With daylight savings about to arrive we will once again be running a Wednesday night nine hole Twilight competition throughout the summer months and is open to both members and visitors.

This year the competition starts on Wednesday October 7th, with players to hit off between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. The clubhouse will be open for drinks and a BBQ with snags and patties will be available for purchase afterwards. 

We will once again be running a competition for players with and without official Golflink handicaps. For members and visitors who do have Golflink handicaps you will be able to sign in to the computer and print out your card / enter your scores as per the normal Thursday and Saturday competition process and your scores will be handicapped each week. For those without official Golflink handicaps you can enter your name into the competition sheet as per past years.

There will be a $5 competition fee for members and a $10 fee covering 9 holes green fees and the competition fee for visitors. Prizes will vary based on numbers of players each week.

With the warmer weather drying out the course nicely motorised carts are now once again available to be used. As usual please phone the club if you wish to book a cart for use due to the limited numbers.

The greens will be cored and sanded on Monday 28th September 2015, during this time the course will be closed to all players. This process is a necessary part of looking after the greens and there are three main reasons it must be completed:

• Removal of thatch. This helps to stop the greens from becoming soft and spongy.
• Levelling the green. Coring and sanding helps to remove holes and damage that has occurred on the greens throughout the year.
• Aerating the green. This is vitally important as without doing this the greens will compact due to constant traffic, causing them to harden and potentially die.

Temporary Local Rule

With the greens cored there are a few areas where players may have their ball finish in an aeration hole when putting on the greens. As such the match committee have implemented a temporary local rule to provide relief from these situations. The local rule is stated below. Players should note that it is envisaged that this local rule will only be in place until the greens have recovered from the coring process which will only be a short period of 2 to 3 weeks.

CORE HOLES: On the putting green, a ball that comes to rest in an aeration hole may be placed at the nearest spot not nearer the hole that avoids the situation.

The committee has decided to make some alterations to the regular Thursday, Saturday and Weekly competitions, as the payouts and fees have not been reviewed or altered for a number of years.

The increase in field sizes over this time has resulted in a drop off on the payout amounts as a percentage of the field, as well as an often large number of ball winners. To try and ensure a fairer return from competition fees to players, increase the value and number of vouchers provided, decrease the number of ball winners and ensure sufficient funds are retained to cover trophies the following changes will be made, effective from 24th October 2015:

• The base competition fee will be increased to $6 for ALL competitions.
  
• There will be between 3 and 5 vouchers awarded per grade, depending on field size (4 based on our average field size).
  
• The top voucher prize will be between $20 & $35, depending on field size ($30 based on our average field size).
  
• The NTP prizes will increase to $15.
  

Voucher values will also change to altering in even $5 denominations, but as we still have a number of the old $22, $17 and $12 vouchers the grade prizes & NTPs will be at these reduced levels until the current vouchers are exhausted. Over this time grade sizes and handicap ranges will also be reviewed to try and ensure as even a number of players in each grade as possible.


Competition Vouchers

Unfortunately due to Adelaide Shores no longer renewing their sponsorship with us, competition vouchers won at the club will no longer be able to be used at Adelaide Shores Golf Shop. Whilst this means that competition vouchers will only be able to be spent at the club there are still many items available, from balls, tees and gloves to hats,beanies and a wide range of apparel, with or without club logo, just enquire at the bar. In the meantime the committee will be investigating other areas and ways in which members will be able to utilise their vouchers.

Although the weather may not have been too conducive to golf over the last few months there has still been a lot of activity at the club each Tuesday morning with the volunteers group meeting at 9:00 am to work on various projects. Members will notice the new gardening done around the paved area, tanks and clubhouse, the repainted clubhouse and tanks as well as the substantial trimming and clearing of bushes and branches around the front nine.

Over the coming months the group will continue with their regular jobs of weeding gardens, tidying tee blocks and clearing sticks and debris on the course but also have a few more major jobs planned. The 1st tee block and surrounding path and amenities will be altered and tidied up to make it more befitting of a 1st hole tee block. The paving from the clubhouse to the wash bay will be fixed and the wash bay area altered to make it simpler and easier to use this area and improve the drainage around it, whilst the 4th and 10th tee blocks will also be altered to tidy up the pathways and ensure the drainage around them is fixed.

All of these jobs require a lot of effort on behalf of the volunteers and the committee thanks them for their time and effort. If you can spare any time on a Tuesday morning there is always room for another helper. For more information contact Alan Horsfall on 0409 094 956 or email him at [email protected]. The volunteers meet most Tuesdays at 9:00 am.