Mr. Iannelli has been very helpful in accessing resources for us in our investigation and has been a source of information for you and the membership. He is not driving this decision-making process. Some have also placed responsibility on Mr. Iannelli for failing to set aside capital to fund this project. That blame is badly misplaced. It is the Board and the Board alone that chooses the dues we pay and the capital we set aside. Mr. Iannelli can advise, but we and our predecessors decide. It is the Board alone that will decide our path forward. I cast but a single vote and I do not have any personal stake whatsoever in the outcome. My sole personal interest is in doing everything I can to investigate, consider and provide the Board with the best information and guidance available. It would be a failure of leadership, however, for me not to make a recommendation to the Board. No one has spent more time considering this set of problems than I have and no one has received more emails or had more coffees, lunches and meetings than I have throughout this process. Selfishly, I can say that my life would be far easier if this set of problems had not come on my watch. You might feel the same way, but this is now our responsibility.
Here is my recommendation. It would be my preference not to renovate the North Course right now, but I firmly believe that we should. And it would be a drastic error not to do so.
This is an inflection point for Wilmington Country Club. Our choices are clear-cut. On one hand, we can at last bring our North Course up to WCC standards at a reasonable cost to members. On the other hand, we can allow the North Course to continue a long decline that will accelerate over time. This Club has never before allowed its quality to deteriorate and we should not do so now. I am optimistic that the direst fears about attrition are based on misunderstood information and unrealistic pessimism. But even if the worst were to befall us, the Club will long endure and we have the figures to give us great comfort. The choice, to me, is therefore clear. A $10 - $11 million expense for the irrigation system is not negotiable. An additional $12 million investment in the next 50 years of golf at Wilmington Country Club is well worth the finished product for us to enjoy. Our current and future members will thank us.
Thank you for your service and careful consideration. And many, many thanks to all those who have volunteered so much of their time to bring us to this place.
David Wilks
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