Oatlands Enews – Friday 7th May 2021
Content
This week’s Enews covers the following topics:
- Covid-19 Update – NSW Health
- New Reciprocal Club – Horizons Golf Resort
- Getting Started Programme for Family & Friends – Starts July
- Booking Cancellation – Please Cancel Early
- From the Course
- Ladies News
- Oh What a Trivia Night!!!
- Out of Bounds Register – Please be Diligent
- Mark Clout – Hole In One
- Karaoke – Cancelled due to Covid Restrictions
- 60 Seconds with Dave – Alternate Chipping
- Pennant Update
Covid-19 Update – NSW Health
Update from NSW Health:
While NSW Health authorities are working to trace new COVID-19 local infections, COVID restrictions have come into immediate effect across the Greater Sydney area (including, the Central Coast, Wollongong and Blue Mountains):
- Masks are compulsory on public transport and in public indoor venues, such as supermarkets, hairdressers, retail, theatres, hospitals, places of worship and aged care facilities
- Front-of-house hospitality workers need to wear a mask
- Household gatherings can have up to 20 visitors, including children
- No singing by audiences at indoor shows or by congregants at indoor places of worship
- No dancing at indoor hospitality venues or nightclubs. Weddings can still have dancing but it is strongly recommended that no more than 20 people are on the dance floor at any one time
- You must be seated when drinking at indoor hospitality venues
- Visitors to aged care facilities are limited to two people.
These restrictions are in place until 12.01am Monday 10 May.
If you have any COVID-19 symptoms, no matter how mild, get tested immediately and self-isolate until you get a negative result.
New Reciprocal Club – Horizons Golf Resort
The Club are pleased to announce that we have just signed a new reciprocal club agreement with Horizons Golf Resort in Port Stephens.
The agreement will allow members to play the golf course up to 8 times a year for a $25 green fee (normally $75) and also allows bookings into member only competition both midweek and weekends.
Members can book directly via Horizons Golf Resort and request a Letter of Introduction from OGC reception once a booking is made.
This is the second top 100 Australian golf course to be added to the Clubs Reciprocal partners in the last 18 months following the addition of Settlers Run in 2019.
Getting Started Programme for Family & Friends – Starts July
The Club’s next Getting Started Programme will commence in July with two options for the 8 week programme available for friends and family of OGC members.
Details of the two programmes are outlined below with a registration form also included.
With the recent resurgence in golf and strong membership position, the Club is able to focus this programme on participants referred by members. This means that participants who go on to join the Club’s membership already have a friend or family member contact to help them engage with all the things our Club has to offer. Please pass these details on to anyone you know who might be interested in giving golf a go.
Booking Cancellation – Please Cancel Early
As we near the shortest days of the year and ahead of switching to shotgun starts on Saturdays, it is imperative that members cancel their tee times as early as possible when unable to play so as to give other members the greatest chance of getting their preferred tee time.
The demand for golf in the last 12 – 15 months has given a much needed boost to the golf industry, however this brings with it challenges regarding bookings and course access. Looking ahead to when Covid vaccine rollout reaches a level that allows for safe international travel and a return to pre-covid activity in more areas, then we expect demand for golf to reduce. In the meantime however, we all need to be mindful of maximising the opportunity for course access so that when “life” does return to normal, the Club has a strong and engaged membership.
The following actions will greatly assist improve the booking access for all members;
- If you know you can’t play, cancel immediately
- When booking in for other members, please make sure you let them know
- Don’t book in members as ‘placeholders’
- Don’t leave it until ‘on the day’ to cancel (note, repeat occurrences of this may result in temporary restriction to booking access)
Members are also reminded that when a timesheet is full (this has only been occurring on a Saturday), there is a waitlist provision available and to date, no member on a waitlist has missed out on a game since we were forced to play in groups of 2 in April and May 2020.
