Oatlands Enews – Friday 2nd December 2022
Content
This week’s Enews covers the following topics:
- Encourage Shield Final – Oatlands GC vs Cromer GC, Sunday 4th December
- QPC&C Tiger Tee Champion of Champions – Friday 13th January 2022
- From the Course
- Christmas Gift Ideas from the OGC Pro Shop
- PING Fitting Day – Thursday 5th January 2023
- Captain’s Corner – Local Rules Change / Clarity of Local Rules
- School Holiday Clinics with Max Dakic
- Join Our Members Only Facebook Group
- Pennant Update
- Upcoming Trophy Events
- Recent Trophy Winners
Encourage Shield Final – Oatlands GC vs Cromer GC, Sunday 4th December @ Camden Lakeside
The OGC Encourage Shield team will contest the Pennant Final on Sunday 4th December against Cromer GC at host venue, Camden Lakeside.
Our young side of boys and girls who have come through the Club’s Junior Development Programme under the watch of Jeremy Ward and Max Dakic have played fantastic golf to reach the final and are now one win away from bringing another Pennant back to the Club.
All members are encouraged to make the trip to Camden on Sunday to support our side. Details of the final are outlined below:
Date: Sunday 4th December
Venue: Lakeside Camden
Tee Time: 10:45am
Opponent: Cromer Golf Club
Team List below:
- Christian Fong
- Jerry Qin
- Ricky Fang
- Alicia Luo
- Donovan O’Connor
- Jonathan Le
QPC&C Tiger Tee Champion of Champions – Friday 13th January 2023
The Champion of Champions for the 2022 QPC&C Tiger Tee Challenge will be held on Friday 13th January 2023.
This event is open to all members and guests, however previous winners of a QPC&C Tiger Tee Challenge in the 2022 calendar year will be eligible for the Champion of Champions honour.
This event will see the golf course setup at its most difficult, even by weekly QPC&C Tiger Tee standards.
So if you are up for challenging yourself against Oatlands Golf Course at it’s most difficult, the timesheet for the event will open on 14th December 2022.
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 10.0mm, Rainfall for 2022: 2015.0mm Dam: 95% Green Speed: 10.5 feet
The thunderstorm that rolled through on Sunday afternoon and the rain that followed throughout the night was just what the doctor ordered for the course, as some areas of the course were starting to stress from the recent high winds that we had been experiencing. Its hard to imagine after such a long wet period that areas would already be starting to stress, but this is the extra effect that the winds have on playing surfaces.
Its been a complicated week to perform maintenance on the course with staff numbers reduced by three each day due to Covid and injury. Having a quarter of the team unavailable means we haven’t been able to prepare the course like we have recently, with the rolling of the greens being one of the practices we stop under these circumstances. Three shotgun starts to finish the week also impacts our course preparation as we must have the entire course ready by the shotgun start time, as opposed to being able to prepare the course gradually throughout the morning when we have a normal two tee start.
All collars and aprons have been cored and topdressed this week, with a fertiliser application planned for next week. Our tees that were renovated last week are starting to green up, with the warm day last Sunday being ideal to increase soil temperatures.
The bunker project is nearing completion, with the remaining 10 bunkers shelled out. Each of these bunkers take approximately a week to complete once shelled out (subject to unforseen competing priorities and staff availability) alongside regular maintenance. We expect to have these completed by the end of March, however it is important to do the job properly and not rush, to ensure the finished product is consistent with the work done to date and will stand the test of time and conditions. Your patience and understanding of the complexities of finalising this project are greatly appreciated.
Leaf debris continues to litter the course with the blowers and vacuum working overtime on Thursday and Friday to remove as much of this as possible.
Our volunteers were on course Monday morning trimming fairway sprinkler heads, cleaning and trimming drainage pits, edging concrete paths, trimming the hedges around the front of the clubhouse, and trimming suckers from tree bases. Thank you gentlemen for your assistance once again this week!
Have a great weekend!
The Course Team
Christmas Gift Ideas from the OGC Pro Shop
PING Fitting Day – Thursday 5th January
The Golf Shop, in-conjunction with PING Australia, will be hosting another popular Fitting Day on Thursday 5th January.
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.
Captain’s Corner – Local Rule Change / Clarity of Local Rule
It has come to the Match Committee’s attention that the wording in the Local Rules, under Local Rule 2, Prohibited Areas of Play, could be misinterpreted, regarding relief from the garden on the side and the back of the 12th hole.
The wording of the Local Rule suggests that you must be in the garden to obtain relief, however this is not entirely correct. The sandstone border of the garden, could be deemed an immoveable obstruction, from which you may receive relief.
However, to ensure there is a simple application of the Local Rule, it is deemed that the sandstone wall forms part of the garden.
Therefore, if your ball is in the garden, or the sandstone border interferes with your stance or swing, relief must be taken by going to the dropping stake.
While I appreciate that this may already be the interpretation by many players, this minor change is to ensure that the rule is applied equally.
The Local Rules in MiScore has been changed to reflect this clarity, and paper scorecards will be updated as soon as possible.
Please see the attached video which may assist with clarity.
There are a small number of changes to rules commencing on the 1st January 2023, and these will be communicated over the coming weeks.
Colin McRae
Captain
School Holiday Clinics with Max Dakic
Max Dakic will be running a School Holiday Clinic for our Junior Members and friends (you don’t have to be a member to join the class).
Dates are as follows:
- Tuesday 10th January – 10:00 am to 11:30 am (Full Swing)
- Wednesday 11th January – 10:00 am to 11:30 am (Short Game)
- Thursday 12th January – 10:00 am to 11:30 am (Putting)
Food & Drink will be provided after each clinic.
The total cost will be $90 for each participant for all three clinics.
Bookings can be made through the Member’s website or by contacting the Proshop.
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 350 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/
Pennant Update
Encourage Shield – See lead article of this Enews.
Upcoming Trophy Events
Men
December
- Sat 3rd Dec – Club Medal and Medal of Medals
- Sat 10th Dec – Presidents vs Captains
Ladies
- Mon 5th Dec – Ladies Summer Foursomes Rd3
- Mon 12th Dec – Ladies Summer Foursomes Final
Recent Trophy Winners
The Oatlands Cup was played on Saturday 26th November with Will Reece winning the prestigious event with a fine score of 69 (1 under par), two shots clear of his younger brother Sam Reece with a score of 71 (1 over par).
The nett event was won by Jimmy Hawach with a fine score of nett 67.
