Welcome to ARFAX

I am honored to have served you and ARFAX as your President during 2023 and 2024. We have now passed the responsibility for the ARFAX President to Peggy Cifrino of Springfield. I encourage you to provide your support to Peggy, including volunteering for leadership opportunities.

We celebrated the 60th anniversary of ARFAX in 2023. The idea for ARFAX started in 1961 and the first meeting in August 1962 had a group of 50 women from 9 clubs. In 2024, ARFAX now includes 19 clubs and 361 members in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties.

Clubs at a total of 24 different courses have been ARFAX members. Of the years with data available, ARFAX has had an average of 14 clubs and 306 members per year, with as many as 375 members in 1986 and now 19 clubs in 2024.

I am proud of our 2024 accomplishments:

• Addition to ARFAX of three new clubs: Lansdowne, River Creek, and Piedmont
• Increase in membership to 361 members
• Addition of a new special tournament for 2025: Four-Lady Team
• Adoption in 2024 of the ARFAX Code of Conduct
• Emphasis on improving Pace of Play
• Implementation in 2024 of a flag system for team matches
• Unification of the concept of prize redemption at the club hosting the event

Our 2023 accomplishments included:

• 60th Anniversary Luncheon with 6 Past Presidents attending from as far back as 1983
• 60th Anniversary booklet with statistics and highlighting our 16 member clubs each with club background and a featured hole.
• Development of an analysis of the number of members, clubs, and teams over the years for which data are available.
• Development and posting on our website the Role and Responsibilities for all officers, committee chairs, and delegates
• Implementation of a streamlined certificate redemption process that reimburses club pro shops for certificate purchases within 1 week (the Pros really appreciated this speedy process)
• Implementation of a standard After-Action Report for all Cups and Special Tournaments to provide lasting documentation of the events
• Adherence to a requirement that all chairs provide written and verbal reports of the year’s activities
• Use of Golf Genius, with the assistance of our Webmaster, Cheryl Daly, for: 

         o tournament registration

         o tournament pairing

         o tournament and match scoring

         o tournament scoring and reporting

         o posting scores

         o distribution of information, such as the President’s updates and tournament information

• Regularly-scheduled meetings of the Executive Board

I want to also mention some decisions the Executive Board made based upon our discussions. Tipping of club staff assisting with golf bags to and from cars is not included in any of our Cup tournaments or team match budgets. We suggest that you consider at these ARFAX events compensating the club staff assisting you, just as you would compensate them at your own club. In addition, in order to keep prices reasonable, we are not providing breakfasts for Cup tournaments or team matches.

The website is much more user friendly and incorporates many of the features you requested in our 2019 Member Survey: sign up online, pay online, see who else is playing, and get more current information online.

It has been a great two years. I look forward to being part of ARFAX in 2025 and beyond.

See you on the courses in 2025.

Carolyn K. Offutt

Westwood Country Club

ARFAX President, 2023-2024