2016 News & Member Information
Topics:
* December – Christmas Greetings
* December – News from Ranfurlie
* December – Selection Policy for the annual VVGA Teams Championship.
* December – ESVGA Champions for 2016
* November – ESVGA Championship Stroke Round at Yering Meadows
* November – 2016 ESVGA Annual General Meeting 7th November
* October – Cardinia Beaconhills Stableford 9th October
* October – Notice of Annual General Meeting, 7th November
* September – Teams Championship Report – Belvoir Park, Bendigo
* July – Heidelberg Stableford Event 11th July
* May – Waterford Valley Stableford Event 9th May
* April – Golf Trip to Barnbougle Dunes & Lost Farm
* April – Members Questionnaire – Meat Raffle
* January – Highlights from Eastwood 11th January.
The ESVGA committee wishes its members a Merry Christmas & Happy and Prosperous New Year.
(Posted 7/12/2016) #
News from Ranfurlie
104 players (26 groups of four) took part last Monday in an Ambrose 4’s event at Ranfurlie Golf Course. The course was in very good condition but oh how long were some of those Par 4’s!
Michael (Pro-shop) had everything organized when people arrived about 7.00 am. Members accepted the slightly chaotic situation arranging the make-up of their four’s and all started with the four players listed. (Unfortunately, one of our members became caught in a traffic jam and arrived after most of the field has reached their tees. This was a most unfortunate situation for us and especially for him.
Well done everyone for keeping an eye on your buggies…three disasters in four months would have been a bit much.
Sandwiches and the drink voucher topped-off a very good day.
Neil Shaw, Henry Chen and Neil Cowie enjoying the “Association Christmas Shout” at Ranfurlie.
The trophy winners from last month received their newly-engraved trophies. (See photo below). Thank you to Rod Coling for organizing it. Monday’s results are on the website.
Remember that Eastwood is an 8.00 am start.
On behalf of President Ron Hottes and the ESVGA Committee, I would like to wish all members a safe and healthy Christmas/New Year period and may all return ready for the round you deserve!!
Barry Smith for ESVGA Committee
(Posted 6/12/2016)
Selection Policy for the annual VVGA Teams Championship.
Each year the Victorian Veteran Golfers Association (VVGA) holds a Teams Championship where teams of 3 players from each of the 21 Victorian districts are invited to attend. The event is an aggregate Stableford event held over 2 days. It is organised by one of the VVGA country districts at one of their venues. The 2016 Teams Championship was held at Belvoir Park Golf Course south of Bendigo. (see team report below)
Each year the ESVGA sends 2 teams to represent it at the Teams Championship. We subsidy our representatives for travel and accommodation costs and provides a team uniform (Polo shirt and cap). Selection is based on results from games played in the early part of the calendar year, at players non home clubs. The committee has changed the selection criteria slightly to give all members the opportunity to have the same number of games to choose from. Refer point 4 below.
Player Selection Policy
- Player selection for the VVGA Teams Championship is to be based on the aggregate total of a player’s 3 best Stableford scores. See point 4 below.
- Players with the highest Stableford total are given first option to attend.
- Games at a player’s home course are not to be included in the total.
- Stableford scores from the first 5 non home games of the calendar year are to be used to determine the aggregate total of a player’s best 3 games.
i.e. If a players home course in not in the first 5 games played, the selection period is from January to May. If a players home course is in the first 5 game, the selection period is from January to June.
Neil Muller Secretary ESVGA
(Posted 6/12/2016)
ESVGA Champions for 2016.
ESVGA champions from left to right Peter Hopgood (C Grade), Wayne Barlow (B Grade), Bill Oliver (Champion) & Bob Burke (A Grade) received their engraved trophies at our end of year event at Ranfurlie Golf Course.
(L-R) Peter Hopgood (C Grade), Wayne Barlow (B Grade), Bill Oliver (Champion) & Bob Burke (A Grade)
(Posted 19/11/2016)
ESVGA Championship Stroke Round at Yering Meadows on November 7th 2016
One has heard of “Windy Warrnambool” but I think Monday morning at Yering Meadows presented quite a challenge to all players. However, we’re not sure whether the wind was to blame for a little incident on the 13th fairway. (More in the December Newsletter). One local wit (who shall remain anonymous) remarked that it was a good decision to play our golf round in the morning at Yering Meadows, as there is a tendency for the wind to “get up” a little in the afternoon !!
However, we’re certain that the following photo wasn’t due to someone’s pent-up desire to climb trees.
Peter Perry at Yering Meadows
Peter Perry is in the tree and Peter Johnson (photographer) is still laughing!!
Trophies were presented to all major winners for the first time which was the brainchild of our Treasurer, Rod Coling.
