AGM REMINDER
The 2024 Annual General Meeting for all eligible golfing members will be held on Tuesday 23rd July, 7pm for a 7.30pm start. If you have not received your copy of the Annual Report, you can speak with one of our office staff who will gladly assist.

PATH REPAIRS
Our cart path program will continue in the next few days, weather permitting, with repair works on the 10th and 16th. Please be mindful of the construction areas and take notice of any direction ropes or GUR signs.HARRY SAMMUT’s UPDATE
Harry is currently in the United States undergoing further life-saving treatment. Thank you to all those who have helped with thoughts, prayers and much needed donations.

You can still donate by going to https://gofund.me/5c020864

You can also follow Harry’s journey through his Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/HarrysFightAgainstNeuroblastoma

I’d like to thank you for your patience over the past couple of weeks with shotgun starts, course closure and cart restrictions. With this unpredictable weather it has at times been a day to day proposition. Please regularly check the member’s portal for updates, particularly if we get rain overnight because sometimes course and cart decisions have to be made in the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately, we can’t always rely on weather forecasts. The shotgun starts have worked well thanks to your co-operation and great work by Jo and the Pro Shop Staff.

HARMONY FAREWELL
After 17years years at Cumberland, Peter and Crystal Wong have decided it’s time to retire and take it easy. The Board will be hosting Peter and Crystal Wong for a farewell dinner on Sunday 14th July.

Members are encouraged to book your favourite table should you wish to join us to show your appreciation for what they have done for the club in putting “Harmony at Cumberland” on the map as the best restaurant of its kind in western Sydney.

You will also get the opportunity to meet Andrew Liu who will take over the restaurant business and continue the Harmony tradition.

Bookings can be made via the restaurant as normal.

As we reach the midpoint of the year and, except for the past 2 weeks, the weather couldn’t be more ideal for golf. Looking back at last year, we faced considerable challenges with persistent rain disrupting play for weeks, often leaving the course unplayable. All things considered the winter rains haven’t affected the course as much as last year when we had to make changes to holes that were badly affected by the consistent rains.

As you are all aware we are now in July and Saturday shotgun starts are once again allowing members to get a round of golf in daylight during winter. With the winter solstice behind us, which marks the midpoint of winter in Australia, we now look forward to increasing daylight hours and gradually rising temperatures as the Southern Hemisphere progresses towards spring and summer. We plan to continue with ‘Shotgun’ starts until the end of August pending review by the match committee.

Our Foursomes Championships have once more been affected by adverse weather conditions. Despite successfully completing the first round without carts, only a courageous few persevered through the challenging weather. Regrettably, we had to postpone the second round and reschedule it for Saturday, July 13th.

Regarding our Master Pennant team, despite a couple of disappointing seasons that led to Cumberland being relegated to Division 3, we have turned things around. We finished the regular season undefeated, and on Sunday, June 30th, we defeated Campbelltown in the semi-final. This impressive victory not only secures our place in the final but also marks Cumberland’s return to Division 2.

I’d like to wish the team all the best of luck in next week’s final (venue TBA) and hope they bring home a well-deserved Master Pennant title. If you have the time, come along and support Cumberland. I know the team would love to see you all there.

July is a busy month for our pennant teams. Sunday July the 7th our Eric Apperley team commences their season followed by our Super Seniors on Monday the 15th July and then commencing on the 21st July, our Warren & Gibson sides commence. Again, if you have time please come and support our Club. Your support is always valued and welcomed.

Our Junior Championship also had to be deferred due to poor weather. I am happy to advise members that the championships were played over 2 rounds Sat 29th & Sun 30th June. After enduring extremely difficult course conditions I am happy to announce that our 2024 Junior Champion is Liam Sherry. I know Liam would be very excited as will both his mum and dad.

2024 PENNANT TEAMS
Congratulations to the following players who have been selected to represent Cumberland in the upcoming Pennant seasons
Super Seniors
Steven Greene (Cpt), Peter Lavercombe, Phil Britton, Michael Rolls, John Kiddle, Bruce Lee, Grant Boatswain, Kerry Whitby, James Park, Sonny Sun, Ed Gielarowski (Manager)
Warren Trophy
Gary Stephens (Cpt), Lee Dunks, Michael Scott, Michael Simari, Michael Randall, Davin Peters, Sean Kennarney, Michael Holovinsky, Andrew Black (Manager)
Gibson Trophy Chris Clifford (Cpt) Chris Wering, Micael Ford, James Walkinshaw, Jinho Choi, Kevin Park Aaron Lewis, Nick Aravantinos, Denis Clifford (Manager)
Eric Apperly
Bailey Leafe, Luke McSweeny, Josh Madeleine, Blake Komorowski, Jeremey Gormley, Isaac Earl, Patrick Xie, Alexander Dellar, Liam Sherry, Alex Foreman (Manager)

Good golfing,
Darren “The Fox” Stocks
Club Captain

Winter golf is a reality all golfers must contend with. The colder weather and shorter days significantly impact playing conditions and course management regardless of location. Just look at the weather these past weeks!

During winter, grass growth slows down or stops completely, preventing the golf course from recovering from traffic, divots, ball marks, and other wear and tear. Damage sustained during winter can persist well into spring because the grass grows slowly. Even a few rounds can cause lasting damage. Worn areas from cart traffic and accumulating divots are prime examples of winter play damage that tends to linger.

