Club secures 30-year lease and funding for 18 hole vision

Maleny Golf Club marked yet another milestone this month with the official signing of a new 30-year lease agreement accommodating the entire 18-hole layout.

The documents were formally signed on Friday 5 May by President Max Whitten and Secretary Roly Nieper in the presence of local JP Judy Phipps (pictured).

They were then presented for execution by the Sunshine Coast Council and subsequent lodgement with the Queensland Titles Office.

“This is an historical occasion for the club and we particularly want to thank Councillor Jenny McKay and Deputy Mayor Tim Dwyer for their efforts in marshalling Council’s support behind this significant, long-term, community project,” Dr Whitten said.

“We are also pleased to advise that we have reached agreement with Council officers for delivery of the project financing required for construction of the second nine holes in three tranches as provided for in our staged construction schedule.”

Finalisation of the lease will also enable the club to quickly move ahead with plans to build a new maintenance facility. More about that in a coming Newsletter.

Trading Update and Golf shop

Trading was up markedly during April – boosted by good weather over Easter as well as strong competition fields and social golf bookings. Golf revenue net of membership receipts was up 27% on the previous April with noticeable gains in visitor green fees and cart hire.

Many thanks to Victor Muscat who responded to our request last month and donated a TV on which we are able to promote our sponsors and display competition Leader Boards.

We also managed to pick up a reasonably priced display cabinet for our growing collection of Silverware and Plaques.

It’s great to see our new volunteers taking on rostered shifts. However, there are still vacant shifts on the golf shop roster each week and always someone away on holidays or indisposed for one reason or another creating a vacancy.

So if you have some spare time available and want to lend a hand, why not consider volunteering to work in the golf shop?

Taking on a shift need not be a commitment of more than a couple of hours plus some initial training. If interested in getting involved please get in touch with Richard Owen by phoning 5499 9960 or emailing shop@malenygolfclub.com.au.

Competition Golf – Monthly Medals

Sue Hardy (left) with Robin Hay

Congratulations go to Sue Hardy who won the Maleny Property Rentals April Monthly Medal after carding an impressive net 64. Sue beat Runner Up Beth Glover (69) by 5 strokes! Karen Heading was 3rd with a net 71.

Nearest the Pins went to Beth on the 12th and Liz Mellish on the 14th.

It’s always a stern test of golf off the blue markers and Troy Edwards from Kilcoy Golf Club fired a creditable net 68 to card the best A Grade round and win the Prize Voucher.

How good is golf! Grinning C Grade Medal Winner Mark Green.

Unfortunately for Troy he has not yet joined the club’s membership lists so the TFM April Monthly Medal went to runner-up Blake Wellington (again) with a net 70 on a count back from Garth Bailo.

Paul Viertel had a very good day winning the B Grade medal with a net 69 as well as Richard Clayton’s Birdie Bag for his effort on the 15th. Runner up was Rex Clark with a net 71 on a countback from Chris Pottinger.

The C Grade medal went to Mark Green with a net 70 on a count back from Mike Burgis with Jon Fairman third on 72.

Nearest the pins went to Greg Childe-Freeman on the 3rd and Jon Fairman on the 14th.

Junior Golf

Such was the success of the experimental parent and junior golf day last month that the Glasshouse Mountains Zone Junior Golf Association has asked if we could stage another on Sunday May 28.

The Committee said yes to a shotgun start at 12:30pm for a 9-hole, 2 Ball Ambrose event to be followed by a BBQ lunch.

The cost is $35 per team including green fees, a burger and a cold drink each. Please book via the GMZJGA Facebook site or directly through the golf shop.

Members who regularly play socially on Sundays should note that the golf club also has a large social golf club booking of 30 players teeing off from 7am the same day.

Legends ProAm Sponsors sought

Maleny Golf Club’s PGA Legends ProAm sponsorship package has been well received by the local business community and this exciting tournament now looks set to go ahead on Saturday 16 December.

Stay tuned for more information. However, there are still some great sponsorship opportunities available so if you know any business owners who might be interested, please suggest that they get in touch with Richard Owen at the golf shop.

 Captain’s Corner with Margaret Trigger

Winter is upon us so could competition players please note that our Competition tee times now run from 8-9am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. The Friday Chook Run will also now start at 2pm as will the Sunday Competition until Spring.

It has come to my attention that many players are not remaining for presentations on both Men’s and Ladies Monthly Medal days. It would be greatly appreciated if players could remain for presentations after such sponsored events if possible.

The divisions for the Monthly Medal and Championships in our computer match templates have been rectified to reflect the divisions as they appear in our fixture book: Men – (A) 0-12, (B) 13-20, (C) 21-36; Ladies – (A) 0-25 & (B) 26-45.

Additional hazard signs are to be erected near the water course on Hole 4 as well as additional out of bounds signs down the left-hand side of the fairway on this hole.

The Match Committee has developed a list of course rules for visitors now available in the golf shop.

Margaret Trigger

Ladies Invitational – assistance sought

Maleny Golf Club will host a Ladies Invitational tournament on Monday May 22 and a field of up to 72 players is expected. If anyone with a private cart is prepared to loan it to the club on the day please contact Margaret Trigger. Your help would be greatly appreciated and you will also receive the member’s rate hire fee.

The club is also calling for donations of raffle prizes on the day. Please just drop off your donations in the basket in the clubhouse.

Furthermore, the Match Committee is seeking help on the day from male members to act as spotters and bunker rakers, so if you can assist please also contact Margaret or Richard.

Course Update – Superintendent Mick McCombe

I saw this sign (left) on a website recently and thought it might serve to help impress upon members just how important it is to try and leave your course in better condition after playing your round than when you teed off.

Based on the metrics cited on the sign, we could expect more than 52,000 pitch marks a year on our greens here in Maleny and we are clearly getting busier by the week!

A couple of websites (HERE and HERE) currently rank Maleny at No 3 on their lists o Sunshine Coast golf course to play. Golf courses are critically dependent on the quality of their greens.

So please invest a little extra time repairing pitchmarks while your are on the greens to help maintain our quality putting surfaces and protect our hard won reputation. Remember to also take a sand bucket with you and fill your divots and those of others who’ve failed to do so. If we all treat every hole as a repair hole whenever we play, our course will be all the better for it!

The new back right bunker on the 3^rd hole should be in play within a couple of weeks following completion, now that we have the materials, as will the new Ladies Tee on the 1^st.

Mick McCombe – Superintendent