Meet the Team

NIHGA is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of the Team Captains, Treasurer, Handicapper, and Scheduler. A Webmaster assists the Board by posting information on the official NIHGA website. The Board of Directors collectively manages all aspects of the association including but not limited to membership, tournaments, outings, handicapping, finances, policies, rules, guidelines, and awards.

Todd Smith

Todd Smith

Team 1 Captain
Match Play Coordinator

Todd has served as captain since the 2017 season. He has enjoyed being a member of NIHGA since 2005 when he was invited to join through Clubgolf.  Todd retired from the federal government in Jan 2020 after 39 years at the FBI and DMA.  For the past several years, Todd has coordinated match play and recruited many new members.

Wes Russell

Wes Russell

Team 2
Captain

Wes has served as Captain for the past several years and has enjoyed being a member of the NIHGA since the mid 1980’s. He was an IT Specialist at the National Library of Medicine, NIH primarily working with computer networks. After retiring in 2014, Wes enjoys spending winter months in Florida to escape the cold weather.

  • Stroke Play Outings – Alternates with other Team Captains in serving as the Stroke Play Outing Coordinator.  For example, with 12 Stroke Play outings and 3 Team Captains, each Team Captain would coordinate 4 outings per year.  
    • Coordinates with the Golf Course Point of Contact and other Team Captains on the details contained in the outing flyer.  Date, tee times, and cost are negotiated in advance by the NIHGA Scheduler. Uploads the flyer to the website.
    • Prepares and sends the SignUp Genius invitation to all NIHGA members in accordance with the predetermined opening date/time.
    • Finalizes the SignUp tee sheet.   Uploads the final tee sheet to the website and provides a copy to the Golf Course Point of Contact. Archives the SignUp to prevent members from using SignUp Genius after the closing date/time. 
    • Coordinates with the Golf Course Point of Contact to ensure they have enough contest markers for the outing.  If not, gets the NIHGA-owned markers to the course before the outing.   
    • Decides, in coordination with the Golf Course POC and Board Members, whether to cancel the outing and notifies all members of the decision as soon as possible. 
    • Hands out prizes to team members who have won individual contests at previous Stroke Play outings.
  • Match Play Outings – Todd Smith typically serves as the Match Play Tournament coordinator.  The other Team Captains reviews his plans and provides feedback based on their team members’ level of interest and availability. 
    • Encourages team members to participate in the Match Play Tournament.
    • Assists in filling Match Play tee times with their team members. 
  • New Membership – Helps recruit new league members. Welcomes new members assigned to his/her team.
  • Annual Dues  – Collects Annual Dues from team members.
  • Team Liaison – Serves as a liaison between the team members and the Board of Directors. Entertains league-related suggestions, complaints, or issues from team members and resolves them at the team level to the extent possible.  Presents unresolved issues to the Board of Directors for a Board decision.  
  • Term Limit –  There is no term limit for Team Captains. They may serve as long as they wish. If an Incumbent wants to stand down, he/she shall notify the Board of Directors with at least 2 weeks’ notice.   Incumbents are encouraged to stand down at the end of season and to train their replacement to ensure a smooth transition.
  • Board Member – Serves as a member of the Board of Directors along with the other Team Captains, Treasurer, Scheduler, and Handicapper.  As a member of the Board of Directors, the Team Captain:   
    • Attends all Board meetings. The Board meets on an as needed basis either virtually or through email depending on the scope and nature of the required decisions at a time when all Board members are available.  Major changes to league rules and/or processes are typically decided during the off season (Nov-Mar).  
    • Requests Board meetings to address league concerns or proposed changes.  Prepares talking points to frame the issue(s) and leads the discussion when he/she requests the meeting.
  • End of Year Outing – The planning and execution of the End of Year Outing is shared by all Board Members.   Each Board Member is individually responsible for certain aspects of the Scramble Tournament, Annual Awards, Door Prizes, Luncheon, and 50/50 Raffle so the workload is distributed as evenly as possible.

Gus Lambis

Team 3
Captain

Gus joined NIHGA in 2008, and has been a captain and the league scheduler for the past two years.  Gus worked at NIH for over 30 years as a Project Officer and semi retired in 2012. He went back to NIH as a consultant for two and half years and finally retired in 2015. Gus enjoys traveling and playing different golf courses.

Denise Droneburg

Denise Droneburg

Handicapper

Denise has been the NIHGA Handicapper since 2020 when she joined the league. She maintains records of all scorecards, prepares handicaps, and publishes outing and annual award winners. She also maintains Sign Up Genius as the league’s online tee time reservation application.

