Club Email

From your Board

Meeting held on Thursday 26 May 2022

1. RECOGNITION
We have introduced a new theme seeking to encourage and motivate Members of our excellent high performing staff and other contributors who make our Club so wonderful. It is a way to have some fun whilst appreciating their efforts. It is called the "Trillionaire's Club" and the winner's grand prize is a real $10,000,000,000 banknote (drawn on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe).

This month we recognised Toni Collins for her amazing passion and "can do" attitude that she brings to our Functions and Events business. Toni's hard work and flair for making things special touches the lives of our Wedding Couples, our Members at our events and the high performing team she works with. Toni is a superstar! If you see Toni, tell her she is great!

Please feel free to get in touch with myself or Ben if there is anyone you would like to nominate. We would love to hear from you.

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING
The proposed Strategic Plan will be sent to the Membership for comment on the 16 June.

3. FINANCE
The Net Profit for April was $167,040. April was an exceptionally good month for bar and catering income however the Golf Course was closed for 11 days, having an effect on Golf related income. A record number of 10 weddings for April combined with excellent weather on the Easter Weekend which delivered $38,000 from visitor Green Fees over offset the lost income on rain days and allowed us to exceed budgeted profit.

4. WET WEATHER
The wet weather that has hit the east coast over the past 3 months has had a significant impact on the Course. Since the 25 February the Golf Course has been closed for 29 days and carts have not been permitted for 79 days. It has been an incredibly testing time for Members and we thank you for your patience and understanding whilst navigating the conditions.

Thank you to the staff and in particular the Course staff who have worked through the conditions, many times only to see overnight storms undo the work from the previous days. Though the forecasts for the coming months is more rain, we are pleased with the recent breeze and sunshine which is helping the course recover.

5. MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
Membership renewals were due on the 31 May 2022. From today, 1 June you will not be able to book into the time sheets until you have renewed your Membership.

6. AUSTRALIAN SPORTS FOUNDATION
The Golf Committee and course designers are currently reviewing the bunkers and will be focusing on improving the playability and consistency of these bunkers over the coming years.

Some bunkers will be removed or reshaped and other bunkers may have revetting installed. Most bunkers on the course host a number of maintenance issues following poor weather such as flooding or loss of sand.

This will be a long term project which will address the following issues - life expectancy, drainage, erosion factors, exposures specific to Long Reef, sand consistency, accessibility for maintenance vehicles and other equipment, the aesthetics of the course, maintenance requirements in relation to frequency of play of specific bunkers

To make a donation please log on to our Australian Sports Foundation website CLICK HERE and follow the instructions. All donations are tax deductible. Now is a good time to support your golf course on a major initiative and obtain a tax deduction for this tax year.

7. BUNKER MASTER PLAN
The Board is currently reviewing the master plan as presented by TP Golf. Once the scope, timeline and costings have been approved by the Board there will be an information night for Members.

8. SOFTWARE REPLACEMENT
The Board approved a software replacement proposal which will see changes to the software applications for Membership, Finance and an upgrade to the point of sale hardware.

9. BOARD NOMINATION SESSION
For those Members who maybe thinking of nominating for the Board or are interested in gaining further information about the role and responsibilities of a Board Member, please contact myself or our General Manager so that we can arrange a convenient time to discuss.

10 .JOHN MULLINS OAM
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
The John Mullins OAM Distinguished Service Award is bestowed on members who have made a significant contribution to the Club and/or golf in general by providing their services voluntarily over a lengthy period of time. Fittingly, the award is dedicated to and named after the late John Mullins OAM who made such an outstanding contribution to our Club over many years. If anyone feels that a Member should be nominated please advise our General Manager Ben Russell by 29 June.

Though the Club is no longer subject to Covid restrictions, we have experienced significant numbers of Members and our staff becoming unwell (including myself). Please can you follow the NSW Government guidelines around safe hygiene practices to protect yourself, our Members, staff and community.

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

From the Captain

Golfing Highlights

The very wet conditions are making the course play longer at the moment but that doesn't appear to be adversely affecting the scores, if the last two weeks are any indication...and a few Members seem to be thriving as you will notice as you read on!

Wednesday 18th May was a "Par" event and Score of the Day went to Gary Martinolli,who also won C Grade with +4. Steve Sloane was runner-up in C Grade with +2 while John Briscoe was third at even, The A Grade winner was Todd Wellard who had +3, ahead of Mitch Jones (+2) and Dave Slaytor (+1).

