wife had moved from their garage to their driveway while Don was getting ready to play. He gave the police a description of the stolen clubs. Later that day, a return call asked him to meet the police on the 12^th fairway to identify his clubs. When he arrived, he found several policemen surrounding a foursome of golfers. Apparently none of the officers were golfers or they might have realized Don wasn’t the only guy in Temple Terrace with a solid white golf bag emblazoned with P-I-N-G on the side.

In January 1993, a member survey indicated 89% of Senior Members were in favor of replanting the greens with Tifdwarf Bermuda Grass. (It’s hard to imagine 89% of any group agreeing on an action guaranteed to cost them money) The project was scheduled to start on May 10th with the new greens opened for play on August 3^rd.  .

The membership approved moving forward with a $140 Senior Member Assessment (5 mo. @$28.15) to cover the cost. To mitigate the loss of revenue during the transition caused by member resignations, potential new members waiting for the new greens before joining and the inevitable reduced outside play that would occur while this was all happening, Bill Taylor proposed the $250 Social Member Initiation Fee be waved for the first 100 new Social Members. Forty-four people took advantage of the offer before the August 1^st cutoff date. Senior Memberships were also offered with discounted Initiation Fees plus reduced greens fees. Over forty people signed up for this program.

At a February meeting, the Board discussed the negative aspects of the quarterly food and beverage spending minimum; especially as related to non-golfing members, i.e., If a social Member is willing to pay dues and then chooses not to spend additional monies on F&B, why would the Club risk losing the dues by trying to collect an unspent minimum? (If a Social member wants to pay dues for an opportunity to not buy food, why not let him?)

There was talk, but no action taken, on the idea of replacing the Quarterly Minimum with an Annual House Reservation Fee of $240, paid $20 a month or $200 if paid in January. The member would then receive a discount on all F&B purchases during the year, maybe 10 % during the winter months and 20% during the slower summer months.  

• March 1993 – Eddie Pearce and Roberta Albers were named Honorary Members of the club.

• April 1993 –Club President Jim Roberts’ Score Card Newsletter message, “The 1993 Member/Guest Tournament is April 23, 24, 25. We need donations of old golf shoes to be used as decorations. Please drop off any old pair of golf shoes you may have to either the pro shop or accounting office.” (Would that be for table decorations or tee gifts? Either way, include me “out”)

• April 1993 Board Meeting – Ken DeMott reported, “Over 350 people attended the Easter Buffet. The Easter Bunny, outfit courtesy of Bill McPhillips, was a big hit with all who attended.”  (I presume Billy didn’t actually model the outfit)

• May 1993 Score Card Newsletter – “After losing his putter ‘somewhere’ out of bounds on #17, Bill Wathen proved to Billy McPhillips and Gary Witters that he didn’t need it to close out their match. Bill holed out his wedge shot from 90 yards on #18. Great eagle Bill!”    

May 10, 1993, was a groundbreaking day for starting the greens replacement project. The “head man” of Tifton Farms, the company doing the work, visited the club and stated he “has not seen better fairways in Florida”.

Typically, the summer months are by far the slowest and most financially stressful months of the entire year and having a golf course with temporary greens only adds to the challenge. But thanks to the Membership Committee, many still active at the Club, in the span of about eight months, an assessment was voted in and collected, new greens were grown and during the same period, the Club membership count was increased by thirty-three Senior Voting and thirty–two Social Members. (What are the chances we can get Frank McGhee, Jim Roberts, Bill Taylor and Rick Rausch to give us a current version of their 1993 magic act?  And they can skip the new greens part.)     

• July 22, 1993, Board Meeting – The Club’s “fine dining” dress code was the hot topic of the day. A recent survey of 30,000 private club managers reflected only 21% were in favor of jackets and ties and almost forty percent were in favor of eliminating the jacket requirement altogether. After “considerable” discussion, the following dining room dress code was adopted. “Casual (collared shirts/no shorts) during months of Daylight Savings Time and Informal Attire (jackets/no ties) during months of Eastern Standard Time”

• December 1993 – Future Club President Danny Fischer accepted for membership.

• March 1994 – The Club hosted the 17^th Annual Italian Invitational with Club member Vince Head winning the Championship Flight.

