Oatlands Enews – Friday 16th September 2022

Published on 16th September 2022 in E-News, Guests

Content

This week’s Enews covers the following topics:

Booking Difficulties at Peak Times Resolved
From the Course
Upcoming Club Championships – Timesheet Access
Fix Your Slice and Hit it Longer with Jeremy Ward
Getting Started Programme – Starts October 2022
Membership Joining Fees to Increase 1st October 2022
Taylormade Fitting – Thursday 27th October 2022
Titleist Fitting Day – Tuesday 27th September 2022 (One space remaining)
Cheese Platters Available from the Bar Friday to Sunday
Join Our Members Only Facebook Group
HP Evans Matchplay
Pennant Update
Upcoming Trophy Events
Recent Trophy Winners
Upcoming Club Events

Booking Difficulties at Peak Times Resolved

Over the last 2-3 weeks the Club has been working with our website provider and host, MiClub, to identify the issues causing booking difficulties at peak times (particularly Tuesday’s and Friday’s for Wednesday and Saturday timesheet).

As of today (Friday 16th Sept) the server that hosts the Clubs website has had some modifications and a capacity increase which it is expected will have resolved the issue.

We will continue to monitor over the comining weeks and pursue further if the issue is ongoing.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

From the Course

Rainfall for the Week: 27.0mm, Rainfall for 2022: 1,762.0mm Dam: 100% Green Speed: 9 feet

The next stage of the bunker rejuvenation program has begun this week with the shelling out, and stripping of the bunker surrounds on the 1^st, 13^th, and 14^th holes. Members will have noticed that the surrounds of these bunkers had died over the past few weeks after we sprayed them with Roundup. This was performed so that the existing couch and kikuyu was less likely to grow back through the new Zoysia is laid. Course staff will now prepare the bunker surrounds for the Zoysia by ensuring the surrounds are shaped correctly to shed surface water away from the bunker, and reducing any built up lips to return them back to their original shapes and heights. We shelled out all bunkers in this stage in one go, so that the Zyosia turf could be laid at the beginning of the growing season, giving it all of Spring to establish, and then the rest of the summer to mature before the cold winter weather returns when growth of all turf is reduced. Once these 10 bunkers have turf around them, staff will start the process of installing fabric linings and drainage material, before filling the bunkers with new sand.

As I mentioned last week, growth and recovery from renovations on our greens and fairways has been affected by the mild temperatures and lack of full sunny days, resulting in slower recovery from reduced growth rates. The overnight and early morning temperatures are still in the single digits most days, which is keeping soil temperatures down. Soil temperature is the trigger for growth rates of turf, with 14⁰c being the temperature that warm season grass growth rates normally increase. So, when overnight temperatures fall to single digits, it makes it difficult for soil temperatures to increase, and difficult to grow turf.

Our tees and collars are Santa Anna Couch, and this turf species requires an even higher soil temperature (18-20⁰C) to trigger growth out of its winter dormancy. Growth on these surfaces doesn’t usually begin until the first week of November. The couch may green up before, but genuine growth and recovery assisted with a renovation of these areas won’t begin until early November. As our collars experience more traffic than most areas of the golf course, some collar sections are likely to require re-turfing in certain areas. This is likely to be part of our annual maintenance programme going forward, and would likely be the case irrespective of grass type given the damp soil profile and high traffic levels.

We must also remember that just because it hasn’t rained since Saturday (at the time of writing we had another 21mm on Thursday evening), doesn’t mean we should forget that the moisture levels in the soil profiles beneath all playing surfaces remains very high. As team members dug the holes for the posts of the new Local Rules Board at the 1^st tee this week, the holes started filling up with water. This water wasn’t coming from the fountain, it was seeping with gravity from the ground around the holes, such is the high level of moisture in the ground from all the recent rainfall.

The high moisture levels did make digging the holes easier for staff members as the ground wasn’t so hard, but the high levels make it difficult to grow strong healthy turf as the moist soil conditions are favourable for disease development and root decline. The moisture/water takes up spore spaces in the soil profile displacing oxygen, which kills the roots by drowning them from a lack of oxygen, and making the plant weak and susceptible to disease infection. This presents a catch 22 situation as the applications required to treat the disease usually need to be watered in, thus contributing further to the conditions creating the disease they are trying to fix (who would be a greenskeeper hey!).

All roughs have been cut this week and all fairways have been mown except for the 7^th which is still a week away from having its first cut. Greens were dusted on Tuesday morning and weren’t cut on Wednesday to allow the sand to settle, so that the greens mower didn’t pick up any of this sand. Greens were cut on Thursday morning without picking up any sand, so in future, greens will be dusted on Monday’s so that cutting, or rolling can be performed on Wednesday for the competition.

Our volunteers were on course Monday morning, performing a bunker run before the competition, checking/repairing/removing tree guards, drainage pits trimmed and cleared, practice nets checked, and clubhouse painting tasks. Thank you gentlemen for your assistance once again this week!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Course Team

Upcoming Club Championship – Timesheet Access

With the Men’s and Ladies Club Championships scheduled to be played over the coming weeks, members are reminded that these timesheets are restricted to those members eligible to play in the respective Championship.

