This note has been prepared to outline some changes to Thursday golf and also to provide Members with an update on the Hole Naming Survey which was completed last month.
Thursday Golf
After due consideration and many discussions with Members, the Committee has agreed to trial a “Two Tee Start” for Thursday golf. The main benefits of this trial should be greater flexibility for Members to choose competition or social golf in the morning fields, less likelihood of waiting lists developing and overall greater enjoyment of golf.
The 1st tee will be open from 6.30am through till 8.22am for compulsory competition play. The 10th tee will be open from 7am through till 8.22am for social play with optional competition. The afternoon fields will open on both tees from 11am for optional competition or social golf. Open timesheets as always apply although we are aware that predominantly our female members make use of the morning play.
My hope is that this change will allow competition players to gain access to the course without wait list problems, but still allow our social golfers to play with their friends. This will be a trial as I cannot speculate as to how our Members will adjust to these new arrangements and we will obviously closely monitor the timesheets over the coming weeks. The first day of this new arrangement starts on Thursday, 20 May with timesheets coming out this week.
Hole Naming Survey Results
As mentioned in my President’s Report, we have been collating and reviewing the results of the hole naming survey. I would again like to thank the 320 members (23% of total membership) who took the time to respond to this survey.
The overall results indicated that 70% of the responding Members agreed with the concept of progressing to naming of our 21 golf holes. The majority of these members also agreed with the proposed names as submitted by Al Haydock in his document. However, the Committee noted and were impressed by a number of other naming options that were contributed by members for each of the holes.
It has therefore been decided by the Committee that we progress this project to the next stage, which will be the appointment of a Hole Naming Steering Committee. This steering committee will include some past Presidents, Captains and Members who have a long history with the Club. It is anticipated it will provide feedback to the Committee over the next few months regarding the best naming options and how the Club should progress this project further. Once this steering committee is finalised, I will inform the membership of its makeup.
I would remind all Members that if this project is to become an historically significant event then it is essential that our processes are detailed and worked through diligently. Thank you again to all Members for their ongoing assistance in this task.
Kind regards
Mark Deuble, President