Club Email

Michael Infanti – Surgery and Fundraiser

We wanted to share an important update on our Head Teaching Professional, Michael Infanti and his recent surgery.

After an extremely tough stretch in August and September, Michael was able to improve his lungs and body so that he could undergo major surgery on 15 October to remove his stomach and tumour. We’re very pleased to report that, by all accounts from the surgical team, the operation was successful.

Michael is now focused on recovery and healing before meeting with his doctors and oncologist in mid-November to determine the next steps in his treatment plan, which will likely include further chemotherapy to finish the year. He remains in great spirits and has once again shown the same resilience, optimism and courage that have inspired so many of us at Long Reef over the years.

To continue supporting Michael and his wife Chiara, we’re hosting a special fundraising dinner — “An Evening for Michael Infanti” — on Friday 28 November from 6:30 pm at Long Reef Golf Club.

This formal event includes a three course dinner, beverages, live entertainment and auctions, with all proceeds helping Michael and Chiara manage living and rehabilitation costs during his recovery.

Tickets are $200 per person and are available now. Click here for more details

We are currently seeking auction items and prize donations to make the event as impactful as possible.
If you, your business, or anyone in your network can contribute — whether it’s accommodation, dining experiences, golf rounds, memorabilia, or unique experiences — please contact office@lrgc.com.au by Saturday 15 November.

Every contribution, big or small, will make a genuine difference.

Ben Russell | General Manager

Encourage Shield Round 2

Long Reef hosted Division 7 in Round 2 of the Encourage Shield on Sunday 19^th October, recording a convincing 4.5 to 1.5 victory over Mona Vale.

The team made the most of the windy conditions on their home course, showing great composure and course knowledge throughout the day.

Barney Stephenson produced an exceptional feat of holing out 3 individual wedge shots resulting in 3 birdies, a highlight that had everyone talking!

The team’s strong start to the season continues, and they looked to carry this momentum into Round 3 against Cromer at Mona Vale.

Encourage Shield – Round 3

Hosted by Mona Vale in perfect conditions, round 3 saw another strong performance from the Long Reef team against Bayview. Aiden McConochie impressed on debut, taking his match to the final hole while filling in for his brother Thomas, who was busy qualifying for the C Grade Semi Finals. Harper Lee continued her winning streak, and the match came down to a thrilling finish on 18, with Angus Mayoh squaring his game and Elijah Franks clinching victory to secure a 3.5–2.5 win for Long Reef.

The result moves Long Reef into 2nd place in the division, with a top-of-the-table clash against Northbridge at Northbridge.

Club Championships:

Senior Champion 2025

With two rounds of 75 for a total of 150 Adam Lynn is the 2025 Senior Champion.

Congratulations Adam.

Junior Champion 2025

With rounds of 71 and 72 for a total of 143 the 2025 Junior Champion is Lennox Cleary.

Congratulations Lennox.

Congratulations to all Members who have qualified for the Grade and Club Championship playoffs.

The playoffs kicked off on Saturday 25th October with two exciting matches. John Steuart overcame young Angus Mayoh 4 & 3, while Thomas McConochie produced an impressive 6 & 5 victory over Pete Stephenson.

Both Angus (8) and Thomas (11) are members of the Encourage Shield team and continue to impress with their composure and skill. In the quarter-finals on Sunday 26th October, Thomas played John in a tightly contested match, ultimately securing a 3 & 1 win.

The Semi-finals and Finals will be played on Saturday 1^st November and Sunday 2^nd November followed by the Club’s Major Presentation. All Members are welcome to spectate and join the winners in the Clubhouse at the conclusion for the Major Trophy Presentation.

Championship Results

Long Reef Senior Medal

The Long Reef Senior Medal will be held on Monday 17^th November with a 1pm Shotgun start. The event is for Men who are 50 years or over. The Registration Sheet is now open for those who would like to participate. The entry fee is $60 and includes a light lunch.

Entries close Friday 7^th November @ 5pm.

Entry via the booking sheet on the Long Reef app or website.

For more information, please contact Jenny Schulenburg on ph: 9982 2943

Australian Senior Amateur Championships

Geoff Cranfield played in the Australian Senior Amateur Championships at Monash Country Club on 14/10/2025 - 16/10/2025. Geoff shot rounds of 82, 81, 82 for a total of 245. +29.

The winner was Mark Allen from Victoria with three round total of 227.

Results

Wednesday 15^th October – Single Stableford and 4BBB with a field of 229.

The winner and score of the day went to Garry McManus with a score of 42 points.

Full Results

Saturday 18^th October – November Medal & Club Championships R2 with a field of 221.
The winner of the November Medal with a Nett 68 was David Farrell. David informed me that this was his first ever Medal win, well done David.

