A nice bit of cooperation
September 11, 2009
The folks at Community Bank Delaware are proud of their commitment to their Cape Region business clients, and do not mind at all finding ways to publicize that fact.
The new bank’s beautiful main office facility on Route One near Dartmouth Drive is running a series of alternating messages on their electronic sign board that go well beyond the usual time and temperature readings.
Earlier this week, for example, I was a bit startled to see a golf reference flashing across the signboard, as I headed north.
“Shamrock Par 3 — free golf — coupons inside” was in the mix, along with the latest interest rates for the bank’s CDs.
That was worth a phone call or two. Lynda Messick, Community Bank’s President and CEO, was more than happy to chat about what I’d seen.
“We like to think of our clients as part of a great big old family,” she said. “We always try to support our local businesses.” Messick said the bank is working with the popular Milton executive course on Saw Mill Road, by handing out gift certificates for a free round of golf to the customers who stop by the bank.
Placing the Shamrock name on Community Bank’s electronic message board is one way the bank returns the favor. Thousands of drivers using Route One see that sign every day, and that kind of publicity should be well worth the freebies.
Shamrock Par 3’s Bob Stenger credited his wife Wendy for their new certificate program with Community Bank, and said they were looking forward to its success. “Hopefully it’ll be a nice symbiotic relationship,” he said.
The folks at the Shamrock can be reached at 302-684-1808. The main office of Community Bank Delaware can be reached at 302-226-3333.
Maintaining a sense of honor
Golf is sometimes referred to as a game of honor, but some folks may need reminding of that fact.
Last week the World Amateur Golf Championships were held on dozens of courses along the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Several local golfers made the trip, and during the week learned about the extent to which the tournament organizers will go to make sure the competition is kept as fair as possible.
For example, John Eustis told me that after one round, one player in the event was listed among the leaders in a particular flight. Another golfer in the same group took a look at the score sheets, and contacted the officials.
According to Eustis, the golfer told the officials that the other golfer’s score was showing as six strokes lower than he had really played that day. They asked him how he knew, and the golfer told them that he had kept a score sheet himself.
Apparently the event staff double-checked, and discovered that two 7s on the player’s scorecard had been written over, to show a pair of 4s.
That’s a fast way to shave off six strokes.
Eustis said the offending player was disqualified from the tournament.
The World Amateur is a major event for thousands of golfers each year. The tournament operators do not need to have a few players ruin the event’s reputation with stunts like this.
Eustis said that the organizers take several steps to assure the integrity of the tournament, including double-checks on the handicap indexes used to set up the flights before the first round. In addition, after each of the rounds, the event staffers adjust the players’ handicaps to take into account their performances for each day.
For Eustis’ flight, for example, where all golfers began with handicap indexes from 12.4 to 12.9, the top two golfers were re-ranked as 10-handicappers for the final round.
The safeguards that have been put into place aren’t entirely foolproof, as that first example shows. On the other hand, the tournament’s efforts to maintain the honor of the sport should be applauded.