Club Email

From the Captain

Holes-in-One

They just keep coming!!

On Wednesday 9th February there was a luxury Genesis car up for grabs for a hole-in-one on the 7th. Playing in the last group of the day, Kerry Andrich (pictured below) got one... unfortunately, his hole-in-one was on the 13th. He may have missed out on the car but it was still a great shot and brought a broad smile to his face!

On Sunday 13th February, Dan Baldacchino (pictured below) was playing a Major Pennant match against Cromer. Having lost the first hole and after watching his opponent hit his tee shot on the 2nd hole to 3ft, he feared he was in danger of going 2 down after 2. However, he slam dunked his tee shot and promptly leveled the match. He kept it together and eventually birdied the 17th to win 2&1 as well

On Monday 21^st February, Mike Hankey got his week off to a great start with a hole in one on the 13^th hole. Whilst it was before midday when Mike returned to ring the bell (pictured below), there were still some supportive Members who raised a glass and enjoyed a celebratory beverage.

Interstate success

Congratulations to Steve Prior who won the Victoria Inclusive Championship a little over a week ago. Played over two rounds of Strokeplay, in conjunction with the Victoria Open, Steve held his nerve to par the last hole on the final round to win by one shot. It was looking a whole load more comfortable standing on the 17th tee with a four-shot lead but a lost ball and double bogey from Steve and a birdie to his nearest challenger made the task a little harder, than intended...

Steve adds this win to many other Australian Amputee events and we wish him luck for the National Amputee Championships, which will also be held in Victoria this April.

Other Golfing highlights

Nick Faldo shot 18 straight pars in the final round to win the Open Championship at Muirfield in 1987 and I almost witnessed the same feat on Wednesday 9th February but Jimmy Knox threw in a solitary birdie for a bogey free 1 under. Knoxy won Scratch after beating the Vice-Captain, Cam Gillespie on a countback.

Marty Haywood won A Grade and Score of the Day that Wednesday with 41 points while Ben Knight won B Grade (39 points) and Mark Hansen won C Grade (40 points).

Saturday 12th February saw Ross Bockman shoot 1 under par and beat his age again. He does it regularly but it is still a fantastic achievement and one most of us will never match. It was also enough to take out Scratch on the day.

Mitchell Gilligan pipped Bocko for A Grade when he had 40 points while Phil Blanshard took out B Grade with the same score. Anders Kobula beat Andrew Dunn, after a countback, to win C Grade when both had 41 points.

Stewart McGeady easily won B Grade and the Score of the Day on Wednesday 16th with an impressive +7 in the par event, +4 was next best and that was the score that won Trevor Waters A Grade and Jock Kennedy C Grade (after a countback with Geoff Bertram). Jimmy Knox continued his fine form in winning Scratch with a round of 3 under par..

"Just like buses"

We waited a long time for a woman to win Score of the Day on a Saturday and then we had two come along in quick succession.

Congratulations to Natalie Driver who had 43 points on Saturday 12th. She won the women's comp by 10 shots and beat the best male score by a couple of points. Great round Nat!

Course Closure

Just a reminder that the course will be closed for renovations on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th March. The practice fairway and nets will still be available for Members.

We will hold Ambrose events on the Wednesday and Thursday after and there will be a non-handicap, 5 club event on Saturday 19th.

Rules with Doug

I know many of us learn a thing or two every fortnight when we read "Rules with George" and I encourage everybody to read that section of the Newsletter to broaden our understanding. Whilst golf is a game where self-regulation is expected, it is every player's responsibility to understand and play within the rules but also act when breaches of the rules are identified.

I realise it is potentially an awkward conversation to have but a player that witnesses a breach of the rules and fails to report it, is also in breach of the rules and faces the possibility of disqualification themself.

Given the nature of the sport we love, I would like to believe that any rule breaches are done out of ignorance of the rules...

I don't want to promote the over-use of phones on the course but as most of us are using them for scoring, I would encourage you to download the R&A Rules of Golf app, if you do not carry a rule book in your bag, so you have a reference point.

If anybody is interested in going further and actually becoming rules accredited, the R&A also hosts an online site (Click Here) which is free to undertake and I can assure you that you will certainly be better informed. There is also rules quizzes available with varying difficulty of questions (Click Here) .

I have had a few instances reported to me in recent times and unfortunately that has resulted in disqualifications and varying degrees of other disciplinary action.

A couple of very quick topline tips to avoid issues:

Confirm scores with your playing partner after every hole. Do not press submit on the app until you have confirmed your score.

Always mark your ball before picking it up. If you are not on the green, confirm with your playing partner your intent.

