Club's New Bank Account (VERY IMPORTANT)

EYE OF THE EAGLE

NEWSLETTER

AUTUMN 2016

Autumn is here

I hope you have enjoyed your golf over the summer months, but thankfully summer has ended and autumn will provide a much more pleasant time to enjoy our favourite game. Hit them longer and straighter.

New member

We have a new member Graham Hardy whose application was approved at the February Management Committee meeting. Please make Graham welcome as he gets his handicap and fully participates in the life of the club.

Club's new bank account (VERY IMPORTANT)

Please note that because the Westpac branch at North Tamborine closed recently, we have transferred our accounts to the NAB branch near the Shell servo. Please direct all Direct Deposits to BSB 084835, Acc. No. 258230401 for all your payments to the club and don't forget to indicate your name and an identifier for the payment, e.g. Radunz, ann. fee.

Parking

Now that the new cart sheds are in place, parking space has necessarily been reduced. Please park sensibly and if the upper carpark is full, drive to the lower carpark.

Balls being hit from the practice nets

Some inconsiderate individuals have been randomly hitting balls from outside the nets down the fairways and not retrieving them. Very poor form indeed. Not only does their presence cause confusion for those of us who occasionally (very occasionally) stray from the fairways in finding and identifying our ball, they interfere with the mowers, so please STOP whoever you are. To that end, the committee has been forced to remove the balls kindly donated by members. Please do not put any more there. When you do practise your swing for a warm up, take your own balls to the net and remove them when you are finished.

Designated Outdoor Smoking Areas (DOSAs)

Smoking is not permitted inside the clubhouse of course.

What about the front and rear decks? You need to be aware of the regulatory controls pertaining to the marked areas on the front deck and on the rear concrete that are delineated by the paired white lines and signs. TMGC holds a Community Club licencefor the sale of liquor in the clubhouse and under the State's tobacco laws, the Management Committee has designated two outdoor smoking areas (DOSAs)in which smoking is allowed. Significantly, you can drink there as well, BUT you must NOT take food or eat there. That includes ANY food such as potato crisps and peanuts.

No food is allowed in the DOSAs, nor in the buffer area between the white lines separating the two sections. The exhaled tobacco smoke must know not to cross the buffer area into the non-smoking area, regardless of the wind direction. Funny thing that!

Note that you may carry your own drinks into the DOSAs but Toni is not allowed to serve you there, only collect empty glasses.

The regulations are primarily enforced by Queensland Health Environmental Health Officers (EHOs), who can:

• issue individuals warnings and on-the-spot fines
• issue businesses improvement notices, warnings and on-the-spot fines
• initiate legal proceedings for breaches of the tobacco laws
• respond to complaints
• inspect premises
• provide advice about the tobacco laws

You can be fined $234on the spot and the club $1,170 for breaches so I ask that you observe the rules. Please do not put Toni, Andy or the committee members in the unenviable position of having to ask you to comply with the regulations. I certainly don't want to have to chip our members.

It is of interest too that the police can also enforce these rules.

What if yourplaying partner has a cardiac arrest on the course?

To the newer members, I draw your attention to the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), a portable electronic device that is housed in the metal box on the post beside the drink fountain at the 14th tee. The code for the combination lock is the postcode for Tamborine Mountain 4272, then press the top of the lock down,the lock will then release and you can access the AED. Feel free to have a practice run with the lock at any time, it may be useful if you ever have to do it in a hurry.

Rush them immediately to the box - minutes saved can save a life. The AED has simple directions for use and tells you what to do by verbal stepwise instructions. There is no fear of its incorrectly providing stimulation as it first checks whether the patient's heart needs a shock or not.

Note that it is only useful for irregular heart beats and is not suitable for a heart attack resulting from blocked blood vessels. In that case, CPR alone is the only action. The AED will detect the difference.

YOU MUST APPLY THE TWO PADS OF THE AEDTO THE BARE CHEST WITHIN A FEW MINUTES FOR A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME. Do not touch the patient once the pads have been attached.

For more information, watch this short video.

Once the AED has delivered the shock, start CPR immediately.

Who is the Club's Captain at the moment?

You might be aware that our Club Captain John Staffsmith has taken up temporay residence in his motel in Lismore. Vice Captain Scotty Legge, ably assisted by KalebO'Bree, has stepped into the breach admirably over the past several months. Todd Blocksidge(who has been Captain in the past) has offered to join them on the committee as a Committee Member to asist as well until John returns.

How to correctly repair a pitch mark on the green

It is essential that all players are diligent in their repair of pitchmarks on greens. A pitchmark that is repaired correctly will recover quickly whereas an unrepairedpitchmark left unattended will take many weeks to recover.

