Oatlands Enews – Friday 9th October 2020

Published on 9th October 2020 in E-News

Content

This week’s Enews covers the following topics:

AGM – Wednesday 14th October 2020
Melbourne Cup Luncheon – Tuesday 3rd November
Chef Paul Bacon moving on after three years
From the Course
Short Game Programme with Jeremy Ward – Week 1
Modified Covid Golf Rules to Remain in Place
Annual Presentation Dinner – Including Q&A with Dom Yates
Junior Development Programme – Term 4
MiScore App – Club Subscription has Commenced
Five after Five – The Doer Cup
Care for the Course – Please Walk AROUND the Putting Green
Pennant Update
Upcoming Clubhouse Events

AGM – Wednesday 14th October 2020

The Club’s Annual General Meeting will take place at the Club on Wednesday 14th October 2020 at 7pm.

In response to the recent and sustained increase in demand on the golf course, and the significant influx of new members in the last 3-4 months, the Board will be announcing a number of important changes to the membership to ensure the Club can continue to provide adequate access to the golf course for our members.

The itinerary for the AGM will be;

6:30pm – Open Bar for all AGM attendees
7:00pm – Meeting Start, estimated 45minutes
7:45pm – Meeting closed, attendees invited to stay for drinks and canapes

Note, due to Covid restriction, post meeting drinks and canapes will be served at tables in the Members Lounge.

A copy of the Meeting Notice, 2020 Annual Report, and Director Nominations can be found at the links below;

OATLANDS GOLF CLUB LIMITED_AGM Meeting Notice_2020

OATLANDS GOLF CLUB LIMITED_Annual_Report_2020_Final

Nominated Directors_2020

Melbourne Cup Luncheon – Tuesday 3rd November 2020

Due to popular demand the Club has decided that the popular annual Melbourne Cup luncheon will proceed under a slightly different format to previous years based on NSW Health restrictions in place.

The format will be as follows;

Price: $70pp including;

Drink on arrival
3 course plated
Sweep entry on Cup included
Lucky door prize
Best Dressed Ladies
Best Dressed Men’s

Subject to the final race day schedule and restrictions in place at the time additional sweeps may be run on the day.

Arrival drinks from 11:30am, lunch from 12:30pm. Race time TBC.

Chef Paul Bacon – Moving on after three years at OGC

The Club are sad to announce that the Clubs Head Chef of the last 3 years, Paul Bacon, will be leaving the Club at the end of October.

Paul is leaving the Club for a role at Riverstone Schofields Memorial Club which is over an hour closer to his home than Oatlands GC.

During Paul’s 3 years at the Club he has consistently produced a high standard of food across a wide array of offerings, from the fine dining Bistro on Bettington evenings, regular themed cuisine events, daily bar menu and more recently the new takeaway meals, the high standard has come to be one that our Club is proud of and known for.

Paul was at the helm of the catering team for a number of industry awards including Best Dining in Golf at the prestigious Chef’s Table Awards.

Paul’s final night at the Club will be the Bistro on Bettington event on Wednesday 28th October. Members are encouraged to come along to this event and farewell Paul and which him well for the challenges ahead.

From the Course

Rainfall for the Week: 1.5mm Rainfall for 2020: 1,001.5mm Dam: 90% Green Speed: 9 feet

The short week due to Monday’s Public Holiday combined with the Men’s and Ladies Club Championship has kept the Course Team busy this week. The course is definitely enjoying the warm weather with all playing surfaces sparking up nicely. Fairway growth following the renovation has been strong with fairways cut twice this week.

With the Mens and Ladies Club Championship this week the team have increased their focus on course presentation and the little things such as trimming tree bases, edging paths, and getting the course looking its best for the Club two preeminent events. Only selected areas of rough were cut to ensure the course presented a challenge commensurate with the Club Championships.

New turf has been laid around bunkers on 5^th and 4^th holes is getting watered daily. Last Friday the team worked on the front right bunker on 5^th, finishing laying the bidim cloth, as well as completing the drainage and bunker mat. This bunker has now been filled with sand. This first batch of bunker renovations has gone well so far and have allowed us to refine our process as we move onto to the 30+ bunkers still to be addressed as part of the February storm and subsequent insurance claim.

