CAPTAIN'S BLOG - NEWS

COVID - 19 update.

The most recent NSW Health advice relating to fully vaccinated adults indicates that in our LGA golf could be played in groups of three or four but non fully vaccinated would still be playing in groups of two. As always, we use the guidance from Golf NSW and Clubs NSW before we implement any changes.  Currently Golf NSW are in the process of reviewing the legal aspects related to the change.

Also a reminder not to congregate in groups prior to or after your round, we are still limited to groups of two.

We will keep you posted as further clarification is available.

Golf Cart Storage...

As a part of planning for the future needs of members we are keen to understand whether you will be requiring storage for a golf cart within the next two years or so.
This will allow us to plan for shed extensions and when the extra space would be required.

Please email Kevin if you are interested, click here.

Postion Vacant

We are placing a call out for "expressions of interest" to fill a vacancy we have in our greenskeeper staff. As you are probably aware a number of industries are finding it difficult to recruit and fill vacant positions.  BGC is as well.

If you have a relative or know someone who would enjoy working with a great team, please email Kevin with their name and contact details. Email. No experience necessary, training will be provided by Matt and Adam.

As I mentioned last week a great deal of work has been completed during late Autumn and Winter with both Club House and the Course being the beneficiaries. 
The major works to the Club House were:

• External repairs and painting
• Air-condition installed in the locker rooms
• New carpet installed.

Hopefully we will get to enjoy these improvements in the next month or so.
The major Course work completed were:

• Drainage work completed on the 8th and 9th holes - recent rains have demonstrated the effectiveness of this work.
• New path to the 9th tee and the scrub removed from the area resulting in a complete makeover of this corner of the course. 
• 15th Hole stormwater drains cleared and repaired.
• Ephemeral drain pipes on the 13th, 16th and 2nd holes cleared and repaired.
• 13th pond dam wall leaks filled and will be tested in the next week or so.
• 14th RHS bunker removed and green side reshaped and turfed.
• Removal of deceased and dangerous trees.
• Corella "scarers" installed on 4 greens.  These appear to work and the 14th green is slowly recovering from the savage attacks a few months ago.

These are the main jobs and I've probably missed a few.  A huge thanks for all the volunteers who supported this work and assisted Matt and Adam.  All in all, it is many hundreds of man hours, thank you. 

While I'm sure some of us are still being told to "act our age" we are launching a new competition for members to "Shoot Your Age".  The plan is to have this competition run in parallel timing with the Summer and Winter Eclectic competitions. This will give an opportunity for Members to compete in a competition where their effective handicap is the difference between their age and BGC Blue Tee Par of 69. Please contact Alec Dietsch (email) for more details.  A sign up sheet will be posted on the notice board behind the score card scanner in the Club House.  Remember you have to be "in it to win it".

Wednesday - Green Keepers Revenge - Ambrose
First up let me say to all those left handed golfers - the 10th temporary tee did them no favours at all, unless you can swing effectively through a pine tree.  The winning combination with nett 61.75 was John Hobbs and David Ferguson and runners up Sam Mulholland and Paul Carroll with nett 62.25.  A good field for the event, 88 entrants.

Saturday - Single Stableford
A large field with a total of 119 entrants for both the mens and women's competition.  The winner of the mens competition with 43 points was Alan Fischer with Gil Levy runner up on 42 points.  Due to the size of the field the grade winners applied; A Grade winner Paul Pettiford 40 points on a count back; B Grade winner Bruce Franklin 39 points on a count back; C Grade winner Gil Levy.  Ball winners went down to 35 points with 30 place getters -  some very good rounds of golf on a renovated course.
Sunday - Medley Stableford
Winner was Noel Davis with 39 points on a count back from Bill Webster.
Monday Madness
With winter temperatures returning today,  a reduced field won by Ash Southon on 35 points. 

Some light rain overnight will do the course a world of good.  Thanks to Matt and Adam for the recent course renovations, this will set everything up well for the Championships coming up soon.

​Dave Burgess

Renovations

Today and tomorrow the course renovations are underway for the greens and the tee boxes.  Some tee boxes will be oversown and sanded while others will be aerated only.  This depends upon the condition and wear on the tee boxes. We started the coring of the fairways earlier than initially planned to take advantage of the wet weekend. The new section of the 12th fairway has been oversewn, aerated and sanded, as such, this is marked as GUR with white stakes.

As well as the course getting a work over the Club House flooring is was well.  New carpet tiles are being laid in the main entrance, locker rooms', bar  and main function room areas and the office.

Click on the photos below to enlarge for more detail.

Recent competitions have been very well represented for both the mens and womens events driven, I assume, by the current COVID travel constraints.  As we are playing in pairings, please ensure that you book a tee time well ahead of normal practice.
Wednesday - Single Stableford
First day of spring and John Jones took the honours with 40 points from Patrick Lane with 38 points.
Thursday - Women's Foursome Championship
This major event was played in pairs due to the COVID rules on a perfect day; the results can be seen here on Annie's blog, click here.

Saturday - Monthly Medal and the Max Allen Memorial Trophy
Those smarter than me played in the morning as the afternoon was a bit wet but playable. 
The Max Allen Memorial Trophy was won by Chris Kunz with a very solid Nett 63.
A-Grade Medal winner was Daniel Weekes with Nett 64 and runner up was Terry Downing with Nett 68.
B-Grade Medal winner was Chris Kunz and runner up was Angus Yuill with Nett 69 on a count back.
C-Grade Medal winner was Vernon Vella with Nett 69 and runner up was Shane Harvey with Nett 71 on a count back.

