Oatlands Enews – Friday 30th August 2019

 

 

Content

This Enews Newsletter covers the following topics:

  • From the Course
  • Course Renovation – Thank you to all Volunteers
  • Practice Facility Upgrade – Update
  • Oatlands Girls Getaway
  • Happy Hour Friday’s
  • Saturday Morning BBQ – Volunteers Required
  • Green Course – Wednesday Competition
  • Lost Balls – Maximum Search Time
  • Upcoming Events
  • Clubhouse Events

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From the Course

Rainfall for the Week: 41.0mm (and falling)             Rainfall for 2019: 596.5mm        Dam: 100%         Green Speed: Renovations

A big week for the team this week with renovations starting at lunch time on Sunday, getting all greens cored and cleaned up with the assistance of our ever reliable volunteer brigade. We also took the opportunity to top dress 3 greens on Sunday afternoon and rub in the sand as we knew the weather was going to turn for the worse on Monday.

Monday wasn’t quite as bad as the weather man was predicting (who knew, an incorrect weather forecast!), and we managed to top dress all remaining greens, with all greens receiving their first rub in by Monday afternoon. We received 13mm of rain Monday night which helped settle the sand into the core holes on the greens. Fairway renovations also started on Monday with Col McRae spending the day on the Ventrac, aerating fairways on holes 1 to 4.

 The verti-drain was sent out onto fairways on Tuesday morning, punching some deeper holes into the bare areas on the 1st, 12th, 13th and 17th fairways. Col McRae was back on the Ventrac until lunch time with Robin Arthur taking over from him. They managed to aerate the 7th, 13th, 14th and 16th fairways.

On Tuesday afternoon, the team were back onto the greens giving them another rub in with our sweep ‘n’ fill, and steel drag mat in unison. Brooms were also used to spread any thicker areas to avoid any damage.

We spent Wednesday morning smashing up the cores on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 13th and 14th fairways, blowing off any remaining debris, and giving the nursery and 2nd green another rub in. Fairway renovations continued on Thursday with the 12th and 17th fairways completed. All remaining cores plus these 2 fairways were smashed up and blown off. The 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 11th, 12th and 17th greens were given another rub in and these surfaces were blown off as well. The rain in the afternoon and overnight has now really settled the sand into the greens.

Thursday was spent performing investigation work around the 3rd green to find a broken wire to one of the greens sprinklers. After many meters of hand digging, we eventually found the break in the wire, which meant more digging to replace it correctly. This has been a frustrating issue for staff over the past month, as we’ve had to turn this sprinkler on manually. We currently have the same situation with a sprinkler on the 14th green which we will be looking at repairing next week.

We held off fertilising greens or fairways as a precaution because of how much rain they were predicting for Thursday and Friday. It is justified now, as it would’ve simply washed away during the recent downpour. Some good news as well, after installing the new bunker dry products into the practice bunkers they have drained perfectly with last nights rain.

Enjoy the weekend!

The Course Team

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Course Renovation – Thank you to all Volunteers

The Club’s twice annual renovations are a big job, and another rain effected course closure highlighted the invaluable contribution made by our volunteers who once again assisted in getting the full greens renovation completed within the allotted timeframe and without the need to push into the Wednesday competition. The Club had 25 volunteers assist over the 2 and a half days of the renovation, these members are listed below:

Bill Tunks, Merv Trevaskis, Robin Arthur, Tony Armitage, Joe Wahbe, John Carey, David Gaffaney, Geoff Hinchcliffe, Peter Bowyer, Bill Mitchell, Rod Bowyer, Colin McRrae,
Peter Cox, George Isaac, Matt Seamons, Tony Groth, Chris Garland, Geoff McIntosh, Lindsay Macinnes, Ossie Jneid, Xin Yi, David Vesperman, Ian Shepherd, Rod Walsh, Mike McFarland and Mike Cuming.

The volunteers and course staff set a new standard of achievement on Sunday afternoon in getting all greens cored, cleaned up and 3 greens top dressed and rubbed in. We even managed to flag all sprinklers and valve boxes ahead of the fairway renovation so that the aerating work on the Ventrac could begin on Monday without any damage to these assets. The help continued on Monday with a bunker run to start, followed by levelling sand on greens, Clubhouse and pathway repairs, bar painting, and high pressure cleaning of the back veranda of the Clubhouse. A big thanks to Robin Arthur and especially Col McRae who struggled to walk to his car Monday and Tuesday afternoon’s after being on the Ventrac both days, and Mike Cuming who worked tirelessly with the bar staff in sanding and painting the back bar. Renovations wouldn’t be anywhere near as successful without all your help. Our volunteers are the envy of all Superintendents in our area and on behalf of the Board, Staff and all Members we offer our sincerest gratitude for all the work you put in. Conservatively, the volunteers contributed over 200 hours of labour in addition to that of the Course Staff.