Having won 4 BBB honours the week before, Craig Roberge showed he can go it alone and won B Grade with +3 with Jeff Seed beating Lindsay Bates for second, after a countback when both finished with +2. Jimmy Knox won Scratch with -1.

Michael Clements must have been playing a different course to the rest of the field on Saturday 21st because his Score of the Day (43 points) was 5 better than anybody else. Great golf Michael. The runner-up to Michael in B Grade, after a countback with Greg Bush was Peter Goodall. Both Peter and Bushy had 35 points. Troy Sheppard won A Grade with 38 points, one ahead of Ben Knight and Dave Farrell, with Ben winning the countback for second place.

Familiar names but places reversed from Wednesday in C Grade, with John Briscoe coming out on top with 36 points, beating Russell Young on a countback and Gary Martinolli coming in third with 35 points.

Mark Cruise was the Scratch winner with 3 over while James Dean took out the Circle on the 8th and collected a very handy $160, as it had not been won for a while. Congratulations also to Kate Shanks who won the Women's comp with 37 points.

Mike Dickson won A Grade and Score of the Day last Saturday with 42 points.

For the second Saturday running, Ben Knight finished runner-up (new bridesmaid?) with 40 points while Jesse Gough was third with 39 points after a countback with Andrew Hayward.

The "bridesmaid" tag in the last Newsletter obviously motivated Robert McLaughlin because he won B Grade this time with 38 points, beating Graham Davies into second (37 points) with Alan Shuttleworth coming third with 36 points after a countback with Rod Willment and Lennox Cleary. Michael Rogan was the C Grade winner with 39 points with Russell Young (another bridesmaid!) with 35 points while John Briscoe (32 points) finished in the places for the third time in 10 days when he beat Barry Young for third place after a countback.

Chun-Ta Wu won Scratch with 1 under par and Janet Atchison was the Women's winner with 36 points.Prize Money Allocation

With effect from today, Wednesday 1st June - the start of the new Membership year, $6 instead of $5 from the $15 competition fee will now be given back in prizes. This will obviously increase the prize pool overall each day but the intention is not for individual winners to collect more.

On many occasions when teams events are played, the winners are determined after a countback so we will be introducing a runner-up prize in whatever "team" format is played on Wednesday and Saturday. The Monday competition is growing in popularity, so when a full field participates, we will now be distributing individual prizes to the top three male place-getters in each grade, instead of two (in line with Wednesday and Saturday). The ball rundown will also be extended so more Members will win a ball every day.

I have never paid so much attention to the weather in my life!!!

The wind that we have had over the last few days, coupled with Monday's storm not dropping much rain, means we allowed carts back onto the full course today. Ben's already outlined how rare that has been over the last few months but hopefully our Members that rely on them, can now get out and play as much as they would like.

The week ahead looks pretty good, so get out and enjoy yourselves!

Enjoy your golf!

Doug Campbell | Captain

From the President

DID YOU KNOW?

The Land We Occupy

Our Golf Club is situated on part of Griffith Park which is Crown Land owned by the NSW Government. The Northern Beaches Council has been appointed by the NSW Government to act as trustee and manager of all of Griffith Park for the purposes of a public reserve for the community.

The Club leases the golf course and Clubhouse land from the Crown but our dealings are generally with Northern Beaches Council as manager of the land.

The Lease governs the rights of the Club to use the land. In particular as community public land we are required to make the golf course and Clubhouse facilities available to the public in conjunction with our Members.

The lease stipulates the tee time periods each day that we as Members are permitted to exclusively access. These times largely make up our competition times.

The rest of the time the course is to be made available to the public although Members can access the course at these times for social golf and practice if not being used by the public.

The Club can charge green fees to visitors and the public to fund maintenance, upkeep and development of the course. These green fees plus visitor cart revenue nearly equal the amount the Members contribute through their subscriptions.

The current system of tee-time allocations is in place to give our Members premium exclusive access to the course for competitions yet meet our lease and community obligations.

In summary:

We are a public access course with a lease that determines how much exclusive time we get.
We charge green fees for public/community access to the course we maintain.
Green fees from the public are almost equal to what our Members directly contribute from subscriptions.

I hope this helps explain how we occupy our land and how the tee time system works. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss.

Enjoy the sunny weather!