Free relief is generally a drop within one club length no nearer the hole, from the nearest point of full relief. However, if you are taking relief from the practice area or the path on the 18th, you are permitted to drop within two club lengths of the drop zone stake, in any direction.

When choosing to take relief from a red penalty area, you have three options:

Go back to the area where you best estimate that the original ball crossed into the penalty area and you add one stroke and drop within two club lengths of that point.
Go back as far as you wish, on the line of relief keeping the point that you crossed into the penalty area directly between where you drop and the hole. Again you add one stroke and drop within two club lengths.
Play from the same position you played the last shot from and add one penalty stroke. (known as stroke and distance)

If you deem your ball unplayable in a bunker, you may take relief within the bunker with a one-shot penalty. However, if you really don't fancy the bunker shot at all, you may take back-on-the-line relief (as above) but with a two-shot penalty and keep the original spot in the bunker between you and the hole.

The rules are there to help us, so let's ensure we know as much as possible. Thank you.

Doug Campell| Captain

From the Women's Committee

Good news - presentations are coming back and the first one will be on Thursday 3^rd March. This is also the day of the handicap match play finals for Singles and Long Markers Knockout trophies.

Good luck to the Grade team for their first match at Massey Park on Friday 25^th February. The team is Kate Shanks, Peta Bird, Jen Jansson, Kim Sloane & Sue Kruse, and thank you to the caddies, Wendy Thomas, Wendy Millson, Ali Gattas Karen Smith and Lynne Parsons.

Barrenjoey Peninsula Golf week turned 40 this year. Thank you to Clare John, Angela Brown and Sue Rossi for being on the Barrenjoey Committee. Long Reef Golf Club held two events on Monday 7^th February and Thursday 10^th February, so thank you to all the players that came out to help, Julie Preston, Pauline McMahon, Nicki Wiebe, Linda Sinclair, Julie Campbell, Marilyn Denner, Maryanne Yeldham, Sharyn Hillman, Sue Kruse, Sara Backes and Di Muncke.

Thursday February 17^th saw the Stroke - Club & GNSW Medal 1 played in warm humid conditions. There were some amazing rounds played and congratulations to all medal winners.

Division 1 was won by Emma Thurlow (8) net 71, 2^nd Jenni Brown (12) 74 on a countback from 3^rd Ali Gattas (19)

Division 2 was won by Sally Hill (24) 72, 2^nd Jan Daniel (26) 73 on a countback from 3^rd Catherine Devyre (28).

Division 3 was won by Amanda Savage (44) with a fantastic net 70 which was also the best net score of the day on a countback, Susan Scott (45) who was in our rookie program last year was second with a net 76, winning on a countback from Sue Dewell (39).

It was fantastic to see Amanda winning a medal for the 1^st time and Susan playing so well in her first few months of joining the Club.

The scratch winners were:

Division 1 Emma Thurlow
Division 2 Sally Hill
Division 3 Amanda Savage

NTP winners were Kim Sloane on the 7^th and Catherine Devrye on the 13^th.

The stroke round was also the qualifier for the Singles and Long Markers Knockout Trophies. The 1^st round of the handicap match play was played on Tuesday 22^nd February. Congratulations to all players that qualified.

The winners of the 1st round for the Singles Knockout Trophy were Lisa George, Rosemary West, Clare John, Wendy Thomas, Catherine Devrye, Lyndall Bacon, Karmen Whitford, and Cath Piper.

For the Long Markers Knockout Trophy winners were Amanda Savage, Linda Sinclair, Jill Hensman, Michelle Milsted, Nan Crump, Sue Rossi, Helen Cregan, and Colleen Thompson. The quarter finals are being played on Thursday 24th February.

The draw is on the website and also on the wall in the ladies locker room.

Over the last two weeks congratulations go to the following players who had great scores:

Nat Driver (14) 43 pts and the best score of the day on Saturday 12th February.
Michelle Ackerman (37) 43 pts
Fiona Woolley (38) 41 pts
Helenka O'Connell 41 pts
Marg O'Connell (24) 39 pts
Robyn McCormick (31) 39 pts
Lynne Clayton 9 22) 39 pts
Jan Daniel (26) 38 pts
Michelle Milsted (34) 38 pts
Vanessa Murphy (23) 38 pts
Kim Sloane (15) 38 pts

9 holes

Di Heffernan (25) 21 pts
Danielle Seisun (45) 21 pts

The 1st Eclectic started on Thursday 17th March for both 9 and 18 holes and finishes on Thursday 23rd June. The birdie board is back for both weekday and weekend and the sheets are up in the locker room.

Thank you to Wendy Millson and all the ladies who have agreed to walk with the rookies over the next couple of months, we have 21 rookies at present.

