Maleny Golf Club has been collaborating with Sunshine Coast Council (SCC) officers to ensure the safety of walkers using the Maleny Precinct walking trail when the three new holes south of the trail are brought into play.
Maleny Golf Club President Dr Max Whitten said consideration of the safety of walkers had been paramount in the design of the Maleny trail network and golf course.
“The Golf Club is totally committed to providing a safe environment for walkers, as well as sweeping vistas across the picturesque golf course and rehabilitated wetlands,” Dr Whitten said.
Dr Whitten noted that there were many examples in Australia and around the world where golfers and walkers shared public space including the home of golf, St Andrews in Scotland.
“The safety concerns here are also not dissimilar to some arising at the Maleny Showgrounds where walkers and campers share space with cricket, soccer, equestrian pursuits and dogs-off-leash. Common sense and goodwill make it work.”
Dr Whitten said the SCC had recently relocated a seat and section of the trail to move it further away from the 6th green as part of agreed actions by the Maleny Golf Club and the Council.
“Maleny Golf Club is now working through the detailed boundaries of a screening garden to prevent balls from reaching the trail – preparation and planting of which will occur shortly,” Dr Whitten said.
“As the plants will not provide an immediate barrier, the Maleny Golf Club is also investigating the installation of a physical barrier to provide the required safety.”
The Maleny Golf Club has indicated on numerous occasions to council a willingness to arrange site visits and work with community representatives who may have concerns with aspects of the golf course design and operations.
Members of our Pennant Team acquitted themselves very well against strong competition at Caboolture Golf Club on Sunday and are looking forward to exploiting some home-course advantages during the next competition round at Maleny Golf Club on Sunday February 11. The weather was fine, but very windy and several of our players had never played the Caboolture course.
Competition rules require the 5 top-ranked team members to play “off the stick” against their opposite numbers and the remaining 6 team members to play off their daily handicaps, subject a maximum of 12.4.
Our top-ranked player was Blake Wellington with a handicap of 4.2 was up against a player on +1. All the other Caboolture “scratch” players were on handicaps lower than Blake’s, while our lowest-ranked “scratch marker” was Jimmy Byun with a GA handicap of 9.2.
At the other end of the scale, Mike Hallam with a GA handicap of 15.8, had to concede some 4 shots to his opposite number because of the handicap limit.
Despite all that, the team managed 4 wins from 11 matches, which was a really great effort. Peter Gilbert, Rhys Cooper and Jack Day all had good wins and Mike Hallam, whose match was the only one to go the full distance, got up on the 18th hole. The other matches were close contests, with many (including Blake’s) finishing at around the 15th or 16th hole.
This Sunday, we face Pacific Harbour at Maleny, so we will at least have the advantage of our home course so please come out and provide some support and encouragement.
Caboolture will also be playing South Burnett here and the Caboolture players, none of whom have played our course, are all looking forward to being here.
Doug Johnstone and Justin Maker from the PGA starting the field
December has been a busy and productive month for our Club culminating in the very successful staging of our inaugural Legends Pro-Am held on Saturday 16 December. The event was won by Colin Hunt who is featured on this edition’s page. Colin has promised to return next year to defend his title too.
The feedback from the professional players who took part and our wonderful sponsors has been very positive indeed.
As evidence of this please read the messages below from Gold Coast Professional Greg Rix, sponsor Craig McPherson from Pacific Motors Group, PGA member Paul Dalgleish, Legends Tour Coordinator Andy Rogers and PGA Member Bryan Wearne.
“Hello Team Maleny, Doug and Liz, I just wanted to drop you guys a line and offer my most sincere congratulations. There are some 70-odd tournaments a year on the PGA Legends tour and the township of Maleny has produced a Top 5 event.
The atmosphere was second to none and the course could not be faulted. Please pass onto Mick and his team how great a job they did. The greens were as good as we play on. You should be so proud of your work. It was a fantastic end of the year at Maleny and there was nothing but praise coming from all 48 Pros who took part.
