Just when we think spring is well and truly here, along comes a southerly storm to remind us that winter chills are still lurking about. As much as we like to receive regular rainfall to keep our fairways at their emerald best, the timing of this deluge could have been better, with us having to cancel today’s Sponsors Tournament. A real pity given the effort by the green keepers to present the course at its best, and the efforts of a few to tidy up the club house, clean the sponsors and tee signs, and clean and sort all our PnP and hire clubs. Hopefully the weather will have cleared in time for our Open Day on Sunday.
This Weekend’s Events
Tomorrow our women’s Saturday club will be playing ISTAS while for men it is October’s chance to win a monthly medal. As usual, this will be played in 2 divisions, with the lower handicappers playing off the blue tees and the higher handicappers off the whites. The player in each division with the best net score will win the medal, and therefore the chance to play for the Top Dog trophy at the end of the year. It doubles as a shop scramble - only $5 to enter.
On Sunday, it is our Open Day when anyone can come out to the course and play for free. Members can still book their usual tee times, so nothing different in that respect, but hopefully we will also have a lot of visitors who will be gob smacked by how good our course is. If you are coming out to play on Sunday please make our visitors feel very welcome. We have no idea how many people will come out, but we hope we will get a lot of family groups coming out to try the PnP and the children’s SNAG gear. Anyone who would like to help us run the event, or give some basic coaching to anyone who has never played before, is very welcome to come out and help. The emphasis will be on fun, so it should be an enjoyable day for both the participants and those running it.
Green Keeper Update
Our greenkeepers have been busy. In addition to preparing the course for the Sponsors Tournament and the Open Day, Matt has weed sprayed the fairways, and yesterday they cut down that branch which has been encroaching over the right hand side of the 12th fairway, almost as far as the bunker. Those of us who use this part of the fairway as our landing area for our drives will be pleased to have a bit more room for error.
Pat Redmond
After 35 years working at the club, having started when he was 17, Pat has decided it is time for a career change. He will continue working at the club up to the City of Wellington tournament, then use up his leave until he finishes in the new year, when he will take up a role with the Terawhiti Station. We will be very sorry to see him go, after such a major contribution to the club, but he will go with our very best wishes and enormous gratitude for everything he has done for the club over 4 decades. We will aim to organise some form of official farewell closer to his finishing date. In the meantime, we have started the process to recruit a replacement.
Recent Results
Congratulations to our 2018 men’s club champions:
Senior: Matt Spraggs
Intermediate: Keith Chung
Junior A: David Ainsworth
Junior B: Tim Allison
The qualifying round for the women’s 18 hole club championships scheduled for last Saturday was not played, with all entrants automatically qualifying for the finals.
Women’s Midweek Club
9 Hole Midweek Women
The 9 hole ladies were very fortunate to have perfect golfing conditions on Tuesday morning. We played an ISTAS game which uses a modified scoring system. Our convincing winner of the day was Trish Titcombe with 32 points.
2nd equal were Lindsey Pickering and Marion Thompson on 29 points and 3rd was Susan Wright.
A new member Marina Smith, celebrated her first 9 holes of golf! The bubbles were enjoyed by all and congratulations Marina!
Men’s Wednesday Club
23 Wednesday Club regulars enjoyed a fine but blustery day in advance of the forecast Spring storm approaching from the South.
The winner was our Junior B Champ maintaining his form with 41 pts Timmy Allison, followed by Ian Bates on 39, Keith Gaskin 37 and Mike Cox 36. The bunny was Jerry Barber and balls were handed out down to 34pts. NTP was Mike Cox --who 3 putted and paid the pig $2. No twos. The raffle prizes went to Jose Ribeiro, Trevor Brown and Ian Patience. The course is in great condition for the Sponsors Tournament and Open Day this weekend.
Team Yip Twilight Golf
The second night of the 2018/19 Twilight Golf season kicked off with reduced numbers after last weeks outstanding opening. Despite the wet lunch-time weather, 13 hardy souls braved the elements to experience a pleasant sunny late afternoon of 9 holes of golf. Wayne Cook and Celia Howden (on 21 stablefords) took out joint first place followed by Graeme Couper and Jo Hurst (on 19) in joint 3rd. Wayne also demonstrated his fine short game skills by picking up the nearest-to-the-pin prize on the 9th hole. Hole of the day goes to Graeme Couper, who playing off a 16 managed to shoot a birdie on the 9th to earn himself 5 stablefords! If you are keen on some light-hearted golf and a fine BBQ come and join us for a tee-off between 4:30-5:30 next Thursday.
Safety First
Spring time is nesting time for magpies who become very protective of their potential offspring. They are known to dive bomb anyone they think is getting too close to their nests. As a kid who used to run barefooted to school across some tree lined paddocks your scribe always used to run with an upright arm to deter any potential attacks – it might have just been a myth but it seemed to have worked. You might therefore want to walk with a club in your hand if any of the magpies around the course are looking agitated by your presence on the fairway.
Interclub
Although Interclub doesn’t restart until next year, please express your interest now, as we need to be confident that we will be able to field our usual number of teams. Wellington Golf are aiming to confirm the make up of each division and determine their draws in November so we need to confirm our entries prior to then. An expression of interest form for the men’s interclub is on the notice board in the downstairs foyer – please add your name to it if you are interested in playing for the club.
Sponsor Speak
Sponsor of Hole 6 on our course is Instep Limited. Instep are a national behavioural healthcare company delivering the highest quality support programmes for organisations consistent with their values. Click here to connect to their website:
Instep
Happy golfing, play safely,
Your KGC Committee