Dear Members
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we have had a great start to the new year with some long overdue rain. I wish you all the best in chasing your handicap goals. With more Members and social players on the course over the holidays there are a few housekeeping matters that have been highlighted that I ask you to be mindful of.
Course Care
I have received a lot of positive feedback during this period about how good the course is looking. We did have problems on 4 or 5 greens on the back nine, however our green staff have been slowly rectifying the damage with the help of greens grass acquired from Pennant Hills Golf Club. They have been doing an amazing job presenting the course each day considering the volume of play we see.
Unfortunately, I have heard from Members who are frustrated by what I hope is a small minority, not showing the same pride and care of the course. Unfilled fairway divots, pitch marks on greens, unraked bunkers are not acceptable. Golf is challenging enough without these additional obstacles. Many Members I know fix multiple fairway divots and pitch marks and this is much appreciated. Please show respect to your fellow Members by doing your part to maintain the standard we want for our course.
Checking In Prior to Social Play
As everyone is aware, we have a new team in the Pro-shop, so we need every Member who intends to play a social round to book-in via the timesheet and please check in with the Pro shop to both play and meet the new team.
Course Attire
While we maintain a relaxed attitude towards attire in the Clubhouse, when golfing on the course or on the various practice areas, please ensure you are correctly dressed in accordance with club standards.
Handicap Adjustments
We have approved the Mens’ handicap limit to be raised from 36 to 45 to allow a small number of men to continue enjoying the game of golf with their mates. This will become effective from Tuesday 10th February.
I would also like to draw Members’ attention to our initiative of Pick Your Own Tee on all Fridays through February and March. All tees are handicap rated for both male and female players no matter which tee you select. I can hear a lot of men saying they don’t want to play the red or purple courses but why not leave your ego at the door and give it a go. Test yourself with a lower handicap and a shorter course set-up. The same goes for the women…have a go off the black markers and prove the men wrong that it is too hard!
Southern Holes Update
As has been advised by myself, Gavin and Ian in our end of year reports, we have been progressing with the required documentation to have the final plans for the five southern holes signed off by the Council. The actual changes from the original 2012 DA Approval are very minor but Council required all plans updated. Harrison Golf has completed their various plans. Hopkins Consulting will now submit their final report including an Environmental Study, Vegetation Management Report and Arborist’s report that was requested at our last Council meeting. We do hope this is the final information required and then this can be signed off by Council so we can move forward with finalising budgets and presenting the plans to all the Members.
Pro Shop
I would like to welcome Matt and Courtney Docking to our Club. They are both very experienced and competent golf professionals. Matt and Courtney have a great love of teaching and I hope Members avail themselves of their knowledge. It is their desire to drive Junior Golf forward as well as introducing new players to the game of golf. They are working hard at the moment to re-stock the Pro-shop for our benefit. So, if you need a lesson, and most of us do, make sure you book in with either Matt or Courtney.
Let us hope this year is not as weather disrupted as 2025 and we can enjoy our games of golf this year.
Lindsay Verdon
Captain