Another very busy month at the TGC as we head into the final 3 months of the membership year.

It's great to see lots of new faces with 34 new & returning members in October. Welcome everyone!

 

Well summer has certainly arrived this week, it's nice to have the doors open, the umbrellas up and the Bar open to serve you a refreshing after golf drink. We have a new release of Somersby Cider along with our new range of beers - Carlsberg, Asahi, Boundary Road and Founders IPA. Try our special in house roasted peanuts too!

 

The Cafe will be offering salads through the summer months so please pre order before your game to ensure you don't miss out. We also have Curried Sausages and Savoury Mince in take home containers $7 each (frozen) Just ask the friendly staff. We farewell the lovely Cait today as she heads off to a glamorous and exciting career with Air New Zealand International Cabin Crew. We wish her well and thank her for her outstanding contribution.

 

 $20 for 10 - well it doesn't quite roll off the tongue like 10 for 10 but we have listened to your feedback and this year we have increased this popular green fee offering to $20 for 10 holes. We have been getting a bit of negative feedback from the regular green fee players, but if we get half the players as last year, we will still earn the same income. This is a valuable revenue stream, helps to introduce new members to the game and makes good use of off peak time on the course.

 

A very big thank you to Keith Dawkins, Don Morris and Grant Whittaker for painting the toilet block at the 6th tee and special thanks to Stephen Moffatt for donating the paint. We are blessed with generous members. 

 

We have a very busy golf calendar ahead of us with Xmas tournaments, closing days, shootouts and more. Please check online for upcoming events and book in quick. 

 

Warm wishes to all our members that are unwell and recovering from injuries and illness. We hope to see you back with us soon.

 

 

Warm Regards

Michelle 

A few words from our Course Superintendent - Chris Posa: 

We are currently doing some much needed aeration practices on the course to relieve compaction from all maintenance and traffic we have had over spring. This also enables us to get water and air into our main playing surfaces heading into summer.

GREENS: I’ve been happy with the performance of the greens. The plans and practices we have in place are working well, so more of the same over the summer as we continue to keep the greens at a high standard.

We have just verti drained the greens and surrounds and applied two soil amendments. Unfortunately we couldn’t apply sand as our spreader has blown a hydraulic hose. We will look to catch up with some light topdressing over summer.

With the current hot temps and winds, we have experienced some localized dry patch on certain greens. The holes punched in the greens will help get water into the profile and we are also applying product to aid in the hydrophobic areas.

TEES: The tees are currently in good condition. This season we are putting the tees on a full fungicide & wetting agent programme to help with the presentation and try keep them looking aesthetically pleasing all year.

FAIRWAYS: The fairways are looking great. The Windsor has just started to seed so expect them to look a little stringy for the next 2/3 weeks but after the seeding has stopped we will see the couch start to actively grow and recover itself from all the wear since it went dormant in May.

I have assessed the thatch on our couch and am happy with the current levels. We will however still look to run the scarifier over the fairways, but not very deep or aggressive, as we will look to just lightly go through the leaf to take away any puffiness we experience with the couch in the summer months.

We have a little damage on our 10^th fairway from the gum which was blown over. The plan is once the couch starts to grow will be to top dress, fert and plug areas, I do expect the couch to recover quite well by the end of its growing season.

BUNKERS: Currently still in good condition. We are entering a very busy period for us so I'll be looking for assistance from volunteers before and after Xmas, to top the bunkers up.

The 12^th project is still progressing well. We have seen the newly sown seed really thicken up. The addition of the irrigation to the complex allows us to not only water but also apply wetting agents and regular fertilzers to keep this area of a high standard all year round.

ROUGH: The rough is looking tidy. With the dry weather its allowed the rough to somewhat dry off and not have to much lush growth making it tough to play out of. The current height is at 76mm but we are looking to get it back down to 64mm in the coming weeks.

We are very pleased to report that NZCT have approved a grant of $20,000 to enable us to purchase a new topdresser as pictured above.

 

The club will be funding the balance of the total purchase price = $29,900 plus gst.

 

The Topdresser will replace our old sander which Chris mentioned in his report. The machine will enable the Greens staff to apply regular/lighter applications of sand to the greens. The outcome will be smoother, firmer and more consistent surfaces. Sanding helps with diluting thatch levels and going forward, these practices will reduce the need for heavy coring of the greens and a reduction in chemical use.

 

Thanks NZCT (NZ Community Trust)! 

 

The Board have also approved the purchase of a First Lap Mower. You may have noticed the first lap on the fairways and around the greens during the Carrus Open. We had a machine on trial and the feedback from the members has been that you would like us to continue. The machine is approx $54K so we will be looking at funding options to enable this purchase. 

