Friday, April 17, 2020
The Chef's Table
Over the past few weeks Chef Greig has been posting some great recipes for us to try. One of his most recent was a bread recipe that sounded very tasty. Well it didn't take one of our members, Geoff Wood long to put his skills to work and create this piece of art. If it tastes half as good as it looks I'll be doing some baking of my own over the weekend. Stay safe everyone!
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
WGC and Covid-19 Update - April 15
Member feedback from our last article has been positive, so this week we’d like to discuss our second scenario—open the golf course in July but not the Clubhouse. Before examining the numbers, it’s important to restate that this scenario requires the provincial health authorities to amend their current rules and allow golf to be played in Ontario. We are assuming that when this happens there will still be restrictions on a number of things.
Here are the underlying financial assumptions we’re using. They are not a comprehensive list of actions and are listed here so you understand how we did the arithmetic.
• No access to or food & beverage in the Clubhouse
• Beverage carts available with limited, pre-packaged food
• No Back Shop club storage
• No outside golf events
• Guest rounds at 50% of normal
• Power carts at 50% due to single riders
Based on these and other assumptions, the following are the forecasted numbers by category. They are all stated as increases over the same amounts from last week’s “no golf” scenario.
Revenue up $355,000 – This is largely from power cart and guest revenue, as well as food and beverage sales from the beverage carts, plus some Pro Shop sales.
Greens Expense up $293,000 – This reflects the increased wages to prepare and maintain the golf course in proper playing conditions.
Food & Beverage Expense up $132,000 – This is the wages and supplies expense necessary to generate the food and beverage sales noted in the revenue numbers above.
General Administration Expense up $37,000 – This is a summation of a number of subaccounts which would all increase by a small amount.
Pro Shop Expense up $47,000 – This is the cost of goods sold plus some added staff costs.
Clubhouse Expense up $5,000.
As you can see, the added expense to start playing golf in July is about $514,000—more than the $355,000 in added revenue. Total revenue and expense are even closer together in this scenario.
In addition to getting the golf course ready, we are having discussions on how we will be able to play golf safely while observing guidelines that will be mandated by the provincial health authorities.
Most golf associations have suggested approaches to follow, so we have an abundance of ideas already! It remains for us to find out when and how we can do this, after which we will let you know what we have concluded.
Mark Crerar
President
Here are the underlying financial assumptions we’re using. They are not a comprehensive list of actions and are listed here so you understand how we did the arithmetic.
• No access to or food & beverage in the Clubhouse
• Beverage carts available with limited, pre-packaged food
• No Back Shop club storage
• No outside golf events
• Guest rounds at 50% of normal
• Power carts at 50% due to single riders
Based on these and other assumptions, the following are the forecasted numbers by category. They are all stated as increases over the same amounts from last week’s “no golf” scenario.
Revenue up $355,000 – This is largely from power cart and guest revenue, as well as food and beverage sales from the beverage carts, plus some Pro Shop sales.
Greens Expense up $293,000 – This reflects the increased wages to prepare and maintain the golf course in proper playing conditions.
Food & Beverage Expense up $132,000 – This is the wages and supplies expense necessary to generate the food and beverage sales noted in the revenue numbers above.
General Administration Expense up $37,000 – This is a summation of a number of subaccounts which would all increase by a small amount.
Pro Shop Expense up $47,000 – This is the cost of goods sold plus some added staff costs.
Clubhouse Expense up $5,000.
As you can see, the added expense to start playing golf in July is about $514,000—more than the $355,000 in added revenue. Total revenue and expense are even closer together in this scenario.
In addition to getting the golf course ready, we are having discussions on how we will be able to play golf safely while observing guidelines that will be mandated by the provincial health authorities.
Most golf associations have suggested approaches to follow, so we have an abundance of ideas already! It remains for us to find out when and how we can do this, after which we will let you know what we have concluded.
Mark Crerar
President
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
WGC and Covid-19 Update - April 8
Last week we discussed our three scenarios and we described our assumptions and the revenue that we anticipated from each. This week we’ll talk about expense. Rather than try to show multiple expense scenarios, we’ve decided to drill deeper into the one case that most of our members are concerned about—not opening the golf course. Several members expressed surprise that we said that member dues would allow us to operate close to break even, so here are some numbers to help you put that in perspective.
The Club’s fiscal year begins on November 1, so that means that all annual figures you see cover the period from November 1 to October 31. As it is now April, we’re over 5 months into the year and the expenses and revenue from those 5 months have been factored in. To date, our expenses have been approximately $739,000 and that includes finishing up the Fall golf season (greens maintenance, pro shop, food & beverage, etc.) closing down the golf course for the winter, operating the building through the winter and lots of other things. On the revenue side, we received about $65,000 in the same time frame, but if you remember, November was very poor golf weather last year, so revenues were down.
