Club Email

Mens Captain's Report

Welcome to the February newsletter.

Members are reminded of the following Covid Rules

No rakes therefore preferred lies in bunkers
Ball washers are out
Score your own card and do not exchange after the round
We encourage you to not touch the flags and use the lifter with your putter
Bubblers are not in use
After the round do not shake hands but elbow or touch clubs to thank your playing partners
Only one person should be driving the cart
Do not touch your fellow players' golf ball or mark their golf ball
Try to keep the 1.5-meter distance

*From Saturday 6th February, bunkers will be back in play with rakes & flagsticks will be back in use*

In the club house:

Sign in to Service NSW App
No mingling, remain at your table
One-dollar betting or the five-dollar club is still not allowed
Strict 1.5-meter distancing
You must wear a mask if in the poker machine area.

The 2020 Mens Pennant season has finally been completed. This years competition took 364 days to complete due to covid. Unfortunately no team was successful in their division but all members performed to the best of their ability. I would like to thank those that represented the club and themselves so admirably. The Juniors also competed and performed well. We are still in the building stages of our Junior teams and anyone wishing to play please contact me.

The 2021 season commences on 30th January with the Juniors and the Men's commences on Sunday 31st January. All teams have been selected and we have picked very strong teams in all grades. Perhaps we are a chance to win the Sterland Shield for the first time in a long while. We can only hope.

The Ladies will be represented by one team this year and we wish them all the success.

A proposal has been approved by the Match Committee to change the tree root rule to bring it in line with a recommendation from Golf NSW whereby all golf clubs will have the same local rule.

"If a player's ball is in the general area and there is interference from exposed tree roots that are in a part of the general area cut to fairway height or less [or in the rough within one club-length of the edge of the ground cut to fairway height or less] [or in the first cut of the rough], the tree roots are treated as ground under repair. The player may take free relief under Rule 16.1b.

[But interference does not exist if the tree roots only interfere with the player's stance.]

Penalty for Playing Ball from a Wrong Place in Breach of Local Rule: General Penalty Under Rule 14.7a."

Members are reminded of our local rule regarding unfavourable ground conditions. This is currently applied to our greens where there are bare patches caused by damage on the greens. Members are entitled to free relief no nearer the hole if their putt is affected by these areas.

Members are advised the fixtures book will no longer be printed. All fixtures will be on the MiClub Website.

When on the course members are reminded of the following:

All Social play is off the yellow markers. Members please do not practice off the plates or the blue, white or red teeing areas
When practicing please remember to take a bucket and fill your divots
Please repair all divots on the greens
Please take a sand bucket and take it home. Please do not empty your sand buckets in the gardens on the 9^th or 18^th holes. Please place any excess soil back into the sand bins
Please rake the bunkers with your club
Please keep up with the group in front
Please stick to the ready golf principles
Please do not drive carts in areas where they are prohibited. Please stay on the designated paths and outside the blue lines

Graham Chee

Mens Captain

Ladies Captain's Report

The Summer Competition has come to an end and Opening Day on February 2^nd marks the start of the 2021 golfing year. Although Covid 19 curtailed our travel plans, we were fortunate that we could continue to play golf, albeit under different conditions. I hope that our Ladies fields remain as full as they were last year and that we manage to run most of our programmed events.

The timesheet for Opening Day on the 2^nd of February is very full; Liz Robinson & I look forward to welcoming both new and existing members back to golf. We have 99 players registered to play on Tuesday, a sign that our lady membership is looking very healthy. The event is a 3BBB V Par, with a shotgun start at 7.30. Liz has organised a choice of pre-ordered lunches for us to enjoy after golf. Vicki Foster our new Treasurer and Kim Cardiff the Vets Rep will be collecting any outstanding fees. Most of you have paid via EFT which is the most convenient way to pay, thank you. Liz and I will share some important information about the golfing year ahead. I have emailed the relevant information to all of you but please feel free to chat to us if you have any queries.

The Ladies Section has created a Programme book for 2021. We've included Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays & all the CCWGA events. It was a very time consuming job to put it together & I appreciate the input from everyone in our Section particularly Di Beechey who organised the printing. The books will be available for purchase for a very reasonable amount at Opening Day.

May I remind you that the 9-hole competition is open to all players, not just the Rookies.

The Pennant season begins a little earlier this year on the 15^th of March and ends on the 24^th of May. Sharon has invited a number of you to consider making yourselves available, thank you. The match committee will choose the team every week and Sharon Anderson will be the captain. Gosford will enter one team and as yet we haven't been notified as to which pool we are in. Sharon will circulate all the relevant information in a few weeks to those who have agreed to represent the club.

