Dear Members,
As another year draws to a close, we all need to appreciate the efforts that have been needed to rise above the foul weather experienced and the high impact this had on our business. This year we lost 32 days of available golf on our course. This has also impacted the Clubhouse operations and the Pro Shop’s income. It has meant long hours for our course staff, which also translates into additional costs that are unavoidable. I want to thank all the volunteers who helped clean up the course following the storms and a special thanks to all the Monday morning volunteers for all their work.
Unfortunately, the difficult times continue on the course with a fertilizer burn to holes 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and our nursery green as reported by our course Chairman. Our staff received incorrect application rates for the fertilizer resulting in the issues we now face on all the above greens. All is not lost on these greens, and we are looking at the best option to repair the greens. All of this was not aided by the failures to our bore pump, which have been fixed, but the course did suffer during those failure, coupled with a couple of weeks of very hot weather. I did not think I would say this after 2.5m of rain during the year, but we would like a little help from mother nature, overnight of course.
Our clubhouse has not missed out either. This year the roof leaks made their presence felt on many occasions. The building is approaching 75 years of age, and many areas of the building are in need of repair or replacement. Where do you start? What are the costs? What impact will any repair or replacement have on our daily operations? These are things the Board is now discussing. There has been an independent building report prepared on the building which will be used to get accurate costings and building options before we commit to anything.
The President’s report comments on the Strategic Plan the Board has developed this year. Our CEO has also mentioned the Strategic Plan and the importance of planning for the future. We have three major assets- Members, clubhouse and golf course and it is important that the Strategic Plan looks at the future not just for the next 2-3 years. Any Strategic Plan needs to consider costs and in the case of PMGC, the clubhouse and course need major works, not just a lick and a promise. We are looking at many options. However, we need to complete further investigation before we come to you, the Members, with our thoughts.
Hole 7 is progressing. We were recently asked by some Members about the process we undertook to deliver hole 7 and why we replaced the hole. The President’s report outlines the process, and I also recently released information related to Hole 7. May I remind any Members questioning the reason for replacing Hole 7, Hole 7 spent many weeks out of play this year as well as over the last two years. Our Superintendent tried many times to over-sow the green with various grasses but all failed. The green was an embarrassment to our course. Pouring good money and staff time down a sink hole is not what we will be doing going forward. Can I also inform all Members that the initial Concept Design and budget prepared by Harrison Golf were benchmarked against other projects under construction before we agreed to move forward with final documentation. The final contract, awarded to Golf Spectrum, was both below the initial budget and other construction project costs. Going forward with the proposed construction of the 5 new southern holes, we will follow the same processes. The President has spelled out the reason why we are pursuing the 5 new holes and I support his comments and reasoning completely. Hole 7 green and tee design are the templates for all future projects.
Additional to constructing new holes, the work will also include the enlarging of current water storage on holes 3 and 5. There are two main reasons for this; to increase storage capacity for irrigation purposes, and to assist us in dealing with extreme wet weather water management.
We have recently witnessed what can happen in higher summer temperatures when a bore pump fails and as I stated earlier, we lost 32 days of golf due to the fact that we could not use holes 3,4 and 5 during the extreme wet weather. Add to this the additional days carts were off, as the cart paths were still under water, we must be planning ahead to control water movement and storage in this area of the course.
This brings me to 4 items raised at the AGM; bunkers, cart paths, level teeing grounds and the roadway leading to the cart shed. All 4 items are under review and when costs, designs and programs are available in the new year, Members will be made aware of the proposed action.
Further, if any Member has a question regarding any issue relating to PMGC, please speak to Gavin, Ian or myself. Social media or other platforms are not the way to be heard or find out the true story.
I would like to thank James and the Pro shop for all their efforts this year and in the past. The Pro shop is almost a 24/7 job and this can wear anyone down. Good luck James in the future, whatever you do and wherever it takes you.
To all Members, I wish you and your families the very best for Christmas. Let us hope 2026 is a productive year for all and we get to enjoy all that PMGC has to offer.
Regards
Lindsay Verdon