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CLUB NEWS

Friday 3 June 2022

Dear Proshop Proshop,

Welcome to the June 22' edition of Mollymook Golf Club e-News.

Welcome to winter and it's started with a bang. We have survived the rain (so far) although it continues to cause issues getting the golf carts onto the course. We recorded 124mm of rain last month but again the course struggles to dry out with such a muddy surface. We had 14 days of "no carts" at Hilltop last month which means the carts have been off more than on for 3 months now.

The wet weather again had a huge impact on revenue with 1,400 bookings cancelled which equates to around $34,000 in lost revenue.

There are still quite a few clubs in NSW that have been closed since late February so we are doing a lot better than many other clubs at the moment. Lets hope for one month of fine weather soon...

Beachside "Official Opening"

Thank you to all the members who came to celebrate our Beachside "Official Opening" along with representatives from the Shoalhaven Council, Golf NSW and the Australian PGA.

We had perfect weather for a change and it was great to hear from the Course Architect, Justin Trott and Troon's Director of Agronomy, David Lunardelli who spoke about the design and the types of grasses.

May Golf Summary...

We finished with 5,692 rounds played in total which wasn't bad considering the weather (again). This included 3,330 rounds at Hilltop and 2,362 rounds at Beachside. At Hilltop, 81% of the play was from members with 19% from visitors. At Beachside, 72% of the play was from members and 28% from visitors.

An interesting fact since the Beachside renovation, out of all the member social rounds played last month, 63% of the rounds were played at Beachside and 37% at Hilltop. This figure used to be the other way round!

There was 1,823 competition rounds played at Hilltop with JUST 7 players scoring 40 points (or 68 nett) or better which continues to show the course is playing much tougher in the wet conditions (lucky there are preferred lies). There were a few that managed the damp conditions with Leslie Koltai top scoring with 46 points while Brooke Moses shot 45 points on the same day that Graham Hillyer shot 43. Lesley Betsis and Ed DeMarco shot 41 points while Leith Thomas and Matthew Shrubb shot 68 nett in the men's medal round.

Special mention to Susan Kelly and Christine Hadland who won the Women's Foursomes Championship from Sue Rayner and Leanne Ewin. Congratulations to Sharon Wykes and Carol Hodgetts who won the Division Two Gross from Jane Rutkin and Kris Gardner.

The 5th and 17th holes seem to be playing much easier at the moment with 4 Hole-In-Ones in the last few weeks. Congratulations to...

Scott Robson - 17th Hole - 17th May
Frank Fusca - 5th Hole - 21st May
Sean Carson - 17th Hole - 21st May
Richard Cornock - 5th Hole - 2nd June

Well done to the 8 qualifiers in the John Coleman Cup. Please click this link to see the draw for the John Coleman Matchplay Draw...

MATCHPLAY DRAW HERE

Membership Waitlist - Draft Policy

From David Hume - Club President

Due to the increasing demand for golf membership at Mollymook, a category cap and entrance fee were introduced in 2021. The purpose of the cap is to ensure members do not miss out on a game and at the same time maintain a 75% member to 25% visitor playing ratio. To maintain a viable financial model, we need 25% visitor play which represents roughly 50% of all golf revenue.

There are currently 1418 playing members and all categories of membership are at maximum capacity. Going forward, new applicants cannot be accepted until a vacancy is created when an existing member becomes unfinancial.

The strong demand for membership at Mollymook is not easing and there have been more than 50 new applicants since the cap was introduced. There have also been several members wishing to transfer from one category to another. To ensure complete transparency and absolute fairness with the system, we have prepared a Membership Waiting List policy. Members are invited to provide comment prior to the policy being adopted.

The document is currently in draft form and can be viewed by clicking on the link below...

Please forward any comments to... management@mollymookgolf.com.au.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

9th Hole @ Hilltop

In April 2015, the Board approved a long term "Course Improvement Master Plan" which was designed by Turnpoint's Course Architect in consultation with Troon's Director of Agronomy and our Golf Management Team. This master plan has been on display at Hilltop (next to the Bar) since 2015.

One key area identified in the master plan was the 9th Hole at Hilltop. This area has several issues but most importantly, the safety of golfers around the eastern side of the clubhouse from balls hit from the 9th Tee. In addition to this, the practice putting green area is too small and there is not enough room for staging golf carts. The club has now received draft plans to renovate this area which will include...

Shortening the length of the 9th and moving the Tee to the left of the path.
Constructing a new 9th green complex with bunkering.
Constructing a new large (1,000m2) practice putting and chipping green area with a hedge below the green.
Building a new cart staging area to hold 60 carts.

Prior to starting this work, a temporary green is required to allow 18 holes of play during construction. The most suitable area for the temporary green is the 6th hole just before the water hazard. A temporary tee will fit on the right side of the fairway creating a dogleg Par 4 and a short Par 3.

We are still in the planning stages and we are looking at commencing this project in winter next year. Please see below links for the draft plans so far...

Click this link for the 9th Hole Site Plan...

SITE PLAN

Click this link for the 9th Green Plan...

9th GREEN PLAN

Click this link for the new Practice Green Plan...

PRACTICE GREEN PLAN

Click this link for the new 6th Temporary Green Plan...

6th TEMPORARY GREEN

Course Maintenance

The maintenance staff continue to struggle in the wet conditions like having to mow the right side of the 11th fairway with a whipper snipper but they are soldering on. Once the low areas get a bit drier, they will commence work on fixing some of the major drainage issues like the hollow in front of the 10th green and between the 2nd green and 3rd tee. This will be ongoing work during winter.

You may have noticed the instant hedge over the last couple of days at Beachside. The team did a great job installing 200 x 1 metre high Lilly Pillies which will be maintained at a maximum height of 1.5 metres high when they grow. Next week, they will start on installing synthetic tee areas (2 metre strips) at the back of all the tees at Beachside. Once the course if dry enough, the cart paths on 4, 5 and 8 will be completed to try and weatherproof the course permanently.

Thanks to Paul and Sue Rayner for all their help in making the new Tee Markers. These were made from the old white fence that was along Golf Avenue. Apparently Sue helped a little bit with the 4 coats of paint on 240 tee markers.

Good Luck to Kelsey and Jye

Congratulations and best wishes to Kelsey Bennett and Jye Halls who are both heading to the United States soon. Both have been selected to represent Australia in different events. Kelsey has just returned from the Queen Sirikit Cup in Singapore where Australia finished 7th in the teams event and Kelsey finished 20th in the individual event.

Kelsey will be away for 3 months competing in events like the Women's Porter Cup, the Canadian Women's Amateur and the US Women's Amateur at Chambers Bay.

Jye will be away for 3 weeks competing in the Callaway World Junior, the US Junior Amateur and the World Junior Championships where he will be representing Australia in the team event.

Congratulations to both players and the club is proud to be sponsoring both Kelsey and Jye for these trips.

Kelsey Bennett

Jye Halls

Good golfing to everyone this month!

Barry West (Aust. P.G.A.)
Golf Manager
Mollymook Golf Club

Mollymook Golf Club
mollymookgolf.com.au
72 Golf Avenue, Mollymook NSW 2539 - Beachside Course
Clifford Close, Mollymook NSW 2539 - Hilltop Course

P: (02) 4455 2055
E: management@mollymookgolf.com.au

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