Oatlands Enews – Friday 5th April 2024
Content
This week’s Enews covers the following topics:
- Club and Course Closure, Monday 8th – Wednesday 10th April Inclusive
- From the Course
- Bettington Restaurant April – Menu Available
- Max Dakic School Holiday Clinics
- Captain’s Corner – OGC Local Rule 2(c)
-
PING Fitting Day – 20th May 2024 – Limited Space Available
- Pennant Update
- Upcoming Member Events: April and May
- Recent Trophy Event Winners
- Upcoming Golf / Trophy Events
- Members Only Facebook Group
Club and Course Closure, Monday 8th – Wednesday 10th April Inclusive
Members are advised that the Club’s bi-annual Course Renovation is scheduled for Monday 8th – Wednesday 10th April inclusive.
More details of the specifics of the renovation are covered in the weekly Course Report.
This renovation is, to a degree, reliant on suitable weather conditions, and as such there is a possibility the intended schedule may be extended at short notice to ensure a full renovation is possible. Given the stress the golf course has been under due to a high volume of traffic, it is vitally important the upcoming renovation is completed in full.
All Club facilities (including Clubhouse, Admin, Pro Shop, Practice Facilities) will be closed during the renovation.
From the Course
Rainfall for the Week: 50.0mm, Rainfall for 2024: 424.0mm, Dam: 100%, Green Speed: 9.5 feet
All greens were fertilised this week in preparation for next week’s renovations. This application is only half of the fertiliser to be applied and will give the greens a nice little kick before renovations so that they will recover quickly. No growth regulator has been applied to the greens for two weeks now, to ensure that they aren’t held back in any way during the recovery period.
A rain bomb is predicted to hit Thursday night, continuing into Friday and Saturday, with predictions of up to 100mm to fall during this period. This isn’t ideal but shouldn’t hamper the greens renovation work, or the verti draining of the fairways. Some sunny days from Monday onwards would be great, as this helps dry the sand that is applied to the greens before the verti drains punch holes into the surfaces to a depth of 200-225mm.
Once the verti drains have aerated the entire putting surface, we use a brushing machine that is designed to sweep the sand as it passes over the surfaces, and when dry, the sand falls into the open cylindric tunnel in the soil profile which has been created by the solid tines of the verti drain. Judging how much sand to apply to the putting surface so that all the open aeration holes are filled with minimal sand leftover on the surface is difficult, but years of experience enables us to get it very close each time.
The aerating and sweeping in of the sand takes two full days under ideal conditions, with the Wednesday dedicated to applying the rest of the fertiliser and watering this into the surface. Whilst this work is being completed, we are hoping to start aerating the fairways and run the broom attachment on our Ventrac machine across them to remove excess thatch from these playing surfaces. Our volunteers were planning to lay new turf across the track marks on the 13th, 14th, and 15th fairways, as well as near the 9th tee path down to the pond. This work will be affected by the rainfall over the next few days and will most likely not take place as I’m expecting some erosion damage to the areas we have been preparing for this period. Obtaining turf from the farms out at the Hawkesbury next week will also be unlikely, as flooding in this region is being predicted once again.
I will post a video update to the members Facebook page each day to keep everyone informed of our progress.
Our Monday volunteers had the week off because of the Easter long weekend. David Osborne was on course Thursday morning divotting fairways, and commented that there weren’t as many unfilled divots this week, which is good to hear and means members are trying to take care of their course.
The plan is to cut and roll greens on Saturday morning, and then only dew them on Sunday morning. This is all weather dependent, with a call to be made on Friday afternoon.
Have a great weekend and happy golfing!
The Course Team.
Bettington Restaurant April – Menu Available
Members and guests are invited to our a la carte Bettington Restaurant on Saturday 13th and Wednesday 24th April 2024.
Bookings are available for 2 to 10 diners, with a two course menu for $55 or three course for $69.
Seating times are available at 6pm, 6:30pm, 7pm and 7:30pm, so grab some friends and join us for another great night of food and friendship.
Bar account credit and Birthday vouchers redeemable.
On arrival
- Zucchini pinwheel (gf)
- Bread and butter
Entrée
- Roasted Yumba prawns, dashi butter, wattleseed and shiso (gf)
- Pan seared scallops, bone marrow, pickled zucchini and bearnaise (gf)
- Caramelised onion and gruyere tarte fine, salad of confit duck and watercress
Main
- Twice cooked chicken, spiced rice cake, marinated mushroom, fried fish cake and shallot
- Pinnacle MSA beef scotch fillet, rosemary and smoked garlic butter, grilled asparagus, roasted heirloom tomato (gf)
- John Dory, potato rosti, teriyaki glaze, braised fennel and finger lime (gf)
- Cured pork belly, baked apple, celeriac puree, crackling and jus (gf)
Side – $9.00 each
- Crushed fried potatoes, rosemary salt (v, gf)
- Sauteed seasonal vegetables (v, gf)
- Crunchy sesame slaw (v)
Dessert
- Pear and rhubarb cobbler, Canadian maple and vanilla ice cream
- White chocolate mousse, meringue, toasted black sesame and white chocolate (gf)
- Leche flan, caramelised fig, snow tuile and fig leaf Chantilly (gf)
Max Dakic School Holiday Clinics
Hey Junior Members! In these upcoming school holidays, Max Dakic will be running two Junior School Holiday Clinics.
