The Games Committee keeps track of the number of members who book bowls or croquet games to be sure that we are providing enough opportunities for members to play when it best suits them.
We were capacity-constrained during April with a limit of just 8 players per time slot to start with, and we could not bowl Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays because of the need to maximize croquet training sessions.
In May, we were allowed to expand to 16 players at the club for any session and enough members volunteered as safety monitors to enable us to hold at least two sessions every day of the week.
Tracking the bookings to date, with the expanded capacity, indicates there is enough room at the moment to satisfy member demand as shown on the chart below. We do need two games a day; the days highlighted in red show where more than 16 players have registered so far. Even the newly-introduced croquet exceeds 16 players four days out of seven.
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Although almost 60% of capacity in May is already booked, there should be enough room in the schedule to allow a keen member to play all day at the club. Start with a 9:30 a.m. bowls reservation; move on to a reserved slot in the 12 noon croquet game; use your 4:00 p.m. late reservation privilege to book a second croquet game at 2:00 p.m.
When President Barry Hersh was asked if there would be a prize for the first member to achieve this triple crown, he responded, “Of course!”; then qualified his answer with, “Naturally, they’d have to win all three of the games”; backing off even further by adding, “Provided the Executive unanimously agrees.”
There was talk of “. . . maybe a chocolate bar . . .” but you shouldn’t count on it. If you do take up the challenge, you may have to settle for the standard “fifteen minutes of fame.” But book soon; there could be a lot of pent-up demand. Of the 114 currently registered playing members, only 68 have shown up to play at the club so far this season. The warmer weather starting this week may lure the whole membership onto the greens.
