Great to have some superb mid week weather for our mid week clubs, after Sunday and Monday were washed out by heavy rain that forced us to close the course for carts. And although there was a sprinkling of rain today, it’s looking good for the Rigarlsford tomorrow.

This Weekend’s Events

Our only club event programmed for the weekend is tomorrow when we will be playing our annual Rigarlsford tournament. We have a large field so please register between 8.30 and 8.45 in time to tee off at 9.06. The entry fee is $5, which will all go on prizes and catering, but we will also run a raffle to help raise funds for the club. As previously advertised, the prizes and catering will have a French theme, as will the raffle, so why not also ditch that cap and don your beret to get into the spirit of the event. We will be doing a draw this afternoon which we will post on the front page of our website.

Email Issues

For some reason Gmail is now bouncing our “All Member” emails as spam, which prevented last week’s Friday Flash from being circulated. We have worked a way around it by breaking down our distribution list into smaller subgroups, but if you haven’t received a Friday Flash by mid afternoon Friday and are missing your FF fix, then check on our website where it also gets uploaded. It is on the Members page under News but there is a link directly to it at the bottom of the front page which enables you to access it without having to sign in.

Women’s Midweek Club

9 Hole Midweek Women

The 9 hole ladies enjoyed their putting competition on Tuesday. Despite the weekend's torrential rain, the course was in excellent condition. Connie Lee was the winner with 14 putts, followed by Chris Suggate and Lindsey Pickering with 16 putts.

Men’s Wednesday Club

Despite the weather being fine and sunny, it was a very cold day due to wind chill factor. A group of 31 members ventured out to compete. Probably due to the weather impact, the par scores were not very high. A top group of 4 players who had the same score of +1 shared the championship, however based on the computer count back, Satish Chandra won the title followed by our former captain Paul Hawkes, followed by Luke Underwood and Victor Diem.

The even scores were achieved by Patrick Cordue and Steve Robinson. Patrick had just come back from 2 weeks of field work in Peru and had many interesting stories to tell about life in South America. He also enjoyed the atmosphere of the FIFA World Cup in Lima where Peru was part of the 32 countries at the championship.

So overall there were only 6 players who had a better result than their individual handicaps. However balls were distributed down to -2 scores. Nearest the pin was Geoff Lee but he didnt make the putt, therefore donated to the piggy bank. Raffles were won by Ian Bates, Peter Wilcox and Graeme Crocker. There were no Twos but Graeme Crocker had the bunny prize.

The wine raffle was won by Patrick who felt embarrassed to win because too many Wednesday Club committee members have won, so he passed it up for a redraw. The second winner was also a committee member, Victor Diem, who felt obliged to follow the precedent so requested another redraw. Finally, Martin Leung won the wine bottle. So, all members, please support the club by putting more money in the wine raffle so that committee members do not win the prize so regularly any more.

It was a good day and enjoyed by all. However, some of the teams did not return to the club house early enough. To speed up the game, please ensure that immediately after finishing the hole, please do NOT write your score, go to the next tee. Imagine, we have 18 holes to finish, and by delaying with 1-2 minutes per hole, we may delay by half an hour at the end of the round. Victor

Next Major Men’s Event – Westward Ho Shield

With the Bertram now over for another year (won by 2016 winners Eugene Doyle and Keith Chung – as reported in last week’s failed FF) our next major event for men members is the Westward Ho shield, which along with our bar, takes its name from the previous Karori Golf Club which opened in the South Makara Valley in the 1930s. This is a singles match play on handicap knock out event, played off the white tees. A qualifying round will be played on Saturday 28^th July, with the 16 players with the best net scores going on to the first knock out the following Saturday. An entry form is on the notice board in the downstairs foyer.

13^th Green Water Tap Update

The faulty uv lamp that led to the water tank at the green keepers’ shed failing one of its regular eColi tests has now been replaced and we have since had two clear samples. However we need one more before we can reopen the tap for player consumption – we will let you when we have received this but until then, please continue to refrain from replenishing your water bottles from this tap.

Alan Davies Memorial Seat

Great to see the family and friends of former member Alan Davies, who sadly passed away earlier this year, out at the club last Saturday, reflecting on the good times he enjoyed on our course over his many years of membership, and inspecting the seat on the 9^th tee that his friends purchased in his memory. Alan’s son joined Alan’s regular early Saturday morning playing partners for a round of golf, and was then joined by other family members and friends to inspect the seat, and enjoy some club house conviviality. Well done to Alan’s friends for donating the seat and hosting Alan’s family.

New Seat on 10^th Tee

Many thanks also to John Wells for the donation of the new seat on the 10^th tee. John is an American who has been a member for the past couple of years but will be shifting back to the US later this year. We will be sorry to lose you John, but best wishes for your return home – its been great having you as a member of our club during your time on NZ.

If any other members would like to donate a seat for the course, either individually or as part of a group, please let us know. For $600 we can arrange for a seat to be built and installed on the tee of your choice (if not already taken) and you can put your own plaque on it. Ideally we would like to replace all the half-round seats on the course, which while having served their purpose, are proving too uncomfortable for most of our members.

Scorecard Sponsorship

We are pleased to advise that Anita Corlett of Harcourts YIP, sponsors of Twilight last summer, has extended her sponsorship to include the front cover of our scorecards. Anita has also replaced the sign advertising the course in the paddock as you approach the church on the corner of South Makara Road with a new fresher sign. Many thanks Anita for your ongoing support of the club.

The back of our scorecards continues to be sponsored by Prodrive whose shop is now located at their driving range in Silverstream, just off the Hutt motorway so very easy to get to. Their contact details are on the back of our scorecards.

Happy golfing, play safely,

Your KGC Committee