Oatlands Enews – Friday 14th October 2022 – Club Championships Edition
Content
This week’s Enews covers the following topics:
- Men’s Club Championship
- Ladies Club Championship
- From the Course
- Member Events including the Melbourne Cup
- OGC Ladies into Metropolitan Final of Women’s NSW Medal
- Join Our Members Only Facebook Group
- Pennant Update
- Upcoming Trophy Events
- Recent Trophy Winners
Men’s Club Championship
It’s been a disrupted year to the golfing calender, and while the threat of rain persists, the Men’s Club Championships commence the first round of Matchplay on the weekend.
Following the weather cancellation of the second qualifying round, the 16 qualifiers in each grade were determined from the first round of Saturday 24th September.
What a great set of matches we have in each grade, with past champions in each draw, and a great mixture of youth and experience across the board.
In The Championship, we have last years finalist and runner-up, Luke Mason, as the top qualifier (with a fantastic round of 68), the 2020 and 2021 Champion, Brad Hooper, in position 11, arguably the Club’s form player of the last 12-months, Rowan Easterbrook in position 2 (drawn to play one of the Club’s brightest young talents in 17yr old Sam Reece), and the entire Major Pennant team from 2022 (who narrowly missed promotion from Div 2 to Div 1), having qualifed for the matchplay. While the higher seed in each match will go in as favourite, there will no doubt be some upsets in Sunday’s 36-hole matches.
The Plate Championship is equally as intriguing, with multiple past champions in the mix, and competitors ranging in age across four decades. The qualifiers in this division also include considerable, experienced match players with a number of competitors in our highly successful Mixed Pennant team of the last two years. This is perhaps the most open division of the four championships to be decided over the next month.
The Middle Markers Championship could almost be described as the “Battle of the Board”, with four Directors having qualified for this division (George Isaac, Col McRae, Matt Clout and Ben Mees), regrettably for these gentlemen, history is against them with a first round victory a tough ask for Directors in our matchplay events in recent years, let alone a championship victory. Alongside these four we have two juniors with great potential in Christian Fong and Nick Radburn. In an ominous sign for the opposition, since qualifying, Christian has reduced his handicap by two shots and won the amateur section of a PGA pro-am; but beware the quiet achiever, the remaining players in the draw are strong competitors and have made the finals for a reason.
Finally, the Long Markers Championship, and the question on everyone lips is; “Where is Murray Forrest?”. Well, after decades of being the dominant force in this division, Murray’s handicap made him ineligible for this championship division and he is no doubt preparing himself for a future run at the Middle Markers Championship or higher!!! (sorry Murray, we couldn’t resist). Murray’s absence has left this draw wide-open, and the makeup of the qualifiers opitimises why golf is a game for life. In this draw, we have competitors as young as 14 year old Jeremy Liew (a member of just under two years), alongside Richard Granger who has been a member of Oatlands for almost 63 years. In-between is a range of ages and membership tenures and it is anyone’s Championship for the taking.
Club Championships Match Play Draw 2022
First Round Matches will be played on the following schedule:
- Championship – 36 Hole Matches – Sunday, 16th October from 7:02am
- The Plate – 18 Hole Matches – Saturday, 15th October from 6:51am
- Middle Markers – 18 Hole Matches – Saturday, 15th October from 7:19am
- Long Markers – 18 Hole Matches – Saturday, 15th October from 7:50am
Ladies Club Championship
The 2022 Ladies Club Championships commenced on Thursday with the first of two qualifying rounds for the matchplay finals in 3 divisions.
The recent poor weather held off for the 76 ladies contesting the 3 divisions, however the heavy golf course was a strong test for all.
In the Championship division, Linda Gyzen is aiming for her 5th consecutive Championship (second only to Carolyn Morton who won 9 consecutive Championships from 1981-89) and 7th Championship overall (behind only Carolyn Morton with 10 Championships and Brenda Chalmers with 8 Championships). By her own admission, Linda did not have her best opening round, however with the top 8 qualifying in each grade she is still well in contention to continue her recent dominance of the event and is currently second to Debbie Jepson after the first round.
