Oatlands Enews – Friday 24th November 2023
Content
This week’s Enews covers the following topics:
- From the Course
- Turtle Registration App
- Encourage Shield Final – Sunday 26th November 2023
- Care for the Course Handout
- Ladies Annual Dinner – A Night to Celebrate
- Titleist Demo / Fitting Day – Tuesday 5th December 2023
- Oatlands Cup – Playoff
- Bettington Restaurant – November Menu
- 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
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 19.5mm, Rainfall for 2023: 776.0mm, Dam: 90% Green Speed: 10.0 feet
The collar work continued this week with the 1st and 12th collars converted over to Sir Grange Zoysia. The front apron and the walk off area between the bunkers on the right hand side of the 1st green has also been converted to this Zoysia as a trial to examine how this grass species handles the wear and herbicide treatments compared to our existing Santa Ana couch surrounds.
The 1st hole has been out of play this week to allow staff and our volunteers an uninterrupted run in removing the existing turf and laying the new turf. The less foot traffic walking over this new turf especially across the apron at the front and the access area between the bunkers, will only be beneficial for a quicker establishment (the turf sending roots down into the soil). The new couch we have been laying on the other collars has established itself after 1 week, so it will be interesting to see how quickly this Zoysia establishes in comparison, but I am expecting it to be slightly slower than the couch. Next week we will cut out and replace the 8th collar and a section of the apron, with some reshaping of the area at the front of the green to be performed to allow better movement of surface water from the putting surface in heavy rainfall events.
Our volunteers once again played a big part with the above turfing removal and reinstating work, as they no doubt will again next week with the work on the 8th green. This assistance allows other staff members to continue to perform our regular course maintenance tasks which this week focussed on tidying up the course after the winds towards the end of last week left the course covered in leaf debris over the weekend. Our kikuyu playing surfaces (fairways, green surrounds, and roughs) are all growing strong with the higher humidity levels being experienced, and they have all been mown this week. The 2nd miticide application on all couch and Zoysia playing surfaces was also completed this week.
Our volunteers also continued the poisoning of the Parramatta Grass weeds in rough lines and flyover areas (areas between the tee complexes and the start of the fairways). A lot of great work achieved again this week and I’m very grateful for all your assistance each week. The constant banter between us all is just a bonus!
Greens will be cut on Saturday, with only the dew removed from them on Sunday. Have a great weekend and happy golfing!
The Course Team.
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.
Encourage Shield Final – Sunday 26th November 2023
Our Encourage Shield team will contest the Pennant final on Sunday for the second year in a row and will be looking to go one better after a narrow loss in last years finals. Our squad of young superstars are undefeated for the season and finished the pool rounds as number one seed before going on to win the two finals required to make the deciding final.
We are all incredibly proud of the young squad and of the work Jeremy Ward and Max Dakic have done in leading the squad each week and throughout the year via the Club’s Junior Development and High Performance Programmes.
The final will be Sunday 26th November, and we play at Camden Lakeside vs Camden.
Our Tee time is 11:30am and members are encouraged to get along to Camden Lakeside and support the stars of the Club’s future.
Our Team List in order:
- Ricky Fang
- Alicia Luo
- Jerry Qin
- Jeremy Liew
- Donovan O’Connor
- Noel Bae
Reserve 1 – Michael Sze
Reserve 2 – Brenden Fu
Good luck to all, we are sure you will again represent OGC with pride and distinction!
Care for the Course Handout
While the majority of golfers take their responsibility to care for the course seriously through filling divots, repairing pitchmarks and raking bunkers, it only takes neglect by a small number of exceptions to impact everyone’s experience of our course. These small few are among competition and social golfers alike.
As a result of feedback from course staff and members, the Greens Committee has put together Course Care Handout that will be distributed to all golfers over the next month. This handout is written in English and Korean which recognises that approximately 30% of membership are of Korean heritage with English as their second language.
We trust that all members will accept this communication in the spirit in which it is meant and with the objective of continued improvement of the course we all love.
Ladies Annual Dinner – A Night to Celebrate
Just over 70 of our ladies attended the Annual Ladies Presentation Dinner on Thursday evening where the major trophy winners for 2023 were honoured.
The night was another wonderful celebration of all things Oatlands, done in a style unique to the OGC ladies.
The night was also Paula Skelton’s last official duty as Ladies Captain which she has now been passed on to Jill Vale. We thank Paula for her tireless dedication to the role and wish Jill all the best in the years to come!
Titleist Demo / Fitting Day – Tuesday 5th December 2023
The Oatlands Professional Staff will be hosting another Demo / Fitting Day with Titleist golf on Tuesday 5th December. These days are a great way to try out the latest golf technology and get expertly fitted for your next set of clubs, woods and / or wedges.
Spaces are limited to 5 sessions, so book early to avoid disappointment. Bookings can be made via the Club website or by contacting the Pro Shop directly.
Oatlands Cup – Playoff
The annual Oatlands Cup was played on Saturday 18th November with a strong field contesting one of the Club’s premier Honour Board events.
Wil Reece went into the event as one of the hot favourites having won the event in 2021 and 2022 and coming off a runner up finish in the Men’s Club Championships, however didn’t have his best day on the course and was 3 shots behind Peter Schliebs and Rowan Easterbrook who tied for the lead on +3 (73) and will now playoff over 18-holes in the next stroke round on Saturday 2nd December.
Well done to Peter and Rowan and best of luck in next weeks playoff!
Bettington Restaurant – November Menu
The Club’s November Bettington Restaurant Nights will be held Saturday 25th and Wednesday 29th November with around 70 members and guests booked for each evening thus far.
The menu for each of the Restaurant Nights is listed below:
On arrival
- Corn soup (gf)
- Bread and Butter
Entrée
- Tea smoked salmon, mango relish, peanut & papaya, Brussel sprout & caviar (gf)
- Coconut pork spare rib, chilli and pineapple caramel, grilled okra and cucumber (gf)
- Salami Norcia De Palma, homemade focaccia, EVOO, ricotta and pickles
Main
- Herb crusted lamb rump, spiced pumpkin, heirloom carrot, sumac capsicum, puffed barley and sherry sauce
- Slow roasted wagyu topside, garlic mashed potato, butter lettuce and radicchio, Japanese butter sauce (gf)
- Confit duck legs, duck fat potato, witlof, snow peas and mandarin dressing (gf)
- Barramundi fillet, cauliflower, bagna caoda sauce, roman beans, sweet chilli and mint (gf)
Dessert
- Vanilla crème brulee, chocolate and sesame tuille (gf)
- Buttermilk panna cotta, compressed watermelon, rose and pistachio (gf)
- Chocolate ganache, coconut biscuit, yoghurt sorbet
Members are encouraged to invite friends and family to these events and enjoy the fine dining on offer.
Bookings are available through the Club website.
Junior School Holiday Clinics with Max Dakic
- Week 1 – Tuesday January 9th
- Week 2 – Tuesday January 16th
- 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 a 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: November and 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:
- Saturday 25th November, The Bettington Restaurant
- Wednesday 29th November, The Bettington Restaurant
- 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/