President’s Patter September 2022

 

KIKUYU SPRAYING

My thanks to Bevin Martin for organising in cooperation with Superintendent Dave a ‘hardy’ team of sprayers. This group comprises Alan Drury, Doug Brankin, VP Greg Trevaskis, Len Deeley and yours truly.

Progress has been very pleasing and along with boom spraying is having a noticeable effect on fairways and tee boxes. As the spray is mixed with red dye it is easy to see which areas have been hand sprayed and a team of 4 can cover quite a large area. Spraying will continue for the foreseeable future as we work progressively to suppress the spread of kikuyu – which affects around 15% of the course – in a proactive approach.

OUT OF BOUNDS SHOTS ON THE THIRD HOLE

I have heard a couple of members making comment about the notice on the third tee blue markers to SMS your number and name to Des if a ball goes out of bounds. There seems to be a misconception with some members that this is so that the offending player can be held liable for the payment of damages/repairs if required. This is not the case at all. Every member of the club is individually covered for damage to property under our insurance policy.

Should the wayward shot result in the need for repairs then we can access the policy to cover this.There is no cost to individual members and it is also a way of tracking the frequency of out of bounds shots which we know have reduced dramatically since the changes to the third tee blue markers and repositioning of the white tee markers.

Speak to des for further clarification.

MEMBER WORKSHOPS

You will likely have read the notice on the Club Website that the first of a series of 4 workshops will be held with interested members commencing on Wednesday the 21st of September at 6.30pm.

These ‘thinktank’ sessions will provide valuable feedback as we look to establish the new 5 Year Development Plan for the Club now that the current one is reaching its conclusion. If you would like to be a part of this process, please RSVP to Des as soon as possible.

Indicating your intention to be involved is vital for planning purposes. I look forward to seeing you there and joining Board Members in what will be interesting sessions that will help to shape the future of the Club.

PRESIDENT’S CUP

The President’s Cup Gold Letter event which has gone back to the traditional 36 holes par format. It is great to see 63 names down for this event at this stage and I do hope the numbers will increase further. I am hoping that the weather will be considerably better than that of last year where a 27-hole stableford event was trialed.

You will have noticed that this part of the year seems to be stacked with a number of 36-hole events in relatively close proximity.

A number of members have raised this with me however, I would point out that scheduling events during the year is neither straightforward or simple given course playing demands and a range of other factors.

However, if a sizable number of members wish to see some changes, then, rather than simply talking amongst yourselves over a beer, get a letter together and forward this to the Match Committee and Board for deliberation.

In closing congratulations to Donna Wroth and Sam Roots for wining the gross trophy in the mixed foursomes and to Greg and Tricia Trevaskis in the nett. It was a beautiful weekend weather wise with the course in great condition (well done Dave and Grounds Team!!) and great day enjoyed by all.

Till next update happy golfing and see you on the Course!

Rob Litttlewood

President