So, what expenses will we have if the golf course doesn’t open? We certainly hope it doesn’t come to that, but we’ve already made a number of tough decisions, and below are the estimates for what we think we would still need to spend in the final 7 months.
Greens – $516,000 (down from $938,000). To a large extent this reduction comes from wages. Ordinarily we have a lot of seasonal staff, but very few of those would be brought on this year. (Just enough to continue to get the course ready for an opening when/if we get the approval.) There are also maintenance activities that would be deferred to 2021 such as tree removal, drainage improvements, etc. Even without anyone playing golf, we still have a lot of equipment lease expense, fertilizers, pest control products, etc. The grass doesn’t care about Covid-19.
Food & Beverage – $50,000 (down from $1,066,000). In the absence of an operating food & beverage function, all we have left is a very small portion of wages and wage burdens.
General Administration - $340,000 (down from $495,000). This category includes staff costs, insurance, taxes and a lot of things that are difficult to reduce. The reductions we’ve found come from supplies, outside fees, support, and some staff time.
Pro Shop - $275,000 (down from $606,000). This represents a significant reduction in wages as well as other items like merchandise and supplies.
Clubhouse - $107,000 (down from $261,000). Many of the Clubhouse costs are fixed, but some savings will result from reduced usage of the building and reduced staff costs.
Summing these 5 categories and adding the $739,000 already spent, we estimate a total annual expense of just over $2M, compared to that figure we stated last week of an expected $2.2M in revenue. Pretty close.
Should we end up not being able to open and should our actual costs come in below the revenue, you can be assured that we will carefully assess what to do with the overage. A refund is one option, but other possibilities are lower fees for 2021, paying down debt, and a variety of other things.
Clearly this is not a budget, rather it’s our best forecast of the financials if we were unable to open the golf course and Clubhouse. As you start to consider the effect of partial openings, the numbers change quite quickly. Next week we’ll share some of those numbers with you too.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
WGC and Covid-19 Update - April 1
Last week we told you that we are modelling three scenarios: normal opening, just opening the golf course, and not opening anything. Today we’d like to share some of the assumptions that have gone into each model and the financial calculations so far. Each scenario also has a variety of smaller decisions to make, and there is still much that we don’t know yet, such as to what extent the government subsidies will help us. But this is the high level.
In all three cases, we have reduced salaries and wages as a result of delayed starts, wage subsidies and supplemental unemployment benefits; we’ve reduced costs across the board and placed a hold on all non-essential operating and capital spending. We still have the option of deferring mortgage and lease payments (we are assessing the long-term financial impacts of delaying these at this time). In the first two scenarios, the amount of revenue received dictates which services can be provided, and the level of facility maintenance.
Normal Opening – This is the ideal case, but it seems less and less likely. Key assumptions are:
• Loss of most tournament revenue, reduced member and guest rounds
• Reduced Pro Shop and food & beverage sales
• Reduced cart revenue
Our current estimate is that revenue would be approximately $3.3M, versus the original budget of $4.1M.
Partial Opening – In this case, the golf course would be available for play, but there would be limited to no food & beverage service throughout the year. Key assumptions are:
• No tournament revenue, reduced member and guest rounds
• Limited Back Shop service
• Power carts for single riders only, if the Back Shop is open
Our current estimate is that revenue would be approximately $2.8M.
All Closed – This case assumes that we are unable to open the golf course or Clubhouse for the 2020 season. Our current estimate is that revenue would be approximately $2.2M, which comes strictly from member dues and sales to date. We believe that with this scenario, and taking base expense costs into account, we can operate very close to break even. If we fail to receive all member dues, we will be forced to take more drastic measures with deeper cuts.
The Ontario Government will dictate what we can and cannot do. As of the moment their direction is that businesses such as ours must be closed until at least April 13th. Therefore the Clubhouse and golf course are closed until further notice.
On a positive note, some authorities believe that golf may be the first sporting activity to be reinstated, because it is easier to implement social distancing restrictions. Should this be possible, we’ll be there. The National Golf Course Owners Association has received written notice from the Ontario Government that golf course maintenance can continue for the time being. They have designated the maintenance of golf courses to be an essential service, so there is a realization in government that golf matters.
Our task remains to plan for what may happen and to protect the general welfare of Whitevale Golf Club. We are all co-owners and golfers, and we look forward to our club returning to operation as soon as it is safe to do so.
Mark Crerar, President
In all three cases, we have reduced salaries and wages as a result of delayed starts, wage subsidies and supplemental unemployment benefits; we’ve reduced costs across the board and placed a hold on all non-essential operating and capital spending. We still have the option of deferring mortgage and lease payments (we are assessing the long-term financial impacts of delaying these at this time). In the first two scenarios, the amount of revenue received dictates which services can be provided, and the level of facility maintenance.
