Welcome from the Women’s Captain
Welcome to 2023. The festive season and Australia Day are done and dusted, and our new season fast approaches, with Open Days for Women Members on Saturday, 4 February (7 Day Members), and Tuesday 7 February (6 Day Members) respectively. I have all my fingers crossed that we have a “Goldilocks Year” with just the right amount of everything!
The course is looking great, so there can be no excuses! A special thank you to David Mason and the course team for all their hard work.
2023 Member Diary
The Member Diary is only available in electronic format this year. No paper copies are available.
- The golfing program, can be found in the ‘Member Diary’ section of our App and website. Additionally its is available when you book a round of golf in the timesheets.
- All information that was traditionally found in the hard copy, can now be found in the electronic version.
- The validity of the Member Diary in electronic format will be easier to maintain, and will be updated as needed.
- Where you book a round of golf in the timesheets is one of the best ways to stay up to date. The complete golf program for 2023 has been uploaded. Simply scroll forward and click on the required date for information. It will be updated on a regular basis, reflecting any changes made to the Golf Programme.
- Notices of upcoming events and monthly schedules will continue to be posted in the Women’s Locker Room for those of you unable to access the Internet.
Handicaps will remain the same as last year
Tuesday
A Grade: + – 22
B Grade: 23 -31
C Grade : 32- 45
Saturday
Division 1: + – 23
Division 2: 24 to 45
New Rules
A new set of rules came from the R&A and USGA coming into force on 1 January 2023. Hopefully you have all had time to review these changes, noted in the recent Captains Log sent out last week. There is also a poster of the changes on the Rules Board outside the Golf Shop.
R&A & USGA will no longer provide rule books in hard copy preferring the electronic format only, with an App which can be easily downloaded.
Trophies
Trophies are an integral part of any golfing programme, and special mention should be made of all trophy donors who continue to support our Tuesday and Saturday competitions. Special mention should also be made of those members, who make donations to all the Honour Board event winners.
- It not possible to link individual donors to specific daily competitions anymore – daily winners are unable to personally acknowledge the generosity of the individual Member donors.
- A list of all donors for our upcoming daily competitions in 2023, along with all the donors for Honour Board Events awarded at the end of 2022 can be found on the Notice Board in the Locker Room.
- A $35 donation for daily competition winners, was made at the time of Membership Renewal in October of last year, and were deposited into the Women’s Trophy Account, totalling $4970.
- The actual budget for 2023 is $5,660
- Shortfall of $690
- It is still possible to add your $35 donation to the Women’s Trophy Account, simply talk to Kara or Kymberley in the Office to process your donation.
- Daily winners on Tuesday and Saturday will continue to receive electronic vouchers from the Golf Shop.
Although our focus after a round of golf is to enjoy the wonderful ambiance of the Garden Room and surrounds, regular lunches in the Tennyson Room have been scheduled whenever we have a team event with a shotgun start. Love to see you there!
Penannts
Pennants has a completely different structure this year. Brisbane Golf Club will field 4 teams:
- Yellow Diamond (Friday) 7 Players, max GA 20 Players 1-3 off the stick, and players 4-7 full handicap difference
- Sapphire (Friday) 7 Players, max GA 32, Full handicap difference. Aggregate GA minimum 80
- Gold (Sunday) 3 Players, max GA 10, Off the stick.
- Silver (Sunday) 7 Players, max GA 20, Players 1-3 off the stick, and players 4-7 full handicap difference.
- Friday Season: Friday, 21 April to Friday, 2 June.
- Sunday Season: Sunday, 23 April to Sunday, 4 June (Gold) and Sunday, 23 April to Sunday, 11 June (Silver).
Details can be viewed on the Notice Board in the Locker Room.
An email will be sent shortly to all Members with relevant handicaps to ascertain interest and availability to play pennants for BGC during 2023.
You would all be aware that Golf has grown in popularity since Covid. In fact, Brisbane Golf Club recorded 53,000 rounds of golf in 2019 (Pre Covid), with 65,000 rounds in 2021, and 61,000 rounds in 2022, despite losing 46 days to rain.
As you can imagine, the pressures around the course have increased dramatically, both in scheduling events and in maintaining our course to the standard we expect. To continue to enjoy this great game of ours at Brisbane Golf Club, we all need to play our part, both in our behaviour to our fellow members, remaining polite and courteous at all times, and in caring for our course by doing simple things, like raking the bunkers, filling divots, and driving motorised buggies in designated areas only.
Upcoming Events
A reminder of a few upcoming events:
- Qualifying round for Johnson Staines on Saturday, 4 February.
- Start of Women’s Eclectic and Greatest Reduction in Handicap on Tuesday, 14 February (6 Day Members) and Saturday, 18 February (7 Day Members).
- Clare Kirkwood 4BBB match play team event between Captains and Presidents. Nomination sheet will open on Tuesday, 31 January. Teams and playing partners will be selected a week prior to competition.
- Scores and trophy presentation will be held in the Garden Room at the completion of the competition.
Good golfing for 2023, and may the “Golf Gods” shine on you!
“Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented” – Arnold Palmer.
Kind regards
Janet Nathanson, Women’s Captain
