Oatlands Enews – Friday 1st November 2019
Content
This Enews Newsletter covers the following topics:
- 2019 AGM Minutes
- Digger’s Day 2019 – In support of Legacy
- Oatlands Cup – Saturday 23rd November
- Annual Presentation Night – Saturday 9th November
- Men’s Club Championships 2019 – Semi-Finals
- Ladies Club Championships 2019 – One Round to Go
- From the Course
- Hand Watering Greens – Course Staff have Right of Way
- David Ecob – Coaching All Day Friday’s from 15th November
- Additional Bistro on Bettington added for Friday 15th November
- Monday and Wednesday Competitions now Medley (Men and Women playing for the same prizes)
- Upcoming Events
2019 AGM Minutes
The 2019 AGM took place on Wednesday 16th October with 50 members in attendance.
There were no new nominations for Board positions so the incumbent Board members were re-elected unopposed.
John Carey was deservedly voted in as a Life member of the Club due to his past contribution as a Board member and volunteer and ongoing service to the Club as a volunteer.
Please click her for a copy of the 2019 AGM Minutes
Digger’s Day 2019 – In support of Legacy
The 2019 Digger’s Day will be held on Saturday 16th November. This years’ event will see a change in format to encompass the morning and afternoon fields and be structured in a way to not over-burden those participating who don’t drink alcohol.
Before we get into the details of the event, the Club feels it is important to communicate with members on the amazing job Legacy Australia do and to ensure that we don’t lose sight of the reason for this light-hearted day.
Legacy is a charity providing services to Australian families suffering after the injury or death of a spouse or parent, during or after their defence force service. They currently care for 52,000 beneficiaries, including 1,845 children and disabled dependents throughout Australia. Oatlands has had a long and ongoing history with the Australian Defence Force and believes that the work done by Legacy is fundamental to supporting the families of our injured and fallen soldiers who have taken part in past and present conflicts in defence of the freedoms that we, in Australia, enjoy more than most other countries in the world.
Members are asked to please watch the short video below on Legacy before reading on;
2019 Digger’s Day format.
Following feedback from Digger’s Day in recent years and a drop off in numbers, the Club has decided to make some changes to the format to encourage more players to attend and contribute to Legacy.
As such, both shotgun starts will be part of the day however, the price of the day has been reduced from $90pp to $40pp. This will include comp fee, catering (during and after golf) and a Legacy Donation.
All other aspects of the event will remain the same (betting options, on course beverage, Tunks Hut) however, these items will now be paid individually.
There will also be a raffle on the day with all proceeds going to Legacy. It is hoped that in 2019 we can raise $4,000 for Legacy, which would be almost double that of previous years.
Members are encouraged to take part in the day and to invite guests (at the same $40 price).
Oatlands Cup – Saturday 23rd November
The 2019 Oatlands Cup will take place on Saturday 23rd November, tee times for the event will be from 6:30am to 8:30am from the 1st tee and are limited to visitors with a GA handicap of 4.4 or less and male members with a GA handicap of 9.4 or less.
This event will impact the available times on Saturday morning and as such we have made requests to about a dozen Sydney Club’s to provide tee times whilst we host this event. These times at other Clubs will be prioritised to members who regularly play on the 1st tee on a Saturday morning. Times will be listed on the website in the coming weeks and bookings can be made by contacting the General Manager by email, gm@oatlandsgolf.com.au.
The format for Oatlands Cup is an 18 hole stroke with prizes for this year’s event increased to attract more members and visitors. Bookings are already filling quickly so please book online if you are eligible. The details of the event are outlined below:
2019 Oatlands Cup
Saturday 23rd November
EVENT: 18 Hole Stroke – Vardon Event
ELIGIBILITY: Members of affiliated Clubs on GA handicaps not exceeding 4.4
Members of Oatlands Golf Club on GA handicaps not exceeding 9.4
ENTRY FEE: $50 Non Members and $20 for Oatland’s Members.
MUST accompany entry, (inc GST, non refundable).