Reminders of some Ladies Section decisions for the forthcoming year.

The OPTIONAL Double par will continue to apply to all medal & stroke rounds besides Club Championships and the Gosford Bowl.
A player cannot win the monthly medal, but they can win the daily competition if they have taken the double par option. This is a Club Match committee decision that will remain in place.
The Ladies Match committee has decided to scrap the putting competition in stroke rounds
The Gobbler & Birdies competitions will continue as usual however the Par Competition will be scrapped.

Upcoming Events

2nd February Opening Day

15^th February CCWGA Opening Day at Shelly Beach & Breakers

18^th February VW Ladies Scramble at Gosford.

Sheena Asken
Ladies Captain

F-Troop Report

For the month of January 2021 we had a good attendance of volunteers throughout the holidays which was a big help in keeping our projects up to date. During the month we had two new volunteers Chris Foster and Howard Ainsley and their help was appreciated.

We received some donation of plants from Ron Gowing and Marianne Lanham and all have been happily planted in our gardens - thank you Ron and Marianne. Marianne Lanham also donated about $100 worth of work gloves to F-Troop which were greatly appreciated.

The average of 10/11 volunteers each week has helped to get our projects finished and we are down a couple of volunteers with health issues.

Projects worked on this month were rubbish and loose timber pick up around the course, tree & hedge maintenance, firewood preparation for next year's firewood supplies, removal of weed from the dams, general garden weeding and tidying up, cleaning of the bush toilets, tidy up around the clubhouse and BBQ area, tidy up of pathways to the 1^st and 10^th tees including the wedding garden and practice nets, weeding; trimming of shrubs at the front gardens, planting in of donated plants at the 14^tth garden and 18^th tee garden, front street garden trimmed and weeded, dead heading of agapanthus, clean up of the car parks.

We are always looking for more volunteers so if you have some spare time on Monday mornings to help out with our projects we would be happy to see you. We have been down on numbers having lost three regulars for health reasons so we would welcome more volunteers.

The F-Troopers meet at the Green Keepers Shed at 7.00 am and work through until 10.00 am after which we have morning tea supplied by the club.

Please contact either:

Peter Martin: 0437 325 207
Jan Martin: 0400 430 088

Superintendent's Report

Greenkeeping is so much fun.

In the last week we have had two 30-degree days, two 35-degree days and a 40-degree day, and now 50mm of rain. During those hot days we put out 800,000 litres of water from the sprinklers, plus hand hosing every day, morning and sometimes afternoon, just on the greens. When you add to that all the golf that was played over those days, on greens that were very wet, on purpose, and now are very wet due to rain, I think we are going ok.

The 5^th, 17^th and 18^th greens are hurting. Basically, back in late December and early January we had a lot of rain. The greens became hungry after all that rain flushed all the nutrients out of the plant and soil. Then while the rain continued, we noticed the Poa had a disease called "Helminthosporium". Once the rain had cleared, we were able to fertilize and spray for the helmo, by that time Weevil had got into most greens and sucked out any nutrients that were left. So basically, we had Hungry, diseased insect attacked greens which is common after large amounts of rain. This all happened basically overnight.

On all the greens you will see patches. The patches were full of "Creeping Oxalis ", an aquatic weed. There is no good time to spray this out of our greens. It is kind of a lottery, you're not sure how much grass is under the Oxalis, if any, when you spray it. Most of the patches will recover quickly. Over the next few weeks, we will add Bent seed to those areas to speed up recovery.

We still have February to come.

David Nicholls
Course Superintendent

News From the Pro Shop

Competition numbers have been great, and we appreciate the continued patronage from all members. You will all be excited to know that we have all new golf carts! This fleet will need to last us for the next 5 years, so it is imperative that we all do our best to maintain them.

We have a massive sale on Men's & Ladies FJ shoes. Both tables have $89 shoes, that is a price that cannot be beaten elsewhere. Most FJ shoes also come with a 1 year waterproof warranty.

PRO V1's & PRO V1x's

Come and grab a few boxes of Pro V's while they're cheap.

$60 per dozen while stock lasts

On Sale in the Pro Shop NOW!

Upcoming Events

13th February - Mixed VW Scramble
18th February - Ladies VW Scramble
2nd March - Cobra/Puma Fitting Day 12pm-4pm

World's Greatest Shave

Our very own cart boy/junior member Flynn Cho will be taking part in this year's World's Greatest Shave. He will be shaving off his luscious locks in order to raise money to help families that have been affected by cancer.

