Tauranga Golf Club
 
IN THIS ISSUE
FROM THE FRONT OFFICE
ON COURSE
Update from our Course Superintendent - Chris Posa
YOU TRAVEL SUMMER SERIES - FINAL - SUNDAY 15 MARCH
WORLD HANDICAP SYSTEM UPDATE (WHS)
UPCOMING EVENTS
LEARNINGS FROM THE NZ OPEN - BY JAY CARTER NZPGA
20 MINUTE PUTTING ASSESSMENT
 
 
Dear Guest, Tuesday, 03 March, 2020

FROM THE FRONT OFFICE

It’s been a busy month in the front office with a new membership year, subscriptions rolling in, end of year audit in full swing, staff changes and now it’s March!

Subscriptions:

Your subscription invoices were sent out on 1 February and you should have paid in full, made a lump sum payment or set up a monthly instalment by now. You can check the status of your membership account by logging into our website and going to “My Account”. You can also make a payment from this site. It is very important that your membership account is up to date before you start to enter club competitions or play pennants.

As we run a very lean front office operation – (just me!) It would be preferable if you could pay your invoice online. I often get comments from people that they haven’t been able to pay because I haven’t been in the office, or I have been busy when they came to pay. I am sorry if you have been inconvenienced. Please also note that we no longer accept cheques. You may be aware that banks are phasing out cheques and this is no longer an acceptable payment option for us.

Renovation Week:

Please note your calendars that renovation week is set for 6-10 April. This is the week leading into Easter. The Clubhouse will be closed for the week and we are just fine tuning our Easter Café & Bar hours. These will be published closer to the date.

AGM :
 
Save the date - 27 April 2020 is the date for our AGM. I am now in the process of writing the annual report and finalising the Financial Accounts. Formal notices will be published closer to the date. 
 
Coronovirus: 
 
I don't want to jump on the band wagon of mass hysteria regarding Coronavirus BUT, we do need to be aware of the health warnings and be vigilant. We are a very culturally diverse club with many members from South Korea and alot of members returning from overseas travel. If you have recently returned from any of the at risk countries, or if you feel unwell, please stay home.
 
 
 
 
 
 

ON COURSE
Update from our Course Superintendent - Chris Posa

COURSE REPORT FEBRUARY 2020

GENERAL: It’s been a challenging start to 2020 mainly due to the weather conditions we have experienced going back to October 2019. We have had 244mm of rain with only 18mm falling this year to date. You are always expecting it to be hot and dry over this period, but this season has really tested the resources and tested the practices we put in place to maintain healthy, yet acceptable playing surfaces.

GREENS: I am happy with the current condition of the greens. Its been nice to see that the plans & practices I’ve implemented have been successful.

TEES: The tees are hanging in ok. If we refer to Steve Marsdens report regarding shade and improving the growing environment for our greens, the same applies for our tees. We have 3/4 sets of tees which really struggle, and this is due to poor grass species with weak shallow rooting turf, poor irrigation design and low resources.

FAIRWAYS: I’m happy with the current condition of the fairways. You will notice that even the couch has struggled this summer and gone into a drought type dormancy (yellowing off).

Fairways have been spot sprayed for kikuyu and paspalum.

ROUGH: There has been two applications of herbicide applied to control paspalum and kikuyu with good results, a third application is planned for March.

BUNKERS: We are doing our part to make the bunkers look tidy with fortnightly mowing/edging, sand moved/added more frequently, weeds picked/sprayed. We just need the golfers to now do their part and rake their own footprints to keep them tidy please.

We are aware of the recent hydraulic leak damage and a remediation plan is in place. 
 
Chris Posa
Course Superintendent 

YOU TRAVEL SUMMER SERIES - FINAL - SUNDAY 15 MARCH
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Please see attached details of the YOU Travel Summer Series. This is your last chance to play in this fun event so get in quick!
 
The Club would like to thank Julie & Grant Whittaker & David & Kim Blacke for running this very popular event. Our sincere thanks also to our fabulous sponsor Kay Rogers of YOU TRAVEL: Bethlehem, Katikati, Mt Maunganui. 

