Juniors

Members 

Summary from the Committee Meeting on 8 July 2021

• Reports were tabled from Executive members as usually occurs.

From the President…

• Members – As at 16 April we have 714 members across all categories.
• Water Management Plan – Work is ongoing with this activity. Planning for our 25^th Anniversary events slowed work on this project.  Work will commence again now these activities have been held.
• Guidance Statements – the club’s Guidance Statements have now been revised. A new Guidance Statement will be prepared as to what constitutes a competition. In recent months we have had some questions raised when due to inclement weather (mostly storms involving heavy rain and lightning) competitions have been cancelled.  This guidance statement will outline the club’s policy regarding the cancellation of competitions.
• Pace of Play – this remains an issue and members have been prompted in the recent edition of Splash. We are looking at the data we can get from MiClub which will tell us the round time for players in a field. We appreciate that there are many variables that affect round times but players simply have to commit to staying in touch with the group in front of them. If this is done, we will all play our rounds within a time of 4.00 – 4 hrs. 20 mins.

From the Treasurer…

• The club has approximately $43,000 in funds after expenses have been taken into account and debited into the books. The outcome of expenditure for the 20/21 year will be reported in detail at the AGM scheduled to be held in November.  The Committee agreed that we could consolidate our funding base for a period to help replenish the money in the Golf Club’s account.
• Jolly Joker – We are looking oat ways of returning to the operation of Jolly Joker raffles which, for the Golf Club, is a key source of funding for Juniors’ development.

From the Captains…

• 4BBB Matchplay starts this weekend (10 July) with a field of 30 teams.
• Men’s individual Matchplay is at the semi-final stage
• 9-Hole Yellow course competition – It has been agreed to expand the daily playing of the 9-hole to allow players to enter in the comp throughout the day rather than current afternoon allocated slots. A post will be added to the Website to give players more detail.
• The Women’s Committee has agreed the handicaps and competition sizes for women’s competition rounds, commencing on 1 July. The following numbers for competitions were agreed:
  • 20 women or less – one division with 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd prizes awarded.
  • 21 women or more – two divisions with a handicap of 27 being the Division 1 high handicap.
  • 5 women or less – no separate women’s competition with the women joining the men’s competition.

Grounds and Greens

• Work is being done to remove the willows growth in the waterways. Thanks to Michael Brice for his work on this project. This has been a project that has taken three years and we are starting to see the” light at the end of the tunnel”.
• Due to the removal of these trees (deemed as environmental weeds which are declared pest plant species in the ACT) we will need to ensure that regrowth does not occur, and secondly that erosion of the creeks is not accelerated. It is hoped that the Water Management Plan advises on bank management at some point.
• 2^nd Bunker – Shane and Mark are still in discussions as the best way forward. We are confident this will be completed prior to the end of August.
• Bunker renovations – work is continuing. There is still a long way to go, but members are starting to comment on the improvements.
• Dangerous tree removal – A number of trees close to houses have been identified and are programmed for removal.
• 10^TH Tee Box garden – Territory Horticulture is donating all its staff to clean up the garden bed on the left side of the path between the 10^th tee and the houses. We get complaints from the houses bordering this garden be so it will be good to have this garden area tidied up.  Thank to Mark and his team.
• 16^TH Fairway – Casuarinas identified last year and approved by the ACT Government for removal will begin to be felled in the coming weeks – most probably on a Thursday with the help of Dads Army. Michael Brice will drop the trees that have been marked. 
• 18^TH Fairway – Every second Casuarina at the water’s edge (between 150 and 50m from green) will be removed to reduce competition among trees, and allow for grass growth (currently very poor) in the first cut of rough and fairway. This will have no impact on the playability of the hole, and the trees have no strategic value

Matters discussed in General Business not covered in other papers/reports

• 25-Year Anniversary Dinner. There was general agreement that the dinner and all of the associated events and activities had gone well and that people had enjoyed the celebrations.  Special thanks go to:
  • Ainslie Group for their sponsorship contribution and general support of the celebrations.
  • Norm Loughton and his team for the creation and writing of the 25-year History of the Club, and
  • Fiona Wicks and her team for the organization of the 25-year Anniversary celebratory dinner.
• Golf Membership subscriptions for the 2021/22 golfing year – discussions have commenced with the Ainslie Group regarding the membership rates for the coming golfing year. Watch for information regarding the coming year’s membership fees on the website in coming weeks. As with last year each member will receive an email from the Club regarding your fees. To ensure we can get this email to all members, can we ask that you all check your details on the system so that we have actuate email addresses and contact information for all members.
• Reciprocal Clubs – the revised/updated list of Reciprocal clubs is nearing finalization and will be published on the Website in the next few weeks. Watch for this information.