• March 1994 Board Meeting – Ken DeMott “Asked Board if we would consider a ’single’ membership? The Board summarily rejected the request.”

April 1994 – Ninety-one teams participated in the Member/Guest. The following announcement was made at the next Board Meeting, “This tournament was great, and everyone had nothing but compliments for everything except the Hooter’s girls. Hiring them was a waste of money because they just stood around and did nothing. Some were not even very decorative.” (Yes, having fun around Hooter’s girls who are “not even very decorative” can be a challenge.)

April 1994 was also a memorable month for several still active members of the Club:

• Sandy Alpaugh eagled #7 by hitting 3-wood, 5-wood and a smooth forty-foot putt.

• Bill Taylor eagled #3 by holing out a nine-iron from “deep in the trees” According to the Score Card Newsletter, Bill’s shot was witnessed by Gary & Cara Brier, Rick Rausch and Jeff, Vickie & Ashlee Rowe. (A “sevensome”?)

• Terry Birdsong had a great run while playing with Jeff Curtis, Jamie Curtis and Gary Morris.  On Holes #5 through #9, Terry scored eagle, eagle, par, birdie and birdie. (There’s no mention of the total score he posted for the round.  (Could his grip have gotten a little tighter on the back?)

An Annual Membership Meeting was scheduled for May 17, 1994. This would be the fourth Annual Meeting Ken DeMott had participated in as General Manager and while there had been member assessments levied during this period, there had been no Senior Voting Member dues increases presented for approval. This was about to change.

Historically, the Club funded the Operating Budget through dues and golf revenues while depending on Initiation Fees and Assessments to address the Capital Budget. But the Club was definitely showing its age.  An analysis of the 430 Senior Members reflected that “Close to 25% of our members are 70 or older. Something needs to be done to protect these elder members from the continuously escalating costs of running the club”.  (A similar percentage would probably be reflected in an “average age” study on the children of today’s members)

But the membership was not the only thing showing its age, so too were the clubhouse and the metal cart barn, both nearly forty years old and the now seventy-year-old golf course maintenance building. A majority of the greens equipment was also on its last legs. 

With the Senior Membership already full, generating funds through Initiation Fees would be difficult, so an assessment was absolutely necessary to meet critical Capital Budget requirements and hopefully begin building reserves for the future. Having operated with a full Senior Membership and no dues increases in four years had also put the current Board in the unenviable position of needing a dues increase in addition to an assessment.

At the 1994 Annual Membership Meeting, the proposed Assessment of $48.76 a month for four months was not a difficult sell to a room full of golfers because its primary purpose was to buy the equipment necessary to maintain those new greens and the “best fairways in Florida”.

The $20 a month dues increase was another matter. Functioning as a Customer/Owner is a very tricky thing. For some reason, Board Members generally find it a lot easier to see both sides of this coin than do the other Voting Members who often tend to view proposed dues increases as a simple “yes or no” question. Why on earth would anyone in their right mind vote to pay $149 a month in dues when they were also given the option of paying $129 a month? Case Closed!

Thus began an eventful year for the 1994/1995 Board of Directors that included three men who are still active Club members, Rick Rausch, Joe Affronti and Art Mulkey.

There was no doubt the Board would be going back to the membership for a dues increase, sooner rather than later, because not only were they already operating at a deficit, they were also losing Senior Members. By the time a Special Membership Meeting was held in November to take another shot at a dues increase, Senior Memberships had fallen from the 430 maximum to 403. Fortunately, the $20 increase was approved this time around.

With a dues increase successfully navigated, the Board turned its attention to the falling Senior Membership numbers. Once again they used a short-term Initiation Fee “deal” to solve the problem. It was mid-December, and they were twenty-eight members short of the 430 cap. The offer was simple, write a check for $1,500 covering a reduced Initiation Fee and the $500 refundable bond, and do it before the membership was full or March 31, 1995, whichever came first, and you were in.

By February, they were back to the full complement of 430 and by March, the ten additional Non-Voting slots were all taken. (There’s nothing like creating a sense of urgency to get a golfers attention.)

• A Stag Day Tournament on December 10, 1994, attracted 120 participants including Gary Koch and Eddie Pearce. “Highlight of the day was the twilight putting contest following the celebration of Gary Koch’s hole-in-one.”

