Well summer may officially be over but the forecast is for continued warm weather, and along with the occasional weather bomb our fairways should be quickly greening up. Autumn is one of the best times to play golf and we have a great program of events over the next couple of months.

This Weekend’s Events

Tomorrow our Mary Alward women’s interclub team are away to Boulcott’s Farm while our women’s Saturday Club will be playing Medley 3 Stableford. Our men’s interclub teams are also in action, with our Div 2 team at home to Boulcott’s Farm, our Div 5 team away to Manor Park, and our Div 9 team at home to Kapiti. For our non interclub men it is the 4th round of the Autumn Cup, with this round being played on a stableford basis.

On Sunday the 16 Holland Cup qualifiers go into the first knock out round whose format is match play on handicap off the blue tees, with the first group off at 10.02.

Best of luck to all competitors.

Pace of Play

We have a very full field tomorrow morning. Our Div 9 interclub team’s start times have been brought forward to 9.27 to enable team members to get to the Black Caps v England cricket match at Westpac Stadium, plus we have some early morning visitors also in town for the cricket. It is imperative therefore that all players keep monitoring their progress to ensure they complete their round in less than 4.25 hours. Please:

· Play “ready golf”

· Keep in touch with the playing group in front of you

· Clear the green as soon as your group has putted out – don’t hang about the green writing up your score card – do that after teeing off on the next hole

· When putting, leave your trundlers on the side of the green closest to the next tee

· Hit a provisional ball if in any doubt about having possibly lost the ball you have just played if a drop will not permitted.

Play Safely

Although we encourage “ready golf” it should not be at the expense of safety. It was reported earlier this week that a golfer playing at the Frankton golf course in Queenstown died after being hit in the temple by a golf ball. A couple of years ago an Australian cricketer died after being hit on an artery on the side of his neck – although this was by a cricket ball a golf ball could do the same. Do not leave the tee block until all your playing group have teed off; only go ahead of your playing partners if you are well to the side of the player about to hit the ball, and watch him while s/he does so; do not play your shot if a fellow player or green keeper is within range ahead of you and not watching.

Don’t forget also that the valley on the 18th is hidden from the tee block – if you have a group playing close behind you, station one of your group above the valley in sight of the tee block until all your group have played out of the valley.

Upcoming Events

We will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the club’s incorporation on Saturday 17th March with a Jubilee Tournament. This will be a stableford event open to all existing (including mid-weekers and 9-holers) and former members with existing members playing for the 1940 Cup that we were donated last week. But being St Patrick’s Day, we will also play an Irish Foursomes team event, whereby teams record the best stableford score of their foursome on holes 1 to 6, the best 2 on holes 7 to 12, and the best 3 on holes 13 to 18. We will have a shotgun start at 10am prior to which there will be complimentary tee and coffee in the club house, including Irish Coffee for those who wish to warm their cockles before play via a nod to St Patrick. And after play, while we are compiling the results, we will run a quiz, with teams being the same as the Irish Foursomes. The questions will all be related to the club, Karori / Makara, and golf. The attached flyer is on the downstairs foyer notice board along with an entry form – please add your name to it or ring/email the club. We have also sent the flyer to all former members for whom we have email addresses – please forward it to any former member who you may have contacts for. It is only $10 for former members, with no green fee being charged, plus all former members who play will also win a complimentary voucher for another round on our course.

Other all-member events coming up are the Karori Event Centre fundraiser ambrose tournament on 8 April and our annual ANZAC Day tournament on Wednesday 25 April. Lock these dates into your diaries now.

Recent Results

Last Saturday was the first Monthly Medal for our men members. Winner of the blue division was Erich Bucher with a net 71, one better than Geoff Parr on 72. The white division was also hotly contested with Alan Henwood winning on countback from Pete McMillen and Phil Pigou, who all scored net 70.

Scoring was much more difficult on Sunday with the Holland Cup qualifiers having to cope with gale force winds. Top qualifier was Alex Lim who netted 73 followed by Graham Black with 75. Only 5 players out of the field of 20 had net scores of less than 80!

Also last Saturday Erin Hawe conducted another successful She Loves Golf session - many thanks Erin for leading these - they were very appreciated by those who attended.

Women’s 9 Holers

On Tuesday we had a good turnout for the 2nd round of our Medal competition. Kath Robinson was our winner with a wonderful 30 nett. This was followed closely by Julie Wilcox with 32 nett and Chris Suggate 34 nett.

On Thursday we hosted the 9 hole ladies interclub and were fortunate to have excellent golfing conditions. The course was in great condition and we had numerous positive comments about the course from other players. Karori managed 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss which puts us at the top of the table! Many thanks to all the helpers. What a great team of women! We also raised $208.00 through raffle sales and this money is to be put towards the new ladies toilets.

Wednesday Club Results for 28 February

No report from our regular Wednesday Club reporter but winner of the stableford event was Horn Dim who scored 42 points, one better than Don Smith and Fergus McLean both on 41. Graham Black scored 2s on holes 6 and 12, with Keith Gaskin scoring the only other 2, on hole 4.

Harcourts Twilight Thursday 1 March

Another fine calm night for Twilight Golf last night with 20 players vying for the prize money. Scores were lower than we’ve seen before, with the winning score of 21 by Gail Kirkland, followed by a group on 20 points: Doug Calhoun, Richard Reith, Terry Bastion, and Graham Black. No two’s, and Brigitta Boenisch-Brednich was the well deserved winner of the consolation prize. Antony Kennedy was the lucky winner of the spot prize.

Thanks to our sponsors, Harcourts Team Yip, and for everyone’s help with the great bbq dinner.

Our last competitive Twilight night will be on Thursday 22 March, and our final night on 29 March will be a social round of pitch & putt followed by dinner and our end of season prize giving. So 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

Driving for Music

No, nothing to do with teeing off. Many members will no doubt remember former junior members Chris and David van Drimmelen and their father Peter who used to drop them off at the club on Saturday mornings. Peter used to play the viola for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and to supplement his income drove buses, including the school bus out to Makara. He has written a memoir of his orchestral life which may be of interest to the musos amongst us. The attached flyer and order form is on our notice board but copies can also be ordered by emailing Peter at: vandrim@xtra.co.nz

Happy golfing, play safely,

Your KGC Committee