STARTING TIMES: 1st tee 6:30 – 8:31am
ENTRIES CLOSE: Monday, 18th November 2019 at 5pm
Trophies
The following trophies will be presented in the form of Professional Shop vouchers:
- Championship Oatlands Cup + $400
- Runner-up $200
- 3rd Place $100
- Best Nett $200
Annual Presentation Night – Saturday 9th November
The 2019 Annual Dinner is nearly upon us with over 90 members already booked in. This year, the guest speaker will be Dan Cook, former Greenskeeper at Augusta National, home of the US Masters. Dan worked at Augusta for two years and was responsible for the preparation and management of the back 9 holes for the 2007 Masters won by Zach Johnson. Dan will be interviewed by Club General Manager Sam Howe, who worked with Dan at Elanora Country Club and will cover topics such as his journey from apprentice to Augusta, technology advancements in Course Maintenance and a Q&A session.
The night will include presentation of the major trophies for the year including the Men’s Club Championship, which will be decided on the day of the Dinner.
Bookings are via the Club Reception either by phone or email, administration@oatlandsgolf.com.au
Men’s Club Championship 2019 – Semi-finals
The Men’s Club Championships have reached the semi-final stage with some interesting match up’s to see who plays the finals on Saturday 9th November. The rounds so far have seen a mix of upsets and close matches with the Club Championships last Sunday particularly exciting.
The Semi-finalists are listed below:
Club Championship – Sunday 3rd November
Tim Frazer vs Peter Schliebs 7:00am
Bradley Hooper vs Norm Nakhoul 7:07am
Plate Championship – Saturday 2nd November
Budd Frome vs Rodney Butcher 8:10am
Tom McMurtry vs Geoff McAulay 8:10am
Middle Markers Championship – Saturday 2nd November
Joseph Coluccio vs Rob Hollings 8:17am
Nick Johnston vs Michael Carlin 8:17am
Long Markers Championship – Saturday 2nd November
Jerry Maher vs Ben Griffith 8:24am
Leo Nelson vs Zane Timmins 8:24am
Good luck to all semi-finalists!
Click her for a full list of Club Championship matchplay results across all grades.
Ladies Club Championship 2019 – One round to Go
The Ladies Club Championship is Linda Gyzen’s to lose with a 22 shot lead heading into the final round and a potential defence of her 2018 title.
The second round of the 2019 Ladies Club Championships took place on Thursday with competitors treated to a bright sunny day with winds picking up in the afternoon.
Linda Gyzen is 11 shots ahead after 36 holes with Leonie Guthrie in second spot.
The Joy Perry Plate sees Stephanie Monaghan ahead of Amanda Walkerden by a single shot and promises to be a close finish.
Division 2 sees Dolores Pearse ahead of Joy Watts by a solitary shot.
Division 3 sees Judith Leeds-Roberts 2 shots clear of Kam Chee Wong with Pauline Fallance a further shot behind.
The Nett Trophy is also closely contested with Dolores Pearse leading on 227 from Linda Gyzen 231, Jenny Park 232 and Joon Kang and Pam Terry on 233.
It is worth noting that many of the ladies competing in the Club Championship are relatively new members to Oatlands having started out their golfing journey’s through the Club’s Getting Started programme. This is a great way to introduce friends and family to golf, and who knows, they might just be a future Club Champion.
Good luck to all competitors for Thursday’s fourth and final round!
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 0.0mm Rainfall for 2019: 763.5mm Dam: 70% Green Speed: 10ft
The warm weather has continued this week, which has been great for our fairway and tee playing surfaces. Our greens are handling the less than favourable conditions well, with plenty of irrigation being used to keep moisture levels in the greens profile at satisfactory levels. By keeping the soil moist, air within the profile and around the roots is taken away, creating an environment for diseases such as Pythium root rot to thrive. With this in mind, all greens have been treated for this disease this week and over the next fortnight the needle tines will be put through all greens to provide aeration into the soil profiles for plant health. We will probably aerate 3 or 4 greens each morning, and roll them immediately afterwards, thus very little surface disruption at all.
Growth regulator and a calcium based fertiliser were applied to greens on Friday morning for plant health, and to help the turf cope with the heat stress that it is under at the moment. The fairway insecticide applications for Argentinian Scarab beetle, Billbug and African Black Beetle will be completed today. This task took a little longer than expected, but now completed, we will have season long control of these pests at the time of year when they cause all their damage to playing surfaces.
