Content

This week’s Enews covers the following topics:

• Message from the Club
• From the Course
• Pro Shop – Book a Lesson, not a Haircut
• August Renovation / Course Closure 
• Change to Weekly Booking Allowance in effect form Monday 9th August
• Rob Parekh – Hole in One
• Homemade Practice Net and Virtual Analysis
• Takeaway / Drive Through, French Night – Saturday 21st August
• Upcoming Trophy Events
• Some Light Humour

Message from the Club

I thought I would take this opportunity to say hello to those members who are currently unable to attend the Club and wish you all well.

Oatlands GC is a wonderful Club built on its members and it is safe to say that you are all in our thoughts and are missed.

We realise that the frequency of communication regarding NSW Health restrictions and the impact on course access for those that are unable to attend would not be helping those that are restricted from utilising the course. I hope this Enews provides some more interesting Club related goings on for you to enjoy.

On the golfing front, we have been in contact with the majority of Sydney Clubs that would capture the residences of our playing members outside of the Parramatta LGA or 10kms with the goal of setting up Covid exchange tee times. Most of these Clubs have been reluctant (all Clubs and members are doing their best right now) however as the lockdown restrictions drag on a few Clubs have responded with interest. We have had a Covid exchange in place with Monash Country Club for a few weeks and have just agreed some times with Pennant Hills which will formally begin after their greens renovation on Tuesday 31st August. I will be communicating this arrangement and the tee time allocation process with the members that fall into this catchment in the next week.

For those of you that are missing the Club and would like more information on what is happening at your Club, please drop me and email. Our members are the most important part of the Club, and I would be only too happy to give you a ring for a chat and a catch up.

Everyone is doing it tough during this lockdown, and I am certainly missing the vibrant OGC community that I have come to love so much in my two and a half years at the Club, but with vaccinations on the rise we are hopeful that golf in groups of 4 and restrictions imposed on LGAs might be eased before the lockdown ends and we can return to some level of normality that gives golf access to all our members. I would love to make a prediction on when this will be however my skill as a clairvoyant are well below my skill as a golfer and hopefully Club Manager.  

Stay safe and we hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Sam Howe
General Manager

From the Course

Rainfall for the Week: 2.0mm,  Rainfall for 2021: 677mm   Dam: 90%   Green Speed: 9.5 feet

The course team has completed a small drainage project this week in the gully between the 3^rd green and 7^th fairway. This is usually one of the first areas that course staff must rope off after any extended periods of rainfall, as it is a natural collection point of surface and sub-surface water runoff because of the shape of the land. The new drainage line will feed water into both stormwater pits that already existed in this area and will improve this area during and after rainfall.

Preparations for Spring green renovations have been progressing over the past few weeks with a large amount of work planned during the 3-day course closure. As usual, we will be coring and sanding all greens with all fairways receiving the same treatment. Our tree contractors will also be on site to trim and remove dead and dangerous limbs around the course, and the turfing of the new 17^th mound is planned for Wednesday morning, which should be completed quickly with the help of a small team of volunteers and complete this project.

We have also been spraying out areas around the 8^th, 9^th, 11^th, 12^th, 17^th and 18^th greens where we are planning to re-turf with couch. The areas that we have sprayed out contained kikuyu weeds in couch areas, so the herbicide application was to ensure that we killed the kikuyu weeds roots and all. The herbicide has also killed the couch turf surrounding the kikuyu weeds, but we will be turfing out these areas in square blocks, so it isn’t a major concern.

The heavy doona has must probably been removed from the bed this week (we have some advice on an alternate use for it further down the Enews) with overnight temperatures starting to increase! This means growth rates of turf on playing surfaces will also start to increase in the coming weeks. Fairways have been cut this week for only the 2^nd time in about 7 weeks, and they are coming up well, and head into the Spring season in really good condition.

Have great weekend everyone!

The Course Team

Pro Shop – Book a Lesson, not a Haircut

One of the allowances under the current NSW Health restrictions is that one on one golf lessons can take place. It is safe to say OGC has one of the best and most diverse groups of PGA Professional staff of any club in Sydney.

While these staff are excellent coaches, the one thing that this lockdown has shown is that they won’t be able to use hair dressing as a backup career options.

The photo below (LHS – Jeremy Ward, RHS – Max Dakic) shows two of the “home haircuts” necessitated by the lockdown.

We have it on good authority that Jeremy started his own haircut which was somewhat saved by the intervention of his wife, while Max’s haircut was of his choosing, obviously quite a Cameron Smith fan is our Max.

Aussie US Tour Player Cam Smith (aka: Max Dakic)

Grant Lomas posted a late entry for best / worse home haircut which I think you’ll agree is worth adding.

August Course Renovation / Course Closure

All is in readiness for next week’s green and fairway renovations, with all required fertilisers and sand being delivered throughout the week. We’ve had a small practice run on our 19^th green this afternoon to ensure the depth and angle of the tines are correct for Monday morning.

