Golf - Tuesday 27th May 2008

It was another great day for golf with the weather warming up to "quite hot" once the morning chill was gone. The course was very busy today with our staff getting the fairway watering system work done which does mean some inconvenience in places - but will make a big difference once the long hot summers set in - so it will be worth it.

We had a team challenge day with the Tuggerah Lakes ladies & it was a lot of good fun with Gosford coming out the winners. It was a 2-Ball Team aggregate plus single stableford event.

I was lucky enough today to play with two lovely ladies from Tuggerah Lakes - Kay Walker and Robyn Ray with my Gosford partner Julie Hazzard - always good fun. We had some good highlights through the day with Robyn getting a 4 pointer as well as Kay & I winning nearest the pins on the 8th hole for our respective divisions. It was a very enjoyable day.

We had 111 starters on the day including 14 players from Tuggerah Lakes.

RESULTS:

TEAM EVENT:

WINNERS: Carmen Fitzgerald & Annette Dunk - 70 points on a countback.

RUNNER UP: Rhonda Robertson & Lyn Cruickshanks - 70 points.

SINGLE STABLEFORD EVENT:

DIVISION 1:

WINNER: Robyn Johnston - 37 points

RUNNER UP: Debbie Grinham - 36 points

3rd: Margaret MacLachlan - 35 points on a countback

DIVISION 2:

WINNER: Lyn Cruickshanks - 37 points on a countback

RUNNER UP: Sharon Anderson - 37 points

3rd: Elizabeth MacNamara - 35 points on a countback

DIVISION 3:

WINNER: Hayley Krahe - 39 points

Runner Up: Carmen Fitzgerald - 38 points

3rd: Helen Stuart - 35 points on a countback

NEAREST THE PINS:

DIVISION 1: 8th - Annette Dunk; 14th - Sandra Coyle

Division 2: 8th - Jan Martin; 14th - Maryanne Lanham

Division 3: 8th - Kay Walker; 14th - Hayley Krahe

CCR: 73 (36 points) PAR 73

BALLS went to 33 on a countback.

Highlights of the day as reported to me: Robyn Ray (T/L) had a 4 pointer shot with a great shot to the green on the 6th; Kay Walker (T/L) had a nice steady front nine & won nearest the pin on the 8th for her division; Carmen Fitzgerald had a good 4 pointer on the 12th & played a nice steady game for 38 points - it should be noted that Carmen has featured on most of the recent results reports & is certainly going through a purple patch losing three strokes off her handicap in the last few games; Helen Stuart had a gobbler on the 9th; Hayley Krahe had a 2/5 on the 5th; My highlights today were a difficult putt on the 9th for a 5/3 and another long putt on the 16th for a 4/3 as well as winning nearest the pin in my division on the 8th.

Images attached: Helen Ray (Tuggerah Lakes), Julie Hazzard and Kay Walker (Tuggerah Lakes)my playing partners today at the first tee; President of Tuggerah Lakes presenting Captain Di Thomlinson with the teams trophy Gosford vs Tuggerah Lakes - won by Gosford today; Combined winners group today : back row: Debbie Grinham, Robyn Johnston, Rhonda Robertson, Carmen Fitzgerald, Helen Stuart, Annette Dunk, Elizabeth MacNamara. Front Row: Lyn cruickshanks & Hayley Krahe.

F-Troop Monday 26th May 2008

We were lucky to get great weather today for the F-Troop work. We had a good amount of volunteers and achieved quite a bit of work around the course. The main centre of attention today was the work being done to correct the drainage problem we have on the second fairway. As you can see by the bottom photo the excess water has now been diverted by pipeline into the dam which means a new source of water supply for us. If all goes to plan the fairway will be back in use tomorrow & nicely dried out soon if this good weather holds. It will be a relief to get rid of that boggy area in the middle of the fairway.

I did some watering at the putting green gardens to encourage the new plants to take & then scooped up enough water at the second tee drain to water the shade garden & new tibouchina tree.

The F-Troop were a great help to me today by placing down some mulch on the shade garden on the second tee & put in a garden border in a very short space of time. This saved me a heap of time so I could go on to the 13th & tidy up that area. As I mentioned earlier we are having trouble with the rabbits attacking the gardens at the 18th tee. As fast as we get the plants in the rabbits destroy them by eating down to the roots. As a tempory fix (until we can think of the next best thing to do) we have put up a plastic fence which we hope will at least discourage those very cute but pesky animals.

Anne Burgess was at the course today trimming some of the camelias & she has put some plastic around the bouganvillias in the hope that it will discourage the rabbits also.

The F-Troop boys also did some good work behind the first green - removing blueberry bushes, picking up rubbish and clearing drains. They also put some boards defining gardens and mulch against the hedge between the 10th & 18th.

