The Annual Financial Report can be viewed on our website under the ‘More/Notices and downloads’ tab.
The Presidents Report to Members follows:
Presidents Report 2023 – 2024
I wasn’t expecting this year’s report to be headlined with yet more natural disasters following my last two reports where the club had the final year of punishing Covid restrictions followed by the 2022 floods and its continuing eight (8) months of wet weather, but here we are with no less than five flood events for the year including the Armageddon of April 2024 (damaged infrastructure with bridges, signs, bench seats and drain crossings washed away; our bore water supply damaged and irrigation equipment damaged; damaged greens; plus hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of debris deposited all over the course (rocks, gravel, sand, bricks, furniture, a mountain of logs and trees, even a car stranded in the Minnamurra River). The worst Jamberoo flood event ever? The most flood events in a year? Certainly, in my time.
My compliments to Nick and his team for dealing with such an horrendous mess. It’s disheartening enough for our members, so it must be doubly so for our greens staff, who clearly take enormous pride in the presentation of our course. The Volunteers also deserve a huge wrap for their response both in helping with the cleanup and also those who donated their trophy account earnings back to the club to help with the recovery. To date those donations, total $10,076.
On a brighter note, as our audit report will reveal, the club has had a tremendous year financially, returning a net profit of $212,087 and an 11 % increase in member numbers. A remarkable result. We have plenty of works in the pipeline on which to spend the increase.
The monthly volunteer working bee (last Friday of each month) is a continuing success; thanks Liz and Pam for all your work in organising these days.
The Champagne 9 goes from strength to strength; there is a fantastic vibe on the deck on Saturday afternoons with 20-30 C9er’s celebrating winners, losers, golf life – a wonderful atmosphere. It reminds me of competition golf of 30 years ago, when everyone stayed back to hear the results and hopefully get tossed a ball so you didn’t go home empty handed. Well done Pam and all those who assist with this fantastic initiative. And now we have the B9er’s – thanks Tracey Watson, Martin Coffee and Don Thompson for getting this underway. Let’s get behind this latest initiative, members, and make it a similar success.
Some more thank you’s from me that are all truly deserved:
Firstly, my hard-working Board for their commitment and contribution in 2023/24. In particular, Secretary Bob Neilson and Treasurer Geoff Wilson, who have both declined to re- nominate. Both have made a magnificent contribution over a number of years. These two posts and that of Captain are the most onerous positions on the Board. Their duties have been undertaken efficiently and effectively. Geoff has hardly played any rounds of golf over the past three years but repeatedly renewed his membership so that he could serve on the Board. Geoff, the club owes you a great debt of gratitude. Bob has not only been club secretary but he has been the go-to man on everything imaginable, willing to put his hand up to take on jobs when no one else was willing or available. Bob, I am greatly pleased that you plan to keep contributing from outside the Board. Bob and Geoff, I will miss you both for your thoughtful and considered views. Thank you both for your wonderful service.
Pat Paris has also decided to call it a day. Pat has served on the Board for eight (8) years, thank you Pat for your contribution. Larry Kent, our Captain, has decided not to stand for that post again this year (see Captains Report hereunder) so we now welcome in a new Captain Peter Hackett, to fill that role. I appreciate the difficulty, Larry, in trying to fill a busy Captain role, and be at the Club on three competition days a week, plus Board and green meetings while still working. Larry will continue to contribute as a Director.
A special thanks to Col Booth who has stepped up in a variety of areas. Col eats sleeps and drinks JGC. His enthusiasm is infectious, so pleased to have you on the team Col, and your initiative with the Gareth Ward visit turned out to be perfect timing and extremely beneficial.
To all our other Board members Vice President Kim, Dave, Italo, Shane and recent recruit to the Board Jake Henderson, thank you for all the good ideas, healthy debate, and good humour and for shouldering a share of the workload. Ladies President Pam Middlebrook, while sitting outside the Board, has regularly attended our Board meetings and is a wonderful contributor to those meetings and to the Club in general.
Nick and team, you have had a heartbreaking period to contend with but the good work continues, and all our members are amazed at the rate at which your team have managed to get the course back into some form of shape. Linda, Marie, and Joan, thanks for another year of fine back-of-house work, maintaining the books, paying the wages and accounts, managing memberships and competitions, and implementing new software, to name a few.
Our volunteers are the heartbeat of Jamberoo Golf Club – gardens, working bees, flood cleanups, grant applications, and in particular our shop volunteers, where Peter Young is the glue that holds it all together. Thank you all for your selfless service. I also acknowledge the dedicated service of Bruce Hammond, who has stepped back from doing the full Sunday shifts (often 5:30AM to 6:30 PM) – a very long day. Bruce is continuing on Sundays but with half-day shifts. Thank you, Bruce.
