Catch-up from the Vice Captain’s Desk
Looking back over the last few months as the winter chill hits us, it has been a busy time on the course since we have moved back to playing in groups of 4. From May to July we have had close to 8,800 Competitions rounds played, which is an increase of 4.2% from last year, and just short of 20,400 rounds of golf played in total, an enormous increase of 25.65% from last year.
Ron and the Green staff have been busy fixing bare patches this week, laying over 800m2 of grass on the course and also starting to replace the new ball lifters that have been broken (please treat with care).
Last Saturday saw the first of our Men’s Championship Events for 2020, Match Play Championship qualifying round. It was fantastic to see 149 players, as only a couple of years ago we had a field of around 70. This weekend we will have the Quarter Finals on Saturday and Semi Final on Sunday. The draw for each grade is on the members home page of our website and as matches finish over the weekend you will be able to view the results from the result button on the left hand side of members page.
The Men’s & the Mixed Foursomes Championships that were postponed in June are now rescheduled, with the Men’s Foursomes Qualifying now to be held on the 26th September with 9 pairs in each grade to qualify and the Mixed Foursomes Qualifying on the 4th October with 12 pairs to qualify. Also a reminder that the Club Championships dates have changed this year with the final round to be played on the 8th November. The first round for the Men will be on the 24th October.
In March of this year our Men’s Major Pennants team won their section to make the Semi Finals, unfortunately when COVID-19 hit this was postponed. Golf NSW has rescheduled this changing the format for the semi to a home and away match. We play Twin Creeks at home on the 6th September and then away on the 20th September. Best of luck to the boys and let’s see North Ryde win a pennant, the last time was in 1982!
Finally a reminder about pitch marks and divots on the course, these are a gripe for most golfers. A couple of things we can all do.
Look for others’ divots.
We’ve all suffered the frustration of a divot or pitch mark and many of us will claim that we always repair the damage we make to a hole. So something doesn’t add up. The most helpful approach is to look out for markings left by other players. Responsible players will always look to repair their own divots and pitch marks and those made by others. A golfing karma we can all benefit from.
Check for pitch marks away from your ball.
We tend to look for pitch marks close to where a ball becomes stationary, and with good reason. If the trajectory of the ball causes a mini crater you can expect its speed to dramatically decrease. However, this thinking can see you overlooking pitch marks. When you consider wind and declines, shots can travel a fair distance from their initial point of impact. Be sure that you look back to spot any inconspicuous indentations.
All the best and good golfing.
Ben Brown – Vice Captain