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BOARD MEETING NOTES

Below are notes from the Board Meeting held on 28 January 2025

EZGO Golf Carts

The new fleet of EZGO Golf Carts have been delivered and are now in operation. Just a reminder to Members that the updated medical cart discount will come into effect from 1^st February 2025. The discount will now only be available if you have completed and submitted an updated application form to the office.

Click Here to complete the online application.

New Committee Chairs

John Hanson has been appointed to Chair the Membership & Marketing Committee.

Tony Holley has been appointed to Chair the Risk & Compliance Committee.

Employee Recognition Scheme

Congratulations to Course Mechanic Will Gobbe who is the recipient of the Employee Recognition Scheme for December. The recommendation came from the Course Super and GM, following Will's continued excellence within his role and his initiative in managing the trade in/sale of aging equipment.

Quarterly Financial Statements

Please click here to view the quarterly financial statements for October to December 2024.

There was record Functions and Catering turnover and green fees collected in December. Quarterly profit is $0.6M (YTD - $0.8M) on total revenue of $3.7M (YTD - $6.3M), even within the past 6 months $210K being spent on course investment and 250K on the clubhouse masterplan.

Cash accumulation to fund the Clubhouse Masterplan is going well with $4.5M in the bank.

Keith Warren | President

Note: This document is not intended to be a minute of the relevant Board meeting but is intended to provide members with a summary of the significant decisions made or issues discussed by the Board at its most recent meeting. Certain matters may be commercially sensitive, subject to privacy considerations or otherwise confidential and will not be included in this summary document.

Major Pennants

Our Major Pennant side played their first round match against Manly at home on Sunday 2^nd February. The team got away to a good start and by the 8^th hole the match was evenly positioned. Luke Edgell came from a 4 down position through 8, to eventually win 2 up on the 18^thwith a 30 foot birdie putt. The team came away with a draw 3½ to 3½.

Luke Shamatov - won 3 up
Luke Edgell - won 2up
Nick Hutchison - match halved
Lennox Cleary - match halved
Cam Gillespie - lost 3 and 1
Matt Hunter - match halved
Ryan Farrell - lost 2 and 1 and
Harry McKerihan - won 2 up

The Stroke Play Cup

The 12 qualifiers in each grade for the Stroke Play Cup can be seen with the link below. Best of luck to all who have qualified for the final 36 holes.

Qualifiers

Founders Cup

The 2025 Founders Cup was played over two Medals, January and February. The winner with the best Nett score was John Carrol with Nett 66 and 68 for a total Nett of 134.

Congratulations John.

Northern Peninsular Interclub Challenge Cup (NPICC)

The first round of the NPICC was played on Tuesday 4^th February at Cromer. Long Reef played Mona Vale and went down 3 ½ - 4 matches.

Rule Reminder

It is often good to refresh your knowledge of the rules, especially the rule around identifying your golf ball.

When the ball in play is deliberately touched by the player, even if it does not move, the player gets one penalty stroke under Rule 9.4b

For Example, a player gets one penalty stroke if they:

Without first marking the ball's spot, rotate the ball on the putting green to line up the trademark with the hole, even if the ball remains on the same spot. If the player had marked the spot of the ball before touching or rotating it, there would have been no penalty.

Without first marking the ball's spot, rotate the ball anywhere on the course to identify it and the ball is the player's ball.
Deliberately touch the ball with a club in preparing to make a stroke.

Hold the ball steady with their hand or position a pine cone or stick against the ball to prevent the ball from moving while they remove some loose impediments or brush something off the ball.

Results

Wednesday 22 January - Single Stableford and 2 Ball Aggregate with a field of 229.

The winner and score of the day went to Chris Thorp with a score of 42 points.

Full Results

Saturday 25th January - Medley Stablefords & Waltz team Stableford with a field of 228.

Tom Millard with a score of 44 points had the score of the day and was the overall winner.

Lucas Malin, C grade winner on the day, deserves a mention. On the 18th he had an Eagle 2 and scored 6 points for his efforts. A great way to finish your game Lucas.

Full Results

Wednesday 29th January - Single Stableford (Vince Horan qualifying) with a field of 205.