The video below is an example of what was achieved by the volunteers during the renovation, 

press the play symbol to view:

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Practice Facility Upgrade – Update

On Tuesday, following the course renovation, we directed our attention back to the putting and chipping greens, installing sprinklers and a QCV around the chipping green, spreading the organic matter material over both the putting and chipping greens, and also rotary hoeing this material into the top 150mm of the greens surfaces.

MD Constructions has consolidated these surfaces and checked sand depths to ensure the correct 300m depth has been retained in the growing medium. The surrounds of the chipping green has been shaped, with a final shaping to be performed once the concrete paths have been laid. The concreting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

The seeding of both greens (scheduled for the week just gone), will be performed next Thursday to avoid any damage from this week’s rain or when the concrete paths are laid. Once the seed has been sown, it will be covered over with grow cloths to enhance germination, protect the seed from any wind or rain, and help to retain moisture. Constant moisture is critical during the establishment of the seed, therefore hourly watering will occur throughout the day. This means that sprinklers will be operating when golfers are in and around this green, and these sprinklers will overlap onto the pathways. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes golfers, however it is necessary to ensure the plant health at the beginning of its growth. We will place signage around these greens as much as possible to warn members and try to avoid anyone getting hit with the irrigation

The delay in the concrete pour until next week will see the practice nets closed until Saturday 6th September.

The video below gives an overview of the work that has taken place in the first four weeks, press the play symbol to view:

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Oatlands’ Girl’s Getaway – Live, Laugh, Golf

Last Sunday, 43 Oatlands’ ladies headed to the Central Coast for a 3 day “Girl’s Getaway” to The Entrance.

From the first Meet and Greet drinks, the rules were set – 3 Dinners, 2 games of golf, Putting Comp, Survival Ball, Trivia, a few fun days lay ahead.

The weather wasn’t kind on Monday at Shelley Beach, with freezing wind and rain coming off the ocean. It tested not only our golf but our resilience.

The Oatlands’ ladies impressed the locals by finishing the 18 holes, with the last few groups putting under lights. Well done girls!

Our daily Winner, Noelene Battistessa was presented with the leaders “Golf de Tour” yellow shirt to wear the next day as the Points Leader.

On Tuesday, we took on Kooindah Waters with great weather and a lot more water. Most of the ladies would like to go back and play the course again, knowing what we know now and maybe losing a few less balls.

Stephanie Monaghan showed us how to do it, winning our comp, the Kooindah Club comp and the Kooindah nearest the pin. Great effort!

We took over a local Italian restaurant for the Presentation Dinner, with lots of “Special” awards as well as applauding the great golf that was played.

Our Overall Winner Noelene, got to keep the yellow jersey for a year and celebrated her win with a shoey of Prosecco.

Thank you everyone for being such a wonderful group, even though we had a variety of ages and abilities, it worked, and you represented Oatlands with pride. Congratulations!

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Happy Hour at the Club – Friday’s 4 – 6pm

Commencing in September, the Club will be running a weekly Happy Hour special on Friday’s from 4 to 6pm.

Happy Hour prices will be $5 on all tap beer schooners and glasses of House red and white wine.

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Saturday Morning BBQ – Volunteers Required

Please note: Breakfast BBQ service has been cancelled for Saturday 31st August due to weather.

The last four Saturday’s has seen the introduction of BBQ brekky and coffee service available for members. This service, which was trialed over August, will continue during September.

The service is being run on a break even basis and as a Member Service which the Board believe, is one of the most important aspects of the Club operations.

At this stage, the BBQ is being operated by volunteers from the Board and Sub-Committees. A number of members have expressed interest in volunteering to assist and as such, if you would like to offer your time to volunteer from 7am – 11am on a Saturday morning to assist with the BBQ, please contact the General Manager, Sam Howe at gm@oatlandsgolf.com.au.

