Oatlands Enews – Friday 10th February 2023

Published on 10th February 2023 in E-News, Guests

Content

This week’s Enews covers the following topics:

From the Course
“Bowral Beauties” – OGC Ladies take on Bowral VWGA Event
Members Only Facebook Group – Join in the Fun
Short Game Clinic with Max Dakic – Tuesday 21st February
Course Staff Priority – Right of Way at All Times
Grooves & Greens – Free Outdoor Music Event for Members and Guests
Bar Tab and Visitor Vouchers – Expire 1st April 2023
Elite Player Development Programme – Tax Deductible Donations via the Australian Sports Foundation
Golf Ball Education Day – Saturday 4th March, 7am – 11am
Pennant Update
Recent Trophy Event Winners
Upcoming Trophy Events

From the Course

Rainfall for the Week: 7.0mm, Rainfall for 2023: 226.0mm Dam: 100% Green Speed: 9.5 feet

The humid weather continues to hang around and as a result the grass continues to grow, presenting great playing surfaces for members to enjoy. Our greens remain very healthy for this time of year, and we are already starting to see the benefits of the regimented dusting program that we have incorporated to our weekly maintenance, with a nice sandy layer starting to develop whenever we cut a new hole on the greens (see photo below). This sandy layer is allowing moisture to move through the grass surface and provides a firmer surface, with fewer pitch marks being observed on putting surfaces.

With the slight delay in the delivery of the sand to finish the 14^th bunker, the course team has made a start with the lining of the front left bunker at the 1^st green. Repair work has also been performed on damaged areas on the 13^th and 14^th fairways, which were affected by water sitting on them for extended periods during the wet weather last year. These areas were taking too long to grow over, so the team has prepared these areas and returfed them this week. New turf has also been laid along the edges of the Geohex paths at the 11^th and 16^th, and new couch has been laid in worn areas on the 12^th and 16^th collars.

All this work is being completed by the team whilst still being down by 2 staff members on average each day this week, so it’s a great effort by all available team members to keep up with the regular maintenance schedule, plus completing these extra tasks as well.

Our volunteers were on course Monday morning, raking bunkers ahead of the competition, assisting with the preparation of the turfing areas throughout the course, trimming tree suckers, and clubhouse maintenance tasks. Thank you for all your assistance again this week gentlemen, you are a very valuable asset to the Club!

We will be cutting greens on Saturday, and then cutting and rolling greens on Sunday for the Major Pennants matches. Jimmy will be setting pins on both days this weekend, with the same positions being used on Sunday as they were when we hosted Major Pennants a fortnight ago.

Have a great weekend!

The Course Team

“Bowral Beauties” – OGC Ladies take on Bowral VWGA Event

Last Sunday saw 8 ladies head down to Bowral to take part in a two day tournament organized by the VWGA and Bowral Golf Club.

Monday 6^th February was a 4BBB Stableford event. The conditions were a little warm and sticky but there was no stopping Michelle Kelly & Ann-Marie Wahbe as they came in ‘runners-up’ with a fab score of 45 points. Not far behind were the pair of Melissa Adams & Katrina Davidson having 42 points to be announced as fifth place. A fantastic result from the Oatlands Vets!

Tuesday 7^th February was an individual stableford format. We all had played the tricky and interestingly tight course the day before. Some great golf was played by all and again our Oatlands ladies came through with some wonderful results:

Div 1 Stephanie Monaghan – 2^nd place – 39 points
Div 1 Dolores Pearse – 4^th place – 37 points
Div 3 Katrina Davidson – 1^st place – 42 points
NTP (6^th hole) Michelle Kelly

Leanne Maguire
OGC Veterans Representative

Members Only Facebook Group – Join in the Fun

The engagement among the membership on our Members Only Facebook group has continue to grow in recent months with posts from members and staff happening daily. We even have a Facebook Competition running at the moment where members can win $500 credit in the Pro Shop.

So if you aren’t already part of our Members Only Facebook Group, join up now and join in the fun banter.

We now have over 350 members who have joined the group and hope to see this get closer to 700 in the next 12-months.

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/

Short Game Clinic with Max Dakic – Tuesday 21st February

OGC Professional, Max Dakic, will be hosting a Short Game Clinic on Tuesday 21st February at 8:30am.

The clinic is limited to 8 people with a cost of $60pp.

As a precursor to the clinic, Max has prepared a short video where he talks us through hitting one of the hardest shots in golf, the high lofted chip.

To book for Max’s Short Game Clinic on Tuesday 21st February, or a private lesson with with Max or any of the OGC Professionals, visit the Club website or contact the Pro Shop.

Course Staff Priority – Right of Way at All Times

Members are reminded that course maintenance staff have right of way at all times.

Course staff do their best to keep out of the way of golfers, however with the high level of participation and ideal growing conditions currently being experienced, the windows for course staff to maintain the course without impacting golfers is very narrow.

As a result it is especially important that all members give course staff right of way at all times.

