The forecast couldn’t be better for golf this weekend, and our course is in tip top condition to match. The recent fine spell, combined with a couple of windy days, has dried out the course nicely to provide us with perfect winter golfing conditions. Hopefully you will get a chance to come on out, plus find time to get down to Prodrive to take advantage of their weekend sale.
Speaking of whom, Prodrive featured again on the Holden Golf Show last week, this time fitting out wedges for former Black Cap captain, Brendon McCullum. If you didn’t get to see it, click on this link to see what they sorted out for Brendon.
Prodrve wedges for Brendon McCullum
This Weekend’s Events
Tomorrow our women’s Saturday Club will be playing Medley 12 – Par. The course will then be closed to ensure an empty front 9 for an 11am tee off of the Captain’s Choice Disc Draw. This event is open to all members, male and female, as a chance to meet fellow members and to play with other members who you may not have played with before. No need to pre-enter – just turn up at 10.30 for registration when complimentary tea and coffee will be available, and a disc draw will be held at 10.45 to determine who you will play with and what tee you will tee off on. Entry fee is $5 per person which will all be used for prizes, plus we will be giving away back in the club house afterwards bottles of slightly expired, but still very drinkable, Powerade. Should be a fun event!
Nothing is programmed for Sunday, so if you don’t want to come out until after the America’s Cup and the US Open, there should be plenty of tee times available for you.
Last Weekend’s Results
Last Saturday the 3 men’s interclub teams squared off against each other, playing match play on handicap, to determine bragging rights of the best interclub team. The day started in cool sunny weather but by mid-way the conditions deteriorated with rain and cold southerly winds making for a challenging day of golf.
Once in the club house, the scores were tallied with Div 2 prevailing with 9 points ahead of Divs 5 & 9 who both got 7.5 points.
Notable results were players who won both matches, namely:
Jay Maaka and Dominic Milicich – Div 2
Ngatau Hemopo – Div 5
Ben Paradza & Mike Weaver – Div 9
So Jay Maaka, captain of the Div 2 team, is now the proud wearer of the coveted Beige Jacket, presented to him by last year's winning captain Mark Peck.
Calls for interclub team members for 2018 will be made in December. All teams will be looking to expand their squads to ensure they have sufficient numbers each week. In these days with so many demands on people’s time, many players struggle to be available for every round so don’t be put off if you don’t think you would be available for all 10 rounds of the competition.
On Sunday, the final of the Bertram Cup was played, with Michael Weaver, playing on his own as a result of his partner being overseas, followed up his good form from the Tin Cup the previous day to prevail over Keith Atkinson and Perry Florence 3/1. Congratulations Mike – terrific effort!
Another similarly great effort in the weekend came from Denise Marten who playing in the women’s Saturday Club Medley 11: Stableford Round scored a momentous 47 points. With a net 60 she definitely stole the show on the day. Well done Denise!
Wednesday Club
Wednesday Club results for 14 June
A lovely winter's day for golf, fine and sunny but with a distinct bite to the gentle southerly wind, particularly in the shadows of the trees. We welcomed visitors Paul Ainsworth, David's brother, from Russley and Rob Ashby from Mornington as well as Pat Woodward a new Wednesday Clubber, together with sometime Wednesday players Tealu Morisey and Pete McMillen. They all made their mark in the 18 hole "Par" competition, Rob taking out top prize with +4 followed by Tealu with +2, Paul winning a prize for finishing "all square" and Pete, who usually manages to win a prize one way or the other: this week it was the "the other". Doug Shearer, Lars Fagerstrom, Patrick Cordue and David Ainsworth also won prizes for scores of "all square" or better. Saint Kennach hit his tee shot closest to the pin on the 4th hole and sank his putt for a 2 to win two golf balls; other 2's were scored by Patrick Cordue and Ian Bates both on the 6th hole.
Annual Stableford and Par Competitions;
Progress scores for the year-to-date have been posted in the locker-room. David Ainsworth (67) leads the Par competition followed by Dick Adam and Derek Fitzgibbon both on 64: In the stableford competition Ian Bates (76) has a significant lead over Keith Gaskin (68) and Luke Underwood (63). These competitions run through to 31st October so there is still plenty of time for the rest of us to challenge them.
Weekly Raffle results: Winners were Derek Fitzgibbon (17), Graham Presland (30) and Don McCrone (2)
EARLY START NEXT WEEK - Makara Trophy
This better-ball, stableford drawn pairs competition will be played next Wednesday (weather permitting!) Pairings will be decided by the disc draw: in each four the two with even numbered discs will play as a team as will the two with odd numbered discs. The better stableford score on each hole will count towards the pair's 18 hole total. In order to give us time to record the pairings before we start we will do the disc draw at the EARLIER TIME OF 10.45am.
This week's good news: draining the lake has had one unexpected benefit, After 3 years Fergus McLean was able to retrieve the 3 iron which was the only one he couldn't find when his clubs, trundler and all, took a dive into the lake. Warning, the mud is very slippery: don't be tempted by the golf balls which have been revealed, they are unlikely to be worth the effort."
Hope to see as many as possible next week, weather permitting! Chris Pearce
Help Protect our Greens
As we get into winter we can expect the occasional frost in the South Makara valley. Frosts are usually followed by beautiful clear days, perfect for playing golf, but greens can be badly damaged if played on while still covered in frost. Please therefore try and delay your start on frosty days until the frost has cleared. If you do happen to play onto a green that is still covered in frost, then please don’t putt out – instead just pick up and add to your score how many putts you and your partners think you would have taken.
Also, our greens are quite soft at the moment, and therefore prone to pitch marks which left unrepaired will leave lasting damage. Please therefore take the time to repair them as soon as you get onto the green. If you haven’t got a pitch repair tool, ask the shop for a free one.
Happy golfing, play safely,
Your KGC Committee