By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The Alamance Senior Men’s Golf Association is seeking to bolster its membership with a new season beginning next month.
“Over the last four or five years, membership has started sliding,” said Graham’s Perry Dixon, who’s on the group’s six-member board of directors. “We need a refresh.”
The first event of the year is scheduled for March 11 at Mill Creek Golf Club in Mebane. There will be monthly outings through November at a variety of courses in and around the Triad. Rounds usually begin at 9:00 a.m.
Members must be age 50 or older. There’s a volunteer board of directors. This is a longstanding organization.
Jim LaRocco, the group’s vice president (and handling other duties because the president’s spot is vacant), said he’s not sure of the reason for the decline in participation. He has been involved with the group for about 15 years.
Dues to join are $15. ASMGA offers prizes and uses handicaps to set up different divisions. The association seeks hole sponsors.
“They haven’t been able to replenish their membership,” said Burlington’s Mike Brown, a newcomer to the group. “The more, the merrier. There’s a lot of senior golfers around here.”
Brown, 73, is retiring from a marketing job at the end of the month. He said he’ll be playing more golf.
Dixon said when he joined a dozen years ago there might be 90-100 golfers in an outing. Now, membership is at about 80, with perhaps half that number involved in some outings.
“We need to rebuild it a little bit,” Dixon said. “It’s a good group of retired guys.”
LaRocco, a Graham man, said some senior leagues have team formats.
“We tend to be a little different because we have stroke play,” he said.
But he said there are a couple of golfers age 90 or older who play and they’re accommodated by hitting from modified tee locations.
As of mid-February, there were 25 golfers signed up for the first event, though LaRocco said the number generally increases closer to the playing date.
The ASMGA negotiates group rates with courses and sets pairings. Small prizes are available throughout the rounds.
“You win something every once in a while,” Dixon said. “The purpose of the club is to get on courses you otherwise wouldn’t play.”
There are several senior golf groups that play rounds on a regular basis in the region. Alamance 50-Plus plays once per month on Mondays at area courses.
