Friday 31st December 2010 - Happy New Year 2011

The Cafe Sicilian was the place to be for us to celebrate the coming in of New Year 2011. We have seen the New Year in with style and much celebration and I am sure we are all looking forward to a great 2011 no matter where we celebrated.

We have seen in the end of 2010 which has been a year of change and progress for the club and we can now look forward to 2011 being an even bigger and better year for us all.

Good golfing wishes to everyone for 2011 and I hope to be able to give each and every one of you a mention in the daily golf results as you richly deserve.

Golf - Wednesday 29th December 2010

We are on a countdown for the end of 2010 and getting ready to welcome in 2011 & hopefully some happy golfing on a nice tidy course. Our first F-Troop day will be next Monday where hopefully we will be able to clean up a lot of the untidiness out on the course that was caused by that wild windstorm a week or so ago. The majority of the area immediately at the front of the club, front of the Pro Shop, Wedding garden area, putting green, practice nets and the 1st tee area is now looking respectable. We have some work to do in the back car park areas as the windstorm dumped at lot of leaves and rubbish in this area.

I suppose if we have to find a positive to the wild wind storm it at least it has brought down all the weakened trees and branches that may have otherwise had an untimely fall & caused injury or damage.

Peter Martin managed to complete the painting and repair work on the walls of the Sunset Room and it all looks very refreshed.

We had a lot of social golfers out today enjoying the course in brilliant sunshine. The Pro Shop had another very busy day with a good response to the Social Golf opportunities.

We will be back to our normal competition golf soon & I am looking forward to reporting the results for 2011. Hopefully I just may get a mention in one of them with some good luck on my side.

Golf - Tuesday 28th December 2010

Another good day for Social Golf. We had an overcast day with a slight breeze which made for a perfect day out on the course. We had a corporate booking for a shotgun 7.00am start which was followed after lunch by general social play. The course was very busy all day with many afternoon social golfers. Some that I saw out there today just to name a few,were Marianne & Alan Lanham, Lesley Gregory, Sue & Bill Hutton, Michele Kennett & her two sons, Col Kelly & Alice Diamond, Kay Frewin & Arthur Collien, Col & Kay Adams, Bob & Vicky Morris (Vicky gave me a hand with some raking while she was waiting at the tee) .

Once again, being a Public Holiday the Clubhouse was closed but the Pro Shop was open for business and did not stop all day.

It was also a nice cool day for me to do some more clean up work. Those areas covered today was the rest of the front car park, walkway to the 18th green, putting green garden, garden at the back of the putting green, 1st tee gardens and back of the 1st tee area.

Peter Martin & Mark Stimpson put some hard yards in on some more painting of the Sunset Room which is looking very refreshed. This job should be finished tomorrow.

At 6.00pm Mark Stimpson, Ray Presdee, Peter & myself did some more poisoning of the rogue grasses on the 1st and part of the 2nd fairways.

Golf - Monday 27th December 2010

It was nice to have some R & R days over Christmas and I hope you all had a good break & a very Happy Christmas Day.

The Golf Course has been busy with plenty of social players and today even with some light showers we had a good roll up of players.

The Clubhouse was closed for business but the Pro Shop was open & they worked flat chat all day assisting the social players with their needs.

It was a perfect opportunity to get some inside the clubhouse painting done so Peter Martin made a start on the Sunset Room. I spent the day outside trying to make a dent in the clean up we need to do after the wild wind storm Monday of last week.

I found some time to chat with the players as they came & went from the course & I saw a lot of familiar faces. I have been told that the course is in great condition so we are all looking forward to the competitions when they re-commence in the New Year. I took a coffee break & a chat with Di Beechey, Jan Walker, Fay Bailey & Rosie Judd when they had finished their round of golf and a quick hello to Wendy & Ray Stapleton as they went out for a round.

I hope you have all had time to have a social hit & to test out any new golf equipment you may have been lucky enough to get for Christmas. I did notice players taking advantage of the 50% off range of golf clubs and drivers that the Pro Shop are offering.

Golf - Tuesday 21st December 2010

This is the first week of Social Golf so I have no competition results to report. I understand that all the ladies intending to play today were going to have a ball competition organised by our Pro Scott Cubis, which is a good idea and adds interest to the day of golf for the ladies.

We had another poisoning session for rogue grasses at 6.00 pm tonight and we had three Members involved with the spraying and we managed to cover the 18th, 11th and part of the 9th and it took about an hour to get the work done. Our thanks to Ray Presdee for lending a hand today.

The next poisoning session will be next Tuesday at 6.00pm and we intend to do the 1st, 3rd and the rest of the 9th fairway that did not get completed today. Any Members who have an hour to spare - your help would be appreciated. We meet outside the Pro Shop at 10 to 6.

I have attached some photos of our cactus at home that managed to stay upright in the wild winds of yesterday and one of my roses that was tattered in the wind.

I am happy to say we had much better weather today!

F-Troop Golf Day and Christmas Luncheon - Monday 20th December 2010

We awoke this morning to blustery freezing cold winds which were not on our "order" list for the Annual F-Troop Golf Day. All F-Troopers know what it means to get these kind of days - and that is a big mess all over the golf course with trees, branches & leaves down every which way.

We managed to ignore all the mess for today and enjoyed the day of golf regardless of battling against the wild winds all morning. The weather was not going to dampen our spirit.

We had seven groups of golfers and played a Team 1 x 2 x 3 which was very sociable. The end scores were very close with the winners enjoying a bottle of wine each donated by Bert & Annie Brink. Our winners today were Georgina Lamb, Sam Knox, Jan Walker & Neville Walker.

