News Archive

Visitor Fee change for Tuesday OPEN comps

The club has made the following change to the visitors fees for the Tuesday OPEN competitions.

POLICY for Visitors playing in the Tuesday OPEN competition

From June 2020

All visitors will be categorised as either:

Active Visitor: $12 competition fee only.

• Is a member of a golf course in Australia and has a GolfLink Handicap
• Has played at least 1 competition round at their home course during the preceding 60 days (as per GolfLink)

Or

Non-Active Visitor $41 Green Fee ($29) and additional Comp Fee ($12)

(this includes playing as a member’s guest in the Tuesday competition

• Is a member of a golf Club in Australia (this includes virtual clubs)
• Has a GolflInk Handicap
• Has not played at their Home course during the preceding 60 days.

Perfect time to Join Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club!

PROMOTION:

“Join Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club and the Joining Fee ($200) is waived”

5 Day membership JUNE – 30^th SEPTEMBER NOW $408

5 Day membership JULY – 30th SEPTEMBER NOW $326

5 Day membership AUGUST – 30th SEPTEMBER NOW $244

CLICK here for Membership information

Members Update – 25 May 20

All Members

Again, a very short update this week.  

As flagged in my last update, the course will return to 7-day operation next Monday (1 June).  As is the norm on public holidays, Pro-shop competitions will be run on the next two Mondays (Reconciliation Day and the Queen’s Birthday).  As we are back to four off the tee, there is plenty of golf to be played over the coming weeks.  Remember, we will still be running competitions on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and on both weekend days.  

There is nothing further from the CEO Ainslie on when the AFSC will reopen. Simon remains of the view that will be somewhere between late June to mid-July and will be dependent on how the public transitions out of stages 1 and 2 of the three stages the Prime Minister recently outlined.  As soon as there is new information, he will let us know and I will pass this information on to members.

Can I remind all players to continue to adhere strictly to our social distancing measures.  As we return to full operation (from a golf perspective), it is absolutely essential that the measures we currently have in place are adhered to.  Also, if you see someone else not doing the ‘right’ thing then gently remind them of the importance of adhering to the measures.

As noted in the outcomes from the recent Committee meeting, the removal of the Administration/Joining fee for new members was agreed to by CEO Ainslie.  This initiative has now taken effect and will remain in place until December of this year.  If you have friends considering joining a club or simply wanting to play more regular golf, now is the time to join Gungahlin Lakes….no extra fee and prorated membership rates for all categories except the Lifestyle makes joining the club very cost attractive at the present.  Tell your non-member friends about how good a place we are to play golf. 

All the best and play well.  

Richard Oliver/President

Summary of the outcomes from the Golf Club Committee meeting held on 14 May 20

Below is a summary of the issues discussed and outcomes from the meeting on 14 May.

Reports form members of the Executive were tabled and taken as read.

A range of papers were tabled and discussed with the following outcomes:

• The application of an Administration/Joining fee that applies to new members to the club was discussed. Currently other clubs in the region have taken decisions to not apply this type of fee for a period of time.  The Committee agree that this was a sensible strategy in the context of trying to expand our membership base and remain competitive in a tight golfing market.  CEO Ainslie has agreed that the fee will be removed for a period of six months and will add this to the current radio advertisements.
• Tuesday Competitions – The Committee discussed whether or not there should be some priority given to Gungahlin Lakes members. Committee agreed in-principle that a way of giving priority to members should be explored with Murray.  A discussion will be held with Murray to how this might be best implemented.  Gungahlin Lakes members should watch for slots on the time sheets that may be reserved for our members.
• 25-year History Project – The Club’s 25^th birthday is on 6 July 2021. The Committee agreed to formally support the development of a short document presenting the first 25 years of the Clubs existence and operation.  A small team will come together and start the work required. If members have information or photos, they think might be suitable to include, please talk to Norm Loughton.
• Competition fees for Club run competitions – The Committee has agreed to lift the price of Club run competitions from $10 to $12 from when the Committee assumes responsibility for running the weekend competitions. This will mean that both the Pro-comps and Club-comps will be similarly priced at $12. Members should be aware that this remains cheaper than the competitions run by all (we think) other clubs, most of whom are priced at $14.
• Handicap ranges – The current handicap ranges were discussed with the Committee agreeing to a very slight adjustment to the handicap range to ensure that the Grades/Divisions are appropriately balanced. More information on these will be provided to members from the Captains and Vice-Captain in the near future via the Website and the Club’s Facebook page.
• Website redesign – The existing Website was discussed with the aim of improving its usability and content. A sub-group has been formed which will take the lead in undertaking this work.  The aim of this project to provide members with a Website that is more intuitive, content accurate, and better linked to the other Website operated by the Ainslie Group and Murray, the Club’s professional. 
• Funding for the further repair of the Course – Funding for the further rectification work on the remaining six fairways (yet to be sanded) was discussed. We will further discuss with the CEO Ainslie.  Our aim is to be bring the course back to its previous high quality by sanding the remaining six fairways and put a very lighting dusting of sand on the other fairways. Agreement to the necessary funding will be for a discussion between Ainslie and the Committee.