Congratulations to all winners especially to “Mr Consistency” Bill Oliver (Eastwood) our Champion for 2016
Barry Smith congratulates 2016 ESVGA Champion Bill Oliver
and to Mal Lansdown (Ivanhoe) who won the Parmaker Raffle despite being absent on the day with a touch of “Peter Siddle” back. (Doesn’t it pay to be a financial member ready for our Championship Day!!)
 Barry Smith congratulating Parmaker winner Mal Lansdown |
 Mal Lansdown and his new Parmaker |
Mal was so keen to collect his Parmaker he was around before 10.30 am the next day at Barry Smith’s place!!
Catering at Yering Meadows was up to its usual excellent standard but the pro-shop had some issues with the “auto-read” cards which caused considerable delay in ascertaining the results. A full summary presented at the usual high standard by Secretary Neil Muller, can be found on this link on our website. (Neil would have been very happy if it had been “gross stroke” scoring!!)
Barry Smith – Vice President
(Posted 19/11/2016)
2016 ESVGA Annual General Meeting 7th November
Acting-President Barry Smith welcomed all present to the 2016 ESVGA Annual General Meeting.
Treasurer Rod Coling presented all financials. These indicated another successful year.
Dave Cockroft’s President Report, which was read out by Alan Teather, congratulated all committee and playing members on a most successful year.
AGM elections, which were presided over by Michael Mulcahy, resulted in the following committee members being elected unopposed:
President: Ron Hottes
Vice-President: Barry Smith
Secretary: Neil Muller
Treasurer: Rod Coling
Ordinary Members John Hall, Ashley Mitchell, Tom Tarrant, Alan Teather, *Gary Thompson, *Dave Waters and *Derek Wilson (*newly elected)
New President Ron Hottes thanked this committee for accepting the responsibility of working on behalf of all ESVGA members.
New ESVGA President Ron Hottes
Life Member Tom Tarrant spoke most eloquently in bestowing upon Dave Rogers (Chirnside Park) his well-deserved Life Membership. Congratulations, Dave.
New ESVGA Life Member Dave Rogers
This concluded the formalities of the day on a very happy note.
Barry Smith – Vice President
(Posted 11/10/2016)
Cardinia Beaconhills Stableford 9th October
Beaconsfield was one of the areas of Melbourne more affected by the storm on the Sunday.
As members approached Beacon Hills Golf Links, this became quite obvious…large tree limbs and branches down throughout the exposed part of the course. Chainsaws were kept very busy with tray trucks carting branches and bushes away.
Rod Coling avoiding Sunday’s storm damage
There was no power. Rod and John on the receipt table were taking entries almost in the dark and members were back to filling-in one’s card as there were no “auto-cards”. The club was able to resurrect a generator which kept the fridges going and our meat for the raffle fresh.
The Beacon Hills’ pro-shop, office and catering did a marvellous job. They allowed us to reduce the numbers by six down to 93 and even provided six-point sandwiches!
It wasn’t an easy day for golf, but most people felt that a visit in 2017 would be very worthwhile.
We have included a photo of one of the committee. He didn’t have the best of days, but in the photo, he looked like he was playing well !!
Barry Smith, Vice President ESVGA
(Posted 11/10/2016)
Notice of Annual General Meeting, 7th November
The Annual General Meeting of the East Suburban Veterans Golfers Association will be held at the Yering Meadows Golf Club on Monday 7th November at 1.30 PM. The agenda will be emailed to members soon.
Neil Muller, Secretary ESVGA
(Posted 21/9/2016)
Teams Championship – Belvoir Park, Bendigo
ESVGA Teams 1 & 2 Left -Right: Neil Muller, Max Baxter, Brent Coussins, Peter Noar, Barry Smith (seated) & David Waters.
Victorian Veteran Golfers Association Teams Championship
Belvoir Park Golf Club, Ravenswood (aka Bendigo)
Belvoir Park Golf Club is located 15 km south of Bendigo and 1km north of Ravenswood just off the Calder Highway. It’s a very rural bushland course with undulating fairways, well-manicured greens and generally friendly bunkers. Its slope rating is 126. Nineteen of the twenty-one Victorian districts were represented by approximately 130 players in thirty-six teams of three.
Team One: Brent Coussins, Neil Muller (both Yering Meadows) and David Waters (Churchill Park)
Team Two: Max Baxter (RACV Club), Peter Noar (Eastern), and Barry Smith (Ivanhoe) were the ESVGA representatives.
Unfortunately Chui Goh and Gerard Fogarty had to withdraw from the event and we thank them for their willingness to partake.
Team 2: L-R Max Baxter, Peter Noar & Barry Smith.
Sunday was a “practice day” with a stableford round for Men and Ladies. (Kathleen Smith came along to play golf and to ensure that Barry didn’t get lonely at nights!) Our scores on that day ranged from the mid 20’s to mid 30’s with Max performing best with 34. A BBQ was held after the round.
Showers threatened early on the Monday, but most players ended their rounds in tee shirts as the day turned out to be a beautiful one. Team One scored 94 points, while Team Two accumulated 90 points. Fortunately, two members of Team Two had much better scores than their rounds at Rosanna the week before!