Please keep my email address as Rix Developments sponsors a select number of Legends Pro-Am tournaments and it will be our pleasure to be one of your sponsors in 2018 to hopefully lift your prize money pool. Rest up and start planning for 2018. Thank you again.
Kindest regards, Greg Rix.”
“Hello Liz, well done – it was a great day. I thought it had a real “picnic race day” feel with the marquees on the lawn. The pizza at the end of the day was a small but very thoughtful touch. I have been telling everyone what a wonderful day it was.
Once again – well done!
Thanks, Craig McPherson – Pacific Motor Group.”
Paul Dalgleish
“Hi Liz, just a short note to thank you for your tireless efforts in getting your inaugural Legends Pro-Am up and running.
Your golf course was great as were my playing partners, and the club spirit was very evident.
I hope the feedback from members and sponsors is positive and a long lasting relationship between the Maleny Golf Club and the Legends Tour can grow.
I certainly will be singing the praises of your club to all who will listen and wish you and your members all the best for the future.
Please pass on my thanks to all volunteers, spotters, staff and sponsors. It was a great success from where I sit.
Sincerely yours,
Paul Dalgleish.”
“Hi Liz, I just wanted to thank you for putting on such a great event at Maleny. The course was excellent and the organisation was well above what was expected for a first year event. Hope your members and sponsors enjoyed the experience and I look forward to returning in 2018.
Andy Rogers – Legends Tour Co-ordinator.”
“Liz and Doug,
Thanks again for a marvellous Pro-Am on a very tricky little course. Hope I can return there next year.
Bryan Wearne PGA”
Treasurer Neil Stenhouse is checking the financial result from the day but early estimates indicate that the event generated a benefit of about $5000 for the Golf Club. As our Naming Sponsor has committed for 2018 – we will be running the Legends Pro-Am again in 2018.
Thank you to all our members who played in the tournament and to all the volunteers who stepped up and delivered in all departments – catering, raffle sales, show-bags, token sales, toilet maintenance, spotters and bunker-rakers, publicity, golf and buggies. Thanks too to Mick McCombe and his team for delivering a tip top course on the day.
We can all be very proud of our Club and our collective ability to deliver a major event. Well done everyone!
December news
At our December management meeting, a number of matters were considered, including establishing a Junior Development Committee as part of the Club Governance Structure. The Committee Chair is Tom Bertwistle and members are Christine Lemon, Mal Ewing, Paul Stratford and Mike Railton. The junior membership fees have been reviewed and we will focus on a junior recruitment and development program in 2018.
Maleny Golf Club will participate in the Aussie Hinterland Expo day at the Maleny Showgrounds on Friday 26 January so please come out and support your club. Tom will be looking for volunteers to staff the Maleny Golf Club marquee.
Membership numbers have dropped off, especially Gold members but it’s pleasing to see Sisters of Swing members signing up for Gold memberships. We all need to promote our Club and encourage new members to join up.
Graham Papworth is progressing his design of the next 3 holes around the wetland. The challenge of balancing finances to deliver capital works and meet ongoing operational and maintenance expenses is ever present. The sustainability and solvent trading of the Club is paramount so whenever we can, let’s play golf, bring in visitors and support the golf shop.
With a bit of luck, we will secure our restricted alcohol permit toward the end of January so that supply and sales of alcohol can recommence at the temporary club house early in the New Year.
Interested members and our partners, the Dark Skies group led by Ken Wishaw, have been working on early concept plans for a new Club House – further planning and funding alternatives will be progressed in 2018.
I think that’s all for now so here’s wishing everyone a happy, healthy and safe festive season – and great golfing in 2018!