Thanks also to Sue Paul, who despite the weather disruptions continues to contribute in her role as Footgolf Coordinator and in numerous other ways. There are many others who contribute to the Clubs operations. Thank you all.
My apologies if I have overlooked anyone.
I also wish to recognise the wonderful generosity of our many sponsors, in particular major sponsors Oaks Automotive (Steve Oppert), Elders Real Estate (Viv Marris), Just Bathrooms (John Anthony), Cleary Bros Concrete, DP Electrics, and SolarBlu. I encourage our members to direct any business they may have towards our club sponsors.
Roll Call
Sadly, we again lost a number of members – Pat Knight, Terry Graham, John Brand, Greg Rodgers, Athol Casey and former member Ryan Dorahy. All will be sadly missed. My apologies if I have missed anyone.
Audit Report
A net Profit of $212,087. I am still shaking my head in disbelief with this achievement. Briefly, wage and superannuation costs were down a combined $66K on the expense side, while on the revenue side, the sale of goods +$32K, Cart Hire +$32K, Comp Fees +$23K, Footgolf +$8K, Member Subscriptions +$72K, and Visitor Green Fees +$70K were the main contributors. A truly excellent result that builds our war chest for a significant volume of major works (hundreds of thousands of dollars) that need to be undertaken in the year/s ahead once we have all necessary regulatory approvals and suitable ground conditions so that impacts on the course are minimised.
Additionally, to put the result in perspective, we will have significantly increased operational costs for the years ahead with the purchase of new plant (two mowers and a tractor) and golf competition/member management software which add $90K a year to our operating costs. A return to full staffing levels will further escalate our operational costs, and the staged DA planning and consultancy costs will be a significant one-off cost in 24/25.
The Club and Board also needs to start achieving regular healthy annual profit margins if we are ever to transition to having a golf professional running the golf shop. Depending on the structure of such a change, the cost can be expected to be in the range of $100K to $150K per year.
Members
An increase in membership numbers (472 in 2017, 464 in 2018, 428 in 2019, 398 in 2020, 536 in 2021, 561 in 2022 and 518 in 2023) have climbed to 575 as of 31 May 2024, so these are trending in the right direction.
One target of our member retention program is to assist our older members with a loyalty discount. Anecdotally, this appears to be working effectively with our older members (80 years and over who have been continuous members for ten or more years getting a sizeable discount, so that renewal is hopefully less of a “will I or wont I, I hardly play anymore” decision. The decision to end or continue this loyalty discount is a matter for the Board to review each year, but it has been continued for 24/25.
My congratulations to our men and ladies champions and representative teams for their participation and the manner in which they represent our club (details below in the reports of our Captain and Ladies President).
The 23-24 Year in Summary
- Financial result of $212,087 Profit
- Member numbers up 57 to 575
- DA lodged December 2023 for the rebuild of the 16th retaining wall and associated works.
- Terry Graham, our volunteer Masterplan project manager, passed away late last year and his assistance with that major project will be sorely missed. That plan was passed onto a team of professional consultants (planning, environmental, engineering, architectural, survey and landscaping) to develop a Staged Development Application. While that work is progressing more slowly than I would like, it is a crucial document that will enable us to undertake works that we are otherwise restricted from doing in the applicable regulatory framework applying to the course. Importantly, staged DA approval will also tick a necessary box for grant funding applications.
- Given the amount of work the club needs to undertake over the next few years, the Board determined to accept a lease renewal from Club Jamberoo on the practice area green and 4th green. That lease will now be extended for a further 10 years from 30 September 2025.
- Shop ceiling repairs undertaken after an unfortunate accident (thanks John Anthony – and the volunteers).
- Tree pruning and removal is at last now happening. We have now developed a good working relationship with Council and an Arborist so that a far more flexible approach is evolving with our tree management needs.
- Five flood events for the year including Armageddon in April 2024.
- Slice replaced with MiGolf competition and membership management software.
- New Greens Mower, new Fairway mower and a new Compact Tractor purchased (mowers via Chattel Mortgage) and a new Fairway Blower acquired.
- The loyalty membership discount for those members over 80 years of age who have been members for 10 or more years has been continued.
The Year Ahead
- Our top priority needs to be getting the staged DA completed and lodged. While this is largely in the hands of our consultants, its importance can’t be underestimated. It needs to be comprehensive, as it is the vehicle to undertaking works across the course in compliance with regulatory obligations. It is essential to getting grant applications past 1st base.
