In this issue
Strategic Plan
New members
Club Captains Corner
Course report
Napier Vets Trip
Match results and upcoming events
Golf Coaching – Kevin Smith
Strategic Plan
Your Board members are mindful of the importance of a long term plan to support consistent, proactive management for the long term health of our club. We must take into account the needs and expectations of our members in the context of the continuously evolving social, political and financial environment. To this extent a Strategic Plan will be developed. As it is developed; all members will be invited to comment. We do not expect to make any substantive progress until early 2012 but would welcome any ideas or suggestion at any time for the long term development and health of our club. As we develop the project structure in the new- year we will again seek your ideas and views. Please send them to waikanae@golf.co.nz, subject “strategic plan” or in writing to Marg.
New Members
Welcome to the following new members
Martin Dowse, Baubre Murray, Wayne Smith and Joanne Geddes
Welcome, enjoy your golf, good company and make new friends.
Club Captain’s Corner:
Golf’s rules legislators – the R&A in St Andrews and the USGA in America – have made significant changes to the Rules of Golf due to come into force on January 1, 2012.
As well as key changes to Amateur Status including amateur golfers being allowed to play for unlimited hole-in-one prizes, the august bodies have agreed that a player will be exonerated from penalty if it is known their ball was moved by the wind after address.
Rule 18-2b, which previously demanded that the player incurs a one-stroke penalty once the ball has been addressed and the ball must be replaced (unless the movement of the ball occurs after the player has begun the stroke or the backward movement of the club for the stroke and the stroke is made).
The new Rule reads:
• Ball Moving After Address (Rule 18-2b). A new exception is added which exonerates the player from penalty if their ball moves after it has been addressed when it is known or virtually certain that they did not cause the ball to move. For example, if it is a gust of wind that moves the ball after it has been addressed, there is no penalty and the ball is played from its new position.
Other significant changes include:
• Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions (Rule 13-4). Exception 2 to this Rule is amended to permit a player to smooth sand or soil in a hazard at any time, including before playing from that hazard, provided it is for the sole purpose of caring for the course and Rule 13-2 (improving lie, area of intended stance or swing or line of play) is not breached.
• Time of Starting (Rule 6-3a). The rule is amended to provide that the penalty for starting late, but within five minutes of the starting time, is reduced from disqualification to loss of the first hole in match play or two strokes at the first hole in stroke play. Previously this penalty reduction could be introduced as a condition of competition.
Read more: http://www.golfmagic.com/news/changes-to-the-rules-of-golf/10081.html#ixzz1c6r9lzan
Course information
The federated farmers have again raised the necessary, this time to turf the new 12th tee block. Given the current great growing conditions it should be in service for the Pro Am and interclub series.
Two holes are cut in each green twice each week. We have reverted to the situation which is normal on most courses of having one on the front and one on the back of the green to enable the pins to be moved readily to spread wear and to respond to extreme weather conditions. A consequence of this is that we have sacrificed the white flags for front and blue for back pin placements because of the expense of reserve pins and flags and the time to change them. I am sorry that due to a misunderstanding that the change was carried out before I could warn you of it.
A representative of the NZ Sports Turf Institute visited recently to test our greens. This is a service funded by NZ Golf. The greens were tested for hardness, moisture content and proportion of organic matter. It is particularly pleasing that the organic matter proportion has been reduced significantly over the last 3 years through the aggressive renovation programme including regular sand application. The result is greens which will drain better, be more resistant to disease and which will be more consistent. Having made this progress we will be able to be less aggressive with renovation in future, enabling restoration to normal conditions more quickly after coring.
The Green Keepers and Greens committee are now working on a Course Standards and Grooming Schedule which will specify the day to day maintenance standards and schedules. This will be followed by a Course Development Plan. Both will be posted on our web site and together they should ensure that all club members are aware of what should happen, day to day, subject of course to weather and unplanned events. All club members will also be made aware of planned developments and be invited to comment.
On the hill rough areas, fescue, the long wavy grass is being allowed to develop and to set seed. This is to encourage establishment of the fescue. These areas will be sprayed to eliminate weeds and other varieties of grass so that in the longer term these areas of rough will be predominately fescue which will provide “thin” rough in which balls can be found and played. This policy is to minimise the need for frequent mowing which actually has the contradictory effect of causing thicker, more lush grass cover which then demands more mowing.
Irrigation
Irrigation on the 13th fairway and 4th Tee has been restored by replacement of failed components. Irrigation has now been installed for the new 5th yellow tee block so we are ready for summer although 170mm of rain for the month has not called for a lot of irrigation.
If you think our course has been wet look at this from Bangkok!
From the Match Committee
Shootout
- The mens shootout Champion for 2011 was Kelly Houghton.
- Womens Champion was Julie Harris
Melbourne Cup Day
A great day, golf and calcutta was organised by Barry Lee, Jill Bolland and team and enjoyed by 84 competitors.
The winners of the 3 ball best ball stableford contest were Gary Coutts, Jeremy Simpson and Mark Parson.
Club Champs
- Kelly Houghton is the Club champ for 2011 edging out Gary Coutts
- Intermediate champion is Adam Walding – runner up Ed Isaac,
- Junior champion; Cliff Martin – runner up Geoff Strand,
- Vets Champion ; Grant Fairweather – runner up Terry Jones.
Womens Champions
- Silver – Rae Henderson, Bronze – Heather Peters, Bronze Cup – Sandy Dalziel.
9 Hole Women
- 9 hole women champion Linda Hair.