Liz Mellish, VP
Captain’s Corner with Doug Johnstone
Doug Johnstone
The Match Committee has finalised the Club Fixtures Program for 2018, with some notable inclusions being the following:
1. The 72-hole Men’s Championships will be played over four Saturdays on July 21 & 28 and August 11 & 18 – the one week gap after the first two rounds being necessitated to accommodate the Australian Cross Country Championships on 4 August;
2. The Ladies Championships will now be played over 3 consecutive Wednesdays on the 15, 22 & 29 August;
3. Matchplay Championships for both men and ladies have been introduced and will be played shortly after conclusion of the Club Championships;
4. Eligibility for the Men’s Matchplay Championship will be determined by aggregating each player’s nett scores over the four rounds of the Club Championships. Players with the top 16 aggregate nett scores will be eligible to contest the event;
5. For the ladies, players with the top 8 aggregate nett scores over the 3 rounds will be eligible to play;
6. A new perpetual trophy sponsored by Tom Kennedy, the Anzac Cup, will be contested as an 18 Hole Stroke event on the Saturday before Anzac Day.
Tom Kennedy
The Fixtures Calendar on the club website will be updated shortly and most of January’s events have already been input to the members’ online bookings portal. A 2018 Fixtures Book showing Local, Zone and District events for the year will also be available in the near future.
Honour Board Events
Some of the competitions run throughout the year, such as the Club Championships and the newly-introduced Matchplay Championships, are Honour Board events.
Eligibility to contest those events was recently reviewed and the following criteria have been endorsed by the Management Committee. Participants in Honour Board events must:
1. Be a Gold or Silver financial member of Maleny Golf Club;
2. Have held a Golf Link handicap for a continuous period of at least 6 months;
3. Have played at least 8 competition rounds, of which a minimum of three (3) must have been played at Maleny Golf Course.
In exceptional circumstances, an application for exemption can be submitted in writing to the Match Committee.
2018 Pennant Team
The Club has entered a team in next year’s Glasshouse Mountains Zone Pennant competition, involving a round-robin of inter-club Matchplay events, starting on 4 February and ending in late March.
Matches will be played on Sundays and each team is required to field 11 players per round. To date 10 club members have confirmed their intention to represent MGC, but we need a few more to ensure we can field a full team for each round.
Under competition rules, all team members are required to play off a GA handicap of not more than 12.4. That doesn’t mean that players with a slightly higher handicap are excluded from the competition. It simply means that their GA handicap would be limited to 12.4 on competition days.
If you have a suitable handicap and are interested in joining the team, please let me know as soon as possible on 0488 918 360 as we have a supply of special Pennant shirts that need to be embroidered with the logo of our sponsor, ANZ Mobile Lending.
Thank you for 2017
Thank you to all players for your contribution to the success of the club during 2017 and, particularly, to those who assisted in making last Saturday’s Pro Am the very successful event it turned out to be. The feedback received so far from the participating professionals has been extremely positive and this is due in large part to the selfless contributions made by all.
I would like to wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year period and look forward to catching up with you on the course during 2018.
Good golfing,
Doug.
Course Update – Superintendent Mick McCombe
Our inaugural PGA Legends Pro-Am was very successful with the pros finding our course challenging. I was very happy with the feedback from the professionals who took part and our staff and team of volunteers should be commended on the presentation of the course.
With the 2017 Pro-Am now behind us the new holes are now receiving a lot more attention. Our new greens were hand weeded and fertilised this week so we should see them start to cover in quite quickly. The fairways have also been flail mowed to help level out the playing surfaces which will continue to improve now that they will start to be mown more regularly.
Our new maintenance shed construction had to be postponed due to the wet weather and work is now scheduled to recommence in mid-January and be completed by the end of February.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who help us throughout the year because we couldn’t do it without you. Also I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2018!
We hope ALL members will get behind the Legends Pro-Am golf tournament being held at the club on Saturday 16 December. This is a very big event for Maleny Golf Club and one we hope will become a popular permanent fixture on the PGA’s Sunshine Coast Swing. Visiting professional golfers will enjoy the best of hinterland country golf and Maleny hospitality, food and beverages.
At this stage we have 26 members registered to play and there are five more spots available. If you’d like play then you can still sign up and pay $50, which includes lunch, at the Golf Shop. Already 54 Professionals have entered the tournament are registered to play, exceeding our target field of 52. There are also players representing 15 of our Sponsors registered to play and two visitors have signed up. Visitors are paying $90 (including lunch) to play and there are about five spots still available if you have friends who are interested. Please sign up to play at the Golf Shop before the end of the month.