For your information.

Richard Oliver/President

Members Update – 18 May 20

All Members 

Just a short update this week. 

CEO Ainslie considers it unlikely that the social club will be in a position to reopen its facilities until stage 3 (you will have heard about the 3-stage process for returning to ‘normal’ life, whatever that now means. He noted that the ACT government has not placed a particular date on this however, he thought this will be somewhere between late June to mid-July and will be dependent on how the public transitions out of stage 1 and 2. He talked about Ainslie working through a range of scenarios to determine viability at each incremental stage, should the government expand gatherings to say 50+ before stage 3. 

On a positive note he thinks it is likely that we will be able to return to 7-days open as of Monday 1^st of June.

Stay well.

Richard Oliver/President

Advice to Members – 13 May 20….good news

All Members 

This afternoon our District Golf Association participated in a web meeting with ACT Sport & Recreation following announcements by the Chief Minister and Minister for Sport that a gradual easing of restrictions to allow for the phased resumption of sport within the ACT have been approved.

The easing restrictions in the ACT comes into effect as at midnight on Friday 15 May 2020.

For golf within the ACT, this means that clubs may return to four-person golf once they are be satisfied that they have put in place arrangements to ensure their compliance with the ACT Government’s requirements.

The following are key principles that underpin the easing of restrictions:

• The continuing need for all participants to adhere to social/physical distancing requirements remains paramount.
• The current guidance in accordance with the AIS guidance is Get In-Train/Play-Get Out.  In other words, attend in time to play-play-do not linger at the venue.
• The 10-person maximum gathering restriction is a strict requirement and does not extend to social gatherings after play.
• There is to be no physical contact between participants (no handshakes, continue to mark your own cards to avoid contact and use the hand sanitisers as provided etc)
• Persons who are unwell must not attend or participate in the sport.
• The ACT Government expects that clubs develop and implement a “Return to Play in a COVID-safe Environment” framework that is consistent with ACT Government guidelines, Public Health Directions and considers the recommendations outlined in the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment. This framework will guide the “operational” delivery of social sport and how participants, staff, volunteers and spectators all engage within this.  This framework should be publicly available to members and staff, and should be regularly reviewed by club management.
• Clubs are responsible to ensure they comply with extant directions.

The ACT Government Fact Sheet concerning the return to social sport and recreation is available here:  https://www.sport.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1547273/Sport-and-Rec-Return-FAQ-13-May-2020.pdf

The temporary rule changes approved by Golf Australia, including other measures associated with marking of cards, flag sticks, rakes etc remain in place until changed by Golf Australia.

This is welcome and good news for golfers in the ACT.

The key message the ACT Government has stressed is we all need to do this right to ensure we protect our members and our community.

What does this mean for us?

Saturdays and Sundays time-sheets have been modified to allow for groups of four.

Due to the changes we have had to delete all members bookings to allow for the modification of the time-sheets. The new time-sheets will open at 7pm Thursday night for this Saturday 16 May) and time-sheets will open at 7pm Friday for this Sunday (17 May).

All members booked for these days should receive an email notifying them of the changes.  It is important that these folks note, they will need to rebook their times.

We will be running a one-tee start for this weekend. Next weekend we are hoping to revert to normal bookings of a two-tee start on Saturdays and one tee start on Sundays.  Please note that this need to be confirmed with the CEO Ainslie and the Course Superintendent, as there are staffing implications in these changes. I do not expect there to be any issues on the part of the Ainslie Group.

For mid-week games, booking arrangements will revert to normal including four-person tee-offs.

All booking restrictions will now be lifted.

Your Committee thanks all members for their patience during these tough and changing times.

Let’s go golfing….

Richard Oliver/President