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BOARD MEETING NOTES

Below are notes from the Board Meeting held on Thursday 2 March 2023

1. BUNKER MASTER PLAN

Work has been completed on the 4th fairway left side, rear of the practice fairway and chipping green, ready for a substitute Par 4, hole 4A to come into play when the bunker construction commences on 17th April.

The tee for 4B (par 3 to 4th green) will be shaped and turfed in the coming weeks.

2. CLUBHOUSE CONSTRUCTION

INTREC Construction Management have been onsite since their appointment in late February to carry out investigational works prior to commencement of compliance and remedial works to the Function kitchen, Pacific Room and Café kitchen.

The construction works will commence on 26 June and is staged to have minimal impact on Members access and use of the Clubhouse.

3. MEMBERS EQUIPMENT STORAGE

Members with Equipment Storage under the Pro Shop will need to collect, sign and return agreements by the end of March. The agreements have been assigned to each Member and are available in the Pro Shop.

The Pro Shop staff will be cleaning up under the Pro Shop on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th March when Course renovations are taking place. Please ensure only your bag, buggy, battery and charger are in the storage area. Any other items will be removed.

4. MEMORIAL PLAQUE POLICY

Following a query from a Member, the Board referred to previous Board discussions regarding memorial plaques. It was agreed to keep consistent with the earlier resolution so that no further requests for memorial plaques on the course will be entertained.

5. CIAN HUGHES

The Board received an update from LRGC Member Cian Hughes who is currently 6 months in to his first year at Central Alabama College in USA.

Cian continues to develop his game and has posted great results in some of the tournaments he has played so far. He is currently ranked 77th in the USA for NJCCA D1 level and his Golf Team are ranked 14th.

6. FINANCE

The result for January was a net surplus of $205,906. The increase in public visits to the Clubhouse, Café and Golf Course that we witnessed in December continued through January.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you would like clarification or further expansion on any of the items above.

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

Notice to Members | Wasp Warning

There have been an alarming number of wasp's nests found in varying areas of the Course over the past two weeks. The wasps have been identified as Asian Paper Wasps and are a very invasive species. The nests have been found in lomandra plants, so please use caution when looking for your ball. If you sight a wasp nest, notify a member of the Course team or Admin staff immediately.

Notice to Members | MiScore Update

The MiScore app will receive a major version upgrade from Wednesday 8th March, 2023.

The upgrade will install automatically on devices with auto app updates enabled.

For devices with auto app updates disabled. it will require a manual update through the stores. At end of March all users will be forced to accept Version Upgrade. The below guide will assist Members with manually installing the update.

From your Captain

March Medal winners

Last Saturday proved to be a great day for scoring with three people shooting nett 64 and four returning 65s. A couple of those scores were recorded by our youngsters with Ryan Bell winning C Grade and Score of the Day and Oli Robinson winning B Grade with nett 65.

Soren Norgaard lost out in a countback for Score of the Day but his nett 64 won him the A Grade Medal by one shot from Matt Savage and Paul Piraner. Craig Roberge lost out in a countback to Oli for the B Grade Medal while Cha Loh was third with nett 67. Michael Rogan lost out to Ryan for both Score of the Day and the C Grade Medal. Shane Summerhayes was the third place getter in C Grade with nett 68.

The Women's Medal winner was Vanessa Murphy with nett 76.

Cam Gillespie beat Harry McKerihan and Paul Piraner in a countback for Scratch when they all shot 1 under par (70).

Strokeplay Cup

Saturday was the final round of four to complete (well almost - we'll come to that!!) the Strokeplay Cup for 2022/23.

Congratulations to Wayne Portlock who won A Reserve, Glen Brown who won B Grade, Josh Malin in C Grade and Jenni Brown who was the Women's winner. Jenni was the only woman to compete in all four rounds but the runners-up by Grade in the Men's competition were Scott Haley (A Reserve), Stephen Rowe (B Grade) and Peter O'Reilly (C Grade).