Liz Mellish with Live Life Communities Manager Greg Guilford under the media spotlight
Our key sponsors, Live Life Communities – Maleny Grove have contributed significantly to the $12,000 purse for professionals. The Pacific Motor Group has also put up a fantastic Hole-in-One prize of a Kia Picanto worth $16,000 for an Ace on the Par 3 Third.
Food and beverages sponsors Hotel Maleny and Maleny IGA are contributing generously to goodies for both golfers and visitors/spectators. Brouhaha will have beer to taste and Maleny Food Co will be offering gelato, so please come out and enjoy the carnival happy atmosphere at our very special Maleny Golf Club. Lunch will also be available from our own supreme catering team supported by local service clubs, Lions and Rotary.
Finally TV Channels 7 and 9 will be covering the event and filming on the day for their sports broadcasts as we showcase our course to the world. So come on out and elevate your spirit at the Maleny Golf Club on Saturday 16 December. ADMISSION IS FREE AND SPECTATORS, VISITORS AND WALKERS ARE ALL WELCOME!
The next meeting of the Legends Pro Am Coodinating Group will be held at the golf club on Thursday 23 November at 12 noon.
Membership fees and renewals
Membership fees for the 2018 year are due by the end of November. Please attend to your renewals and joining up fees ASAP. You will be requested to show your current membership card and need to be financial to play in competitions and socially from the end of November. You will be charged visitor rates from 1 December if you are not financial by then. Please discuss the option of quarterly payments with Treasurer Neil Stenhouse if required.
Clubhouse project group
The Club House project group will next meet on Thursday 23 November at 10.30am to review and discuss some Concept Plans and 3-d images for the new Club House.
Everyone welcome.
Club Governance Committees
Please check the notice board for the latest Club Governance Committee structure and memberships. If you’d like to contribute to a committee or a club project please approach the relevant committee Chair. We are particularly looking for people interested in supporting the Social/House Committee and maybe the Chook Run Co-ordinators will take the lead here?
Temporary Club House Liquor License – BYO ok
Progress is being made toward getting a permit to sell and distribute alcohol. To this end a disability access path will be constructed by 4 December and the application for Owners Consent and the Liquor license will be submitted. Hopefully approvals will come through in the New Year.
In the meantime Council has given us BYO clearance. We hope that members will bring their own drinks, put them in the fridge before golf and enjoy some camaraderie after golf. It would be good to see people staying on course at the Club House for the presentations after golf. With the Chook Run Christmas party on 15 December and the big PGA Legends event on 16 December we hope all members will enjoy socializing with friends on course at Maleny Golf Club. (Of course please remember to take any unused supplies home with you.)
Don’t forget the 2017 Christmas Party is being held on Thursday 7 December 2017 at Maleny Manor. Please register your attendance and pay at the Golf Shop. Numbers are strictly limited to 110 and the cost per head will be $60. Tickets are still available but please book and pay without delay to avoid disappointment.
Competition Golf – Monthly Medals
It’s always a stern test from the Blue Markers and congratulations go to Jimmy Byun who won the A Grade TFM Monthly Medal (68), with Mike Finley (74) the runner up and Rob Bailo (75) third.
Corey Zammit (73) won B Grade, 3 clear of runner-up Paul Viertel with Peter Gilbert (79) third. David Killeen (70) won C Grade on a countback from Dave Nielsen with Isaac Nunn (74) third.
Nearest the Pins went to Jimmy Byun on the 3rd and David Killeen on the 5th.
Ladies results to be advised.
Captain’s Corner
The Match Committee for the new golfing year has been installed and comprises Marg Trigger, Robin Hay, Karen Heading and Tom Kennedy, along with yours truly. The Committee is well advanced in finalising our 2018 playing schedule and putting together a complete list of Zone and District fixtures – participation in which will be open to members of our Club.