Normal Opening – This is the ideal case, but it seems less and less likely. Key assumptions are:
• Loss of most tournament revenue, reduced member and guest rounds
• Reduced Pro Shop and food & beverage sales
• Reduced cart revenue
Our current estimate is that revenue would be approximately $3.3M, versus the original budget of $4.1M.
Partial Opening – In this case, the golf course would be available for play, but there would be limited to no food & beverage service throughout the year. Key assumptions are:
• No tournament revenue, reduced member and guest rounds
• Limited Back Shop service
• Power carts for single riders only, if the Back Shop is open
Our current estimate is that revenue would be approximately $2.8M.
All Closed – This case assumes that we are unable to open the golf course or Clubhouse for the 2020 season. Our current estimate is that revenue would be approximately $2.2M, which comes strictly from member dues and sales to date. We believe that with this scenario, and taking base expense costs into account, we can operate very close to break even. If we fail to receive all member dues, we will be forced to take more drastic measures with deeper cuts.
The Ontario Government will dictate what we can and cannot do. As of the moment their direction is that businesses such as ours must be closed until at least April 13th. Therefore the Clubhouse and golf course are closed until further notice.
On a positive note, some authorities believe that golf may be the first sporting activity to be reinstated, because it is easier to implement social distancing restrictions. Should this be possible, we’ll be there. The National Golf Course Owners Association has received written notice from the Ontario Government that golf course maintenance can continue for the time being. They have designated the maintenance of golf courses to be an essential service, so there is a realization in government that golf matters.
Our task remains to plan for what may happen and to protect the general welfare of Whitevale Golf Club. We are all co-owners and golfers, and we look forward to our club returning to operation as soon as it is safe to do so.
Mark Crerar, President
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Passing of Harry Kennedy
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Harry Kennedy on Thursday, March 26th at the age of 96.
Harry was a proud Member of Whitevale for 55 years and served as Club Captain and on the Board.
Our thoughts go out to his family. A celebration of life will be held at a later date and obituary details will be posted once received.
Harry was a proud Member of Whitevale for 55 years and served as Club Captain and on the Board.
Our thoughts go out to his family. A celebration of life will be held at a later date and obituary details will be posted once received.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Covid 19 - WGC Update
The pace and amount of new information we are receiving about the Covid-19 virus is changing rapidly. Our plans and actions for the golf club must adapt with what occurs and what we learn. We are continuing to prepare to open the golf course and the Clubhouse, while at the same time developing alternative plans that will adapt to the state of the virus and the direction we receive from our health organizations and governments.
In the midst of this preparation we are modelling three scenarios: normal opening, just opening the golf course, and not opening anything. There are also a number of minor variations, but with these three financial and operating plans identified, we can continue to be proactive and adapt to what occurs.
There is much that needs to be done to prepare the golf course for play after a Canadian winter. Even if we were unable to open the golf course, as it is a living environment, there will still be much to do to maintain and protect our prized asset. These activities require staff, equipment and resources, which in turn require financial resources. The Clubhouse also needs preparation for the season, especially to provide food services, should we be able to offer them. This also requires staff, equipment and raw materials, which in turn require financial resources.
Whitevale Golf Club is a not-for-profit corporation and it operates year to year on the revenues it receives. There is no background reserve fund that we can raid to pay expenses. Including uncertainties, we must therefore continue to deposit the membership dues which we are receiving from you. You can be certain we are working diligently to protect your money and provide an enjoyable golf experience as soon as we can. We are all members, co-owners and golfers.
Working together, be assured management and the co-owners on the Board are being very careful with your money. All purchases have stopped and discretionary expenses are being eliminated. We are also working with our vendors and creditors to find savings and to defer any expenses that are deferrable. We also intend to pursue any available government grants, such as those that were recently announced. As it becomes clearer what services can be offered, we will finalize a revised 2020 budget and share it with you. In addition, frequent updates can be expected.
This situation is unexpected and one which is uncharted. With this, our health authorities are providing the guidance which is fundamental to the scenario we all, members and employees will live. Together, our priorities are the health and safety of our members/owners, and employees, and the general welfare of our Club.
We are confident we will successfully exit this situation and the current uncertainties better than most.
Kind Regards,
Mark Crerar,
President
C.c.
Board of Directors
Sean DeSilva – GM and COO
In the midst of this preparation we are modelling three scenarios: normal opening, just opening the golf course, and not opening anything. There are also a number of minor variations, but with these three financial and operating plans identified, we can continue to be proactive and adapt to what occurs.
