I hope you have all had a good start to the new year, it's been great to catch up with many of you around the club and it's now time to 'get our teeth into 2025', and I am committed to keeping you all as updated with plans, issues and events as possible.
Firstly, I'd like to formally welcome our new General Manager, Brett Lubicz, who took the reins on January 20th. Brett may be known to some of you as the former manager of Hotel Darwin, in any case his smile is hard to miss around the club, so please make him feel welcome. Equally I want to thank previous GM Andrew Case on behalf of all the members. Andrew has been a great asset to the club and, whilst he is assisting us with some consulting in the short term, we will be sorry to see him go.
You may notice it has been longer than usual since the last newsletter as we have decided to go to monthly rather than weekly. Talking to many members there was a strong feeling that the weekly newsletters did not have enough fresh content, which did not encourage people to read them. Going forward a full newsletter will be produced each month and when appropriate we will issue a Club Bulletin in between newsletters to keep members informed of more urgent matters, such as course renovation or out of the ordinary maintenance works.
Whilst the monsoon is yet to arrive, we have had some heavy rain over the past weeks which has brought a growth spurt with it. At any time this presents an additional challenge for Superintendent Todd and his ground staff, however the team is also short staffed following unexpected resignations. Programmed Turnpoint is working urgently to recruit staff, including a new Assistant Superintendent, and planning to support Todd with temporary staff in the meantime if necessary. They recently appointed an Operations Manager for their national golf division, who visited Darwin late in January, is now familiar with the course and its maintenance, and is very aware of our concerns with the close out of the irrigation works.
Whilst I am talking about the irrigation system, I'm sure all members are longing for the regeneration of areas damaged by its installation, but our Veteran Golfers, led by Don Jackson, have taken a proactive approach in preparation for the Australian Veteran Golfers Union National Championships, which we will be hosting in September. Don and a team of volunteers have been braving the early morning heat on Mondays and Fridays from 7:30am to fill and top-dress subsided irrigation trenches. Whilst we are currently still seeking a resolution from the contractor on these works, the Vets have done an amazing job, with much of the back nine having had its first pass and the front nine to be commenced on Monday. Thanks to all the team that have supported this, and to Don in particular, whilst some of the 'heavy lifting' has been done, this remains an ongoing project, so if you would like to join the effort, which will be each Monday at 7:30am, please reach out to Don or one of the Vet's Committee members.
As many of you will be aware, a Special General Meeting (SGM) was held on January 6th to consider changes to the constitution related to the club's disciplinary processes, and the proposed motion was not successful. The minutes of the SGM were presented at last week's January Board meeting and subsequent discussions regarding a Board review of the club's regulations and constitution as it relates to the disciplinary process. I will provide more information on this in the March Newsletter.
The Club's Strategic Plan has been uploaded to the Club website this week, and in coming weeks we will be establishing small working groups to commence master planning workshops. I am looking forward to member input as these groups gain momentum to contribute to forming the basis of the future success of our Club.
I hope to see you around the club soon!
Simon
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