Captain’s Shot – September 2025
In my June 2025 report, I optimistically noted that the weather was improving and we’d soon return to normal operations across both the golf course and clubhouse. Unfortunately, that optimism was short-lived. The Men’s Seaside Classic was abandoned after just 9 holes, and while the Pro-Am managed to finish, it was followed by yet more rain. Thankfully, the Women’s Seaside event escaped the worst of the weather, with all participants enjoying both the course and our hospitality.
So far this year, we’ve recorded over 2.13 metres of rain, with colder-than-average temperatures. Both the course and clubhouse have felt the impact. Our golfing calendar has required constant adjustments from Les and Sheena, and if the rain continues, even some of the rescheduled events may be at risk. Let’s hope for a kinder spring.
The clubhouse continues to suffer from leaks in various locations, creating ongoing operational challenges. While some areas have been patched and repaired, new leaks keep appearing. The roof is aging, and its proximity to the ocean, combined with natural wear and tear, makes each repair more difficult. Management and the Board are well aware of the situation and have begun the process of assessing the necessary work on the roof and other parts of our ageing building. As you can imagine, these are complex and costly issues — but protecting our primary assets is essential.
Despite the weather, the Club Bistro has been a bright spot. Tuesday night “2-for-1” meals, kids-eat-free offers, and themed specialty nights have attracted both Members and non-Members. The Management team continues to explore ways to better utilise our facilities and is grateful for your ongoing support.
The recent storms also caused the loss of several established trees, most notably the large eucalypt near the 11th tee. The tree showed no signs of deterioration, but the saturated ground and high winds led to its fall. While arborists have assessed and removed specific trees over the years, this incident is a reminder that even healthy-looking trees can pose risks. We will continue to remove damaged or dangerous trees where identified, though at $3,000–$4,000 per day, tree removal is a significant expense — but a necessary one for safety.
In June, the course was heavily impacted by poor drainage and a high water table, particularly on holes 3, 5, and 6. Without major earthworks, these low-lying areas will remain problematic during periods of heavy rain. We will be engaging a hydrologist to assess these areas and develop a comprehensive course drainage plan. We also plan to expand cart paths in poorly draining sections of various holes.
The Hole 7 rebuild has been underway for the past two weeks, following delays due to wet weather. Designed by Harrison Golf and constructed by Golf Spectrum, the project is now progressing well and is close to schedule. The main challenge has been sourcing sub-green building material. Originally intended to come from a borrow pit near the new tee, the high-water table made this unfeasible. Instead, material is being excavated from behind Green 5. That area will be trimmed and shaped once groundwater levels are reduced — a task that will be interesting to watch as the excavators try to stay ahead of the rising water.
We ask all Members to stay well clear of this area during and after the works for safety reasons.
As for the new hole itself, the original design remains unchanged apart from the current finished height. The green will be approximately 550m², built to USGA standards, and sown with 007 bent grass. The two right-side bunkers will be lined with capillary concrete and finished with selected bunker sand. Their perimeters will be reinforced with Loksand, a product that helps maintain edge integrity. The surrounding area, including the new tee ground, will be grassed with Santa Ana couch, mown to varying heights once in play.
A key improvement is the installation of subsoil drainage throughout the green, bunkers, and low-lying fairway areas — a first for our course. We encourage Members to use the path from Green 6 to Tee 8 to observe the construction and final result.
Attached are photos of the new Hole 7 — please take a moment to check them out.
Bill’s Rules
- Ball Identification Without Notification
In stroke play, Player A lifts their ball to identify it without informing their marker.
Rule 7.3 – No penalty. There is no requirement to notify your marker. - Advice During Play
Player A asks their marker for advice on their takeaway and is told they’re taking the club too far inside.
Rule 10.2a – Both players receive a general penalty (2 strokes). Advice is not permitted during a competition round. - Ball Against an Attached Divot
Player A presses down an attached divot their ball is resting against before playing the shot.
Rule 8.1a – General penalty (2 strokes) for improving the conditions affecting the stroke. - Leaning on a Club in a Bunker
A player leans on their club, which is touching the sand, while waiting to play a shot from the same bunker.
Rule 12.2b(2) – No penalty, provided the conditions are not improved and the sand is not tested.
Good golfing, everyone.
Lindsay Verdon
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June Captain’s Shot
Dear Members
Just maybe the weather has settled down and we can return to some sort of normality.
Congratulations and Thank you to our course staff who worked tirelessly through the aftermath of the big wet to get our course back into play. There were decisions to be made that saw the course closed for days and that had implications not only for golfers, but also the operation and profitability of the clubhouse. Unfortunately clubhouse profits turned into operating losses for this period. However setting up a temporary course as we did, allowed us golfers back and gradually, as things improved, we have returned to normal conditions. Your patronage of the clubhouse facilities will help us turn the losses around to profit and have us finish the financial year in a stronger position. Congratulations to Ian and his team for introducing the various menu offerings and promotions in the clubhouse. It is now up to the Members to come along and enjoy what is on offer.