Sunday - Stableford Medley
Thomas Moulton, 37 points, won on a count back from Brian Hanrahan.

October is not too far off and it is packed with Trophy and Championship events. To name a few, Club Championships qualifying, Watson Trophy, Veterans Trophy, Bradford Trophy (Junior C.C.) and the Lifestyle Trophy.  Keep an eye on the MiClub Bookings page to make sure you "get in the running".

18th September - Secretary's Plate - Parent and Offspring - hopefully travel constraints does not impact this one too much.

Note: The Redmond Dalton Trophy has been moved to later in the year due to COVID travel restrictions.

Thank you for your feedback on the Monday Competition, we will review accordingly and make a decision.

Regards,

​Dave Burgess

COVID Update

​The current COVID rules will remain in place as the regional health rules have been extended.  As always we will keep you posted of any changes.  Thank you all for your adherence to the current COVID protocols.

From recent government announcements and health advice the quickest way back to having our Club House open and playing in groups of 3 and 4 is for high levels of vaccinations, so please consider getting the vaccinations if you have not done so already.

 Following a recent submission to the board relating to the Anniversary Dinner and vouchers/prizes, the Board has decided upon the following.
Anniversary Dinner
The Anniversary Dinner will move from being an annual dinner to a dinner event which will celebrate significant milestone occasions for the Club. The next Anniversary Dinner is scheduled to celebrate the Club's 125th year in 2026.
Presentation Dinner
The trophy and championship winners will be recognised with a Presentation Dinner to be held soon after the completion of the Club Championships in November.  This year's presentation dinner is scheduled for the  Saturday the 13th of November 2021.
Trophy Vouchers
This year all trophy winners will receive a voucher to the presentation dinner as will the Championship winners; the same practice as in recent years. 
Then, from next year, 2022, all trophy winners with the exception of Club Championships will have their accounts credited to the value of the voucher on the day of the event, Championship winners will be awarded vouchers to the Presentation dinner. 

Click to read Prizes for Medley and Men’s Competitions January 2021

All Trophy winners, members and members guests are invited to the Presentation Dinner.

A review of the voucher system will be undertaken at the end of 2022. 

We are keen to understand what our membership prefers for the Monday competition, is it:

1. A nine hole Yellow Course competition - or,
2. A White Course 18 hole competition?

Let me know, send an email click here bgcclubcaptain@gmail.com .

As always at this time of year our greens staff and Dad's Army are working on course maintenance and improvements before the growing season starts and it's cutting grass time.  A few updates for this week:
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Next week...

Monday and Tuesday will be the greens, tee box and fairway renovations.  With that comes the "greenskeepers revenge" formats.  A bit of fun as we move into Spring.  Enjoy.

Wednesday & Thursday - Course Closed - it rained unfortunately.

Saturday - Single Stableford

Another strong field of 88 entrants, great to see.
The winner with 40 points was Alan Turpie and running up was David Bickford with 39. David won the A grade, while Patrick Lane took B Grade and Kevin Burke with a great 38 points won C Grade.

Sunday - Medley Stableford
Thomas Madigan with 42 points won the day with Daniel Weekes runner up on 38.  Well done.

Monday Medely Stableford

Brenton Aggar to honours with 34 points on a count back from our visitor from Moss Vale Owen Babula.

This Saturday is the September Monthly Medal and the Max Allen Memorial Trophy.  Max was Club President from 1969 to 1973.

Next Wednesday following the course renovations is the Greenskeepers Revenge - a 2 ball Ambrose format. A bit of fun to ensure the sun keeps shining!! 

Best Regards,

​Dave Burgess

It's been very fortunate that we can use our golf course for exercise during the last couple of weeks. The Wednesday and Saturday fields have been well over 100 players.  While we can't travel far to meet up with family and friends we can still enjoy a round of golf.

COVID protocols were outlined in last week's post, please refer to them as required.  Current requirements are for mandatory wearing of masks while not exercising.  One person per golf cart is the current requirement.

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Preferred Lies - we still have a few holes which will "mud the ball" so the preferred lies rule is on close watch. It may well be in place for a while longer if the tonight and tomorrows rain event comes as plan.

Finally, the 13th pond has been drained and inspection of the wall adjacent to the concrete bridge on the fairway side shows a significant hole which causes the water to leak through.  Now we know the problem we can work on the solution.

Wednesday - 4BBB with Singles in Conjunction
As mentioned previously a great roll up with 94 players. Peter Dunn and Ray Clayton took "line honours" with 47 points from runners up Chris Kunz and Vern Vella with 46 on a count back. Roberto Ratalino took the singles prize with 43 points.

Saturday - W H Friend Par Trophy
While a par event is not everyones favourite we had a field of 94 (again) to give it ago. Par events appear to polarise golfers - they either hate it (the majority) or love the challenge. We only have a couple a year so it keeps us on our toes.
This years winner is a well deserved junior member is Thomas Moulton with a +5 result.  Runner up with +4 Bryan Frith.

Sunday - Medley Stableford
Again some good scoring across the field, Daniel Weekes won with 40 points with Warwick Keirnan runner up with 37.  Well done Warwick.
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Monday Madness
With 37 point John Buchanan won the day from Brenton Aggar  with 36 points.

With the current COVID rules it is a bit difficult to outline the upcoming events so it's best to wait and see what happens later this week.

We will keep you posted accordingly.

Enjoy the last few days of Winter...

​Dave Burgess