PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE –May 2008

I can’t believe this is the 17th year of EWGA Palm Beach County Chapter. This is where it all began – it brings new meaning to the phrase “Together We Are Better” when you think about how far we have come. From the first founding members (about 28 in Palm Beach County) to almost 20,000 current Members across the United States and Canada – that is amazing growth in just 17 short years!! By the way, many of those founding members are still members of our Chapter today!! There is no wonder why we ARE the premier force in promoting women’s golf.

It was great to see so many of you at our most successful Tee-Off in many years!  This year we welcomed over 150 people to help celebrate the start of the 2008 season.  I hope you are all following up with and taking advantage of our wonderful sponsors/exhibitors who attended the event and offered great novelty gifts and opportunities for our members to receive services brought directly to our doorstep. It was marvelous evening at the Governor’s Club to reconnect with old friends while making some new ones.

We are now into the second quarter of the year and while we have had some phenomenal weather for our golf events, glimpses of rainy season are soon to be upon us.  It is also time to take advantage of our upcoming Summer golf season, where we have opportunities for great Summer Membership and Summer Discounts abound. Stay tuned to the website for all the latest details. 

Hopefully, at this point many of you have signed up for the league(s) of your choice, as we are now running the Swing Into Spring League at PGA National and will soon be transitioning in June to the Safari League at the Palm Beach Par Three.  We do realize that there is far more demand for certain leagues than others and we do tend to “sell out” our always popular leagues.  For those of you who do not have a permanent place on a league at the time of sell-out, feel free to e-mail the League chairwoman, for substitute opportunities. I highly encourage all of you to at least sub in one league – we always reserve the tee times and the course controls when we actually play, so if you can make one night fit in your schedule please sign up as a sub. 

Golfers of all levels can take advantage of the Open Clinics offered right now on Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. at Okeeheelee (West Palm Beach). Mary-Lee Cobick, our Education and Player Development Chair is currently running this program. Please contact Annette Deluca to register at (561) 966-6666. The Safari League will follow the Open Clinic and we are currently seeking Mentee(s) who have taken or will take the Beginner’s portion of the Clinic and would like a Mentor(s) to team up with to play in the Safari League at the Palm Beach Par Three on Thursday evenings all the way through the Summer (beginning June 5)!

This is my third year with EWGA and for almost that entire time, I have participated in the organization as a volunteer, serving on the Board as Secretary and President. I have met my best friends through EWGA, from our Chapter, as well as other Chapters throughout the country. I had the opportunity to attend the EWGA Winter Leadership Conference from January 30th to February 1st this year in San Jose, California. Association Headquarters planned an outstanding conference and provided an amazing amount of information and ideas to help chapters improve and maximize the benefits for our members. I encourage all of you to get involved in our chapter – take time to participate in the local Events, help plan the excitement, support our chapter with your professional contacts and Sponsorship dollars, and expand your horizons at the National level, especially if you love to travel. You will be so glad you did.

We are so blessed to have so many people assisting in the running of this Chapter and the financial backing of our wonderful sponsors. I thank all of you who give to this organization -- volunteering your time, energy and support for the Greatest Golf Organization in the World.

Sincerely,

Nicole Sauvola