Members
I thought it timely to update you on a number of issues. This update is a little longer than normal but please bear with this and read on.
Fairway renovations
In the next couple of weeks, Shane and his team will be preparing the fairways by scarifying them to remove thatch and using the verti-drain to prepare the surface for top-dressing. Of course, this is all weather dependent. Greens committee have identified a number of fairways which will be top-dressed by the contractors, and work will (hopefully) commence on Monday 7 September, after the course has dried out sufficiently for machinery to operate on the Fairways. Shane tells me that we are about to apply 240 tonnes of sand to the course. After top-dressing is completed, Shane and his team will be “drag matting” these fairways, and then adding seed. He will also be applying fertilizer to all of the fairways over the coming weeks, when the time is right.
While these processes occur and until the surfaces ‘come good’, the current local rules will remain in place.
Honour Board events update
As is the case with a number of the other clubs in the city, we have decided to cancel our Gungahlin Lakes Men’s and Women’s Open events this year. The Men’s event was scheduled for 19 and 20 September with the Women’s scheduled to be played on 24 September. We are still heavily impacted by the COVID 19 restrictions and know that many who might normally have traveled to play in the events are reluctant to do so this year.
At present the Walking Clinic Spring Classic scheduled for 3,4 and 5 October is planned to be held but, this will be confirmed in the coming days. Murray is in the process of discussing the arrangements with the Walking Clinic, as the current sponsor.
Our Club Championships are scheduled for the weekends of 10/11 and 17/18 October and we are looking forward to the course being in good shape, for this our premier Honour Board event.
One upside to the cancellation of the Opens, as unfortunate as it is, is that we will be able to put more time into the repair of the course before the championships, a small plus.
Membership fees for the 2020/21 golfing year
We have been working with Ainslie to agree the fee arrangements for the 2020/21 golfing year. Below I have summarised the arrangements for the golfing year which begins on 1 October 2020. This information is provided for your advance planning and for you to use in thinking about which membership category is best for you and members of your family who might like to join the Golf Club.
In thinking about the arrangements for the coming year, we were keen to simplify the administrative arrangement for both members and the Ainslie Group. We have negotiated a flat increase of $60 across all membership groups except for the Intermediate, 9-Hole and Junior categories where a $30 increase has been applied,
There is no change to the water levy for this year which will remain at $80. The water levy will remain as an additional payment to the membership fee and assists Ainslie with the payment of the Water Extraction Fee charged by the ACT Government.
We have also negotiated that the ‘Elder discount’ continues to apply to members with 20 years of continuous membership and are 60 years and older. Unfortunately, the discount will not apply to those who choose to pay by direct debit. Further information on the application of the discounts/points rebate is included in your membership letter which you will receive in the next couple of weeks.
The membership fees have been agreed as follows:
|
Category
|
PREVIOUS Annual Fee 2019/2020
|
Increase 2020/2021
|
Proposed Fee 2020/2021
|
Water Levy
|
|
Full Adult
|
$1,320
|
$60
|
$1,380
|
$80
|
|
6 Day Adult
|
$1,155
|
$60
|
$1,215
|
$80
|
|
Weekday Adult
|
$985
|
$60
|
$1,045
|
$80
|
|
Intermediate
|
$625
|
$30
|
$655
|
$80
|
|
Junior
|
$205
|
$0
|
$205
|
$80
|
|
9 Hole
|
$580
|
$30
|
$640
|
$80
|
|
Lifestyle
|
$790
|
$60
|
$850
|
$80
|
If you are not eligible for the ‘Elder discount’ but pay in full on or prior to 30 September 2020 your Ainslie card will be credited with 2,000 points. More detail on the application of points can be found in your membership letter which will come to you soon, as noted above. The letter will come to you via email (if we have a current email address for you) or via the post if we don’t have an email address for you.
Remember there is also a ‘Family’ membership sub-category where the following applies: For each full-fee paying adult (7, 6 and 5-day membership categories), the Family membership category will allow one dependent who would qualify under the Junior category requirements to such membership free of charge. For any additional dependents who would also be in the Junior category the membership payment will be discounted by 50%. If there are two full-fee paying parents/adults in the family, then this would entitle two free Junior memberships and any subsequent Junior members at 50%. Please note – the water levy is still payable for all members of the family.
The club’s Membership Officer (Judy O’Connor) will allocate the amount of any applicable discount direct to the member’s account at the time of processing their renewal. This will avoid any unnecessary delays. Members need to remember that the discount/points rebate will only apply if you pay your full membership amount by the COB on 30 September.
Our Golf Manager has a list of the members we have identified as being eligible for the ‘Elder’ discount. If you are unsure of whether you should be receiving the discount/points rebate, send Tim Payne, our Golf Manager, an email and he will check against the list for you. His email is Gungahlinlakes@gmail.com. If you have other membership related queries please email Judy at judy.oconnor@ainsliegroup.com.au to seek clarification.
As noted earlier in this update, the Club will be contacting you in the next couple of weeks with an invoice for your membership fees. I also plan to post a copy of my letter to members on the website providing additional access to the information. Please watch for this.
Enough for now……
Hope you are all travelling well at this challenging time.
Regards
Richard Oliver/President.