Pennant Preview
Week 4 of the Golf Illawarra Pennant series starts tomorrow. B Pennant are at Gerringong playing the strong Kembla Grange in a very tight match. A good result will cement their semi-final birth. C Pennant are away at Kiama against Kiama and are looking to put in a good performance to win back the ‘Town and Country’ Cup.
The White Horse Cup ‘A’ team travel to Russell Vale where they play Vincentia. A win is crucial for our team to remain first in their division. The ‘cowpats’ are also away at St George’s Basin and play the highly experienced Bowral team. A win is also very important for their season to progress into post-seasonal semi-finals.
Good luck to all of our teams. Go the Roo!
Slow Play
There seems to be a few groups out there that are not following the ‘ready’ golf ideals, and as a consequence slowing down play. If you can’t keep up with the group ahead, or need to search for a lost ball then please call the next group through. There have been comments that some people are so frustrated by the slow play, especially on a Wednesday, they will stop playing. This needs attention from all groups. Remember the low marker in a group is responsible for good etiquette and pace of play in his group. Failure to do anything will bring sanctions, be warned.
Next Wednesday I’ll be on the lookout and if your group falls behind then you will be warned and if it happens again, your group will be penalised. Don’t let this happen.
Lucky Stones
Bob Small had an unusual way of hitting the fairway on the 12th hole the other day. You see Bob sliced his drive too much and into the river it went. While Bob searched for another ball in his bag, all of a sudden the ball appeared back in the fairway! Talk about ‘lucky stones’ after that rebound!
Another Swimmer
I have another report of a member checking out the water in Hyam’s Creek near the bridge on the first. Looking for a ball, Glyn Godfrey over-balanced and in he went. Please be careful near the creeks. Any more stories, please let me know!
‘Fore’
A reminder to call out ‘fore’ if you hit the ball off line into another fairway. This is especially the case on the 14th and 17th tees where vision is obscured by the trees.
Survey Results to date
The survey has been running a week and about 80% of respondents are supportive of a $1 temporary levy per round to help fund pathway refurbishment. I will present these results to the Board at the next meeting and thank all the members for taking the time to complete the short survey. The second most popular option with about 7.5% was for a $60 one -off levy. The other two options were not strongly supported.
This Week’s Results
Cooler weather greeted our competition players this week and we also were pleased to host day 4 of the Illawarra Veteran Golfers ‘week of golf’ where our visitors were successful. The Ladies played a President vs Captain matchplay event on Tuesday and I can inform you that the President’s team were successful.
The 4 person Ambrose, played under the old rules, was also great fun with all teams playing well with some fantastic low scores being recorded. The winners have clearly been in a practice retreat for the week leading up to the event as they blitzed the field. Well played.
Bob Neilson again showed great form on Wednesday to deny Tony Rodriguez his weekly ‘pension cheque’, but the big winner on Wednesday was Pat Travers with 42 points, following on his second placing in Monday’s veteran stableford.
Until next week, good golfing.
Dave R
Saturday 25 February 2017 – 4 Person Ambrose
Men’s Winners: Darryl Campbell, Tony Rodriguez, George Louden, Dave Ruddy 52.125 Nett
Men’s 3 Person Ambrose Winners: David Thurgood, Gary Hemus, Lance Fredericks 57 Nett (c/b)
Ladies 4 Person Ambrose: Winners: Shirley Walsh, Jenelle Anderson, Lorraine Cram, Louise Stoddart 63.5 Nett
Thursday, 23 February 2017 – ILLAWARRA VETERANS WEEK OF GOLF – Stableford
A Grade Winner: Rod Hapgood, B Grade Winner: Kevin Maughan
Ladies – Stableford Winner: Frances Groves
Wednesday 22 February 2017 – Stableford
A Grade Winner: Bob Neilson 36 pts (c/b)
B Grade Winner: Norm Bampton 38 pts (c/b), 2nd: Dave Ransom 38 pts
C Grade Winner: Laurie Fogarty 40 pts
D Grade Winner: Pat Travers 42 pts
Tuesday, 21 February 2017 – President v Captain Match Play
Winner: President’s Team
Balls to: Judi O’Brien, Shirley Walsh, Margaret Stephens, Lyn Beringer, Marilyn Wright, Dulcie Piper, Marie Smith, Marie Rodgers, Kay Brennan, Marie Farrant.
