-:: Tuggerah Lakes Golf Club - Current Newsletter ::-

Our renovation project is now in full swing although up until recently the weather has still been hindering progress. The extension on the southern side of the building will soon have the roof on leading to “Lock Up” not long after.

You will notice that the Function Room has been fast tracked almost to completion. This is because our Function Trade starts in September and bookings are strong with plenty of interest being shown in the newly updated room.

The toilets on the upstairs level will be done one gender at a time. This is so there is always a disabled facility open on the main floor of the club. The Male Toilets have been closed off and demolished already so, Gentlemen, I ask you to please be patient and use the toilets downstairs adjacent to the Library. Once the Male toilets and the new unisex Disabled Toilet are completed the upstairs Ladies Toilets will be demolished and completely refurbished. That's when it's the ladies turn to use the down stairs facilities for a short time.

Membership renewals have been fairly solid although some members have dragged out the pay period long enough for our Board to reconsider our policy. Next year members will become unfinancial as at 30 th June. Members will retain their playing rights until 14 th July after which playing rights will be withheld. Anyone who has not paid by July 31 st will be resigned from membership of the club. Should anyone wish to be reinstated after that time an administration fee of $50 will apply.

Of course we offer an instalment option via “Pay as you Golf” and should anybody have extenuating circumstances our General Manager is always ready to discuss alternative arrangements.

Financials

July has brought us more rain which has again dampened the enthusiasm of golfers as well as saturating the course. This has once again resulted in us not reaching our budget for green fee income and of course cart income. Aside from these two areas the July result was better than budget in most areas. When reading the table below it must be understood that July 2010 includes 5 pay periods where as July 2009 only included 4 pay periods. This means there's an extra $30,000 of expenses for the month compared to last year. This will even out after August which this year has 4 pay periods whereas last year it had 5.

Profit Table

Note: EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation. EBITDA is a widely used financial calculation. EBITDA is used to measure and compare the performance of a business without the impacts caused by financing decisions/structure, taxation issues and asset write off policies all of which can impact accounting profit. EBITDA is an approximate representation of the company's Cash Flow.

CAPTAIN'S CORNER

For members travelling north in future our club has become reciprocal with South West Rocks where members will be welcomed to play in their competitions or enjoy a leisurely round of golf and enjoy all the facilities of their club house.

Our men's championships entries open on 27th August and you can put your name down in the golf shop on payment of $50 for the 4 rounds, entry fee is non refundable and no late entries will be accepted, the closing date for entries is Friday 1st October. Our annual Top Gun ‘Shoot Out' commences on Thursday 30 September and continues through into the new year with the final to be played on Sunday 23 January 2011.

The men's foursomes were played on Sunday 8th August and the weather was perfect for golf, we had one of the biggest fields ever this year with 204 players teeing off from 6.42am on the front and back nine. We had a play off in ‘C' grade between Peter Lamont/John Rigg and Daniel Hayes/Tony McVeigh, down the first where they both carded 7, up the second, Peter and John were the winners with a 6.

B grade nett—Colin Spare & John Davidson

C grade nett—Neil Swanson & Dominic Duffy

Congratulations to all the winners. Brett & Rodney won ‘A' grade for the previous 3 years and Butch & Phil won ‘B' grade last year making them the last winners under Tuggerah Lakes Golf Club and first winners under Shelly Beach Golf Club.

Slow play has become a bug bear lately despite members recently being given a handout sheet on ways to rectify it. The majority of members are very good but a minority just don't give a damn about those members behind them. I have had various ideas put forward to me by concerned members and these will be looked at, we just need the co-operation of the slow groups to have a bit more consideration for their fellow golfers.

The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable. If the player deems his ball unplayable, he must under penalty of one stroke:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

b. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole & the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or

c. Drop a ball within two club lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.

If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, the player may proceed under clause a, b or c. If he elects to proceed under clause b or c, a ball must be dropped in the bunker. When proceeding under this rule, the player may lift and clean his ball or substitute a ball. Penalty for breach of Rule:

CLUB NEWS

Our little champ, Kristina Hagberg lined up in the 17 years and over women's category of the world BMX titles in South Africa at the beginning of August. Kristina took a severe fall in one of the early heats which affected her overall score and unfortunately she didn't make it through to the finals. Kristina was very disappointed about the fall although the spectacular crash did end up on the second page of the South African Mercury Newspaper.

