After concerns were brought forward to the Ottawa Valley Golf Association (OVGA) last year by some member clubs about the pressures of hosting adult Intersectional competitions at what they felt was a disproportionate level, new policies have been approved.
They are set to take effect this coming season, according to a letter sent to member clubs on February 5th by the OVGA Intersectionals Director, Susan Veale.
Last year, a group of representatives for OVGA member clubs voiced their concerns to the association about the increased costs of hosting the various Intersectional events. According to the letter sent to OVGA member clubs on Monday, “Their research had indicated that the number of times clubs hosted was unfairly distributed. They brought to the OVGA Board a proposal for charging a fixed fee per player per club to help offset the hosting costs.”
As has been tradition through the years, the Intersectionals were hosted on a reciprocal basis but with business costs rising, more clubs involved, more competition categories, and rising pressure for space on the tee sheet, there has been mounting discussion of concern for some clubs that felt the costs they had to bear was higher compared to others.
Their initial proposal to the OVGA Board of Directors was that a fixed fee should be created on a per player basis that would help the club offset costs.
As the letter to the clubs explained, “The Intersectionals’ intent has always been to provide an equal and fair opportunity for any member club to participate in a tournament of the same format on the same day, vying for placements in divisions. The OVGA did not want to have any money exchanged for play.”
To tackle the concerns and also likely recognize that the OVGA is a cooperative association but is not in control of the golf properties themselves, an Advisory Committee was formed. It consisted of OVGA Intersectionals and Tournaments Directors, a representative of the group putting forth the proposal, as well as other member clubs representing a cross-section of the OVGA membership.
According to the communication with the member clubs, “The Advisory Committee was given a second proposal by the OVGA in which clubs would host based on a new equitable rotation method. There was much discussion on several options relating to the costs of hosting, including green fees, meals, and practice rounds.”
The conclusion is a new set of hosting policies, a proposal that received a unanimous vote. The changes have been approved for an initial five-year period, starting in 2024.
Here is the body of those policies as outline to the OVGA member clubs and shared with Flagstick.com:
- Hosting in each division will be determined by a Rotation System rather than finishing positions. This means that each club in each division will host based on a five-year timeline of hosting. For example, in any division, if Club A has not hosted for five years, Club B last hosted three years ago, Club C, two years ago and Club D, one year ago, Club A will have the honour of hosting. This will be recorded so that next year, Club A will not host regardless of their moving up or down, or staying in the same division, or finishing second. Moving forward, ideally each club would only host once in four years per event. Some exceptions may occur, such as divisions with three clubs and getting the rotation started. This will provide fairness for hosting costs and give each club an opportunity for home course advantage. (Attached hosting grids are included below and clubs were asked to forward any scheduling conflicts to the OVGA by March 1st.)
No club would host more than two events per season, and any club hosting two events would host a regular and a senior, not two events within a week of each other.
- Meals will have a required fee per visiting club, per event. Sharing a social time of food and beverage following the competition has been an important part of this event. As most players and clubs want to include a social time, we felt it was necessary to come to some compromise due to increases in food and labour costs. The Men’s visiting teams will pay $300 to the host club. The Women’s visiting teams will pay $200 to the host club. This fee will cover the cost of meals, taxes, and tips. Caddies extra. There is also a small inflationary provision each year.
- Practice rounds will be offered, and the green fees will remain at the discretion of the host club. The host club will communicate to the visiting clubs in writing two weeks prior to the event, tee time availability and what charges, if any, for green fees.
Those are the key elements of the proposal with some other housekeeping items added, including an annual Member Club participation agreement to help reduce last minute non-participation by clubs that cause logistical issues. There is also a reduction in the number of online meetings in advance of the events.
Key Dates for the 2024 OVGA Intersectionals are as follows:
June 17, 2024, 7:00 pm – Host Club Zoom Meeting
June 24, 2024, 7:00 pm – Men’s and Women’s Captains Zoom Meeting
July 7, 2024 – Men’s Intersectional Play
July 14, 2024 – Women’s Intersectional Play
July 28, 2024 – Junior Intersectional Play – Meeting Date TBD
August 19, 2024, 7:00 pm – Senior Men’s and Women’s Captain’s Zoom Meeting
August 26, 2024 – Senior Men’s Intersectional Play
Sept 3, 2024 – Senior Women’s Intersectional Play
In concluding her letter to the OVGA member clubs, Veale stated, “I would like to thank all the players and clubs for providing feedback through emails, surveys, and conversations. We hope that you find these changes fair and that they satisfy the challenges put forward by all. I believe we would all like to have the best outcome possible to ensure the Intersectionals continue in the tradition in which they were started. We also must understand the world has changed in the last decades and we need to update from time to time. Please be patient while we work through the initial growing pains.”