(Victorian Veterans Golf Club, which for some strange reason, was able to enter three teams, scored the quinella with 104 and 97 points respectively.)
The hospitality was most forthright with the BPGC ladies organising afternoon tea. Players sat in their playing foursomes. It was very friendly and social. That night men and women attended the Kangaroo Sports Club for a most appetising two-course meal. Unfortunately, ESVGA representatives didn’t realise you needed to get their early to obtain a table together and we were dotted about the room. Still, it was an excellent evening.
Tuesday was a total washout. Approaching the golf course, rivers of water could be seen running down two of the fairways that bordered the outside fences. That said enough. The winners were as per Monday’s scores with 39 points by Jeff Taylor from the Victorian Veteran Golf Club of being the best individual.
Sadly, the effort and preparation by the Belvoir Park Golf Club for the second day were thwarted by the weather. Our teams had commendable results with Team 1 finishing in equal 6th position and Team 2 in the top fifteen. All six ESVGA members thoroughly enjoyed their time at Belvoir Park.
Barry Smith
(Posted 25/7/2016)
Heidelberg Stableford Event 11th July
Booked shelved between wet days our first ever game at Heidelberg Golf Course was a great success. For those who didn’t play the course was in surprisingly good condition for this time of year with only a few wet patches to contend with. The weather was mostly sunny, cold and very windy. We plan to retain Heidelberg in next years program.
Heidelberg Hole 2 Par 3
The next game is at Churchill Park on 8th August. As announced at the Heidelberg game by our President Dave Cockroft, the next event will be a “getting to know you” event. This suggestion came from one of our members and was accepted by your committee. The only exception will be for members with carts, so if you are sharing carts you will need to contact Barry Smith when booking.
(Posted 11/5/2016)
Waterford Valley Stableford Event 9th May
With 4 holes to play we were hit by a severe storm and most golfers headed for the club house. Only 6 of the 90 that played, kept going and finished their round. With driving rain and flooded greens the course was deemed unplayable. I think we were all looking forward to playing at this new course and it was disappointing the weather was not kind. Hopefully we will play at Waterford Valley in 2017.
Many thanks to Waterford Valley for offering a prize of a round of golf for two with a cart, valued at $130. The lucky winner was John McFarlane. No prizes were awarded but each player received a ball instead.
Neil Muller, Secretary ESVGA
(Posted 21/4/2016)
Golf Trip to Barnbougle Dunes & Lost Farm
Aaron Cox the golf professional at Gardiners Run is organising a golf trip down to Barnbougle Dunes & Lost Farm in October. ESVGA members are welcome to join and details can be downloaded on the flyer below. The price per person is all inclusive of all travel to and from Launceston. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Aaron at the Gardiners Run Golf Course or via the email address shown on the flyer.
Click this link to download trip details
(Posted 17/4/2016)
Members Questionnaire – Meat Raffle
At the Warburton game President Dave Cockroft announced that the committee is considering changes to the way we conduct the meat raffle and the subsequent increase in your game day costs. The committee is seeking the views of members before making this change. You should have received an email with a link that directs you to the SurveyMonkey website where you can complete the questionnaire. If you have not received the email, please contact secretary Neil Muller via the contact page.
Thank you for your participation!
Neil Muller, Secretary ESVGA
(Posted 16/1/2016)
Highlights from Eastwood 11th January.
Eastwood Golf course was in very good condition but did test many members with lightning fast greens.
A very good field of 117 attended with 37 home players and didn’t they prove a point! Of the nine vouchers awarded on the day, seven of the winners were from Eastwood. Congratulations to Bill, Bruce and Phil for winning their respective grades.
NTP awards were not Eastwood biased with Peter, Ray and Godfrey being members of three different clubs.
All committee members worked diligently on the day and except for one or two players who forgot that it was an 8.00 am start, all ran smoothly. Special thanks to Luke Bower for organising the printed cards and Alan Teather spent considerable time assisting with the recording of results for those members having problems.
New members Dave Lazenby (Eastwood), Ron Washington (Yarra Valley), Phil Pearson (Eastwood), Rick Hendy (Eastwood), Jack Kerin (Eastwood), Barry Cooke (Chirnside Park) and Peter Ridgewell (Chirnside Park) were welcomed by President Dave and he thanked Eastwood staff for their hospitality.
Ron Poon receives his certificate for 25 years continuous membership of the ESVGA from President Dave Cockroft at Eastwood Golf Club.
Jack Melki received a replacement certificate for his life membership and Ron Poon was delighted (and surprised) to gain his 25 year membership certificate. All present indicated appreciation of both players’ time and effort for the ESVGA.
Garry kept the Eastwood flag waving by winning one of the meat trays along with John from Box Hill.
Barry Smith for the ESVGA Committee