The winner, score of the day and scratch winner with a score of 43 points was Tom Mastroianni with 43 points

Tommy endured lightning, rain and windy conditions to post his first ever par round. His round included 2 bogies, 2 birdies and 12 pars. As they say, getting that first par round is the hardest! Congratulations Tommy.

Full Results

Saturday 1st February - February Medal, Final Round Founders Cup, Round 3 of the Stroke Play Cup with a field of 219.

The winner of the February Medal and score of the day went to Lucas Malin with a Nett 66 on the count back.

The winner of the Women's Medal was Jie Cheng with a Nett 71.

Full Results

Rob Cordaiy | Captain

Women's Weekday Opening Day - 30 January 2025

A big thank you to all the ladies that attended our opening day. We had 131 players on the day and it was a lovely to see so many new and old faces. The Weekday Open day was played as a Drop out Ambrose. With some lovely weather and the course looking magnificent. However, before presenting the prizes for the day, the Most Reduced Handicap was announced. The 2024 winner was Sachiko Elsworth with a reduction of 14.2 - a great result.

The winners on the day were Grace Ping, Jeanette Black, Paulette Bailey and Fran Taylor with a 63.75 nett.

Runners up were Caroline Clarke, Chris Perry, Di Pinnuck and Sue Kruse with a 64 nett followed by Sheila Dickson, Julie Campbell, Rosemary West and Marianne Rudd with a 64.5 nett.

Weekend Opening Day - 2 February 2025

The Weekend Opening Day was held on Sunday 2 February 2025. It was a great day playing a 2BBB team event. Trophies were also presented for:

2024 Weekend Aggregate Stableford & Weekend Gold Medal - Jenni Brown

The winner of the 2BBB on the day was Jenni Brown and Linda Sinclair with 44 points on a c/b from Emma Thurlow and Lisa Jenkins.

4th Tee and Gold Tee competition

Reminder to all women that the position for the 4th tee will be on the same tee as the men's blue tee. Please walk off the back of the 3rd green to the new tee. A further reminder that playing from the Gold tees for Division 4 is no longer compulsory. If you wish to play the Gold tees you must tell the pro-shop before you play otherwise you will be disqualified.

Composite Course

Note the additional eligibility criterion for the Composite Course (see underlined rule below).

Composite Course - Conditions of Play

A player who complies with the following conditions MAY play off the Gold Tees on the nominated holes.

Players must be 70 years of age or over and have a 'combined' age plus handicap of 105 or above; or

Players must have a daily handicap of 37 or greater.

The nominated holes that the Gold Tees can be utilised are: 3, 4, 7, 9, 15, 16, 17 & 18.

If you wish to play the Composite Course you must tell the pro-shop before you play otherwise you will be disqualified.

Note - This condition does not apply to major trophies, medal rounds, matchplay and any competition advised by the Women's Committee.

9 Hole Competition

Please note that the first 9 holes have been rating for both the Gold tees and the Composite Course. For those women who wish to play the Gold Tees or the Composite Course in the 9 hole competition please inform the pro shop before you hit off otherwise you will be disqualified.

Grade

On 14 February 2025 Long Reef will play their first Grade match at Killara against The Australian.

Results

On Tuesday 21 January 2025 Gay Mccorby (28) came second with 40 points on a count back from Ondrae Heiser. The 4BBB was won by Fiammetta Archer and Laurence Archer from Mal Colderick and Rachel Buxton. The 9 hole competition was won by Mary Payne (36) with 17 points from Jan Hanson (35) wit 15 points.

On Thursday 23 January 2025, the overall winner was Toni Wilson (36) with 36 points. Division 1 winner was Rachel Buxton (9) with 35 points on a c/b from Helenka O'Connell, Division 2 was won by Gay Mccorby (27) with 35 points from Adriana Bowyer (31) on 32 points, division 3 was won by Toni Wilson (36) with 36 points from Julie O'Connell (39) with 35 points and Division 4 was won by Chris Perry (43) with 36 points from Mary Locke (44) with 31 points. The 9 hole competition was won by Fay Sinnott (37) with 15 points from Ann Henderson (38) with 14 points.