What a week last week for Mitch Kale up in Auckland at The New Zealand Amateur Championship at the Remuera Golf Club.

 

Mitch started the week with two solid rounds of 77, 72 to qualify 24th with the top 32 moving through to the matchplay section of the Tournament.

 

Mitch slowly made his was through the field with amazing performances and some emphatic wins such as the Semifinal win of 4/2. All week Mitch handled himself with complete class and showed that the work he puts in practicing here at The Tauranga Golf Club is paying off.

 

It was great to hear that some Club members went to support Mitch in the Final showing the Tauranga support well.

 

In the end Mitch was just beaten by Sam Jones a gentleman 5 years older than him.

 

Mitch, on behalf of The Tauranga Golf Club, we would like to congratulate you on your recent success and tell you that with your work ethic, there is a lot more to come for you! We are very proud of you and can't wait to follow your career -  as it is only just beginning.

 

 

Congratulations to all members that made it to Finals Day. Your new champions as follows:

Mens Senior Matchplay	D Cooke
Mens Intermediate Matchplay	R Semple
Mens Junior Matchplay	M Muileboom
9 Hole Ladies Matchplay	M Guy
Womens Senior Matchplay	S Cooke
Womens Intermediate Matchplay	N Hanna
Womens Junior Matchplay	J Torvelainen

 

Aquilla Cup                   Paul Gartner

Green Cup                   Ian Turner

Wilcox Cup                  David Cooper

Intermediate 4Ball        James March & Ian Humble

Junior 4Ball                   Don Allen & Neville Gray

Coates Trophy            Margaret Mabey

Contenders Cup          Julie Leslie

9 Hole Plate                 Judy Toovey

9 HoleDiv 2                   Ngaire Settle 

Alison Holdem Plate      Kylie Teague

 

 

Save the dates:

 

The Womens AGM - for all Womens sections of the club - will be held FRIDAY 22 November at 5.30pm. Nominations are open for the position of Womens Captain and Vice Captain. Nominations and any notices of Motion must be lodged in the Club Office by 5.30pm 9 November.

 

The Mens AGM - for all male members of the club - will be held SATURDAY 23 November at 5.30pm. Nominations for Committee must be lodged in the Club Office by 5.30pm 9 November.

 

Please show your support to your hard working committees. 

Below is an update from NZ Golf on the World Handicapping system which we will be changing to in 2020:

 

World Handicap System – New Course Handicap Formula
As the world handicap system (WHS) nears we continue to add information and videos to our website. Visit https://www.golf.co.nz/About/Handicapping.aspx to keep up to date.

One of the changes will affect every one of our members when they play, as a new formula to calculate a course handicap will apply. We currently have conversion charts which calculate our course handicap based on the slope number. When the slope number of the course being played is lower than 113, our course handicaps move down, when higher, we receive extra strokes above our handicap index. This keeps play equitable for all calibre of players.

There is a significant difference under WHS with an addition to the above formula. We continue to use the slope number for the first stage of the formula, then add the difference between the course rating and par.

There are three key benefits of this added procedure.

1. The change eliminates the significant complexity involved with scoring for multi-tee and mixed-gender competitions, and as a result be beneficial from a game participation and engagement perspective.
2. This is all that needs to happen to enable 36 stableford points to become the equivalent measure of whether a player has played to their handicap, irrespective of the course or set of tees played.
3. It will make daily course handicaps and handicap scores more intuitive, thus eliminating the negative feedback we often receive for winning stableford points being in the mid to high 40’s.

This formula has been used in Europe for the last 20 years and is well tested.

We do expect some confusion for our members initially, but new conversion charts will consider the course rating and par of the set of tees being played and will be available well in advance of the introduction of WHS.

Example:

A player on 16.7, plays the white tees (course rating (CR) 69.0, par 71 (PAR), slope 120)

2019 course handicap, 16.7 x 120/113 = 17.7 (18)

2020 WHS course handicap 16.7 x 120/113 = 17.7

17.7 + (69.0 (CR) -71 (PAR))

17.7 -2.0 (Difference in CR-PAR) = 15.7 (16)

 

Entries are now open for this fun event. As club member you are eligible for a $40 discount off the entry fee to acknowledge playing at your own course. Register before 30 November and you go in the draw to win a case of Mills Reef Wine!

Don't delay 

Congratulations to Bronze 2 Net Winner - Nancy Cowling & Bronze 2 Gross Runner Up - Jo Dawkins

 

 

Tauranga City Council Rabbit controllers visited the club this week. They did a grid search of the entire course and fumigated 20 active Rabbit Burrows. They also filled in some old burrows while they were searching.

They are booked to return again in April during renovation week. 

 

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