Oatlands Enews – Friday 25th March 2022
Content
This week’s Enews covers the following topics:
- 2022-23 Membership Renewal – Correction to article in 18th March Enews
- From the Course
- April Course Renovation / Course Closure
- Captain’s Corner
- Porte Cochere Rubber Path Repair
- 2022 Golfing Programme
- Pennant Update
- Upcoming Trophy Events
- Recent Trophy Winners
- Upcoming Events
2022-23 Membership Renewal – Correction to article in 18th March Enews
Please see the correction to the article posted in the Enews dated 18th March 2022 in RED in the copy below:
Members are reminded that the Club’s 2022-23 Membership renewal is due by 31st March 2022.
Each year, Golf Club’s see an inevitable number of membership resignations for a range of reasons. While we never like to see members leave the Club, we wish any resigning member well for their future endeavours. Resignations from Club membership to date has been well below the historical average for this time over the last 10 years. For each resignation received, the Club has been able to offer a new membership to someone on the waitlist with their membership to commence 1st April 2022. At the time of writing, we still have over 30 new applicants on the waitlist and are set to start our new membership year in the strongest membership position for almost two decades.
With a little under two weeks until the end of the 2021-22 membership year, members who pay their subscription in full each year, are reminded that fees can be paid online, Monday – Friday via the Clubhouse Reception, or through the Pro Shop on weekends. Members who pay by the month do not need to do anything unless you are planning on changing membership category or resigning.
As of 1st April 2022, any member who is unfinancial will be placed on hold (for up to 30 days) pending payment of the annual subscription or notification to resign.
As of 1st May, unfinancial members will be given 15 days notice to renew, at which time their membership will be resigned to facilitate membership for those on the waiting list.
If members have any questions relating to membership, please direct them to the Club’s Reception.
We are all looking forward to a 2022-23 membership year with far less disruption to the Club operations as a result of Covid restrictions and extreme weather events (fingers and toes crossed)!
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 55.0mm, Rainfall for 2022: 894.0mm Dam: 100% Green Speed: 9 feet
Like most courses in Sydney that are clay based, our course remains very wet in areas, with light showers of rain changing the surface conditions very quickly. Last Saturday morning was a very good example of this. When staff arrived for work at 5am, we had received 19mm of rain overnight. As we started our work, there was a constant light drizzle all morning, but the course and greens were handling this, but the use of carts had been cancelled for the day. Just before 7am, as the first group of the day was teeing off, the rain became heavier and within a 5 minute window, the course was flooded, and greens were underwater! The Pro Shop staff had to call the first group back as the course had to be closed for the day, which subsequently extended into Sunday, as areas of the course hadn’t dried out enough and damage would’ve resulted from play.
Staff have been able to cut all areas of the course this week, using caution to avoid damage to playing surfaces. They also made the most of some finer weather earlier in the week to spray tee complexes for kikuyu weeds in these couch areas, and kikuyu weeds in our Zoysia bunker surrounds. All tree bases throughout the course have also been trimmed this week.
The front bunker at the 15th green has returned to play this week after a recent irrigation repair behind the fabric lining in the face of this bunker. New fabric on this face has been installed and pinned down, and then covered back over with sand. Work on the last bunker at the 16th green started this week but has been interrupted with the wet weather, as the clay base of the bunker is difficult to work in when it is wet.
We had a smaller than normal group of volunteers on course Monday morning, clearing and trimming drainage pits, edging paths, trimming fairway sprinkler heads, and clubhouse maintenance. Thank you, gentlemen, for your contribution once again this week!
This weekend we will be cutting greens both mornings.
Enjoy the Weekend!
The Course Team.
April Course Renovation / Course Closure
The first of the Club’s twice annual course renovations for 2022 is scheduled for 4th – 6th April inclusive.
In recent years, the Club has prioritised turf / greens health through a commitment of a robust twice annual renovation process and regular spot renovations (needle tine and dusting). This commitment has proven to be very effective and has held our course in good stead given the recent extreme weather event.
The upcoming renovation is even more vital than in normal years given the recent weather event, as it will provide course staff with an uninterrupted opportunity to address areas damaged by the rainfall while continuing the practices that have allowed our course to deal very well with the extreme weather patterns of the last two years that have seen fluctuations from extreme drought through to once in 30 year rainfall.
