From the Course

Rainfall for the Week: 82.0mm,  Rainfall for 2023: 332.5mm Dam: 100%   Green Speed: 9.5 feet

There’s a feeling of Déjà vu with the weather this week, as it was towards the end of February last year that the extreme wet weather started! Hopefully, this is just the tail end of the summer season with some kinder and milder weather to resume.

The storm that rolled through on Saturday afternoon left a trail of destruction, but by no means was it the worst we have seen here on the course. There wasn’t a lot of rain on Saturday but the strong winds brought down some larger limbs. It did take the team most of Monday to cut up the fallen limbs around the course, and manually remove as much debris as possible before the blowers and vacuum played their part.

Our tree contractors were on site Tuesday delimbing the dead tree between the 8th and 10^th fairways, and removing the dead tree behind the 11^th women’s tee. A crane was used to lower the limbs down to reduce damage to the ground below, but some wheel marks have been left behind by the crane and the trucks. The team will verti drain these wheel marks over the next 2 weeks and they will recover well.

The lining of the front left bunker at the 1^st has been completed and new sand has been placed in this bunker. Additional sand has also been added to the front right bunker at the 14^th, with this bunker to be back in play in another weeks’ time. The 1^st bunker will require compacting and time to settle before it comes into play. The next bunker the team will rejuvenate will be the back left at the 1^st green.

The growth regulator herbicide on fairways is just starting to lose its affect, so all fairways and roughs will be sprayed again next week. We will also be adding a pre-emergent herbicide for Winter Grass with this application in preparation for the winter months ahead. We continue to treat the kikuyu weeds in our couch collars, aprons and tee complexes. We are getting great control on the kikuyu with these applications, but we also have to be very careful as this herbicide can move through the soil profile (from our collars into our greens) very easily with any heavy rainfall.   

Our volunteers were on course Monday morning, removing debris and raking bunkers, emptying and refilling the fly traps, oiling the new notice boards, tidying up and repairing the practice nets, weeding the 6^th creek, painting tee markers, and clubhouse maintenance work. Thank you gentlemen for another great effort!

We will be cutting greens on Saturday, and then cutting and rolling greens on Sunday. Garry will be setting pins on Saturday, and Jack will be setting them on Sunday.

Have a great weekend!

The Course Team

Friday 3rd March – Limited Lunch Service

Members are advised that lunch service on Friday 3rd March will be limited to pre-packaged sandwiches, pies and sausage rolls due to the hosting of a Charity Golf Day and lunch for 150 people.

Events such as these are an essential part of the clubs operating model, and while we schedule the majority to have little or no disruption on member services, there are 3-4 events of this size each year, which contribute $20k + per event to club revenue, that impact on regular service.

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

OGC Ladies at Bayview VWGA Event

Monday 20 February saw seven Oatlands ladies head to Bayview Golf Club to play for the Ella Backhouse Foundation Trophy…this was a “VWGA  2ball best ball stableford format.  The event had 78 entries with 15 clubs being represented.

Congratulations goes to Pauline Fallance who teamed up with a lady from Long Reef and they were “runners up” on a countback 👏🏻👏🏻.

The pair of Katrina Davidson/Melissa Adams came 5th with a score of 42 points.

Gab Donnelly & Linda Bestford with their score of 37 points were rewarded in the “ball rundown”.

We received many positive comments on our new club shirts.”

Hole in One, Try Two

A hole in one is a rare feat indeed, with many golfers (including this one) playing for decades only to have the perfect shot allude us. But for some, the rare feat happens more than once, we all know a fellow member who has had 3,4,5 or more. But re-producing the feat multiple times in quick sucession is rare indeed, and that is excatly what has been accomplished in recent weeks by OGC members Danny Zaouk.

Danny has recently had two hole in ones in the space of 29 days with an ace on the 18th hole on 21st January, followed by another on the 2nd hole on 19th February.

Well done Danny! For those of us who are yet to record the elusive feat, we hope you have left enough space in the hole for our own memorable moment to occur. 

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 such as the Bistro on Bettington Nights.

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.

One Handed Bunker Drill with David Ecob

OGC Teaching Professionals provides a useful bunker drill to help improve your technique in the sand.

To book a lesson with David or any of our other PGA Professionals, please visit the Clinics and Lessons section of the Club website or contact the Pro Shop.

OGC NRL Footy Tipping Competition – Be in It to Win It

With the NRL season only a few weeks away, all members are invited to join the OGC NRL Footy Tipping competition.

Registration is available by clicking here or by scanning the QR code on the image below.

1) Go to https://www.iTipFooty.com.au
2) Click the ‘REGISTER’ button if you don’t already have an account with iTipFooty.com.au
3) Once you have successfully registered login and, click the JOIN COMP button.
4) Enter Comp # 113770 and Comp Password Oatlands4Ever!.
5) Click join comp…..DONE!

Dominic Yates gives an overview of the prizes and registration process in the video below.

Out of Bounds Register – QR Code now Installed

In late 2020, the Club introduced Out of Bounds Registers on the 1st, 6th and 12th tees. These have been well utilised by members and we thank you all for taking the time to record balls that have gone Out of Bounds and potentially caused property damage.

All would agree that the paper system was less than ideal as it needed replenishing on an unpredictable cycle and absorbed water during sustained wet periods. As such, these registers have now been upgraded to a QR Code Register as picture adjacent.

These QR codes will take members to a short series of questions to record the Out of Bounds shot. They have been produced in a durable weather resistant material so will not need regular replacement.

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.

The Club has insurance for all members / golfers against personal and property damage when playing on the course. In order for the Club to make a claim against this insurance, we simply need to be able to identify who hit the errant shot. Importantly, a claim made on this insurance does not effect an individuals insurance cover in any way.

We thank you in advance for your co-operation!

Early Clubhouse Closure – Monday 27th February

Members are advised that the Clubhouse will close one hour early on Monday 27th February at 5pm to allow all staff to take part in the annual staff Christmas party. This is also where the annual staff awards for employee of the year by department and overall are awarded for 2022.

This event is held in February every year as the lead up to Christmas is too busy to get all staff to attend, with the Club a popular destination for pre-Christmas get togethers, and the course busy with golfers and maintenance.

We thank members for their understanding, and look forward to advising you of the staff awards presented on the evening.