One such event, which was recently hosted by the Gympie Golf club, was the North Coast Zone Ladies Foursomes Closed Championships played over 27 holes. Congratulations to Liz Mellish and Seri Tytherleigh who represented our Club at the event and were Gross Score Runners-up in Division 2 – just one stroke behind the winning home team. Our ladies also performed very well in a field of about 120 at the recent Pacific Harbour Cup Open Day and at the Bribie Island Ladies’ Invitation Day. Flying the flag for the men, Denis Hickey recently had a good win at Kilcoy’s Veterans Day competition.
On Tuesday 14 November, Maleny Golf Club hosted 40 players from throughout the Glasshouse Mountains and Sunshine Coast Zones who competed in an annual inter-zone Matchplay competition for the Greg Paul Perpetual Trophy.
The day was a huge success, both financially and from a promotional viewpoint, with the participants being very happy with the course and some volunteering that they will be back for another game. The event is already scheduled to be held at Maleny again next year.
That’s all for now.
Good golfing.
Doug.
Superintendent’s Course Update
The greens have responded very well following the renovation work undertaken last month. They should continue to improve and can be expected to be presented at a very high standard by the time we host our PGA Legends Pro-Am in mid-December.
Completion of the new irrigation system has significantly enhanced our capacity to water the greens more efficiently and effectively, including our three new holes. However, there are too many areas to mark with white outlines as Ground Under Repair so golfers should consider any red dirt patches associated with the recent construction work as GUR and apply the rules accordingly.
The new greens have been progressing very well as the stolons have struck, however they may take a little longer to grow in because we elected not to cover them in hessian as we did with the original greens because we are not under such time pressure to get these holes in play.
There is still quite a lot of work to do on these holes but the fairways are starting to be manicured now and they are really starting to take shape with a play dated anticipated some time in February next year.
PS – Speed Limit on Obi Lane
The narrow approach to the Golf Club is via a quiet rural residential lane with a 50kph speed limit. Please always be considerate of the residents and observe the speed limit in Obi Lane while on your way to and from the club. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.
Amateurs playing in the inaugural Live Life Communities Maleny Grove PGA Legends Pro-Am at Maleny Golf Club will have an opportunity to win a Kia Picanto valued at $16,000 by scoring a Hole-in-One on the signature 3rd hole.
The automotive prize for acing the 200m Par 3 has been put up by one of the tournament sponsors, Pacific Motor Group and eclipses the $12,000 cash purse being contested by the professionals who will not be eligible to win the car by holing out.
Maleny Golf Club President Dr Max Whitten said Pacific Motor Group’s generous initiative provided a fantastic incentive for more members and visitors to get involved and join a field of more than 100 professionals and amateurs.
“Thanks to Pacific Motor Group we have been able to add some real sizzle for the amateurs playing in the event,” Dr Whitten said.
Pacific Motor Group Principal Craig McPherson (pictured) welcomed the opportunity to be involved in the event which is being held at Maleny Golf Club on Saturday 16 December.
“It’s great to be part of this inaugural tournament and we thought it would be a terrific idea to add some additional excitement to the event by putting up an attractive incentive for amateurs in the field,” he said.
Former Major Championship winners Wayne Grady (US PGA), Ian Baker-Finch (The Open) along with Australian golfing legends such as Rodger Davis, Peter Fowler, Michael Harwood, Michael Clayton and Peter Senior, all feature regularly on the tour.
More than 50 tour regulars have already entered to play [click here for the latest list], including current Order of Merit Leader Brad Burns, Mike Harwood and Ossie Moore. The professionals will play in both morning and afternoon fields and accompany about 54 amateurs, with shotgun starts scheduled for 7:30am and 12:30pm.
The event will showcase Maleny Golf Club’s challenging new links-style, 9-hole layout designed by renowned golf course architect Graham Papworth, with an additional three of the second 9 holes in Stage 2 expected to be in play early in 2018.
There is no admission cost for spectators and the course offers some excellent elevated vantage points from which to sit and follow the progress of the players from hole to hole.
