The course will be open for play over the Easter Holiday period.
Good Friday – Friday 7th of April – Open Medley Stableford from 6 to 9 am.
Easter Saturday – Open 4BBB stableford
Easter Sunday – social play
Easter Monday – Medley Stableford
Booking into Competitions
The trial has worked well and it is now possible to book into competitions using the 8-day window from 6pm. So if you wished to book a tee time for Saturday the 8th of April you can book in on Friday the 31st of March at 6pm.
Please help on the course
It would be greatly appreciated if you would repair divot holes on the course and pitch marks on greens. Make an effort.
Making our best effort to repair divots and pitch marks is an easy way to care for the course and help others enjoy their round. Knowing the correct technique is an important first step.
The Correct Way To Repair A Pitch Mark Is….Insert repair tool just outside the back of the ball mark.
1. Pull the turf towards the centre of the hole. Repeat this same motion on all sides of the hole.
2. Gently tap the repaired area with you putter.
As for Divots … Once on the course, take pride in your divot repair. Who knows, the divot you repair today could give you a better lie the next time around.
Preferred lies to end Tuesday next week.
It has been decided to end the club length preferred lie on fairways statring from Tuesday 4th of April.
PLAY THE BALL AS IT LIES unless it is on a bare patch on a fairway in which case a free drop away from the affected area will be allowed.
The GUR area on the 12th is now in play under these rules.
Some Changes to Course Markings
The penalty area beside the 7th hole is now a RED penalty area.
There are 4 options if your ball enters this area:
replay the shot from the tee
drop the ball back on line keeping the place where the ball crossed the penalty area and the flag in line
drop laterally within two club lengths, not nearer the hole, at the place the ball crossed the margin of the penalty area, or
play the ball as it lies from within the penalty area.
You are penalised 1 shot in any of the first three.
The western stake on the edge of the pond on the 8th hole has been replaced.
I will be inspecting Out of Bounds markings on the 12th and 13th holes tomorrow. Some of these stakes have washed away during the floods. It is a straight line between these stakes even if the grass has been cut outside these imaginary lines.
Another strong performance by the Gold team on Monday saw them hold off the Grange in close matches.
Liz Armstrong won 3/2
April van Woerkom won 4/3
Judi O’Brien won 3/1
Kay Brennan won 1 up
Pam Middlebrook won 4/3
The Gold’s play their next game on the 3rd of April at Wollongong against PortLinks.
Silver Pennant
Jamberoo defeated Wollongong 4-1@ Kiama
Well played to the Silver team on a very good performance against the traditionally strong Wollongong team.
Jennelle Anderson lost 3/1
Shirley Dixon won 2/1
Lyn Kuskey won 7/5
Shirley Walsh won 4/2
Margaret Cook won 5/3
The Silver’s host the other teams in their division next Monday and play their next game after Easter on Monday 17th April at Shoalhaven Heads against Kiama.
Bronze Pennant
The Bronze team had the bye on Monday and are primed to play their next game on Monday 3rd of April at Callala.
Congratualtions to our teams on a successful day and also a big thank you to all the helpers who put on an excellent luncheon at the club on Monday.
Monday Veterans
The Monday Vets competition is again cancelled on Monday the 3rd. As per usual an extra division will be added to the Wednesday comp.
BBQ this Saturday
A sauage sizzle will be held this Saturday after golf. A sausage sandwich will cost you just $4.
Payment can be via eftpos or cash.
Buy a drink and use your Jamberoo Stubby holder and receive a $1 discount on your sanger!
As our members are aware our Club has experienced a tough couple of years through 2021 and 2022.
In 2021 during the severe Covid lockdown period our members had to endure the forced exclusion of somewhere in the order of 70% of our members from the club for a continuous period of 120 days when the Shellharbour LGA was deemed part of Greater Metropolitan Sydney.
In 2022 La Nina served up a relentless 249 day period (21/2/22 to 29/10/22) during which only 68 days saw some form of golf played on the course. Those 68 rounds were all competition only (no social golf), and all bar 6 of those days were walking only, and generally on a restricted, shortened course in horrid muddy conditions.
This was extremely tough on our members, tough on our ground staff, and certainly very, very tough on our Club. Membership renewals fell due in the midst of this prolonged wet period so membership renewals plummeted with the loss of 130 of our then 565 members. I am pleased to be able to report that we have quickly rebuilt the membership base and are now back to a tad over 500.
Many Clubs would have struggled to survive such a prolonged and serious budgetary hit. It is testament to both past and present Boards who had managed to slowly build the cash reserves that carried us through this sustained period of dramatically reduced revenue, while overheads have, with inflation rampant, grown substantially. In this regard we are a relatively small club, without an independent commercial club facility with “non golf” related revenue streams (poker machines, bar, restaurant etc) to support their operations. In our case if there is no golf there is no revenue. All that said we remain in a very healthy, albeit poorer financial position then where we were prior to these concurrent disasters.
