Chairmans 12 Monthly Board Report 2007

WOW!

How do I begin? What a magnificent way to celebrate our centennial year.

For those who attended the Labour Weekend celebrations, you will be fondly talking about it for a long time to come.

We all should feel honoured to have experienced the centenary of the Kaiapoi Golf Club and I want to personally thank you for the privilege of leading this club, during this significant year.

Thank you to the Centennial Chairman Doug Williams and your superb organising committee. The meticulous planning and groundwork ensured everything went like clockwork and everyone had the most enjoyable time.

To Evan Thomson, congratulations on the publication of “Hickory Sticks and Sandy Links” a truly delightful read.

Another highlight of being Board Chairman was to receive the beautifully made needlework from the Ladies Section. “Shot of the Century” which is now proudly displayed in the clubhouse.

It was also a pleasure to accept both the framed certificate acknowledging our 100 years of golf from New Zealand Golf executive member, Geoff Saunders and the Hole in One keepsake, which was graciously gifted into the clubs care, by the Yellowlees family, in memory of our founder Jock Yellowlees.

I’m sure club members got immense satisfaction seeing Kaiapoi Golf Club featured nationally on the ING Golf Club television show and also locally on CTV, when Doug Williams and Evan Thomson proudly promoted our Centennial celebrations.

Thank you to the 2007 Board of Management, Trevor Inwood, Murray Garven, Janice Cattermole, Tom Whitaker and Nev Lyons for your assistance in keeping the Kaiapoi Golf Club, to the forefront of Canterbury Golf.

I want say a special thank you to Trevor and Janice who are standing down this year. Trevor has worked hard for this club, a lot of it behind the scenes, during his 5 years on the Board.

It has been a real pleasure to work with both of you and your business and golfing knowledge will be missed.

Recognition of Service

The Board would like to express their sincere thanks to all committee and club members who over the last 12 months have donated their valuable time and expertise to the various sections of the club.

Thank you to the Men’s and Ladies playing committees.

Your organisation has contributed to the smooth running on competition days and the many tournaments run by the club have always been most successful.

Finance

This year started extremely badly for KGC due to loss of income of approx $10,000 in green fee receipts over the Christmas/New Year period because of inclement weather. We have recovered most of this loss by increasing green fees to $25 and promoting our course as the Jewel of North Canterbury.

This is the second year in a row that the budgeted for green fees income has been affected by weather and we believe the time has come to address this or our club debt is going to continue to grow.

The Board has asked John Walter our financial advisor to investigate our income and expenditure and advise us on ways to overcome this continuing problem.

Grants are becoming increasingly harder to obtain and even though we have prepared and submitted the required quotes for any improvements, the grants that we did receive, do not cover all expenses.

We cannot afford to improve this magnificent facility unless we begin to substantially increase subscriptions. The fact is, green fees should not be used to run our club.

Members are advised that subscriptions can be paid by direct debit thus spreading the payments over 12 months.

Thank you John Walter; your advice and continued tracking of the Board’s performance regarding finance has been much appreciated.

The Course

The Board wishes to convey our thanks to Peter Commons and his team for the presentation of the course, especially over the centennial celebrations.

It was unfortunate to lose Brandon Parker during the year. He has joined the staff at Waitikiri as assistant green keeper and our best wishes go with him.

The Greens committee ably led by Barry Freeman, have continued to work in well with Peter and the ability to keep the course in superb condition with a limited budget, has been a great achievement.

We cannot underestimate the assistance of the working bee team throughout this year. Without their continued input we would not have the golf club we have today.

Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Dave Hawes, Lyn Rainey, Eve Leggett and Trevor Monk for the colourful garden displays around the course, at the present time.

House

It is now indeed a pleasure to come into the clubhouse following a game of golf. The renovations (interior painting, new lampshades, recovered chairs, new signage) have definitely modernised the clubhouse considerably. Thanks to Mike Cunningham and his staff for their continued service and for your patience and assistance during the clubhouse renovations. His very reasonably priced menu continues to attract many visitors to the club restaurant.

Interclub

Congratulations to those members who have represented the club so successfully in 2007. We have continued to hold a number of trophies making our centennial year one of the most successful the club has had to date.

The year was capped off with resounding victories over Rangiora 10 - 4 in the McIntosh Shield competition and the Hi Cup, in the annual WARK syndicate match.

In 2008, after being absent for over 20 years, it is hoped that we will be again challenging the Metro clubs for the Woodward Cup.

Juniors

It is pleasing to see we have 40 youngsters, ranging from first timers to juniors with handicaps, attending Thursday night tuition with Lynne Shaskey. Thank you to club members who are already assisting Lynne with this coaching. If anyone else can help from 3.30 pm on Thursdays, you are most welcome.

These juniors are the future of our club so we must ensure their introduction to golf, will be a lifelong one.

Administration Office

Thanks to Neville and Marg for their huge input into what has been another full-on year. Other than the usual day-to-day tasks the foremost focus was the centennial registrations. We all thoroughly enjoyed the computerised photographic display and the trophy database is going to be a most valuable resource.

I urge club members to view the club web site www.kaiapoigolf.co.nz not only is it informative but also a great endorsement for Kaiapoi Golf Club.

I also want to thank Nev and Marg for their assistance, patience and ability to still get things done during the many disruptions while the interior renovations were being done.