Kristina would once again like to thank all our members for their support and while she feels that she let us down we are very proud of her achievements. We still have a couple of prizes still to be collected from Kristina's fundraising raffle, these can be collected from the office.

shelly beach top gun shootout 200

The capital work on the old 10 th hole is maturing well. The timeframe for the new turf to be in play is still weather dependent, but is on track for an October opening just prior to the Club Championship.

The new course rating system will be introduced Australia wide over the next 12 months. The men's tee complex will have 3 permanent plates. The championship course will be played from the Black plates which measure 5,973 metres, the middle course from the Blue plates that measure 5,812 metres and the front course from the White plates that measure 5,550 metres. The course will be rated from each permanent plate and be assigned an individual rating. The ladies tee complex will have 2 permanent plates which will be Red for the championship course and Yellow for the front course.

New tee signs will also be installed with the clubs name and logo changed as well as new and existing sponsorship details.

The irrigation pumps which are located at the 4 th dam will be repaired and serviced this month. 2 of the pumps will be repaired and 1 pump will be serviced for the upcoming growing season. A new suction line, foot valve and isolation controls will be installed due to the age and condition of the existing materials.

Along the eastern boundary of the 5 th and 6 th holes, the Coastal Wattle and Biteuo Bush will be trimmed back to display the Out Of Bounds Pegs prior to the Open Amateur of 2010.

The carpark directions and parking bays will be remarked after the clubhouse refurbishment. The kerbs along the driveway, carpark and gardens will be re-painted over the next few weeks with the help of volunteers.

As mentioned in the August newsletter, the area between the 7th green and 8th tees will be re-shaped and planted with native species. This work is scheduled to start this month and conclude in October / November of 2010.

Just what every DAD needs, a private golf lesson with either of our 2 AAA rated Golf Professionals, Jason or Peter. “Private” lessons are available at $45.00 for a 40 minute lesson or a “Lesson Package” is available at $225.00. The package includes 5 lessons, plus a 6th lesson thrown in for free just to confirm that all facets of DAD'S golf game is in order. Gift Cards can be purchased from the Office during business hours.

The cadets played their final round of Cadet Foursomes on Sunday 22nd August, all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A presentation and sausage sizzle was held after the game and we thank all players and parents for staying for the presentations.

Golf is a game in which you yell "fore"... shoot six... and write down five.
~ Paul Harvey

I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone's golf game. It is called an eraser.
~ Arnold Palmer

Golf is played by twenty million mature American men whose wives think they are out having fun.
~ Jim Bishop

Look out! The greens are drying out and getting harder and quicker so the emphasis on pace is becoming more and more crucial for consistent putting.

A drill to improve your pace to help get those lag putts closer. Place 5 balls in a straight line away from the hole, starting from the closest and move along the line concentrating on maintaining the same pace of swing only lengthening the stroke to achieve the extra distance. To increase the difficulty of the drill place a tee 40cm behind the hole and try and get all of the balls to finish in between the hole and the tee.

Improving your pace will not only get the ball closer but will also make you a better green reader as pace determines the amount of break in a putt therefore consistent speed =consistent green reading which means less 3 putts.

Upcoming Golf Events

Men's 2010 Club Championships 9 th and 10 th , 16th and 17 th of October 2011. Entries open Friday 27 th August. Entry Fee is $50 per person for all four rounds and to be paid at the golf shop at time of entry.

Myositis Awareness and Charity Golf Day – Saturday 11 th September 2010 commencing at 7:00am with a shotgun start. Entry fee is $25.00 per player and will be payable at time of entry at the draw on Friday 3 rd September. The entry fee includes competition fee, lunch in the club house following golf and a charity donation. The competition is a Men's and Ladies Individual Stableford + Men's and Medley 2BBB in conjunction.

Shelly Beach Open Amateur – Saturday 11 th September 2010 commencing with a midday shotgun start. Entries fee is $25.00 per person and to be paid at the golf shop at time of entry.

Ladies Invitation Day – Wednesday 15 th September 2010 shotgun start at 8:30am. Sue Lawrence will be at Shelly Beach Golf Club to display her latest fashions to the ladies following the completion of the mornings round of golf.

Shelly Beach Coca-Cola Pro-Am – Friday 17 th September 2010 . Entries fee is $30.00 for the 7:00am shotgun which includes your round of golf, trophies and lunch following golf. The entry fee is to be paid at the golf shop at time of entry.

Men's Top Gun Shoot-Out commences Thursday 30 th September 2010 and concludes Thursday 20 th January 2011. Entries fee is $10.00 per person and to be paid at the golf shop at time of entry.

An encouragement award will be presented to the junior who has show the most improvement during the 3 months of July, August and September. The award will be presented on Friday 15th of October at the draw.