All posts by Markus - 35. page

Dear Members,

Your generous contributions were recently shared with members of the El Tigre Golf Course staff. Ever staff member that received a payment was very touched and deeply appreciate of all of your support. Steve Johnson and all of his staff were tremendously appreciative of the outpouring of support that they received from League members in this time of need. I have attached an email from Jose Torres, who wrote an email on behalf of his colleagues thanking all of the members.

Markus

Subject: Thank you

Hello everyone! I’ll speak for everyone in the staff (golf  services, pro shop , cart girls , & cleaning girls) . Thanks for all the people that are involved in collecting money for us. One  more time each.  Each one of you show us how much you care for us , how much you’re worried about us.
 I got no words to say but thank you very much .. god blessed every single one .. this encourages us to give a better service for all you guys & gals , but the most important this is done with lot’s of love to us, got a big heart 

& it means a lot for us.
 I been speaking mostly to everyone & they are doing fine, hope you guys are the same, your families…

     You guys are great 

Please if I forgot to mention someone, let them know ..

I am very pleased to report that El Tigre Golf Course League members have provided tremendous financial support to the Relief Fund that was established in late March. The fundraising campaign ended earlier this week and the total amount on contributions received to date is $118,400 pesos. Steve Johnson and his staff will make the collected funds available to the impacted staff members in the very near future. The collected funds will be made available to the caddies, the beverage cart ladies, golf shop staff members and a few additional operational employees. Since the golf course is now closed for the month of April (and possibly longer), and all impacted staff members are unable to work, your contributions will provide much needed support to our dear golf course friends during this time of need. Steve and his staff are tremendously appreciative of all of your kindness and generocity.

Paradise Village Group also recently communicated that they would not be collecting any monthly Social and/or Golf membership dues, during the period that the impacted facilities are closed. For those members that have prepaid their annual dues in advance, the next annual statement will reflect a credit that will cover the time that the facility was closed to the public. For those members paying their membership dues on a monthly basis they will either, 1) get a credit for any monies already paid (when the facility was closed), 2) not receive a future bill if the facility was closed for the duration of that billing period, or 3) a combination of the above, if appropriate. Several members have already ask Steve if they could possibly donate any of their future credits to the current Relief Fund campaign. While Steve is extremely appreciative of this generous offering, it would be logistically and administratively very difficult to implement this initiative with the current accounting systems at hand. As such, it will not be feasible to implement this program at this time.

Steve and I want to thank everyone for their amazing support during this difficult period. We are all looking forward to the Fall when we will all be back together again and hopefully enjoying our beautiful golf course and being together again. In the meantime, we thank you very much for your generocity and for your caring. Most importantly, we wish all of of you and your families the best of health.

Markus & Steve

Effective April 1st, the El Tigre golf course is once again closed as a result of new government issued guidelines. The course is expected to be closed at least through the end of the month of April. The course had reopened for the last 5 days of March, and during that time it was gratifying to see that all golfers were observing the new social distancing measures that had been put in place.

There has been an overwhelming response from the El Tigre golf league members in support of the Relief fund program that was recently established. After five days, Steve Johnson has received over $70,000 pesos in total contributions from the membership community. This is absolutely amazing and speaks volumes concerning the collective character and generosity of our members during this time of need. The deadline for the current relief campaign is 12:00 noon on April 6th (4 days from now). At that time Steve Johnson will make the collected funds available to the impacted staff members. Any and all collected funds will be made available to the caddies, the beverage cart ladies and to the golf shop staff members. There is still time to make a contribution if you would like to do so.

As stated in the last post, any and all contributions, of any amount, are greatly appreciated. If you are still in the Nuevo Vallarta area, you can stop by and drop off a cash contribution at the golf shop, to Steve’s attention. Credit card contributions can be made by contacting Steve Johnson, (his email is sjohnson@paradisevillagegroup.com) and letting him know what amount, and what currency (US dollars, Canadian dollars, Mexican pesos, etc.) you would like to contribute. Most members will have a credit card on file with the golf course that you most likely will be able to use. Steve has established an accounting process to record and track all contributions collected and we will continue to send out periodic fund raising updates during the next 4 days (via updated posts on the members website).

For those members that have already contributed we thank you very much for your generosity and caring. Best wishes to all members and their families for continued good health.

Markus

Dear El Tigre Golf Course League Members,

A special fund has been established to provide much needed monetary support to El Tigre Golf Course staff members (golf course caddies, beverage golf cart ladies and front office pro shop staff). Several members have come forward recently to ask how they can help out and Jim Von Gremp sent out an email yesterday to raise awareness among the members on how we might be able to help out the golf staff, in this time of need. I met with Steve Johnson, (El Tigre Golf Course General Manager), earlier today to discuss how we can best structure, implement and communicate the newly established relief fund to all golf course league members.  We are targeting to have the relief fund in place for the next 10 days, with a deadline of 12:00 PM on Monday, April 6th. At that time all collected funds will be made available to the impacted staff members. Please note that the golf course reopened earlier today (after being closed for the previous four days), and we are pleased to report that several members have already made either cash or credit card contributions.

