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NEWSLETTER |
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WINTER NEWSLETTER
From the PresidentFour months into the new financial year with weather the big talking point. I really feel for the women mid-weekers who have had a terrible run with lousy weather on Wednesdays while the men’s Thursday club seems to have a charmed life, barely missing a day. The club’s Annual General Meeting was held on June 30 with 40 or so members attending. I am pleased to report the meeting was very successful, with the highlights being:
A question was asked about the profitability of the “Chip in” compared with original expectations. The short answer was that the accounts contained all the receipts and we had obtained members because of this facility with weekend turnover well up and profitability maintained. The slightly longer answer is that in reality there are so many elements to the overall position, it is really hard to quantify. This past six months we suffered a substantial decline in summer membership, the weather has impacted on green fee and corporate activity, all of which impact negatively on bar turnover. On the positive side, we have gained new members; our electricity costs have reduced; we don’t have security issues we experienced with the old Pro Shop and the course looks better for the removal of the old Pro Shop and road. At the end of the day, the new Pro Shop and Chip in prig bar are there now and it will never have been cheaper to construct and by any measure has been a success. One serious omission at the meeting for which I apologise to David Davis and members, was recording David’s resignation as the club’s Honorary Auditor. David has undertaken the Audit Review for the past 20 or so years and in the process has saved the club substantial dollars. His advice was always helpful and positive. David, on behalf of the Board and members, thank you, your contribution has been much appreciated. Subsequent to the meeting, I am pleased to advise that Ian Voisey has accepted the role. As always, stay safe and take care. David Tuck Captain’s CornerA couple of weeks ago, and for the first time, I used my Golf Passport to play at one of our associate clubs. It underlined to me what an excellent benefit this is to our members, allowing us free access to other clubs as a “change of scene”, or when events at Manor Park impact on tee bookings at the weekend. While I enjoyed the day, I must say my visit reinforced the excellence of Manor Park as a playing venue. I had to contend with wet and boggy ground and casual water in many places. Seldom do we have to cope with such unpleasant experiences at Manor Park. Our free-draining course gives us almost perfect conditions most of the year, a fact we hope is noted by members from other clubs exercising their Golf Passport at Manor Park. The ‘call up’ status removal on hole No.2 was trailed by the golf committee to free up the flow of play around the rest of the course. That trial has now ended and it seems from feedback received from members that it caused inordinate back log on the tee on busy weekends. The hole has therefore now been reverted to a ‘Call up’ – we tried to make an improvement but the remedy failed. While the trial may have been seen only as moving the congestion from holes 5 and 6, the experiences of the last few weeks would not have been alleviated by hole No 2 being a call up hole. I played on Sunday July 11, and had to wait 11 minutes on No 2. However we also had numerous delays throughout the round. How much worse would it have been for holes 3 – 18 if we were advanced by 7 minutes on hole 2! At this time of year, particularly when the course is full, we will experience slow rounds from time to time. Lack of run, heavy rough, everything wet, all add time to a round. The interclub season for 2010 produced mixed results. While the ladies swept all before them, the men struggled at times, although our 36-hole team once again brought home the Presidents’ Salver. I received numerous comments from interclub players that playing off the blue tees was as difficult for Manor Park players as it was visitors. The blue tees will continue to be used for interclub, the club’s open events and club’s championship events but we will offer the opportunity to play blue tees at other times more regularly. For those players also wanting to compete in the Pro Shop weekend stableford competitions, Murray McDonald has agreed to run a separate “blue” stableford competition on the last weekend of each month (Saturday and Sunday). Beginning in August, our interclub players will therefore have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the championship course. It is important the blue tee stableford competition is supported and all interclub players (at least) are expected to play from the blue tees where possible. Interclub registration for 2011 will open at the beginning of August and close at the end of September. Past players, new players, and hopeful players must register for selection for 2011. As in previous years, performance in club championships, interclub record (both at Manor Park and previous clubs), and interclub trials will determine team selections for 2011. It is sad to note the near demise of twilight golf at Manor Park. Because of falling numbers, it has become uneconomic to maintain the bar and catering facilities enjoyed on Wednesday evenings throughout the months of daylight saving. In previous years, twilight golf enjoyed strong support, with up to 30–40 golfers. Recently this has declined to under 20. I can recommend twilight golf for many reasons: a mid-week break, an “extra” swing to keep your game in tune and meeting new and old friends. I urge all players to consider this pleasant way to pass a summer evening, and not let this traditional mid-week outing die. Good Golfing Alan Humphries