Oatlands Enews – Friday 1st December 2023
Content
This week’s Enews covers the following topics:
- Final Enews for 2023
- Holiday Trading Variations
- From the Course
- Oatlands Encourage Shield Pennant Champions for 2023
- Captain’s Corner – Boundary Fence on 12th Hole
- Re-spike While you Wait – Wednesday 13th, Thursday 14th and Saturday 16th December
- Christmas Bettington Menu – 13th December 2023
- Turtle Registration App
- Junior School Holiday Clinics with Max Dakic
- Nine, Wine & Dine – Friday 8th December 2023
- Pennant Update
- Upcoming Member Events: November and December
- Recent Trophy Event Winners
- Upcoming Trophy Events
- Members Only Facebook Group
Final Enews for 2023
Members are advised that this will be the final Enews for 2023.
In recent history the Enews has run up to the Friday before Christmas, however our General Manager Sam Howe, who collates the content provided by staff and members into the web format sent to members each week, will be on leave from 3rd December to 2nd January.
During this time the weekly Course Report will be sent to members and the full Enews, which traditionally returns mid to late January will re-commence on Friday 5th January.
Holiday Trading Variations
Members are advised of the following changes to normal trade throughout the Christmas and New Year holiday period.
Note: The entire Club (Course, Clubhouse and Golf Shop) are closed on Christmas Day.
CLUBHOUSE – BAR
The Clubhouse Bar will open as normal throughout the Christmas and New Year period with the following exceptions;
- Monday 11th December: Bar to close at 4:30pm
- Monday 18th December: Bar to close at 3pm
- Monday 25th – Christmas Day B / Clubhouse Closed
- Tuesday 26th – Boxing Day: Bar open 11 – 5:30pm (PH)
- Sunday 31st – NYE Bar to close at 5pm
- Monday 1st – NYD Bar open 11 – 5:30pm
CLUBHOUSE – CATERING
The kitchen and sandwich service will open as normal throughout the holiday period with the following exceptions:
- Sunday 24th December: Sandwich Hut Closed (daily bistro menu available)
- Sunday 31st December: Sandwich Hut Closed (daily bistro menu available)
- Monday 1st January: Sandwich Hut Closed (daily bistro menu available)
- Sunday 7th January: Sandwich Hut Closed (daily bistro menu available)
CLUBHOUSE – RECEPTION
Members are advised that the Club Reception will shutdown over the Christmas / New Year period for the following dates:
- Closing – Friday 24th December at 2:30pm
- Re-open – Monday 9th January at 9am
GOLF COURSE AND GOLF SHOP
The golf course and golf shop will be open everyday except Christmas Day. Please see website fixtures for tee times.
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 48.0mm, Rainfall for 2023: 812.5mm, Dam: 100% Green Speed: 10.0 feet
Another week and another collar replaced with the 8th completed by the course team and our volunteers. As mentioned last week, the front apron was reshaped during these works, which will enable surface water to exit the putting surface as quickly as possible in periods of heavy rainfall. With the weather predictions that were being broadcast, we thought we would receive some heavy falls on Tuesday and Wednesday but fortunately we missed most of the storms as they travelled over the Sydney basin. We did use some precaution, pinning down several rows of the new turf at the top of the collar area so that it stayed in place should it have been exposed to any high volumes of rainfall.
The new Zoysia turf around the 1st and 12th greens as already taken root which is great and means that its establishment is on par with the Santa Ana couch that we have laid on the other collars. This turf was cut for the first time on Thursday at the same height that we cut our bunker surrounds and couch green surrounds. We will have to gradually lower the height down on this Zoysia turf as it doesn’t cope with scalping as well as the couch turf does.
Growth on all surfaces has really increased this past week, with the humidity encouraging the kikuyu to jump out of its skin, and the recent fertilising of tees really kicking in this week. Growth regulator was applied to the 2nd, 15th and 16th holes on Wednesday morning in and around play, and these applications will continue so that we maintain some control over the turf during the summer period. The cloudy, humid and wet weather has caused some algae to appear in our greens, which we will spray for over the coming week.