Additionally, there is significant work to be done, such as rebuilding the 16th retaining wall, impending machinery replacement, a new 4th green and practice green to be built which are among the high priorities ahead in a long list of investment possibilities.
Member Fees 2023/24
Considering the above circumstances the Board of Directors determined at its February meeting to increase the membership fee from $620 to $680 for the 2023/24 membership year. I sincerely hope that our members will understand the necessity for the increase which amounts to an extra $1.15 per week. It should also be appreciated that last year despite the Covid impacts the Board adjusted the annual fees a little less than inflation. This latest increase is modestly above the annual inflation rate.
For our loyal senior members (those who have reached 80 years of age and have been continuous members of the club for 10 or more years), the Board has again approved the $200 loyalty rebate. This rebate system has been assessed to be cost neutral or better, making the decision for some of our older golfers a little easier as to whether they renew for another year, particularly those with health problems, or carer responsibilities impacting their opportunities to continue playing.
It should also be understood that the decision on whether to grant this loyalty rebate is a matter for each Board to consider annually, and is determined having regard to potential cost/benefit assessment and affordability.
Masterplan
While the Masterplan is and will most likely be an evolving document, the elements that were put to the membership in consultation sessions in Nov/Dec 2022 are now being developed by the club’s consultants into a staged development application. You may have seen the surveyors on course in recent weeks or the Geotechnical consultant. Others will be on course at various points in time over coming months as they pull together the professional documentation required by Council for DA approval. An approved DA will hopefully put us in good stead to apply successfully for grant funding for some of the more costly elements of that DA. An approved “Staged DA” will have no expiry, so works therein can be implemented at any time in the future as and when funds are available, whether that is from internal or external sources.
Solar Panels
The Club’s solar panels have recently been replaced on the clubhouse roof by Solarblu under insurance. The Club is also investigating the merits of additional solar panels for other club buildings and battery power to enable us to go off grid. The possibility of a community battery will also be investigated.
Improving Future Financial Security
The Club’s future financial security and its ability to survive impacts such as those incurred in 2021 and 2022 can be greatly enhanced by growing the membership base, minimizing overheads, and finding new and/or improved revenue streams. The decision to end the lease of the small area of land on the 4th hole from Club Jamberoo (i.e. the 4th green and practice green area) is in large part driven by the need to reduce overheads. On the income side we have some excellent non golf investments including Footgolf, the Return and Earn recycling machine, and two rental properties. If we can go off grid with a solar battery this would be a significant cost saver. If we can generate surplus energy to contribute to a community battery that could be another income earner, all of which would help in this equation.
A great season for our C Pennant team has come to an end at the hands of Gerringong Golf Club today at Wollongong. Windy conditions and ultra fast greens seemed to unsettle our players as did the excellent play by the Gerringong team who really adapted to the course conditions.
Having already won the Town & Country Cup from Kiama earlier in the season we had hoped to complete the double but alas it wasn’t to be.
The team were emerging from their best performance of the year in the semi-final but could not reproduce the same level on the wind-swept links today.
Despite today’s loss the performance of the team over the competition should be commended and the club is proud of the efforts of the players.
Thank you to Chris Leckey, Wayne Griffiths, Tom Zimmermann, Pat Paris, Mal Hoy, Ken Bradley, Bob Neilson and Graeme Ricketts.
Next year will be our turn!
The club would also like to express our sincere thanks to our Primary Pennants sponsor Oaks Automotive and to MMJ South.
An Ace to Remember
March 25 will be a day that Alvin Ray will remember for a long time. You see he achieved a hole-in-one on the 11th hole.
A very happy Alvin Ray.
This was Alvin’s first ever ace. Using a 3 hybrid the sweet swinging Alvin was very excited to see his ball land on the green and roll perfectly into the hole. What a great shot.
Alvin will receive 6 balls from the club, have his succesful ball mounted onto a permanent trophy and have his name entered on the honour list of Hole-in-one achievers. He will also receive a special cap and bottle of wine from St Halletts and recieve a certificate from GolfNSW.
Well played Alvin and congratulations.
Monday Vets 27 March
Just a late reminder that due to the WGI Pennants playing at the course on Monday no Veterans comp will be held. A special Vets division will be created for the Wednesday competition held this week on the 29th.
As an added part to the Ovarian Cancer Charity Day the winning team has the opportunity to represent Jamberoo GC at the state finals of the Premier’s Cup to be held at the Castle Hill Country Club in September.
This event raises money for Superheroes, the Community Care River Retreat located at Shoalhaven Heads, a charity concerned with a special retreat for sick kids and their parents.
Another opportunity to be involved will be available for the winners of the President vs Captain Day on May 27.
OUR GOLF Booking System
Please take note:
We are attempting to change the opening time for bookings from Midnight to 6pm in our booking program so that you don’t need to have insomnia to get a timeslot.
Lets check it out for play on Friday 31st and Saturday 1st.
Good luck to our C Pennant team this Sunday at Wollongong Golf Club.