Next meeting – 12 August 2021

Richard Oliver/President

Taking Care of the Cup

We have a very busy golf course, and many of us plead with members, guests and the general golfing community to repair divots and fix plug marks.  Its these small acts that help maintain our playing surfaces.  LETS KEEP DOING THIS.

Another aspect is caring for the cup – that’s right, the little hole in the green that normally has a flag in it that we all try and get the small, round, dimply thing in, in as few shots as possibly.  LETS TAKE CARE OF THAT.

Did you know that when we putt with the flag in, and we sink that putt it is important to remove the ball with your hand.  By ripping the flag out at such a rate that the ball flicks out considerable damage is done to the lip of the hole, and can also cause the actual cup to become lose and move.  LETS ALL STOP DOING THIS.

On the same note, it may look cool to remove the flag and drain that 6 foot putt for triple bogey…but to then put the putter head to the bottom of the cup and flick your golf ball out…that’s right – it damages the cup.  LETS ALL STOP DOING THIS.

It’s the little one percenters that we can all do that ensures the playing surface is maintained to a high standard.  Remember, its your course – lets look after it.

Mark Hynes

Greens Chair

Members

As we approach the 25th Anniversary celebrations there are a couple of things to update you on.

The celebrations……

The time sheets for the weekend will open tonight for the weekend games, as per normal.  You will notice that there are a few more names than normal that have been pre-loaded into the system.  The number is 12 for the Saturday and around 18 or the Sunday Lakeball game.  These are people who have early book-in rights due to their close-out volunteering or are the one guest allowed for Committee or Life members, or they are the past members who have made a significant contribution to the club over many years and are who are travelling from interstate for the Anniversary weekend of golf.  Most of these folks are making the trip from afar and who we, the Committee, have agreed we will try to accommodate their golfing wishes for the weekend.  Please understand that this is a ‘one off’ for this celebratory weekend.  All of these folks will be joining the celebrations at the Anniversary dinner on the Saturday night.

On the dinner, we have a full house (120 attendees) which is great to see.  I am hoping that all who were keen to attend the event were able to get a seat.  For those who could not be accommodated, we are sorry you missed out, but we are very tightly restricted by the maximum number allowed which as noted above is 120.

Also at the dinner, our 25th Anniversary book will be formally launched with a formal presentation being made to Norm Loughton (on behalf of the writing team) and to the President of the Ainslie Group, Wayne Rogers.  We have already pre-sold a little over 100 copies of the book which will be available for general purchase following the dinner at the lunch for the Lakeball game and then at the Pro-shop and Reception Desk of the Club.  Don’t miss the opportunity to get your copy for the very reasonable sum of $15 and have personal copy of  the history of the club in its first 25 years.

 The Monthly Medal…

We have our next Monthly Medal also next weekend which will have the normal door prize ($100) and a badge which has accumulated to $300.  There is a limit of 80 for this room which we will need to enforce.  We cannot afford for Ainslie to be caught for having too many in the room.  If you are in attendance for the presentations it might be your lucky night and you may walk away with some cash.  If you are going to the dinner you will need to be heading up to the function room at around 6.30 pm for the start of the celebrations.  Remember, you have to be there to take home the cash but, we can only have 80 in the room and this number will be enforced.

Regards and good golfing ….

