Club Email

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Friday 3 April 2020

Dear member,

This eNews is the monthly 'Member Update' which keeps members informed of general Club news.

If you're not already logged in to the member area of the website, please log in now so the links in this newsletter open automatically.

"Flattening the curve......."

A Note from the General Manager, Anthony Masters.

Firstly, a thank you to all members and staff for working together and accepting the various changes put in place over the past few weeks. Everything happened very quickly, and I'm sure members will appreciate that keeping up with the ever-tightening social distancing restrictions made forward planning extremely difficult, and sometimes redundant.

The recent closure of the golf course was a prime example of the need to be agile. At 8:00pm on Friday 27th March, the timesheet was full, 200 members booked to play the following morning. Fast-forward twelve hours, and the course was closed with an eerie quiet descending on the links, like a Scottish fog (on a beautiful autumnal day!) Thank you to those members for their acceptance of the closure in such a short time frame.

These are interesting times indeed for the Club with all accommodation bookings for the remainder of March and April cancelled, with the prospects for May not looking good either. Combine this with the loss of food and beverage income and it's easy to imagine the negative effects on our current financial year forecasts.

So, what are we doing as priorities? As always, our number one priority is the health and safety of members and staff. You've heard the advice from our state and federal leaders several times and here it is again:

"Unless you are getting medical help, unless you are getting food and essential services, unless you are attending for work and education [where you cannot do that from home] and unless you are exercising - you must stay home." Police Minister Lisa Neville Monday 31st March.

And while we know its many benefits, unfortunately for members golf does not fall under the Victorian government's definition of 'exercise'.

So, please do not try to enter the clubhouse, do not play golf, do not make use of the practice facilities, par-3 course or tennis courts.

Is the course being maintained?

As all members will appreciate, the golf course is our key asset. We have maintained a full complement of grounds maintenance staff who will continue to maintain the course and use the time to complete some important project work. One example of this is the final Course Development Plan ('CDP') works to the swale at the front of the 18th green (see article later in this newsletter) plus the removal of selected cypress trees as a result of a recent arborist report.

I can reassure members that during the closure both the course and clubhouse are being maintained, and both will flourish again once the virus has been contained. Golf Australia, in conjunction with the Australian Sports Turf Management Association, Golf NSW and Golf WA has begun to lobby both Federal and state governments to ensure that - in the event of a further increase in restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 - course staff will be able to continue to access clubs and facilities.

What are the implications for staff?

As you may have heard from the Prime Minister on Monday evening, the Government has announced a $130 billion JobKeeper payment scheme. The scheme is designed to assist organisations to cover the costs of employee wages, enabling more employees to retain their jobs and continue to be paid by the organisation. We think this scheme is a very positive initiative by the Government and will assist in the retention of casual and permanent staff. As a result, The Barwon Heads Golf Club has elected to participate, and we have now registered.

The Club's reception is still operating during business hours, from 9:00am until 5:00pm daily (4:00pm weekends) to handle any member or guest phone or email enquiry.

How are members impacted?

Apart from the obvious impacts of the clubhouse and course closure, at its next (online) meeting the Committee will be discussing how the current coronavirus situation will be impacting the membership of the Club and the measures that can be instigated to assist any member in times of hardship.

As there is no clear timeline for the resumption of play and the opening of the clubhouse (although we are hearing reports of other States resuming the playing of golf under strict guidelines), at this stage we ask members to be patient in relation to subscription and house levy enquiries.

What is the outlook?

The duration of the closures is unknown, but we do know they are necessary. It is possible that there will be a lengthy period of downtime. Keep fit by taking walks, practice #golfathome, use Zoom meetings (or similar) to keep in touch with other members and socialise online.

We need you to continue to do your part. For example, when you walk past the Club and notice Adam Lamb and his team maintaining the course, wave from a distance, but please stay away. By doing so you are helping him, his team and the community. Rest assured any major work being done on the course during the closure will be Committee-sanctioned and communicated to members via the website.

If you have any specific questions, please email me at amasters@barwonheads.golf or via the contact us form below.

Contact us form...

Course Update

A note from Superintendent, Adam Lamb.

The course team are aware that we are managing the club's greatest asset, the golf course. They have great respect for and passion to deliver the course in the best possible condition throughout the year. There are several factors that certainly have an impact on how we present the course in any given week or day: weather conditions are generally the biggest factor that determine how we present the course, but the current pandemic we are all facing and social restrictions we are dealing with has and is changing the way we manage our course team.

