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Mick Snell Cup
Played in ideal conditions on Sunday, 5th October, the Final of the Mick Snell Cup saw Brett Kinsella and Phil O’Regan face off in what promised to be a tightly contested match. Both players were eager to see their name etched on the Cup as the 2025 champion, but after a determined contest, Brett emerged victorious with a 2 and 1 win. Congratulations to Brett on a well-deserved victory.

Encourage Shield
The Encourage Shield team opened its season at Cromer on Sunday, 12th October, playing Roseville (Blue). This is Long Reef’s first team in several years, with five of the six players making their match play debut. It was an outstanding display of spirit and sportsmanship, with new friendships formed and the team proudly representing Long Reef in perfect playing conditions. The match finished in a hard-fought 3–3 draw, featuring three convincing wins and three tightly contested battles — a great result to kick off the campaign. Next Sunday, Long Reef will host Mona Vale for Round 2, and the team looks forward to building on this strong start at home.

Vince Horan Memorial Trophy
Best net score in the first Wednesday Stableford competition each month to qualify.
The Vince Horan Memorial Trophy play-off was played today 15^th October. The following Members will play for the honour of having their name on the trophy:
Rob Mander, Michael Cooper, James Jennings, Peter Verrills and Sebastian Cooper.
The winner with a score of 36 was Rob Mander Congratulations.

Vandalism
On a less bright note, the 18^th green has been subjected to vandalism. It would appear that an individual has walked across the green with a watering can of roundup or equivalent. Kurt and his team, for the time being, have colour dyed the area affected. Following the Club Championships the affected area will be repaired with new turf kindly donated by Mona Vale Golf Club.

Board Walk Update
Construction of the new high-tensile stainless-steel bridge adjacent to the 17th tee is progressing well. This durable structure will provide a long-term solution for access across the headland.

A temporary pathway with protective metal fencing has been installed to ensure public safety during the construction period. The pathway will remain in place until the bridge is completed, which is expected around December. Once finished, the temporary path will be removed and protective mounds built to protect public safety and improve the 17th tee aspect.

As daylight hours increase, we’ve noticed more members of the public crossing the golf course. While we continue to do our best to manage this, we ask Members to approach these individuals respectfully and kindly ask them not to interfere with play and to move out of any areas of danger.

Hole in One
Garry Clarke achieved his first hole in one on Monday 6 October on the 2nd.
Thirteen was definitely Ray Annan's lucky number - he shot his first hole in one on the 13th on the 13th of October!
Congratulations to you both.

Results

Wednesday 1^st October – 4 Ball Ambrose

The winners with a score of 55.75 went to Michael Cooper, Timothy Jones, Angus Sedgwick and Denis Mulcahy.
Full Results

Saturday 4^th October – 2 ball Medley Stableford with a field of 203.
Backing up last Saturday’s impressive 49 points win, Nelson Murphy again took out the honours this week with another outstanding performance, 46 points and the score of the day.
Full results

Wednesday 8^th October – 2 Ball Multiplier and Single Stableford with a field of 230.

The winner and score of the day went to Simon Couch with 44 points.

Full Results

Saturday 11^th October – October Medal and 1^st Qualifying round of the Club Championships with a field of 218.

The winner of the October Medal and score of the day went to Andrew Daddo with a Nett 65.

The winner of the Women’s Medal was Janet Atchison with a Nett 75.

Full Results

Rob Cordaiy | Captain

Women's Annual General Meeting.

The Women's AGM will be held on Thursday 6 November 2025, commencing at 6pm. The 2025 Prize Presentation will follow the AGM. A light meal will be served on the evening.

The Agenda and Nominations for Committee will be on the notice board in the locker room shortly and will close on Thursday 30 October 2025.

Please put your name down on the Attendance sheet for numbers and let the ladies committee know if you have any dietary restrictions. If you are unable to attend there is an Apology sheet also on the notice board in the locker room.

Women's Club Championships

The Women's Club Championship qualifying rounds have started. Results are posted in the Long Reef app and on the website. The match play rounds commence on Sunday 26 October 2025. The semi-finals will be played on Thursday 30 October 2025 and the final on Sunday November 4 2025.

The draws for Open, A reserve, Bronze and C Grade match play will be on the notice board in the locker room on Monday October 20th and on the Long Reef app. Good luck to everyone!

