Council Approves Lease for Extension to 18 holes

The Maleny Golf Club has welcomed the Sunshine Coast Council’s (SCC) decision at its meeting late last month to approve the lease of additional land for construction of Stage 2 of the Council’s 18-hole community golf course

MGC President Dr Max Whitten said the lease would accommodate Golf Course Architect Graham Papworth’s original 18-hole design contained in the Precinct Master Plan approved by the SCC in June 2010, and the Club’s Business Case.

Dr Whitten said MGC would now work closely with the SCC to finalise the boundaries and register the lease to enable planning for the phased delivery of the additional 9 holes to get underway. Pictured above is Sel Hopley driving one of 11 pegs defining the boundaries for the next three holes in the former Unity Water area.

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Member Information Meeting

Members are advised that an information evening will be held at the RSL Hall at 7pm on the evening of Thursday 25 August. President Dr Max Whitten will provide an update on planning for the construction of our maintenance facility and the next three holes following Council’s approval of the club’s extended 30-year lease. Treasurer David Killeen will also brief members on the subscription fees for the upcoming 2016-17 membership year. The hall has been booked from 6:30pm for a 7pm start.

Club Shop

Many thanks to Andrew Barnes, John Tytherleigh, Tom Kennedy, Trevor Fairley, Paul Viertel, Richard Clayton and Alan Ward for their fantastic efforts in completing the terrace deck in time for the Queensland Cross Country Championships held on the Community Precinct last Saturday (30 July). It passed its first test with flying colours and provided spectators with a great vantage point to watch the racing,

Thanks also go to James McBroom for his generous donation of an outdoor gas heater to provide members and guests alike some additional comfort and respite from the cold while enjoying the bucolic vista from the terrace.

If you have some spare time on your hands 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 two 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.

Pictured above from left: John Tytherleigh, Andrew Barnes and John Hay admiring their handiwork after installing the stainless steel handrail wiring.

Competition Golf

Congratulations to Richard Clayton who shot 82 off the stick on Saturday 23 July to card a net 64 and win the Division 1 Maleny Property Rentals Monthly Medal – 5 shots clear of runner-up Rob Bailo on 70, followed by Chris Pottinger on 71 on a countback from Gary Dallyn. Noah Childe-Freeman was the winner of the Division 2 with an impressive net 62 – just 1 shot ahead of runner up and clubhouse leader for most of the day Dennis Brown. Nearest the pins went to Paul Viertel on the 3^rd/12^th and Paul Lowe on the 5^th/14^th.

Congratulations also go to Liz Mellish (again) who shot a net 70 on Wednesday 27 July to win the Ladies Monthly Medal and coveted glassware, also provided by our sponsor Maleny Property Rentals. Runner Up was Penny Edwards on a countback from Christine Lemon – both of whom carded net scores of 73. Penny Edwards won Nearest the Pins on the 3^rd/12^th and Margaret Goodger won it on the 5^th/14^th.

Please note Drummond Golf Maroochydore is a valued sponsor of the Maleny Golf Club by providing both prize vouchers for various competitions and accepting the club’s own prize vouchers for redemption.

Junior Golf

Following the success of the club’s inaugural junior tournament on March 6, Maleny Golf Club will be hosting another Glass House Mountains Zone Junior Golf Association event on Sunday 4 September during which time social play be suspended. More than 70 competitors are expected to take part in the event involving 18-hole, 9-hole, 6-hole and 3-hole formats.

Ladies Let’s Golf

Maleny Golf Club, with support from Golf Queensland, is holding a free Ladies Let’s Golf introductory clinic at 10am on Friday August 19 with Virginia Irwin from Golf Queensland and local PGA member Don Portway.

These free introduction sessions are a fun, friendly way to familiarize you with some of the skills required to play golf.

The 60 minute session will incorporate two golf skill aspects, an opportunity to meet with other like-minded women and enjoy a casual relaxed atmosphere over morning tea.

