Next Game Cairns 4 April

All,

Our next game is at Cairns on 4 April & from then on we play weekly.

The game is a single stableford & is a Consistency event, the first of our trophy comps.

The game is sponsored by Deb Duffy Real Estate.

The state of the course will depend on what comes ashore with cyclone Debbie, so watch this space for any updates.

Louis

PS For those of you who intend to play in the State Championships at Maroochydore on 15/16 May, please note that if you are using your own cart a fee of $10 per day will apply.  See the QVGU web site for more information at http://qvgu.com.au/champ.html.

President's Report & Results Atherton 21 Mar

Today we played a stableford event at Atherton Golf Club and a field of 52 men and 17 women set out to play a course that was a little damp in places and as a result of this, run was minimal and distance became an issue for many of us.

We welcome new member Neil Hamilton of Cairns and one visitor, Colin Billingham.

The sponsor for today was DRUMMOND GOLF of Cairns and our thanks go to Darren and his team for the support they give our club. I would like to encourage any of our members who enjoyed the course and the relative coolness of the Atherton climate to enter the DRUMMOND CUP which starts at Atherton this Sunday. The cup is to be played over four games spread over a few months at four local courses including Gordonvale, Half Moon Bay and Palmer Sea Reef. Players are not required to play all games and may enter for one or more days as they choose. Enter at the club on (07)40911283

Next Tuesday the Tableland Summer of Golf event will be at Mareeba and not Millaa Millaa as previously advised. Our next veterans event will be at Cairns Golf Club on Tuesday 4^th April and from then we play weekly.

RESULTS

MENS DIV1 WINNER; Marcus Morse 39 points.

RUNNER UP; Greg Gibb 36 points.

MENS DIV2 WINNER; Alan Dwyer 35 points c/b.

RUNNER UP; Bruce Jenner 35 points.

MENS NTP; 11^th & 13^th Evert van Kleef, 18^th Ken Baker.

MEN BALL WINNERS;

35 points, Ross White, David Lawler.

34 points, Gary Castle, Brian Brown, Ron Sylvester, Robin Tonks, John Everall.

33 points, Harvey Blanch, Evert van Kleef, Neil Hamilton, Russ Gill.

32 points, Bill Eden, Kevin Ranger, Denis Lankester, Roger Smith, Roger Glover.

31 points, Bill Foster, Rick Gooderham, George Brew.

30 points, Peter Edmonds, Keith Sanderson, Neil Stubbin.

WOMENS WINNER; Lil Benfield 34 points.c/b

RUNNER UP; Cathie Coverdale 34 points.

WOMENS NTP; 3^rd Betty Lou Pitt, 11^th Lil Benfield, 13^th Cathie Coverdale, 18^th Lily Schirmer.

WOMEN BALL WINNERS;

33 points, Liz Edmonds, Judy Guzzwell,

32 points, Lily Schirmer.

30 points, Kay Bergiel.

29 points, May Wilkinson, Andrina Wilson.

Next Game Atherton 21 Mar

All,

Our game next week is a single stableford at Atherton.

I'm advised the course is in good condition, so you can get some practice in before the Drummond Golf comp there on Sunday.

Our game is sponsored by Drummond Golf as well, so come along & show your appreciation.

This will be the last of the relaxed games we've been playing since we resumed in Feb, as we recommence our trophy events on 4 Apr.

See you there.

Louis

President's Report & Results Half Moon Bay 7 Mar

Today we conducted a single stableford event at Half Moon Bay golf club and we had a field of 62 men and 21 women, this is perhaps a little disappointing, but as the weather was very hot we can expect that some would rather stay near the air conditioner.

The sponsor for the day was GOLF WORLD of Cairns and we are grateful for the vouchers provided to the winners and runners up.

I must also thank the Half Moon Bay club for providing a carton of beer as a prize in a free raffle for those at the presentations. The lucky player to take home the beer was Bob Turner.

Thanks also to Mike and Tarquin McManus for cooking the ever popular hamburgers to feed the hungry golfers.

After the game today we had a meeting of your committee where we spent much time discussing the dwindling membership of our club. We have decided to ask our members in a survey by email as well as at the games to seek your ideas as to what can be done better, eg.starting times, prizes and so on.