Thank you for your understanding and assistance.

Grooves & Greens – Free Outdoor Music Event for Members and Guests

OGC is pleased to announce the details of an upcoming Outdoor Music Event at the Club on Friday 17th March, Grooves and Greens.

This free event for members and guests will run from 5pm – 10pm and will include:

Live Music adjacent to the 18th green (videos of the band and their sound below)
Outdoor BBQ and Bar available (BYO food and non-alcoholic beverage permitted, alcoholic beverages to be purchased from the Club due to license restrictions)
Multiple Par 3 shootout competitions on the 18th hole during the afternoon and evening
More activities to be announced

This event is limited to 150 members and guests, so jump onto the Club website and book yourself in for this first time OGC event.

Bar Tab and Visitor Vouchers – Expire 1st April 2023

Members are reminded that their annual Bar Tab credit, and Visitor Vouchers (Visitor Vouchers allocated to Full Playing and 6-Day members only) will expire on 1st April 2023 at the commencement of the 2023-24 Membership year.

Bar Credit can be used for clubhouse and takeaway beverage purchases, along with attendance at Club dining events.

Visitor Vouchers can be used to bring non-member guests during competition or social play with no green fee payable.

Members are encouraged to visit the “MEMBERS ACCOUNT” section of the Club website to confirm the status of their Bar Tab and Visitor Voucher accounts for 2022-23, and utilise the remaining credit on or before 31st March 2023.

Elite Player Development Programme – Tax Deductible Donations via the Australian Sports Foundation

Oatlands Golf Club has a Junior Development Programme with over 100 kids aged 5yrs to 17yrs, one of the largest in Sydney and most likely Australia. This programme has evolved in recent years under the guidance of Jeremy Ward to the point where just over 40 of the kids now have handicaps and 9 of those are on single figures. This is on the back of 10 JDP clinics offered per week during school term by our dedicated PGA Professionals. In addition, the Club has 25 members aged 18 years and over on handicaps ranging from +4 to 5.

In order to facilitate the continued development of these elite players, Oatlands Golf Club is aiming to expand the Junior Development Programme with the addition of an Elite Player Development Programme. This programme will target the top 20 golfers aged up to 22 years and assist their ongoing development via specialised coaching and training programmes. These will include: one on one coaching sessions, practice plan development, tournament preparation, tournament entry fee assistance, physical and nutritional guidance for peak performance.

Developing and successfully implementing programmes of this nature come at a cost. As an example, the Club’s Junior Development Programme costs approximately $40k per annum.

As such, the Club has recently applied for and had approved, the new Elite Player Development Programme as an approved programme through the Australian Sports Foundation. This approval allows for tax deductible donations to be made toward the programme, to help support and develop the Club’s evolving talent. It is forecast that the Elite Player Development Programme will cost additional $30k per annum, and therefore we are calling for donations through the Australian Sports Foundation to help fund this important aspect of the Club’s future.

Donations to the Elite Player Development Programme can be made via the Australian Sports Foundation by clicking here and as mentioned are fully tax deductible.

The video below from OGC Head Coach, Jeremy Ward, provides members with some additional insight into the Club’s growing development programmes.

For more information, please contact Jeremy Ward, or General Manager, Sam Howe.

Golf Ball Education Day – Saturday 4th March, 7am – 11am

Titleist Golf are running a “Golf Ball Education Day” on Saturday 4^th March from 7:00am to 11:00am at Oatlands Golf Club.

This will be a fun and interactive experience for our members to learn what ball is suitable for them, and will take place on the putting green.

This day is open to all members with no booking required and lots of freebies to be given away.

Pennant Update

Mens Major Pennant

Our Men’s Major Pennant team suffered a tough loss last weekend against Fox Hills at Fox Hills. This means each side won their respective home fixture to start the season, however Fox Hills has more points. With 4 divisional matches remaining, we are still in with a good chance of making finals if we win our remaining matches.

This Sunday 12th February we take on neighbours Muirfield Golf Club back at OGC commencing at 7am.

The team list (in order) for Sunday is provided below:

Wil Reece
Charlie Kim
Nathan Wareham
Brad Hooper
Sam Reece
Grant Lomas
Roger Nakaad

Reserve: Budd Frome

Ladies Grade

Our Ladies Grade side travelled to Cronulla today (Friday 10th March) to commence their season against Pennant Hills and came away with a good win 3.5 to 1.5 to start their campaign;

Linda Gyzen Won 4/2
Ellisa Yoon Won 4/3
Amy Kim Lost 1 down
Paula Skelton Square
Jenny Doherty Won 7/6

Ladies Silver II

Our Ladies Silver II Pennant travelled to Pennant Hills today for a match against Concord. Unfortunately, Concord were to strong today winning the fixture 3.5 to 1.5.

Mixed Pennant

Our Mixed Pennant team started their season on Sunday 5th February with a home match against Cabramatta. Oatlands came away with a hard fought 3.5 to 1.5 win.

Results: