CAPTAIN'S BLOG - NEWS

The Jubilee Cup has been played on our course for many years, traditionally in March each year. Unfortunately this year, the abnormal amount for wet weather delayed the event until yesterday. As many members are aware, the Jubilee Cup is a Vardon Event (see below) and is open to amateur players with handicaps not exceeding 12, who come from far and wide to participate. The Jubilee Cup was donated by Mr. J.M Oxley, previous BGC Captain and President, in 1961, to celebrate 60 years of our Clubs history. Of the 58 players, several with handicaps as low as +2, none could break our par of 69. I notice there was a "B" grader who played off 17, who managed to get himself a start and actually came fourth in the net results. I had it in my mind, with the dry conditions, there was a chance we would see an exceptional score, which we could use as our course record, as we have been without one, since alterations to the course were made some years ago. The course was prepared by Damian and the ground staff, who did us proud. Through their diligence and hard work, the course was in superb condition and worthy of the contest. In the end, the course won. None of the players broke PAR and many fell by the "wayside". Jim Dickson, a keen observer from has patio, was amazed that more of these elite golfers, did not land on the 14th green and in fact struggled to make par. Members can take heart that there is hope for us all. A great day for the course and Club. For those who are unsure about a Vardon Event, please visit ​http://www.golfnsw.org/vardon

Our Club Patron, Brian Lamb, was successful in winning Saturdays W.H. Friend PAR round trophy with a score of +4. Although Robert Harrison had a +5, unfortunately for Robert, he did not qualify for winning of trophies. Brian's success was a great result. Of the 67 players who competed, only 7 manages to get on the plus side of square. The trophy donor, Mr. Walter Friend was on the Board for a total 23 years between 1915 and 1946. He donated the trophy in 1951 maybe because he had a sense of humor or he actually enjoyed playing PAR rounds. PAR is a true test against ones self and many were found wanting, including your Captain. Congratulations to Brian.

On Saturday, we selected from the field, 14 players for each team to represent the President and the Captain to contest the Boxmor Trophy. Whilst it looked like the Captain would not have partner, Andrew Shortle stood up to the mark and carried him for the rest of the day. It was a close contest with David Burgess sinking a metre putt on the 18th to square our game. As the Presidents Team had 7 wins already and the Captain 6, if he had missed, the contest was tied, however, let's not lament on what could have been, the President won 61/2 to 5 1/2.  The picture shows the Captain presenting the Candelabra to the President, however with his firm grip, it looks like he doesn't want to let it go. Congratulations to Kevin and his team. Maybe next year. Thank you to all players who played and represented Kevin and myself.

In moving with the times, so we can continue to all enjoy this great game of golf into the future, we must be adaptable to change and implement processes which improve the time constraints put on us all. To this end, we plan to introduce Ready Golf to our course. The R&A describe "Ready Golf" as "a commonly used term which indicates that players should play when they are ready to do so, rather than adhering strictly to the “farthest from the hole plays first” stipulation in the Rules of Golf". On all courses from time to time, we have delays and slow play, which causes frustration and annoyance to all members following, as they are required to continually wait for the group in front to advance. This not only creates frustration on the course by holding up the whole field, it also creates add-on delays in the Pro Shop in producing results and ultimately the presentation of results to interested members. In order to alleviate as much slow play as possible, we will be introducing Ready Golf to our course from next Saturday, 16th September 2017. Ready Golf has been adapted to courses throughout the world in order to speed up play and give all players the benefit of a free flowing game, played at an enjoyable pace, without delay and has proven most successful. Some of the suggestions by the R&A for introduction of Ready Golf can be found on the attached sheet. These suggestions are not exhaustive, however, they will give you an idea of where you can improve the speed of your round and allow you to develop your own ideas and a culture of "keeping up with the group in front". We will be monitoring the speed of play for each group in the future and administering notices and possible penalties to the group or offending players as necessary. We look for your co-operation in trying to overcome slow play and the annoyance it causes.