The winner of the Strokeplay Cup itself is still to be determined as Matt Hunter and I finished tied and have a play-off to arrange to determine the Strokeplay Champion..

Notable firsts

The last few weeks have thrown up some "firsts" for some of our Members that I wanted to highlight.

Vanessa Murphy's win last Saturday meant she collected her first Medal.

In shooting 79 off the stick to win B Grade, Oli Robinson broke 80 for the first time.

Ryan Farrell had his first bogey free round in the Tuesday comp on February 28th (16 pars and 2 birdies for 39 points)

Congratulations to all three.

Perhaps the most inspiring "first" though, also came last Saturday, when Paul Piraner shot under par for the first time since returning from a serious neck injury that almost resulted in him never playing golf again. After a couple of years out, a few weeks ago, it was great just to see Fish back on the course so to be back scoring under par is a very welcome, added bonus!!.

Long Reef Medal and Salver

The above events will be held on Saturday 1st April and entries are now open via the registration sheet in the "Bookings" section of the Members' portal. The entry fee for Members is $30 and is payable upon registration. Your entry fee includes a light lunch after. The GA handicap limit for men is 4.4 and is 16.1 for women and the system will not permit you to enter if your handicap is above the maximum. Entries close at 5pm on Tuesday 28th March and the draw will be published on Wednesday 29th.

There will be a limited Members' Stableford comp that day and the timesheet for that will open as normal on Monday 27th March.

Greens Renovations

Just a reminder that the course will be closed next Monday and Tuesday (13th and 14th March) for essential maintenance.

The Clubhouse and practice facilities will still be available and the Pro Shop will be open from 9am to 3pm on those days.

Representative Teams

It's been a successful week for the Club's representative teams with the Women's Grade team consolidating their second place with an impressive win at Camden Lakeside last Friday. They have two matches remaining in their pursuit of top spot.

Our NPIC Team beat Wakehurst at Mona Vale last Thursday to book their place in this year's final - good luck to the guys for the match against Mona Vale at Bayview on Monday 13th.

The Major Pennant Team completed their season with a very impressive 6-1 win at home against the divisional winners, Stonecutters Ridge. Having narrowly gone down 4-3 away at Stonecutters the week before, we could no longer secure promotion so the runners-up spot was our goal and the guys delivered an emphatic win to wrap that up.

Congratulations must go to Chun-Ta Wu who won all 6 matches, playing at no.1 - very impressive!

With one eye on the future, a special mention to Lennox Cleary who took part in our last two matches in a "Junior Development" capacity. He took on another youngster from Stonecutters and halved his match away and won the rematch at home last week.

Thank you to all the players in the squad for their contribution to a relatively successful season - Longy has been a bit of a fortress for us over the years but we need to start picking up the odd away win if we are to challenge for promotion back to division 1. Thanks also to the caddies and Members who came out to watch any of our matches - the Team really appreciate your support..
Enjoy your golf

Doug Campbell | Captain

Major Pennants 2023
Back Row (L - R): Lennox Cleary, Matt Hunter, Luke Edgell, Chun Ta Wu, Ryan Farrell, Dan Baldacchino
Front Row (L - R): Cam Gillespie, Harry McKerihan, Kristian Hooker, Luke Shahmatov

From your Women's Committee

Congratulations to the Grade team who have won their last two matches. The team of Kate Shanks, Emma Thurlow, Nat Driver, Jenni Brown and Karen Smith had a fantastic win at Massey Park versus Wakehurst 3.5 - 1.5 on Friday 24^th February. The following week the team of Kate Shanks, Emma Thurlow, Rachel Buxton, Nat Driver and Jenni Brown travelled to Lakeside Camden where they had a great win 4-1 versus Elanora.

Thank you to caddies Wendy Millson, Mick Snell, Karen Smith, Pam Burke, Jan Daniel and Wendy Thomas.

Good luck to the Grade team who play at Woolooware versus Massey Park on Friday. The team and caddies are Kate Shanks / Wendy Millson, Emma Thurlow / Mick Snell, Rachel Buxton / Karen Smith, Nat Driver / Pam Burke and Jenni Brown / Wendy Thomas.