Other items on the agenda were a review of the Christmas breakup and our championships.

Next Tuesday will be the Tableland Summer of Golf event at Atherton.

RESULTS

LADIES WINNER; Lily Schirmer 34 points.

RUNNER UP; Chris Everall 33 points.

LADIES NTP; 4^th & 11^th Chris Everall, 9^th Lois Tait, 16^th Belle Gillan.

LADIES BALL WINNERS;

33 points, Kay Bergiel.

32 points, Cathie Coverdale, Judy Guzzwell.

31 points, Jenny Albertsen.

30 points, Doreen Minning.

29 points, Liz Edmonds.

28 points, Lil Benfield, Heather Forster.

MENS DIV1 WINNER; Russ Gill 39 points.

RUNNER UP; Jim Logan 36 points.

MENS DIV2 WINNER; Graeme Chappel 41 points.

RUNNER UP; Peter Wyatt 39 points.

MENS NTP; 3^rd Roger Smith, 9^th Geoff Maguire, 11^th Ken Baker, 16^th Evert Van Kleef.

MENS BALL WINNERS;

39 points, Frank Thelan.

38 points, Neil Sharkey.

37 points, Les Doolan.

36 points, David Ingram, Garry Castle.

35 points, Rod Cade, George Studham.

34 points, Eric Pilhljerta, Ian McLeod-Carey, Robin Tonks, Roger Smith.

33 points, Peter Johnston, Alan Dwyer, Roger Glover, Merv Elms.

32 points, Graham Morrow, Ken Baker, Lou Siedle, Keith Schirmer, John Gregan.

31 points, Tom Stager, Rod Ingram, Geoff Maguire, John Lucas, Don Thomson,John Lucas, Ross White, Kevin Ranger.

Next Game Half Moon Bay 7 Mar

All,

Our game next week is a single stableford at Half Moon Bay, sponsored by Golf World.

I'm advised that the full course is playable & in good nick apart from a temp green on the 15th, so hopefully we will not have too much rain in the interim.

Great burgers will be available as usual & the bar open, so see you there.

Louis

PS  As part of a joint initiative to modernize the Rules and make them easier to understand and apply, the USGA and The R&A have unveiled a preview of proposed new Rules of Golf.

The release of this preview begins a six-month feedback and evaluation period during which all golfers worldwide can learn about the proposed changes and provide input before they are finalized in 2018 and take effect January 1, 2019.

Players are reminded that the current 2016 Edition of the Rules of Golf remain in force when playing, posting scores or competing, until the new Rules are officially adopted by the USGA and The R&A in 2019.

Highlights of the proposed Rule changes include:

• Elimination or reduction of “ball moved” penalties: There will be no penalty for accidentally moving a ball on the putting green or in searching for a ball; and a player is not responsible for causing a ball to move unless it is “virtually certain” that he or she did so.
• Relaxed putting green rules: There will be no penalty if a ball played from the putting green hits an unattended flagstick in the hole; players may putt without having the flagstick attended or removed. Players may repair spike marks and other damage made by shoes, animal damage and other damage on the putting green and there is no penalty for merely touching the line of putt.
• Relaxed rules for “penalty areas” (currently called “water hazards”): Red and yellow-marked penalty areas may cover areas of desert, jungle, lava rock, etc., in addition to areas of water; expanded use of red penalty areas where lateral relief is allowed; and there will be no penalty for moving loose impediments or touching the ground or water in a penalty area.
• Relaxed bunker rules: There will be no penalty for moving loose impediments in a bunker or for generally touching the sand with a hand or club. A limited set of restrictions (such as not grounding the club right next to the ball) is kept to preserve the challenge of playing from the sand; however, an extra relief option is added for an unplayable ball in a bunker, allowing the ball to be played from outside the bunker with a two-stroke penalty.
• Relying on player integrity: A player’s “reasonable judgment” when estimating or measuring a spot, point, line, area or distance will be upheld, even if video evidence later shows it to be wrong; and elimination of announcement procedures when lifting a ball to identify it or to see if it is damaged.
• Pace-of-play support: Reduced time for searching for a lost ball (from five minutes to three); affirmative encouragement of “ready golf” in stroke play; recommending that players take no more than 40 seconds to play a stroke and other changes intended to help with pace of play.
• Simplified way of taking relief: A new procedure for taking relief by dropping a ball in and playing it from a specific relief area; relaxed procedures for dropping a ball, allowing the ball to be dropped from just above the ground or any growing thing or other object on the ground.