In addition to greens and fairways there will also be some tree maintenance taking place with a contracted arborist on site Monday and Tuesday to remove the tree near the 12^th green and trim others on the 1^st hole, between 8^th and 10^th fairways, 14^th fairway/ flyover area and over the practice tee.

As previously communicated the course and all facilities will be closed for the following dates of the renovation.

• Monday 16th August
• Tuesday 17th August
• Wednesday 18th August

This renovation will produce a shorter week and therefore, as communicated earlier this week the following booking allowances will be in place for Thursday 19th – Sunday 22nd August.

• A maximum of 1 game on either Thursday 19th or Friday 20th August, plus;
• A maximum of one 1 game on either Saturday 21st or Sunday 22nd August

• Games booked on the day will be counted towards the maximum allowance
• All competition and social golf participations will count toward the above maximum allowance (including 7 holes from the 12^th tee)
• A report will be run each Monday, and any games played in excess of this allowance, will result in an automatic 14 day booking rights suspension.

Thank you for your adherence to this temporary change whilst we try to manage access to the golf course in an equitable manner for all members.

Please note, the ongoing bookings policy in place is listed in the next Enews item below.

Change to Weekly Booking Allowance in effect form Monday 9th August

Important: There are members with more than the allowed games (3 / week with a maximum of 1 game on the weekend included) booked for this week ending Sunday 15th August. As outlined below, and previously communicated to all members, these members will face a 14 day booking suspension if these excess bookings are not cancelled.

We have now been operating under NSW Health restrictions in response to the current Covid-19 outbreak in Greater Sydney for over a month.  While we hope that the government restrictions will ease soon, it certainly appears that the current lockdown is set to continue until at least August 28.  Nobody likes the circumstances we are faced with, however we are very fortunate to be able to play golf, albeit in a very limited capacity.

The current booking system and allowance of 3 games per week (including a maximum of one on the weekend) was established to provide equitable access to all eligible playing members given the reduced capacity that forced play in groups of two necessitates. This allowance was increased from 2 games to 3 games on 16^th July with additional games being able to be booked on the day if vacancy exists.

As the lockdown has dragged on, we have seen an increasing number of members booking more than 3 games. Naturally, people are looking to enjoy their golf rather than being locked at home.  Whilst we hope that members would “self-regulate” our course accessibility rules so that all members have equitable opportunity to access the course, it has become evident that a number of members are making bookings in excess of current limits.  There are also members using strategies to guarantee themselves 3 games, or more, by holding spots on days that they do not intend to play hence affecting other members booking their games on those days. This means they hold a spot for 4 days and then cancel the night before to then book again on the day of play just past midnight.  This has resulted in the temporary suspension of booking rights for almost 20 members in the last 4 weeks.

Clearly, this is not a circumstance that we are looking to promote.  The administrative burden alone to now try and maintain this flexibility and equity has become unmanageable. We need management to run the many parts of the Club that are currently being put aside to deal with bookings, rather than acting as the booking police.

The Club’s Board and Management do not want a deterioration of relationships with members who are being communicated with and are unhappy with suspensions and deletions of excess bookings. To date, this has been extremely draining on the Club’s resources and the mental wellbeing of those involved in these communications. This is not how we want to run the Club!

As a result, and in the interest of making the booking allowance manageable and maintain equity to all members, commencing Monday 9^th August, the following revised booking allowance will be in place: 

• A maximum of 3 games per week which can include a maximum of one game on the weekend
• Games booked on the day will be counted towards the maximum 3 game allowance and maximum of one game per weekend
• All competition and social golf participations will count toward the above maximum allowance (including 7 holes from the 12^th tee)
• The week will run Monday – Sunday
• A report will be run each Monday, and any games played in excess of this allowance, will result in an automatic 14 day booking rights suspension.

Given the current situation, the Board and Match Committee believe this is the most appropriate compromise to balance the expectation of the majority of our members, to simplify the identification of members not adhering to the restrictions, and to provide management with the time required to ensure all aspects of the Club function to a level that will limit the impact of this lockdown on the Club’s future.

These limits will continue to be reviewed and adjusted as necessary.

Rob Parekh – Hole in One

OGC members recorded his first ever hole in one on Monday 9th August.

The shot landed beautifully and spun back and right into the hole. It’s like watching the US Tour as you will see below.

Well done Rob.

Homemade Practice Net and Virtual Analysis

Oatlands PGA Professional and ALPGA Tour Player Paige Stubbs is not letting her lack of course access get in the way of her own practice, creating her own practice net using a spare doona as seen below.

Paige is also offering Virtual Swing Analysis for those of you stuck at home.

What does it include:

* Swing analysis using Golf V1 app
* Drills recorded by video for at home practice
* Voiceover of your individual swing mechanics and coaching on how to improve.

Price: $50

All you need to do is send two swings shown with examples below:

During the lockdown Paige can be contacted via email at paige.stubbs@bigpond.com

Takeaway / Drive Through, French Night – Saturday 21st August

Continuing on with this style of food service, we are offering a Drive Through French Cuisine Night on Saturday 21st August.

Details are outlined below with booking available through the Club website.