All equipment including golf balls, golf clubs, coaching and refreshments is provided free of charge. To register call the Golf Shop on 5499 9960 or simply click on this link and fill in your details.

This clinic will be followed by a series of four Level 1 Lessons to be held at 10am on the following four Fridays (August 26, September 2, 9 & 16).

Volunteers Morning Tea Diary Saver

The Golf Shop Volunteers Sub-Committee will be holding a morning tea on 29th August at 10.00am to thank volunteers for their contribution to our club. Please feel free to bring along your spouse/partner.

This should be our first official function to be held on the new deck and members of the construction crew are also being cordially invited to attend.  Our President Max Whitten and Superintendent Mick McCombe will also be on hand to address the gathering.

A formal invitation will be sent out to all our Golf Shop volunteers soon so please mark the date in your diaries.

Cross Country Championships

Held in perfect weather, more than 350 runners and their families converged on the Maleny Golf Club and Community Precinct to compete in the finals.

The golf course was closed for play from 11am on the day to enable racing to go ahead and congratulations to Queensland Athletics for staging a successful event.

See the full story here or follow this link to see video footage of the main event.

Thanks to our new Scorecard Sponsors

The golf club has just attracted some generous Scorecard sponsorship from Spicers Tamarind Retreat, the new Brouhaha Brewery in Maleny and renowned landscape photographer Ben Messina. The new scorecards carry advertisements promoting some great benefits for visitors and members alike.

Spicers is offering $15 off the price of a three or five course lunch or dinner on presentation of our new scorecard or your current Maleny Golf Club membership card. Brouhaha will give patrons a free small glass of one of their tasty in-house beers worth up to $6 on presentation of the scorecard which also entitles you to a 5% discount on any purchase from Ben Messina’s gallery in Maleny.

So please reward these sponsors by supporting their businesses.

Captains Corner with Robin Hay

Hi everyone, I’m back after two months away and do not feel that the winter winds should have welcomed us with such vigor! Many thanks to Margaret Trigger and all those who helped to hold the fort during my absence.

On Sunday 14^th August we are trialing a 4BBB 9 Hole Event for all participants with a social get together afterwards. We would love to see as many of you as possible take part. This will be a good opportunity for golfers at all levels to get to know other members of our fast growing club.

A reminder to all that our green staff have right of way. We need to respect this so our course can be maintained and improved. I know that it is sometimes a bother but I’m sure that Mick, Mark and all the volunteers will do their utmost to keep out of your way as much as possible.

Could I also ask all players to take particular care when teeing off the men’s tee on the Par 4 Sixth Hole to first check for players in range on the adjacent Fourth and Seventh fairways in the interest of safety. This can be easily done by one of your playing group going forward. Should a drive drift either right or left off the Sixth Tee the player must warn those approaching by loudly calling “Fore”.

Course Update – Superintendent Mick McCombe

I’m really quite excited by the Council’s decision to approve the lease for extension of the course to 18 holes and now can’t wait to start work on the second nine.

Our greens have been performing well despite the appearance of dollar spot which is now reducing in size and should have disappeared by the end of the month. Our apprentice Mark will be away at college for a couple of weeks at the end of August to further his training.

The volunteer team has done a fantastic job during my absence in clearing out woody weeds below the third tees and around the back of the 6^th green and we will continue to progress this work over the coming month or so. We also expect the course to start greening up as Spring approaches – resulting in the recommencement of our regular mowing schedule.

In the interests of course maintenance the Blue championship teeing ground on the Par5 Fourth Hole will be brought into play over coming weeks to provide the men’s White teeing ground with some respite. Whenever this occurs the men’s white markers will be moved forward to the Ladies teeing ground on the Par 4 Ninth Hole to maintain consistent course meterage off the White markers.

Could I remind members to please carry sand buckets and repair your divots (particularly after teeing off on the Par 3 Third and Fifth holes and fill any unrepaired divots you encounter during your round.

Could I also ask members to look out for and repair any pitch marks while on the greens (here is a video link for instruction on how to do the job properly).