On Sunday 26 January 2025 the overall winner was won Adriana Bowyer (31) with 41 points.

On Monday 27 January 2025 the overall winner was Sally Hill (16) with 42 points. Sally also won division 2 and Val Wilson (27) came third in division 3 with 37 points.

On Tuesday 28 January 2025 Nan Crump (33) was the overall winner with 39 points with Sally Hill (15) coming sixth with 36 points. The 4BBB was won by Brad Jan and Olivier Duval from Harry Storer and Julie O'Connell.

On Saturday 1 February 2025 the winner of the February medal was Jie Cheng (22) with a 71 nett.

Upcoming Fixtures

Thursday 6 February 2025 - first GNSW medal round for those players that have paid their GNSW fees. Play is off the red tees and a gold tee stableford competition will be available for those players that do not want to play a stroke round.

Thursday 6 February 2025 - qualifying round for the Single Knockout and the Long Markers Knockout. These events are a handicap match play event. The Singles Knockout is for players with handicaps from GA 0-29.0 the Long Markers Knockout is for players with handicaps from GA 29.1- 54 (maximum 45 DH). To play you need to make sure you are available for all matchplay dates.

Matchplay dates are

18 February, 20 February, 25 February, and the final for both the Singles and Long Markers Knockout will be on 27 February 2024

Barrenjoey Week will be held at Long Reef on Thursday 13 February 2025 - 8.00am shotgun starts. There will be no competition for women on Thursday when Barrenjoey week is being played.
Saturday 1 March 2025 - first GNSW medal round for the Weekend players that have paid their GNSW fees.
Thursday 6 March 2025 - second GNSW medal for Weekday players and the GNSW Goodwill Plate will be held in conjunction with the medal round. A gold tee stableford competition will be available for those players that do not want to play a stroke round

Sue Kruse PSM | Women's Captain

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Just a reminder that our women's charity day is coming up on March 20th. Our charity this year is Women and Children First. Their colours are Yellow, Teal and light blue.( this is so you can start organising your outfit) Our charity committee will start approaching local businesses for auction and raffle prizes. If anyone has any business connections or would like to donate prizes please contact me.

Michelle Milsted | Women's President

As of February 4th, the course has received 132mm so far this year compared 100.6mm same time last year. In the last fortnight 25mm of rain has fallen on the course. The dams are at 100% capacity.

On Monday, we conducted a trial run on the 10th fairway with our machines in preparation for our major fairway renovations in August. This has allowed us to fine tune our process to ensure the best results. This process starts with spiking the fairways with a solid Tyne at 14mm thick at a depth of 50mm followed by a heavy scarifier which removes excess organic material, followed by blowing off debris. The next step is to spiral cut at a depth of 10mm to refine the surface. Once this is all complete the fairways will receive a slow release synthetic Fertiliser.

These renovations will improve drainage, enhance turf health, and ensure firmer, more consistent fairways.

The new 1A green is starting to establish well after a slow start, with early challenges from vandalism and persistent southerly winds blowing sand and seed off the new green. Despite these setbacks, progress has been steady, and we were able to mow around 80% of the green for the second time on Monday.

Kurt Schulenburg | Golf Course Superintendent

End of Summer Apparel Sale EXTENDED

Extra 10% Off for Golf Members!

As we make way for our new winter arrivals, we're offering an extra 10% off the Members' price on all apparel & footwear in the Golf Shop!

New logo gear is arriving this week & next + We have in stock the full range of both Footjoy and Ecco.

Now's the perfect time to refresh your wardrobe and grab some great deals before the seasons change. Plus, we'll have a sale rack filled with bargains, so keep your eyes peeled!

Swing by the shop and take advantage of these savings while stock lasts. See you soon!

Jenny Schulenburg | Director of Golf

Question: A player Gerry has found his ball in a bad lie with a bush in front of his ball. He declares his ball unplayable and will take 'back on line' relief with a penalty.

He determines the correct line but still has interference with the line when playing the stroke.

He discusses his shot and moves one club-length to the side out of the direct line.