Do this:

1. From the back of the mark, push forward with your pitch mark repairer, NOT tees or keys
2. Then leverthe turf towards the centre of the mark fromthe perimeter. Do NOT lift the centre upwards as this will kill the grass roots.
3. When level, lightly tap down to flatten the repaired pitchmark with the putter base.

How to correctly repair a divot

Please carry and use a sand bucket (otherwise Wayne and or Jimmy will have a few short words to say to you!)

1. Repair divots both on the fairways and in the rough.
2. Remove any loose turf from the divot. Do NOTreplace the dislodged divot in the hole as it will not grow again.
3. Knock in anytorn and raised edgesinward with your club or your shoe.
4. Lightly add sand and brush it over with your shoe creating a smooth playing surface. Do not overfill as the mower blades will be worn excessively.
5. Avoid walking on bare patches in order to give the grass an opportunity to recover.

Juniors'group

Glenn McAtamney is not coordinating the Juniors' group any more and we plan to recommence the program later in the year. Watch this space.

Check the latestnews on Facebook

New items for the club

1. The new concrete cart path on the 5th will be installed in mid March.
2. A new Public Address systeminside the clubhouse has been installed.
3. The outside speaker systemthat sounds very crackly will also be upgraded.
4. Kevin Arnold's donated computer has been professionally installed in the office for Nadia to use in place of the unit provided by Mike Molson many years ago. Thanks for those Mike and Kevin. We had to buy one of the few remaining copies of an older version of Microsoft Office to continue the familiarity for Nadia.

Work on the Course

1. The greens are scheduled for a scarifying renovation on Monday the 18th of April. Note the course will be closed for the Monday, Tuesday and possibly even the Wednesday too.
2. The large pile of collected wooden material at the fire pit has been burnt down so we now have room for more tree pruning.
3. We are removing the pile of metal next to the machinery shed progressively to tidy up that area.

Grant receivedfor club promotion

Roger Wilson is planning how we will spend the $8,000 grant from the OLGR for the promotion of the club with a view to increasing membership. We have around 190 members at the moment and an increase to 220 or so would give the club a stronger footing.

Trivia night

The event held on Friday 19thFebruary was well received, so much so that another one is scheduled for May sometime and we hope to see you all there. For the next event Todd Blocksidgewill give Bruce Brown a break from the duties of comparing.

Plans for the future

We have applied for a grant of $35,000 from the Office of Gaming and Liquor Regulation to refurbish at least part on the interior of the clubhouse. Unfortunately, because we were awarded a grant recently in August 2014, we are unlikely to receive the money in this round but we plan to resubmit in July for consideration in the next round 88 of grant allocations.

We have also applied for three other grants that will allow us to purchase equipment that we do not currently have and we should hear the outcomes over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.

The management committee would like to be in a position to buy an additional machinery shed to house the tractors that are currently parked out in the weather which is not good for their long-term operation.

Volunteers who are mowing the roughs

Many thanks to the members who are replacing the hard-working Fred Bakker who is preparing to leave the mountain. The little group has worked out the best techniques in driving the blue Iseki roughs mower used to keep the roughs in check. Your work is much appreciated.

Sponsors

Please note who our sponsors are and use their businesses where you can. And don't forget to tell them when you are there that you are from the golf club and that you appreciate their generosity and support. Most also give discounts when told you are a club member.

Who cut the branch down?

I must respond to the criticisms received about cutting the lowest branch from the camphor laurel tree on the right of the fourth fairway. There were several reasonsthat were well considered by the members of the greens committee. Firstly, for safety as it was hanging precariously, secondly, it was blocking the access of the roughs mower, and lastly, its removal will allow more light on the ground to encourage more grass growth to slow the level of soil erosion under the tree.

There are reports of abusive attacks on some members of the committee, some of whom had no input into that decision at all. I find this behaviourreprehensible, to attack those who are working very hard for your club is simply just not on.

I will not have members of the committee abused and if it happens again, I will be speaking to the offenders. I trust you know who you are. Any complaints must be in writing to the committee. Better still, don't complain. If you don't like what is being done then join the hard workers and contribute yourself. It is easy to sit back and carp but not so easy to put in the work.

Should you decide to offer your services, your input will be most welcome and by becoming involved you might realise how much effort goes in to keeping the course in top shape.

Replacement for Andy Koureas

The Management Committee wishes to inform the Club members that the process of appointing a replacement Professional as a Contractor,to start in August probably,is well advanced with interviews taking place. Announcements will be made soon.

Quiz corner

1. What would you rather be doing than playing a round of golf? Answer, playing two rounds of golf!

Good hitting

Leon Radunz

President and acting Newsletter editor (still waiting for a replacement)

Under the regulations of the Office of Fair Trading the management committee is required to inform the membership that the club has a public liability insurance cover of $10 million.

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