subsequent day fully-charged, the power usage of individual carts varies, depending on play. With Visage, every cart’s power supply can be monitored, ensuring no vehicle goes out under-charged, which is especially important during a tournament. Hankering a hamburger after your round? Visage will allow users to order refreshments during play, so food and beverages will be awaiting you in the VIP Room when you walk of the course. All of these features translate to, not only an enhanced golfing experience, by an enhanced bottom line. The initiative to bring Visage to North Shore Towers manifested out of a serendipitous conversation between NST Country Club Men’s Golf President, Stan Yoel, and Board Chair Steve Redlich over lunch one day during the 2016 season. Both are avid golfers, who’ve enjoyed the heightened play of Visage at other courses in the U.S. “I often get together with Stan Yoel and NST Country Club Ladies’ Golf President Judy Lev to see what can be done to enhance the golf experience,” Redlich said. “It’s part of what I do as Country Club Chairman.” When Yoel recommended bringing the technology to North Shore Towers, Redlich, who also serves at NST Treasurer, A simple touch helps you better prepare your approach set about making it happen. Residents who attended the December 8 Annual Finance Meeting would have no recollection of the additional costs associated with outfitting the golf cart fleet in 2017, because the expense was seamlessly integrated into next year’s budget, using expected savings and surplus, plus increases in revenue. “The GPS System is self-funded by increases in cart fees,” Redlich explained. Starting the upcoming 2017 season, members will be charged $3 a cart for an 18-hole round of golf and $2 for a 9-hole round. The fact that Country Club fees will not be raised in 2017 is proof of Redlich’s assessment and a testament to his deft handling as NST Treasurer. The NST Country Club golf cart fleet totals 72 vehicles, forty of which were purchased approximately two years ago, and as such, new enough to interface with the Visage Mobile Golf Information System. The remaining thirty-two were too old, so had to be replaced, before the GPS system could be incorporated into them. In lieu of buying carts outright, Redlich opted to lease new vehicles under a five-year plan. According to Redlich, 95% of all Clubs lease their golf carts. Doing so will save NST Country Club thousands of dollars over the span of the lease and prove far more economical than purchasing new carts. “You want to turn over the carts every five years,” he said. “It’s where residual value meets wear and tear.” Part of the partnership with GPS Industries includes hands-on tutorials, which will be given by Visage professionals at the start of the 2017 season. NST golfers owe it to themselves to attend one of these classes, so they can more easily acclimate to the refurbished golf carts and more fully take advantage of all the features Visage offers. But even if residents are unable to attend any of the tutorials, Towers Video Productions guru John Virga will be on hand to film the sessions for consumption by residents on the exclusive North Shore Towers in-house cable channel. “Five clubs in Long Island went bankrupt and closed last year,” Redlich noted. “With approximately one-third of NST Country Club golfers being non-residents, it’s important to bring in more outsiders in order to keep our club solvent.” Feeling peckish? Order something while you play, so it will be awaiting you in the VIP Room at the end of your round March 2017 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 13
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