Captain’s Log

We are almost one full month into 2023 and so far, so good in terms of weather and golf at The Brisbane Golf Club with hopes of an uninterrupted season…wouldn’t that be a novelty?

This is a very busy time of the year as far as major events, and it all starts with Opening Days in the first couple of weeks of February. David Mason and his wonderful course staff have shown some real enterprise over the last 12 months to have the course looking so good. It is a different beast with lower grass heights, wider fairways in part…yes, some are wider but still hard to find at times, and great coverage on the greens. We are very excited about the upcoming golfing season and the positive comments from Members are wonderful to hear.

With the New Year comes a new set of rules from the R&A and USGA which came into force 1 January 2023. An email was sent to Members early January with a poster of the changes, which you will find on the Rules Board outside the Golf Shop. Below is a link to the website which details all of the changes. We would encourage everyone to visit this site as there are short videos and explanations for each rule.

Click here to view the New Rule Changes

Key Changes:

• There are changes for players with disabilities and you can click here to read more information relating to those rules.
• Simplified Back on the Line relief. Taking this type of relief now allows the ball to roll up to one club length towards the hole from the drop point. It is important to note this is the only scenario that allows a ball to travel closer to the hole after it is dropped in a relief situation. Again, we would encourage you to watch the video in the link above.
• Clubs that are damaged during a round (not caused by abuse) may now be replaced, repaired, or you may continue to use for the remainder of the round.

Whilst we are on the subject of rules, it has come to the Committee’s attention that there are some members who do not “hole out” and pick up their ball yet still score on that hole. The only reasons a player can pick up a ball without holing out are: Matchplay, competitions where that hole is wiped, stroke competitions where the maximum score has been reached for that hole (5 over on any given hole). If the player has not holed out in any other competition but still placed a score for that hole on the card, it is disqualification for signing an incorrect card. In short, the practice of giving putts in competition, unless it is justified in the above scenarios, is to cease.

It is never nice to bring up etiquette breaches, but we may as well get it out of the way at the start of the year and hopefully won’t have to mention it again. It appears the practice of raking bunkers after playing a shot is not always being done, which is disappointing.

Even the best players find the beach at some stage and no member, or guest for that matter, should have to contend with what is shown in the below images. It is very frustrating to find yourself in this situation but even more disappointing that it is one of your fellow Members who has not shown consideration for others. It also begs the question, what are the remainder of that group saying to the offender?

Please do the right thing by your fellow Members and rake bunkers after you have played your shot. Here is a video which David Mason prepared as a reminder.  You can also click here to read his bunker raking etiquette guide.

On a positive note, thank you to all members for keeping the rakes inside the bunkers as requested. It is making life for the course staff that much easier, and it is very much appreciated…and disregard the picture above with the rake on the edge, that was put there by the person taking the picture.

We are very excited by the prospect of a new golf season on a course that is looking a treat and that we all should be proud of.

Happy golfing and see you around the club.

Kind regards

Ash Sturmer, Men’s Captain & Janet Nathanson, Women’s Captain