What a great week it has been for golf with absolutely stunning conditions out on the course for this time of the year. We were pleased to be able to take local councillor Andy Forster and a colleague of his from the Karori Brooklyn Community Charity Trust on a walk around the course on Monday morning, discussing our plans for tree removals and course improvements, and we couldn’t have picked a better day, with the course sparkling in the early morning conditions. Both Andy and Heather seemed impressed with the course and supportive of our plans, with Andy, wearing his councillor hat, mindful that we could become the only 18 hole course in Wellington depending on the futures of Miramar and Mornington. More on the outcome of this visit below.

This Weekend’s Events

Tomorrow our women’s Saturday Club are playing the third round of the Pinfold Cup. On Sunday it is the quarter finals of the Westward Ho Shield for men. There were some close matches last week, and no doubt there will be similar tight tussles this Sunday – best of luck to all contestants.

Argentina National Day Tournament

Only 1 weeks to go now until the Argentina National Day Tournament on Saturday 17^th August, with tee off at 11am, followed by Argentinian catering and wines hosted by the Argentinian ambassador. We will be closing the entries on Thursday so that David Hill, the convener of the Diplomats golfing community, can do the draw on Friday. If you haven’t already entered, either add your name to the start sheet on the downstairs notice board or ring/email the club. It is open to all members, with an entry fee of $10 to cover the cost of catering and prizes.

Other Upcoming Events

Next month is when we play our Club Championships. On Sunday 1^st September men members play their Stroke Play Championship which doubles as the qualifying round for the match play rounds. In the past the stroke play event has been played over 2 rounds but this year it will be played over only one. It is open to all Ordinary Members, including players who are not available for the subsequent match play knockout event. It will be played in 4 divisions, determined by handicap, with the winner being the player with the lowest gross score. Cups are up for grabs in each division, but it is the winners of the match play events, which begin the following Sunday (ie 8^th September) who get their names onto our honours board. To be eligible for the match play Club Championship you must play in the stroke play event which will be used to determine seedings, with the top 16 qualifiers in each division going on to contest the match play. A flyer and start sheet will go on the notice board this weekend along with an entry sheet.

Successful Grant for Tree Removal Program

Large areas of a number of our fairways get little sun during the winter, resulting in patchy grass growth and reduced drying conditions, due to them being shaded by trees. The same applies to the 10^th green. Earlier this year we walked the course with an arborist to identify priority areas for selected tree removal and to scope up the likely cost of removing them. We then applied for a grant to help us meet this cost which we are now pleased to advise has been successful, with the Karori Brooklyn Community Charity Trust, in conjunction with the Lion Foundation, this week approving a grant of $30,000. We are absolutely thrilled to receive this generous grant and would like to take this opportunity of thanking Andy and Heather for taking the time to visit us to better understand the purpose of our grant application, and the Karori Brooklyn Community Charity Trust and the Lion Foundation for awarding us this grant. We look forward to initiating the program as soon as possible after the funds come through, and will be aiming for the tree fellers to work on Mondays and Thursdays.

Women’s Tuesday Club

The 9 hole midweek ladies all commented on how great the course looked on Tuesday. We combined 2 competitions - a medley (stableford) and a putting competition.

The winner of the Medley was Loreen Brehaut with 19 stableford points on a countback from Julie Wilcox, Hilary Holm had 18 points and Lindsey Pickering 17 points.

The winner of the putting competition was Chris Suggate with 15 putts, 2nd was Connie Lee with 17 putts and 3rd place was shared by several ladies with 18 putts.

Men’s Wednesday Club

An enthusiastic group of 32 teed-off with an expectation of superb conditions after 5 days of fine, calm, sunny weather had dried out the course. It remained dry underfoot with speedy greens and fairway run but overcast with a cool light breeze. The Wellington region seems to have been spared the rain, snow and wild weather experienced elsewhere.

The winner was John Markham with 39 pts with Martin Leung runner-up also with 39. Graham Presland 38, Gunter Karau 37, Saint Kennach 37, Don McCrone 37, Patrick Cordue 37, Mike Cox 36, Mike Suggate 35 and Denis Cox (Boulcott's Farm Visitor) 35 each received a ball. Trevor Brown scored a 2 on 6 and Don was NTP on 4 but missed his putt. Trevor and Don donated their balls back to Wed Club -- thank you. Keith Gaskin froze on his cart and was awarded the Bunny prize! The raffle winners were Paul Hawkes, Steve Robinson, and Dave Burton.

Note-- Next Wednesday we play for the India Cup (par Format). Indian nibbles after play. Cheers Ian

QE Putting

No, Queen Elizabeth doesn’t have a mini putt course at Buckingham Palace. QE here stands for Quiet Eye, being the name for a period where you keep your eyes fixated on a particular spot before initiating an action. Researchers at the University of Exeter, building on research done at the University of Calgary involving other sports, have shown that by focusing on a particular spot at the back of your golf ball for 2-3 seconds, prior to starting your putting stroke, not looking at your club head during your stroke, and maintaining the QE on the green briefly after the club contacts the ball, saves most players on average 2 putts per round. This may not sound much, but if you are on a low handicap, it can make a significant difference. For the full story, check out the winter edition of The Cut – the club receives a complimentary copy which is available for perusal in the clubhouse. This edition also includes a very informative A-Z feature on putting which members might also find helpful.

Happy golfing, play safely,