Captain's Corner
Club Report


Good morning golfers
 
Congratulations to Fiona Kearns on becoming a life member at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday.
 
Fiona has been a club stalwart from almost the beginning and has given a good 25 years service to the club as a member of the committee, Women's Club Captain as well as being Club Captain for two years.  Through all of this service she has maintained a top handicap and repreented the club well when the occasions demanded.  Her award of life membership is richly deserved.
 
Also a big thank you to Jono Wake who has retired from the committee after a long period of service.  Jono was made a life member a couple of years ago in recognition of his leadership of the club during a difficult period which saw him taking on the role of unpaid club manager.  To this day he continues to give volunteer service around some of the technical stuff to do with our water consents and he will be found with clippers clearing growth away from some of our paths. 
 
The other person to leave the committee after four years as treasurer is Marcus Henry.  He will be missed.  He was the typical "Minister of Finance", a Mr No unless the case was made out.  Every committee needs one of these people as it is more than tempting to run through the cash as it arrives instead of being mindful of the need to manage cash over the full period of the year in question.  Thank you to Marcus for his efforts too.
 
New Committee Members are Graeme Couper and Terry McAlister.
 
Terry will be taking over the Treasurers position and will get the benefit of three months orientation from Marcus.  Graeme will bring fresh ideas to the table and I am sure will make a strong contribution to club governance.
 
And, Congratulations to Denise Marten who was elected as Women's Club Captain. I have no doubt she will do a wonderful job for our members.
 
1. The Weather Wins Again
 
Sunday was a washout although a few hardy players braved the conditions including Steve Witkowski who shot a personal best 76 in the conditions.
 
On Saturday the course was busy and at the conclusion of the AGM the Christmas Cheer golf attracted 21 golfers who remained behind with the winner on the day being Ossie Santos with 41points followed by President Mike Suggate (36) and retiring Treasurer Marcus Henry (35).
 
Shootout on Sunday was cancelled (again) and will have a third attempt this coming Sunday 17 December at 8am.  Front nine will be closed for the shootout with club golf teeing off the back nine.  All the "horses" have been notified.
 
2. Lifetime Membership Appeal
 
The fourteen day period to take advantage of this offer is now expired and I am delighted to say that six of our members took the offer.  Consequently sufficient funds exist to purchase the new rough mower and the drainage can now be done over the summer period.
 
The new rough mower will be on site by mid week.
 
This will be a great boost for the green staff as our terrain is much more challenging than many other courses in the region.
 
A big thank you to those who were able to help the club out on this occasion.
 
3. Course News
 
TK has been spraying the Toad Rush on the practice green and the results have been successful.  A second application will likely resolve the problem and this will then be extended to areas of the course in need of attention.
 
The second tee is being returfed and the former Blue tee on the 16th is being returfed also.  Keep an eye out for progress on these two sites. 
 
The rough mower has been repaired (again) and mowing started again on Friday.  The rough will get attention all this week and with the new mower becoming available later in the week good progress on the playing surface will be made.
 
Work continues on renovating the greens and there is a good coverage of grass.  Improvements here will be evident.
 
We will be getting a contractor in to sort out the practice fairway which has got away from us.  The grass will be cut back to a level where we are able to manage this in the future. 
 
TK wants to acknowledge and thank all the volunteers recently who have helped out.  Your efforts have been most appreciated.
 
Members will have noted that a number of trees on the course are dead or dying.  The course committee will be having a discussion about next steps but work needs to be done for reasons of safety as soon as possible.  More on this as it comes to hand.
 
4. Current Events
 
The first round of the Miner Arms (Four Ball Better Ball Stableford) needs to be played by the end of December.
 
The Summer Eclectic is up and running.
 
The Inter Club Challenge is also running and will continue until 20 February 2024.  Inter Club Players and Prospective Players are asked to use this field when they print a card to give us an idea of form.
 
The Women have an 18 hole Summer Eclectic, a 9 hole Summer Eclectic, and their Summer Cup is under way at present.
 
All the above competitions are ongoing through the holiday season so there is plenty to keep you interested ahead of the start of 2024.
 
5. 2024 Calendar
 
This is being completed and will be posted on the booking sheets prior to Christmas. 
 
Adrian Porter, Denise Marten and I are working this through at the moment.
 
6. Longest Day
 
Adrian Porter, Scott McHardy, Jon Lyall and Seth Campbell have registered for the longest day.  There is still time for others to do so too. This tees off very early on Saturday mornine 16 December.
 
It is a fundraiser for the Cancer Society and here are the links to Adrian and Scott's fundraising pages:

Adrian Porter -  https://longestday.org.nz/adrian-porter      

Scott McHardy -  https://longestday.org.nz/scott-mc-hardy

Lets all give them as much support as we can for this worthy cause.

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7. Wednesday Competition and Twilight
 
Wednesday Competition tees off on Wednesday morning at 10.30am (be at the clubhouse by 10.15am for the disc draw). 
$5 pays the entry fee and buys a raffle.  Come alone, everyone is welcome.
 
Thursday Twilight
 
A couple of weeks left this year before the Holiday break.
 
Get along if you can for this fun event.  Everyone welcome.
 
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That's all for this week.
Make the most of teh good weather  and enjoy your golf.
Catch you next week for the last Captain's Corner of the year.
 
Mark Peck
Club Captain
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