  • Stroke Play Outings  
    • Utilizes the online app called Fringe Golfers to calculate player handicap indices. Maintains league and season information in Fringe Golfers including: scheduled outings, league member names, tee box selections, course ratings and slopes, league handicapping criteria, and hole-by-hole scores for each outing. 
    • Prepares and posts player handicaps for each outing.
    • Collects and maintains files of scorecard and contest marker photos for each outing.
    • Determines and posts individual and team winners for each outing.
  • Match Play Outings 
    • Prepares handicaps and scorecards for each match.
    • Prepares and posts the Match Play bracket listing who is playing at each outing and the winners of each match.
  • Annual Awards – Determines winners and prepares certificates for the Director’s Cup, Greg Chicca Cup, Rookie of the Year, and any Holes-in-One.
  • Sign Up Genius – Assists Team Captains, as needed, with creating and maintaining Sign Up Genius Groups and Sign Ups.
  • Documentation – Maintains documentation regarding the tools and processes used to carry out Handicapper duties to ensure continuity of operations.  Documentation is posted in a section of the website that is only visible to Board of Director members.
  • Term Limit – There is no term limit for Handicapper. He/she may serve as long as he/she wishes. If an Incumbent wants to stand down, he/she shall notify the Board of Directors with at least 2 weeks’ notice.   Incumbents are encouraged to stand down at the end of season and to train their replacement to ensure a smooth transition.
  • Board Member – Serves as a member of the Board of Directors along with the Team Captains, Treasurer, and Scheduler.  As a member of the Board of Directors, the Handicapper:   
    • Attends all Board meetings. The Board meets on an as needed basis either virtually or through email depending on the scope and nature of the required decisions at a time when all Board members are available.  Major changes to league rules and/or processes are typically decided during the off season (Nov-Mar).  
    • Requests Board meetings to address league concerns or proposed changes.  Prepares talking points to frame the issue(s) and leads the discussion when he/she requests the meeting.
  • End of Year (EOY) Outing – Prepares team handicaps for the EOY Scramble tournament and places teams in appropriate flights. The planning and execution of the End of Year Outing is shared by all Board Members.   Each Board Member is individually responsible for certain aspects of the Scramble Tournament, Annual Awards, Door Prizes, Luncheon, and 50/50 Raffle so the workload is distributed as evenly as possible.
  • Stipend – The Handicapper receives an annual stipend for his/her effort payable at the end of the season.
Mike Zielinski

Mike Zielinski

Treasurer

Mike has been a league member for longer than he can remember, and has been treasurer since 2009.  Mike maintains the league accounts at the NIH Federal Credit Union, collects dues, pays expenses, helps budget for the End of Year Outing, and reports on league finances at the close of the playing year.

Terry Chiodo

Scheduler

Terry retired from NGA in 2017 with the plan to play more golf. After many years of Todd asking her and her husband to join the NIGHA league, she joined in 2018. It’s been a great experience for her.  Terry loves playing different courses and getting to know the NIHGA members. She took over the league scheduler position in 2023.

  • Represents the League to the Golf Courses – The Scheduler serves as the league’s primary Point of Contact with all golf courses.  As such, he/she plays a critical role in maintaining favorable relationships with all courses.  The Scheduler is the primary Point of Contact in resolving conflicts that may arise between the course and league such as no shows, slow play, poor behavior, etc.   
  • Stroke Play Outings – The Scheduler is responsible for booking tee times and getting the best rates possible for all Stroke Play outings.  It is helpful to explain that the league is made up mostly of seniors to hopefully get a better rate.  The Stroke Play outings run from April – September and are held approximately every other week.  The scheduler will relate league requirements to the course, such as tee times and contest marker requirements.  The Scheduler shall finalize and publish the final schedule 30 days prior to the first outing.
    • Contacts golf course Points of Contacts and set forth requirements for the number of tee times.  Tee times may start as late as 10:00 AM early in the season (April-May) when the weather is typically colder, and as early at 9:00 AM later in the season (June-September) when the weather is typically hotter.  
    • In coordination with the Golf Course Point of Contact, establishes the cost for seniors, non-seniors, walkers, and riders. 
    • Assigns a Team Captain to serve as the outing coordinator for each outing. 
    • Prepares a stroke play schedule in the format required by the webmaster so it can be posted to the website.
    • Maintains a list of golf courses and contact information for each golf course. 
  • Match Play Outings – Reserves tee times for all Match Play rounds, to include “tie-breaker” rounds if needed.  If the tie-breaker rounds are not needed, the Scheduler is responsible for cancelling the tee times that are no longer required.  Match Play formats may vary from year to year depending on the level of interest by league members, but at a minimum 5 different dates with 3 foursomes each will need to be reserved.  Match Play outings takes place in September and tee times need to be scheduled by mid-August.  Format options include:
    • Who competes – Teams against Teams or Ad Hoc Pairs against Ad Hoc.  Pairs
    • Elimination Criteria – Single- or Double-elimination
    • Number of members who want to compete in the Tournament
  • Term Limit  – There is no term limit for the scheduler. He/she may serve as long as they wish. If the scheduler wants to stand down, he/she shall notify the Board of Directors with at least 2 weeks’ notice.   Incumbents are encouraged to stand down at the end of season and to train their replacement to ensure a smooth transition.
  • Board Member – Serves as a member of the Board of Directors along with the Team Captains, Treasurer, and Handicapper.  As a member of the Board of Directors, the Scheduler:   
    • Attends all Board meetings. The Board meets on an as needed basis either virtually or through email depending on the scope and nature of the required decisions at a time when all Board members are available.  Major changes to league rules and/or processes are typically decided during the off season (Nov-Mar).  
    • Requests Board meetings to address concerns or proposed changes to the league schedule or end of year outing.  Prepares talking points to frame the issue(s) and leads the discussion when he/she requests the meeting.
  • End of Year Outing – The Scheduler is responsible for booking the End of Year Shotgun Scramble outing and luncheon.  Coordinates with the Board of Directors on where to hold the outing, the cost of the outing, and the luncheon menu.  This involves:
    • Comparing offerings by multiple golf courses to get the best value
    • Securing support from the golf course to check in members, make tournament announcements prior to tee off, determine and post winning teams in each flight, place and collect contest markers on the course, and provide food service.
  • Annual Awards – Solicits complimentary rounds of golf from courses that we play to hand out as prizes for the Annual Awards, Scramble prizes, and Door Prizes at the end of year outing.  
  • Stipend – The Scheduler receives an annual stipend for his/her effort payable at the end of the season.

Jen Puzio

Webmaster

Jen started playing with the league in 2020 and took on the role of the Webmaster after the 2021 season. She oversees all the features of the site, solves technical problems, implements site content for league members, and works with the board making sure the site looks and performs well.