Welcome to the February newsletter. We are fortunate that we have averted any damage caused by the bush fires. I hope that any member living in areas affected have not sustained any damage or loss of property or livestock. A proposal has been received that we arrange a golf day as a fundraiser for the various bush fire appeals and as a thank you to all the volunteers and fire fighters The match committee and board are currently investigating this proposal.
January brought to the course much needed water. We have survived a very hot and dry period with no major damage to the course. The tee and greens are in excellent condition and the fairways are coming back to life.
February marks the introduction of the new World Handicapping System (WHS). As such all slope ratings for all courses will change by the 31 January. In most cases they will be higher than the current ones. This will effect members in that their handicaps may increase depending on the course they play.
As from 31 January Gosford Golf club will have four course options.
Black Course (Old Blue Course)
White Course
Red Course
Green Course
The match committee will decide which course is in play according to the daily event.
Members will note that new slope ratings for men and women are already on the Golflink website.
As from 3 February, new hole ratings will be in place. This data will be entered into MiClub and members will note the changes when they play their next competition game after this date.
Gosford Golf Club has applied to Golf NSW to have all our courses re-rated. These ratings will be introduced on 30th January. From this date we will have men’s and women’s ratings for the following courses:
Black (old Blue Course)
White (existing course)
Red (existing)
Green (old Black course)
Those members playing the green course will have the same restrictions as in the past. You must be over the age of 70 with a handicap of 32 or more. Those members over the age of 80 can play the black course regardless of handicap.
The Men’s Pennant teams have been selected for 2020. I congratulate all players and wish them every success in the competition.
A Grade
Matt Carroll, Duncan Brown, Nathan James, Tony Van Van Der Kolk, Tony Cosentino, Shane Liedich, Paul Jefferson, Brad Seabrook, Mitch Coombes, Kyle Thacker
B Grade
Brian Rand, James Leonard, John Oakey, George Lee, Keith Potter, Steve Thompson, Scott Pilarski, Alex Palasty, Paul Scholberg
C Grade
Wayne Sneade, Flynn Cho, Cameron Dench, Michael Bacigalupo, David James, Clive Brand,
David Wilson, Guy Mackay
Work is progressing around the course and the proposed work for the 13th dam and surrounding areas will commence shortly. Members will note that the tree removal programme is continuing where dangerous or dead trees are being removed.
All this work is subject to funds and the board is endeavouring to allocate funds to have this work completed. Members will be slightly inconvenienced by this work and I trust they all will be understanding.
It has been brought to my attention that the practise of “Gimmies” is still occurring during competitions. I will remind members that this practise is completely against the rules of golf and is paramount to cheating. Any group of players or individuals found or reported by members will immediately be disqualified from the competition and will be required to appear before the Executive Committee of the Board. Their playing rights will also be suspended until their fate is decided by the Board.
When on the course members are reminded of the following:
All Social play is off the yellow markers. Members please do not practice off the plates or the blue, white or red teeing areas.
When practising please remember to take a sand bucket and fill your divots.
Please repair all divots on the greens
Please rake the bunkers and leave the rakes in the middle of the bunkers
Please keep up with the group in front
Please stick to the ready golf principles
Please do not drive carts in areas where they are prohibited. Please stay on the designated paths and outside the blue lines.
Graham Chee Mens Captain
Ladies Captain’s Report
The Summer Competition has come to an end and Opening Day on February 4th marks the start of the 2020 golfing year. Thanks as always to Di Beechey for running the ladies golf over December and January.
The biggest change in 2020 is the introduction of the New World handicapping system which comes into effect in Australia on January 30th. This will mean that your handicap can be used anywhere in the world and comparisons will be fairer. They want to make it standard across all courses to have 36 points to play to your handicap. Australia has already adopted most of the changes, including the slope system and the GA and daily handicaps. Fortunately, the computer software will work it all out.
The timesheet for Opening Day on the 4th of February has been open for a while and we look forward to welcoming both new and existing members back to golf. The event is a 3BBB V Par with a shotgun start at 7.30. A light lunch will be served afterwards. The committee will be collecting Continuous Competition, Veterans fees and entry to the Top Ten Shootout. Liz and I will share some important information about the golfing year ahead.
After comments at the AGM and an analysis of Tuesday’s results for most of last year, it was established that the average number per day was 56 players, with the breakdown as follows:
o Div I 13
o Div II 29
o Div III 14
Given these numbers we have made a decision to play in 2 divisions on a Tuesday.
