Happy new year to one and all. I hope you all had a chance to get some well deserved rest and enjoyed the festive season
2020 brings a number of changes to our course as well as the new WHS (World Handicapping System)
On the 30th January 2020 Golf Australia will update the Golflink system with new slope ratings for all courses within Australia. The end result of this will be that most members will get shots back depending on the course they play.
I encourage all members to obtain the brochure produced for members for the WHS. These are available on request from the office. Should you wish to discuss any issues, representatives of the match committee will discuss or clarify any of your concerns. In a nutshell the rest of the world is adopting the Australian Golflink system.
Gosford Golf Club has applied to Golf NSW to have all our courses re rated. These ratings will be introduced on 30th January. From this date we will have mens and womens ratings for the following courses.
Black (old Blue Course)
White (existing course)
Red (Existing)
Green (Old Black course)
Those members playing the green course will have the same restrictions as in the past. You must be over the age of 70 with a handicap of 32 or more. Those members over the age of 80 can play the black course regardless of handicap.
The match committee will decide which course members will play. The most probable outcome will be that on medley events on Fridays and Sundays all members will play off the same tee but this does not restrict this to these two days only. This is one of the benefits of the new system that ladies and gentlemen will no longer be separated on the tees. The match committee will decide if there is a separate competition for lady and gentlemen members.
Coupled with these changes the Match Committee will introduce new hole ratings on the 3rd of February . These changes will be updated in MiClub and members will need to check their score cards as all holes are effected by these changes. I will publicise the new ratings on the noticeboard near the pro shop prior to the 3rdFebruary 2020.
The new work on the 9th drain is now complete and the following rules will be introduced as soon as signage is completed.
1 The drain area will be staked with red stakes and be treated as a Penalty Area and the rules of golf for a penalty area will apply.
2 The garden area will be classed as a no play zone with white stakes with a compulsory drop without penalty at the new drop peg.
3 Those members landing in the penalty area may drop in the no play zone and then proceed to the drop peg with one shot penalty.
I encourage members to familiarise themselves with the new rules regarding this area. For those playing the 8thhole the same rules apply with a drop peg situated behind the ditch.
There is a proposal to do similar work on the 6th fairway adjacent to the 7th tee. A new no play zone or garden area will be constructed. The match committee will decide which of the rules to apply. To protect the area a no play zone is being contemplated with a compulsory drop peg. This is under consideration and members will be advised as soon as work is completed.
Members will have noticed the tree removal on the 13th tee. This is designed to allow us to increase the size of the dam adjacent to the 13th tee. The Lilly Pillies have been transplanted to new are on the 9th fairway. The seat and pots have been moved to the ladies 3rd tee. The remaining plants will be transplanted and used on other parts of the course. There is also an area to the left of the 12th green where work is proposed. There is also a proposal to reduce the size of “treasure Island” where F Troop currently store their firewood.
All this work is subject to funds and the board is endeavouring to allocate funds to have this work completed. Members will be slightly inconvenienced by this work and I trust they all will be understanding.
Members will appreciate that water is the lifeblood of our course and we must do everything possible to increase and conserve our water.
The CCDGA Mens and Junior pennants will commence on the 2 February 2020. Nomination forms are available on the notice board outside the pro shop. Nominations will close on the 19th January 2020. The new format is that all matches are played at neutral venues and all teams play each other once with the first past the post deemed Pennant winner. The Junior pennants will be played under a different format.There are no finals. Bob Thomas has agreed to organise the pennants. The Junior Pennants will be run in conjunction and Mick Willson has agreed to organise the Juniors.
Members will have noted the plastic matting installed on the pathway to the 18th hole. This matting is deemed an “Abnormal Ground Condition” and members are entitled to free relief.
It has been brought to my attention that the practise of “Gimmies” is still occurring during competitions. I will remind members that this practise is completely against the rules of golf and is paramount to cheating. Any group of players or individuals found or reported by members will immediate be disqualified from the competition and will be required to appear before the Executive Committee of the Board. Their playing rights will also be suspended until their fate is decided by the Board.
When on the course, members are reminded of the following:
All Social play is off the yellow markers. Members please do not practice off the plates or the blue, white or red teeing areas
When practising please remember to take a bucket and fill your divots and please repair all divots on the greens
Please rake the bunkers and leave the rakes in the middle of the bunkers
Please keep up with the group in front
Please stick to the ready golf principles
Please do not drive carts in areas where they are prohibited. Please stay on the designated paths and outside the blue lines.
Graham CheeMens Captain
F-Troop Report
December 2019 was a dry windy month which created a lot of leaf and loose timber drop on the course.
Being the holiday season we were down on numbers of volunteers from time to time and also needed to work around the large number of social players on the course at this time of year.
Our main projects this month were course clean up and tree maintenance, firewood preparation and hedge maintenance and clean up of weeds in the dams. The high winds have brought down a lot of loose timber and leaves which have made the pick up a big job.
Major mulching of gardens in preparation for the summer months are ongoing tasks as is watering of the gardens as we have had no rain.
Ongoing maintenance of trees, maintenance to shrubs, hedge maintenance, clean up of the paths and gardens around the clubhouse, wedding garden and practice nets and BBQ area, cleaning of the bush toilets and clubhouse maintenance, clean up of the drain on the 6th, maintenance to the clubhouse when required, plumbing and hose repairs on the course.
