Another busy week this week and it’s not over yet, with Interclub resuming this weekend. Yesterday the clubhouse was a hive of activity, with us hosting all the women’s 9 hole mid week interclub teams who enjoying sparkling course conditions, followed by lunch prepared by Sara and Debbie. Our mid week team had a bye so were able to do all the organising without any pressure of having to play as well. With the course closed in the morning for other players, we opened the door connecting the women’s and men’s toilets to make more toilets available for the visitors and by all accounts, the women were very impressed by the quality of the men’s toilets. We look forward to being able to upgrade the women’s toilets to a similar standard later this year.

This Weekend’s Events

Tomorrow all 3 of our men’s interclub teams are back in action, as is our women’s Mary Alward team. Our Div 2 men are at home for the first time this year, to Te Marua, our Div 5 team play their first away match, up at Otaki, while our Div 9 team is at home to Shandon. Our Mary Alward team is also playing at home, versus Boulcott’s Farm. Best of luck to all our club representatives.

For non-interclub players, our women’s Saturday Club is playing Nett while non interclub men can play the third round of the Autumn Cup, with this round being played on a Par basis.

Also this weekend men can compete for the first Monthly Medal of the year. This year the Monthly Medal can be competed for on both Saturday and Sunday, and there will be no entry fee. As for previous years, it will be played in 2 divisions, but the cut off for the blue divisions will be a handicap of 15 rather than 18. The best nett score over the weekend in each of the blue and white divisions will win the Monthly Medal and qualify for the Top Dog playoff at the end of the year.

NB Those competing in the Autumn Cup on Saturday and whose handicaps are greater than 15 can count their round as a Medal round provided they select Monthly Medal as well as Autumn Cup when printing out their card and provided they count every shot – ie don’t pick up once your Par score for the hole has gone negative.

Upcoming Events

Next Sunday, 24^th February, is the qualification round for the Holland Cup. This is our major men’s trophy for the year, second only to club championships. The top 16 qualifiers on a best nett basis will go through to the knock out rounds which will be match play on handicap. An entry form is on the notice board in the downstairs foyer – either add your name to that or ring/email the club.

The same day we will be holding an Open Day featuring once again the special SNAG (Someone New At Golf) equipment for beginner juniors plus free use of the Pitch and Putt. We are seeking members to help out on the day – if you able to, please let us know. If you also wish to qualify for the Holland Cup, let Carl know so that he can make special arrangements for you.

Land Sale Update – Breaking News

Tenders for the section of land next to Rocky Point that we plan to subdivide closed yesterday. We received a number of offers and are pleased to advise that Club President Jono Wake and Treasurer Wayne Cook, on behalf of the club, accepted the highest offer and signed the sale and purchase agreement . The sale is subject to sub-division approval and we are under confidentiality on the sale price until settlement has been completed. However, we can say that the offer is considerably more than the estimates that we had received and that the sale did go to Danielle and Shane who own Rocky Point.

This is a great outcome for the club and should ensure our financial security for many years to come. A big thank you to Wayne Cook for leading this project and especially to Anita Corlett of Harcourts YIP for managing the tender process, with club member Peter Jones providing legal support. The sub-division application is currently with WCC.

Women’s Tuesday Club

Tuesday Group of ladies 9 holes players

This was the first of our Medley rounds (placings earn points towards the 9 Hole 2019 Championship trophy) and it was a stableford format. It is also the first time we have played the back 9 holes of the course and had a chance to ding the bell on the 18^th hole.

1st Marie Russell 16 stableford points (Jane’s Prize)

2nd Sally Combly 15 stableford points

3rd equal Loren Brehaut and Elaine Pearse 14 stableford points

Thank-you George for doing the catering.

Karori Ladies 9 hole players were non playing hosts of Interclub on 14^th February

The weather was ideal, the catering was enjoyed and the day went extremely well. Many players commented on how well our course looked on Thursday. The long days of trimming banks and clearing streams by dedicated volunteers are greatly appreciated: it sure made the life of a ‘spotter’ easier. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make the day such a success.

Men’s Wednesday Club

The weather for the day was not as hot as expected due to fairly strong Southerly. Due to forecast of extreme heat and vacation by many members, we had only 28 players on the day. The competition was “par” format and we had winners with spectacular scores.
The champion was Ian Patience with a score of plus 7, followed strongly by Derek and Satish with equal scores of plus 5. Other strong contenders were Keith Atkinson and Ian Bates with scores of plus 3. It’s quite interesting that no one landed on the green of hole no 4 so there was no NTP prize and no one scored a two, so we saved at least 2 balls for the day. The most exercised prize went to Fergus, probably the summer heat did not suit him.

Overall we had a good day out. For those who want to tee off a little bit earlier, we do have groups who start at 9:30 on Mondays and Fridays. You are all welcome to join us. Victor

Team Yip Twilight Golf

We had another great turnout at Twilight last night with 22 players. With Tim Rivers away at golf school, the Apprentice stepped up to MC the evening with the outstanding help of the apprentice Apprentice, things went like clockwork, just saying! Richard Reith took out top honours with 24 stablefords followed by a cascade of results. Peter Nichols scored 23, Matt Harvey 22, Sally Combly & Graeme Hoy 21, and in 5^th place Jo Hurst and Jeff Mason scored 20. Richard also starred with the pitching wedge by taking out NTP on the 8^th. At the other end of the table Tim Brosnahan had his sweet tooth rewarded by playing the most golf. Surprisingly there have been very few 2s this season but the trend was overturned with Karen Simcox, Jeff Mason and Matt Harvey all winning golf balls. There are only 6 nights left before the end of the season and the battle for the top prizes: total points, average STBs, and Eclectic are still very tight.

Confirmation of New Local Rule

As previously advised, the Club has adopted as a local rule the recommended alternative rule regarding stroke and distance penalty. The exact wording of the rule is attached and will also be posted on the downstairs notice board. It is too long to be written in full on the white board underneath the balcony.

NZ Golf has recommended that clubs adopt the alternative rule for all women’s LGU, National Teams Championship and Home Links events and we understand Wellington Golf has recommended the same for men’s interclub events, although it is not clear whether all Wellington clubs have in fact adopted it. Home team captains should be advising their visiting oppositions whether the recommended rule has been adopted.

Also as previously advised, until further notice when playing at Karori continue to adhere to the yellow and red implications of our penalty areas. In time we will change some of the yellow markers to red to simplify the penalty options, plus we will create some new red penalty areas, but because we may retain some of our existing yellow markings, we cant simply pass a rule stating that all yellow markings are to be regarded as red.

Volunteers

A big thank you to John Markham and his band of helpers for their continued progress on weeding our streams, rewarded by John sighting a couple of eels a few days ago enjoying the cleared waterways. We have had no response to our latest advertisement for a replacement green keeper and expect we may have to operate for some time with a green keeping contingent of only 2. As a result we will look to set up a more formalised volunteer roster and with this in mind, will shortly send out a request for willing members to register as volunteers and to nominate what sort of work they would be prepared to undertake. We have a lot of projects we would like to get underway but with only 2 green keepers and our current group of volunteers already stretched, we need more wo/man power to make any significant progress. Our strong financial position, which will be further enhanced by the sale of the proposed sub division, makes us the envy of many golf clubs in the region, and it would be great to complement this with a robust club atmosphere on the back of a committed membership and a strong volunteer base.

Happy golfing, play safely,

Your KGC Committee