January 1995 Board Meeting – President McMakin suspended the regular Order of Business to consider an “unusual” item not on the Agenda”.  He read a letter from Bill Taylor:

“Dear Gary, please be advised that while playing golf on Dec 23, I sculled a chip shot on number 18, and, in a fit of uncontrolled anger, attempted to throw my sand wedge into the right-side trap. Unfortunately, the club throw was as accurate as the chip shot and my sand wedge bounced onto the right side of the 18^th green. Although the resulting divot was similar to that caused by a spun ball from a golfer who is lucky enough to possess a short game, the club caused an unnecessary mark on the green.

Accordingly, and in keeping with club rules, I voluntarily suspend myself from golf play for the period of one week. I will be more than happy to apologize to any member whose shot play suffered as a result of my Irish tirade.”         

Sincerely, W C Taylor II          

“Angelo Ferlita’s motion to suspend Mr. Taylor for thirty days died for lack of a second. Rick Rausch moved we approve, retroactively, Mr. Taylor’s seven-day suspension. Seconded by Joe Affront and Carried”.

(Three questions occur to me: 1) Was the incident caused by an “Irish tirade” or could it have been “Irish whiskey”?  2) On what planet is Mr. Taylor capable of a delicate chip over a trap with a sand wedge? And 3) Did he really believe that barely twenty-eight years later the incident would have been forgotten?)     

March 1995:

• Andy Stodghill “aced” #15 with a seven iron.
• Leonor Knopke eagled #1 with an eight iron second start.
• Jim Whittemore Sr. eagled #5 with a third shot from 190 yards. Witness Stan Hines said, “For once he was happy to hit his drive into the woods”

June 12, 1995 – “Say it isn’t so”

Special Meeting of the Board of Directors – “The chair entertained a motion by Bill Moudy, seconded by Rick Rausch to meet in Executive Session to receive information relating to a potential litigation.  Motion carried.”

“It was then explained to all present by the chair that all discussions which are about to take place are confidential. Mr. Whittemore and Mr. McMakin were invited to the meeting to function as legal counsel. Discussion relating to the matter at hand ensued and continued until a motion was made by Joe Affronti to adjourn, Motion carried.”

June 15, 1995 – The regular Monthly Meeting of the Board of Directors was convened at 7:00 p.m. At 9:53 pm, after almost three hours of regular business, ”the Board went into Executive Session to discuss pending or threatened litigation. At 10:47 pm the Board reconvened the regular meeting. Motion (Affronti) to accept resignation of Mr. DeMott. Second (Rausch). Carried-unanimous.. The matter of appropriate severance pay was discussed. Motion (Glasgow) to pay $10,000 severance package in three equal payments at two-week intervals. Second (Mulkey). Carried. Amendment was offered to the motion Re: severance pay. Motion (Craig) to allow President Neubert to offer lump sum settlement if Neubert determines that such payment is in the best interest of TTG&CC. Second (Morris). Carried. Meeting adjourned 10:55 pm.       

Say what? I assume I’m not the only one confused about what just happened. Based on “clubhouse stories” I thought I had a fairly good understanding of why Ken DeMott lost his job. Remember the incident where it was reported Hal Hedges, Ken DeMott’s predecessor, signed his contract after “the part on fraternization was removed”?  When I read that, I remember thinking, I’m not sure about the legal ramifications, but if Ken DeMott had signed the same contract, he might still be the General Manager.

On some level, it just didn’t seem right. In the first thirty-three years as a private club, Temple Terrace had changed managers at least twenty-two times in addition to several other periods during which the Club functioned without a Manager and a couple other periods when the Board put a committee of employees in charge.

Ken DeMott had changed the Club’s entire system of governance. Obviously he couldn’t have done it without the Board allowing it to happen, but he was the first manager who not only exhibited the business skills to get the job done, but the personality and inner confidence to do so while navigating the veritable “mine field” of often conflicting Board opinions. To paraphrase my wife, the Board was the “head” of the organization, but Ken was definitely the “neck’.

In more than four years of Board Meeting Minutes during his tenure, I don’t recall a single negative comment and in less than four years, the Board had expanded his health insurance coverage from individual to family; given him cash bonuses of $500, $1000 $1500 and $1500; given him multiple pay raises and a $300 a month car allowance.

