I wish you all the best for 2018, with good health and much success on the golf course in the coming year.

 

We achieved a fair amount in the three-odd months since the AGM and I’d like to thank the members of the committee and the many others who have contributed to the smooth running of the club.

Some of the Club’s achievements are:

·         A successful year of competition. Our champions were recognized at our break-up events last month. Well done to all winners!

·         A marked improvement in the pace of play – thank you all!

·         A significant increase in the lady membership of our club.

·         A significant increase in the number of Weekday competition entrants.

·         The successful start to the trial of a Wednesday competition, with the player numbers last Wednesday exceeding Saturday’s numbers.

Our Major Competition Winners:

 

Life Member Brian Cox:

 

 

Pace of Play:

Those of you who read the last committee minutes would have noted that the Club is regularly achieving sub four and a half hour rounds, thanks to all the members who keep up with the group ahead or let the group following through if they find themselves more than a hole behind.

Slow rounds are the number one cause of frustration in our club and it is therefore very pleasing that the vast majority of members have embraced the initiative to ensure each round is a pleasant experience for all.

Unfortunately, on occasion there is still a hold-up by one group, such as occurred on Wednesday.

There are two new initiatives which should further improve our round times and eliminate what is now a rare occurrence:

·         Thanks to work done by Jason, we now have a projected tee-off time for each hole, printed on our cards. This was trialed on Saturday and the immediate feedback was very positive. If your group stick to these times, you are guaranteed a 4-and-a-half-hour round.

·         If you find the group ahead are a hole behind and are not allowing you to play through:

o   As much as you may which to shout a verbal ‘hurry-up’, there is now a better way

o   We have reached an agreement with Belgravia, who will respond to a call (9436 2201) from any of our members. They will send out a marshal and if the slow play is confirmed, report to our match committee, who will then take action

Lady Membership:

We are very pleased to welcome a record number of new lady members to our club – 15 at last count.

This gives us the opportunity to explore fielding a Ladies’ pennant team.

Jenny Bernhardt already represents our club in our Seniors Pennant competition and we would welcome other lady members (who are 50 or over) to try out for our two teams.

The competition will be held on Mondays in March/April this year, with participating clubs including Rosanna, Heidelberg, Box Hill and others.

We also urge all lady members to consider joining our committee, so if you are interested in being seconded to the committee this year, please contact me.

Trial of Wednesday competition:

As you would have noted from the committee minutes, we made various attempts at increasing the number of spots available to us on Thursdays. This was in response to the many expressions of frustration we received by Thursday players, who could not get a booking at a reasonable time.

These attempts were thwarted and we therefore surveyed our members’ views regarding moving our competition to Wednesday. The response was roughly two-to-one in favor.

After lengthy negotiations with Belgravia and the ground staff, we began a trial of the Wednesday comp.

If the strong participation last Wednesday continues in the coming weeks of the trial (and the booking sheets suggest it will), this day will become our permanent exclusive day, thereby providing the additional time slots which our members require.

Ideally we should be able to provide competitions on most days of the week.

The only way this could be achieved is if we combine with the Yarrambat Ladies’ club.

It is Golf Australia’s stated policy that they wish all clubs to welcome both male and female members. This is also our policy.

Our policy can best be achieved by ensuring that Yarrambat Golf Club remains a welcoming, friendly environment and we urge you all to continue to welcome all new members, both women and men.

We would also urge our lady members who are also members of the Ladies’ Club, to spread the message that ladies are welcome at our club.

Unfortunately, in the past, friction over golf block bookings have caused a division between our two clubs and I hope that us moving to Wednesday, as seems inevitable, will finally put this friction to bed.

I think we all look forward to the (inevitable) day when both men and women can play for one Yarrambat club, on whatever day of the week suits.

Looking to the future:

The committee are having a Planning session next month, where we will be discussing longer-term plans for the Club. This will cover items such as the size of club we wish to be and how we best provide a club that caters for our members’ needs.

If you have any particular input which you would like the committee to consider, please put it in writing to the Secretary.

What you can do:

Finally, it is my firm belief that a strong club comes from strong participation and support from all of its members.

To paraphrase JFK:-  ‘Ask not what your (club) can do for you, but ask what you can do for your (club)’

Some of the things you can do for your club:

·         Support our Pennant teams, and particularly our scratch pennant team.

o   They have a real opportunity of winning their section this year.

o   Your support, by offering to caddy, or by attending a home or away match, will assist greatly in them achieving success.

·         Help maintain the condition of the course, by filling all divots on the course, (not just your own)

·         Look for and repair pitch marks on the greens (not just your own)

·         If you have a complaint, think creatively about a solution and submit both to the Secretary.

·         Volunteer to assist on our charity days.

·         If you have a spare five minutes, vacuum the Bat Cave (the vacuum cleaner is behind the waste basket, next to the comp box).

·         Look around the Bat Cave and remove any rubbish left on the counters, etc. and place it in the waste basket.

 

Thank you to all the members who already do these things.

 

Good Golfing

Gavin Pearce, President

← Back to previous page