Dear fellow members it’s your club captain again.

In my initial February report, I commented we had much on our agenda including several club events all compressed over a short period. I provide the following overview, in reverse order :

Club Championships for all grades have been played - congratulations to the qualifiers and especially the winners.
The results

• New Club Champion is Ben Slack - Nathan Separovich runner up
• B Grade title goes to Pat Murphy - Paul Head runner up
• C Grade winner was David Kerner - Kym Wenham runner up
• D Grade – saw Eric March winning on the 27th and last hole over John Thomas. This was the Titanic battle, with excellent use of a combined 160 years of sporting achievement brought to bear.

To those who did not make the finals, believe me I understand – I’d like to say “remember it’s only a game”, although it only took me a few months to get over my last loss.  

Some members have suggested that 5 weeks for the Club Champs is to long (obviously they don’t play like me as its often over in 2 weeks). As a matter of information, we are thinking of trialling our old model next year. This will entail playing an extra qualifying round and your top 2 scores will be adopted to establish qualification. The advantage is you can miss one week and still make the finals – Please send me your thoughts in the feedback section.
 
Our combined Open Day and Men’s presentation day was conducted on the 2nd April
We had a total of 76 attend (Covid got a few) and have had only positive feedback on the day. However, on self-analysis I thought the Raffle and presentation process got a bit drawn out - my VC Randy and I have contemplated a few changes for next year to resolve this. Thanks to Creagh, Randy, Ben, Pam Robyn, Ester and Ray who helped on the day. Next Year it will be on the first of April 2023 so put it in your diary now.

Autumn Classic
This milestone club event was well attended with 40 people from other clubs and 92 overall. You can read my full report below on the 15/3/2022. Feedback was great - one suggestion in particular around the timing of the event has been taken on board. Next year the event is likely to occur 2 weeks earlier to the 4th of March 2023

Send me your thoughts on the feedback line below. Remember the only bad Idea is the one you don’t tell anyone about.

New members bag tags
The new format is now available (I hope you like them)- please display at all times on your bag. I found these a few months ago and felt we could move on from the cow tags.

Club Grades and Multi Tee System   
We have been encouraged by Golf Australia to move to a multi tee system. Adopting this system will see your grade on Saturdays set by your GA Handicap (not your daily handicap). There are several advantages one being it will tend to stabilise the number of people in each grade. The new grades are A 0-14 B 14.1-20 C 20.1-27 D 27.1 -45

We tried these new grades for the first time on Saturday the 14th of May and notwithstanding a lack of feedback all appeared to go well.

Yellow tee blocks have been appearing around the course slightly ahead of the red markers - these are actually where the reds where when the course was professionally set up in 1992. This will mean once we adopt the multi tee block option system we will have clearly defined tee positions to play a long, medium or short course.
 
Well, that’s all I’ve got for now, see you at our club

Robert Eibisch
0498 193 054   ( turned off work Thursday 8-1 or Saturday 10-5 )
Club Captain EGC

Remember       “We go to golf to have fun”
 
 
 
 

Thanks to the 76 keen members who attended this event, the start of our golf year for 2022-23.

To those that could not attend due to COVID - my thoughts are with you as I am now on  day 4 of my backyard isolation.

The day went well, the weather was great and some pretty good golf was played, at least by some. Days like these require quite a bit of volunteer support and I would particularly like to thank my band of helpers Creagh Bedson for getting us started handing out cards, Pam Grey & Robyn Eibisch for staffing the BBQ, Randy doing the results , Ben for organising lunch and Esther for taking the photographs.

After most activities I like to sit down and review the activity for future improvements. I have only positive feedback about doing the trophy presentation on the day however I thought it did go a bit too long, so next year we will make some changes to try and speed things up a bit.

I am always open to suggestions for improvement, so if you have any ideas please comment below and I will work through them. Remember, the only bad idea is a good one you don't tell anyone about.

So, now its time to sharpen your game ready for the club championships. Good luck to all players.

Well, what a perfect day at Royal Echunga.