Keith Warren | President

From the Women's Committee

Pennant Teams

Congratulations to the Bronze Plaque team of Veronica Bertram, Lyndall Bacon, Sally Hill, Helenka O'Connell, Jenny Watts and reserve Sam Sparke who had a great win 3-2 on Friday 20^th May versus Bayview at Bayview Golf Club. The team of Veronica Bertram, Sally Hill, Wendy Thomas, Helenka O'Connell, Jan Daniel and reserves Jude Sandvoss and Sam Sparke were due to play Warringah at Manly on Friday 27^th May, but due to the wet weather the match was cancelled. Good luck to Veronica Bertram (FC), Sally Hill, Lyndall Bacon, Wendy Thomas, Helenka O'Connell and reserves Abigail Gruzman and Jan Daniel who play Manly at Wakehurst on Friday 3^rd June.

We are sorry to see Leonie Malcolm resign from the committee and leave Long Reef Golf Club. Leonie was on the committee for 5 years and within that time served as the treasurer and was also on the general committee. Leonie has been a fantastic member of Long Reef Golf Club for 15 years and we will miss that smile and enthusiastic nature. Leonie looked after the Bronze IV pennants team for a number of years including the winning team in 2019. Leonie's depth of knowledge has been an asset to myself over the last few years and I wish her every success in the future.

Thursday 16^th June 2022 AGM / Prize Presentation commencing at 5pm:

Long Reef Golf Club will be providing a welcome drink and a light meal for the evening and therefore it is imperative you book for this event. There is a form on the noticeboard in the locker room to enter your name. Thank you to those who have already entered their names. If you are unable to come into the clubhouse, please email your name to ladies@lrgc.com.au or if you have no access to email please feel free to call Gilda Severino on 0417 299 141.

If you have any topics you wish to be discussed please let Gilda know in writing (ladies@lrgc.com.au) and we will add to our agenda. Furthermore we will be asking for any interests in Charities we wish to support for the 2023/2024 seasons. Again, please advise in writing.

The next weekday Stroke - Club and GNSW Medal round will be held on Thursday 23^rd June. You will be able to enter this round and subsequent rounds yourself online in the usual way, (5 days out). Please enter in your division (GA handicap). The system will not confirm your booking if you try and enter in an incorrect division. There will no longer be a sheet up in the locker room for these events.

Results

Over the last couple of weeks due the wet weather very little competition golf has been played. A Par round was played on Thursday 19th May and congratulations to the following players.

Division 1 was won by Sue Kruse (17) -1 on a C/B from Sue Smiles (23), Division 2 was won by Julie Campbell (31) -3, 2nd Aki Lee (32) -5, 3rd Sam Sparke (28) -6 C/B. Division 3 was won by Corinne Crawford (45) SQ, a fantastic score, with being the best score of the day.

A great win having joined Long Reef about 5 months ago after a short time of being part of the Rookie program, 2nd Tanya Gadiel (35) -2 and 3rd Lisa Jenkins (45) -3.
9 holes was won by Diana Muir (43) -1, 2nd Meriam Matheson (24) -3.
Saturday 21st May was won by Kate Shanks (11) with a great score of 37 pts
Saturday 28^th May was won by Janet Atchison (14) 36 pts
Sunday 29^th May was won by Alyssa Start (5) 34 pts
Charity Day Thursday 30^th June raising money for Women & Children First (Bringa).
The cost is $25 non - refundable per player including concession vouchers. There will be an 8 am shotgun start, with best 3 out 4 stableford competitions for both 9 and 18 holes. You will have received an email regarding payment and entry details and the sheet is also up in the locker room with the information.
Thank you to everyone who has donated prizes so far and if you have any raffle prizes for the Charity day please see a committee member.
Fixtures
Due to the weather the 26^th May Club & GNSW Medal Round 4 (& Veterans Challenge Brooch), was not played. This was also the qualifying for the Women's President's Trophy, so unfortunately the Women's President's Trophy has been cancelled. The Veterans Challenge Brooch is now being played on the next Club and GNSW Medal Round on Thursday 23^rd June. The new date for round 4 for the Club & GNSW medal round will be advised at a later date.
The weekend Veterans Challenge Brooch was postponed on Saturday May 7^th and will now be played for on Saturday 4^th June
Saturday 18^th June is the Long Reef Salver's and the registration is open (entries close Friday 10^th June). This is a GNSW event, 18 hole stroke with a handicap limit 16.1 GA
Women's Weekend Foursomes is on Sunday 26^th June. The registration sheet is open in MiClub and the sheet is up in the locker room on Sunday 29^th May. Entries close on Monday 20^th June.
Thursday 16^th June is a Par round (mixed divisions) and the Dot Leonard Rose Bowl, (25 years and over continuous playing membership). The ballot will be open in MiClub on Thursday 19^th May and the sheet is up in the locker room
The 1^st weekday eclectic has been cancelled and the 2^ndeclectic starts on 7^th July.
-
The Par round in July is now on 14th July and the Club & GNSW Medal round is on the 7th July. Please note the Par on 14^th July will be off one tee only.
Wendy Thomas | Women's Captain

Masters Pennants

We've played away at Cabramatta and home against Cronulla since the last Newsletter and both wins resulted in notable "firsts" for our opposition.