Words from WallaceMembership To say the least, recruitment for the new subscription year has been very slow compared with previous years at the same time, indicating a continuing sombre market in line with weak consumer spending from a slow and stalling recovery from the recession. An exciting new initiative for both members and non members to kick new member numbers into better shape has been developed and will be launched in mid August with an extensive radio advertising campaign. Members will be advised in advance of details and how you can help. In the meantime you will be aware from a recent email, (for those able to receive such), that the Board has decided to provide for members to prepay their sub for 10 years in order to protect it from inflation and price rises as well as to obviate the need to pay the increased GST intended by the Government in October. The intention is strategic in that the Board intends repaying bank debt to reduce risk in this economy and debt servicing costs. Please enquire from me if you require any further detail or wish to take up the offer. By way of indication I believe that our sub will be in the vicinity of $1,800 in 10 years time, applying conservative cost increase and inflation assumptions. The increased GST will add 25% in the GST component alone over the 10 year period. The offer price for a fixed prepaid subscription is $11,000 or $11,500 depending on the option you choose. I emphasise that it is fully transferable to an existing member or non member subject to the latter meeting membership criteria (not difficult), for whatever reason; health, tired of playing, moving away etc.,etc. Your support to this initiative would be much appreciated, if at all possible, while I note that the Board has limited the number that will be accepted to 12. Scorecards In early August when a reprint of our scorecards will be necessary, we have decided to move to the larger card which is easier to read and can accommodate more information on the back, such as a course map. The golf committee (formerly match committee) has undertaken a review of the club’s local rules and these will be revised and expanded on the card. We have deferred introducing the larger card until now because new scanning equipment is required. Communications/Promotions The club has recently entered into a contract with a company which sells advertising to businesses operating in the general vicinity of golf clubs and installs large plasma televisions in bars/lounges at the clubs upon which the advertisements (silent) roll. This has now been installed in the Chip in. As well as the club receiving a small commission on the advertising revenue, it may use the TV to promote itself and its services. There is a section on the screen which is self-managed by the Club for event promotion and other activities such as Pro Shop specials. Rolling news and a ticket text strip are also features. If you own a business or are associated with one who may be interested in purchasing advertising on the screen, please let me know. If any sections of the club, for example the veterans, taxis, women’s or Thursday club wish to promote events or social gatherings please let me know. Course Our course is now at what I term a sustainable level where, supplier product increases aside and any course master plan changes undertaken, the turf quality and general condition can be maintained at the existing level without any additional money being devoted to it. In other words, the course is able to be maintained at the current good level with the present optimally low cost inputs. Therefore, it will take relatively little additional expenditure to raise the quality fairly significantly. To this end a short term Course Enhancement Plan has been developed by course superintendent Craig Flack and myself and approved by the Course Committee (formerly Greens Committee) and the Club’s Board whereby, funds permitting on an annual basis over the next five years, the turf quality, course amenities and accoutrements and general environs will be improved. The first such element of the plan proposed for this year is to replace the bridge over the Haywards Stream from the No 3 fairway to the practise Porthole area where a new stone construction in keeping with the existing such features of the course is underway by Craig and his team. Other early improvements will be additional fertiliser and wetting agents to further lift turf playing quality. Bar Prices After almost two years without passing on price increases by suppliers, government excise tax on alcohol increased on July 1, I regret we have had to pass on to members in order to allow the bar to operate on a profitable basis. While on this aspect I would mention that although, pleasingly, over the past two years since the Chip In sprig bar has been open, bar revenue has increased significantly, in particular on weekends, profitability has not. Pro Shop Business After almost 20 years of being associated with the club through ownership with Murray McDonald of the Pro Shop business, Mal Tongue has decided to withdraw from the business and advance his coaching business at Royal Wellington. We thank Mal for his contribution to the Club over this long period and wish him well in his future endeavours. Mal will attend the next member gathering to say farewell. Steve Wallace Veteran’s GroupThe generally excellent early autumn weather enabled our Summer Cup competition to proceed unhampered and saw many closely contested matches, which reflects favourably on the golf handicapping system. The various winners were: Summer Cup- Jim Knapp (who continued his winning ways following his success in the Mike Cole Trophy Day last December); Runner-up Colin Clarke; Consolation Winner: Stan Sarek; Runner-up: Trevor Chandler; Plate Winner: Terry White. In March we hosted 19 visitors from the Te Marua club for an individual