The upcoming April renovation will be conducted over the following dates. The course and all practice facilities will be closed during these times;
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- Monday 4th April
- Tuesday 5th April
- Wednesday 6th April
The video below from August 2020 provides an overview of the Course Renovation Process.
Captain’s Corner
It was certainly enjoyable to go out on the course on Wednesday for my first game at Oatlands in just over a month. It was easy to see the challenges that Dom and his staff have with the large amount of rain we have had over the past six weeks.
It was also great to see that the tees and greens enjoyed a break from the high level of traffic the course has seen over the past two years, and again the effort that Dom has put in to make the greens really good, considering the weather.
What was unfortunately the downside of my day, apart from my average golf, was the total lack of course maintenance or should I say, members lack of respect for the course in regards to fairway divots, rough divots and pitch marks on the green that were not repaired.
I regularly hear people blaming other people, but we are all responsible for any damage we cause on the course, through our enjoyment of golf. There is nothing worse than playing a good shot only to find the ball in the middle of the fairway in an unfilled divot.
Apart from this, two things were very apparent that I noticed yesterday. The lack of attention given to putting sand in divots not on the fairway, and the number of pitch marks, that were very fresh, not repaired.
The greens are very soft at the moment, and small divots can occur even with short approach shot, let alone shots from a longer distance. I actually repaired six pitch marks on the 9th yesterday, and only stopped because of pace of play.
Can I please ask that all members & any invited guests respect the course so that we can all enjoy what we have!
Here is a couple of handy hints.
- Take your buggy as close to where you are going to play your shot so that you have sand close by if required, rather than leaving the buggy 20 metres away. This also assists with speed of play.
- Even if you may be close enough to the green to putt, please fix 1-2 pitch marks while waiting for others to putt, on every hole.
There is an old saying that we don’t appreciate things until we don’t have them. I would hate to think this was ever the case at Oatlands.
Good golfing and enjoy the course!
Colin McRae
Club Captain
Porte Cochere Rubber Path Repair
Members will have noticed that the rubber tiles installed under the Porte Cochere at the entry to the Clubhouse, has been in need of repair for the last month.
The rubber tiles were lifted by water cascading down from a blocked gutter down pipe. The Monday volunteers have cleared the pipe to ensure that this issue does not occur again, however, repair / re-installation of the rubber tiles requires a completely dry surface to glue the tiles to, which unfortunately has not been possible with the last month of consistent rainfall.
This area will be attended to as soon as the surface dries sufficiently.
2022 Golfing Programme
Members wishing to view the full year annual golfing programme can do so by clicking on the link below. This programme will also be listed on the Club’s website under Club Documents. Please note, this programme is subject to change and the website fixtures listings will always be the most up to date if there is any difference between fixtures.
Click Here for the OGC Golf Programme 2022
Pennant Update
Men’s Major Pennant
Men’s Major Pennant Semi-final postponed due to recent wet weather. An update will be provided as soon as the fixture is re-scheduled.
Ladies Grade
The OGC ladies had another convincing win on Friday 18th March at The Australian GC against Cronulla GC, 4 matches to 1. We were very lucky to have great weather on an amazing course.
Results: Linda Gyzen 8/6, Debbie Jepson 5/4, Isabella Myeong 4/3, Paula Skelton 3/2, and a loss to Joon Kang.
Our ladies remain undefeated and at the time of writing are at Cronulla GC taking on The Lakes GC.
Upcoming Trophy Events
Men’s
- Saturday 26th March: NB Carlton 4 Ball Knockout Qualifying (top 16 pairs)
- Saturday 2nd April: NB Charlton Matchplay Rd 1
- Saturday 23rd April: NB Charlton QF
- Saturday 30th April: NB Charlton SF
- Saturday 7th May: NB Charlton Final
Ladies
- Monday 28th March: Presidents Cup Matchplay Final – Linda Gyzen vs Amanda Walkerden
- Thursday 31st March: Club Medal Round 3, GNSW Medal Round 3, Veterans Medal Round 3, Veterans Challenge Brooch
Mixed
- Sunday 27th March: Husband & Wife Trophy
Recent Trophy Winners
The wet weather has delayed the completion of any club trophy events for the last week.