We would also like members to know that in-conjunction with the Saturday BBQ, the bar will be open on Saturday morning for coffee sales from 7am. The Club has recently acquired a new coffee machine and all staff are being put through annual coffee training during the course renovation, so if you love your coffee as much as me (GM, Sam Howe), then please consider the Club for your Saturday morning wake up coffee.

Bacon & Egg Rolls: $5

Regular Size Coffee: $4.50

Opening Month Special: B&E Roll with a Coffee: $8

B&E Roll with a Beer: $10

The Club would love to see this service become a permanent fixture for Saturday morning golf with a view to expanding in to other competition days, so please show your support and have your brekky at the Club before you play.

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Green Course – Wednesday Competition

Members may have noticed that we now have green tee markers on all 18 holes located at the forward most position of each tee.

This initiative has been introduced to give members who might struggle with the longer golf course, the opportunity to continue to enjoy their game.

Commencing Wednesday 4th September, participation from the green tees will be allowed in the main competition of the day (as opposed to a separate competition as is currently the case). The green tee will remain a separate competition on all other competition days. In the event that there is a major / trophy event on a Wednesday, eligibility for the major / trophy event will be from the tees outlined in the conditions of play (not from the green tees).

Any player participating from the green tees will have their Golf Australia handicap adjusted according to the slope of the green course.

 

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Mixed Pennant – Expression of Interest

The Club is calling for nominations for the annual Mixed Pennant Competition, to be run in early 2020.

The event is a matchplay Pennant format with teams of 10 (5 mixed pairs) representing each Club.

If you are interested in representing the Club in this fun Pennant competition, please email the Club General Manager, Sam Howe at gm@oatlandsgolf.com.au.

Specific dates for the competition will be decided toward the end of January.

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Lost Balls – Maximum Search Time

Members are reminded that the changes to the Rules of Golf that came into effect on January 1st with regard to the time allowed to search for lost balls, changed the maximum time allowed from 5 minutes down to 3 minutes.

The Match Committee has received a number of informal complaints over the last month that this is not being adhered to by many players on the course. This change was made by the R&A to assist Clubs to manage Pace of Play and increase the overall enjoyment of golf for all participants. The 3 minute time is the maximum allowed, and it is up to the individual player to be mindful of and not exceed the timing allowed under the Rules.

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Upcoming Events

Members are encouraged to take part in the many weekly golf competition events that the Club has to offer.

Regular Competition Days across the week are listed below:

Monday: Mixed Comp
Wednesday: Mixed Competition
Thursday: Mixed Competition
Saturday: Mixed Competition
Sunday: Mixed Competition

BOOKINGS ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE CLUB WEBSITE

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Upcoming Clubhouse Events

The Club run regular Club events throughout the year. The following is a list of events available to members and their guests over the next 2 months.

Sunday 1st September – Father’s Day Lunch

Celebrate Father’s Day at Oatlands Golf Club with a wonderful Texas Smokehouse Buffet lunch to say thanks to Dad.

Kids Entertainment includes Movie and Popcorn 

Lunch to commence at 1pm

Adults: $60pp (guests welcome)

Kids (under 12yrs) Buffet: $25pp (served from 12:30pm)

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Thursday 12th September – Grant Burge Wine Dinner

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US AT WHAT IS GOING TO BE AN UNFORGETTABLE CELEBRATION OF PREMIUM BAROSSA VALLEY PRODUCER GRANT BURGE WINES.

 


5 COURSE DEGUSTATION MENU WITH MATCHING WINES

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Sunday 29th September – Bring a Newbie Golf Afternoon

Oatlands Golf Club would like to give all members the chance to introduce a newcomer to the Club and to the game of golf.

This event is complimentary for all participants and will include a 9 hole shotgun start at 3:30pm followed by drinks and canapes.

Golf will be followed by a short introduction to Oatlands and an overview of the benefits of joining our wonderful Club.

The only condition is that newcomers invited by members must not be a member of another Golf Club or have a handicap.

Join us for our ever popular Bistro on Bettington evenings, with a wonderful Italian themed menu prepared by Chef, Paul Bacon.

Click here to make a booking!

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Saturday 19th October – Bistro on Bettington A’ la Carte

Join us for our ever popular Bistro on Bettington evenings, with a wonderful menu prepared by Chef Paul Bacon.

The evening is just $60pp with guests welcome.

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Wednesday 30th October – Bistro on Bettington French Buffet

Join us for our ever popular Bistro on Bettington evenings, with a wonderful French themed menu prepared by Chef, Paul Bacon.

The evening is just $45pp with guests welcome.

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