Our 5-3 win at Cabramatta is the first time that they have been beaten at home in Masters Pennant - they are pretty sure *ever* but certainly in anybody's recollection while our 8-0 home win last Sunday is the first time Cronulla has *ever* been beaten in every match. So two great results that have us sitting on top of our division at the halfway stage of the round-robin section.

Jimmy Knox got his first win of the season away at Cabramatta and followed that up with a very convincing win at home against Cronulla while Jimmy Little lost away and went to the wire at home last Sunday but a great up and down on the 18th saw him win. Tony Holley won both of his matches 3&2 and is one of three players to have a 3 from 3 record. Ross Bockman is another of those and he too won both of his matches over the last fortnight 3&2, including stepping up to play number 4 in the absence of Browny last week. I lost (again!!) away at Cabramatta but managed to justify continuing to pick myself with a win last Sunday.

The third player with a 100% record from 3 matches is Adam Lynn. He won on the last at Cabramatta having been up all day and he was very steady last Sunday, stepping up to replace Bocko at number 6 and eventually won 4&2. Nick Sherlock followed up his comfortable home win against Cabramatta with an even bigger win away, so he was proving a very reliable lead off for the team at number 8.

Unfortunately, Nick has had to return to the UK at very short notice so couldn't play last Sunday and is out indefinitely. That meant a first game of the season last Sunday for Jamie Duff and just when it looked like he might have to settle for a halved match, he produced a great, short sided sand save on the 18th to win. With three players unavailable, we were a man short for last Sunday and I would like to thank Tony Cooper for stepping in at the last minute. He's been a very reliable team Member for many years now and he showed that again with a 3&1 win.

It was good to see a dozen or so Members out to support us last Sunday so "thank you" on behalf of the Team.

We have two away matches ahead of us now, before the next Newsletter - the return fixture at Cronulla, followed by Cromer on Sunday 12th. If anybody is interested in coming to watch at Cromer, it is an early (7am) start.

Doug Campbell | Captain

Dear Members,

As some of you know I am off to play collegiate golf in America at Central Alabama Community College and the Club has kindly allowed me to run a raffle to fundraise. Over the next 3 weeks I will be selling tickets from outside the proshop and behind the counter with the draw taking place on 20th June. I just wanted to thank you all in advance for all the help and support you have shown me throughout the years.

For those who don't know me, I have been a Member of Long Reef since the age of 9 where I started playing golf with Danny Vera on Saturday mornings in the chippers. Since then I have progressed all the way up into the representative teams, being involved in the Encourage Shield, Junior Pennants, Eric Apperly Shield and the Major Pennants. I have been lucky enough to win the Long Reef Junior Championships twice and made the final of the Men's Club Championship. I am now looking forward to the next chapter of my golfing career when I head over to America to compete in the collegiate system. See you around the golf course.

Regards,

Cian Hughes

Rules With George | Question

Question: Playing the sixth hole in a stroke event, Sam hit his tee shot well left. The ball ended in the red penalty area. He elected to take lateral relief. ..He surveyed the very sloping area in which he was to drop. He ended up dropping his ball on a flat area just above the slope. After playing his stroke, Jeremy his marker said;"I think you might have dropped that more than 2 club lengths from the margin".

Using his driver, Sam measured the drop and agreed it was just outside the 2 club lengths The two players discussed the penalty that Sam had incurred. They agreed that Sam had played from a wrong place.

Which is correct?

A. One stroke penalty for dropping out of a penalty area.

B. Two strokes penalty for playing from a wrong place

C Three strokes combined penalty.

D Four strokes penalty.

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From the Archives

On first impressions these photos look as if they have been taken at the height of the gangster troubles in Chicago sometime in the 1930s! But no, these shots were taken at the start of the New South Wales P.G.A. Cup held at Long Reef Golf Club in January 1937. Norman von Nida was the winner with a record score of 133.

It was typical to play in your casual "day clothes' and be supervised by the officials in 3-piece suits, not to mention an elegant hat. N. Richards in the group photo below looks as if he has just got off his horse! The Long Reef course was an established 18 holes course by 1937, having had the extra 9 added. The official opening was five years before in 1932.