Any and all contributions, of any amount, are greatly appreciated. If you are still in the Nuevo Vallarta area, you can stop by and drop off a cash contribution at the golf shop, to Steve’s attention. Credit card contributions can be made by contacting Steve Johnson, (his email is sjohnson@paradisevillagegroup.com) and letting him know what amount, and what currency (US dollars, Canadian dollars, Mexican pesos, etc.) you would like to contribute. Most members will have a credit card on file with the golf course that you most likely will be able to use. Steve will also establish an accounting process to record and track all contributions collected and periodic fund raising updates will be sent out to all members (via updated posts on this members website) during the relief fund collection period.

It was certainly great to have the golf course open again today and it was very reassuring to see all of the new safety measures in place for the benefit of both golfers and golf course staff members. The new measures are directed at implementing best practices social distancing guidelines coupled with an acute focus on following optimal health/sanitary hygienne protocols. The coronavirus pandemic is a very fluid situation here, in the US, in Canada and around the world. No one knows how long the golf course will remain open, how quickly the coronavirus will impact the local Nayarit area or how devastating the final financial and health impact will be. All contibutions are greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you for your consideration. I wish you and your family the best of health.

Markus Gmelin

Dear Fellow Golfers,

We have just received the following exciting announcement from Steve Johnson, El Tigre Golf Course General Manager, concerning the reopening of the golf course, effective 7:15 AM, Friday, March 27th, 2020.

___________________________________________________________________________

Dear Members,

During these trying times, every decision made by ownership and management have been made with 2 things in mind.  First, ensuring the safety of our members and staff and making the most responsible decisions possible at the moment.  Second, following government guidelines set forth by National and Regional government entities.  We are in agreement with worldwide health organizations as well as government guidelines that if we are responsible now we can limit the severity in our area of this outbreak and life can return to normal much quicker.

With that being said, we feel that if everyone is committed to following extreme safety precautions it is possible to re-open the El Tigre golf course.  I have spoken with many colleagues both in the United States and in Mexico.  Many have been able to keep their golf courses open for play following strict safety guidelines while some have been forced to change the decision and close because golfers were not able or willing to follow the regulations in place.  We are counting on our members and guests to commit to following all of the safety and health guidelines I am listing below:

1. One player per golf car.  Husband/wives, family members can ride together if desired but all other play will need to follow this procedure at all times.
2. We will be spacing tee times further apart to keep with the “Social Distancing” recommendations of all health organizations.  You will need to keep this distance between groups at all times.
3. Golf Members will not need to check in for their round in the Golf Shop.  Proceed directly to the Golf Car Staging Area and let the service staff know you are here.  They will communicate with Golf Shop staff and the check in process will be handled without this interaction.  Guests and non-members will still need to check in in the Golf Shop.  during check in please stay 6 feet away from other customers while you are in the Golf Shop.
4. We have devised a method to allow for no touching of the flagstick.  Your golf ball will not fall to the bottom of the hole when you are putting.  Whether your ball is resting against the flagstick or bounces off, it is considered holed.  Simply pick up your ball without touching flagstick and proceed to the next tee.
5. We will be removing rakes from the golf cars.  During this time simply move your ball to an acceptable position in the bunker and play from that spot. 
6. Please follow all “Social Distancing” guidelines.  Stay 6 feet away from your playing partners, staff and other golfers.
7. Service staff will only handle your clubs after you are completely finished putting personal items away and have left the area.  It is preferred that you handle your clubs yourself and take them with you after golf but we will continue to store clubs if needed but staff will only handle them after you have left the area.

In order for us to open and stay open it is imperative that everyone commit to adhering to these policies.

We will have an extensive sanitizing procedure for our golf cars before and after each use.  Please respect the staff’s ability to follow these procedures before using your golf car.  They will be spraying and wiping all areas of the golf car with sanitizer before and after each use so please keep your distance during this process. 

We will open the golf course for play beginning at 7:15 AM Friday March 27^th.  Tee times are available to book immediately either online or by calling the Golf Shop.  There are no plans for any organized group play so none of these times will be blocked.

We will have limited Beverage Car service available at this time.  There will be no prepared food, mixed drinks, etc. available.  The cars will have beer, soda and bagged snacks (chips, peanuts, etc.) available for purchase.  Please do not expect the staff to handle used items from your golf car, (empty bottles, cups, garbage in general) please dispose of these items yourself. 

Thank you in advance for your strict adherence to these policies.  We believe that the open air of the golf course is an excellent place to be during these difficult times but this is only possible if everyone will do their part in keeping us all safe and healthy.

Steven B. JohnsonDirector General/General Manager
PGA Director of Golf/Gerente Campo de Golf
El Tigre Golf & Country Club
Tel : [322] 226.8190  Ext: 102
Fax : [322] 226.8192
Mail: sjohnson@paradisevillagegroup.com