We want to see you at the Els for Autism Day

CAPTAIN'S CHAT

The Club Matchplay Championships

This weekend saw the culmination of The Club Championships where the top sixteen in the men and top 8 in the ladies compete over two days of two rounds on each day to determine who will be crowned the Erinvale Club Matchplay Champion. Well we were not disappointed even though five of the top six in the club championships did not make themselves available which was very disappointing. On Saturday three of the games went to at least the 20th hole showing how tight the games were.

Sunday dawned with superb weather for golf and at 07:00 the first pairing went out to do battle off the championship tees. The two ladies semi-finals were contested by Vicki Traut against Esme van der Merwe with the second being Tallie de Wet against Thea Sadler. The men’s semi-finals were between Brad Manson against Siggi Konrad and Phillip Taberer against Mark Dukes. I was very fortunate to follow these pairings through both the semi-finals and finals and must congratulate everyone on the standard of play and excitement they delivered. The course was in great condition and congratulations to Gavin Woodroffe for organising the field so that the competitors could play with minimal interruption over the whole day.

It is difficult to single out any one player as both the ladies and men finals were played in great spirit. But congratulations must go to the 2016 men’s and ladies winners, Phillip Taberer and Vicki Traut. Tallie de Wet put up a good challenge and it was tight until well into the second nine, well played. Vicki has fantastic length and almost hit her drive into the sluit on the 9th with a three wood. The men’s final was very close with it going down to the last hole when Brad Manson who had been driving like a machine all day finally faltered to let Phillip in. Both men gave us an exhibition of fine golf with long drives and superb approach shots. Phillip has awesome length and long will I remember his drive on the 13th when he only had 140m in for his second but Brad was undeterred and matched this with pin point accuracy and a solid short game.

Thank you to all those who competed over the two days to make the championship a superb event and thanks also the few who were there from 07:00 on Sunday to support them in their quest to become the Club Matchplay Champions. Prize giving for this will be on Saturday as part of the President's Trophy so please make an effort to be there to congratulate our 2016 champions.

Below are a few action shots taken by our roving paparazzi, Geoff Buultjens and myself.

Best regards,
Dean

DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Staff movements:
As most know that we say goodbye to members of our team with 2 being this week namely Merle Peterson and Yvonne Reynecke and in the upcoming weeks Marco Wenn and Clinton Ching!

We thank them all for tremendous service to the club as in this case Yvonne has been at Erinvale for 20 years and has decided to take her retirement.

Merle, who has been with us for 8 years, has decided to move into a new industry and has taken up a position as a Personal assistant at Rheinmetal Denel Munition.

Marco Wenn has decided after 12 years to take up an opportunity he has been given to get into property development.

Clinton Ching is leaving us after 18 months to take on new ventures.

They all will be missed and we hope to see them around the club in the near future.

Yvonne 

Clinton


Merle

Marco

Cart path:
As you would have seen we have started with our cart path project on the 16th hole, which has been marked out alongside the right hand side fence, which will make a great improvement from the current path.

This project will take approx 4 months due to the length of the path and we thank-you for your understanding during this project.

Bunkers:
The debate about bunkers has been one I and many have had over a long period of time. Our initial thought was to start in-house with the bunkers which were mentioned in the Captain’s Report a few weeks back. We were going to begin on the 14. What we have done instead is to contact Gary Player Design and they will be sending their team out to Erinvale with the intention of giving a proposal as to the best plan for the bunkers going forward for us to get them more consistent and improving playability.

UPCOMING EVENTS




Captain and Director of Golf Challenge
The challenge for 2016 has begun and the first one was played on Tuesday, the 23rd of Feb. The first members who took up the challenge were Brad Manson and Glen Hutcheson. We are pleased to announce that it was a successful start for Dean and I, and we look forward to taking on many members this year. To challenge us you can either put your name down on the board or contact us directly.

Happy golfing!
Gavin

Congratulations to our Senior Club Champions

CAPTAIN'S CHAT

Apologies if you are getting a little bombarded with communications from me of late but we have had a busy few weeks with all the major competitions taking place.

Senior Club championships:
Yesterday, Saturday 12 February 2016, was our inaugural Senior Club Championships. A one day event for all our members over the age of 60. The badly needed rain squall midway through the day did nothing to dampen the event. Judging by the response this will become a major highlight in years to come. Did I hear someone mention a Super Senior Championship? Well, with our age demographics that might not be a too farfetched and idea. I have not played off the forward tees for years and I must say it was not a walkover: hazards suddenly came into play and the short game became more important. So I guess long is not a measure of difficulty.

