News Archive

From the President – Wednesday 27 November 2024

Dear Members,

Thanks to the members who attended the Club’s 2023/2024 AGM on Monday evening, 25 November 2024.  It was great to have good attendance which satisfied the number required for a quorum.

I would like to welcome two new Board Members: Alan Shakespeare as Director of Finance and Barry Price as Director of Facilities. We look forward to them contributing their expertise and experience to the Board and our Club.
I want to thank our two retiring Directors – John Benbow and Jack Bayens – who have played a significant role in driving their portfolios and providing support overall to the Board.

The Board has recently approved the implementation of a nomination fee to join the Club. Commencing December 1 a nomination fee of $500 will be applied for all new members.  Additional to this is a $1,000 renomination fee for anyone resigning and wanting to rejoin within three years.  The Club has a strong business plan for how the course is managed from a capacity perspective and this is a strategy to assist executing our plans.  

All playing fees for non members will be rising as of January 1 by around 10 percent . Similar to the nomination fee, this strategy is regularly reviewed and adjusted to ensure we align these player rounds and revenues back to our budgets and course use modelling.   There will also be an increase in member hire of motorised carts as of December 1. The price will not change if a single golfer in a cart: $10 for 9 holes and $20 for 18 holes. However, if there are two golfers in the cart, the price will be $15 and $25 respectively for the cart hire. No split payments for carts will be taken.

The cart prices for members have never been increased since the inception of carts 13 years ago.  There is greater accessibility for carts as additional carts have been purchased over the past 12 months.    This does not mean carts are unlimited and not always available.  But access to carts and low prices for members is another of the great value offers to our members..

The Board will have a significant agenda next year, especially around use of the course, adherence to the Code of Conduct, a new Strategic Plan and planning of major projects to mention just a few. Once the Board has set the overall plan and worked with the Sub Committees for alignment, we will communicate the key priorities to members.

With your continued support.I am looking forward to another great year at our Club in 2024/2045.

Enjoy your golf, the Club and the weeks ahead with family and friends.
 
Ron Stone, President

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Peel Golf Academy – Christmas Vouchers and Upcoming Date for the Junior School Holiday Camp in January 2025

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Friday Night at the Club – Week 10 Results – Chase the Ace, Members Draw and Meat Raffle – Friday 22 November 2024

The Meat Raffle was won by Glenys Coughlan.

The Members Draw was Brad Smith however Brad was not in attendance on Friday 22 November, so this Friday 29th November the Members Draw JACKPOTS to $300.00

The Chase the Ace Draw was done by Vanessa Day, Vanessa chose a 2 of Clubs, so the Chase the Ace JACKPOTS to $2000.00 this Friday 29 November 2024.

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Christmas Raffle in the Clubhouse

An awesome Christmas Esky Raffle is currently sitting in the Bar Area of the Clubhouse !!

Come and check it out, Feeling lucky !! What a great Christmas you will have, come and purchase a ticket.

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Course Update – Thursday 21 November 2024

Dear Members,

Please see below an update on Golf Bookings and the Course.
 
A renovation on the greens will take place Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th November 2024.
The facility will be closed for the two days, however, the Clubhouse and Bar will open at 4pm on Monday 25th November for the Annual General Meeting commencing at 6pm.
 
GOLF COMPETITION BOOKINGS
 
With the approach of the summer season and the beginning of the school holidays our competition fields on all days will be approaching capacity. It is timely therefore to remind members to consider others when booking a game for themselves and friends. The protocols and rules that should be followed are;

• A member is restricted to booking a maximum of 4 players including themselves.
• When making a booking consider whether you or your friends will be playing on the day selected, don’t book just in case.
• The use of “blockers” is prohibited and is monitored by the Golf Manager.
• If you are booked but unable to play, remove your booking as soon as possible.
• If the field is full or a suitable time is not available use the waiting list option, in nearly all cases you will get a game.

If members take these points into consideration all of our members will be able to enjoy their golf.
 
Graeme Parsons
Director of Golf
 
 
COURSE
 
The past month has given us brilliant weather, with perfect temperatures to grow grass.
 
The greens are in good shape at the moment. The health is great, and they are rolling very well.
 
We have continued our couch grass removal over the past month. The pain we suffered earlier this year has paid off. When we started with the new product called Pylex, we used 8 tanks of product to each application to target the areas inside the perimeters. Last week we used less than 2 tanks, and this included a few larger areas on the perimeters. This goes to show that the vast majority of the couch we treated last year has been killed off, which is a great win. 
 
Our Poa removal is still going ahead very well. We have a lot more Poa this time of the year as compared to the same time last year due to many reasons:

• A wetter winter meaning germination was a great deal easier
• Heavier falls though winter, which meant many of our Poa suppression applications were not as effective as they could have been.
• Due to it’s suppressive nature, we were not as aggressive in the poa control because we were also trying to get recovery on the bent after the couch removal.
• After such a dry summer, we had very high salts, which also prevented an aggressive approach to the poa suppression
• By this time last year, we had many days in the high 30’s which naturally puts the poa under a great deal of stress. 

Along with our Poa and couch removal, our Kikuya removal and control will increase over the next month. These three grasses, which are actually highly sort after on many courses around the world, are naturally occurring, and grow very well in our soil and climate. This means their removal and control is an all year round process. Our goal is to make every year a little better than the year before, depending on the weather.
 
Our Spring renovations, although a little later than normal, will take place on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26^th November 2024. We will be coring the greens, tees and surrounds, and have them all back into play by Wednesday 27^thNovember. They should be quite good to play on by the weekend straight after.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all members the very best for the festive season, and good golfing.
 
Regards
 
John Benbow
Director of Facilities

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