News Archive

New Out of Bounds 15th hole

For safety reasons, a new Out of Bounds has been introduced on the 15th hole. It is 5m in from the existing boundary fence and runs the length of the 15th hole on the left hand side.

 Please be aware and take appropriate action (provisional ball) if your tee shot is left off the tee.

This is a trial at the moment in a bid to alleviate the number of golf balls landing in the properties along the hole.

Match Committee

Summary of the outcomes from the Golf Club Committee meeting held on 11 June.

Members

Below is a summary from The Committee meeting on 11 June.

• Reports from Executive members were tabled and issues were discussed, as necessary. From the Captains and the Match Committee:

Timesheets and restrictions

All booking restrictions have now been lifted. This coming weekend 13/06/2020 sees a return to normal two tee starts for Saturday and normal timesheets for Sunday (allowing additional social play bookings) Sunday field numbers are still higher than normal, but that is expected to reduce once normal sporting activities resuming in the near future.

Major Events

Program of major events has been finalised by the Match Committee. They are as follows:

• June – Women’s Matchplay
• July – Yellow course Eclectic round 2 (shortened to two rounds)
• August – Men’s Pennants
• September – Men’s Open Mixed Foursomes
• October – Club Championships
• November – Medal of Medals, Women’s Foursomes and Presentation Day (course renovations)

With a limited amount of time remaining in the year and the “norm” being to only hold one Major event per month (beside Monthly Medals) this covers the most noteworthy events for 2020.

Pennants

GLGC is scheduled to host three remaining pennant matches. These are on the following dates.

Sunday 2^nd August – Juniors 10:52 – 12:20 1^st tee times

Sunday 9^th August – B Grade Scratch 11:16 – 12:20 1^st tee times

Sunday 16^th August – A Grade Div-2 07:24 – 09:16 1^st tee times

This will significantly reduce the available playing spots for members on all three days, but we have an obligation to fulfil our commitment to the DGA for this. We will ensure that members are notified closer to the dates.

Clinics

Clinics for our women golfers are re-commencing this week.  Organisers are dividing the clinics into two to keep with the maximum numbers allowed in each class.  They are being held 4pm over the next 2 Thursday’s and 10.00am over the next  two Saturdays.  The last clinic will be on the course for a few holes on a Sunday afternoon, date to be confirmed.  Fiona Wicks is the contact point.

There were a number of papers presented and discussed, as follows:

• Committee recommencing closeout duties and moving the fee for club competitions to $12.

Outcome – It was agreed that the Committee will recommence doing closeouts from the first weekend post the Spike Bar returning to normal operations.  The Committee competition fee will move to $12 ($10 for the Competition fee and $2 for the Course maintenance levy) when this occurs.

• Use of Golf Carts by more than one person.

Outcome – The Committee agreed that this was a decision for Murray and the CEO Ainslie.  A majority of Committee members were supportive of the current arrangement of one to a cart remaining in place for the next week or do but, agreed that this was a decision for Murray, as he owned the carts and would manage/accept the risk of two in a cart.  Richard to speak with Murray about the Committee’s view on this matter.

• A range of papers from the Greens Committee, as follows:
  • Protective Screens for our female players on holes 2,9 and 13
  • Irrigation Improvements
  • Spring Fairway renovations
  • Improvements for holes 15 and 16 to improve the level of safety for other players in the vicinity.

These papers were all considered separately and there was general agreement to issues raised in each.  All of these required expenditures either in the coming months or over the coming years, in the case of the improvements listed for holes 15 and 16.

Outcome – Richard to lead the drafting of a discussion paper for the consideration of the CEO Ainslie.  The paper would aim to ‘flag’ the issues raised in various papers all of which need consideration and action in relation to the repair and conditioning of the Course and an agreed funding source for implementation.  It was agreed that the discussion paper should be ready for submission to CEO Ainslie by the next Committee meeting (9 July) following consultation with the Committee and the Course Superintendent.

