We may have missed the worst of Cyclone Gita but it was still enough to postpone both the women’s Tuesday and men’s Wednesday clubs. Hopefully though the rain will help the parched areas of our fairways start to regrow some grass and get them back to their emerald best. Meanwhile, the forecast is looking good for the weekend.
This Weekend’s Events
Tomorrow our women’s Saturday Club will be playing for the Molly Turner Salver while our men can compete for this month’s Monthly Medal. This is played in 2 divisions, with the lower handicappers playing off the blue tees and the higher handicappers off the white tees. Medal winners qualify for the Top Dog play off at the end of the year.
On Sunday it is the qualifying round of the Holland Cup. Being one of the main men’s events of the year (and for a new development in its history, read the 50th anniversary section below) it is played off the blue tees with the top 16 best net scorers going into the match-play-on-handicap knock out rounds the following Sunday. If you haven’t yet entered, do so by adding your name to the start sheet on the downstairs notice board or ring email the club. Tee offs will begin at 10.02 with a draw being sent out on Saturday evening.
Both the Monthly Medal and the Holland Cup will double as a combined shop scramble – only $5 to enter and you can double your chances if you enter both events.
You can also count your Monthly Medal and/or Holland Cup round as a Shoot Out round, provided you select it as such when you print out your scorecard and pay the $2 entry fee.
And don’t forget that this weekend is the last weekend for Summer Eclectic and Miners Arms rounds to be completed.
If you don’t intend playing golf on Sunday, then you could instead take the opportunity to “Take a Peek” at the new Karori Events Centre for which the club has helped raise funds via the KEC Tournaments we have run the last 2 years. With funds still required for the fitting out, we will be holding another KEC Fundraising Tournament this year on Sunday 8 April so lock this date into your calendars now.
She Loves Golf
Also tomorrow we will be hosting the second of our She Loves Golf days, this time with participants able to bring their partners and children. We received some excellent feedback from some of last week’s participants, with Erin Hawe deserving a big thank you for running the 2.5 hour session and for hosting the participants for lunch. Tomorrow she will be assisted by our men’s club champion Jay Maaka. Its not too late to register, or to invite anyone you think may be interested – the cost for the coaching plus the lunch is only a gold coin donation to Life Flight Trust who operate the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. It starts at 10am.
Erin leading some short game drills:
Interclub Results
Last Saturday was the third round of the 2018 men’s interclub season. Our Div 2 team had a good win at home over Royal Wellington 10.5 to 4.5 and is currently sitting mid table. Our Div 5 team struggled away to Ohariu losing 3.5 to 11.5 with this division, like last year, looking to be particularly tough. Our Div 9 team had the opposite score, beating Boulcott’s Farm 11.5 to 3.5 at home, to sit in second place. Its still very early days though, with 7 rounds still to be played.
Our Mary Alward women’s interclub team were also in action, going down away to Kapiti 8.5 to 3.5.
Pennants at Karori next Thursday
The third round of the 9 hole Pennants interclub with be played at Karori next Thursday. Please note therefore that the course will be closed for other players that morning.
Women’s 9 Holers
The 9 hole ladies golf did not proceed on Tuesday for obvious reasons. Our Medley competition was postponed until Thursday when unfortunately only 3 players turned up. However, they enjoyed their game and Kath Robinson was the winner on 17 stablefords on a countback from Susan Wright. Edna Collingwood had 13 stableford points. Next Thursday we are hosting the 9 hole interclub so hope the weather returns to what we have been accustomed to. Cheers Lindsey
Wednesday Club Results for 21 February
Like the women’s Tuesday Club this was also postponed and is currently being played today. We will therefore have 2 weeks of results in next week’s Friday Flash.
Harcourts Twilight Thursday 22 February
The rain cleared to a fine calm night for Twilight Golf last night. The course is in great condition, although the greens were slower than we’ve been used to of late. A competitive field of 20 with run away winner Geoff Lee on 25 points ($20). Second was Doug Calhoun on 22 points ($15); joint third on 21 points were Marg McCarthy, Matthew Everett, Richard Reith, Tim Rivers and Wayne Cook ($10). We had three two’s this; Geoff, Marg and Rolf (golf ball each).
Thanks to our sponsors, Harcourts Team Yip, and for everyone’s help with the great bbq dinner.
Thanks also to Laurie Cook for the table and seats he built for the club room deck. A generous donation of his time and materials.
With 6 weeks remaining of Twilight, there’s still plenty of time to come out and join us for 9 holes of social golf off the yellow tees, followed by a bbq dinner. All members and visitors welcome. First time players will get a $5 voucher. Tee off between 4.30 - 5.30pm. Wayne and Tim
Committee Feedback
Last Monday the Committee held its first meeting of the year and can report as follows:
· Both our surrounds mower and our main fairway mower need to be replaced. Our green keepers have been doing a sterling job keeping these operational but the regularity of their breakdowns is becoming increasingly problematic for the efficient and effective maintenance of our course. We had hoped that they would last until we had generated some capital funds from the potential land sale that we are exploring pursuant to the AGM resolution in December but with any sale unable to happen until the end of the year at the earliest, we have decided we will need to proceed via some sort of loan financing or hire purchase. Matt is currently checking out both new and second hand options.
· We have begun the potential subdivision process with the first step being to search LINZ and Local Authority data to check compliance with District plans. There are a number of steps to go through before subdivision can be applied for – the Committee will review its viability after each step.
· Matt has ordered a digger for next week to begin attending to those areas of the creek bank scouring that are threatening some of our bridges.
· He is also sourcing quotes for felling the trees that were uprooted recently between the 4th and 5th fairways.
· Membership numbers have declined slightly – with January being our biggest single month for renewals, it also tends to be the biggest month for non renewals. We encourage all members to invite friends out to the club with a view to possibly joining. Members are entitled to 2 complimentary round vouchers when they pick up their renewed membership cards for use when inviting friends out to play.
· We apologise for the delay in ordering new membership cards for those members who have joined or renewed this calendar year – we expect to have them in a couple of weeks’ time.
· A marketing sub-committee has come up with a number of ideas for growing revenue which we will start to implement.
50th Anniversary Celebrations
We are proposing to hold an anniversary tournament on Saturday 17 March to which we will invite as many former members as we have contacts for. We also propose inviting former members, plus existing members of the first incarnations of the Karori Golf Club (ie Miramar) to play complimentary rounds over Easter. More details next week but keep the 17th March free.
Also, it was a great thrill to be presented this morning (hence the lateness of this Friday Flash) with a trophy played for in 1940 when the club was in its third incarnation. The event was the Wellington Suburban Amateur Championship and was won by Leo Quinn. Like many of the club’s members at the time, Leo went on to serve in the war in Egypt and Italy and upon returning to Wellington after the war, by which time the Karori club had closed, he joined Manor Park where he went on to win many other trophies and club championships, while raising a large family of 13 children. The family has now gifted the trophy back to us, with son Phil Quinn handing it over to our president in a city café this morning. Many thanks to the Quinn family.
Phil Quinn about to hand the trophy to Club President Jono Wake
Interestingly, the Suburban Amateur Trophy was first played for in 1939 and was won by RG Holland who subsequently donated his cup to us and is now played for annually as the Holland Cup. Up until now we had thought this was the only time that the Suburban Amateur Championship had been played, with WWII putting an end to the event. The discovery of this second cup, played for the following year, disproves our original understanding which will no doubt pique the interest of the historians amongst us.
Happy golfing, play safely,
Your KGC Committee