Club newsletter for September 2019

Dear club members,

Spring is almost upon us and the promise of longer and warmer days in which to play more golf. With the golf course in ever improving condition thanks to our excellent greenkeeper Arnold Witteveen, now is the time to grab your mates and get out and enjoy yourself in what is great place to play.

Pat Melville RIP

As most of you know, we lost our popular and redoubtable president Pat Melville to cancer earlier this month. It was all too quick and a great shock to his family, friends and club mates. Pat made a big impact in his six years with the club both on and off the course. To celebrate his life, his family and the club are holding a memorial function in the clubrooms at 11am Sunday, September 15. Everybody is welcome so come along and pay your respects.

Farewell to Gordy

Our long-serving and dedicated club manager Gordon Davidson left last month and is now living the good life with wife Cath and dog Holly in Rolleston after just completing a deserved holiday in Hawaii.  Peter Watson has taken over as manager and has quickly realised what a busy and multi-task job it is. Please be patient while he learns the ropes.

AGM 

This year’s AGM will be held in the clubrooms at 9am on Saturday September 21. Please make an effort to attend so you can have your say on how the club is run and where it should be heading. For those who can’t be there, you can vote by post or by proxy.

We need people with energy, ideas, enthusiasm and an open mind to put their names forward for club leadership positions and to serve on the management committee. You don’t need to have had previous governance experience, although it is a help. Above all, we want people willing to work as a team to get things done.  Nominations close on Saturday September 7 so get your names down on the forms on noticeboards in the clubrooms.

 

 

Inter-club results

Our Sloan Trophy team finished the season a creditable fourth after fighting back from being last after three rounds. Congratulations to our captain Keri Kotua on being selected for the Tasman rep team.

Our Old Hickory team has veered from awful to awesome to awful again over the last few months. We hope the lads can rediscover their mojo over in Takaka this week and swap the dreaded popgun for the trophy.

Club results

The winter season is in full swing with qualifying for the C&F Legal club champs having just been completed. The quarter-finals begin on Saturday, September 7.

Earlier, Elton Netto and Winton Griggs took out the Brebde Senior/Junior, while the late Pat Melville prevailed in the Laurie Ashby Trophy. Keri Kotua won a thrilling individual matchplay final against Rob Willems on the 21st hole, although Rob bounced back to win the C&F Legal Stroke a few weeks ago.  The Shootout is well underway with Graham Eggers and Dave Blake leading the charge for the top 10 places.

Upcoming events

For the first time in 16 years, Waahi Taakaro is hosting the annual Country Clubs tournament on Saturday October 19 and Sunday October 20. As well as fielding two teams of four players each willing to play up to 36 holes of matchplay pairs on both days, we will need volunteers to help to run the event. If you are keen on playing, please put your name down on the forms on the club noticeboards.

We will also be hosting a group from Marlborough clubs on Saturday, September 14 and we have our two-yearly visit to Blenheim Golf Club on Saturday October 12 to look forward to.

Course usage

Usage of our course continues to be well up on last year with the number of rounds running almost 18% ahead. This increase is double that for the rest of Tasman and New Zealand, which is good news for us and impressed the Nelson City Council when we met for our annual contract talks last month. They are more than happy with the way things are tracking. We are still awaiting a formal response from the council to a number of proposals we made designed to make the course operate more efficiently.

Club member of the month

Gordon Davidson fittingly got the award in July, and for the month just ended it goes to management committee member John Towns who has worked tirelessly to tidy up the clubrooms, including cleaning and painting a downstairs room for the greenkeeper to use as an office. Others who have devoted time to giving the clubrooms and its surrounds a much-needed clean and de-clutter are Helen Thorne, Brian Strong and Richard Pearson. This project will continue over the next few months. If you can lend a hand, please contact Peter Watson. An honourable mention must also go to our barman Alan Church.

Congratulations to Warwick King

Our club captain Warwick coached his NZ under 19 men’s team to a gold medal at the recent Age Group Underwater Hockey World Champs in Sheffield, UK. His team went through the tournament unbeaten, a mighty effort. NZ teams won three golds and a bronze to dominate the tournament which is held every two years.

Firewood for sale

You may have noticed that enough firewood for next year has been stacked neatly downstairs out of the weather (thanks John). Rather than storing any more, we are offering the firewood presently heaped next to the practice nets for sale to club members at a very reasonable price. Please see Peter Watson if you are interested in taking a load away.

We intend offering other stuff to club members to purchase as we go through our cleanout of old and no longer wanted items, so keep an eye out for them.

Other snippets

The annual accounts for 2017-18 and 2018-19 have been finalised and will be presented at the AGM after being largely delayed by the slow payment of invoices by NCC which is now being addressed. Both years show the club made a modest profit.
The club’s banking and accounting arrangements are in the process of being rigorously reviewed and simplified with help from My Accountants.
Our golf shop staff have new employment contracts and a pay rise to reward them for their excellent work.
Another check will be made shortly to see if members are returning their scorecards so their handicaps are accurate and up-to-date. Please do the right thing and take one and fill it in every time you play.
The greenkeeper again asks all players to replace their divots and repair their pitch marks on the greens. Support him in his work and take a sand bucket with you.
We need a decent-sized bookcase (up to 6 foot high by 4 foot wide) to store our growing collection of golf books and magazines. If any member has one they no longer need and are willing to donate it, please contact Peter.

ends