Upcoming Fixtures:

Thursday 10th March - Stroke - Club GNSW Medal 2 and Goodwill Plate. The sheet is up in the locker room, and if you are unable to come into the Club, please send an email to ladies@lrgc.com.au by Wednesday 9th March.

Charity Day Thursday 24th March 2022 - this event has been postponed to a later date. We will advise as soon as the revised date is finalised.

Thursday 17th March is Greenkeepers' Revenge Day. We will play a 4 Ball Ambrose and please book in the normal way.

Wendy Thomas | Women's Captain

Major Pennants Summary

Sunday 22nd saw our Major Pennant team take on Cromer away from home. The Team order was:

Ryan Farrell
Chun-Ta Wu
Dan Baldacchino
Kristian Hooker
Dominic Dowling
Cian Hughes
Cam Gillespie
Harry McKerihan (Reserve)

It was a lovely morning at Cromer and the green staff set the course up with some tight pins and rock-hard greens. Playing from the Black Tee's saw the course play long with some wonderful vantage points, especially from the 10th Tee.

We all started off well but took some consecutive losses through the turn which saw us staring at a big defeat.

But we knew the task at hand was to hit fairways and greens and if we did so, we'd keep the pressure up to Cromer all the way until the 18th hole.

Our final score was a tight but respectable loss of 4-3 with Chun-Ta & Kristian both winning 3&1 & 1up, respectively. Cian and I took the match to the last hole where pars were good enough to hold onto half a point after both having 20ft+ 'right to lefters' to win.

The season moves to be against Oatlands next week at home with everything to play for. A big win at home then an away win will see us progress to the Semi's.

We love the support our Members show when we see familiar faces around the course. Please pop down to see the guys in action for the last home game of the season this Sunday from 7am.

Until next week.

Cam Gillespie | Major Pennants Team Captain

Rules With George | Question

Question: Alan was playing in a Stableford event at Long Reef. On the third hole he hit his drive left into a massive bush in the deep rough. He said "I will play a provisional". His provisional was a good shot ending on the fairway with the green easily reachable with his next stroke.

His group searched for his first ball and after two minutes found it in the big bush in a position where it was not feasible to play it. He said “lucky I played a provisional, I will play that.” He played the provisional ball onto the green close to the hole. When he reached the green he putted out for one putt.

Which is correct?
A) Alan acted correctly and scored five for the hole
B) Alan played a wrong ball and will have no score for the third hole.

From the Course

The regular rain continues as summer goes on but along with the rain is high humidity and endless grass cutting. Rainfall amounts over summer have been Dec 87mm, Jan 57mm and so far in Feb 197mm with 88.6mm falling last night. It is a nice change not to have numerous staff towing hoses and sprinklers around keeping areas alive. I don't think our dam levels have been below 90% all summer. The high humidity makes for a perfect environment for fungal disease in the greens but with careful monitoring we have avoided any major problems.

In recent weeks the 10^th members tee, ladies 16^th tee and 16^th championship tee have been rebuilt. Just as the new turf was laid we endured a week of strong southerly winds causing salt burn to the new turf (a difficult start to life) This is now recovering and the new tees have had their first cut and have been heavily top-dressed with sand which will encourage good growth over the coming weeks. Changing the grass species of these tees from Kikuyu to Santa Ana couch is a continuation of the overall plan for all the tees.

Couch is the preferred grass as it is a finer leaf, more drought tolerant, easier to manage with weeds and pests and is a better firmer surface.

There have been a few changes with the rough in a number of areas around the course to help playability and improve safety. The long patches of parramatta grass on the 6^th and 17^thholes has been removed to reduce balls getting lost. We are now cutting the long healthy grass at the bases of the mounds between the 15^th & 16^th with a different mower. This will help with playability when balls end up rolling off the tops of the mounds. We are also changing the shape of the 9^th fairway and reducing the cutting height of the mounds on the right side. This area will eventually be cut at regular fairway height almost to the ponds which run between the 8^th & 9^th. Eventual plans will be to remove the bunker on the left side and reshape the area moving the fairway to the right.

Peter Donkers | Course Superintendent

From the Archives | Official Opening!Saturday Feb 17^th 1923

During the past week the Club has had another reason to celebrate a birthday. February 17^th was another beginning for the young Golf Club, a day to have an Official Opening in conjunction with swinging open the doors of the brand new "Golf House." The new Club was most welcome as it helped to fill the shortage of Clubs in the metropolitan area.

Building a Clubhouse had been suggested at the 1922 AGM in July. The Secretary wasted no time in sending a letter two days after the meeting to the Council. Nine days later, the Council replied approving the proposal. The request also included a need for an extra allotment of land which was granted.