The second and final round of qualifying is scheduled for Thursday 20th October. The top 10 scores in each division from round one are listed below:
| Position | Championship | Gross | Bronze I | Gross | Bronze II | Gross |
| 1 | Debbie JEPSON | 82 | Chris MCRAE | 98 | Jill BROWNE | 108 |
| 2 | Linda GYZEN | 88 | Linda BESTFORD | 99 | Leanne MAGUIRE | 112 |
| 3 | Amanda WALKERDEN | 88 | Denny WHITE | 100 | Ann KHANNA | 113 |
| 4 | Jenny PARK | 90 | Lisa BECHARA | 100 | Jan RANKIN | 115 |
| 5 | Joon KANG | 92 | Lexi GRICE | 101 | Carla GEDDES | 119 |
| 6 | Paula SKELTON | 92 | Anna KIM | 102 | Kam Chee WONG | 119 |
| 7 | Jenny DOHERTY | 93 | Dahee LEE | 102 | Rosemary JONES | 120 |
| 8 | Leonie GUTHRIE | 94 | Judith GOUDGE | 102 | Lizzie BROWN | 123 |
| 9 | Stephanie MONAGHAN | 99 | Narelle ANDERSON | 103 | Danielle CORDINA | 123 |
| 10 | Jin KIM | 100 | Pauline FALLANCE | 104 | Anne STANFIELD | 123 |
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 57.5mm, Rainfall for 2022: 1,905.5mm Dam: 100% Green Speed: 10 feet
This weekly report is written by Course Superintendent, Dom Yates, and the paragraphs that follow are his words, however, we just wanted to note what a phenominal job Dom and his team are doing. It seems like every week we copy in his report and we’ve had another 30mm-60mm of rain (on top of almost 2,000mm for the year) and while many, many other Clubs are closed or playing a modified course, here we are in the middle of our Championships and not just open, but able to allow medical carts on the course more often than not, all the while rebuilding all of our bunkers. To Dom and his team, what an incredible ongoing job you do!
The course received another drenching over the weekend, but some good news was delivered by the Bureau of Meteorology during the week with this current La Niña event predicted to peak next month, and then weaken over the summer. While the weather is causing the closure of the course from time to time, it is also affecting turf farms all along the East Coast and delaying the turfing around the 1st and 13th bunkers. We were sourcing our Zoysia turf locally from Windsor and Cobbitty, but we are now having to go to Queensland. This creates a small logistical nightmare for our suppliers as they have to order large quantities to load a semi trailer (2000-3000m2) to make it economically viable. So the 400m2 we require to turf around the 13th bunker complex needs to be added to other courses/clients requirements to make up the semi trailer load to keep our price as low as possible.
The turf for the 13th bunker complex is being delivered next Friday, and the team will have this turf fully installed for the weekend. This isn’t the most ideal day for such a large amount of turf, as we would much rather spend the entire day preparing the course for the weekends matchplay events. Nevertheless, we will adjust our maintenance program to present the course in the best possible condition whilst also installing this new turf. The turf for the 1st bunkers may take another week or two to be delivered, again depending on when a full semi trailer load can be organised.
Our greens continue to improve in health and appearance, with the 6 days rest from play as a result of the rain, most beneficial. Greens were dusted again on Monday, and a fungicide application was applied on Tuesday. A small growth regulator application may be applied to greens on Friday morning (weather depending) to tighten up playing surfaces.
Staff took advantage of the course closure and were able to spray all collar and apron surfaces with a herbicide to control winter grass weeds. Without any traffic on the course, the likelihood of any tracking of this herbicide onto the greens by either members shoes or buggy wheels is reduced, and staff are able to complete the work much more efficiently without interruptions from play.
All areas of the course have been mown this week, with fairways being mown twice. We have changed our mowing pattern on fairways in the past fortnight, adding some stripes to enhance the appearance of these surfaces.
Our volunteers weren’t on course Monday because of the wet course conditions.
Have a great weekend!
