The Men’s Club Championships have been put back one week with the final round now to be played in conjunction with the September Monthly Medal. Hopefully we will have reasonable weather so all the rounds can be played.
At the beginning of the year the long range weather forecasts predicted a warm dry winter. Well, the forecast couldn’t have been more inaccurate. The wet weather won’t leave us alone and it looks like we have more to come. The course is saturated and it’s a fair bet that when carts are allowed back on the course we will have wet cart rules in place for a while. While the course is so wet, it is easy to take divots and have pitch marks on the soft greens. I remind all members to assist in maintaining the course by repairing all divot/pitch marks on the course.
The weather has caused the ground staff to be kept busy repairing damage and removing fallen branches and trees from the course. The soggy state of the course has restricted staff access with machinery to remove all the timber on the ground and hence there is still a large amount left on the course. If a swing or stance is affected by timber fallen on the course then players can seek free relief. Note however that if the fallen timber is in a hazard area then free relief is not available.
There are some issues with the use of private golf carts on the course. The course superintendent is the decision maker when it come to the use of golf carts on the course and his rulings apply at all times, not only in golf competitions. To clarify this matter, when the course superintendent rules that there are to be no carts on the course that means no carts at any time. The golf committees comply with his decisions and apply his rulings in the competitions that they run. Outside of competitions then whatever happens on the course, including people using carts, is under the jurisdiction on the Country Club management. There have been a number of reported incidents of people using their private cart on the course in the last week when the ruling was “No Carts Allowed”. In all cases there is clear damage to the course caused by these carts. These incidents have been reported to club management who may decide to take action against these offenders.
So here’s hoping for sunny days and a bit of wind to dry the course. Then we can all get out and enjoy a round of golf with no restrictions. Cheers and happy golfing.