Meeting convened at 1900 hrs. at Golf Course Lounge

In Attendance: Joe Robinson, Graham Hudson, John Ashton, Gord rideout, Gary Rideout, Barry MacDonald,
Jill Humphries, Ruth McLagan, Derrick Hawley, Ervin Robertson

1. President Gord Rideout prefaced the meeting by extending congratulations to Joe Robinson as the new Director of Golf for Highlands Links. His wealth of experience and history with Highlands will no doubt be of great benefit as we move forward. Welcome Joe.

2. Graham Hudsons report:
a. As it stands at present there are two corporate events scheduled. On Oct. 2 there is a Chamber of Commerce tournament which could affect member play on that date. The second is Atlantic Building Supply Dealers on the 14 Aug. 2009 and the whole day is booked so there will be no member play on that date.
b. Restoration plans are moving along, albeit fairly slowly. There have been upper echelon meetings and although no definite decisions have been made on this project, the feelings are very positive that it will be a “go”
c. Graham was asked if he felt that the other courses coming on line would affect us here. He felt that Ben Eion was not going to have much if any effect but that the course in Margaree could actually benefit us.
d. The catering service that is in place will cater to all our functions and we have been advised by Graham that they will work closely with us to ensure that the quality quality will be good and pricing will be agreeable. Gord will meet with the concessionaire to discuss.
e. Graham advises that the irrigation system was tested totally this afternoon and it is working satisfactorily. There were no leaks.

3. Joe Robinson report:
a. Joe gave us an overview of his role as Director of Golf and how he will interact with the Club. His role is to help in any way with our tournaments from doing up draws, serving as rules committee, course layout, pin placement etc. He is actively pursuing other groups to come to Highlands and we will be advised as things role along if it appears that these groups may affect our play. These types of groups will be Monday to Thursdays, weekends will not be impacted.
b. He will be very active with our Junior Program working with our Coordinator and also working the Future Links program which has drastically expanded its scope.
c. He has been and will continue to work closely with Clifford Robinson Greens Keeper to make changes to the rough cut, reshaping greens and getting the course back to what he feels is a proper links style course. Some changes have already been made and will be very evident when you play.
d. Interest has been expressed by LePortage to set up a “home and home” event. We all felt it was a good idea and Joe will continue to pursue it. It will be set up similar to the Bras D’Or Cup format.

4. Nova Scotia Junior Championship:
a. Highlands Links has made application to the NSGA to host the 2011 Junior Provincial Championship and it has been tentatively accepted. It is scheduled for mid July, Monday thru Thursday. Course will be shut down for all play other than that tournament for the Monday thru Wednesday. There is a cut for the Thursday play so after the tournament goes out on Thursday the course will revert to normal play. This is a total win-win for the course and community. There are over 150 golfers anticipated and their families in the community for those dates plus the exposure that the course will receive. The Executive voted and were unanimous in their support for this venture. More details will be forthcoming. Overtures will be made to Bell Bay and LePortage and to see if they can set something up for our members to play on these dates similar to what we did when Gretzky and Friends were at Bell Bay.