There is much that needs to be done to prepare the golf course for play after a Canadian winter. Even if we were unable to open the golf course, as it is a living environment, there will still be much to do to maintain and protect our prized asset. These activities require staff, equipment and resources, which in turn require financial resources. The Clubhouse also needs preparation for the season, especially to provide food services, should we be able to offer them. This also requires staff, equipment and raw materials, which in turn require financial resources.
Whitevale Golf Club is a not-for-profit corporation and it operates year to year on the revenues it receives. There is no background reserve fund that we can raid to pay expenses. Including uncertainties, we must therefore continue to deposit the membership dues which we are receiving from you. You can be certain we are working diligently to protect your money and provide an enjoyable golf experience as soon as we can. We are all members, co-owners and golfers.
Working together, be assured management and the co-owners on the Board are being very careful with your money. All purchases have stopped and discretionary expenses are being eliminated. We are also working with our vendors and creditors to find savings and to defer any expenses that are deferrable. We also intend to pursue any available government grants, such as those that were recently announced. As it becomes clearer what services can be offered, we will finalize a revised 2020 budget and share it with you. In addition, frequent updates can be expected.
This situation is unexpected and one which is uncharted. With this, our health authorities are providing the guidance which is fundamental to the scenario we all, members and employees will live. Together, our priorities are the health and safety of our members/owners, and employees, and the general welfare of our Club.
We are confident we will successfully exit this situation and the current uncertainties better than most.
Kind Regards,
Mark Crerar,
President
C.c.
Board of Directors
Sean DeSilva – GM and COO
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Message on behalf of the Board and Management - Covid-19
The
Clubhouse closure for a minimum of three weeks (Monday, April 6th)
Our world has changed over the past few weeks.
COVID-19 has arrived and as announced by the World Health Organization on March
11th, it is now a pandemic.
COVID-19 is in the forefront of the news and
where the Club’s Leadership group is spending the majority of our time.
Evident are the potential implications for all of us and also our Club.
The Board and Management Team will follow the
credible health organizations. Our focus is one of caution and preventative
measures for health, safety and the general welfare of the Club.We will keep
membership informed by communicating on a regular basis.
During the clubhouse closure, administrative
staff will continue to work remotely and will be responding to email. For
questions and information regarding the closure, please contact Sean DeSilva,
Chief Operating Officer SDeSilva@whitevalegolfclub.com.
To be most effective, please use email for all inquiries you have.
While the clubhouse is closed, the golf course
will be monitored daily. We will also be moving forward with our turf building
occupancy application next week.
Many of you will likely have questions on how
this may impact the opening of the golf course and clubhouse for daily use. The
answer is we are still working towards a "normal opening" but will
follow the guidance of health officials. As you know, this epidemic
continues to change on an hourly, daily and weekly basis.
Thank you for your time, attention and
understanding as the situation we face continues to develop.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
2020 Committee Orientation
Many thanks to our 2020 Committee Volunteer Members who joined us for an orientation session on Thursday evening.
We had close to 50 participants who either braved the snowy conditions in person or via Zoom meeting for what proved to be an informative session for all things Whitevale.
Your keen level of engagement as Member representatives is appreciated.
We had close to 50 participants who either braved the snowy conditions in person or via Zoom meeting for what proved to be an informative session for all things Whitevale.
Your keen level of engagement as Member representatives is appreciated.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Robillard, Michael
We are sad to announce the passing of Michael Robillard, a long time member of Whitevale. Michael joined the club in 1985 and truly enjoyed the friendships he made while playing a game he loved. Our deepest sympathies to his family and friends during this difficult time. Please see the link provided below for further details.
Monday, November 18, 2019
Passing of Dave McGilton
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Dave McGilton on November 13, 2019. On behalf of his Whitevale family, our sincerest sympathies. Please see his obituary and service details below.
George Dave McGilton
May 13, 1935 - November 13, 2019
Passed away peacefully on November 13,
2019 in his 85th year. Beloved husband of Ruth McGilton for 61 years. Loving
father of Kathleen Kinsella and her partner Ron Lucas and Jim McGilton and his
wife Kathy. Cherished grandfather of Brian and Jeff McGilton. Dave loved
sports. He especially loved golf and continued to play until this past summer.
He worked for the Borough and City of Scarborough for 38 years including roles
as a Project Manager and Inspection Supervisor. Visitation will be held at The
Simple Alternative Funeral Centre, 1057 Brock Road, Pickering on Friday,
November 22nd from 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm and on Saturday, November 23rd from 10 am
until time of Memorial Service in the Chapel at 11 am. In lieu of flowers
donations may be made to Renascent.
https://mountpleasantgroup.permavita.com/site/GeorgeDaveMcGilton.html?s=40
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)