President’s Newsletter September 2020
Welcome to spring. After one of our driest winters ever we are hoping that we get some spring rain to help the growth on the course and also fill Lake Opuha so we have ample water to irrigate with during the summer.
We have had a busy time on the course over the tail end of winter and as has been circulated we managed to retain the Orbell Cup and Centennial Salver in our annual match against the Christchurch Golf Club. We were able to field a very strong Orbell Cup team which played very well for a decisive win, and the Salver team just got enough points to win. Congratulations to all players involved across both matches. Our recent Spring Tournament had a field of 148 players which was up on last year and the weekend went very well. Thanks to Nevis Jones and his team for once again running a smooth event.
Our Club Championship finals are being held this Saturday 19th September. This will be a wonderful opportunity for members to come out and watch what will be some mouth-watering matches, especially in the senior men with Tim Leonard taking on Travis Cook, and Lynda Brown taking on last year’s champion Ginny Bolderston in the women’s senior match. We will be having a presentation of all grades after golf on Saturday so please come out and help celebrate our champions for the year.
Our Penny Salver teams organised a competition with other teams from Gleniti, Pleasant Point and Fairlie as Aorangi Golf had cancelled all grades of Pennants. After two rounds of round robin we are hosting a final round on the 5th October with Timaru 2 playing Fairlie in the Final. Good luck men.
Representative Golf is about to get underway and congratulations to Daniel Perham, Tim Leonard, Damion Rogers and Marcus Tessier on selection for the Aorangi men’s team to play Canterbury, as well as Lynda Brown, Ginny Bolderston and Kelly Karton for their selection for the Aorangi Women’s team to play Canterbury. Travis Cook has been trialling for selection for Otago and we wish him well.
Coring will be taking place in early October. Once a firm date has been set we will advise members.
Secretary and Treasurer
As reported earlier Ian and Kerrie are moving to Christchurch. Ian and Kerrie have between them carried out an enormous amount of work for the club in the short time they have been involved with it. We thank both of them very much for all their hard work and wish them every success for the future.
Steve Compton has agreed to fill the role of club secretary and we thank Steve very much for taking on the role. I ask all members to get in behind Steve and support him in any way they can. We are still looking to fill the role of Treasurer. I urge one of our members to please step up and fill this important role. With the systems now in place this is not the onerous role it used to be.
Club Meeting Tuesday 22md September 7pm
I have included with this newsletter a Draft Budget for the 2020/21 year and the proposed list of classes of membership and relevant subscriptions for the 2020/21 year.
It is important that all members have as much information and input as possible to the future finances of the club so I would urge as many members from all classes of membership to attend the meeting to listen and have your say.
Over the last 5/6 years the club has been able to turn around our financial position from one of using our overdraft to having money in the bank. This has only been possible due to the enormous amount of hours put in by our volunteer grounds staff and not employing a Greenkeeper, a saving of $60k PA. If the club had to pay for the hours put in by the volunteers it would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. With these savings we have been able to update machinery, carry out alterations to the course and spend money on the clubhouse.
The time is fast approaching that our volunteers are not going to be available and the need to once again employ a full time greenkeeper will be required. We will still need a team of volunteers but the day to day pressure would be eased on our team.
If you take note of our projected income from Subscriptions of $85K nett and our course budget without a Greenkeeper of $95K it does not leave any fat in the system.
I think over the past 3-4 years our course has been the most consistently presented course in the area and this has been reflected in our membership growth and the number of people playing. We still have a long way to go and the opportunities to improve the course are endless. We have some projects that require urgency e.g. machinery storage shed and workshop. We also would like to renovate some greens and tees on the course. For us as a club to achieve this we need to able to pay for it and this is why we are proposing some small changes to our membership categories and subscriptions. It is important to note that the club only receives the nett amount of any subscription paid. We have to pay 15%GST on every sub plus Levies to NZG and Aorangi Golf approx. $60. That means that for if you pay a full subscription of $670.00 the club banks $535.00. I must point out that Associate members subscriptions do not attract a NZG, Aorangi Golf levy.
I know we are the most expensive club in the area however I believe that golf in this area is too cheap. When most clubs in the area do not take enough money in subscriptions to cover the costs to run the club sooner or later something has to give. We regularly hear visitors from across the country and the world who have played at Levels over the past 3-4 years say they can’t believe how cheap golf is here and that they pay subscriptions much higher than we do.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just turn up and play golf and enjoy it without having to rely on volunteer members to prepare the course and clean the clubhouse etc.?
I look forward to some constructive debate on the 22nd 7:00pm
Harvey.