In the photos below Long Reef's President Arthur Hudson is certainly dressed for the day as he stands in the pro-shop door cigarette in hand with LR Professional Frank Eyre.

Gordon Thomson is Long Reef's second best repeat Champion, 10 wins between 1928-51 and we know he came from a Golf Professional family. Could the photo below show the rest of his family? Efforts are being made to find all the first names, some we have been able to add to the original captions as can be seen.

PGA at Long Reef Jan. 1937.
Standing in the doorway of the Professional's Shop.
L-R - W. Arthur Hudson Pres. of L.R. Frank Eyre, LR Professional and Norman von Nida, the winner of the day.

PGA held at Long Reef in 1937. Outside the Club House
L-R - F. Lynch. Dan Soutar, N. Richards, K. McWilliams, Tom Heard, D. McDougal

L-R Frank T. O Brien, Hugh Thomson, A. McDonald, A. Thomson, and Willie Thomson.

It is recommended that the reader refers to the articles about on Nida's achievements on the internet. It is a long story. He was the first Australian to dominate the golfing scene in England and was the greatest Australian golfer of his time, as he divided his time between the two countries and short visits to the US.

Norman von Nida was born in 1914 in Strathfield and grew up in Queensland. He turned professional in 1932 and he would have been 23 years of age at the time of this NSW win at Long Reef. Over a long career he won more than 100 tournaments with 48 Professional wins.

The second world war interrupted his career and he didn't get to England for the first time until 1946. In 1947 his earnings came to 3263pounds which set a new British record and of course he was the first Australian to do so.

Norman had a very long career of playing and teaching, sadly going blind in later years. His first appearance in a major was at the US Open in 1939, his last at the British Open in 1968. He had a reputation, not only as a good player and determined competitor, but also as someone who was abrasive and short of temper. He was a gambler on both golf and the horses and on one occasion in the US got into a fist fight with another player! If we are being generous we could say that and in some ways he might be given credit for enforcing the etiquette of those around him on a golf course!

A quote from the Sports Hall of Fame website - "Von Nida made headlines for most of his playing career for scathing verbal assaults on noisy spectators, dithering officials, and journalists who meddled with the facts." Perhaps he was still young and well behaved at Long Reef in 1937!

Norman Von Nida died at the age of 93 on the Gold Coast.

Photos forwarded from Les Browne from the 1937 Golf in Australia Magazine.
Sports Hall of Fame website.
(ed. 'von' is used in German language names and in usually a small v.)

Sandra Mellowes | Archive Committee

Clash of the Titans

There have been some historic clashes over the years. Joe Frazier and Muhammed Ali, Roger Bannister and Ron Clarke, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe and Yogi Bear and Ranger Smith are among them.

Then there was the Hollywood film called Clash of the Titans starring lots of gorgeous ladies and rather fit-looking gentlemen with muscles bulging in all the right places (these characters would not have met LRGC dress regulations).

But even Clash of the Titans would not have had cachet of last Friday's clash at Long Reef between Friday Club's secretary, Steve Holdstock and the treasurer, Wayne Grundy.

On a day when the sun actually shone, Steve and Wayne dazzled the field, particularly their fellow competitors in division two, with some daring shots and awe-inspiring dash and finesse.

Steve started the day in royal fashion with a birdie on the first (what a showoff!) for a 5-pointer and finished the front nine at 4-over par (25 points).

Unfortunately his second nine was rather more plebeian and he staggered over the line with 39 points, which is still a rather fancy number.

This was just enough to keep the treasurer at bay. Wayne carded a heroic, but ultimately doomed to failure, 38.

In division one, where the truly classic duels are fought, Trevor Clayton had too much pizzazz for the veteran Jim Kirby. Trevor, who has been described as an "enthusiastic young newcomer" returned the top score of the day, 42 points, which is enough to make anybody enthusiastic.

Jim, forced to join the infantry due to the boggy conditions, had a very respectable 38.

Meanwhile in division three, Helen Ayres refused to be cast as a damsel in distress and put the field to the sword. She returned a swashbuckling 34, despite the heavy ground. The next best was James Taylor, a safe distance away, with 26.

Normally division three is the home of make-you-gasp high scores, but not recently. Obviously our div three thoroughbreds prefer firmer footing and we're optimistic we'll get some soon. Hopefully next week.

Perry Yeldham | Friday Club President

REEF BREEZES

From your Board

From the Captain

From the President

From the Women's Committee

Rules With George | Question

From the Archives

Rules With George | Answer

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