Welcome Back and Happy New Year

CAPTAIN'S CHAT

This is my first communication of the year so a warm welcome to 2016 and I trust that you all had a wonderful festive season with family and friends. For those of you who were away over this period, welcome back. The good news is that in spite of the very hot weather and lack of rain, the golf course is still in magnificent condition and for this we owe our gratitude to Greg and his team for their efforts in maintaining the standard of Erinvale while many others are struggling.


The New Year’s Day Hangover 9 hole challenge was a huge success with 110 players participating on the day. It was very festive with the deck overflowing with players and their families eating and drinking after the game.

Other activities were the Tailgating run by Andrew Georgiou and a chipping competition over the sluit onto the 18th green where Keith Colley showed up the pros by being the closest.

The challenge was hotly contested with some very good scores being posted and was won by Terri & John Taljaard, pictured below, on a score of 26 points.


Club Captain Dean Milbank Making his Announcments


Festivities at the New Year’s Day Hangover 9 hole challenge


Players and their families celebrating after the New Year’s Day Hangover 9 hole challenge

Drought:
I am sure you are all very aware of the severe drought we are facing that is now the worst in living memory. The Cape has gone to level two water restrictions so we need to reduce our consumption by a minimum of 10%. It is our ecological, social and financial responsibility to do so. Notices have been put in the toilets and change rooms to remind members and guests. Please do your bit to help us reach our objective. There are simple ways to achieve this especially while showering if one is conscientious of the issue.

Pitch marks:
Of late I have noticed so many unrepaired pitch marks. This is your golf course so please repair yours and any others you see when walking around the green. This is even more critical now with the hot dry weather as the longer they are left the worse they become and will take weeks re-grow. Our greens are the envy of all courses around us so please do your bit to protect them.


The incorrect way to rake a bunker Bunkers:

This is one area of our beautiful golf course that is under continual discussion.

We are going to be looking at ways to improve them and you will notice work being done on the right front bunker at the 14th green.

The team will be removing the sand, and once that is done, determine a strategy on how we can improve our bunkers, as that particular one has been marked as priority.

Please bear with us while we undertake this trial. Having said that one of the issues we have had for many years now, but seems to be getting worse, is the poor etiquette of some members not raking the bunkers after having been in them.

On the left there is a picture I took recently on members only competition day. I guess the picture speak for itself and your shot. There is a right and wrong way to rake a bunker so if you are not sure of the difference please ask one of our professionals to show you.

If the situation does not improve we will be forced to take action against the offenders.

Please consider the players behind you as it is grossly unfair should their ball end up in a deep footprint as they are not allowed to drop out of it and you would have just spoilt their game. 

 

The poor etiquette of some members not raking the bunkers after having been in them

Ropes:
In front of every green there is a rope across the fairway that is there to indicate that you may not drive a golf cart past that point. This is there to protect the front of our greens which is generally where many golfers land with their approach shots. I have noticed an increasing occurrence of these ropes having been moved. Besides looking unsightly it is against the rules to do so. At Erinvale we have declared these ropes as immoveable obstructions.

If the rope interferes with your shot then you are entitled to a free drop one club length away from the rope not nearer the hole. If you move the rope you will be penalised by two shots in stroke play or loss of hole in match play under the rule for immoveable obstructions in the rules of golf. Please take note of this as we certainly do not want to have any unpleasant consequences should you be caught doing it.

Announcements:
With immediate effect there will no longer be announcements calling you to your tee off time. We have had numerous complaints from homeowners close to the clubhouse with the continual announcements disturbing their day. I must say that I sympathise with them and have long debated the need for this. We should also all be aware of our tee times so there is no need to be called to your tee. We all know the rules of golf that states you need to be on your tee 10 minutes before your time.

We have Marshall’s at each tee and forthwith they will be instructed that any person who fails to be at the tee on time will not be allowed to tee off. In the case of a better ball or alliance competition they can go to where their partners are playing and join them. In an individual game they will have to wait and only if there is space will slot in or go to the back of the field. Please do not place us in the unenvious position to have this rule invoked.

Well that is all out of the way so now we can go out and enjoy this wonderful golf course of ours with our friends and have fun. Life is just too short not to.

All the very best & happy golfing
Dean
Captain

DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Happy New Year!
Compliments of the season to all, and I hope 2016 is a great year for all.

Club Committee
A few have enquired as to who is on the current Club Committee so I have put together the list so everyone is aware:
President Errol Ferriman
Vice President Frank McDonogh
Club Captain Dean Milbank
Vice Captain Willem van der Merwe
Treasurer Brigitte du Plessis
Ladies Captain Christine Storey

Additional Members
Brad Manson
Johan Mostert
Karin Haliwax
Nick Penstone
Nico Kooij

UPCOMING EVENTS

Festival of Golf
Festival of Golf 2016 is fast approaching, and a reminder that this year we have put together an action packed 4 days with golf, dinners and evening entertainment from the 16th to the 19th March 2016.

We do have opportunities for members to be involved from a sponsorship/partner perspective and please contact me if you are interested as it is a great week to support your club.

Bookings open on the 1st February 2016, and be sure to not miss out on this great week.

More information about the Festival of Lights is available here.

5 Owls Perched atop a branch Owls:

Most have noticed that we have some new residents on the left of the 17th green in the tree, namely Owls.

This is a program in conjunction with the Bird Control Company that we use on the golf course whom has an Owl rescue programme, and they approached the Golf Club if we would be interested in assisting with their release program of rescue Owls, which we gladly agreed to.

These owls are placed in a closed, suitable enclosure and fed on a daily basis.

Within a few weeks the enclosure is then left open for the Owls to explore the outside environment. With time the Owls will no longer return to the enclosure as they would make a home in the surrounding natural environment.The proposal from them is that we assist on a regular basis as accordingly to them they receive 200 rescued owls on an annual basis.

Regards,
Gavin