WORLD HANDICAP SYSTEM UPDATE (WHS)

World Handicap System (WHS) to Go Live in New Zealand on Tuesday 14 April

NZ Golf has now confirmed that Tuesday 14 April is our go live date. A reminder that the following occurs:

  • All scoring records will be re-calculated using the new WHS formulas
  • These historic scores will not include the new playing conditions calculation
  • The new formulas for the soft and hard cap will apply to historic scores
  • The new formula for reducing a handicap index due to exceptional scores will apply to historic scores

For enquiries go to www.golf.co.nz/whs where you will find detailed information on WHS.

WHS Handicaps Running Parallel to Current System

As part of the player education and the testing of the system, members can now monitor both their current record and the new WHS record using the new formulas. The addition of a low index is illustrated which is used for applying the soft and hard cap formulas. Go to your My Golf section and see your own record and that of your friends.



UPCOMING EVENTS
Golf Operations Upcoming Events:

Wednesday 4th March

- 1st Round Strokeplay for Wednesday Ladies

- NZMCA Group Booking 40 Players Morning Tee Times

Friday 6th March

- China Navigation Corporate Day 12.00 -12.45 3 Tee off 1,7,13

Saturday 7th March

- 1st Round Strokeplay for Saturday Ladies

- Semi Final of the Aquilla, Willcox & Green (Mens)

Sunday 8th March

- Business Ladies Tournament (76 Ladies) 8.30 3 Tee Start 1,7,11


LEARNINGS FROM THE NZ OPEN - BY JAY CARTER NZPGA
Last week saw the 101st NZ Open in Arrowtown, hosted by The Hills and Millbrook, and what a week it was, the weather was fantastic and the golf courses were immaculate and the whole event had an amazing feel to it.
A number of Tauranga members made the trip down to watch, support and volunteer and all those who I spoke to had a great time and even got to play Millbrook today in a special event for the volunteers. If you ever need an inspiration for a great holiday week I would highly recommend attending this week.
I was fortunate to be down there for two reasons, first and foremost to caddy for Luke Toomey and secondly to connect in with a number of the countries aspiring young players with my role as National Coach.
The format of the event is unique in the professional world, each professional is paired with an amateur partner who obviously plays with them (off slightly different tee's) and get to experience what the pro's go through, the pressure of the TV camera's, the galleries and of course testing their game on tournament standard courses.
To be able to caddy, be inside the ropes and talk with both the pros and the amateurs was brilliant as it gave me some good insight into what goes on inside their minds and also what it takes to win as well as an appreciation of how fickle the game is.
The first aspect I noticed was that they all get nervous, yip even the pro's are nervous on the first tee, though they seem more accepting of the nerves and dont try to fight them, they just accept the nerves are there and then remind themselves what they need to do. Lesson 1: We all get nervous, and its okay.
Secondly the professionals have immaculate short games and this is not always about a superior technique it is sometimes just about shot selection and knowing when to take on the risky shots and when to accept that they cant execute one. Lesson 2: Don't try to play the miracle shot, play the smart shot
Finally they are all great at reading greens, aimpoint has certainly accelerated this part of the game with most of the pro's "mapping" the greens before they play the event so that they have an understanding of what the ball is going to do. You will hear caddies and players talking about putts being on a 2 or 3% slope which will give them a fair idea of the amount of break, again this is not that they are necessarily better technically but they have better processes. Lesson 3: Understand how to read greens.
If you would like to learn how to read greens and get excited about green reading I would highly recommend watching the video on this website https://aimpointgolf.com/ and then attend the upcoming Aimpoint Green Reading Clinic this Sunday at 1:30pm.
Green Reading Made Easy
Tauranga Golf Club
1:30pm - 3:00pm
$45 Per person

20 MINUTE PUTTING ASSESSMENT

Jay is offering a 20 minute putting assessment using SAM Putt Lab for $25, at the conclusion of the session you will receive an email with everything there is to know about your putting.
SAM Putt Lab is the worlds most accurate and comprehensive putt analysis and training system. It analyses all the important parameters of your putting stroke and displays the results in easy to understand graphic reports. The analysis reveals even the smallest details of your movements and allows you to develop improvements and training strategies.
 
Call the Pro Shop to make a booking 
 
 
Tauranga Golf Club Sponsors
 
Tauranga Golf Club
http://www.taurangagolf.co.nz
07 578 8465
 
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