The Course Team
Member Events including the Melbourne Cup
Members would be aware of the pressures facing society and the economy with regard to cost of living / goods and labour shortages across most industries.
Oatlands has been very fortunate to have avoided some of these pressures relating to labour shortages as we have managed to retain the majority of our staff through multiple Covid lockdowns and now an employee focused labour environment. Not having excessive pressure to recruit new staff due to retention of existing staff has been a blessing for the Club’s operation.
Unfortunately though, we are unable to completely avoid the issues, and sustained rained during the year has compressed our members golfing calendar, member event calendar, and private event bookings into the Club’s traditional peak period of November and December.
Oatlands recently undertook a survey of 25 like Clubs to assess the impact of current economic conditions on other Clubs, and while we are fairing well by comparison, there are commonalities across all of golf.
With this in mind, the Board and Management have determined to ensure that the required focus and priority remains on providing the best service possible to our members and their guests within the constraints of a difficult operating environment. As such, going forward and in the short-term, we are going to reduce the number of member dining events per month to two a month to ensure we have the staff to meet the day to day expectation of members.
This reduction will also see the cancellation of the Melbourne Cup luncheon as a formal event. This is due to the reasons listed above, but also the timing puts it very close to the Club’s Annual Presentation Dinner. We will still show the Melbourne Cup carnival on three screens and encourage members to attend the Club with the option of an informal lunch from the daily blackboard menu with some additional Melbourne Cup specials. If there are enough people in attendance, we will run a sweep on the main race.
We thank you for your patience and understanding and look forward to seeing you all at the Club for golf and events.
OGC Ladies into Metroplitan Final of Women’s NSW Medal
Three of our ladies will contest the 2022 Women’s NSW Medal Metropolitan Final at Bankstown on Tuesday 18th October.
Linda Gyzen, Sophia Shin, and Cheryl Peterson were the winners of their respective grades in 2022 with the lowest three round aggregate score out of six medal rounds to earn their place in the Metro final on Tuesday.
Good luck to all three ladies!
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 over 300 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
Round one of the Encourage Shield was washed out last week so our team are set to play their first match on Sunday 16th October against Avondale GC at Bayview CG at 11:59am.
Below is our team list (in order):
- Christian Fong
- Jerry Qin
- Ricky Fang
- Alicia Luo
- Jeremy Liew
- Donovan O’Connor
Acting Manager: Max Dakic
Upcoming Trophy Events
Men
October
- Sun 16th Oct – Club Championship Matchplay (36 holes) Rd1
- Sat 22nd Oct – Plate, Middle Markers, Long Markers Championship M/Play QF
- Sun 23rd Oct – Club Championship Matchplay (36 holes) QF
- Sat 29th Oct – Plate, Middle Markers, Long Markers Championship M/Play SF
- Sun 30th Oct – Club Championship Matchplay (36 holes) SF
November
- Sat 5th Nov – Club Championship Finals – All Grades
- Sat 5th Nov – Annual Presentation Dinner (Bookings available via Club website or Reception)
- Sat 12th Nov – Diggers Day
Ladies
October
- Thurs 20th Oct – Club Championship Qualifying Rd2
- Thurs 27th Oct – Club Championship M/Play Rd1 – All Grades
November
- Thurs 3rd Nov – Club Championship M/Play Rd2 – All Grades
- Thurs 10th Nov – Club Championship M/Play Finals – All Grades
Recent Trophy Winners
With the second round of the Men’s Club championship qualifying a washout last weekend, the following trophies have been awarded on the first round score from 24th September;
- Medal Championship Winner – Luke Mason 68
- Medal Plate Winner – Peter Crawford 76
- Medal Middle Markers Winner – Phil Camden 81
- Medal Long Markers Winner – Bob Bright 87
- Ted Vines Veterans Medal Winner – Peter Crawford 64
- J&P Hall Medal Winner – Peter Crawford 64
- Junior Champion – Sam Reece 80
- Junior Championship Nett – Nicholas Radburn 68
Congratulation to all the winners!
