St Leonards Golf

Our 2021 calendar has evolved and stabilised as the version in the margin.
Points to note: • 25 rounds; • Round 14 Carnarvon is set for 9 July

11 December，Gordon

Course time: 4 hours & 20 minutes; Weather: sunny, cool

Final round for the year, and — what a year!

We had a batch of bad weather to start with, forcing cancellation of rounds 1 and 3. We were then hit by the thrice cursed Covid. Frantic phone calling, emailing and some serious reflection ensued, while we considered whether to play and how to play responsibly. The NSW government first ordered courses be shut to golf then shortly after retracted to an extent, permitting play under strict conditions. Eventually, health authority-imposed guidelines in concert with capacities of individual courses to implement mandated and recommended protocols all came together and we were able to resume our season after cancelling rounds 6 to 9. Coronavirus pressure continued, however, and by September, COVID-exhaustion set in briefly, causing cancellation of round 17 on the basis of a lack of numbers.

One hopes that, if we are all responsible, we will not have to go through this again.

I cannot imagine being in the US or much of Europe at this time. Must be a nightmare.

Round 24 results were a good representation across the handicaps. Dave Robertson featured heavily: 3rd in the Stableford singles, 1st in the doubles with Angus and then picking up an NTP. More on Dave later.

But it was Mike Willis’s scorching 40 points that won the day, 4 points ahead of runner-up Buzz. Mike also achieved 2nd in the doubles, playing with Vilis Rudzitis and then added an NTP to his booty! Two good weeks for our octogenarian, remembering his Eagle’s Nest at North Ryde last round.

As usual, Gordon golf course threw up some challenges. The result was that seven players go into 2021 with an extra stroke on their handicap. Only Angus (1 stroke) and Mike (3 strokes) reduced their handicaps. Buzz’s creditable 36 made him one of only two players to beat the course.

Still, players must have been on song. There were eight birdies scored on the day with Robbo, the apparent winner of “everything”, scoring two of them. The previous best birdie round of 2020 was five, scored at Asquith, round 11.

Congratulations also to Albert Renshaw who picked up his second 5-pointer for the year on the 15th, thus ensuring the Eclectic — his second successive. He also picked up the Eagle’s Nest, getting inside Mr Handicapper who thought he had his first-ever Eagle's Nest. Mr H has asked me to remind those who used the word "justice" in relation to Albert's win, saying that his (Mr H’s) shot was hooking left, hit a bump, skipped right, and scraped past the bunker by 5 centimetres, that "justice" is a two-way street in relation to the defamation laws in this state!

Altogether a good day. Unfortunately, I was a non-starter due to a rib injury but I aim to be fully recovered for next year.

Annual General Meeting

Treasurer’s Report

Albert gave a familiarly brief breakdown of his process and emphasised that anyone wanting to look at the books is welcome to do so.

The financial position is that the club owes Albert $54 at this stage. This amount he blithely expects to receive at the first game of 2021. He explained that he has golf balls of quantity three gross on hand, sufficient for about 18 rounds into next year.

Albert’s report was received without demur.

President’s Report

Much of what I said is contained in this report.

I emphasised that we have had an increase in attendance over the last few months and the default number of tees reserved for our next years games has been increased to 5. The Pro is to be notified by the preceding Wednesday of firm numbers.

Tony Ducker said that he had been spreading the good word about our club and some players had expressed an interest in joining our ranks. Always happy to receive this sort of news.

There is an eager anticipation that our Secretary, Warren Lever, may be available for play sometime in 2021. It is likely that some administrative changes will be made regarding roles. I will not go into these here but will discuss with the 2021 committee.

At the end of my annual report I put forward a recommendation for 2 people to be included on our honour board as Life Members. These are Peter Moore and Albert Renshaw.

Peter has been the backbone of the club since its inception over 21 years ago. He has served us all well, not only as chief handicapper, but with the inclusion of his various texts on the website regarding rules, techniques and other topics. He is a regular support to me in my role and is respected by all the players.

Albert has been our treasurer since inception. He is modest, diligent and, in the best meaning of the word, conservative. He is the ideal treasurer and hopefully he, like Peter, will be around for many more years. They both have my full support.

My recommendation was accepted by all present and as such I take great pleasure naming Peter Moore and Albert Renshaw Life Members, to be included on the Honour Roll.

The Committee then formally resigned.

Election of Committee members for 2021

(Prior to the meeting, Chris Franklin had stated that, while he will continue his critical role as assistant handicapper, he would not be accepting nomination to the Committee. Due to the established criterion that there be an odd number of Committee members it was decided to make one position available for nomination and election.)

The following were elected unopposed to the Committee for 2021

President: Terry Darlington (proposed Peter Moore, seconded Mark Messenger)
Secretary: Warren Lever (proposed Peter Moore, seconded Terry Darlington)
Handicapper: Peter Moore (proposed Terry Darlington, seconded Kevin Murphy)
Treasurer: Albert Renshaw (proposed Peter Moore, seconded Terry Darlington)
Committee member: Tony Watson (proposed Peter Moore, seconded Dave Robertson)

A couple of other stats of note:
• Largest drop in handicap over 2020: Dave Robertson lost 5.4 strokes.
• Largest increase in handicap over 2020: Peter Moore gained 2.0 strokes

That’s it for 2020. I hope all of you and your families have a great Christmas and New Year period. If you are travelling anywhere, especially overseas, please take care.

See you all in 2021!

 

 

 

Next game: Round 1 | 15 January | Gordon

Handicaps