Men's Club Captain 12 Monthly Report 2008
Competitions:
Another year with many ups and downs, from winning our way into Woodward Cup after a thirty eight year absence to worrying about the financial situation of the Club.
Firstly lets celebrate the Team effort of winning the Kaikoura Cup thereby giving Kaiapoi the right to play in the Woodward Cup Interclub Competition. To all those who contributed to this happening a big thank you. Great to see such positivity in the club.
Committee:
To those who contributed to running the club competitions thank you, although at times there were only two committee personnel available we made it through the year. What a tireless worker is Eddie Chilton, my special thanks to this man and also to Bob Petrie for his work in identifying all the competition finalists, to Dave Mundy for his work behind the scenes, and to my other committee members whose contribution when available made it all work.
Juniors:
This year we were able to source funding for a professionally designed Junior Programme from the Eureka Trust. This is under the guidance of Jason Tilley from Garden City Golf and has twenty one members ranging from the ages of eight to seventeen years of age all at different stages of either seeking their handicap to the likes of Scott Fox on a 1 handicap. Great to see wee Amelia Garvey (8 years old) play her first 18 holes in 158 and then play her second round in 136 shots. “Little Anika Sorenstan this one.” In the group are also two other 8 year old boys who swing it as though they were born with a club in their hands.
We also have Lynne-Marie Shaskey the professional from Rawhiti Golf Club running our School Kids Junior Programme which is also funded by Eureka Trust. This programme is broken down to 5-8 year olds from 3-30 to 4pm followed by 9-12 years at 4-to 4-30pm and then over 12 from 4-30 to 5pm. This group has a membership of about 36 young boys and girls. A special thanks to Jim McGregor who unselfishly turns up every Thursday at 3-30 to take a group of these young personnel out on the course playing an Ambrose over 3 holes. Members like Jim make our job easier and makes it worthwhile.
A special thanks to the Kaiapoi Lions who this year contributed $2000.00 from the fundraising day to the Kaiapoi Junior Golfing programme, also to David Blackwell, Jim Monk, Ernie McIver, Richard Howaniec and Trevor Inwood for their contribution of $150 each which allowed us to put the members of Jason Tilley’s programme into a Kaiapoi Uniform of a hat and shirt. You should see the smile on their faces when issued with this uniform.
Office Staff:
I cannot speak highly enough of Neville and Margaret in the office for all the support I have received from them both, sometimes it is not easy to be the front person in the club as you are the two who have the bulls-eye on your back and front as first contact. Some members, no matter how much you try and explain it to them, think that the office staff are to blame for everything that happens and wrongly take umbrage with these two people. Remember that they do not make the decisions in the club. They only carry out the wishes of the Board and the Playing Committees. If you as a member have a problem, identify the committee person that you should be talking to and use that avenue to make your feelings known. Don’t take it out on the club staff.
Membership and problems:
In these times of financial difficulties I reproduce an excerpt from the 2006 Canterbury Golf Annual Report. It is common knowledge that if your income as a business is exceeded by your expenditure then you are on the road to failure, and I understand that in these uncertain times, increases are a two edged sword, but in the end the grass needs to be cut and fertilised, weeds need to be sprayed, water needs to be put on the playing surface, assets need to be upgraded rather than being just maintained, and with the interest rates going wild and the rate of inflation steadily climbing we will again face opposition when an increase in subscriptions is asked for.
“Club Membership”
The percentage of golf clubs living from day to day is rather frightening, clubs don’t know were the next penny is coming from to maintain their assets, two to three months from annual subscription date overdrafts are activated or suddenly water to the course is rationed, no fertiliser, no overtime and save on power please, generally a cut back is experienced, and the course playing surface starts to deteriorate. Then the vocal minority comes out from under the woodpile and starts to complain. I firmly believe this all happens because clubs are to scared to bite the bullet and demand a fair subscription to maintain their asset, mainly because there is always a golf club in the near vicinity and the Doomsday Sayers always bring up the scenario that members will leave to join a cheaper club.
Let them do so, as in the previous paragraph I would personally be happy to have the same amount of income from Subscriptions, albeit from less players, creating more time for members or green fees, the true cost of your subscriptions should be the Expenditure of the golf club divided by the membership numbers, .leaving green fees and sponsorship to account for new developments or depreciation”.
To all those who this year won trophies congratulations, to those who served the club on different committees I applaud your contribution, to those who will serve in the future I thank you, to those few who perceive that an injustice has been done, please use the right channels to make you complaint known.
Tom Whitaker
Club Captain