The winner of the Women’s Medal with a Nett 73 was Jeanette Reitzer.

Full Results

Wednesday 22^nd October – Single Stableford and 4BBB with a field of 205.

The winner and score of the day went to Phil Ton-That with 43 points.

Full Results

Saturday 25^th October – Medley Stableford and 2 ball Multiplier with a field of 109.

The winner and score of the day went to Nick Sherlock with 38 on the countback.

Full Results

Stop Press. Monday's Results

Terry Hill, 75 years young, was having the round of his life last Monday the 28th. Out in 28 strokes (and 28 Stableford points!),Terry was 6 under off the stick after 9 holes before the wind came up, Terry still came home in 70 shots, well under his age and 47 points. Congratulations Terry.

Terry's card is below.

Special mentions to Trent Bracey, who had an albatross 2 on the 15th, and Tony Johnson who had 45 points.

Rob Cordaiy | Captain

The KENO Ambrose – Regional Final

Aom Bowler and Tanya Heber represented Long Reef at the Regional Final of the KENO Ambrose at Muirfield GC on Friday 24^th October. The level of golf was very good and the girls failed to place but enjoyed their day at Muirfield.

We also wish Sally Hill and Diana Sier all the best for their regional final being played at Forster on November 2^nd .

Golf NSW Metropolitan Finals

We wish Toni Wilson and Janet Atchison all the best for the Metropolitan Finals Play off at Carnarvon golf course on November 7^th .

Hole In One

Yet another hole in one from the ladies playing group. Gay Mccorby took great joy in retelling how her ball bounced, skipped and jumped into the second hole on Thursday 16^th October. Congratulations again Gay.

Short Course Cup

We are down to the finals for this new event played off the gold tees. It is the first time many of the ladies have played matchplay and they have all enjoyed introducing a new format to their game. Jo Bellemore defeated Ashleigh Muir 2&1 and Jeanette Black defeated Li-Shyan Chen 4&2.

We wish Jo and Jeanette all the best for the final on Thursday October 30th.

Many thanks to Wendy Millson and Robyn Mccormick for walking with the ladies and helping them with the rules of matchplay .

Club Championship Matchplay

We are now at the semi final stage of competition . The matchplay draws and results can be found on the Long Reef app. We wish the following players all the best in their match this coming Thursday 30^th October . It would also be great to see as many as possible of the woman’s playing group here on Sunday 2^nd November to cheer on the ladies in the finals .

Open

Peta Bird vs Wendy Millson

Emma Thurlow vs Kathy Waters

A Reserve

Kim Sloane vs Prue Bardsley

Gretel Watson vs Deb Kent

Bronze

Karman Whitford vs Liz Morton

Sue Smiles vs Dani Montgomery

C Grade

Lisa Mackenzie vs Virginia Murphy

Aki Lee vs Julia Mahn

Woman’s AGM and Trophy Presentation

We hope you can join us for this annual event on Thursday 6^th November at 6pm . Please RSVP as a light meal is served. The election of the new Women’s committee will take place along with the presentation of trophies for 2025 .

Ladies Committee | Long Reef Golf Club

Course Update – October 2025

The Course has received a total of 1555.2mm of rain so far this year, with 1.1mm rain falling in the last fortnight. As a result, we are now using knockers to water around high traffic areas to keep the turf alive. Hopefully we get some overdue rainfall soon.

The picture is of the new mounds on the left hand side of the 17th green. They have now been shaped and looking good. We’re hoping to have them turfed towards the end of the week. Once completed, this area will blend in well with the surroundings and provide additional protection to the boundary. At the moment, fertilizing of the fairways has been put on hold due to the limited water supply in our dams. Once we receive some decent rainfall and there’s a bit more moisture in the ground, well proceed with fertilizing our fairways to encourage healthy growth throughout the growing season.

The 13^th and 15^th greens have some disease over the last few weeks. We’ve applied a few fungicide treatments to help manage the issue and they are recovering well. These areas act as a small microclimate with limited air movement, which can make them more susceptible to disease at times.

Good luck to everyone playing in the semi finals and finals of the club championships this weekend! All the best from my team.

Kurt Schulenburg | Course Superintendent

Can you believe there are only 57 days until Christmas? It's the perfect time to start thinking about spoiling yourself - or someone special - this festive season!

Keep an eye out in the Golf Shop for our Christmas specials as we count down to the big day. There will be some fantastic offers and gift ideas to suit every golfer.

With summer just around the corner, it is also the ideal time to refresh your wardrobe. We are stocked with a new range of summer apparel to keep you looking good on the Course!

Jenny Schulenburg | Director of Golf

Never top a Fairway Wood

Struggling with your fairway woods?

