Golf Committee News Update – September 2020

Welcome to Spring! When the temperature gets warmer, the days get longer and an opportunity to open up more tee spots and help alleviate the congestion in getting a Saturday tee spot. Its also a good time to remind you that tee times are relatively easy to come by. We still have not had a full field on a Saturday meaning there is no reason to not to be able to get a tee time – might just mean a phone call to the friendly and accommodating pro shop staff to arrange. We had the best playing day last Saturday and out of a potential field of 228 players we only had 211 players – 92% capacity.
 
Just a reminder the greens renovations will be carried out next Monday and Tuesday 7-8 September meaning the course will be closed over these 2 days. The competition on Saturday 12 September will therefore be a 4 Person Ambrose event with a minimum of 3 tee shots per player.
 
The Club Championships are held in October with the first round Saturday 10 October with the final round Saturday 31 October. The timesheet draw for the first round will be conducted at the club on Friday 25 September commencing at 6.00 pm with tickets available from 4.30 pm. Note the competition fee for the Club Championship rounds is higher than a normal round. Also note this year there is a seeded draw for the leading 8 players (scratch) for all grades for the last round on 31 October commencing at 11.12 am.
 
The 2020 Ladies Club Championships is also conducted during October over 3 rounds commencing Thursday 8 October 20 through to Thursday 22 October 20.
 
With the large Wednesday and Saturday fields slow play is becoming an issue. It should take no more than 4 hrs 20 mins to play a round of golf with 4 players in the group. Ways to speed up your game include:
 
• Ready golf is encouraged. If you are ready to play then do so safely and without impacting on other golfers,
• Parking your buggy or cart on the exit side of the green, do not park in front of the green,
• Marking your card on the next tee while your playing partner is hitting, and
• Being ready to hit by having your club selected and having your practice swing before it is your turn. If you are a short hitter be ready to tee off first.
 
Remember, if you experience slow play do not take matters into your own hands. There is a complaint form available in the pro shop to complete.
 
The course has been severely impacted over the past month from the rain and is only now just starting to recover. Now is the time to make sure we practice good course etiquette making sure carts remain 10 metres from greens, do not drive on tees and observe ropes and barriers. Please make sure you carry a sand bucket and repair all divots including on tee areas and in the rough. Make sure you repair all pitch marks on greens even when greens have been renovated.
 
Happy golfing!