stableford competition and were again blessed with excellent golfing weather. Local knowledge seemed to work in our favour with David de Felice coming out on top with 41 points. However, Te Marua’s honour was restored with their representatives Bob Dry and Jeff Rigby sharing equal second place with 37 points along with Stan Sarek and David Buckell from Manor Park. We look forward to our return visit to Te Marua later in the year. In early April we held a Greensomes Foursomes competition for the first time and Bruce Burnett did a good job in ensuring that we all understood the rules that apply. The day was a success which just goes to disprove the adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The winning pair of Bill Platt and Arthur Williment triumphed by two shots with a very meritorious 64 nett. In early May the attraction of our annual visit to the Carterton Golf Club was self evident in that we took a sizeable team of 30 men and nine women. Excellent playing conditions prevailed and we were extremely well looked after by our hosts. The competition was a combined stableford with one Carterton player paired with a Manor Park player where possible. The successful combination was Ash Braggins (Carterton) and Jim Knapp (Manor Park) -- there’s that name again -- with an outstanding combined score of 80 stableford points. The ladies’ competition was won by the Manor Park pairing of Gay Morris and Marie Platt with 67 points. All in all a most enjoyable day. The latter part of autumn saw a complete reversal in weather conditions with four playing days washed out and postponements of our mid-winter tournament, a Wellington Vets event at Manor Park and an Evergreens match at Trentham. Our mid-winter event saw Jim Knapp (I seem to have seen that name somewhere before) victorious with 38 stableford points. Jim’s last hole was the par four 10th, which he birdied to edge out Malcolm Campbell on count back. During the past quarter we have had some personnel changes as Ken Durrant ended a long association with the vets and retired from golf at the age of 86; and Chris Duffy got re-married and shifted to Palmerston North. We wish them well. Evergreens Trevor Chandler reports that in the first match of this period our team had difficulty in adjusting to the conditions at the Kapiti Golf Course and succumbed to Te Marua in a closely fought contest with three wins, three losses, and four halves in the singles matches and two wins, three losses in the fourballs, resulting in an overall loss of 7-8. A better result was obtained from our next outing which was against Trentham at Ohariu Valley, with Manor Park recording a 9-6 win. The fairly small and deceptively fast greens made it important that approach shots were properly positioned. The third match against Ohariu Valley at Trentham didn’t go as planned, being on the wrong end of a 5-1/2 to 9-1/2 result. Although still third on the table, this defeat has taken the initiative away from Manor Park. The two leading teams have yet to have the bye but will take some catching. Current placings are: Te Marua 46, Waikanae 41, Manor Park 35.5, Ohariu Valley 32, Trentham 26, Wainuiomata 26, Kapiti 18.5. Ken Hughes Club’s CentenaryThe Club’s board has now confirmed the centenary will be held during April, 2013. This will be a significant undertaking and the Marketing Committee will be taking responsibility for the co-ordination of the project. Considerable voluntary assistance from club members will be needed. A number of sub-committees are to be established to cover the following:
An invitation is now extended to any member who is willing to assist this project. If you are able to support the centenary undertaking please contact Allan Criglington as soon as possible. He can be contacted as follows:
At this stage it is proposed that the centenary activities will be held during the weekend following Anzac Day [Thursday April 25, 2013]. The Club’s strong association with Muirfield Golf Club in Sydney which commemorates this day annually will be a starting point for the weekend’s centenary celebrations. From The Pro ShopOn July 20 and 21, Murray McDonald attended the re-launch seminar of the Henry-Griffitts golf fitting system to Australasia. The Pro Shop has now purchased the new 2010 Henry-Griffitts club-fitting system which should arrive from the United States by mid-August. This has some exciting new wood and iron club heads and shafts so we can offer approx 3000 different combinations of woods & irons for you. That means you will be able to find best clubs to suit your needs. This system is by far the most extensive fitting system in golf today andthe Manor Park Pro Shop has gained sole Wellington rights for the Henry-Griffitts.Also while at this seminar, Murray purchased a custom putter-fitting system so we will now be able to custom-fit you for the most important club in the golf bag – your putter with a one week delivery time. Ask Murray for any information regarding these systems or book a fitting lesson. Good golfing from the Pro Shop Murray McDonald Marketing CommitteeThe Club’s Marketing Committee has undergone significant personnel change over the last 12 months. Resignations have been the Committee’s former convenor Penny Birchall along with Peter Ferry and Howard Bee. Replacements are Jennie Hewett, Annie Howe and Allan Criglington. Craig Berridge was appointed convenor upon Penny’s resignation while other Committee members are Glenys Simmonds and Paul Gueorgieff. The marketing committee is basically the ideas and promotion committee so if you have any thoughts on how to improve the lot at Manor Park please make yourself known to any of the committee members and pass on your thoughts. If your ideas are really good, and they actually work well, we’ll gladly take credit for them. Paul Gueorgieff Marketing Committee
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