Another theft from our gardens this month was the large watering hose that we use for the front gardens and is kept underneath the clubhouse – the hose and all its fittings disappeared during the holiday period.
We have upgraded our wood splitter from a 20 ton Splitter to a 65 ton splitter which will be a big benefit to our volunteers who deal with the firewood splitting. We have decided to sell our 20 ton splitter for $350.00 if anyone is interested in buying it, please let us know.
If you have some free time on Monday mornings and you would like to contribute to our projects please contact Peter or Jan Martin. We generally work from 7.00 am until 10.30 am with morning tea supplied by the club about 10.15 to 10.30 am. We are currently averaging 12 volunteers each week which is a big help towards speedy completion of our projects.
Contacts:
Peter Martin 0437 325 207
Jan Martin 0400 430-088
Superintendent’s Report
Welcome to 2020. The next few weeks promise to be hotter and dryer than ever, but Dave and his crew have done a great job or preparing the course and keeping it in tip top condition over Christmas-New Year, and we are confident this will continue into the New Year. The greens are well watered, including hand watering, and cut a little longer than might be preferred, all aimed at reducing stress on the grass. As you have no doubt noticed, some of the fairways are starting to really dry out. Unfortunately these are the ones where irrigation has not yet been installed – the 6th, 7th and 13th in particular. At this stage there is little we can do except to hope that the forecasts to the next major rainfall are much shorter than currently predicted, sometime in March. Our current water supply will last until around the end of January with no additional rain.
In this newsletter we would like to inform you of the major projects planned for 2020 subject, of course, to availability of funding and any permits required.
Below is a list of our current intended projects, more or less in priority order:
1. Extend dam capacity of 13th/7th dams. This project will add around 8 mega litres of irrigation water (approximately a one-month supply). It will require considerable excavation work around the 13th tee and the back and left side of the 12th green, and probably relocation of the 13th tee for a short period.
2. Landscape bare areas of 6th fairway immediately adjacent the 7th tee.
3. Complete irrigation and drainage works on the 18th fairway.
4. Re-establish a fairway nursery in the area between the 17th green and the 16th tee.
5. Program to remove tree roots from teeing areas, with priority on 9th and 6th tees. These renovations will be undertaken in two stages per tee (back and front) to make sure tees are not completely out of play while the works are underway.
6. Re-turf area behind the recently renovated 11th green bunker.
7. Build an impermeable subsurface barrier behind the 2nd/3rd fairway dam (to the right of the 5th fairway) to prevent water leakage from the dam.
8. Rebuild 2nd tee box.
9. Landscape drain between the 7th and 8th fairways (a continuation of the recently completed drain between the 8th and 9th).
10. Landscape around 12th tee/fairway – replant appropriate trees behind tee and to left of fairway.
11. Clean out temporary 3rd tee area (behind dam pump house).
Most of the work can be undertaken by the greens staff, in addition to the normal course maintenance and only relies on the time being available.
In addition, we still have a schedule for replacing gravel paths on the course with concrete versions, and a government grant has been resubmitted for this purpose, with the outcome still pending.
Finally, I have received some verbal and second hand feedback about having notification of maintenance and course playability issues provided by email (the email address being – [email protected]). I am aware some members either don’t have email or don’t like using it. However, the reason is simple. In the past, many verbal requests relayed to Board members, the Director of Golf, or ProShop staff have been subsequently, shall we say “misplaced”, or passed onto the course superintendent in multiple, contradictory, and unprioritized form, so it was not clear exactly what was expected. With the email submission, we have one source of truth, one list of priorities and one schedule, that can be checked and followed through on. However, if this request remains a severe test of your technological capabilities, feel free to speak to me in person – I will do my best not to mislay your suggestions (yes Macca, I will carry the green book with me at all times).
Greg Skilbeck
On behalf of Greens Committee/Board
News From the Pro Shop
We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.
Some upcoming Dates are as follows:
7th February – Volkswagen Scramble MIXED
20th February – Volkswagen Scramble WOMEN
20 % off all golf bags. Check out the $10 bargain barrel located in front of the pie oven. And YES, the home made pies are BACK!!
Trackman Vouchers
We are pleased to now utilise Trackman in the Pro Shop.
We have several different vouchers available if you would like to purchase them as gifts, or for yourself.
Game Analysis Session – $60 (30 mins) OR $90 (1 hour)
Optimise your Drive – $90 (1 hour)
Test us to see if we can improve your driver by up to 15m
Gap Test – $90 (1 hour)
Help you choose the right makeup for your set (ie. you may benefit from a 5 hybrid instead of a 5 iron). Lie and loft adjustment is included in cost.
Precise Pitching with Trackman – $90 (1 hour)
Test your proximity to the hole, test your wedges, and improve your scoring ability.
Trackman Combine – $90 (1 hour)
Standardised test that identifies strengths and weaknesses in your game, consists of a 60 shot test towards 10 different targets, accuracy is measured on a scale of 0 to 100.
Golf Lesson – $90 (1 hour)
Pack of 6 Lessons – $450 (6 hours + Combine Test)
Practice on Trackman – $75 (30 mins) OR $125 (1 hour)
Either by yourself or with a group of friends, test numbers against theirs or have your own long drive contest.
Corporate Hire – $250 (Full Day)
Have Trackman on the tee for your corporate golf day with one of our PGA professionals to tell you and your guests their numbers. Have a long drive competition, straightest drive, or nearest the pin. All results can be displayed on our screens in the clubhouse after your day has finished golfing.