Mid- Week Men
A scheduled visit by the Foxton Club was postponed until later in the year due to inclement weather.
- Rob Cattell was the Bob Penny, Stroke Play Champion by a clear margin..
Evergreens
The final round of the round robin section of Evergreens was played at Trentham. Going into this round our team was initially looking very reasonably assured to win but in the event went down to Wainuiomata resulting in three way tie at the top of the ladder. A play-off at Kapiti on 27th October will decide which team will play in the grand final at Wainuiomata in November.
Vets Golf
Kapiti Vets
- 7 November at Kapiti
- 21 November at Paraparaumu
- The Christmas function will be at Waikanae on 28 November
Note the times for the Christmas function – reporting by 0930 for a 1000am start
Golden Coast Vets
- 8 November at Feilding
- 24 November at Linton
4 Day Vets Tournament
- The annual 4 day Vets Tournament will be held on 14, 15 and 17, 18 November.
Women’s News
Championship results: Silver Rae Henderson R/Up Jill Bolland, Bronze 1 Heather Peters, R/Up Kip Marshall, Bronze 2 Sandy Dalziel R/Up Olive Mitchell, 9 hole women Linda Hair, R/Up Marg Schrader. Congratulations to the winners and those who didn’t get to the final, better luck next year. The Shootout was won by Julie Harris with Kate Pope R/Up. And a big thanks to Jennie Heggie for sponsoring the Shootout. All these matches have been played in good weather too, given the patchy nature of this spring.
Coming up: The mid week Women’s Captains vs Secretaries day on Wednesday 9th, plus our annual Bring and Buy of goodies that will sell and goodies you want to buy! Champion of Champions is at Martinborough on the 12th to which Jill Bolland, Heather Peters and Kip Marshall are going, a long trip and 36 holes. Wednesday 23rd Closing day, 9 and 18 women, play 9 holes, followed by lunch, $12, upstairs and Prize Giving. Wednesday 30th is the Annual meeting at 9am followed by 18 holes play. If you would like to be on the Committee, and it is not too onerous and good ‘net working,’ think about standing, talk to a committee member and put your name up.
Planting: We have had good weather for this year’s planting with rain every 10 to 14 days, which is what all of Waikanae needs in spring and summer. If rabbits would stay in their burrows and blackberries would give up it could be even better. The volunteer gardeners working with Judy Launder are trying to keep up but there are still areas which need further weeding.
Cheers, Gaynor
Napier Trip
Thirty two veteran club members made the annual trip to Napier setting off on Labour Day and enjoyed beautiful summer conditions at our sister club, Maraenui on Tuesday and Bridge Pa on Wednesday. A few hardy souls played at the Napier Club on Thursday in cold rainy conditions which kept most locals at home. Thanks to the organising efforts of Trevor and Daryl Tildesley we all had a lot of fun; it might be said that most of us socialised better than we golfed.
Graeme Wallace was the topscoring man and Liz Kilminster won the womens section.
Graeme Wallace and Lynne Bruce won the blind draw competition.
Pro Tip
This tip is generously provided by Kevin Smith
POSTURE: The Forgotten KEY to GOOD GOLF!!
When you’re out on the course or perhaps next time you’re standing in front of a mirror, take a look at how you and other golfers set up to the ball.
How’s the POSTURE?
The golf club is swung on an Arc and with this it has an Axis.
Your spine is the main swing axis – your ‘longitudinal axis” and just like a bent axle creates a number of issues for you and your vehicle like the “wobbles” and general wear and tear.
Poor posture also leads to a number of swing faults and often the reason behind a lot of golfer’s poor shots!
For example poor posture leads to:
- Inhibiting the body’s ability to pivot fully; thus a loss of power.
- Too much upper body movement; causing inconsistent contact.
- Poor balance and timing; leading to poor direction, contact and a loss of power.
The 2 most common faults are either; too much knee flex, usually after been told to “bend your knees” or stand as if “sitting on a bar stool” – which is another really poor image, the other and perhaps more common fault is being too hunched over as in Pic 1.
This can be the result of poor posture in our general day to day activities, like sitting too long at the computer, a lot of driving, or just slouching when sitting or even when we are standing.
The more correct posture:
- The spine is in line and tipped over from the pelvis- bottom out
- The knees are slightly flexed
- The arms hang naturally and very relaxed with hands being directly below the chin
- The end of the club aiming up toward my belt buckle
My suggestion is that you should practice creating and checking this position side on to a mirror on a regular basis.
And of course be more aware of your posture during your day to day activities.
Hopefully this will not only help your golf, but also help get rid of any niggle that you may already have due to poor posture?
Note that due to each club having a different lie angle, your posture should be the same for all clubs.
Not standing taller for longer clubs and more tilted over for shorter ones!
So remember to stand in a much more athletic position to help get the most out of your swing.
Great Golfing
Kevin Smith
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions for further tips.
kevinsmithgolf@xtra.co.nz Ph 0274399402
Kevin will be running the following coaching schools in November and December – but be quick!!
3 day coaching school: November 21, 22 and 25.
1 day school – Short game focus: December 5
1 day school – Long game focus: December 9
We are grateful for Kevin’s contributions. He is the author of “The Complete Guide to GREAT GOLF” which is available from the Pro Shop and endorsed by the editor. In addition to coaching schools Kevin is available by appointment for individual and group coaching sessions.
Pukeko Pete
Pukeko Pete implores all golfers to replace your divots and repair your pitch marks. This is particularly important while the course is soft following so much rain.
Happy golfing
John McConway