Images attached: The F-Troopers mulching at the second tee; the rabbit discouraging plastic at the 18th; work being done on the 2nd fairway; water going into the dam from the water seepage on the 2nd fairway.

Thanks to Clyde Cruickshanks for his photo contributions.

Golf - Tuesday 20th May 2008

The day started off a little brisk but soon warmed up to a perfect day for golf. My playing partners today were Pricilla Webster & Annette Dunk. It was a very enjoyable day out on the course with mixed fortunes during the match. I brought the winner home today - Annette won Division one and the much sort after monthly medal which was the highlight of our day. Our best hole of the day was the 14th where we were all in the hole for three. Definately a highlight for us.

The event of the day was a Stroke Monthly Medal. We had 81 starters.

RESULTS:

DIVISION 1:

Winner: Annette Dunk - 72 on a countback.

Runner Up: Margaret Maclachlan - 72

Gross Winner: Di Thomlinson - 86

Putting: Kay Adams - 30 putts on a countback.

DIVISION 2:

Winner: Marguerita Winer - 65

Runner Up: Sharon Anderson - 70 on a countback

3rd: Julie Craig - 70

Gross Winner: Leonie Casey - 93

Putting: Sue Suters - 26 putts

DIVISION 3:

Winner: Carmen Fitzgerald - 70

Runner Up: Doris Morris - 72

3rd: Val Iseppi - 73 on a countback

Gross Winner: Carmen Fitzgerald - 104 on a countback

Putting: Doris Morris - 30 putts

NEAREST THE PINS:

Division 1: 5th : Jackie Davidson; 12th : Di Thomlinson

Division 2: 8th : Berri Hanley; 14th: Lyn Kenyon

Division 3: 8th: Elena Whale; 14th: not won

CCR: 70 PAR : 71

Balls went to 73

Highlights of the day as reported to me: Annette Dunk sank a nice gobbler on the 18th; Margaret Maclachlan had a birdie on 2A; Doreen Vines was happy that she played better than last week; Sharon Anderson had a birdie on the 18th; Hayley Krahe somehow managed to put her ball over the school farm fence & surprised a Llama by hitting it on the head with the ball. No prizes for that one Hayley.

Norma Presdee has taken over the reins of President following the resignation of Ronda Jordon & today was her first presentation. Congratulations Norma.

Images attached: With my playing partners Pricilla Webster and Annette Dunk; Annette Dunk accepting her Division one monthly medal & trophy from Norma Presdee; Marguerita Winer accepting her Division 2 monthly medal & trophy from Norma Presdee; Carmen Fitzgerald accepting her Division 3 monthly medal & trophy from Norma Presdee; Leonie Casey - winner of the Division 2 Gross event.

Monday 19th May 2008

Today was the Central Coast Golf Association Vets Day & the course was humming with keen players enjoying a lovely day for golf. Anne Burgess, Judy Hughes & Fran Maclean organised a BBQ lunch for the vets day. Photo attached of the girls working the BBQ which was appreciated by all the players.

As we had so many players out on the course the official F-Troop day was postponed however we did have some of our workers out there doing their bit where it was not going to interfere with play. Doon Jansen donated some pure white hydranga cuttings which I planted out at the putting green behind the azaleas to fill out the shady space to the fence. They should look lovely if they all take. The bird nest fern that was behind the putting green was relocated to the new shade garden on the second. Des & Yvonne Wilson did some work on their camelia garden on the 14th which is just about to burst into flower - can't wait for that. Bev Way has been doing some good work on her garden on the 18th but we have a rabbit problem in that area with plants disappearing at an alarming rate. The rabbits are even attacking the new camelias & bouganvilias. We may need to get some rabbit proof fencing to protect those gardens.

The feature story today is that of the BBQ area - now finished and ready for use.

Di & Ron Beechey together with Ross & Chris Drakeford have done a wonderful job rejuvinating the whole area with new timber, bagging & painting the brickwork as well as the general garden area new seating. Anne Burgess & Judy Hughes have got the gardens looking fantastic. The whole area is a credit to all of them. I would like to see our members get more use out of the area now that it is so inviting & clean. I have attached before and after photos to remind us of what the area looked like before the troopers moved in & the final finished result.

WOW! YES, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Images attached: Judy Hughes & Fran Maclean at the lunchtime BBQ for the vets players; work in progress in the shade area behind the practice putting & on the second tee; before and after photos of our BBQ area. - thanks to Clyde Cruickshanks for his photos.

F-Troop Monday 12th May 2008

Again a very productive day for the F-Troop. The troopers replaced the old leaking roof on the "Cart Shed" down near the greenkeepers shed among other things like rough cutting and rubbish removal; Yvonne Wilson did some trimming & weeding on the 13th tee garden and the Bush Toilet garden; I did work-in-progress on the second tee garden creating a new "shade" garden which should look really good when it is filled up with plants & bark mulched and planted out a new tibouchina tree in the garden at the back of the men's tee on the second.