The sun was shining and the course was in excellent condition, well done ground staff. 

We had 92 players including 40 visitors from 6 other clubs, a great show case for our club.

As you know a lot of work goes into these events I would like to thank my team of helpers, Steve Nailer, Ester Burt, Mike Clark, also Ben and his group who did a great job.

Last but not least is our Vice Captain Randy Jones who did a lot of background work. AND he won the day with 72 of the stick. The full results will be on the web shortly.
  
Please Remember the next event is on Saturday the 2nd of April Ambrose teeing off at 8.30

​We will have a great lunch and presentation day for the 2021 season.
Rob
Captain EGC

On Monday 7th March Echunga golf club ran its inaugural Seniors Classic golf day.

​We had 38 players attend on a great day for golf. The comp was organized by Ben. The MC on the day was Mark Davidson.

All players appreciated the set up of the day, lunch was excellently provided and enjoyed by all.  Special thanks to Eric March and the prize wheel, which delighted all in attendance.

Feedback  on the day was very positive and it is generally felt that this event combined with the Women's Open Day is a great addition to the  Autumn Classic and that these three events  showcase our fantastic club and course.

​Dear fellow members, after 45 years as a member and 10 on the committee (6 as president) the opportunity for me to be Club Captain presented itself.

You are probably aware Heather Guy is stepping back from her role as bar supervisor and after 2 rounds of advertisements in search of a replacement and many interviews Ben Slack (now our former Club Captain), was chosen. I am sure you would join me as I take this opportunity to personally thank Heather for her efforts over the many years and wish Ben all the best in his new role at the club.

So, why did I put my hand up to be Captain? The answer is simple - there is a lot happening over the next few months and the role needed to be filled as soon as possible to ensure a smooth transition. It is also an honour to take up the role. Please remember in October we have committee elections, so if you feel you have the time and the passion to be Captain, please put your hand up - you will not hurt my feelings.

If you have a Captain related query (e.g. a ruling etc.) I am available for you. However, may I point out as a volunteer and avid golfer it would be preferable you don’t ask for my help while I am playing golf unless the matter is urgent - there is little I can do halfway through a round anyway. Please feel free to call me during the week my contact details are 0498 193 054 or Eibischr@Gmail.com. If you need to discuss an issue after your round I will be pleased to help – it may be advisable to ask how I went on my round first - if I say great then you will have my ear - if I respond in a negative manner, please give me 2 minutes to throw my clubs in the car or dam and then I will be happy to assist as best I can.

There is a lot coming up. I completed the program for 2022 to 2023 with Randy my amazing Vice Captain and that is now on the web site. We have tried to keep everything the same as we have all had enough change over the past few years. A few points to consider • Club Champs will be held in April starting in the second week this will have one interruption each year due to easter. • Stroke rounds on Saturdays will be played on the first week of each month where ever possible and on the 3rd week on Thursdays. • Open day will be the first week of April 2022 this will also be our presentation day for all events held in 2021 season, I will have a list of those who won published in advance so please turn up if you won. • Ham & Turkey Day is always good fun so we have decided to run an additional one for all members on Thursday the 8th of December in the lead up to the actual Saturday event which will also be the day we acknowledge and thank our staff and volunteer group. •

After the club champs this year, we are looking to trial a new system of play where you will be able to select the Tee you play from. Simply put - you will be given a choice to play off the blue, white or red markers on a given day – the handicapping system will adjust accordingly. This system may cause some issues with grades etc but we will work through those aspects. Watch out for this change.

One problem that plagues every Captain is the last-minute call of personal issues and how it affects the following days round or worse a championship. To help advise me I have set up a Rules committee comprising Randy Jones, Mike Haslett and myself. Between us we have an average handicap of 7 (as you know I have most of it) - this group, using the rules of golf, will use its best endeavors to arrive at fair and correct out comes. Please understand some matters can be sensitive hence the more time we have the better.

Anyway, I have babbled on enough of this month. I will try and keep this blog current so that members are kept informed as much as possible.

​AND Remember we come to golf to have fun