Thanks again to our magician Greg Leckie and his team for keeping the course in super condition for this new event. We all appreciate the effort it takes and for protecting our major asset. Thanks also to Gavin Woodroffe for setting up a fair but challenging course. I saw a few new pin placings that had me thinking and missing, well done. Thanks also for arranging the new trophies, they are stunning. The “grab & go” as with last week’s Club Championships at halfway was great and dare I suggest we look at this as an option for all competition days going forward. Will poll you all to get your views and no doubt there will be lots of discussion.

To all our winners congratulations and well played. Below are their photographs and a list of the top players. A special well done to our new men’s senior club champion, Eddie O’Connor, who bounced back well with a win after a disastrous club championships last weekend. Never give up hope in this game. Also well done to Ricky Liebenberg who had a super round to win the men’s B division as a late entry to help fill the draw and note where he ended up in the overall standings as a B division player. Well done to Brian McLoughlin on winning the C division. The ladies were not to be outdone with Brigitte Dedekind winning the ladies trophy and getting one up on her husband Axel. The Bronze division winner was Petrina Jones, well done.

Thanks to everyone who played and contributed to a wonderful event played in good spirit and looking forward to next year when I am certain it will be a full day’s field.


The Trophies

Lou Rose with his Loudmouth shorts

All the Champions


Eddie O’Connor - Senior Club Champion

Ricky Liebenberg - B Division Champion 

Brian McLoughlin - C Division Champion


Brigitte Dedekind - Silver Champion


Petrina Jones - Bronze Champion

Thank you starter Neil!

Namibia & Botswana Experience:
To all of you who attended, thank you, and I hope you had an enjoyable evening. It is wonderful that our members who have talent are able to share that with us. Judging by the ooh’s and aah’s when some of the pictures came on screen they were great shots. Thanks to Geoff Buultjens and Jakes De Wet for sharing you’re their experiences with us. Another highlight of the evening was the Picanha braai prepared and cooked by another member, Brad Manson. It was a tremendous success and the meat was superb. Brad, I know how much effort you put into ensuring that this was out the top draw and what you had to go through on Friday to be there not to mention cooking over that very hot fire. Your effort is commendable and we thank you. Thanks also to his team of helpers, Willem, Karl, Alison, Pierre and Magda.

Geoff and Jakes very generously put up a number of their pictures for auction. We also had a number of magnum bottles of wine to auction with all profits to be donated to African Wild Dog Conservation. Unfortunately we did not raise anywhere near what I was hoping for but thank you to those who bid for those collectable items. These animals are in more danger of extinction than the rhino so they need all the support we can give. There are only 400 left in South Africa. If there is anyone out there reading this and would like to contribute please contact me.

Erinvale Survey Results
As you are all well aware the Erinvale Advisory Board (EAB) was formed to research and determine a vision for the future of the estate. It was decided to conduct a survey to get feedback from homeowners and golf members. Click here to view the summary of the responses from the golf part of the survey. There are two sections: the first from those who are a homeowner golf members and the second from those who are non-resident golf members. This makes for interesting reading and analysis.

The next step in the process is for the EAB to meet to compile its report for presentation to the members. This will be completed shortly.

As surveys go we got a very good response so thank you to those who took the time to respond.

Best regards,
Dean

Congratulations to our Club Champions!

CAPTAIN'S CHAT

Club Championship:
That's it the 2016 Championship is done and a very successful one it was. To hold a prestigious event like this takes lots of planning and effort from many of our staff. One of the most important being the condition of the golf course and here we owe a Huge vote of thanks to our green keeper Greg Leckie and his staff. He presented the players with a course in near perfect condition and considering the tough climatic conditions he had to deal with this was a major feat. The greens were magnificent and I personally want to thank him for painting the inside of the cups as it was a very laborious task but made all the difference in hole visibility.

The Rainbow even joined us!

Thanks must also go to our Director of Golf, Gavin Woodroffe, who presented a fair but challenging layout for both days.

The winners can be proud of their achievements in being able to manage their way around the course both days and especially on Sunday when the wind added another dimension. Thanks also to his team from the starters who were splendid in their white jackets, nice touch, to the spotters on the course and the club house staff who ensured that the halfway house ran quickly and smoothly.

To all the winners, congratulations to you all and to all participants thank you for helping to make this a success. What a pleasure to see our juniors coming through. They are the future and life blood of our club and need to be nurtured and encouraged. Notable performance from young Michael Raggett who posted his lowest round ever on Saturday with a gross score of 77, stunning and has a bright future.

Now a special mention and congratulations to our new men's club champion, Luke Pienaar, who at the age of 14 showed remarkable maturity and control in mastering the wind on Sunday to win by five strokes from defending champion Daniel Gross, big hitting Phillip Taberer and Paul Raggett. We are proud of him and will watch with keen interest as he plays the world Junior Circuit.

A special mention and congratulations to our Lady Champion Vicki Traut on her third consecutive win with a good score of 149. She certainly has her sights set on Karin Gumpet’s record of five consecutive wins.