The first two trophies for 2023 have been decided. The singles Knockout trophy semi - finals were won by Diana Sier 1 up versus Tracey Martin and Lorraine Stafford 7/6 versus Sally Hill. The final on March 2nd was played in great sprit with Diana being ahead for most of the match but Lorraine kept in touch and with a birdie on the 13^th and winning the 14^thLorraine was just two down. Diana was steady over the next two holes and won the match on the 16^th 3/2.

The Long Markers Knockout trophy semi - finals were won by Sue Rossi 5 & 4 versus Toni Wilson, and Tanya Gadiel 7/5 versus Karen Pethybridge. Tanya played exceptionally well in the final and Sue played well to take Tanya to the 16^th where Tanya won 6/4. Thank you to Sue Kruse for referring this match.

Congratulations to Diana and Tanya on winning these trophies.

Singles Knockout Trophy winner Diana Sier

Long Markers Knockout Trophy winner Tanya Gadiel

Thursday 23^rd February results saw Kim Sloane (14) win division 1, Emma Thurlow 2^nd (9( 33 pts. Division 2 was won by Debbie Hankey (33) 41 pts, Rowena Robinson (29) 38 pts, 3^rd Michelle Milsted (30) 36 pts. Division 3 was won by Liz Moreton (37) 32pts, Tracey Cantwell (37) 31pts, 3^rd Corinne Crawford (37) 29 pts. Gold division was won by Li-Shayan Chen (45) 39 pts, 2nd Deb Kent (39) 34 pts, 3^rd Netty Newman (45) 33 C/B.

Nine holes was won by Carol Cummins (40) 15 pts, 2^nd May Yeng (45) 13 C/B.

Saturday 25^th February was won by Jenni Brown (14) 35 pts.

Sunday 26^th February saw a red hot Prue Bardsley (25) win with 44 pts and Helenka O'Connell (23) 2^nd 38 pts.

Tuesday 28^th February saw some fantastic scores with Kim Sloane (14) winning division 1, 37 pts, 2^nd Helenka O'Connell (23) 36 pts, 3^rd Rachel Buxton (11) 34 C/B. Division 2 Karmen Whitford (26) 41 C/B from Fiona Woolley (32), 3^rd Michelle Milsted (30) 39 pts. 3^rd division was won by Jan Hanson (37) with an impressive 43 pts, 2^nd Angela Brown (38) 34 pts, 3^rd Nan Crump (35) 33 C/B. Gold division won by Helen Cregan (40) with a great score of 38 pts, 2^nd Amanda Savage (41) 32 C/B from Jo Bellemore (44) 32 C/B.

9 holes was won by Ann Henderson (40) 22 pts, 2^nd Jeanette Nell (26) 20 pts.

Thursday 2^nd March division 1 was won by Jeannie Reitzer (23) 36 C/B from Jenni Brown (14). Division 2 was won by Di Muncke (33) 42 pts. 2^nd Veronica Bertram (24) 40 pts, 3^rd Michelle Milsted (29) 39 pts. 3^rd division was won by Nan Crump (35) 36 pts, Penny Ware (42) 35 pts, 3^rd (Ondrae Heiser (42) 32 C/B. Gold division was won by Karen Pethybridge (43) 38 pts, Deb Kent (39) 35 pts, 3^rd Netty Newman (46) 34 pts.

9 holes was won by Faye Sinnott (34) 19 pts, 2^nd Meriam Matheson (25) 16 C/B.

Saturday 4^th March was the monthly medal and 2^nd round of the GNSW medal, and the winner was Vanessa Murphy (19) nett 76.

It was also the final round of the Summer Cup and congratulations to the winner, Jenni Brown.

Upcoming Fixtures:

9^th March is the 2^nd Stroke - Club & GNSW Medal round. Please remember if you do not wish to play in the stroke round, stableford is available off the Gold tees.

