Course Update 11 June 2019

Winter is truly here now!

Last week was extremely wet with very heavy rain at times and very strong winds. We recorded 104mm and at on point we had 20mm fall in 30 minutes! It was the first real test of the new drainage and the bunkers we renovated recently. I am pleased to say that all these areas came through the storms with flying colours and did not need any special attention after the storm had gone which is absolutely wonderful.

Considering this and the newly installed GPS systems in the most of our golf carts we feel more confident to allow golf carts out for play more often. It was great to be able to have let golf carts on the course on Sunday again (and every day since then) which is great news for our players who desperately need carts to play. The GPS system allows us to exclude wet or dangerous slopes etc. on the course so that carts can be used with minimal damage risk to the course, reduced risk of getting stuck and most importantly reducing the risk of accidents to our cart users. Should you make use of one please note the rules that do not allow carts within 10m of Greens and Tees and when you hear beeping and a message on the screen it means you are entering a restricted area and need to return to the nearest path or stay on the fairway. At the moment, the 14th and 15 fairways are restricted to carts so please drive down the right-hand side rough on 14 and keep to the path of 15 only, you will need to drive all the way around the 16th Tee to get your cart up to 15 green. It’s a minor inconvenience but a necessary one so that we can keep you safe, protect the course but most importantly allow you to be able to play more often with the use of a cart. This is a very helpful video to watch:

https://www.usga.org/videos/2013/03/05/usga-course-care-video--golf-cart-and-pull-cart-etiquette-220501.html

It must also be mentioned that apart from a few smaller branches being lost from the trees on the course we had no fallen or badly damaged trees on the course where many other parts of the city had lost trees. This is a testament to the robust Tree Management Plan we have in place and the wonderful work that ‘Dad’s Army’ does once a week, a big thank you to them!

On that not you will notice some tree work that has been done on the right of Hole 14. We have removed some Acmena’s (pest trees) and a dead Macrocarpa in order to be more forgiving to tee shots going to the right of 14th fairway. This is to try and reduce the amount of golf shots that might go near the left boundary and road which poses a health and safety risk.

In closing we would like to continue to build a strong relationship between members and our staff. The team is out on the course every day working hard to make the course beautiful and fun to play under difficult circumstances sometimes. As we know the course has been exceptionally busy of late and it can be tricky maintaining the golf course without getting in the way, but we do train the team to be courteous and contentious towards golfers while trying to avoid distraction. We encourage you to show your support for the team and please keep in mind that the course staff have the right of way on the golf course. Here is an interesting video which offers some good pointers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM4LATAn_tk

Kind Regards

Spencer and the ‘Greenies’