Women's Short Course Cup

A new event is being run this year for ladies with a handicap above 35.6. Two rounds of stableford played from the gold tee to qualify. The finals will be match play events with the quarter finals on Thursday 23 October , semi-finals to be played on Tuesday 28 October and the final on Thursday 30 October . This will be a great introduction to match play for many of these ladies, so let’s get behind them and cheer them on.

Women's Committee

The Course has received a total of 1555.2mm of rain so far this year, with 2.2mm rain falling in the last fortnight. The Course now could do with some rainfall.

It appears that someone has deliberately sprayed herbicide on our 18^th green, spraying a line across the surface which has slowly died off. This is frustrating with the Club Championships now underway. To minimise the visual impact, the affected area has been treated with a green dye to help mask the damage. After Club championships, Nick the Superintendent from Mona Vale Golf Club has kindly offered some turf from his nursery green, which we will use to repair the Green.

The fairways are starting to look a lot better following the major renovations carried out roughly 3 weeks ago. They have shown strong signs of recovery and shortly, they will receive a slow-release fertilizer to promote continued growth and overall turf health.

The mound with a tarp on the left and side near the 17th green will be shaped by Brendan Parry and returfed in the coming weeks, blending into the existing area and providing added safety for the walkers.

Over the past week, the team has spotted a couple of green tree snakes up at our maintenance shed. We’ve also seen turtles laying eggs around some dams, and the swans now nearly fully grown and soon to take flight. There's certainly a lot of wildlife activity this spring at the Reef.

Good luck to all men and women competing in the Club Championships over the next few weeks. On behalf of the Course maintenance Team, Id like to wish everyone the best of luck and enjoy the competition.

Kurt Schulenburg Course Superintendent

Monday Morning Ladies Clinic with Danny Vera

Join PGA Professional Danny Vera every Monday at 10am for a 1 hour clinic designed exclusively for our lady Members!

New focus each week - work on all aspects of your game
PAYG - only $35 per session

Spaces are limited so book today!

BOOK HERE

Club Fitting

Book in for a custom club fitting with one of our PGA Professionals in our Trackman room - available 7 days a week.

We have all the leading brands: Ping, Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway & Srixon
1 Hour fitting session - only $100
Once you decide to purchase, we will deduct the $100 from your club purchase - making your fitting essentially free!

Book your fitting today and play with clubs perfectly matched to your game!

BOOK HERE

Thursday PAYG Junior Clinics

Calling all junior golfers! Join Danny Vera every Thursday from 4pm - 5pm for a PAYG junior clinic!

$25 per session
Designed as a pathway for Chippers to develop skills and confidence
Fun, engaging and a great way to improve your game

Struggling with chipping? Click on the image to get an understanding of a basic action to help build consistency!

Question: During a stroke round while playing the 5^th hole, John discovered that he had lost his wedge. He knew that he had started with 14 clubs but now had only 13.

He remembered that he had carried his putter and wedge to the third green and must have left his wedge behind.

Which is correct?

A) John may borrow a club for intermittent use from another member of the group.

B) John may replace the lost club as he passes the Pro Shop.

C) John may not replace the wedge, so he again has 14 clubs.

LONG REEF VERSUS GOULBURN ANNUAL VISIT
SUNDAY 9TH NOVEMBER AT
GOULBURN GOLF CLUB

Open to all categories of male playing members (including retention plus)

The format is a 2 ball best ball, with breakfast before a shotgun start, then dinner and presentation following the event.

Single players will be found a partner. Sign-on sheet is on the notice board in the Club House.

Goulburn is a reciprocal club and we have been playing this event since 1952.

At its peak, there were over 50 Long Reef members heading to Goulburn (check the photos in the locker room). Long Reef usually wins at home and Goulburn usually wins at Goulburn with the odd exception.

The current members who travel do it in various ways, some head down on Thursday playing golf on the way, then playing in Canberra on Friday, others on Friday and Saturday, and some just for the day, many play in the local Competition on Saturday which has a prize for the best Long Reef score (Dave Cooper memorial trophy).

For those that like a punt, Saturday 8th is ladies day at Goulburn race track, a great country race meeting with race lovers coming from all over the state.

There is plenty of accommodation in Goulburn with Motels, Hotels and Airbnb. Another great way to stay is renting a house through smalldetails.com.au which specialises in Goulburn and has been looking after Long Reef members for many years, look online or call Megan 0402 113 337.

