Lady Captain’s Opening Day address
Published on 9th February 2021 in UncategorisedFrom Lady Captain – Anne May:
Good afternoon and welcome to the 2021 golf season. We have our fingers crossed that this season will be a little more normal than the 2020 season.
Before I outline the features of our upcoming season I would like to thank the members of the 2020 Ladies Committee who were extremely supportive in what was a season like no other. I would like to reiterate what i said at the end of last year – I could not have achieved what has been implemented without the assistance of every one of the committee members. Their enthusiasm and willingness to assist has been greatly appreciated. A special mention must be made of the vice-captain Jody Drutman who has been my greatest supporter and co worker over the past twelve months.
I enjoy working in the Lady Captains role to provide the best golfing experience possible at Monash Country Club. There is a great spirit amongst the ladies at the club and I wish to continue and improve upon this throughout the next twelve months. Can I ask that you say hello to ladies you see around the club, and especially make an effort to make any newer golfers feel welcome around the club. They are the future of our club.
The Lady Captain is in charge of the golf calendar for our Tuesday competitions, so please ask Jody or myself if you have any queries. The pro shop is in charge of producing the time sheets and the result sheets and can assist with any queries relating to those two sheets.
The Fixtures Book should return from the printers in the next few weeks. The fixtures for 2021 are similar to 2020. We are planning to put a one month calendar on the white board in the locker room so that ladies can see what is coming up in each month. The one for February is already in place. Please refer to the monthly calendar on a regular basis, especially if there are changes. The other place to check upcoming events are the timesheets on the website. Please also make an effort to read the Monash Matters which will include updates on the women’s events.
I have completed a revision of the Conditions of Play. It will be placed on the website in the next couple of weeks along with a hard copy in the locker room.
The nine hole comp continues to be an option for those who are newer to golf, those recovering from injury or those who find 18 holes too much.
We are using a uniform terminology for our grades this year and the grades are determined by Daily Playing Handicap:
A Grade + – 21
B Grade 22 – 32
C Grade 33 – 45
As noted in an earlier email, the maximum playing handicap for all ladies competitions this year will be 45. This brings as in line with the majority of similar clubs around Sydney. If you play off a handicap greater than 45, you are allowed to play in any of our comps but your handicap for the day will be 45. Please ask Daniel in the Pro Shop if you have any questions relating to your handicap.
The Tuesday competition continues to be an all day competition for individual events. Scorecards must be submitted by 7pm during the Summer Season and at sunset during winter and must be marked by a player who has a registered handicap.
The very successful and popular Tuesday one tee start will again be used during the cooler winter period. It was run between the end of May and beginning of September last year and we envisage the one tee start will be run over a similar period of time this year.
The 2021 club championships will consist of two stroke rounds followed by a cut for the third and final round that will be played on the Sunday gala day. Please check the Conditions of Play for the specifics of this year’s championships.
Online registration sheets for various events were used successfully last year and the same method of registration will apply this year. The first sheet opened today with registration for the Flora Eizenberg Matchplay Knockout. There are 32 spots available for that event. This event is open to players of all handicaps where matches are organised at a time suitable to both players. Please note that you cannot play your match in a Tuesday comp time slot but may play after the morning field.
My vice-captain Jody and myself have tried to take some of the pressure of the fixtures by looking at the events that we play throughout the year. We have removed the Challenge Trophy as it is now no longer relevant. That trophy was always donated by the Pro Shop when the pro shop was owned by the professional. That is no longer the case.
The lady veterans are hoping to be able to run their full calendar of events this year. I understand Ornella is going to speak to you about the Vets Programme.
Unfortunately, the Barrenjoey Week of Golf had to be cancelled this year. There is a silver lining in that we have been able to have a ladies opening day golf event after it was postponed last week due to the wet weather.
Grade and Pennants: Monash is again fielding a Division 1 Grade team and 5 pennant teams this year. The Grade team begin their campaign this Friday at Manly. The squad this year is Jacqui Morgan, Ali Gatland, Wendy Harrington, Linda Lin, Gail Hulme, Victoria Stals, Ji Hee Park, Jennifer Roberts and Rosemarie Sills. Our pro Jenny Schulenburg is the coach and the team manager is Rosemary Hickey who has already done a lot of work in getting the team organised to begin the season. I wish to thank her for her tireless work, efficiency and dedication to the role. I would urge any of you to come to the games and support our team while watching some very high standard golf. The draw will be posted in the locker room. We would love to see some of you at Manly on Friday at 9am for the first match.
The Silver 11 pennant team also begin their matches this Friday at Pennant Hills. The uniform shirts will be the same as last year as only the Silver 11 team were given shirts last year. If you are new to the team, please contact one of the committee members who can give you one.
Sign up sheets and the draws for all pennant teams have been posted in the locker room. Pennants is a great way to improve your golf in a match play situation and allows you experience in playing at other courses. If you are a newer player at the club, it is a great way to get to know a group of players of similar handicaps. We would love to see a full list of names for each of the pennant teams.
We wish both the Grade and all pennant teams a very successful and enjoyable season.
Golf has not been this popular for years. We are having record numbers of ladies playing in comps and we hope this continues. At times it may be a little slow on the course, but please remember we are doing our best to cater for ladies of varying ages, abilities and experience.
I still maintain we play on one of the most beautiful courses in Sydney and the staff work very hard to ensure this continues. We thank them for that.
In closing, I would like to wish you all a very enjoyable and successful golfing season at Monash.