Richard Oliver/President

Members 

Our Golf Club is celebrating 25 years on 6 July 2021 and an anniversary book will be published as part of the celebrations. The coffee-table style book is bound with a laminated cover and includes 88 pages containing details of the formation of the club and the associated challenges, the successful alliance with Ainslie Group, a contribution from the course architect and his challenges in designing the course and the development of the club facilities. In addition, there are more than 250 members featured or acknowledged for their voluntary or golfing achievements. The book contains a range of colour photographs from the early days to the most recent developments.  A sporting club book is normally prepared by a commercial historian but this book has been compiled by a small group of our members on a voluntary basis, and this has resulted in the price being contained to $15 per copy. To purchase a book please use the following link https://www.trybooking.com/brdej or buy a book at the Lakeball lunch on Sunday 4 July.  The book will be officially launched at the 25th Anniversary celebration dinner on 3 July and will be available for collection after this, should you not be attending the dinner.  

I encourage you to not miss out on this piece of our history as a club.

Richard Oliver/President 

Members 

• Reports were tabled from Executive members as usually occurs.

From the President…

• Members – As at 16 April we have 698 members across all categories.
• Water Remediation Plan – An initial meeting has been scheduled with a Water Management consultant to discuss what such a plan might look like and how we might move this project forward. As planning progresses members will be kept informed.
• Guidance Statements – the club’s Guidance Statements have now been revised. These statements are regularly reviewed and are available to members on the Website. Thanks to Adrian Andreatta for his work on this.
• Pace of Play – this remains an issue and members have been prompted in the recent edition of Slash. Players are to be actively encourage to stay in touch with the group in front of them.

From the Treasurer…

• The club has approximately $25,000 in funds not already allocated after known expenses have been debited. Known expenses were outlined for members in recent updates and mostly related to funds allocated for course improvements.  The $2 Course Improvement will help to rebuild this amount.

From the Captains…

• Local Rules – two temporary local rules implemented due to stump grinding and Irrigation system upgrade. (These will be removed when no longer required.)
• 9-Hole Yellow course competition – will continue during non-daylight savings for a trial period of 4 weeks. Minimum numbers of 10 players will be required.
• Match-play entry forms – to be distributed starting this weekend. We are hoping for strong interest this year. Due to numbers and in agreement with Ladies Captain. The Ladies and the Men will alternate the use of the 10^th tee each year for the 1^st round of the Matchplay tournament. 2021 will be Men’s turn.
• Sunday Medley – The trial of the full comp Sunday Medley was not well received and it has been agreed to return to having separate competitions. This is effective immediately.

Grounds and Greens

• Greens staff – we have 5 full time staff with an apprentice to be added to this team.
• 15^th/16^th Mound – Work on the mound is complete which has now included the planting of the trees. The local rule about new planting and staked trees applies.
• Irrigation system – the work has been completed and is now ready for operation.
• Blue Frames – The painting black of the remaining older blue frames has been completed. Signage is now being redone and will be returned to the signs in the near future.
• Stump Grinding – around 170 stumps have been ground and Dad’s Army is working on the sanding and seeding of the areas from where the stumps have been removed. Where the work has been done these areas have all been marked as GUR.
• Paspalum – most of the Paspalum in the course has been sprayed with Roundup. Localized spots that will die as a result of this. 
• 16^TH Fairway – Casuarinas identified last year and approved by the ACT Government for removal will begin to be felled in the coming weeks.
• 18^TH Fairway – every second Casuarina at the water’s edge (between 150 and 50m from green) will be removed to reduce competition among trees, and allow for grass growth (currently very poor) in the first cut of rough and fairway. This will have no impact on the playability of the hole, and the trees have no strategic value.

Juniors….

• Currently have 36 Junior members. With the Junior program being run by Amanda McLoughlin we are hoping to grow this number.

Matters discussed in General Business not covered in other papers/reports

• Pennant Dinner – Fiona provided a paper re the proposed Pennant Dinner, including format etc. Richard to discuss with Simon potential “sponsorship” and support from Ainslie. 
• 25-Year Anniversary Dinner. Paper of proposed format of Dinner provided.  Richard to discuss further with Simon re costs and possible support from Ainslie.  A small sub-committee has been formed to progress.
• Number for a valid competition – Kevin provided a short paper re looking at what numbers constitute a competition. Committee agreed that the number should be 20 who play in and complete a competition.  For Women the number is 6. 

Next meeting – 13 May 2021

Richard Oliver/President