- The 16th retaining wall DA Consent was granted (12/07/24) allowing us to get in and replace the collapsed wall. This is a major works project, which includes dredging of the dams (16th & 17th), raising of the eastern end of the existing bridge, installation of a concrete cart path from the bridge to the 17th tee, and an extension of the 17th tee into the current garden space. (Est Cost $90K). The work will need to be timed to be undertaken when the course has thoroughly dried out and hardened up to limit machinery impacts on the course. I envisage the 16th on completion of this work being our feature hole. After a long hard fight, (thanks for your perseverance Geoff), our Insurers finally agreed to pay $25K.
- Reinstatement of the 6th bridge as a temporary crossing of Hyams Creek. The staged DA includes a new higher level bridge east of “that” tree, which will be less prone to catch logs and exacerbate flood impacts.
- Replacement of the grounds staff transportable amenities building, an urgent requirement.
- We are working with Council (thanks to Gareth Ward for facilitating) to achieve a zoning change from C3 (Environmental Management) to hopefully R2 (Private Recreation). This highly restrictive C3 zone applies to around 90% of the course.
- Work has started on the political machinations necessary to advance our prospects of grant funding success. Our project funding eligibility options are very limited due to the lack of approved DA’s; the 16th is a possibility, but the rest are caught up in the staged DA process.
- More generally, our focus needs to remain on flood-related repair and improvement of the course and revenue-related aspects associated with the club house facility as we drive to attract new members and encourage the return of former members, which will improve revenues and underpin the future success of the Club.
- Securing the services of a golf club professional needs to be underpinned by continuing strong annual financial profit results. We can continue to investigate how such a structure might work, but $100k to $150k profits year on year is the necessary first step.
Phil Hahn
President
Captain’s Report 2023 – 24
2024 marks my first year as Captain of Jamberoo Golf Club and I would like to thank all members for their support. I am honoured & proud to have represented you as Captain.
With the intrusion of poor weather and course flooding, it has been a trying time with many interruptions to our regular golfing operations, but we have managed to stay open, albeit with restrictions, and our competitions have continued to be played.
A big thank you goes to my Vice-Captain Shane Townsend, Match Committee members Pat Paris and Dave Ransom, to the Greens committee and the rest of the Board of Directors for their continued dedication to the club. The efforts of Pam Middlebrook, Judi O’Brien, Lorraine Cram, and the members of both the Ladies and Lady Veterans Committees should also be recognised as well.
The work of the shop volunteers in running the day-to-day business of the club is most appreciated. A special thanks goes to Judi O’Brien, Mike Harris, Peter Young, Greg Lysek, and Rod Hodkinson, whose help is invaluable in starting the competitions and to Bruce Hammond for being the Pennant starter.
To the Office workers Linda and Marie, your amazing efforts are always outstanding. Thanks for your support and assistance.
Greenkeeper Nick Goodger and his staff should be commended for their dedication and hard work on our course despite the many challenges the weather has thrown at us this year.
The beauty of the gardens in the club show the dedication and commitment of this exceptional bunch of members. Those members who volunteer for working bees are also sincerely thanked.
This year in the Golf Illawarra (NSW) pennants we entered 4 teams, the B Pennant, C Pennant & 2 White Horse Cup teams. Thank you to all players who made the commitment to represent Jamberoo this year. All teams performed well but fell short of playing on the final day, with the White Horse Cup “Cowpats” reaching the semi-finals. It was very encouraging to welcome several new players to our representative teams. I’m sure they found the experience challenging but rewarding and we look forward to their future involvement in our teams. Thank you to experienced campaigners, Chris Leckey, Dave Ransom & Don Thompson for taking on the leadership of the teams.
Congratulations to 2023 Club Champions Ben McEvoy, Ron Chilby and Stephen Young and to new Veterans Champion Craig Foster. Also well played to Noel Laman and Peter Francis on their Foursomes Championship win.
The first Major event in 2024, the Jamberoo Mixed Open, was won by Elise and Ben Howchin from the Grange with a score of 82. Nett winners were Leanne Hayes & Jeremy Cooper from the Links Shell Cove with nett 71.25.
The Jamberoo Mens Open was won by the defending champion Colin Mitchell from the Links Shell Cove with an excellent score of 68.
The overall net winner was Jamberoo’s Geoff Reynolds with 62.
A massive thanks to our Platinum+ sponsor Steve Oppert of Oaks Automotive & to John Anthony of Just Bathrooms for their continued support of the club. Thank you to all of our hole sponsors for their support.
Due to health issues, I will not be seeking re-election, but it has been my pleasure to represent Jamberoo as Club Captain.
Finally, a personal thanks to Dave Ransom for covering my absences during the year. It hasn’t gone unnoticed & I greatly appreciate what you have done.
Larry Kent.
