NEWSLETTER JUNE 2014
Hello All,
Lots of bits of information for everyone this month so we have compiled a newsletter to keep
you up-to-date at the club.
Villa Maria Cup is going along nicely. I will send out, on another day, some information
regarding this and how the Interclub Teams are progressing as well.
Don’t forget to get your name in for the Nelmac Tournament on Saturday, 5th July. Dave has
lots of spaces he wants to fill.
Clubhouse Improvements
We are about to apply for some grants to undertake some of the work that wasn't able to be
completed at the time the clubhouse was rebuilt a few years ago. In the first instance we hope
to be able to add curtains so that we can all keep warmer in the evenings. We will then move
onto a refurbishment of the men's toilets to bring them up to an acceptable standard. We also
want to look at an improved outdoor relaxation area with easy access to the bar. This will all
be dependant on our grants as we do not have the money to proceed without assistance.
Our intent is to not only make our club house more comfortable to our members, but also to
make it more attractive to people wishing to hire our clubhouse for functions. While we have
had some success with this in the past, all of the above have been identified as limitations.
The more revenue we can bring in from the clubhouse the better!
Drainage on No.4
We are very much aware that the lake on No.4 and the associated ditches and culverts are not
working as they should. We have approached the Marlborough District Council to remedy
this situation, which is their responsibility. This is somewhat complicated as we are not
entirely confident the design is as it should be, but until this is sorted we will continue to have
the lake over flowing and a soggy fairway.
We have declined a request by the MDC to grant them legal permission to have flood water
over flowing on to fairway No.4. We have in turn asked for further work to be undertaken by
the developer to mitigate this risk. This process is ongoing.
The Winter Course and Cart Paths
Thanks to some great work done by our Greens Committee and the very generous lending
machinery from John Pickering we have been able to complete more drainage work on the
fairway on No.15. Our next step is to have a 'Winter Course' rated. Hopefully this will not be
used often, but will be available instead of having to close the course due to our wetter holes.
We will keep you up to date with progress on this.
We have also been successful in gaining some funding from the Canterbury Community
Trust to form some additional cart paths so as we can keep those of you that either need or
wish to use carts still playing golf. We are in the process of receiving quotations and will look
to start this project as soon as possible.
In the interim, when you are able to use carts, please ensure you do keep off the fairways. We
do maps available for the Carts to assist in this if you require.
Villa Maria Wines
We have negotiated a new Sponsorship with Villa Maria where by they are once again paying
for our score cards and supplying a generous amount of free wine for the Villa Maria Cup.
They are also supplying various wine types for the bar at very competitive charges.
Please be aware of all of our generous wine sponsors when purchasing wine off course - Villa
Maria, Allan Scott, Hunters and St Clair.
The Caterers
Our caterers, Essence, are on a short term contract that expires mid August. We are looking
to negotiate a supply contract with them where by they supply food after that date but we sell
at the club house as a retailer, until we then renegotiate a manager/catering contract in the
future.
We do see Essence in the longer term as taking the club house use to a more financially
viable level to encourage the use of our high value asset. As such, we do want to take
advantage of their marketing in the wedding and other function markets, while still ensuring
that you as members still have priority use of your own club house. The intent is to retain and
generate extra revenue as much as possible – which assists in maintaining financially viable.
It is likely that Essence will be retained as our preferred caterers for functions at the club. We
encourage you to take advantage of the wonderful quality of the food that Essence provide
and we also consider the use of their services combined with our clubhouse if you are
contemplating a function in the future. We can assure you that Dave and Sarah can provide a
range of food that can meet both your needs and budget, just give them a call to discuss.
Subs
As with all golf clubs finances are challenging. To assist us to make those difficult ends meet
we would very much appreciate those who have not yet paid this years’ subs, or who are
otherwise in arrears, to please send their payments to us ASAP.
For those of you paying monthly please be aware that this is still a commitment to an annual
subscription, you are just making the payment monthly instead of one hit at the beginning of
the year. We have had problems in the past with people paying by the month leaving part way
through the year in arrears, and we have found it difficult to retrieve this money. We do want
to keep up the monthly option as we are aware that it does assist some people, but we will
have to monitor this situation.
****FIREWOOD FOR SALE****
Time to get stacking for next winter
Seasoned Gum - $70/m3 Seasoned Cedar and Poplar mix - $50/m3 or measured
equivalent.
There is also smaller grade mixed wood available, for a discounted price of $25 m3 or
measured equivalent.
All of the above is to be collected from the course – please contact Simon on
simonbishell@outlook.com for further details