Members and Guests

Dear Member,

Club Update

I have always been open about the importance of constructive feedback from members and especially when you have a few ideas to share. There is a lot of work being done each week and we try to keep members informed, through the newsletters, as best possible, and we will continue to add important news about the Club.

Member feedback is now more important than ever, given the significant changes this Club has been through, this past year, and I would like to invite members to please ask questions if you want more information about what we are communicating or if you have suggestions. You are welcome to pop in, drop me an email or even a WhatsApp message.

I believe that constant engagement around the various aspects of the Club is vitally important and I have included feedback, under projects, relating to some questions I received from members this last week. You will also find a link to a Club survey, in this communication, which will give us more insight into feedback about the Club.

Covid-19

We have been working with the team to ensure that we are on the road to having staff vaccinated. Positively, we can report that 11% of Club staff have already been vaccinated, with another 60% having registered already, and we might soon have a team on-site to assist with this process. We have a number of our staff under 35 years of age, who will be registered as soon as possible. We do have a few of our staff who are unsure about the vaccine, which is not unusual and we will continue to work with them to see what we can do to assist.

Quarter One (Q1) Financial Results

The management accounts for Q1 were presented to Gencom this week. We reported a breakeven result for the quarter after we had to increase the doubtful debt provision with R500k during the quarter.

The long-term effect of the pandemic inevitably does have a bearing on the payment behaviour of some of our members.

All divisions did do better than budget and other than catering, all are profitable. All golf related divisions, including the bar, performed very well.

The results of FY21, which will be finalised and presented to the members during the next few weeks are encouraging given the prevailing circumstances and resulted in a stronger balance sheet of the Club.

The increase in golfing related activities of our members is continuing and largely responsible for the encouraging results during these abnormal periods we are experiencing.

Club Operations

Member Statements

We are very excited, that after many months of hard work we are finally able to offer you an online Member Statement solution. You can now access your member statements via the website or Randpark App. If you are registered, access the HELP tab on the website (see below) which will show a video on how to use this new module.

Below is a screenshot of the Statements tile on the Randpark App.

There is also a Help button under Statements on the App with a video tutorial on how to use this new module.

If you have not yet registered, please contact Felicia on 011 215 8600, marketing@randpark.co.za, or pop into her office when you are next at the Club. She will be able to assist you with registering.

Membership

We have recently closed some of the membership categories as we experienced an unusually high demand for tee-off times, mainly due to the restrictions on travel and being one of the few sports open.

We have seen a positive trend in membership this past year, but we are still not sure if the increase in rounds, played per member, will be the new norm or if it will dissipate, as the norm we used to know slowly returns.

It was important to adjust a few policies relating to membership, as we saw a number of new members wanting to join, who were not previously part of a club. This is great for the game of golf, but equally important for us, as a Club, to spend a bit more time with new club members, to ensure they understand the club life and what it is all about. Members joining from other clubs understand such club life, but we also introduced a few additional steps to ensure that they are in good standing and ready to join Randpark.

Added to this, we introduced a new member orientation procedure to ensure that all new members are taken through a detailed presentation on Club facilities, important rules, who the management team is and that they understand what Randpark is all about. This orientation is compulsory for all new members and is hosted by the Club Captain, every two weeks.

Training & Development

The operational downtime has opened opportunities for the Club to train staff, and we have done a lot of work this year on training and development. Not only do we continuously look at service-orientated training, but we also look at the bigger picture, to ensure that we grow members of this team for years to come.

Randpark recently compiled a detailed training and development report which is available to members by clicking here.

Projects in Progress

Driving Range Project is almost complete with a few minor adjustments still needed. This project could not have been possible without the investment and support of our project partners, Inrange, Randpark Coaching Professionals and Global Golf. The driving range has been part of the Club’s development plan since 2018, and it is great to see this facility up to standard for members to enjoy.

8th Bridge on Bushwillow is almost complete and will be a new feature of the 8th hole. It was a long process to get the right design and to finalise the matter with insurance, but we now have a bridge that will stand the test of time. We anticipate that the bridge will be complete and open by the 3rd week of August.

The 8th dam on Bushwillow is no longer our main irrigation dam since we completed the water project in 2019. The Club has dredged this dam on many occasions without making much progress, as it silted up very quickly, with the incoming river flow. In our dealings with environmental consultants, due to the water pollution issue, it was suggested that the 8th dam should become a wetland. This will look great and will be a “tick the box” for the Club from an environmental sustainability point of view.

Heat Pumps have been installed for the showers and are operational. This was one step towards the Club’s goal of installing a solar PV system and reducing the overall cost of electricity. The heat pumps are already showing their return, as the new heat pump uses on average 125kWh to warm up the water. The amount of energy that would have been used by the old electrical heaters is 180kWh, on average. From this, we can see that the heat pump already contributed to a saving of some 30% on energy consumption. This energy-saving percentage of 30 % is less than normal and is due to colder temperatures in the last few weeks. During the summer months, this might be as high as 65%, which equates to a saving of around R14, 000 per month, against an overall investment of R218, 000. A quick return on investment and great future saving.

Ladies Locker Room, with the guidance of the Ladies Captain, Debbie Gillings and Vice-Captain, Jeanne De Power, it was decided to do a small upgrade of the ladies’ locker room, mainly consisting of a new floor, lighting, painting and changing the taps and showerheads.

There is a substantial list of projects and improvements, which have been identified between the courses and the ageing Clubhouse facilities, which is constantly being reviewed and prioritised. Levelling of tees, possible extension of a few tees, on Bushwillow, completing cart paths on Bushwillow, and improving the steep faces of bunkers on Firethorn is part of the plan going forward. These projects generally affect the playability of a course, as the recovery period is quite long and must be timed perfectly. Homework is being done to prioritise some of these projects and hopefully, we will be able to make a few small, but important improvements.

Club Survey

It has been a rollercoaster this past year but we remain focused on our goal to deliver the best experience for our members and visitors. It is a large Club and we know we are not perfect and we know that there are areas which need to be improved. We would appreciate your input to ensure we know what to focus on moving forward. We have added a survey, please click here to take part and stand a chance to win a lunch for four at The Fairway Hotel’s Balata Restaurant. The closing date is the 19th of August and the winner will be announced on the 23rd of August.

Have a great weekend
Stay Safe, Healthy & Happy!
Francois Swart
CEO