Let's make it a record for Long Reef members attending Goulburn this year and continue this great long-standing tradition.

For further information contact Greg Dousset on 0417 752 696.

Join Us for our last 2025 Dine In Date - Thursday 11 December

Our Dine In evenings offer our Members the chance to enjoy a seasonally inspired menu overlooking Fisherman's Beach and are the perfect opportunity to get a group of friends and family together for an evening of good food and good company at your Club!

We offer an elevated dining experience for our Members to experience. with table service, a set three course menu, wine pairing suggestions and with the same familiar faces you see in the bar and café.

Golf Members Dine In Voucher Redeemable
(Buy-One-Get-One-Free)
Bookings via Clubhouse Reception (02) 9971 8113 or email: office@lrgc.com.au

Champions - Part 2

Men’s Youngest Champion
In 2019 the club celebrated the win of Kai Komulanen at 13 years of age. Until then 17 was the age to beat - Steve Jackson 1982, Dylan Perry 2012 and Kristian Hooker 2015 were all 17.

Women’s Youngest winner
Josie Garrett aged 15 won in 2021 putting aside a record that had been made in 1999 when Jessica Kliman won as a 17 year old. Jessica Simpson/ Sullivan had the longest spell of wins as a teenager in 2002, 03, 04, and 05. She was a home grown junior and was turning 18 in 2002.

Men’s oldest Champion.
Geoff Cranfield was 58 in 2016 when he won for the first time. On the second occasion the next year he was photographed with the Women’s Champion Catherine Gould. They had both originally been Long Reef Juniors.

Women’s oldest Champion.
Rene Haire was 67 years old when she won in 1990. Rene was also the Foursomes winner four times in 1971,72,81 and 83. She won the Mixed Foursomes 6 times between 1970 and 1991.

The Grand slam
Many champions have had a real purple patch and not happy to win one title go ahead and sweep the field in the three Honour Board competitions in the one year.
One example was the very popular win in 1989 when at the age of 60 Patsy McConnell won the Championship defeating her very good friend and neighbour Tibby Playfair. She had also won the Foursomes and Mixed Foursomes in the same year. Tibby later announced that she had a special achievement of her own. She had managed to be the runner-up in all three grades, first The Championship, then the Bronze Premiership and finally the C-Grade Premiership!

The Men’s triple treat.
Des Lofthouse won the three major Championships in the same year in 1965. Steve Jackson meanwhile whilst still a Junior won the Junior, Open and Foursomes Championships in 1983. He also won the Long Reef Medal in 1984 In 1988 Frank Maiolo won all three having also become only the second Long Reef player at that time to win the Long Reef Medal in 1982.

Captain/Champion
The only Club Captain to achieve this was Jimmy Knox in 2011. Being a Captain is a very distracting role to play without having to maintain the focus and skill through the qualifying stroke rounds and the match-play knock-outs to follow.

Every Championship Honour Board
In his 61st year at the club Les Browne’s name appears of all five Championship Honour Boards from being the second name on the Junior’s Board in 1966 through to Club Champion in 1980. He is also there far more than once on the Men’s Foursomes, Mixed Foursomes and Seniors Boards!

Left-handed Champions
At the time of his first of five Championship’s Frank Maiolo was considered to be the only left-handed winner the club had had. Frank went on to play for the NSW Juniors team, the NSW Colts where he was named as Captain and was listed in the Senior NSW squad.

Champions who became Professionals
Four men have gone on to become Golf Professionals. Brett Drewitt and Dylan Perry became Playing Professionals. Steve Jackson and Scott Fitzgerald became Club Professionals

The modern ‘Super Champs’ in the last 25 years.

Shaun McTaggart was on fire in the early part of the decade with 6 wins between 1996 and 2007. Chun Ta Wu has been the Champion for the past three years. Kristen Hooker, Matt Saad, and Geoff Cranfield have claimed two of the years each.

As mentioned above Jessica Simpson/Sullivan won on four occasion at the start of the century, Julia Bowen has 6 titles, Catherine Gould 3, and Jennifer Jansson 2 consecutive wins and the current Champion.

Now we wait to see who is next!

Throughout the time of the Championships a display of framed photographs will be in the Members’ Bar and the Honour Boards are always there to be studied!!

Mick Snell & Sandra Mellowes | Archives Committee