Captain
WOMEN’S GOLF – President’s Report 2023 – 24
It is with pleasure that I write this annual report to highlight the input and effort undertaken by our women members. Jamberoo Women Golfers (JWG) have had a successful year financially and socially, even though we have had fewer games and field numbers have been smaller. Funds raised from our weekly lunches have been donated to the Club through purchases of a new commercial refrigerator $2,088, Cafe blinds for the verandah $405 and $300 to the green staff in appreciation of their efforts during the floods. Our new Pennant shirts were also paid for by the Women’s Committee. Our two Charity days raised a donation amount of $1,534 to Ovarian Cancer, and $1,800 to The Community Cancer Link.
JWG were well represented in all three grades in the WGI Pennants Competition in 2024. I would like to recognise the work of each of the team Captains – April Van Woerkom (Gold), Lyn Kuskey (Silver) and Marie Smith (Bronze) – who did a sterling job at co-ordinating and managing their teams. Gold finished 2nd, Silver ran 7th, while our Bronze team came 2nd on a count-back. This is a great result from our small club. The players were also complimented on their smart attire, with matching team skirts and jackets.
Many of our members have actively represented Jamberoo, across the Illawarra and further afield, in both Matchplay and Scratch tournaments, Vets Weeks of Golf, as well as Charity and Open Days. Notable achievements for the Club: four Jamberoo teams were victorious at the annual WGI Team Challenge. Congratulations to R. Sheath, C Legge, P. Middlebrook and K Ison, who won the overall Best Nett Winners Major Prize and successfully defended their title. C Smee ran 2nd (B grade) in the Vets ‘Illawarra Week of Golf’. K Oborn was runner-up (C grade) in the ‘Central West’ Vets Week of Golf. K Brennan won the ‘Gail Burgin’ Trophy at Gerringong. Other players representing Jamberoo at prestigious events were L. Armstrong and A. Van Woerkom in the “Club House Cup” tournament played at ‘The Australian’ Golf Course. These 2 players, along with L McGlinchey and P Middlebrook, have also entered in the Coronation Medal to be played at Cromer and Moore Park Golf Clubs. The team of L Kuskey, J Strong, G Rutledge and L Waine will be representing our Club in the Bronze Cup at Pymble & Monash GC’s later this month.
Women’s Championship Results 2023-24: Foursomes Champions 2023 Gross: L Armstrong and L McGlinchey. 2024 – Club Champion– A. Woerkom, A Grade Nett winner: L Armstrong; B Grade Winners – Gross: M Cook, Nett: G Rutledge. C Grade Winners – Gross: B Costello, Nett: R. Sheath.
The “Get Into Golf” Women’s clinics have run again in each semester with full numbers, encouraging many golfers to progress to the Champagne 9-hole competition. Champagne 9 continues to thrive both on and off the course. The overall contribution in green fees for the year has been $6,500. Thank you to the men for their patience in allowing us to play at the back of their field.
The strength of our Club is built around the support of our volunteers, who also need to be recognised: Kim Oborn and Cheryl Smee for their role in ordering stock for the Club House, Sue and Al Paul for fitting the cafe blinds, the Starters and office staff, particularly P Young, M Ransom and L McGlinchey and the Gardeners, who are regularly beautifying the ground as well as actively participating in the monthly ‘working bees’. Thanks to L. Armstrong for co-ordinating these events. Thank you also to S Karschies, who has successfully completed her RSA training (another asset to the Club).
Thanks especially to our Green Staff, capably led by Nick Goodger, whose patience and endurance in working through one of the hardest years, overcoming 3 floods within the course of a few months. Also, to all the members who assisted on these clean-up days, your time and efforts have been much appreciated.
The JWGC would also like to acknowledge and thank the local businesses for their sponsorship and financial support: Drummond Golf (Kris Morrison), Elders Real Estate (Viv Marris) and Jamberoo IGA.
A hearty thank you must also go to the Board for giving the Women Members a voice as well as continuing their hard work in providing a community golf course, where players can enjoy the natural beauty of our village, and constantly planning for its future Sustainability. ‘Thank You’ to our outgoing Board members, Bob Neilson (Secretary) and Geoff Wilson (Treasurer). Additionally, I would like to acknowledge Geoff for being instrumental in tutoring the Women’s introduction to golf clinics.
It was with great sadness that we had to bid our loyal member Pat Knight a ‘fond farewell’ in October 2023. Finally, a big thank you to the Women’s Committee and their ability to work cohesively, actively valuing the needs of all our members in their decision making processes: Vice President Lyn Kuskey, Captain Judi O’Brien, Vice-Captain Del Brand, Secretary Marie Smith, Treasurer Gail Rutledge, Vice Treasurer Sylvia Karschies, Vets Delegate Lorraine Cram, and Welfare Officer Rhonda McKinley.
Pam Middlebrook (JGC Women’s President), August, 2024
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