Dear Members,
Welcome to the New Year. We hope you and your families enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyable festive season.
The Member Golf Program has now returned to its normal schedule. Chase the Ace will recommence on Friday 16 January, while Friday night meal service has continued right through, and Women’s post-golf lunches have already resumed. Overall, the club has returned to a largely normal operating program.
The Board is scheduled to meet later this month. As previously communicated by President Ron, the Board will outline the club’s core projects and priorities for the coming year, as guided by our strategic planning framework.
Late last year, the Board approved a number of initiatives aimed at evolving and improving services across the club. These strategies will begin implementation during the first quarter of this year and include the following:
Junior Golf Coordination
Our junior program has been very well supported by volunteer members and parents. However, the Board recognises the need to further formalise and develop this important area.
Gary Colquhoun has been appointed Junior Coordinator and will work closely with Tappie, our juniors, and their parents to support development and participation. Gary will remain hands-on in the Golf Shop, with some of his hours transitioning into this coordination role.
Golf Course
An additional full-time course staff member has been approved and will commence later this month. The primary focus of this role will be bunker presentation and maintenance. While all course staff will continue to contribute to weekly scheduled bunker presentation work, this dedicated position will allow for improved day-to-day bunker maintenance, as well as ongoing maintenance and renovation of problem areas.
Golf Operations
Alan has committed additional hours in the Golf Shop, allowing Todd greater capacity to focus on supporting and servicing the member golf program. Todd will work more closely with club committees to assist with program administration, reduce volunteer workload, and ensure a more consistent approach across all aspects of member golf.
Communication
Isaac Heales has been a valuable asset to the club as a casual employee across course maintenance, golf operations, and the bar, while also being a highly engaged member. Isaac will now join the club in a full-time role, spending three days per week on the course to strengthen maintenance outcomes and two days in the office focusing on communications.
This communications role will work across all areas of the club to modernise and improve how we communicate with members, provide clearer day-to-day updates, and enhance understanding of club activities and initiatives. A focus will be to move away from just standard email updates into a more interactive approach.
The Board has strategically identified several core focus areas they believe require improvement and prioritisation focusing in key member improvement areas. These initiatives will be progressively introduced over the coming months, allowing time for training and integration.
While these initiatives do involve increased operational costs, the Finance Sub-Committee has reviewed and endorsed them on the basis that all expenditure remains within our 10-year capital and financial planning. This ensures that essential infrastructure upgrades and replacements remain fully funded and uncompromised.
We thank members for their ongoing support and look forward to another positive year for the club.
Kind regards,
Grant Shortland-Jones, General Manager