Oatlands is in a very fortunate position with other Clubs’ in the area needing to implement things such as charging for social play, increasing competition fees, lottery systems, and priority bookings the following week for those who miss out. We do not expect that anything as extreme as these initiatives will need to be considered at OGC however, we ask for everyone’s assistance to free up tee times at the first available opportunity during this period of sustained record high demand.
Thank you for your assistance!
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 60.5mm, Rainfall for 2021: 603.5mm Dam: 100% Green Speed: 9 feet
This week, the team has refreshed the large mulched area between the 2nd, 3rd and 7th holes using the material that was produced from the recent tub grinding of the green waste pile adjacent to the 15th. The product smells a bit like cow manure, but I can assure members that it doesn’t contain any type of manure at all. The smell should subside now the material has been spread out. We have also gone through this area and trimmed any low branches from the trees to ensure as much morning sunlight as possible can get through these trees onto the 3rd and 7th fairways during the winter months in an effort to keep as good a coverage on the fairway surfaces as possible.
The heavy rains on Thursday morning flooded surfaces very quickly so we have started another round of fairway verti draining on the 7th fairway. We are using solid tines again and going down to a depth of 150mm. There will be very little surface disruption during the process so members probably won’t notice any change to fairways. This will be completed over the coming weeks. The benefits will be beneath the surface; relieving soil compaction, allowing surface water to enter the profile and allowing air movement to the root zone for healthy, stronger roots.
The wet weather this week has made conditions favourable for some Brown Patch disease development in our putting surfaces. Members may notice some yellow rings in the greens, which is an early symptom of this disease. A fungicide application once weather conditions are suitable will control this problem without any loss of turf. Greens have fully recovered from recent greens renovations and are back down to our usual cutting height of 3mm. Growth regulator applications to all greens will commence again as of next week.
All our deciduous trees are starting to lose their leaves which creates a contrast of colours over our nice green fairways. It is a messy time though regarding course presentation, but we will have the vacuum out each day in an effort to keep on top of the debris.
Have great weekend everyone!
The Course Team
Ladies News
The Veterans’ Team event on Monday was a great success. Thanks to Mary Lantry, Kerrie Winter and Leanne Maguire for organising a fun event with a multitude of lucky door prizes, fresh table flowers, yummy dessert and a few laughs with head and tails fun and wine glass racing on toilet paper – don’t ask!!
The 4 team event with 2 best scores to count was won by Pam Heagney, Margaret Patterson, Carol Tait and Leonie Townsend with a score of 91. Runners up with a score of 87 were Joan Devenish-Meares, Lesleigh Perkins, Rhonda Tresnan and Denny White. Well done ladies.
Other results were
- Straightest Drive
- A Grade – Lexi Grice
- B Grade – Noelene Battistessa
- C Grade – Leonie Townsend
Nearest the Pin
- A Grade – Judith Tunks 46cm
- B Grade – Jill Davey 367cm
- C Grade – Anne Kennedy 560cm
Super Pin
Rhonda Tresnan – 343cm, shared with Lesleigh Perkins, Joan Devenish-Meares and Denny White
Next Thursday 13 May is BARBARA KOCH DAY. If you haven’t put your name down, contact the Pro Shop and they will help you. It’s a fun day and in honour of Barbara, please wear pink or purple. Remember to bring some money for raffle tickets with all funds raised going to our chosen charity ANZGOG (Australia and New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group).
The timesheet is now open for the Foursomes Championships. They will be played over two weeks on Thursday 20th and 27th May. More detail to follow next week.
Oh What a Trivia Night!
OGC held its first trivia night in some time after the last two were cancelled in 2020 due to Covid restrictions.
The night was attended by 120 members and guests and was a fantastic Club night hosted by Karah Chapman (Bar Supervisor) and Kelly Roveto (Events Supervisor).
There were naturally winners and losers on the evening but everyone had a great time and a good laugh at themselves and each other.
Out of Bounds Register – Please be Diligent
The Club introduced Out of Bounds Registers (as pictured adjacent) on the 1st, 6th and 12th tees over 6 months ago.