We will have updated details with a link for all those that wish to make a donation to this great cause and support Flynn in his charitable endeavour.

Flynn will be going under the clippers the 2nd week of March. Good luck Flynn!

Physio Golf Blog:

What is Core Stability and How Can it Help my Golf?

Russell Tuckerman
Physio at East Gosford Physiotherapy

To start 2021 , I am advising you to revisit this blog from October 2020 and have another review of what muscles we need to be aware of to play golf successfully. I will look at other muscle groups in the months to come to help you with strength training for golf.

We can never get enough information about the Core, so I hope this helps when you are trying to get stronger for golf.

You would have heard the words "Core Stability" being used to explain abdominal and back muscle strength, but as Physios we often see Core Stability trained and applied incorrectly.

Your "Core" is a corset of muscles around your middle and tummy, which attaches your pelvis to your rib cage and involves abdominal and spinal muscles. You have an inner core and an outer core, which work together to provide you core stability.

We now know that if you have back pain, your inner core muscles become weak and inhibited and you tend to compensate with your outer core muscles. The outer core tends to stiffen you back in a more rigid pattern, which limits the subtle movement you require to play golf.

If you have back pain, please read our ebook about Back pain

https://eastgosfordphysio.com.au/wp-content/uploads/backpain.pdf

I want you to think of Core Stability in two ways.

Core Stability that makes your back and chest really stiff so you can't move or what I call "rigidity" OR Core Stability that holds your lower back and pelvis stable but allows for you to move your upper body and breathe normally. I call this Functional Core Stability.

Functional Core Stability allows you to use your "Core Stability muscles" in a way that protects your lower back but allows your ribs and upper back to rotate which is required in a golf swing.

Explaining how to "strengthen and apply" your Core Stability muscles is difficult in a written blog so please watch the video in the link below to help you with awareness of the correct muscle activation pattern, so you don't create rigidity.

https://youtu.be/lRtpnUm8QVw

Core Stability simply provides you with a "stable base" around your pelvis and lower back so you rotate your upper back and rib cage to generate the force required to swing a club and hit the ball.

If you can't create this stable base (Because you have sub-optimal or weak core stability) you will tend to hurt or injure your back more easily. You will also lose distance as you won't be able to develop the forces required to impact the ball.

Remember our last blog discussed how important flexibility is for your golf swing. Consider how good core stability around your lower back and pelvis is essential for this flexibility.

Poor Core Stability or rigidity makes you lock your chest and ribs and you will often hold your breath. Once you are doing this you are creating stiffness and defeating the purpose of good lumbar-pelvic stability.

If you are training your Core Stability (gym, pilates etc) try not to hold your breath and stiffen your upper back, as this may limit your ability to rotate you back in a good golf swing.

Here are a few quick tests to see how you are going with your Core Stability.

1. Can you hold your pelvis stable and stand on one leg and NOT hold your breath?

(you should be able to do this for 30 seconds)

2. Can you feel and engage your lower abdominal and pelvic floor muscles and breathe normally while standing?

3. Can you "feel" your lower abdominal muscles activate and stabilise your lower back and pelvis as you rotate your upper body as required for a golf swing?

If you are unable to do these simple tests, we suggest you have your Core Stability muscles assessed with Real Time Ultrasound so you can "see" your abdominal muscles contract in the most efficient way.

East Gosford Physiotherapy can help you with this assessment and remember, as a Gosford Golf Club member you get $10 discount off all services at East Gosford Physiotherapy.

See you on the golf course and let me know if this information is helpful.

Cheers

Russ Tuckerman
East Gosford Physio

News From the Bar

Don't miss out on the prize money in our Member's Badge Draw! There are 5 draws every Friday night, every half hour. The first draw is at 5:30pm and the last one is at 7:30pm.

Bar trading hours

Monday, Thursday & Friday 10 am - 8pm

Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday 10am - 6pm

Happy Hour

Thursday & Friday 4 pm - 6 pm

Saturday 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm

News From the Bistro

Bistro Trading Hours

Lunch Monday to Friday

11 am to 2:30 pm
$12 Schnitzel & Chips and $12 Fish & Chips everyday plus daily specials.

Dinner Monday, Thursday & Friday

5:30 pm to 8 pm

BBQ

Chef Ben and his apprentice Dylan have been cooking up the BBQ outside the Pro Shop on Wednesday, Friday & Saturday from 6am.

Bacon & Egg Roll & Coffee Combo - $10
There will also be various other chef specials each week. We've had a lot of success so far!

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