The turf on the temporary greens will shortly show signs of hibernation during winter, it will turn dusty brown, however in May we have witnessed good root growth, and the mowing has been lowered from 25mm to 18mm. We are now seeing the benefit of installing these greens prior to the construction of enabling works, as we identified some issues/problems and now able to resolve them prior to playing on them. For example, we have witnessed that the lower side of the greens were substantially wet as the weather changes to cooler days and nights and reduced daylight. In the coming months, we are planning to install a smiley face drainage line on the lower side of the greens to pick up surface and subsurface runoff. The benefit of doing this now will reduce impact on members before we play on them.

Managing winter play is always challenging, balancing the high demand for golf with limited turf recovery, risking poor playing conditions in the spring. However, members can assist by understanding the realities of the season and using common sense when moving around the course. The message is, please show our course some love and respect during winter, do whatever you can do to care for it.

Notables
• Freshwater dam on the 12th is at 100% capacity. The 2nd dams are at 100% capacity, while the 5th dam is at 90% capacity.
• Treatments are ongoing on all dams to reduce surface algae.
• The Calcium application program continues on fairways and tees to further improve the soil structure.
• June’s weather has been unlike previous winter weather, with 165mm of rain received during the month.
• We have received the new battery-operated Jacobsen Eclipse 360- Elite greens mower and have commenced mowing a number of the greens with it. Battery operated machinery are the future and moves Cumberland into a more sustainable environmental space, this machine uses no oil or petroleum and provides the greenest, quietest and highest quality cut available.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate the Master Pennant team on two fronts, one for their undefeated season and elevation into division 2 for next year and their display of sportsmanship throughout the season in the true Cumberland spirit.

Hello all, as mentioned in last month’s ENews we were preparing to host the Ladies Bronze 2 Pennant teams on Friday June 7. It poured rain all the previous evening, so the course was extremely wet and unfortunately it rained intermittently during the day making conditions very tough. Robyn Hannaford and Cecilia Hwang still braved the conditions and did a wonderful job being spotters and keeping the crows away from stealing golf balls. Thank You ladies, and also thank you for the support provided by Anne Carr, Sujung Lee and our Captain Kate Stuart back in the clubhouse helping with the hospitality.

This month we hold our next Open Day on July 9 where we celebrate Christmas in July. I’m hoping that we have a number of visitors from other clubs which always adds to the success of the day.

Finally, on a social note our Vice Captain Michelle McPherson has just returned from a wonderful trip to Ireland where she spent time with our previous President Brenda Kennedy. Judging by the photos I can see that both of them had a great time.

Until next month, happy golfing

Judy Attwood
Ladies President

After 5 months of competition, Cumberland lady’s pennant season has come to a close. Our Bronze 11 team battled it out till the final whistle at Asquith last Friday, narrowly defeated by Pymble, 2/3.

The Shield winners weren’t decided until this final round, and it was a nailbiter! Muirfield were the victors for the second year in a row, squaring overall match points with North Ryde and just ahead (2.5) in games.

L-R: Sujung Lee; Kay Pary; Sun Hee Lee; Lisa Kim; Mi Sook Oh. Kate Stuart (Ladies Captain)

Congratulations and thank you to all our players from NSW Grade, Western Districts -Bronze 1 and Northern Districts – Bronze 11, for participating in and representing Cumberland during the year. Special thanks also to the host day volunteers, our Korean liaison – Cecilia Hwang, and our team managers, Michelle McPherson and Di Morgan. None of this would have been possible without your enthusiasm and dedication to the cause.

Playing representative golf for Cumberland is available for everyone. This week we’re in with a chance at Camden Lakeside as our team of Carolina Dharmadi and Judith Hilaney tee off in the Pewter Plate, a Golf NSW event for ladies with a GA between 29.1 and 54.4. This is an 18-hole aggregate Stableford competition at a fantastic course, good luck ladies!

Back at Cumberland, we’re getting ready for a full month of great golf. Get your team ready for Christmas in July, it’s on next week, followed up by our monthly medal and the final round of the ‘Chick o’the Walk’.

I’ll have all the updates and winners for you in the next bulletin.

Hello again from golf central at Banners Golf Cumberland.

Just when we seem to be getting back to normal, here comes the rain again and tops up the already soaked golf course. Luckily, we have plenty in July to keep everyone occupied as we again wait for the golf course to dry out!

This Friday sees Mizuno club fitting from 10am to 4pm. Make sure to check your emails or call us direct to book in. We only have a few spots left so don’t miss out. In the shop we have the usual great selection of winter and wet weather gear to get you through the next few months and all the latest clubs to come in and demo on the course before you buy.

Our MGI buggy sales continue to thrive with plenty of players taking the opportunity to get back to walking the course the easy way. With the rain keeping golf carts off the course quite a lot lately, now is a great time to test out one of our remote control buggies and get back to walking the course where possible.

Our kids School Holiday Clinics have been a huge success over the years and this school holidays promise to do the same. With two clinics scheduled for the 11th and 18th of July, all you have to do is drop off a child at 9am and collect them at 3pm. Places are limited so call us immediately to secure your booking and some well-earned peace and quiet.

Finally, this month’s tip comes from one of the greatest players of all time, the mostly glued together nowadays, Tiger Woods. Tiger says; “hit the middle of the clubface. Swing as fast as you like as long as you can guarantee contact with the centre. If you can’t guarantee centre contact, then slow down your swing until you can”

Thanks Tiger – seems to have worked ok for him – maybe there is something in that ….

Well hopefully the rain goes away soon and we can all get back out onto the fairways, but rain or not, feel free anytime to come into the shop and remember – Banners Golf – this is where you get great service.

For any of your golfing needs call into the Pro Shop and talk to our friendly staff. Joanne, Matthew, Myo, Arthur, Luke, Alex and the Juniors