An Architect was chosen and plans were drawn up and it was estimated that the cost would be 255 Pounds Sterling, (or about $510 at that time.) The Committee proposed to call for tenders, but later decided to appoint a builder and for the Club to purchase the materials. The small wooden building took three months to erect and was ready by Christmas. A date for an official opening was chosen for the New Year giving time to plan the occasion and send out invitations to local and golfing dignitaries.

On February 17^th it may be said that the facilities did not have too much to offer, but there was a phone and two toilet pans in place! Within 6 months extensions and additions were to start and continue to the present day.

The photos of the day show the crowd outside on the small balcony or on the grass which faced Fisherman's Beach. It was windy as accounts tell us, the bunting and flags did cartwheels towards the roof and the ladies held on to their hats. Sir William Vickers, President of Bonnie Doon cut the ribbon and gave a glowing speech. Mr McMurray the Caretaker/Groundsman became the caterer for the day!

A long article about the day appeared in Vol 1 No1 of the Golf in Australia Magazine. The following describes the afternoon:

"One of the attractions of the afternoon was a match played by E. Apperley and Carneige Clarke, vs Merrilees and Soutar, * the game being followed by a large and enthusiastic gallery. Later visitors were given the opportunity of playing over the links. The afternoon terminating all too soon, leaving an impression of welcome, hospitality and success."

Next year in February 2023 we have an excuse for another 100-year celebration!

References: The first 65 years of Long Reef Golf Club - Ross lanes.

1920's Minute Book. Golf in Australia.

*Ed. Leading professionals and amateurs of the time.. Eric Apperly, Dan Soutar, J. Merilees (at Goulburn) or Peter Merrilees and Carneige Clark.

Sandra Mellowes | Archive Committee

From the Pro Shop

Mizuno Fitting day | Friday March 25 8am-1pm

Bookings Through the Pro shop

Selected Clothing 35% OFF

New Range Titleist Sta Dry Carry bags Now available

New range Ladies and Gents Footjoy clothing

In Tune With Parenting

It can be stressful being a parent, particularly when you're meant to be watching your offspring perform in public.

Watching kids can be stressful because, let's face it, it's easy to become distracted.

"Daddy, did you see my goal?" is one of the more awkward questions a chatting parent can be asked at a local sporting event. "Did you see me hit that six? Did you see me take that mark? Did you see me score the winning basket?" are others.

Of course sideline issues pale into insignificance compared with school hall performances where you sit shoulder to shoulder with other parents. There's nowhere to hide at these events. Your loving children and their zealous teachers watch your every move while you fidget and check your phone through the musical highlight of the year. The kindergarten recorder recital.

Spare a thought then for parents in Scotland. It's not easy keeping a straight face when the junior band's playing I'm A Little Teapot on the bagpipes!

Of course it also works the other way. Children always want to do well for their parents.

And that's why James Pysar was sporting such a big grin after last Friday's round. Young James had the top score of the day, 39 points, to win division one and he had his 80-year-old dad playing with him to witness the feat. Denis Watchorn, who's been in rare form recently, was runner-up with a rather tidy 38.

Never mind the bagpipes, there was noise and excitement galore in Rachael Loomes' group. Rachael racked up a brisk 23 points on the front nine and came home with a tidy 38 points to win division two in rather hot and sweaty conditions.

Sally Hill was just one shot behind which was a good effort after poor life choices on the first (first ball out of bounds, next ball in the creek, even hotter and sweatier now ... who doesn't love golf?)

Meanwhile in division three, evergreen Ted Talbot had just a bit too much finesse for Bruce Ritchie and carded 37 points to win by a shot.

Friday Club Joins the 20^th Century

After years of deliberation (you can't rush these things), Friday Club has decided to join modern society and will now be able to take plastic card payments at our registration desk.

We'll still accept cash as well, but we're drawing the line at Bitcoin!
Perry Yeldham | Friday Club President

REEF BREEZES

From the Captain

From the Women's Committee

Major Pennants Summary

Rules With George | Question

From the Course

From the Archives | Official Opening!Saturday Feb 17^th 1923

From the Pro Shop

Rules With George | Answer

OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS

SUPPORT THE COMPANIES WHO SUPPORT US

REEF BREEZES

From the Captain

From the Women's Committee

Major Pennants Summary

Rules With George | Question

From the Course

From the Archives | Official Opening!Saturday Feb 17th 1923

From the Pro Shop

Rules With George | Answer

OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS

SUPPORT THE COMPANIES WHO SUPPORT US

From the Archives | Official Opening!Saturday Feb 17^th 1923