Thursday 16^th March - Greenkeepers revenge day, 4 ball Ambrose for both 9 and 18 holes. Please book online in the normal way.

Pink (& Purple) Charity Day for Brash-At (https://brashat.org.au/index.php?page=about) Thursday March 23^rdplaying Irish Stableford (best 2 scores per team) . The sheet is up in locker room for you to enter your team. The cost is $25.00 non-refundable including concession sheets. Please pay on-line via MiClub and scroll down to Thursday March 23^rdand enter your name (s) and follow the prompts. Visitors are welcome and you will require their 10 digit golflink number to enter their details.

Members and local businesses have given generously this year for the BrAshA-T Charity Day. There's a great variety of raffle prizes and exciting auction items - such as a luxurious BMW with golf backpack of goodies and $200 Little Pearl Restaurant voucher redeemable in many locations, and, a top of the range Mazda with picnic hamper and a night's accommodation for 2 in the Hunter Valley - for a weekend or mid-week getaway. We expect the golf packages for 4 people at Pennant Hills, Manly, Pacific Dunes, Monash and Pymble will prove popular. Gur Taj, Crento, Pilu and other top restaurants have donated big dollar vouchers. There's a stunning hamper from Alfresco Emporium, Cool Clubs Tee to Wedge Fitting, a Dash Cam and many more prizes pack each raffle gift. AND - a surprise, contributed by some especially talented members, will be on each table for us to purchase and enjoy.

The first par round (mixed divisions) of the year will be played on Thursday 30^th March. Please enter your name on the entry sheet in the locker room.

The Long Reef Salver (NSW Jean Derrin event) is on Saturday 1^st April. Handicap limit 16.1. Cost is $30 (members) includes a light lunch. Entries are via MiClub and close Tuesday 28^th March at 5 pm

The Long Reef Plate is on Tuesday 4^th April in two divisions, division 1, 19-30 DH and division 2, 31-45 DH. Red tees only. The entry sheet is up in the locker room. Please enter your name on the sheet if you wish to play in this event. Entries close on Tuesday 28^th March. There will be a stableford event on the day for those who don't play in this event.

Wendy Thomas | Women's Captain

Sargood Charity Golf Day | Monday 3 April 2023

Over the years LRGC has been a leader in supporting the local community, community groups and charitable initiatives. One of those charities that we have a strong affiliation is the Sargood Foundation.

The Sargood Foundation is a community-based organisation which initiated the concept of Sargood on Collaroy and raised funding to secure the site and develop the award-winning Sargood on Collaroy as a world first - a purpose built, accessible facility for those living with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).

Sargood on Collaroy opened in 2017. Support from the local Clubs, including a long-term relationship with LRGC, businesses, Northern Beaches Council and residents, and a private philanthropist was paramount in securing the land and raising the $25m in funds (for both the purchase of the land from the NSW Government and for construction) to bring about the creation of this world first resort, specially designed for people with spinal cord injury.

Sargood on Collaroy now provides guests, their partner, friends and family with much-needed respite, refreshment, and relaxation. It is also a place of learning, where guests gain confidence, skills, and the empowerment to live full and rewarding lives and to participate in their local community in an active way.

A visit to Sargood is so much more than respite, it is life transforming and creates new futures and opportunities for those who live with the trauma of Spinal Cord Injury, both the individual and their families.

This Charity Golf Day is our opportunity to assist to raise funds and help make a difference. Please support the day.

Click the below links for more:
'Sarah's Story'
Testimonial from Shem Aitken
Entry form

Stephen Twigg | Welfare Coordinator

From your Welfare Coordinator

David Costello has had a difficult last couple of weeks - suffering a heart attack and then having fluid on the lungs. He has had two stents inserted and a valve replaced. He is now feeling like a new man and will be released from Hospital in the next few days.

Towards the end of last month saw the passing of Barbara Pearce. Barbara was a past Women's President and A grade golfer. She was a Member of the Club for twenty years and resigned in 1992 due to ill health. Our deepest sympathies to her daughter Fiona (Bone), son Alan and daughter in law Ann- Maree who are all current Members.

