CAPTAIN'S BLOG - NEWS

The Oxley Plate. 
Last Sunday the club fielded a team to play for the Oxley Plate against Moss Vale Golf Club. Our team captain was Paul Carroll, we fielded a team of 10 pairs - it is a mixed medley competition. Robyn John, the Moss Vale Club Captain, with her team achieved a 'substantial' victory.  On our side Don & Jenny Grant were the only ones to achieve a victory. (To save an calculation on the readers' side, we lost 9-1.) In the words of Paul, we were "trounced". Robyn's organisation of the event, again in Paul's words, was "first class", with soup and sandwiches provided by the club. The match wasn't held last year, but the year before we were successful in winning it. Next year it will be held at Bowral and we have a chance of winning it back. Thank you to Robyn and her team for providing such "effective" competition. 

Membership. We have had a very strong growth in membership. Over 54 new golfing members have joined the club this year, many in recent weeks. Our 50th new member Roy Burton has joined us from a local club.

Mowers. The golf club has a considerable investment in the equipment used to maintain the course. Our surrounds and greens mowers cost, when new, in the vicinity of $45,000. (the fairway mowers ~$65,000) The mowers were leased and when the last 2 mowers were purchased, again under a lease arrangement, the club decided to keep the mowers that the new ones replaced. The mower leases are now finished.  The policy now is that we will maintain the mowers to a high level so that their operational life is extended. Machinery maintained correctly can have a very long service life. Aeroplanes used by major airlines over 20 years old (and much more) are flying passengers everyday. Reliably operation can be expected from a new machine or a well maintained older machine. The disadvantage of purchasing new machines compared with retaining older machines is self evident. The need to use scarce  capital or taking on the continuing burden of a lease arrangement places a financial burden on the club.  The older mowers are  now  in the the process of having their mowing assemblies refurbished. Once this has been completed the plan is to bring them in to normal operational service.  Now with  having two greens mowers in operation the greens staff can cut (and spray with the sprayer) the greens in 1.5 hours and be clear of the greens by 7:30 - 8:00 assuming a 6:00 start. Likewise we will  now  have two surrounds mowers in operation and  the staff will be able to mow the fairways & surrounds, again completing this task much sooner so that mowing during competitions is minimised.  We used a contract mechanic and maintain a service schedule for each of the machines.  

FEDDINCH, ST ANDREWS. 
St Andrews International Golf Club Ltd,  plans to open a major new course at Feddinch, three miles out of St Andrews in 2016. The development was conditionally approved by the Scottish Government in 2013. The 18 hole course was designed by Tom Weiskoph and is set in a 245 acre site. Facilities include accommodation, swimming pool, shop and restaurant. Recently I saw a program about the development. In the program memberships were available by 'invitation' from the management and the joining fee had just been lowered from 500,000 UK pound to 250,000 UK pounds. Before rushing to join there is a potential problem in that the St Andrews Links Trust had started legal action over the developers, Feddinch Developments Ltd,  using the name St Andrews. The action is based on the claim that the developers are seeking to confuse the public by the use of the St Andrews name by implying a connection with the St Andrews Links. So I guess before getting ready to 'shell out' close to $500,000 we should be a little bit careful about what we would be joining. St Andrews or not St Andrews.

Member's subscriptions were due on July 1 and all playing members are receiving a shiny new bag tag, If you have paid your fees and have not got one please see the office.
(as  of Wednesday 2nd July we now have 48 new golfing members - great progress)

18th tee construction work.
We have all been well aware that the 18th tee was probably our worst tee. Various ideas have been discussed in the last years. The tee shape and position have meant that heavy wear was always  evident on the tee. The tree on the property directly to the west shadows the tee stifling grass growth. The tee in it's present position could not be widened as it would encroach on the 17th green area. The 100 meter requirement has exacerbated the wear problem in that we cannot have the tee markers too far forward as this compromises the placement of the other tee markers around the course. At the May board meeting the Board  was presented the plan to enlarge the tee area by taking it back towards the fence nearer to Links Road. The reshaped tee will also be slightly higher but the affect of this small elevation is significant. The golfer will have a commanding view of the fairway. The reshaping also allows the tee markers to be placed back behind the existing plates. The effect of this will be that we have a greater latitude in placing the tee markers on this hole (and other holes as a consequence)  thereby evening out the wear on all the tees.

The development adjacent to the 15th tee.
Mr Jeff Knox, whose company is developing the land adjacent to the 15th tee made a presentation to the board last Friday. Jeff was accompanied by his architect, builder , engineer Richard Anderson,  and Angus Campbell-Jones whose company the development will be marketed through. A plan of the development was presented in draft form as well as a landscaping plan. In brief the development consists of 26 separate dwellings of which all but 2 are single story. The dwellings are all north facing with 2 car garages (also with room for a golf cart !) with double glazing. Other construction details ensure that the dwellings are thermally efficient. There is a possibility of golf cart access to the course and perhaps memberships being bundled with the sale of a house. Discussions are yet to be held as to the detail of this. At the club we will be working with Jeff to ensure the best outcome for both parties. The development is expected to be complete through 2015

For men's competitions there will be an approximate 30 minute buffer before the morning and afternoon excluvive slots. The competition times in the slots are exclusive for members and their guests. Members can of course play at any time slot outside of these times but there may be occasions where visitors are playing around that time. The Members (and Member's guests) slot times including buffer zones will be from approximately 8.00 - 10.00 and afternoon 11.30-1.30. As our membership continues to grow we will monitor if extra times are needed. We thank the members for their feedback as it helps us to optimise the allocation of tee times we have available. We will have further discussions on tee times at this Thursday's Match and Greens committee meeting.