The Team Event was followed by a beautiful private Christmas Luncheon in the Magnolia Room - compliments of the Board in appreciation of our work over the year.

Current Members of our F-Troop were presented with a new F-Troop work shirt with the new Club Logo. These shirts were sponsored by Peter Murphy on behalf of the Cancer Council and Bridge Mower & Chainsaw Centre, East Gosford. Our thanks to the Board & our sponsors for our "New Look" image. (photo attached of our new shirts)

Martin Gallagher had made a Tool Box for F-Troop's personal use and presented it to Peter Martin at the luncheon (photo attached).

F-Troopers attending today were: John & Sue Coddington, Mark & Anne Stimpson, Sam Knox, Georgina Lamb, Jan Walker, Neville Walker, Peter Murphy, Rosalie Dyer, Duncan Dyer, Fred Middleton, Martin Gallagher, Anne Burgess, Bert Brink, Annie Brink, Richard Casey, Leonie Casey, Geoff Bridge, Des Wilson, Yvonne Wilson, Gwen White, Bruce White, Noel Fenning, Doug Incoll, Robin Incoll, Garry Trigg, Doreen Trigg, Julie Hazzard, Warren Gray, Di Beechey, George Foster, Peter Martin, Jan Martin.

F-Troopers unable to attend the day were: Mary Bromwich, Arthur Verlander, Kerry Cubis, Frank Whittington, Steve McGuckin & Bev Way.

We have had a big year and have achieved much. My appreciation to all the abovementioned people who have been so generous in donating their time and energy towards the beautification of our Golf Course.

YES! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Golf - Sunday 19th December 2010

We were once again fortunate to have some good weather for our popular Sunday Mixed Golf.

The early part of the day had some nice cloud cover and the latter part of the day warmed up to fine and sunny ( & a touch breezy at times) so we had some great golf scores in as the course is in great condition and playing well.

Our playing partners today were Duncan & Rosalie Dyer who are always great company. We were all beautifully colour co-ordinated with our blue golf limos which is very important. We had some good highlights throughout the day with a birdie from Duncan and 41 points from Peter which were good highlights. Rosalie came home with a nice par at the 18th & I was there in spirit if not in scoring ability.

The Golf Event of the day was a 2 Ball Aggregate + Single Stableford Mixed Men and Ladies.

We had 96 starters with 6 visitors from Everglades, Magenta Shores. Nambucca Heads & Oatlands.

RESULTS:

AGGREGATE TEAM RESULTS:

AGGREGATE MEN'S: Peter Nelmes & Geoff Suters - 81 points

AGGREGATE MIXED: Bob Morris & Vicky Morris - 81 points on a countback

AGGREGATE WOMEN'S: Vicky Morris & Annie Brink - 87 points

MEN'S SINGLES RESULTS:

WINNER: Peter Nelmes (Magenta Shores) - 45 points

RUNNER UP: John Potter - 43 points

3RD: Jim Forrester - 41 points on a countback

WOMEN'S SINGLES RESULTS:

WINNER: Annie Brink - 45 points

RUNNER UP: Vicky Morris - 42 points

3RD: Yvonne Wilson - 40 points

NEAREST THE PINS:

MEN'S 12TH: Duncan Dyer

LADIES 8TH: Kay Frewin

BALLS WENT TO:

MEN: 39 points (neat)

LADIES: 38 points (neat)

AMCR MEN: 70 (37 points)

AWCR LADIES: 73 (36 points)

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY as reported to me: Vicki Foster & Yvonne Wilson both scored 40 points, beat the boys for the keno ticket , both scored five x 3 pointers on the front 9 and three 3 pointers on the back; Rosie Dyer had 5/3 on the 17th and 5/3 on the 18th; Duncan Dyer had a birdie on the 12th and won nearest the pin; Peter Nelmes from Magenta Shores had 4/4 on the 9th and birdied the 12th; Robin Incoll had 38 points with 4/4 on the 13th and chipped in on the 7th for 4/3; Wally Bailey had four 3 pointers in a row; Arthur Collien chipped in on the 16th for a birdie; Annie Brinks had 45 points (after a 46 points win last Sunday) and had three 4 pointers in a row; Vicky Morris had one 4 pointer and chipped in on the 7th; Bob Morris had a gobbler on the 10th for a par and a birdie on the 16th; Clyde Cruickshanks and Kerry Cubis both putted for birdies on the 1st and missed, then both putted for birdies on the 2nd and got them both; my highlight was parring the 5th and the 16th.

THIS IS THE LAST COMPETITION GAMES FOR 2010 SO THERE WILL BE NO MORE OFFICIAL RESULTS UNTIL THE NEW YEAR.

MEMBERS CAN NOW BOOK IN FOR GAMES INTO JANUARY 2011 FOR THE EARLY COMPETITION GAMES BY LOGGING INTO THE CLUB COMPUTERS FOR A TIME SLOT. FOR SOCIAL PLAY PLEASE CONTACT THE PRO SHOP TO SECURE YOUR HIT OFF TIME.

I WISH YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY, PROSPEROUS & HEALTHY NEW YEAR AND HAPPY GOLFING!

KEEP LOGGING IN OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD AS I WILL BE UPDATING THE BLOG FROM TIME TO TIME WITH ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR THE MEMBERS BE IT SOCIAL GOLFING HIGHLIGHTS, SOCIAL MOMENTS OR GENERAL CLUB NEWS.