Images attached: new roof on the cart shed; the new tibouchina tree; before & after shots of the work in progress garden.

Golf - Tuesday 6th May 2008

We had a few sprinkles of rain on our parade today but not enough to worry us. It was quite pleasant for most of the day and we had some good scores in to prove it. My playing partners today were Dawn Tromp & Doreen Trigg and between us we did have some memorable holes. Doreen had a very steady first nine & Dawn made up for her first nine struggle on the back nine with some very good three pointer holes and a nice par on the 15th. My highlight after taking two shots to get out of the bunker on the eighth to get a nice one putt into the hole to get two points which does not say much for the rest of my game.

The event of the day was a single stableford. We had 76 starters - down on normal as quite a few of our members attend the Canberra event this week.

Ronda Jordon - our current President announced with regret her resignation (due to health reasons) from her position effective post our Open Day next week. I would like to wish Ronda all the best & thank her for her contributions over the last two years. I know from working with Ronda last year that she has put many, many hours into her duties & has made a big effort to contribute to our club for our benefit. Thanks Ronda & happy golfing from hereon.

RESULTS:

DIVISION 1:

Winner: Trish Goulding - 40 points

Runner Up: Norma Cubis - 36 points

DIVISION 2:

Winner: Anne Forrester - 38 points

Runner Up: Ronda Jordon 37 points on a count back

DIVISION 3:

Winner: Hayley Krahe - 42 points

Runner Up: Carmen Fitzgerald - 37 points

Nearest the pins:

Division 1 : 8th - Norma Cubis; 14th - Margaret MacLachlan

Division 2: 8th - Alice Diamond; 14th Faye Levenspiel

Division 3: 8th - Margaret Mackie; 14th Carmen Fitzgerald

AWCR: 70

Balls went to 34 points on a countback.

Highlights of the day as reported to me: Carmen Fitzgerald had a 2/5 as well as a gobbler with the same shot on the 5th; Dawn Tromp had a 4/4 on the 15th; Hayley Krahe had a birdie on the 15th and parred the 1st and the 18th holes; another highlight for them was that the group of three was made up of three generations from the same family Haley, Robyn & Doreen - great to see.

Another highlight for this week was reported to me. On Saturday Anne Burgess was working on the BBQ in front of the pro shop for the Saturday players. An unidentified player hit a drive from the 10th tee, hit an object (presumably a tree or something equally as hard) & the ball rebounded backwards to the pro shop area somehow where it hit one of the metal poles. From there the ball rebounded again & landed in the pile of onions cooking on the BBQ. No one claimed the ball but Anne reported that there was no harm done to persons or equipment & not a huge loss of onions either.

Images attached: With Doreen trigg - one of my playing partners today (Dawn was behind the camera) ; Trish Goulding - winner of 1st division today with Ronda Jordon; Anne Forrester - winner of 2nd Division today with Ronda Jordon; Hayley Krahe - winner of 3rd Division today with Ronda Jordon.

F-Troop Monday 5th May 2008

F-Troop today was another outstanding success - 13 male troopers & 5 female troopers in attendance with some excellant work done on the paths on the 6th & 7th tees and the 9th green; tree trimming at the 15th; garden mulching around the putting green and 2nd tee garden; starting the creation of a new garden at the ladies tee on the 2nd; upgrade of the garden at the back of the 10th tee; sealing of timber at the BBQ area; mowing of the rough; filling in holes on some of the fairways.

F-Troop Captain Clyde Cruickshanks and Club Captain Mark Stimpson had discussions with the troopers group regarding current work and forward planning for the Pro Am to be held on the Saturday and Sunday 17th & 18th August this year.

We are looking for additional volunteers for the week leading up to the pro am. We need workers on the Monday for the whole day doing a lot of the heavy clearing & clean up of the course and then again on the Friday morning to do the last minute clean up jobs so that our course is at its best for the Pro Am Event. If you think that you could contribute some time in August this year please contact Clyde Cruickshanks so that we can have an idea of how much assistance we can plan for.

It does make such a difference and it is a pleasure to see the course being maintained to it's best - not to mention the potential of what can be done with some good club spirit such as we have now.

Images from today's work: Discussion with the Captain regarding Pro-Am day; Welcome to new F-Troop member Noel Fenning; Autumn beauty on the course; trimming work on the trees; removal of timber; cleaning path on the 7th; path repair at the 9th green including laying of new turf; George Foster on the mower clearing the rough on the 9th fairway; new garden creation on the ladies 2nd tee.

YES! YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!