Members have been good at recording wayward tee shots in these registers which have allowed the Club to have any property damage covered on insurance. This has saved the Club thousands of dollars in a short period of time.
All golfers are reminded of the need to record any errant tee shot into these registers. Even if you are unsure if the ball has gone out of bounds we ask that you record an entry. As a general rule, if a provisional ball needs to be played then an OOB Register entry should be made.
We thank you in advance for your co-operation.
Mark Clout – Hole in One
OGC Member and Director, Mark Clout has recorded his second ever hole in one on Saturday 1st May on the 18th hole.
Mark’s first hole in one came on the 3rd hole at Carnarvon GC almost 30 years ago. Interestingly, OGC member Matthew Troy was playing with Mark on both occasions.
Well done Mark and Matthew you can probably expect some game invitations soon!
Mark’s hole in one was captured on the Club CCTV camera on the 18th hole and can be seen below;
Karaoke – Cancelled due to Covid Restrictions
Regrettably, the Club has decided to cancel the upcoming Karaoke night on Friday 21st May due to uncertainty around the current Covid Outbreak in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and subsequent restrictions imposed by NSW Health across greater Sydney. While, at this stage, the restrictions (which would prohibit the event proceeding) are scheduled to end on Monday, the uncertainty around the source of the two cases of community transmission and the prospect of restrictions being extended have resulted in the event being cancelled for now with a new date to be set later in the year.
60 Seconds with Dave – Alternate Chipping
This week’s tip from PGA Professional David Ecob gives a different perspective on how to play a chip shot without getting your Club caught up.
To book a lesson with David or any of our PGA Professionals, please contact the Pro Shop or book online.
Pennant Update
Men’s Interclub
The Oatland’s Interclub team traveled to The Lakes to play Royal Sydney in the first round of Interclub.
In a very pleasing result, the team came away with a strong 5 1/2 – 2 1/2 win.
The Lakes off the black tees is something to behold – an extremely tough course. Fortunately we played in near perfect conditions.
With 4 new players in the squad this year it was great to see some debut wins!
Results:
- Lawrence Robertson – lost 2/1
- Grant Lomas – won 5/4
- Ian Priest – won 5/3
- Mark Robinson – won 1 up
- James Coates – won 4/3
- Peter Schleibs – won 1 up
- Matt Seamons – lost 4/3
Blair McDonald – square
We now play Concord at Royal Sydney in 2 weeks time.
Mixed
Our Mixed Pennant team started their season with a very close and exciting win at home on Sunday. Beverley Park put up a great fight but Oatlands came out winners 3-2. Well done to all and thanks to those members who supported!
Results:
- Tony Monaghan & Debbie Jepson lost 5/4
- Lindsay Macinnes & Justa Kim won 4/3
- Peter Crawford & Stephanie Monaghan won 2/1
- Ben Mees & Leonie Guthrie won 3/2
- Chris Garland & Pixie Sasse lost 5/4
- Christian O’Reilly & Linda Bestford lost 2 down
Next up is a home match against Monash on 16/5.
Men’s Master Pennant
Commences Sunday 16th May with a match vs Eastlake Golf Club at Eastlake, tee times starting at 11:38am.
Men’s Major Pennant
Postponed relegation final for Division 2: Now home and away with leg one vs Glenmore Heritage Valley at home on Saturday 15th May from 7:00am and leg 2 at Glenmore Heritage Valley on Saturday 19th June.
Good luck to all teams and Club representatives in their respective matches!
The Bettington Mexican Night – Friday 14th May
Paint & Sip – Friday 28th May – Limited Space Remaining
Join us for our very first Paint & Sip event. This boutique event hosted by Northern Beaches artist, Julie Miller, will give members and their guests a chance to enjoy an evening of fun, food, wine and artistic flare. Details of the event is outlined below with the art creation for replication (with Julie’s expert assistance) the next slide down.
This event is limited to a maximum of 24 people so book early to avoid missing out.
