It is important to keep members and guests informed as we see the second wave of Covid-19 cases rising and impacting on all households and businesses. The Club has not been unaffected as we have received numerous reports from members about positive cases, after self-isolating. We have also seen positive cases amongst the staff during this last period, which was dealt with, as per the Covid-19 regulations, and Club policy. The Club will continue to put all measures in place to sanitize the Club, but we need each and every member, guest and staff member to do their part. Please wear masks at all times when walking through the Club, especially in halfway house before you dish up. Masks may only be removed once you are seated or on the tee.
THE CLUB
Dear Member,
It was a jam-packed weekend and great to see the Club in full swing. The courses played tougher than normal due to the lush, thick rough. This will settle as long as we are able to follow normal cutting practices and we don’t have more rain delays. With that being said, the greens are softer than normal, which means you can play a bit more aggressively. Overall, the conditions were ideal for a true test of golf, enjoying the courses as they were presented to us.
I would like to remind members to please fix pitch marks and divots, as you play. We are still seeing a lot of rounds coming through and it will require the effort from everyone to ensure we keep the presentation of our courses in great condition. We know that the grass clippings along the rough is not ideal, but please bear with us. This happens when we are on the back foot with cutting and it is simply not possible to remove this from the courses. As we cut more regularly (no more rain delays), you will see the clippings disappearing. This is a short-term problem and one that all courses experience.
MEMBER TEE TIMES
We have been very fortunate to see golf being revived during this pandemic. Rounds country wide are on the up and this great game is back in full swing. This obviously comes with a new set of challenges and it is important that we respond accordingly. Over the last couple of months, we have noticed that the Saturday time sheet, especially morning tee off times, are in higher demand than usual. This is a trend that is also being seen by all our peer clubs and we believe that this is mainly due to the impact of the current restrictions on social and sporting events. Obviously, we do hope that this trend will become the new norm, which is why we are adding a few steps to ensure members are being looked after.
We will strictly only allow members to book and play on Saturday AM, PM and Sunday AM for the foreseeable future. This has been our focus for the past few months, but we do find that we get a lot of requests from members to allow guests or visitors to play. As per the bye-laws, guest of members and visitors will only be allowed to book 48 hours before the weekend, if there are any available tee times. No guest of a member will be allowed to play if they are replaced with a member slot, unless it is arranged with the Golf Director or CEO. We understand that last minute cancelations happen and sometimes you must look outside of your member group for a replacement but, unfortunately, we have also seen this being used as a loop hole.
Members must please take into consideration that we are not always able to accommodate your requested tee off time, every week. All members have access to these times and we cannot allow set times for certain members. We have already implemented a few changes to help manage the demand for Saturday mornings. The first tee off time will be opened at 06h22 and the last time will be 08h38, on both courses. This change allows us to accommodate 16 more players in the morning and it does mean that the first afternoon tee off time moves to 11h38.
Please remember that the Central Gauteng Golf Union 2021 Leagues are underway. These fixtures are in fact for members and they do fall over weekends. The tee times are booked off, well in advance, on all our booking platforms. Betterball and Scratch Leagues will be reserved on Sunday mornings, as per the CGGU fixtures list, and Junior League will be booked on Sunday afternoons. The Mid-Am League will be booked to play on Saturday afternoon. These bookings are treated as Club events and will only be moved in an event of Club Championships, planned hollow-tining or if the courses are closed due to flooding or they are unplayable.
In closing, we were unable to hollow-tine Firethorn after the SA Amateur due to the rain. We are scheduling the hollow-tining to happen on the following days:
1st to 3rd of March 2021. The course will be closed for play, this includes Sunrise and Sunset golf.
SA WOMEN'S AMATEUR STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP 2021
The Championship got underway yesterday and we wish Lauren Clough, Cara Ford, Valda Ford, Kim Turgut and Casey Twidale all the very best!
BUSHWILLOW GREENS ARE BEING VERTI-DRAINED THIS MORNING
Bushwillow is finally getting some long overdue aeration. The biggest challenge is creating enough surface disturbance to allow air into the soil profile and alleviate compaction, while still keeping the greens rolling acceptably for the following day’s play. Our process involves a heavy dusting followed by a 10mm spike with a kick that loosens the soil. The times are set to 125mm deep which is the key growing area for the turf roots. We will follow this up with a drag mat to smoothen the sand and work it into the turfs canopy. It will then be rolled and irrigated to get them as smooth as possible for the next day’s play.
Click here to view a quick 30 second video on the Verti-drain process and importance of aeration.
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| Machine in action on Bushwillow greens |
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| The course team Verti-draining Bushwillow greens |
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If you purchase or order a pair of FJ Shoes on Friday the 19th of February, you automatically qualify for a 15% discount off the pair of shoes. Ask one of the shop staff for assistance on the day.
