As a result of the annual coring of the greens, temporary local rules have been put in place as follows.

Temporary Local Rule:

CORE HOLES: 
On the putting green, a ball that comes to rest in, or on, an aeration hole may be placed at the nearest spot not nearer the hole that avoids the situation.

Penalty for breach of local rules: Stroke Play – 2 strokes. Match Play – Loss of hole.

All core droppings onfairways that are not marked by White Pegs or Lines are abnormal course conditions and relief may be taken – nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole.

5th Fairway
A fair quantity of the cores removed from the greens have been used to cover bare patches on the 5th fairway and special care should be taken while they settle in – especially in the case of any rain within the next few days.

Please keep carts outside the white pegged areas on the 5th fairway as these areas are Compulsory GUR.

On a personal note – thank you once again to the team of volunteers who helped out on the day. Having you all hand certainly made the event a success and it was over and done with before lunch. Well done.

Tony K
On behalf of the match committee

To begin, I would like to thank all those who attended the combined Pennants Dinner last week.  All committee members present received very favourable responses from those in attendance and once again Jeff Cutler did an outstanding job as MC for the evening.  All Pennant teams were congratulated for their efforts this year and in particular the Women’s Pennant team that recorded an unblemished record of 3 wins from 3 starts.  This year also saw the inaugural Tallwoods Division 1 Pennant team receive special mention for their efforts.  In addition to the pennant awards those present were overwhelmed when Tom Gillogly presented Billy Brookes with the inaugural Tallwoods Blazer for what we hope will become a perpetual award for Club member of the year. 

Changes to the golf fixtures for 2022

With the amount of wet weather we have endured over the course of this year, a number of our yearly events have either had to be postponed and moved to later in the year or cancelled for this year.  With this in mind and the wish to complete as many events as possible, the following changes to the Fixtures Program have been made. 
The Southpaw Cup is now scheduled to be played on 20 August in conjunction with the 1st round of the Neighbourhood Challenge.
The Pro’s Mug is now scheduled to be played on 10 September in conjunction with the 2nd round of the Neighbourhood Challenge.  After consultation with Jeff Mendham, it was agreed to change the Pro’s Mug to a Stableford event (for this year).
The Foursomes Championships are now scheduled to be played on 19th & 20th November.

A decision regarding the 2022 4BBB Match Play and Mixed Match Play competitions will be made in the middle of September.  

Match Committee outcomes

Recently the Match Committee met to discuss a number of issues addressed below:

Mixed Comps

The Match Committee has agreed to hold Mixed Comp events on Wednesday and Thursday that will have both a separate Men and Women’s Comp during the upcoming September and Christmas school holidays.  It is hoped that this will give greater opportunity for member partners to play together, more options for working members to play midweek and encourage holiday makers to come and play in our mid-week comps.  

Golf for seniors

Tallwoods will host a ‘Get into Golf for Seniors’ Program, which will run for 6 weeks from late September (weather permitting), so if you know someone who may be interested in taking up golf, please let them know and have them contact me for further details.

Dragon Day

Dragon Day will hopefully go ahead this Saturday as a 9 or 18 hole competition (please check timesheet). The Halliday’s Point Tavern ‛Hole in One’ jackpot of $800 cash prize is up for grabs on the 2nd hole with all competitors playing off the yellow tees. For those who haven’t played before, this is a monthly multi-tee 4BBB in conjunction with a Medley Single Stableford event, Loyalty point prizes plus tavern vouchers are awarded to multiple winners.

Pace of play

All members need to be aware of the pace of play and the importance of keeping up to the group in front. The Committee recommends that a Provisional Ball should be played anytime there is doubt where the original ball finished.  Players should be cognisant that their pace of play affects others, and they should play promptly throughout the round. Players should prepare in advance for each stroke and move promptly between strokes and when moving to the next tee.
It is advised that a player should make a stroke in no more than 40 seconds – and usually less – after they are able to play without interference or distraction and play Ready Golf throughout their round.
Members are also reminded that Rule 18.2, the time for a ball search, (before the ball is declared lost), is three minutes.  Players should play their own ball before and not after helping to find a lost ball.
The Match Committee is currently developing a ‘Policy on Pace of Play’ in accordance with Rule 5.6 and this policy will be posted to the website when complete.

Signing score cards

The completion of scorecards is proving to be problematic for those closing the comps.  It is your responsibility as a player, under Rule 3.3b, to ensure that your score card is correctly filled out by recording the number of shots clearly, marking the dots and having both player and marker sign the card.  Sadly, if you do return a scorecard without your signature (or your marker’s signature) on it, you will be disqualified.  It’s important to remember that forgetting to sign the scorecard is almost certainly the most common cause of disqualification.

Boundary fence on the 12th hole

It’s important for all our members to understand that the tall fence on the left-hand side of the 12th hole is considered a Boundary Fence.
When walls, fences, or railings, form the boundary of the course, they are deemed to be fixed, and no relief is available should your ball be lying so close to them, as to make your next shot either very difficult or impossible. This is also the case where a ball is considered in bounds but resting up against the boundary fence, a player cannot strike the ball while it rests there. Consequently, a player cannot take free relief from the boundary fence. They must declare the ball unplayable and take a one-stroke penalty.
The player may then proceed under Rule 19 (ball unplayable), in which, you have three options, all attracting a penalty of one stroke.  You can go back to where you last played from; OR drop within two club-lengths not nearer the hole; OR go back as far as you like on a line keeping the point where your ball lies between you and the flag.

Elsewhere on a golf course, permanent structures such as toilet buildings, shelters, halfway huts, sprinkler boxes and fences defining cart paths etc are deemed immovable obstructions from which you can obtain free relief when they interfere with your stance or area of intended swing. But this doesn’t apply to walls and fences that define the boundary of the course.

Maximum score – Cap at 10

Golf NSW implemented Maximum Score- stroke play on the 1st Jan 2019 and the Match committee have agreed to apply this to Women’s comps for Stroke rounds with the exception of Honour Board Events, Monthly Medals, Golf NSW competitions and Team Events.  The timesheet will state ‛Maximum Score – cap at 10 rule’ and this rule will be applied as the ‛rule of the day’.  It is hoped that this format will encourage players to continue playing stroke rounds without being discouraged and to speed up play.  

Hopefully there is better weather around the corner, and we will soon be enjoying warmer days and more golf.
Cheers for now
Ian Miller