We have now applied fertiliser to the back 7 tee pads and we are beginning to see the benefit. Next week we will continue renovating the front 11 tee pads.

Members are asked to please remain diligent in repairing damage to the golf course including the practice areas. The photo below (taken early this morning) shows the result when golfers don;t repair the damage they create. Even leaving these pitchmarks overnight drastically increases the recovery time and is extremely frustrating for Course Staff and your fellow members. The irony is that if you have taken the time to read this Enews piece you are unlikely to be the culprit however we strongly urge all members to report any blatant disregard of course care to the General Manager for follow up.

Have good weekend

The Course Team

Short Game Clinic Programme with Jeremy Ward – Week 1

The Clubs new Golf Operations Manager and PGA Teaching Professional, Jeremy Ward, is offering a 4 week Short Game Clinic Programme for Members.The first week of the Programme commenced today and the video below is a short overview of the session;

Jeremy will be advertising the next programme dates shortly or can be contacted directly with a pre-arranged group of 5 to arrange tailored dates to your groups requirement.

4 week (1 hour) Clinic focusing on SHORT GAME ONLY. 4 week program includes:

Week 1– Chipping – How to create backspin and the correct technique for the flop shot
Week 2– Pitching – How to control ball flight and distance
Week 3– Putting – A variety of drills to help with short & long putts plus the importance of routine
Week 4– Bunkers – Bunker technique and how to get out of a bunker every time

Video Analysis and player comparison included in the program.

(*Player comparison is where I will compare your chipping technique to a PGA Tour player like Phil Mickelson or Rory McIlroy for a greater understanding of what we are trying to achieve)

Total cost Per Member – $195

Modified Covid Golf Rules to Remain in Place

The Club has sort advice from Golf NSW on the current guidance regarding the Modified Covid Golf Rules that have flags remaining in holes and bunkers without rakes and under preferred lies.

The response from Golf NSW is copied below and therefore the current Rules in place remain unchanged.

The advice from Golf NSW with regards to rakes in bunkers, flagstick etc has not changed recently, we are still recommending that clubs continue to implement the temporary modifications to the local rules to allow flagsticks to remain in the hole and that rakes are not in bunkers. I have heard that some clubs are allowing players to groom the area of the bunker where they will play from, prior to preferring the ball on that spot, this is not permitted under the temporary modifications to the rules and rounds played with that allowance in place cannot be handicapped.

At every juncture of the Covid pandemic and changing regulations the Club has followed the Guidance of NSW Health, Golf NSW and Clubs NSW and will continue to do so.

Annual Presentation Dinner – Including Q&A with Dom Yates

The Club’s Annual Presentation Dinner will be held on Saturday 7th November.

The evening will see each major winner being presented with their trophy and an individual prize.

This year our guest speaker is Oatland’s Course Superintendent, Dominic Yates who will take part in a Q&A session with Club Captain, Matthew Seamons.

Dress for the evening is smart casual with the cost for the night, being $65pp. The evening will include a sumptuous three course alternate serve dinner prepared by our award winning chef.

Booking for the Annual Presentation Dinner can be made via the Club website or by contacting the Club’s Reception. Please note, if you are a Trophy winner please RSVP to the dedicated invite so the Club can plan the trophy presentation.

Spaces are limited due to Covid restrictions so book early to avoid disappointment.

Junior Development Programme – Term 4

Term 4 JDP classes will commence on Tuesday 13th October.

Please read below important information regarding booking Term 4 classes.

Strictly one (1) class per child per week.
Ensure you are booking into the correct age group.
Group A – 11-17 year olds
Group B – 6 -10 year olds
All juniors & adults attending the Golf Club must dress appropriately. Please click the link for Oatlands Golf Club Dress Code. https://www.oatlandsgolf.com.au/cms/golf/dress-code/

Please see below the Term 4 weekly schedule, noting some small changes.