• The performance of the Club’s Kiosks and the MiClub Booking System.

Outcome – The Golf Manager to investigate (consult with Club’s IT provider and MiClub) about what is required to ensure that the MiClub booking system is working effectively and that both Kiosk terminals are fully functional.  I

• The surveying of members regarding the 2021 Program of Events

Outcome – The Committee agreed that we would survey members in relation to the 2021 Program of Honour Board events in advance of the commence of the Program. The Committee also agreed that the survey would be conducted electronically.

Richard Oliver/President

Members Update – 12 June 20

Members

Only a couple of matters to touch on this week.

You may see some activity in the Spike Bar on the weekend.  This does not mean things are back to normal. Nathan, the Gungahlin Lakes venue Manager has advised that they will be opening Spike Bar for use (as a space) ‘if there are enough Golfers around to make this a worthwhile exercise’. This comes with some provisos, as follows:

• the sale of Alcohol will be permitted, if accompanied by the sale of food,
• there can only be 20 people maximum in each space (including the Spike Bar).
• Beer will only be sold as bottled stock, there will be not draught beer,
• Hours of operation for the club will be 11.00am until 4.00pm (if there are enough people around). The Bar will stay open if there are sufficient people to cover costs,  
• Access to the Spike bar is only through main reception and the stairs. People in the Spike Bar won’t be able to access the pro-shop or the toilets on that level as the Club will be controlling door access, and
• The Duty Managers have been instructed to ensure the current social distancing restrictions are adhered to.

Open but not really yet…..  From next Friday at midnight venues will be allowed 100 people which should see a stronger return to ‘more normal’.

The Golf Club Committee met on Thursday night.  Watch out for the minutes which will be published in the next few days.

In relation to the use of carts by two people, this is a matter for Murray and the CEO Ainslie.  Talking with Murray he has chosen to stay with one in a cart for at least next week.  The Committee, was supportive of this decision.  It is likely that in the next couple of weeks Cart usage will return to normal.  Hang in there people who want to share a cart….soon.

Mandy, our wonderful coffee lady, will not be at the club this weekend and unless we can come to a more agreeable arrangement with the Ainslie Group (who now have opened their café), she may not be returning.  Our time with Mandy has been great but it needs to be worth her while (as a business owner) to come to us early each weekend morning.  More on this when we know where we are up to.

Play well….

Richard Oliver/President

Course Maintenance Update

Members would have recently noticed a considerable amount of work being undertaken by the greens staff as well as volunteers.  Removing dangerous and damaging trees throughout the course is a priority.  In our attempts to remove the dirt piles on the side of 1 and 9, we are identifying areas that present opportunities for future course improvements.  For instance, the area to the right of the 6^th tee is being shaped to open up the option of a future alternative tee – this is a medium to long term project.  There will be other areas where this dirt can be distributed around the course, in a way that can support future structural improvements.  We will keep members informed of further plans.

The back of the 4^th green is also under construction thanks to Dad’s Army. Thank you also to long time member Mark Porecca for his donation of his time, his bobcat and his truck.  In addition to being a source of frustration for many golfers, this garden bed was a high maintenance item, and has been removed with the view to having it as a section of rough.

Over the winter months, members will note that there will be extensive work to the water hazards around the course.  The newly purchased reach mower is already being utilised to trim to the water’s edge and neaten up the area without the use of herbicides, which can contribute to erosion around our waterways. 

Mark Hynes

Greens Chair

Handicap changes

A review of the handicap ranges has been undertaken by the Match Committee with the intention of achieving an equitable distribution of players across all handicap ranges.

As a result of the analysis the following changes will be made to the Men’s handicap ranges as of 30 May 2020.

The Ladies’ handicap on weekend will remain unchanged, and will now be used for weekday events.

The match committee will continue to monitor the distribution of players between grades and make changes if needed to help improve equity in our competitions.