How do you hold an Executive Session on Monday night to “receive information related to potential litigation” (presumably concerning Ken DeMott), then three days later, hold a regular Board Meeting where Ken not only takes a very active role, but is given a number of follow-up assignments to report back on and then transition that meeting into another Executive Session before restarting the regular meeting to accept Ken DeMott’s “resignation”?

Was no decision made at the first Executive Session? Did the Board receive new relevant information between the two Executive Sessions? What about the “appropriate” $10,000 severance package?  Didn’t he “resign”?

Bottom line, Ken DeMott left the club with a full complement of 430 Senior Voting Members plus ten Senior Non-Voting Members and as the Treasurer’s report stated “We are right on budget, all current bills are paid, and we have a cash balance of $30,000. For the first time in many years, we are able to pay our bills when due and take advantage of discounts applicable to prompt payment.”

However, the man primarily responsible for the successes described above had “voluntarily” left the building and a six-man Search Committee, including Joe Affronti and Bill Taylor was appointed to find his replacement.

• An application for Senior Membership from future Club President John Nertney and wife Lorrie was received four days later on June 19, 1995.

• August 17, 1995, Board Meeting – The hiring of Joseph H. “JR” Gayle, Jr. as General Manager was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors.

• October 1995 – Mrs. Gerrity, President of the TTWGA, asked the Board “to consider removal of the fence on Hole #4”. I presume no action was taken because six months later, in March 1996, the TTWGA repeated the request. I can’t imagine where that fence might have been, what purpose it may have served or how it would have impacted play, but based on my recent search of the area it has apparently been removed.

• On October 12, 1995 “Phil Reid scored a hole-in-one on #4 using a six iron while playing with Eddie Pearce and Brian Hawke. During the celebration after golf, Brian and Don Whittemore tried several times to call Gary Koch in Las Vegas (working at the time) to tell him the good news. The next day Gary mentioned Phil’s hole-in-one on the air (ESPN) making Phil an instant celebrity.”  There seems to be a disproportionately large number of hole-in-ones at TT. I’m sure during my twenty plus years as a member, I’ve paid for enough through the two dollar “Hole-In-One” Club membership to buy a small car. I have no idea who has the most, or the longest, or the shortest, but there’s absolutely no doubt which one received the most notoriety.  

March 1996 Board Meeting – “Motion (Moudy) to give notice of non-renewal to Golf Professional Carl James. Second (Turnipseed). Carried.”  

Carl James had been the Pro for almost four years; however, he never seemed to control the financial aspects of the job very well. In June 1995, a Committee had been chartered to work with him on improving the quality and timing of the financial information provided to the controller by the Pro Shop. Although the committee periodically noted the numbers were “getting better”, The Board chose to go in another direction and in June 1996, a new Pro, Mike Lawler, was hired to replace Carl James.

May 22, 1996 – “Those damn accountants sure know how to rain on a parade.”

John Nertney was elected to the Board and named Treasurer on May 21, 1996. The following day club General Manager “J.R.”  Gayle received a letter from John expressing his thoughts and expectations for the Board assignment he had agreed to undertake for the next twelve months.

Based on many years of observing John in social and business environments, I know of no one more comfortable or capable in either; however, just as importantly, he understands the need for knowing when to separate the demands of business from the more enjoyable social aspects of Club membership. John’s letter documented an instance where it was obvious the Club was sacrificing the real truth for fleeting moments of feeling good, when he wrote, in part,

“As I reviewed the financial information contained in the Annual Meeting report package, it appeared to not be fully inclusive of all activities at the club (e.g., tournaments). At the meeting, we congratulated each other on showing a positive cash flow of over $50,000 in the fiscal year just ended. Over the past three years, we showed a net positive cash flow of over $87,000. I noted, however, we do not have $87,000 in the bank. Our reporting package needs to include all aspects of the club’s financial activities on a timely basis.”

(Apparently the cash flow reporting had been designed to elicit the same emotional comfort a golfer might seek when he decides “some of his strokes just aren’t worth counting”.)

• December 1996 – Future Club President David Langdon accepted for membership.