- Week 1 – Friday April 19th
- Week 2 – Friday April 26th
The clinics will cover all aspects of golf including Full Swing, Chipping, Putting & More! Food and beverages will be provided to the participants following the clinic.
- Time, 12:00pm – 2:00pm,
- Cost $120 Each Clinic (2 Hours)
- Both Members & Guests are welcome!
Bookings are to be made through the Pro Shop.
10 spots per clinic so book quick!
Captain’s Corner – OGC Local Rule 2(c)
Local Rule 2(c) specifically relates to the Prohibited Area of Play adjacent to the practice chipping green defined by red stakes with green tops and red lines, which is a No Play Zone in a Penalty Area.
As set out in the local rule, a player who’s ball is in the No Play Zone has a number of options available to them as to where the next shot can be played, after incurring a one shot penalty, these are;
- Stroke and Distance relief: Play from where the last shot was played.
- Lateral Relief: Drop within 2 club lengths, no nearer the hole, from where the ball last crossed the margin of the Penalty Area.
- Back on Line Relief: This does not apply in this situation at OGC as any spot back on the line is Out of Bounds.
- Nearest dropping stake.
The reason the dropping stake is an option is because the ball may have last crossed the margin of the penalty area from Oatlands House and then the only option is stroke and distance.
It is the players choice as to how relief is to be taken.
Good Golfing,
Colin McRae
Club Captain
PING Fitting Day – 20th May 2024 – Limited Space Available
The Club will be hosting a PING Fitting Day on Monday 20th May 2024, with spaces limited to just 5 fitting sessions between 8am and 12pm.
- Driver or Fairway Wood – 30 Minutes
- Iron Fitting – 45 Minutes
- Full Set Fitting – 1 Hour
Pennant Update
Ladies Bronze II
Our Ladies Bronze II side were scheduled to play against Avondale GC at Concord GC today however the fixture was washed out.
Their next match is scheduled for Friday 12th April at Pymble GC against Ryde Parramatta GC at 8am.
Upcoming Member Events: April and May
The Club has lots of fantastic events coming up for members and guests, and we encourage members to take part in the Club’s diverse event offering over the coming months:
- Saturday 13th April, The Bettington Restaurant
- Monday 15th April, US Masters Breakfast and Golf
- Friday 19th April, OGC Trivia Night
- Wednesday 24th April, The Bettington Restaurant
- Sunday 12th May, Mother’s Day Luncheon
- Saturday 18th May, The Bettington Restaurant
- Wednesday 29th May, The Bettington Restaurant
Note: Bar Account Credit and Birthday vouchers can be used for all of these events.
Recent Trophy Event Winners
There were no Trophy Events decided in the last week with Easter Weekend making up a large part of the week.
NB Charlton 4Ball Knockout
The NB Charlton round of 16 was played on Saturday 23rd March. The next round of matches will be played on Saturday 6th April.
Upcoming Golf / Trophy Events
Men’s
- Saturday 6th April – Club Medal / NB Charlton Quarter Final
- Mon 8th – Wed 10th Apr – Course Renovation Closure
- Saturday 27th April – NB Charlton Semi-final
- Saturday 4th May – NB Chartlon Final
- Wednesday 8th May – Keith Riglesford Cup and Midweek Club Championships Rd1
- Saturday 11th May – Club Medal
- Wednesday 15th May – Keith Riglesford Cup and Midweek Club Championships Rd2
- Saturday 18th May – Men’s Foursomes Championships
- Saturday 25th May – Start of Winter Shotgun Starts on Saturday’s
Ladies
- Mon 8th – Wed 10th Apr – Course Renovation Closure
- Thursday 11th April – Team Ambrose
- Mon 15th Apr – US Masters Brekky & Golf
- Sun 21st April – Ladies Single Hcp Matchplay Trophy Qualifying
- Monday 22nd April – Visitors Day
- Sunday 28th April – Ladies Single Hcp Matchplay Trophy Quarter-final
- Thursday 2nd May – Club Medal
- Sunday 5th May – Ladies Single Hcp Matchplay Trophy Semi-finals
- Monday 6th May – OGC vs Pennant Hills GC Interclub at OGC
- Thursday 9th May – Barbara Koch Day
- Thursday 16th May – Ladies Foursomes Championships Rd1
- Sunday 19th May – Ladies Single Hcp Matchplay Trophy Final
- Thursday 23rd May – Ladies Foursomes Championships Rd2
- Monday 27th May – Dorothy Besemers Trophy
Members Only Facebook Group
If you aren’t already part of our Members Only Facebook Group, join up now and join in the conversation.
We now have over 400 members who have joined the group and hope to see this get closer to 700 in the next 12-months.
Importantly, members are advised that this social media platform will not be used for the Club to communicate critical information, which 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/