Our main focus, at his stage, is to continue to maintain the course in the best possible condition while keeping the health and safety of the course team of paramount importance. To protect against a potential outbreak of the illness throughout the course team and to do our bit for the wider community, the following changes has been implemented within our course team:

The course team have been separated into two crews and are working every second day, Monday to Friday 6am- 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 5.30am -9.30am.
Staggered start and break times to comply with current social distancing regulations.
One person per vehicle.
Plenty of hand washing and sanitising.
Surface spraying and bacterial wipe down of machinery surfaces, specifically steering wheels and gear knobs.

Under the current regulations, no changes have been made to our maintenance programs of the playing surfaces. We can reassure our members that if we work together, while complying with regulations, that we will get through this period and when the golf club fully reopens and competitions recommence, the course will be in the expected immaculate condition we know it to be regarded for.

The course staff will also take the opportunity to conduct maintenance work during the closure.

High-risk Cypress removal on 7th, 15th

The Committee has given approval to remove six cypress trees based on the recommendations of the Club's consultant arborist: two trees behind the 15th green, plus one more in that group; and three trees left of the 7th fairway.

18th Swale Modifications

The course closure provides an opportunity to commence work on the swale left of the 18th green, as detailed in the 2013 CDP.

club championshipS

Congratulations to all participants.

The 2020 Club Championships concluded on a blustery day which provided a true challenge of the golf course. Congratulations to the winners and runners up.

All results and photos

EVents - Marrum Cup

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Club will be postponing the 95th Marrum Cup week which was to be held from the 4th-7th May 2020.

The history and camaraderie associated with this week of golf is very important to the Club and the Women's Golf Sub-Committee are keen to reschedule the event for later in the year. Clubs will be contacted if this is deemed possible.

Entry fees already received have been refunded but may take until the end of this week to appear in your account.

Other events are also likely to be cancelled or postponed depending on when the course fully reopens.

Pennant 2020

The SWGA 2020 pennant season has been cancelled.

CAPTAIN'S CORNEr: NEW RULES

With Patrick Lockie...

Several new rules will be introduced as of April 1st, 2021. These are still in draft form and feedback to RANDA via https://www.randa.org/ is sought.

Rule 9.k.34(a): If a tree is between the ball and the hole, and the tree is deemed to be younger than the player, then the ball can be moved without penalty. This is because this is simply a question of timing; when the player was younger, the tree was not there so the player is being penalised simply because of his or her age.

Rule 2.d.6 (B) - A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed NOT to have hit the tree, if that tree is younger than the player. The player must estimate the distance the ball would have travelled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball from there.

Rule 3.B.3(G) - Any ball lost in long grass is actually missing. The ground staff should have been more vigilant with mowing. A free drop near the position of the currently missing ball is allowed.

Rule 6.a.9(k) - There is no penalty for out of bounds. The club is deemed at fault as it should have reserved more land around the course.

Rule 4.a. 7 - Any swing or movement of the ball through actions of the player must be observed by a minimum of two golfers. Therefore:

(a) The ball can be nudged out of divots or awkward lies as long as only seen by the player.

(b) Any missed shot or duffed shot in the trees or rough is not counted as long as seen only by the player.

Northstar

Members are thanked for their patience while the Club has been transitioning to new IT software. Your first account/statement issued through the system will be emailed later this week. It will differ in appearance from previous statements.

If you'd like more details about a charge you can view your statement and transactions via the website. Use the My Details quicklink then click on My Details & Accounts. After clicking on the Account Summary tab click the paper receipt icon to reveal the details of each transaction.

REdpath

Thanks to Norm Emerson who let us know about an amazing round of golf by Ian Redpath on Wednesday 18th March.

Ian scored 46 points, which was 73 off the stick - not bad for a member soon to turn 79 years old. It's the first time the former Australian Test Cricket player has broken (shattered) his age. That would have been a great lesson for any youngsters watching.

Pro Shop

The Pro shop wishes all members well during this difficult time and hope to resume operations as soon as practicable. If any members have any pro shop enquiries they can email them on proshop@barwonheads.golf

IN case you missed it on the website...

Mallacoota

Superintendent Adam Lamb returned to Mallacoota GC in late March. Read his report below.

CEMP Info Sessions

The Clubhouse & Environs Master Plan (‘CEMP’) sessions planned for late March have been cancelled.

Bereavements

We note with regret the passing of:

Mrs L J (Lynlea) Brumley - member since 2015

Judge C S (Chester) Keon-Cohen - member since 1982

PHONE: 03 5255 6255
www.barwonheads.golf