The handicap cut offs will be:
o Div I 0 – 23. 7 (GA) 0 -26
o Div II 23.8 – 45.4 (GA) 27-45
This equates to an average of 30 players in each division. We hope to present 3 trophies in each of the 2 divisions every week, bearing in mind that as far as possible 3rd place will not be less than $20. If there are over 80 players we will play in 3 divisions.
Stroke & medal rounds will still be played in 3 divisions but will be played in groups of 4.
TheOPTIONALDouble par will apply to all medal & stroke rounds besides Club Championships and the Gosford Bowl. Tuesday eclectics will still be divided into 3 divisions, so this will not change the trophy allocation at the end of the year.
The Pennant season begins a little earlier this year on the 16th of March and ends on the 25th of May. Sharon & I have invited a number of players to consider making themselves available, thanks to those who have replied. The Match committee will choose the team every week and Sharon Anderson will be captaining the team.
Upcoming Events
4th February Opening Day
11th February Ladies 9-hole competition
17th February CCWGA Opening Day at Gosford
20st February VW Ladies Scramble at Gosford.
17th March Dice Day (a change from Joker Day)
12th May Open Day
Happy golfing in 2020
Sheena Asken Ladies Captain
F-Troop Report
In January we had some wild winds, very hot days and a good drop of rain to help refill the dams for some summer relief.
Our volunteer numbers were really good for this month averaging 12-13 starters each week.
Our main projects this month were course clean up and tree maintenance, firewood preparation and hedge maintenance and clean up of weeds in the dams. The high winds have brought down some very large branches and being a very hot month we have had to do a lot of watering.
Major mulching of gardens in preparation for the summer months are ongoing tasks as is watering and weeding of the gardens.
Repairs were done to the support wall on the 7th tee.
There is also ongoing maintenance of trees, maintenance to shrubs, hedge maintenance, clean up of the paths and gardens around the clubhouse, wedding garden and practice nets and BBQ area, cleaning of the bush toilets, clean up of the drain on the 6th, maintenance to the clubhouse when required, plumbing and hose repairs on the course.
If you have some free time on Monday mornings and you would like to contribute to our projects, please contact Peter or Jan Martin. We generally work from 7.00 am until 10.30am with morning tea supplied by the club about 10.15 to 10.30 am. We are currently averaging 12/13 volunteers each week which is a big help towards speedy completion of our projects.
Contacts:
Peter Martin 0437 325 207
Jan Martin 0400 430-088
Superintendent’s Report
Well in the last newsletter we were talking about the record hot dry conditions we were experiencing.
During January we had just over 100mm of rain, 40�° days and high humidity and even a mini cyclone, the exact conditions a Golf Course Superintendent does NOT want. Add to that, on one of those 40�° days, due to a power black out we could not water our greens. So, all that said I think the course is performing well.
The rough will now grow out of control until the end of summer. We will have 2 mowers out cutting most of the time and guys staying back a few hours a day to try and keep up with this growth.
Elsewhere around the course we have been busy finishing the bunker on the 11th green, which is now in play. We have removed a lot of tree roots from the 9th and 13th tees. We have also installed another bank of sprinklers on the 18th fairway.
Dave Nicholls
Course Superintendant
News From the Pro Shop
Kieran, Tom, Jake, Mitch, Dylan & Michelle welcome you all to another great month of playing golf!
Please familiarise yourself with the white board outside the Pro Shop as we post announcements on there.
We’ve also added items to the sales racks outside as we need to clear out some of our stock to make room for new items.
Upon entering the pro shop, you will see the $10 bargain barrel which mostly has caps, gloves and even grips. There are always great deals in here, often well below cost price, but items do not last long in here, so don’t miss out on a steal!
We’ve also got Callaway, Cleveland, Ping, Titleist & Wilson irons & Wedges. ALL DISCOUNTED!!
SHOE SALE!
Our massive shoe sale is OFFICIALLY on!
UA Shoes $159 now $129
FJ Ladies Leisure $169 now $89
FJ Dry Joy $279 now $199
Callaway $149 now $119
ECCO Biom Hybrid $259 now $179
ECCO Ladies Biom $ 279 now $179
VOLKSWAGEN SCRAMBLE
Our Mixed Scramble is scheduled for Friday 7th February
We will be having a Titleist Ball Fitting Day on 22nd February.
You do not need to book, just turn up between 8am – 12pm.
Ladies Rookies Program
Our next Rookies Program is scheduled to start in March. This will be run on Thursdays. Cost is $300 which includes 4 weeks of coaching, plus a 1 year social membership subscription. It is a great way for new ladies to get into the game and make some friends at the same time!
If you know of anyone that would be interested, please ask them to book through the Pro Shop.
