News Archive

Annual Greens Renovations 20 and 21 October.

The annual Greens Renovations has commenced.  Please be aware that only nine holes will be available for social golf over the next few days. The back 9 greens will be cored and sanded commencing tomorrow (Tuesday) and the front 9 will be renovated on Wednesday assuming the current fine weather continues.   

Work will continue intermittently on all greens during the week so please note that greens staff and volunteers have priority on the course.

Thanks….. for all your hard work.

Folks

The Championships are over for another year and, apart from going over the lessons to be learned, I wanted to thank everyone involved in their planning and conduct.  More particularly, there are a few folks who have put in a huge effort and I wanted to highlight this.

Shane and the Greens staff – the course was in great condition and this is in large part is due to Shane Dawson (our Superintendent) and his team (Ben, Richard and Pete) working very long and hard to prepare the surfaces in the lead-up to the event.  This was made all the more difficult due to the rain we have recently had.  The rain was great to get but probably not so great, if you are sitting on a mower trying to manage the grass growth.  This is a small but very impressive team.  Say thanks to them as they pass you out on the course.

Kevin, Mike and Fiona – Our Captains and the Vice-Captain do an enormous amount of work to get the event organised and make it run smoothly.  Kevin takes time off work as the event approach to do the required preparation and planing and then, together with a small group of people, makes sure the board and the system is updated and that players time slots for the next round are in good order.  I know from speaking with Kevin he is regularly managing queries from members who are sometimes a little disgruntled that they can’t play a particular time.  Kevin also spent a lot of time on a mower helping keep the rough in a manageable state.

Mark and the Greens Committee folks – Mark (Hynesy) and his team are heavily involved as the tournament approaches.  There is lots to be done on the course in preparation for such an event. There are a group of folks who have worked with Mark the result of which is the course we have just played on.

Dad’s Army – you will have noticed the work of Ken Wark and the Dad’s Army team have done over the recent weeks. The laying of turf, trimming around the trees, maintaining of the garden beds and the list goes on. Our course is all the better for the work of this small group.

So…… to all of those mentioned above and others I have not included but have worked behind the scenes, I say thank you on behalf of all of our members.  We are fortunate to have you in the club and very grateful for the amount of work you do.

Richard Oliver/President  

MiScore Registration

We have received advice from MiClub that from 19 October 2020 members using the MiScore App will have to go through a one off registration process to continue using the app. As Gungahlin Lakes has purchased a club level subscription there is no cost to members, simply a process to update your individual registration in the system.

Instructions for completing the registrations process can be accessed by clicking on this link: MiScore_Club_Subscription_Registration_Instructions_2020.

Please note that the second half of the document identifies the process to purchase an individual annual subscription. This is only required if you are wanting to use the app at other golf courses using the MiScore system. You do not need to purchase an individual level subscription if you are only using the app at Gungahlin Lakes.

Summary from the Golf Club Committee meeting held on 8 October…

Members

Below is a summary from The Committee meeting on 8 October. Reports from Executive members were tabled and issues were discussed. Key issues noted were: 

From the President:

• Ainslie and the Golf Club – No meeting was considered necessary with Ainslie in preparation for this meeting. Issues previously noted have been actioned.
• Payment of Subscriptions – Progressing well. On 10 October those who haven’t paid their fees become unfinancial. Golf Manager to provide a list of unfinancial members to the Captain who will ensure unfinancial members do not have access to the timesheets.
• Kiosks – The purchase of new Kiosks has been actioned and equipment has arrived and is awaiting installation by Red Chilli (Ainslie’s IT provider).
• Annual General Meeting and election of Committee members – A paper was considered at the meeting which outlined the timeline for the preparation of the Annual Report.
• Sponsorship letters – letters have been prepared and distributed to potential local businesses have been prepared and distributed in person regarding tee box signage opportunities:

From the Vice-President:

• Di updated the Committee on the Website refresh project and the work required by Committee members in updating the content on the site.

From the Treasurer:

• Tony noted that having accounted for payments associated with the Fairway renovations and other recent purchases (mainly turf for the bunker bank on hole 2) we have around $101,000 in the Club bank account.

From the Men’s Captain:

• The Match committee have made the following decisions regarding the upcoming Club Championships:
• Preferred lies will remain as they currently are for all rounds of the Club Championships.
• COVID-19 restrictions will remain as they are (no removal of Flagsticks and no placing of rakes in bunkers) – Kevin noted that the noodle length has been set to 65mm.
• The Club Championships
  • Handicap ranges have been posted on both Facebook and MiClub.
  • Thanks to Mike Hogben for the invaluable help with the organisation of the Club Championships.
• Monthly medal and members badge draw will be the first round of the Club Championships (to be posted on FB and MiClub)

From the Women’s Captain:

• The Canberra Shield – GLGC ladies will be entering a team in the CSGA Canberra Shield on Thursday 5 November at Magpies Belconnen. It is a team of 8, there is an entry fee of $200.00.  There are no monetary prizes, clubs are competing for the honour of winning the Trophy – the Canberra Shield.  The event is a one-day handicap match play competition.  It is encouraging clubs to enter players who do not usually participate in pennant play.  I seek the committee to

Greens

• The major fairway renovation program that was first started in 2018 has been completed. Despite a number of extenuating circumstances the result is looking better with every day.
• The most recent renovations conducted have been about 95% successful. Further remedial work will be conducted throughout October/November to repair those areas which have failed.  This will be done by introducing “heavier” topsoil – it contains a higher element of clay.  Hopefully this does not wash away in the initial stages of growth.
• There are still too many divots that are not being repaired. All members are to be encouraged to help with this issue. Shane will provide 100 more sand buckets to the golfers prior to Club Champs. 
• Michael Brice and Denis Collins have undertaken a tree survey and proposed works document for the Greens committee. It identified various dangerous trees – particularly close to houses.  Shane will get quotes from O’Briens trees for this work.  At the same time he will get a quote for stump grinding.
• The large number of Casuarinas on the left-hand side of 16 are to be thinned with the Club having received ACT Government approval. These trees were originally overplanted (with the idea that there would be a few deaths – this did not happen).  By removing 1 in 3 trees there will be increased light to the fairway /rough and encourage healthier turf growth. 
• Greens renovations will begin on 19^th October – we have a window of 6 weeks after this to have the course presented for medal of medals. Ken Wark is tasked with organizing volunteers – with the requested start time being Tuesday 20^th October at 0830.  

Papers considered at the meeting

AGM Timeline

• Richard presented a short paper outlining the proposed timelines for aspects of the AGM. Nominations for Committee will open at the October, voting for Committee positions will commence 11 November – Closing on the 20th November.
• AGM Report – Individual reports for the Annual Report will be required BY 8th November – so that a review can be held at the next GLGC Committee meeting (12th November). This will provide enough time to finalise the report and have reviewed by CEO Ainslie. 

 Members Survey – results will be posted in the near future.

Next meeting is scheduled for 12 November 2020

Richard Oliver/President

Splash October 2020

SPLASH-Oct-2020