The putting and chipping greens height of cut is now down to 6mm with growth remaining strong. The opening of these greens is only about 2 or 3 weeks away, with plenty of anticipation from members walking past. All areas of the course have been cut this week, and the vacuum has also been out on the course cleaning up the never ending amounts of debris from the winds last weekend and this week.
Our volunteers were on course on Monday morning, raking bunkers before the ladies competition, and completing a stick run. Thank you gentlemen for your assistance again this week!
Enjoy the weekend!
The Course Team.
Hand Watering Greens – Course Staff have Right of Way
With the warmer weather upon us and the recently imposed level one water restriction that means only hand watering of greens is allowed between 10am – 4pm, members are asked to please give right of way to course staff when they are watering greens during play.
This is a necessary process to keep the greens in good health and whilst it may slow down play in some circumstances, it is unavoidable to ensure we manage our greens through what looks to be a long, hot and dry summer.
David Ecob – Coaching All Day Friday’s from the 15th November
Due to popular demand, commencing Friday 15th November, David Ecob will be available for Golf Lessons every Friday.
David recently attended the PGA of Australia National Conference at RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, and came back with a range of new insights and ideas to bring to his already successful coaching.
The Conference included some of Australia’s and the world’s leading experts in golf coaching including the legendary Bob Vokey, inspirational Anna Meares, Golf NSW High Peformance Coach Kahn Pullen, Col Swatton coach of Jason Day, State Victorian Coach Dale Lynch, to name just a few.
David presented a summary of the conference, also attended by General Manager and PGA member Sam Howe, to the October Match Committee. Members can view a PDF of David’s presentation by clicking on the link below.
Click here for David Ecob’s summary notes of the 2019 PGA of Australia National Conference.
Golf lessons with David on a Friday and all other days can be booked on line or by calling the Pro Shop.
Monday and Wednesday Competitions now Medley (Men and Women playing for the same prizes).
The new Medley format for all Monday and Wednesday competitions commenced on Wednesday 30th October, with all competition prizes on these days now available to male and female competitors.
This means that opposed to a small number of females playing on a Wednesday for a small prize pool they are now eligible for the overall, graded and ball prize rundown of the full field. Conversely the same is in effect for male golfers playing on a Monday.
The grade breakdown for each day will remain at their traditional brackets and this Rule is not in effect for Major trophies whereby the alternate gender to the traditional day will be eligible for the full ball competition only and not the major prizes.
This progressive initiative is being trialled for a number of reasons, including;
- To ensure Oatlands stays at the forefront of gender equality in golf.
- Feedback from members (both male and female) who have played in the traditional male or female competition days of Monday or Wednesday and despite paying the same competition fee are only eligible for a minor ball prize (as opposed to a voucher).
- It is hoped that this initiative will see an increase in course usage on Monday and Wednesday, both of which currently have significant capacity.
The Club is committed to continuing to be at the forefront of gender equity in the golf industry, and it is hoped that all members will embrace this initiative and join in for a game of golf on the non-traditional days.
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.
Friday 8th November – Five after 5 (Limited spots available)
Oatlands Golf Club’s annual series of Five after 5 events kick off today with players out on the course as this goes to press. These popular events are open to members and guests and are a great way to introduce friends and family to the course and Club in a relaxed environment. With spectacular prizes (tongue firmly in cheek), provided by host Rodney Walsh, the post golf atmosphere, buffet dinner and camaraderie are not to be missed. Bookings can be made online via the Club website or by phoning Reception.
Friday 15th November – Bistro on Bettington (Limited spots available)
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.
Wednesday 27th November – Bistro on Bettington (Fully Booked)
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.
Thursday 28th November – Ladies Presentation Dinner
The Annual Ladies Presentation Dinner will be held on Thursday 28th November. More information will follow however, this evening also celebrates the major event winners for the year and is a wonderful evening of celebration that is always well supported by the Club’s fantastic Lady members.
Ham & Turkey Christmas Cheer
The 2019 Christmas Cheer Ham & Turkey days will be held on Wednesday 4th & Thursday 5th December. With almost 100 turkeys and hams to win over the two days, this is a great event to be part of leading into Christmas.
Wednesday 11th December – Christmas Buffet Bistro
Join your friends and fellow members for the early Oatlands Christmas celebrations.
Bookings available via the club website.