Luke Pienaar giving his speech 

All the Champions!


Luke Pienaar 

Vicky Traut 

Ida Out 

Ysi von Falkenhayn 

Fanie Lategan

Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved.

Senior Club Championship:
I hope all you seniors who qualify have entered and are ready to take on the challenge to win these new trophy's. It is taking place this Saturday and we have some super trophies for you pictured below. It is a one day medal competition and everyone will compete to be crowned ladies and men's senior club champion. We will be playing off the pink and blue markers on the day with a spread of tee boxes in use. Good luck to you all.

That's all for now and look forward to seeing you at prize giving on Saturday evening that will take place about one hour after the last group is finished.

Best regards,
Dean 

What the Seniors are playing for

Two great events coming up in February - Book now to avoid disappointment

UPCOMING EVENTS

Two great events coming up in February. For bookings please contact reception at 021 847 1144 or email reception@erinvale.com.

Oldenburg Food and Wine Evening - 11 February 2016
Have a look at the menu and details below.



Namibia and Botswana Wildlife Experience - 12 February 2016

This week's message from your club captain

CAPTAIN'S CHAT

Greetings and I hope this finds you all well, considering the intense heat we have seen in January. Records are being broken but not all for good reasons and we hope that we will get some relief rain soon.

Club Championship:
It is that time of the year when many of us go into panic mode just because the competitionS say Club Championships. This is THE tournament of the year to determine who is the best golfer, lady and gentleman, in the club and for many of us to see how we stack up against these people.

Greg and his team have managed to keep the course in superb condition under the most trying circumstances so there will be no excuses on that front. He has also promised to have all of the bunkers in the best possible condition and playable for the weekend. All that remains is for you to play your part and rake them properly before you leave them. This week the greens have had a light verticut and will be double cut, so come Saturday morning expect them to be at the best and running a bit faster than the last few weeks.

This is The Club Championship so expect Gavin to have set up the course a little tougher but not unplayable. It will be a fair test of golf and come Sunday we should have worthy champions. Remember it is not all about length. We are blessed with a course design that can be a challenge without being long. Please note that the only tee markers in play over the weekend will be yellow for the men and red for the ladies. This does not necessarily mean that everything is off the championship tees. There will be a spread of tees in play.

Please take note of all local rules and if you are unsure, ask your marker and if still uncertain play two balls and get a ruling from Gavin before you sign your card. While on the subject of cards please ensure they are completed correctly before you sign and hand it in. There has been a marked improvement but still some not correct. Please do not put the management team in the unenviable position of having to disqualify anyone.

There will a draw by handicap on day one with the A Division going off first in the morning. On day two the draw will be in order of your gross medal score with the best going off last on Sunday afternoon. You will be notified of your times as soon as possible on Saturday evening.

Good luck to all of you who have entered and I look forward to seeing you all at the prize giving on Sunday evening when we will crown our champions. Play well and enjoy the tournament.

Senior Club Championship – Saturday 13 February:
This is a new event with new trophies to cater for those members who either can’t or do not want to do two days of medal competition. This will be one day of medal competition to be played off the blue tee markers for the men and the pink markers for the ladies. Again there will be a spread of tee boxes in play and the course will be playing a bit shorter than for the Club Championships. Entries are about to close so if you have not put your name down please do so by the weekend.

Knockout competition deadlines:
The next round of deadlines is this weekend which is the club championship so it has been decided to extend the 7 February deadline to 11 February. Please make sure you complete your games by that date as there will be no further extensions.

Botswana & Namibia Wildlife Experience:
You are invited to attend a photographic journey through the wilds of Botswana and Namibia as captured by two of our members, Geoff Buultjens and Jakes de Wet, last year. These gentlemen are very accomplished photographers and have captured some magnificent pictures of these two countries from the desert of Namibia and Etosha to the wildlife of Botswana. Whether you have been to these places before or not this is a show not to be missed and if you have not been there before you certainly will want to after the show.

There will be pictures on display that will go up for auction after the show with the proceeds going to wildlife conservation. With the increasing population and urbanization there is tremendous pressure on wildlife and many species are threatened with extinction not to mention the scourge of poaching. It is our moral obligation to protect our wildlife so that our future generations will have the opportunity to experience what you will see at the show.

To give this a truly African theme the show will be followed by a Picanha braai that is going to be presented by another member Brad Manson. This is a special cut of meat that is marinated and spiced with his special recipe and is cooked on a spit over very hot coals. The very thin slices of meat are cut straight from the fire onto your plate. Very very tasty and a sociable way to eat and discuss the show while enjoying the magnificent view from our patio not to mention washing it all down with your favourite beverage.

Looking forward to seeing you all and hope we have a good turnout. This is not your average slide show as these gentlemen have spent literally hundreds of hours preparing the pictures into a very professional show.

Have a super golfing weekend!

Dean