President's Report & Results Gordonvale 21 Feb

Today we played our first single stableford event for the season and a field of 54 men and 22 ladies enjoyed a lovely day at Gordonvale Golf Club.

The course is in good condition although the ball needed to be hit all the way as there is not much run on the fairways as can be seen by the scores returned below. I would like to remind all golfers that you are not going to win anything if you don't hand in your card. Vice President/ acting Treasurer Greg protested when he was not awarded a ball and was promptly given one to stop the wailing. Shortly after he returned it because his card was still in his hip pocket!!

The sponsor for today was KENNEDY'S BETTA HOME LIVING of Mcleod street Cairns, and we are pleased to have them as sponsors again this year.

RESULTS

MENS DIV 1 WINNER, Ross White 36 points.

RUNNER UP, David Lawler 35 points.
MENS DIV 2 WINNER:  Rod Ingram 38 points  
RUNNER UP:  Harvey Blanch 36 points c/b

MENS NTP, 5^th Ron Barnes, 8^th Peter Wyatt, 14^th Ross White, 17^th Robin Tonks.

MENS BALL WINNERS,

36 points; Graham Morrow.

35 points; Kevin Ranger, George Atkinson.

34 points; Bill Foster, Ian Schofield,Rod Cade, Keith Schirmer, Eric Pihlhjerta.

33 points; Lou Siedle, Bob Turner.

32 points; Neil Sharkey, Robin Tonks.

31points; Graham Ross, Tom Stager, Gary Long, Rick Gooderham, John Gregan.

30 points; Allan Dwyer, Peter McMenamin, Des Jones, Barry Butt, Roger Smith.

WOMENS WINNER, Cathie Coverdale 33 points.

WOMENS RUNNER UP, Georgie Jarrad 30 points.

WOMENS NTP, 5^th & 14^th Cathie Coverdale, 8^th Betty Lou Pitt, 17^th Belle Gillan.

WOMENS BALL WINNERS,

30 points; Judith Guzzwell.

28 points; Heather Forster, Jenny Albertsen, Kay Bergiel.

27 points; Joy Evans, Suda Woodward, Belle Gillan.

26 points; Doreen Minning, Lily Schirmer, Andrina Wilson.

25 points; Lil Benfield, Di Diversi.

Next Game Gordonvale 21 Feb

All,

Our game next Tuesday is a single stableford at Gordonvale, sponsored by Kennedys Betta Home Living.   (Btw, if you get a voucher & go into any sponsor's premises, please make a point of introducing yourself as a member of FNQVGA & thanking them for their support.  A little thanks & recognition goes a long way towards ensuring continued support.)

The course is in good condition, but without much run & with water still in the drains along with thick rough.  The greens are the best they've been for some time. Hopefully we won't get too much rain beforehand so the mowing regime can keep up with the grass growth.

Also, Trevor Miller, the Captain at Gordonvale has offered a prize for the best male & female golfers based on their scores over the 7 games played there.  Full details are still to be settled, but the prize is likely to be a Gordonvale shirt.

See you there.

Louis

PS  For those wanting to fit in another game, the first round of the FNQ Drummond Golf Cup is next month.  They advise:

On Sunday 26th March we'll be running the first round of our four part Far North Queensland Drummond Golf Cup at Atherton Golf Club. 

The day's format will be an Individual Stableford event with both Men's and Women's A, B and C Grade divisions. All players must hold AGU Golflink handicaps. There will also be great prizes and Nearest The Pin competitions on all par 3's! Come and be part of this exciting new event and support golf courses in Far North Queensland! 

To download an entry form click on the link below or for more information contact the team at Cairns on (07) 4041 4223 or email cairns@drummondgolf.com.