Check out our latest video with Danny as he shares simple tips to help you make clean contact and get those fairway woods flying! His quick pointers will help you strike it solid, gain confidence and lower your scores on the Course!

To book in a lesson or a fitting, click on the link below!

Question:

You hit a ball into the bushes and don’t feel like searching for it. You reload and hit another shot down the middle of the fairway and start walking. When you get up to your second ball, you see that your first is clearly visible and you decide, since it’s within three minutes of search time, to go chip that original ball back into play and pocket your second ball. Are you allowed to do that?

Which is correct?

A. Go play your original ball since it’s still within the three-minute search time.
B. Choose either ball to continue with, since both are in play.
C. Continue with the second ball and take a one-stroke penalty, because you didn’t declare the second as a provisional ball.

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Important Notice: The Cafe will be closed on November 4th for the Melbourne Cup. Members wishing to watch the race are welcome to do so in the Members area.

Men’s Senior Champion and Women’s Veterans Premier

Spring is here and to most club golfers that means only one thing - it’s Championship time. Within the month trophies will be awarded to Club members of all levels both men and women, young and not so young.

In this article we will focus on the older golfers - trophies for the Men’s Senior Championship and the Women’s Veteran’s Premiership. These are both relatively new competitions in the history of the Club.

Interestingly both competitions have changed their eligibility age ranges. The men have become younger and the women older. The first Men’s Senior Champion was crowned in 1988. Originally the trophy was created to recognise the best male player over the age of 55. This was later changed to 50. It is awarded to the player with the lowest scratch score in the qualifying rounds of the Club Championship. Fittingly, the first Senior Champion was Des Lofthouse in 1988 – he won again the next year. Des’s record has never been matched – he won 18 Championship events including Club Championships, Men’s Foursomes and Mixed Foursomes and represented in Pennant teams for many years. He was recognised as a Life Member in 1980.

Since Des there have been 14 other members who have become Senior Champion. Sadly not everyone is still with us. The most prolific winner is Ross Bockman who has won the title on 8 occasions, the first in 2005 and the most recent in 2021. Ross has also won 2 Club Championships and represented the Club in Major and Master Pennants teams on countless occasions.

Other multiple winners are Don Harper (4 titles), Les Browne (4 Titles) and the 2024 Champion Jimmy Little (4 Titles).

The names on the Senior’s Champion Honour Board can also be seen in lists of those who have contributed to the Club on many levels apart from their golfing ability.

Don Harper was Club President between 2003 – 05 and had been Captain in 1996. Les Browne was Club Captain from 2015-19 and was also a long time Board Member and he attained Life Membership in 2014. Elywn Heber had won the title in 1998 and became Club President from 2005-10. He gained Life Membership 2001. Steve Twigg won the event in 2014, was Club President from 2018-22 and went on to become a Life Member in 2024.

Geoff Cranfield holds his place in Club History not only as the oldest Club Champion but also as the only male to win the Senior Championship and the Club Championship in the same year. This he did in 2016 – a superb effort following his win in 2015 in the Long Reef Medal.

The Women’s Veteran Premiership is an even newer addition to the Club’s trophy list, The ‘veteran’ age of qualification has changed over the years. It started out at 55 but is now 65. The event was started, sponsored and presented by Sandra and Bill Gillies in 1996. It is also awarded to the player with the lowest scratch score in the qualifying rounds for the Championship.

It came as no surprise to anyone when Sandra became the most prolific winner of the Premiership. She has her name on the trophy a remarkable 10 times. Other multiple winners include Jenny Brown (7 titles) and Kim Sloane (5 titles.) Both Jenny and Kim have been Club Champion and have had long representative careers in the Grade Team. No woman has won more Mixed Foursomes than Jenni!

Over the years there have been 4 women who have achieved the double of Veteran Premier and Club Champion in the same year. Sandra Gillies got the double in 2000, Jenni won both in 2010, Julia Bowen in 2012 and as recently as 2023 Jennifer Jansson took out both titles.

As with their male counterparts, many of the Senior women winners have contributed greatly to the Club at all levels. Sandra Gillies was Women’s Captain 1994-95, Women’s President 1996-98 and became the first female to be elected to the Board where she served as Vice-Captain of the Club from 1997-99. She was awarded Life Membership in 2016.

Wendy Millson was women’s Vice-President when she won in 2015 -Wendy went on to serve as Women’s Captain for five years.

Our history is littered with Champions. Those covered in this article deserve a special place in our Club folklore. Most are long time members who have demonstrated their skill over many years while at the same time making valuable contributions to the Club in general.

And the 2025 winners are...

Men’s Senior Champion - Adam Lynn

Women’s Veteran Premier - Peta Bird

Mick Snell

Archives committee