Next week we replace the 9th collar, and we will also replace the championship tee pad on the 18th. This tee pad is uneven, so we will level it up at the same time and use some of the better turf on this back pad on a few strips that are struggling on the middle pad by transplanting it across. All collars were edged with our Atom edger this week, and we plan to use some chemical control on unwanted kikuyu in these couch areas over the coming week.
Our volunteers were once again instrumental with the collar work this week, with a few of them backing up on Tuesday morning to help lay the new turf. This extra physical activity must be helping with the golf, as one of the extra helpers had a great score of 41 points in the Wednesday competition! The poisoning of the Parramatta Grass continued, and Mike Cuming was back continuing to trim and weed around the roses. Thank you to everyone that volunteered their time this week.
Greens will be cut on Saturday and Sunday.
Have a great weekend and happy golfing!
The Course Team.
Oatlands Encourage Shield Pennant Champions for 2023
We are thrilled to announce that the Oatlands Encourage Shield team won the final of the 2023 Pennant on Sunday 26th November in an incredibly close contest.
Playing Camden GC at Camden Lakeside GC, both teams were tied on 3-matches a piece at the completion of regular play. This meant that the number ones would decide the final in a sudden death playoff.
Representing Oatlands, Ricky Fang hit his tee shot on the first playoff hole into a precarious position and was faced with a decision to go for the green or to lay up. After weighing up all the options, Ricky took the safer option and played back to the fairway before playing a stunning pitch shot to less than 8-feet and before a large crowd of onlookers from both clubs, calmly rolled in the putt to win the pennant for Oatlands and go one better following the team loss in the final in 2022.
This is a fantastic achievement for the young squad and the Club as whole with Pennant wins very rare and this being only the third Encourage Shield win in the Clubs history.
The winning side are pictured here with the Pennant and proud team managers Jeremy Ward and Max Dakic. Click on the link below to see Ricky holing the putt that won the playoff and the pennant for OGC.
Click here for video of final putt.
The team representing the Club in the final are as follows;
- Ricky Fang
- Alicia Luo
- Jerry Qin
- Jeremy Liew
- Donovan O’Connor
- Noel Bae
Reserve 1 – Michael Sze
Reserve 2 – Brenden Fu
Congratulations to all involved. It was noted by spectating members and representatives from other clubs alike that our juniors conducted themselves in a manner that all OGC members should be very proud of.
Captain’s Corner – New Boundary Fence – 12th Hole
With the construction of the Memorial underway, and the new boundary fence changes, it is important to advise members of the rules associated with this change.
The newly constructed fence is now deemed to be the boundary fence. The area covering the inside of the new fence is deemed to be out of bounds.
Out of Bounds pegs will be placed on the inside of the fence to more clearly define the boundary. The boundary fence is not an immoveable obstruction and therefore no relief is given for swing or stance, as is the case with the existing boundary fence.
Colin McRae
Club Captain
Re-spike While you Wait – Wednesday 13th, Thursday 14th and Saturday 16th December
The Pro Shop will be running a series of re-spike while you wait days on Wednesday 13th, Thursday 14th and Saturday 16th December.
Members will be able to get their golf shoes re-spiked while you wait on these days between 6:30am – 12pm.
Good spikes provide golfers with essential stability to support solid golf swings, particularly on uneven or wet surfaces, and re-spiking will on take 5-10 minutes before you play.
No bookings are required, simply bring your shoes to the Pro Shop and they will be re-spiked in a matter of minutes while you wait.
Christmas Bettington Menu – 13th December 2023
Members and guests are invited to our a la carte CHRISTMAS Bettington Restaurant on Wednesday 13th December 2023.
This event will see a Christmas themed banquet available for our members and their guests.
Seating times are available at 6pm, 6:30pm, 7pm and 7:30pm, so grab some friends and join us for another great night of food and friendship.
The menu for the evening is available below.
Turtle Registration App
Early in October, we reported a number of turtle sightings and gave members an overview of what to do if Turtles were sighted on course (article copied in italics at bottom of this post titled Take Care of Our Turtles). We have recently been provided with details a Turtle registration app by Western Sydney University whereby members can log in Turtle sightings.