The prolonged wet did show us how many problems with drainage we have throughout the course. The reasonably flat nature of the course, high water table and very old, limited drainage from fairways made moving water through the course very difficult. Add to this the natural blockage that occurs with the old sewer treatment works, it means we must continue to pursue the acquisition of this area of land. Holes 1 and 2 and 10/18/17 have taken the longest to recover due to the heavy red soil and no drainage. This has forced us to consider options moving forward that will better handle similar conditions when they occur. It will not be an easy or quick fix and obviously will have a cost. Where it fits on the priority list will require discussion but something needs to happen because it will definitely rain again.
The rain also impacted the clubhouse. The many roof leaks were mainly due to the age of the roof itself, some poor fixings of the solar panels and various flashing failures due to the many roof penetrations. A patch-up job has occurred to the roof now the rain has stopped but the damage to various areas of the clubhouse is concerning as well as the electrical services that were also affected. It has meant that the gaming room in particular has required an enormous amount of drying and mould treatment. During the rain it was evident that half the roof stormwater system was working. However there are questions regarding how and where the other half of the roof drainage system was working. The rectification of all the water damage and the causes will also not be easy or without cost and it too will need to go onto the priority list for discussion.
Now that we are back playing the course, may I remind players that call-up to all par 3’s is compulsory if the following group is on the tee. It is also a requirement for the group that has been called up not to proceed past the blue line that has been placed on the cart path and fairway, until the green is free. Please abide by this rule as it is an example of golf course etiquette required by PMGC.
The course is drying out nicely but there are areas that Steve is marking with witches hats or that have been roped off. We ask everyone to avoid these areas either walking or driving a cart to assist us in improving the course. Fairway and rough divots all need the players to fill them as well as any others that they see. The bunkers have also been heavily impacted by the rain. The greens staff are working on the bunkers to ensure they present as best they can so please assist by raking each time you visit the bunker. It is not for you but for the next person following.
This time of year we are experiencing shorter daylight hours and with the size of fields we see on Thursdays and Saturday mornings and afternoons, players need to be conscious of slow play. Enough has been written and talked about slow play but it all comes back to showing respect for those that follow. Play ready golf on the tee, walk quickly to your ball and be ready to putt out even if you are not the furthest from the hole. This ensures that everyone finishes in the daylight, not the dark. Again this is nothing more than good golf course etiquette. How do you check if your group/round is too slow… 4 hours 30 minutes is acceptable around Port Macquarie Golf course but any longer is too slow.
Good golfing
Lindsay Verdon
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May Captain’s Shot
I have been waiting for the last two weeks to write this report hoping the weather would improve so I could deliver some good news. Unfortunately the weather worsened last week with approximately 420mm falling from Monday to Friday on top of the earlier rain in the month.
The clubhouse has sprung a few roof leaks that cannot be fixed until the rain stops. The clubhouse is still open for lunch, dinner and bar service and we encourage Members to come out and support the Club. The clubhouse is our only source of income during all the wet weather.
The golf course is extremely wet and we have had little break from the rain each month of this year. This year we have seen 1454mm of rainfall. April had 289mm and so far May has had 663mm. The most damaging fact is the consistency of the rain. April had 10 days only where no rain was recorded. May has had only 9 days to date with no recorded rain. The concern is the lack of sunlight during those dry days. Additionally we have had very little wind so any form of drying out has not occurred. The water table remains very high across the course, so holes that normally drain quickly, are not draining.
Everything is being done to help the course drain however the fairways and rough remain very soft and water is still laying throughout the course. All this weather has required us to close the course for extended periods. That decision is not something we have taken lightly, but the condition of the course made it very difficult to allow golfers on the course. We will keep everyone advised of our decisions on reopening. In the meantime all the practice facilities remain open.
In the meantime, Victoria, South Australia and the Gold Coast are in drought and each state has a plethora of great courses, wineries, restaurants and clear skies. It could be time to take a road trip if you need a game of golf and a holiday.
Bill’s rules are back so please see below. I am going to ask Bill to address some specific wet weather rules for the upcoming months.
Lindsay Verdon
Captain
Bill’s Rules
1.Player A loses his footing when entering a bunker and falls into the sand. Although the ball has not moved, Player A has worsened his area of stance and his line of play.
Ruling: Rule 12.2B (2) and 8.1D
There is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies. Touching the sand when preventing a fall does not result in a penalty.
However the player is not allowed to restore the conditions affecting the stroke if the conditions are caused by himself.
2.Player A ‘s ball comes to rest near an attached divot, player A presses the divot down and plays his shot.
Ruling: 8.1A
Player A gets the general penalty of 2 shots for pressing down a divot and improving conditions affecting his stroke.
3.Player A makes a stroke with a club that has an impact sticker on the face so as to see where the impact of the ball is.
Ruling: Rule 4.1
Player A is disqualified as by making a stroke with the sticker attached to the face, the player has used a non-conforming club as the sticker is an external attachment.
4.Player A is making practice swings in the general area of the course when he accidently makes contact causing the ball to move.
Ruling: 9.4 Player A gets a 1 stroke penalty and must replace the ball on its original spot before playing the next shot.