Stephen Twigg | Welfare Coordinator

Rules with George | Question

Question: Claude was playing to the 15th hole from in front of the green. He chipped his ball towards the hole but the ball stopped a little short and rapidly rolled down the front of the green towards where Claude was standing with his clubs. The ball hit Claude's right foot then bounced and hit his left foot.

How many penalty strokes does Claude incur?

A) 0 B) 1 C) 2 D)3 E)4

From the Pro Shop |

Fitting Days: Come and try the latest clubs!

Callaway Fitting Day 4th April 2023

Srixon/Cleveland Fitting Day Friday 12^th May 9-1:00pm

Long Reef defeated Wakehurst 5 1/2 to 2 1/2

Great effort by all to get the result, shows our depth of talent when you have 2 undefeated golfers away. Many Thanks to Steve Cunningham you did make a difference. So onto the final against Mona Vale at Bayview on Monday 13. Tee Off will be from 11.30am ' Very difficult to pick the starters for this one with so many Champion Golfers in the Squad .

Peter Frith | Manager NPICC

From the Archives | Sand

In last week's newsletter, the large natural sand dunes that were part of Long Reef beach were mentioned. These were part of the southern edge of the Long Reef course when the Club extended beyond the drained swamp, across the middle of the headland, to become an 18-hole course. The painting below gives us an idea of the size of the dunes, seen here towards the northern end of Long Reef beach they continued around in a curve and carried along to a distance about half way along the now 17^th. It was the dunes of this size that were used as part of the backdrop and features of the holes on the edge of the course in the early 1930's.

The slope and banking at the lower part of the reef in the middle of the photo shows something of how the land met the sea. By 1895 the land on the top of the hill would have been cleared of shrubs and small trees and used for grazing and light farming. By the date of this painting Long Reef was under the control of the Salvation Army.

Copy of a 1895 painting from the NSW Art Gallery.

Called - Lonely Margins of the Sea by Jessie Scarvell. (It is not named as Long Reef headland.)

From the photo below we can see a different angle of the sand dunes and get another idea of the size and height of the them. This photo is part of the panoramic scene taken in 1927 that is on show permanently in the clubhouse. It shows the view outside the Clubhouse looking south. You can see the dunes and also the rough shrubs, dark in colour that made up the low lying swamp area . The draining of that swamp commenced in 1927.

During the war drastic measures we taken in all walks of life and the flattening of the sand dunes was deemed necessary. The making of the new landscape may have made the military defence observations of the coast line easier, added to the number of sand bags that were needed to protect the city buildings and created a suitable space for artillery practice but it disturbed the ecology and balance of the area, not to mention burying fairways on the golf course and threatening the bore. The bore was the club's only water supply.

Long Reef Golf Course 1943

This photo sourced from the National Archives, by our archive committee member Joy Reece in 2018 shows the extent of the spread out sand from the mouth of the lagoon around to the start of the cliff line. Two brush fences erected to prevent windblown sand spreading even further across the course can also be seen. Half of the club's boundary on this southern side became unstable.

It took decades to stabilise, as an example, what we know as the 17^th. hole. The course was redesigned to as far as possible return it to the post-war plan. Both the Club and the Council were to continue to tackle the problems for years at a time when we still didn't have a defined, lined and staked boundary. Vegetation was planted to stabilise the new smaller dunes and man-made mounds created to make a buffer against the wind blown sand. It took such a long time to build up this lightly grassed sandy fairway and even in the 90's sandy lies were very common. Out of bounds stakes finally appeared in the 80s. The path and concerns for safety of the public came later with further mounding and rough grasses.

Immediately after the war on that repaired course it must have seemed as if you were playing golf on a beach, or was it sand castles on a golf course!

The damage done by rabbits has often been a problem on the course but it has been a while since the local rules said we could take relief from holes made by crabs!

Sandra Mellowes | Archives Committee

From your Board