I’m honored to enter into my 4th and final year as your President, continuing my work to make VSWGA the best it can be for all Vermont-strong women golfers!
I am grateful for the support and trust you offer to me and the other members of the board. To Jo Allsopp, leaving the board after six years of service, we offer a huge “thank you” for your dedication and commitment. To our two newest board members—Kate Mitchell as secretary and Nathalie Lascelles as Director at Large—please offer a big welcome. Behind the scenes we have two new women keeping things humming along: Karen Bowser as the Operations Administrator focused on State Day management and Pam Boyd (who also handles our website) focusing on membership and registration.
Our 2023 theme song might have been “Rain Drops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” but that didn’t slow us down. Despite the rain, we celebrated 3,013 play days and our membership rose to 451 women, 50 of whom were new! We had a strong group of 16 Junior golfers in 2023. To continue to support the participation of younger golfers we’ve expanded the Junior Committee, welcoming three new members—Holly Reynolds, Jennifer Papillo, and Jazz Bruce—to join Judith Wine and our fearless leader, Lauri Brown. All your donations to Junior golf and the scholarship programs really help to make these efforts a success.
We held a very successful Senior Amateur at Williston Golf Club, despite a terrible hurricane. The Amateur at Mount Anthony CC completed the 3-year rotation in Bennington. A rainy weekend for the Mid-Am at Neshobe Golf Club didn’t stop the excitement as we watched a dramatic four-hole playoff where Kristin Mahoney took the win. In 2024 we will play host for the Tri-States at Brattleboro Country Club. Champlain Country club will host the Amateur, Haystack Golf Course the Mid-Amateur, and Country Club of Barre the Senior Championship. The Sarah Hunter tournament continued in 2023 at Haystack Country Club and we look forward to many more years of this celebration of her spirit.
Pace of Play improved greatly this past year, in large part because you’ve learned to “split up to catch up.” We focused on learning and playing by the rules, with thanks to Cathy Neff for her wonderful email rules lessons and her many years of being on our Rules Committee. This year, we will have three new members of the Rules Committee: me, Susan Rice, and Amy Butcher. We have all committed to taking the USGA’s official 3-day workshop and working hands-on in major tournaments
for the VSWGA and the VGA.
Another great thing in 2023 was your enthusiastic participation in the online survey. Your ideas were so helpful and we continue to implement many of them in hopes of making our events even more successful this year. In fact, the feedback process was so helpful that we’ll send another one in this year to harvest more of your good thoughts.
It has been an enjoyable and busy 2023 serving as your President. I have gained so much knowledge and found so much enjoyment in serving with this group of dedicated volunteers—they never cease to amaze me. I am pleased to announce that Amy Butcher will be stepping into my role as President next year.
I wish you all a healthy and safe 2024.
See you on the links!
Linda Jane Parson
President