Men’s Club Championships (Men Only)

Saturday 24th September – Qualifying Round 1 of 2
Saturday 8th October – Qualifying Round 2 of 2

Ladies Club Championships (Ladies Only)

Thursday 13th October – Qualifying Round 1 of 2
Thursday 20th October – Qualifying Round 2 of 2

These restrictions are in place to ensure that all members eligible for the respective Club Championships have the opportunity to take part in the Club’s premier events.

Fix Your Slice and Hit it Longer with Jeremy Ward

OGC Golf Operations Manager and PGA Professional, Jeremy Ward, provides some great advice for fixing your slice and hitting longer.

To book a lesson with Jeremy, please contact the Pro Shop or visit the Club website.

Getting Started Programme – Starts Ocober (Limited Space Available)

OGC’s next Getting Started series will commence in October. This programme is perfect for those friends and family who may want to try golf but don’t know where to begin. The Getting Started Programme is one of our most successful pathway’s to membership, and all participants get the price of the programme deducted from the joining fee if they choose to join the Club membership at the completion of the programme.

Join in the fun as our team of Teaching Professionals take you through the basic elements including, the correct grip, chipping and putting, to the full swing and on-course play.

When does it start? This programme will run from Thursday 13th October or Sunday 16th October. Bookings are essential as space is limited, with bookings via the Club’s Reception or completing the booking form below:

Membership Joining Fees to Increase 1st October 2022

Members are reminded that the Joining Fees for the various Club membership categories are set to increase on 1st October (as advised in June 2022). With our Full-Playing membership category again at capacity (500 members) and a waitlist in place, the Club currently has limited spaces remaining in the 6-Day and Lifestyle categories. This is a fantastic position for the Club to be in and provides a wonderful platform as we embark on the next chapter of the Club’s future and a new Clubhouse, with facilities that will be the envy of the Greater Sydney golf industry.

As such, the Membership Committee and Board have decided to raise the Joining Fees for Club membership, for each of the three playing categories, being:

Full (including Intermediate 1,2 & 3)
6 Day
Lifestyle

The increase will be 30% on the current Entrance Fees, and will come into effect on 1st October 2022.

Any friend or family member that joins the Club prior to 1st October, (or in the case of Full Membership, places their name on the waitlist prior to 1st October), will only be required to pay the current Joining Fee, as listed below.

Membership Category	Current Joining Fee	Joining Fee as of 1st October 2022
Full Playing	$2,500	$3,250
6 Day	$2,000	$2,600
Intermediate	$1,000	$1,300
Lifestyle	$1,500	$1,950
Juniors	$0	$0

Any existing member of less than 3 years wishing to upgrade prior to 1st October 2022 will only be required to pay the difference in the joining fee of their current category and the current joining fee of the new category. Members of greater than 3 years are not required to pay an upgrade fee.

For new applications or upgrades, please contact Kathy Bright, administration@oatlandsgolf.com.au

Taylormade Fitting Day – Thursday 27th October

The Golf Shop, in-conjunction with Taylormade Australia, will be hosting another popular Fitting Day on Thursday 27th October.

These fitting days are limited to 6 fitting sessions, so get in early to avoid disappointment.

Booking through the website timesheets or by contacting the Golf Shop.

Titleist Fitting Day – Tuesday 27th September (One space remaining)!!!

The Golf Shop, in-conjunction with Titleist Australia, will be hosting another popular Fitting Day on Tuesday 27th September.

These fitting days are limited to 6 fitting sessions, so get in early to avoid disappointment.

Booking through the website timesheets or by contacting the Golf Shop.

Cheese Platters Available from the Bar, Friday to Sunday

Following feedback from members regarding the food offering at the Club after the kitchen closes, the Club will be offering small Cheese Platters from the Bar for all bar trading hours on Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s.

This service will commence on a trial basis with the view to making it a permanent fixture if well supported by members and guests.

The platters will include two types of cheese, quince paste, and crackers and will be available for $16 a serve. Perfect with a nice glass of red or white wine!

Join Our Members Only Facebook Group

The Club’s members only Facebook Group is a fantastic way for members and staff to engage with each other.

We now have almost 300 members who have joined the group and we would love to see that grow to include all of our members.

Importantly, members are advised that this social media platform will not be used for the Club to communicate critical information, that will remain via the Enews, website and direct email however, it is a place that members and the Club can post interesting Club and golf related items to compliment this Enews.

To join the Members Only Facebook Group please click on the link below and then click on the “JOIN GROUP” button. You will be asked a few questions to verify you are a member and then approved by the group administrator shortly thereafter.

www.facebook.com/groups/870087546972166/

HP Evans Matchplay

The final of the 2022 HP Evans will be played on Saturday September 17^th with Eugene Conlon and Hamish McAulay battling it out for the trophy. Hamish has made it a common occurrence to finish out his opponents on the 16^th hole while Eugene has showed some great matchplay ability coming from behind in previous matches to win on the 18^th. Good luck to both participants.

2022 HP Evans Handicap Knockout Final Draw