His fellow competitors think that he has not acted correctly.

Which is correct?

A) Gerry must establish his correct line between his ball and the pin and then may move one club-length further out and then drop his ball.

B) Gerry must drop his ball on the line and this will help him to establish his relief area.

C) Gerry must play his ball from his line directly back from the hole. His relief area must not be closer to the hole than his original point.

Special Olympics Australia - Sydney Northern Beaches Annual Golf Day at Long Reef Golf Club is coming up!

The Annual Golf Day is dedicated to Judy Buckley

Date: Friday 28 February | 8am Shotgun Start

Round of Golf: Long Reef Members $110

Visitors $150 (Inc. breakfast & lunch)

Click Here to download Registration Form

Registrations should be sent to: SydneyNorthernBeaches.Chair@specialolympics.com.au

The Committee/Board - continued 1946-1980s

In 1946 with the realisation that the club needed to be run on a more business like basis the position of Secretary was advertised with a skill set in mind rather than the appointment coming from within.

Jim Alderdice was appointed as the Club Secretary in 1946. He had club management experience. He remained for the next 18 years, only resigning because of ill-health. He was awarded Life Membership in 1966 - the only employee of the club to do so. He was a force of nature and may be criticized for thinking that Long Reef was a private club! During his time the committee applied and received a liquor licence for the club and solved the problem of how to build and pay for a new Club House. Construction took ten years in stages as it could be afforded. (1950-60.) A Bowling green (1950-70) was created to encourage older members (men only!) to keep a membership. Jim Alderdice along with Gus Widmer and President/Captain Wally Smith were a formidable team. They were supported by the long-serving Women's President Annis Soutar and committee member Dot Leonard.

Late in the 40s (1946-47) the number of Vice-Presidents was reduced to 3 and the number of General Committee members was increased to 8. The General Committee members remained at 8 until 1984-85 when it was reduced to just 5 for many years to follow. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, the Club had 3 Vice-Presidents and the General Committee consisted of 8 elected members. It appears from Club records that 1973-74 was a time of major re-structure of the Committee.

The 1973-74 Annual General Report shows a President, a Vice-President, a Captain, a Vice-Captain for the first time in our history, a Treasurer and a General Committee of 8 members. Included in the 44th Annual General Report were individual reports on Finance, Membership, Course, House and Competition.

This re-structure ushered in what could probably be referred to as " the modern era of Committees." It can be related to two events in the history of Golf in general. In the 70's the televising of golf became more popular and widespread. Many golfers were able to see other courses - these courses had been specially prepared for the big tournaments and many members began seeing their course as not quite as good as what they were seeing. This put pressure on Committees to improve their own course and thus the employment of greenkeepers increased and more sophisticated course machinery was required. The Committee either had to become more professional themselves or employ more professional help. Financial knowledge became a far more important aspect of the running of the Club.

The second major change came with the arrival of a young Qld. golfer named Greg Norman. A golf boom followed in Australia as Norman became one of the leading players in the world and many clubs were swamped with new members. These 2 events combined to change the way golf clubs operated. The Committee had to become more professional in their attitudes and the number of professional staff employed by the clubs increased.

For Long Reef, this opened up more opportunities to generate revenue. The course was becoming more popular - in 1975 there were 506 playing members, by 1990 this number had risen to 760. It is also interesting to note that by 2000 the Club had 530 House members. This of course meant more staff being employed and more diverse use of the Club House. The Club became very popular as a social venue, particularly for weddings and a degree of thanks was extended to Mrs Saunders at the time. She was employed as Caterer in 1980 and remained in the position for 8 years building up the number of weddings and permanent booking for outside club dinners and meetings.

The research of professionals was used to plan the draining and watering of the course. The Wetlands Projects plan commenced in the late 80 under the leadership of Presidents Graham Clark and Allan Delaney. Graham was responsible for forming the Vision 90 Committee. This led to a decade of major change in the 90s including changes, not only to the course but also to the committee structure and the growth of the use of computers.

The 90s to the present topic will complete this story in the next issue.

Mick Snell & Sandra Mellowes | Archive Committee