Monday, 20 February 2017 – Veterans Stableford
Winner: Warren Joannou 41 Pts, 2nd Place: Pat Travers 38 Pts
The question of slow play is an eternal one, but I don’t quite see how “sanctions” will solve anything. We are a club with an ageing population and with that comes some attendant problems. I dislike slow play as much as the next person, but I also understand that as we age we move more slowly, we do not think as quickly and sometimes we make what to the outsider appear to be foolish mistakes. That is a fact of ageing, so unless the more impatient among us can come up with a solution to those problems, it might be an idea to seek an alternate method of play that minimizes the problem. One solution we tried – successfully I might add – at a previous club of which i was a member was to restrict competition play to threes, except in the case of four-ball events. It wasn’t popular when introduced for social reasons, and there was concern regarding the cost of carts, but we worked round that eventually and there is no doubt that it speeded up play considerably.
Just as a side note; it has never been my experience that a four-ball calling through another four-ball has in any way speeded up play. Quite the reverse in fact. Calling up on Par 3s is another matter, but on the whole we don’t allow that.
Thanks Michael for sharing the benefit of your experience. Your opinion is always gladly appreciated and you raise some interesting points.
It is clear that play in threesomes is quicker but I can see some social and economic reasons why this idea probably won’t be adopted regularly at Jamberoo with a majority of members preferring early time slots. I might try it for one of the Open events depending on the number of entries.
As you undoubtedly know, slow play is selfish play. Having said this I understand that we are all getting older and that every group on occasions can lose some time searching for a lost ball as your group did today on 17. This is to be expected and, like your group did today, that group will quickly make up that time and get back into position immediately behind the group in front. This is not what I am talking about. I am talking about a couple of Wednesday groups that are perennially, each and every round, losing touch with the group in front by 2 or 3 holes. If they notice that they are behind then they should look behind and see if there is a bank up of groups waiting on them. These are the groups that need to consider calling following groups through or perhaps playing at a slightly later time where their play will not effect others.
I will be out there next Wednesday morning monitoring slow play. I do not expect to bring penalty sanctions against anybody but I might make some recommendations to some groups.
I hope I don’t need to.
Well, if it can be sorted out easily and amicably, let’s hope it will be. On a lighter note, the next time we meet I’ll tell you about that incident on the 17th yesterday. It was one of the weirdest, if not THE weirdest things I have ever experienced on a golf course.
Sounds like a Daily Cow item to me. I look forward to hearing the details from you. Cheers.
Re slow play. The score card has a box for start and finish times. If players were told to enter times it would make us more aware of our speed of play. I don’t believe players play slow intensionaly. Anyway, what’s wrong with stopping to smell the roses during a round.
Well played today Tony, you almost got the point. I can’t believe that putt stayed out.
Golf Australia consider slow play to be the main malaise with club golf and the primary cause of falling memberships in golf clubs. At Jamberoo I have received several complaints and reports about two groups on Wednesdays ( not yours) losing multiple holes and frustrating several groups behind them. I agree that they are not deliberately slow , they just are due to a combination of reasons, like loss of distance off the tees, multiple searching for balls and the natural consequence of aging. Some of the complainers have said that they will quit the club and not play our comps unless we do something about it. We as a club cannot afford this, although some could take your advice and chill out a bit.
I am not opposed to people enjoying their golf and taking the time to ‘smell the roses’. In fact we all should do this within reason. This is one of the reasons we play our beautiful course. Still, you must keep pace with the group ahead. These slower members should consider playing at a slightly later time where there are plenty of spaces available and where their pace of play will not impact so many.
Thanks for your comments
Maybe the president of our club should have a chat with them. Do they know that they are holding up the field? Name and shame if they don’t lift there game.
This is a problem that has been a consistent frustration at Jamberoo along with most clubs which is indicative of the selfish attitude of most of society nowdays. The only way to resolve the issue is to penalise the prblem until they lift their game.