Just when we think we’ve got some fine weather to dry out the course, back comes the rain. And with little wind lately, the course is still very sodden, albeit very playable. Unfortunately therefore we are keeping the course closed for carts this weekend but hopefully the forecast of more fine weather over the new few days, coupled with a couple of windy ones, will enable us to review this for members next week. We are not alone, with this article in a recent edition of the DomPost detailing the issues the council are having managing their sports fields. On the bright side, yesterday was the shortest day of the year, so from now on the days will be getting longer!

Grounds at Saturation Point

Frost

With parts of Wellington waking up to a frost this morning, it is timely to remind players that frost can be damaging to our greens if played on while still covered in frost. Also, our slopes can be extra slippery when covered in frost. If you do wake to a frosty morning, please delay your tee off until the frost has thawed. And if you do come across a green on your round that is still covered with frost, don’t putt out on it, just make an assessment as to how many stokes you think it would have taken to putt out and move to the next hole. The science behind frost damage is explained in this insert, courtesy of the NZ Sports Turf Institute.

This Weekend’s Events

Tomorrow our women’s Saturday Club will be playing Medley 9 – Nett. No events are programmed for the men, but on Sunday it is the semi finals of the Bertram Cup, with 4 pairs battling to make it to the final on July 1^st. Each semi final includes a pair which contains former winners – will this experience be the determining factor, or will new blood triumph over old? Whatever, they should be a couple of intriguing matches - best of luck to all 4 pairs.

Internet Outage

We had another internet outage last week, with it going down on Friday afternoon and not coming back on until about Saturday lunchtime. The operators of the South Makara network have advised that it appears the solar batteries in their relay station look to be dying, as they are taking a long time to recharge, no doubt accentuated by the lack of recent sunshine. They have ordered replacements but it is possible that they may fail completely before they can be replaced, in which case we would lose our internet connection and wouldn't be able to print out scorecards. We will keep a good supply of blank ones should this be the case. If you do have to use a blank card, don’t forget to enter your membership number on the card, along with the date, and make sure the colour of the tees that you played from is correctly recorded. If the system is still down where you complete your round, either hand in your card to the shop, if the clubhouse is open, or put it in the box on the outside wall under the balcony - not through the slot where you return entered cards.

Women’s Midweek Club

9 Hole Midweek Women

Once again the wet weather intervened on Tuesday and play was postponed but a few hardy souls played on Thursday. Trish Titcombe won the putting competition with 18 putts. Other scores were considered to be better left unmentioned!

18 Hole Midweek Women

Our midweek interclub team played against Royal Wellington at Otaki on Monday.

They managed to avoid the worst of the weather but not another loss going down to Royal Wellington 8 – 1.

It is unfortunate that we have had three postponements this year resulting in us playing for a lot longer than expected and in worse weather.

A number of our players are now heading overseas making it very difficult to field a full team.

We had to default one match on Monday and for the final round scheduled for next Monday we are only able to field two players and having to default the rest of the matches.

A disappointing end to the season.

Club day on Tuesday was postponed to Thursday.

Men’s Wednesday Club

The Wednesday Club gathering of last week eventually got held on Friday the 15th. Only 18 turned up which was a pity as the weather was pretty good. But after all that rain there was not much run to be had. However big-hitting Dick Adam did not seem to be bothered as he finished +4, closely followed by Mike Suggate on +3. Peter Kennedy and Alex Lim managed highly respectable +1s. Balls were handed out down to all square. Don McCrone garnered the only 2 for the day and, as usual, handed his prize back for the further benefit of the Wednesday Club. Ian Bates hit a magnificent shot to within ten feet of the pin on the 4th, but then had to contribute further to the Wednesday Club's coffers. Would you believe it, but Dick Adam also cleaned up in the raffle, followed by Dave Norton and Ian Collagen!

This week, with the weather forecast a bit more promising, 25 hardy souls ventured onto the course to expunge their golf withdrawal blues. Only 22 appear to have submitted their cards--maybe they are still out there!!! It was fine but cold (10c with wind chill) and a little damp underfoot.

They say lightning doesn't strike twice in the same spot --a theory now disproved by Dick Adam who won for the second week in a row with 40pts. He did concede that his score last Friday may have been overstated by a point on review--he gave one of his balls to last week’s runner-up Mike Suggate as compensation. Paul Hawkes 39 and Satish Chandra 37 were the runners up this week followed by that well known "b-visitor" Rob Ashby from Mornington. Other non-regulars were Tim Richards and Adrian Porter. Balls were given out to 36 pts.

Alex Lim scored the only TWO on 6 and Tim Richards paid the pig with his NTP on 4.

The raffle was won by Satish $20, Don McCrone $10 and Dick Adam $5 --why are these guys so lucky!!??

Tim Brosnahan struggled with the limited run but thought positively throughout his round!

Pitch and Putt

We have recently simplified the PnP green fees - $5 for children and $10 for adults. This includes clubs and balls if required – ie we have dropped the additional charge for using our clubs. Please note though that members do not have to pay to use the PnP course, whether playing a PnP round, or just using it for practice – it is all part of our membership offer.

Although the PnP course doubles as our practice fairway, please be mindful that when using it for practice, the PnP players take priority – in particular, hitting drives from the elevated tee block is not permitted if there are PnP players on the course. Also, if you do come out to the club just to practice on the PnP course, please park your car in the club’s car park. Although it may be more convenient to park in the bay opposite our entrance, this can compromise the safety of people coming out to the club. The purposes of the roadside bay is

· To give cars somewhere to pull over if they cant turn into our drive because of oncoming traffic

· To provide a turning circle to cars wishing to enter our drive from the south side of the entrance.

Firewood

Unfortunately we have run out of dry firewood. We thought we had cut up enough last year to meet this year’s demand but much more got taken in Feb/March than expected, which is what prompted us to restrict self pick ups.

Happy golfing, play safely,

Your KGC Committee