Dear members,

Match Committee Composition

I am pleased to advise a new member of the Match Committee, Paul Smith.

Paul generally plays with the EBs on Wednesday mornings.  I look forward to the contribution Paul will make to the Match Committee.

Major Events

It would be fair to say that April was a busy month with many major events.

Our Junior Open was held on Friday 5 April with 118 players, with 12 of those being off scratch or better handicap.  This would likely have been our strongest field for many years if not our strongest field of all time.

During the week 8 - 12 April, we hosted the Australian Junior Amateur.  Golf Australia and the visiting players provided positive feedback to us on the condition of the course along with how our army of volunteers and members in general engaged with the tournament throughout the week.  The successful hosting of a national event is something we should all be proud of.

A capacity field contested the Men's Senior Open on Friday 19 April - with Gosnells members winning all 3 sections of the event.

Russell Goldsworthy was announced as the GGC Senior Open winner with a great score of 71, John Cameron won the best nett with a score of 68 and Alan Connolly won the stableford section with a score of 39 points.  Well done to you all.

The Gosnells Open ( Men's and Women's) was then played on the weekend of 20 and 21 April - again with a capacity field.  The men's title was won by Joe Buttress (Western Australia Golf Club) who defeated Spencer Harrison (Royal Perth Golf Club) on the first hole of a sudden playoff.  The women's title was won by Erina Tan (Mt Lawley Golf Club).

April was rounded out with our annual ANZAC Day competition.  Congratulations to Barrie Beadell who won the Bill McGhie Perpetual Trophy with a great score of 40 points.  Geoff Millar won the returned service personnel section of the competition for the third consecutive year.  Well done Barrie and Geoff.

On Friday 10 May our run of major events concluded with the Women's Silver Bronze - again with a strong field of 90 players.  Congratulations to Andy Riggir for winning the Bronze Division and Kyoungin Rho (WAGC) for winning the Silver Division. 

A big thank you to all members who played, watched or volunteered in these events.  From a playing point of view, these events are important to give our members the opportunity to compete against players from near and far on our own course.  Our Open events are also an opportunity to showcase our course and our welcoming nature as a club - all good opportunities to advertise what we can offer to potential members.

 Pennants Update

Our Senior Men's pennant teams, both individual and 4BBB have now finished their pennant seasons.  Whilst we have no pennant flags from these teams, it was great to see the strong interest held by members in playing pennants for Gosnells.

Our Women's Weekday and Weekend Teams are now 3 weeks into their season.  Of note our Women's Division 1 (Weekend) side and our Women's Weekday Division 3 are so far undefeated.  Our Women's Division 1 side play at Gosnells this week so please come and support your team.

Check in to Pro Shop

All members should be aware of the requirement to check in with the pro shop before playing on the course.  A gentle reminder that this applies to everyone.

No Shows

If you are booked on the timesheet but are unable to play, it is your responsibility to ensure you are removed from the timesheet.  As a matter of courtesy to your fellow members, please ensure you either remove yourself from the timesheet through the members portal or call the Pro Shop.  If you do not show up for your booked game, you can expect to be contacted.

 Rules Corner

Whilst it was great to have water in our 9^th / 18^th lake during April, sadly it has now returned to a dry lake.

From Saturday 18 May, the 9^th / 18^th penalty area will return to a "No Play Zone".  This means that you can not play from the penalty area and you must take relief under rule 17.1d.

Of note, there will be no drop zone for either the 9^th or 18^th hole.  The drop zone remains for the 15^th hole.

The following are your options under Rule 17.1d, where the ball is known or virtually certain to be in the penalty area (each involves one penalty stroke);

• Play the original ball or another ball from where the previous stroke was made
• Back of line relief - keeping the estimated point where the original ball last crossed the penalty area and the hole - the player may drop as far back from this point as they wish.
• Lateral Relief - two club lengths from the estimated point where the ball last crossed the penalty area - but not nearer the hole

For a full explanation of the above rule, I encourage you to refer to the R&A website, the R&A App or the MiScore App. 

Glen Tueno 

Club Captain