The App is called TurtleSAT – mapping tool and can be downloaded from the Apple or Android app store to your smart phone.
Members are encouraged to download the app and register any sightings along with advising a member of staff.
EARLIER ENEWS ARTICLE – TAKE CARE OF OUR TURTLES, 6th OCTOBER 2023
As mentioned in the course report, there have been a number of turtle sightings and nests being laid around the course recently.
These areas are ecologically sensitive, and we will endeavour to protect the nests whenever they are found.
The simplest way to do this is by covering them as seen in the picture below so that golfers don’t accidently destroy the nests.
So, if you see the odd plastic crate around the golf course, please leave it in its designated location and help us protect the OGC Eastern Longneck turtles.
Junior School Holiday Clinics with Max Dakic
- Week 1 – Tuesday January 9th
Week 2 – Tuesday January 16thWeek 2 Cancelled due to Encourage Shield State Finals- Week 3 – Tuesday January 23rd
Nine, Wine & Dine – Friday 8th December 2023
It was fantastic to see so many members and guests attend our first Nine, Wine and Dine event for the season last week with a close to full timesheet and extras attending for dinner only.
The next instalment will be held on Friday 8th December and the booking sheet is now live for members to book and invite guests at no additional charge.
Competition play is optional, but for those playing the single stableford, we have prizes for the men’s and women’s winners and runner ups and an NTP. The 9-holes played will be holes 1-7, 17 & 18.
Tee times will be available from 4pm – 5:30pm with a two course modified a la carte menu after golf.
Bookings are now open, and we hope to see you there.
Pennant Update
Encourage Shield
See earlier article.
Upcoming Member Events: December
The Club has lots of fantastic events coming up for members and guests, and we encourage members to take part in the Club’s diverse offering.
Following the recent member survey regarding event ideas, we will be adding to the list of event types below as the year progresses, however for the time being, please see the upcoming events for October:
- Wednesday 6th December – Men’s Christmas Cheer Ham & Turkey Day
- Thursday 7th December – Ladies Christmas Cheer Ham & Turkey Day
- Friday 8th December – Nine, Wine and Dine
- Wednesday 13th December, The Bettington Restaurant
Recent Trophy Event Winners
There were no trophy events completed in the last week.
Upcoming Trophy Events
Men’s
- Saturday 2nd December – Oatlands Cup Playoff between Rowan Easterbrook and Peter Schliebs
Ladies
- NA
Family Membership Incentive – 50% Joining Fee Reduction for Immediate Family
The Board and Membership Committee of Oatlands Golf Club are pleased to announce a new membership initiative designed to encourage immediate family of our existing membership to join our wonderful Club.
Starting 1st July, all immediate family of an existing member in any of the Club’s playing membership categories, will be eligible for a 50% reduction to the joining fee of the respective category in which they join.
Eligibility criteria are listed below:
- Must be in one of the following relationships with a current Playing Member of the Club.
- Spouse including defacto*
- Children including in-law relationships*
- Parents including in-law relationships*
- Siblings
* Defacto and in-law relationships require verification via a shared address on a photo ID or marriage certificate.
This is an exciting opportunity for existing members of the Club and one that we hope will continue to build the strong family and inter-generational culture that is one of the hallmarks of OGC.
For further information on this incentive or to make an application, please contact Kathy Bright via email: administration@oatlandsgolf.com.au or by phoning the Club Reception.
Members Only Facebook Group
The engagement among the membership on our Members Only Facebook group has continued to grow in recent months with posts from members and staff happening daily.
So, if you aren’t already part of our Members Only Facebook Group, join up now and join in the fun banter.
We now have over 380 members who have joined the group and hope to see this get closer to 700 in the next 12-months.
Importantly, members are advised that this social media platform will not be used for the Club to communicate critical information, which will remain via the Enews, website and direct email however, it is a place that members and the Club can post interesting Club and golf related items to compliment this Enews.
To join the Members Only Facebook Group please click on the link below and then click on the “JOIN GROUP” button. You will be asked a few questions to verify you are a member and then approved by the group administrator shortly thereafter.
www.facebook.com/groups/870087546972166/