Captain’s Corner
As I write this report the first round of the men’s Club Championship has been played and the Ladies are playing their second round. I would like to wish everyone good luck. The Championship is our biggest event of the year and to win your grade or even to be the club Champion is a big deal.
Round 1 for the men was on Saturday 5th of October, there was steady rain for the early starters which got a bit heavier around 8:30, a few of the greens became unplayable due to surface water so play was called off for around 40 minutes. After some squeegeeing of the greens and the rain easing, play resumed, and the weather was ok for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, this Saturday isn’t looking that much better with 20-40’mm of rain predicted. We will just have to play it out and see what we get.
I would like to congratulate Ron and his team for the work they did to get the course in as good of condition as it is for the Championships. The greens on Saturday were in great condition and were a good speed even after all the rain we had. It is very difficult to get the greens firm and fast so quickly after the green renovations. With this in mind, the Golf committee is looking at pushing the championships back a few weeks next year so that the green staff have more time to get the course in the best condition it can be for our Championships.
The time sheet trial will commence on Thursday 10th of October for the competition on Saturday 19th October. I would like members to remember that this is only a trial and the board will review the trial and report back to members before anything permanent is done. The one change we have made before the trial starts is that members playing in the competition can put their name down on the waiting list while being on the course, but you must be back in the club by 3 pm to take your spot in the queue. On what I think is a related topic membership categories, part of the problem with access to the Saturday time sheet is that we currently have 633 male members in all categories who all can play on Saturdays. I think that the balance of categories is out, and we have too many people wanting to play on the same day. The board has asked the Golf committee to investigate and report back to the board with suggestions.
The Major Pennant draw has been released for the 2020 season. Our Men’s Team is in Division 2, section 3 and will play against The Lakes, Stonecutters Ridge and Fox Hills. Our Women’s team are in Division 2, Section 2 and will play Avondale, Pymble and Penrith. The teams will be selected over the next couple of months.
A couple of things to let members know, next years fixtures book is currently being worked on and will be ready by the end of December. The board has agreed to put up the competition fees starting on the 1st of November. Normal competitions will go to $14 and crossover events will go to $15.
Good Golfing – Glenn Woodley Captain