4:00pm Tuesday – Group A, Coach Jeremy Ward

4:00pm Tuesday – Group B, Coach Jason Park

4:00pm Wednesday – Group B, Coach Jason Park

4:00pm Thursday – Group A, Coach Jeremy Ward

4:00pm Friday – Group B, Coach David Ecob

5:00pm Friday – Group A, Coach David Ecob

1:00pm Saturday – Group B, Coach David Ecob

2:00pm Saturday – Group A, Coach David Ecob

3:00pm Saturday – Group A, Coach Jeremy Ward

4:00pm Saturday – Group B, Coach Jeremy Ward

1:00pm Sunday – Group B, Coach David Ecob

Note: Bookings can be made online two (2) weeks prior to the scheduled class at midday.

MiScore App – Club Subscription Confirmed

Some Members would have received an email Wednesday night from MiClub (the Clubs website provider) regarding the MiScore app that golf clubs around the country have been trialing at no charge since the beginning of Covid and up to 30th September.

Please be advised that due to popular demand, Oatlands Golf Club has taken up the option to subscribe to the MiScore application for our members. Unfortunately the bulk email sent by MiClub on Wednesday was not from Oatlands GC and was poorly written, creating misunderstanding around Oatlands position of having subscribed and suggesting members need to subscribe individually.

For clarification, the Oatlands GC subscription means that all members can use the application for scoring at Oatlands Golf Club. The individual subscription mentioned in the MiClub email is only required if you wish to use the application for scoring at other Clubs. Individual Clubs such as Oatlands do not have the provision to subscribe to this feature on behalf of members.

Five after Five – The Doer Cup

The Club’s popular Five after Five series will return on Friday 23rd October 2020 and run fortnightly until Friday 18th December.

This popular series is hosted by Rodney (Doer) Walsh and is a great way for members who don’t play regular competition golf to play a short form competition without the pressure of a full 18 holes and alongside members who play regular competition golf. Each event includes a 5 hole stableford (scoring is optional) followed by a casual dinner and presentation of prizes (a fabulous array of whatever Rodney can beg, borrow and steal from around the Club, with the tackiest prizes also the most prestigious to win).

Timesheets for all Five after Five fixtures are now open on the following dates;

- Friday 23rd October
- Friday 6th November
- Friday 20th November
- Friday 4th December
- Friday 18th December

Spaces are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.

Course Care – Please walk AROUND the Putting Green

Members are asked to please walk around the putting green using the concrete path when walking from the Clubhouse to the Pro Shop.

When leaving the Clubhouse, the shortest distance to the Pro Shop is across Northeast corner of the putting green, however constant foot traffic across this line will impact the plant health and wear a track into the green over time. To avoid this, members, who aren’t putting, are asked to take the slightly longer route of the concrete path to access the Pro Shop.

Your assistance with this is greatly appreciated.

Pennant Update

Super Senior Pennant

The Super Senior Pennant team played at Muirfield on Tuesday of this week, against Palm Beach.

After a first round defeat the boys needed to get some wins on the board today, and they delivered very well.

At half way, there were a number of games that were still very much in play, however some strong play by all players around the holes 10-14 say some strong results.

The individual results were as follows;

Peter Greenaway won 6 &5
Warren Cunningham won 5&4
Tony Jackson won 3&1
Mike McFarland won 4&2
Rod Bowyer won 5&4
Brian Watt won 3&2
Col McRae won 3&2
Rob Palin won 7&6

A great result from a games won perspective, but the team travels to Asquith on Friday (today) to face a very strong Roseville team.

Encourage Shield

The 2020 Encourage Shield competition commences on Sunday with our side hosting Muirfield.

The team representing OGC on Sunday is as follows;

Ryland Prasad
Jia You
Tyler Mitchell
Thomas Reicher
Nicholas Chen
Christian Fong

1^st Reserve: Stan Gade
2^nd Reserve: Isabelle Myeong

Team Manager: Jason Fong

Tee off is at 11:24am.

Congratulations to our new Golf Operations Manager Jeremy Ward for getting the team together and for building team spirit with a number of activities leading up to their first match. It is quite an achievement in the short time Jeremy has been with the Club after we had insufficient player numbers to field a team in 2019.

Good luck to all competitors.

Upcoming Member and Guests Events

The Club has a range of Member Events planned for the month ahead that we hope you will join us for and bring along friends and family;