August ENews
BOARD ELECTION RESULTS
The following directors have been elected unopposed for the next two years.
President – Denis Clifford; Vice President – Elias Saab; Treasurer – Robert Shield; Captain – Shannon Bridger; Vice Captain – Martin Smith; Directors Sonny Sun and Gary Stephens.
We appreciate the faith that members have shown in us, and we commit to continue to ensure proper governance of the club and delivery of our development project.
Our Patron, fifty-year member, Gary Livesley was also re-elected.
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Fleming’s have commenced construction works on the Course and are moving ahead at a phenomenal rate. Thank you for your patience and co-operation as you navigate the temporary course. Hopefully you’ll find some interesting new challenges. The relatively short-term disruption will be worth the finished product.
NEW CARTS
Our new carts have arrived and have a number of improvements on our previous five year old fleet. The not so good news is that our lease costs have nearly doubled and we have had to make the decision to increase cart hire for members to $35 and visitors to $50 per round. While its no consolation, it’s worth noting that other comparable clubs are charging members $40.
FIFTY YEAR MEMBERS
At our recent AGM we acknowledged fifty years of membership for three members, Gary Livesley, Stewart Manson and Lee Thurbon. Fifty years of loyalty to any club or organisation is a fantastic achievement and we congratulate them for reaching this milestone.
PUTT FOR PROSTATE (MENS HEALTH DAY FUNDRAISER)
The PFP event is the initiative of member Andy Gatti who 12 years ago, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, wanted to raise awareness of the importance of regular health check-ups. Each year Andy donates the winner’s prize and the additional competition fees are matched by the club. This year’s event raised $2,580 that will be donated to prostate cancer research.
Winner of this year’s event is Trent Haines with a score of 47 points (hcp 12).
Denis Clifford (Club President)
Hello members, I hope your golf ball is flying straight! Another month has flown by, and by now I’m sure you have all seen that our course works are well under way. Please be mindful of operating machinery while you are in the vicinity of the works.
I would ask that if you hit a golf ball in the construction area while work is going on, please leave it there and move to the designated drop zones.
While we are playing the temporary course which has a number of Par 3’s, I would ask that you consider calling up to help improve the pace of play. It goes without saying that once the group behind has acknowledged the call up please move to a safe space at the back of green.
Late cancellations have been a hot topic in the Board room. As members we all have the right to book in and cancel out as we see fit. However, leaving your cancellation to the last minute is probably preventing someone else from playing who is looking for a game. At this time, I would ask that you try to cancel the day before so the wait list can operate and players who were unable to book in have a chance to play. So, you know, we do monitor cancellations as it helps with understanding time sheet patterns and potential repeat offenders who are repeatedly pulling out late.
Our winners from July were as follows
A Grade Medal – Isaak Pemble (-1) 68 c/b
B Grade Medal – Jamie Bramston (17) 64
C Grade Medal – Yongjin Oh (27) 70
Clubs Championships:
You may have seen Golf Australia’s recent announcement that GolfLink will be replaced by GolfConnect, with a national go-live date of October 2. As part of this changeover, there will be a two-week handicap blackout period, meaning no handicapped events can be run during that time.
Unfortunately, this has created a direct conflict with the scheduling of our Club Championships, which rely on accurate handicap data prior to and throughout the event. As a result, we are unable to run the Club Championships on the originally planned October dates and have had to move the dates of the 2025 Club Championship as below:
- Round 1: 15/16 November
- Round 2: 22/23 November
- Round 3: 29 November
- Round 4: 30 November
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience, however this change is entirely out of our control. Every club across Australia is navigating the same issue, and we appreciate your understanding and flexibility.
Keep up the great golf!
Shannon Bridger
Club Captain
With the commencement of the Course Enabling Works (CEW), many of us have now played the new temporary green on the 2nd and have seen the development of the creek on the up ramp to the second green.
The creek serves two purposes: to carry the Boral water from the 7TH dam into the second dam, while minimising the impact to the surrounding area during weather episode. The other is to increase the challenge of playing this hole as it now offers a reward for risk element.
With the recent installation of a temporary bridge, play has commenced on the stage 2 course and the playing of the par 3 (2B) into the original 2nd green. Two new bridges are being built off site and will be delivered in September.
The second temporary situated on the 4th hole has now been brought into play, while Fleming’s commence building the new green, dam and surrounds situated in the hollow of the existing 4th. The following stage, shaping the new hole incorporating the remaining 4th and 5th holes will progress concurrently.
On completion of these two stages, Flemings will move onto stage 3, the enlarging of the 9th dam and the construction of the two finishing holes. At this point golfers will play the temporary greens on current 9th and 18th.
Many of you have noticed raised sandbank on the land between the 12th dams, this is a progressive action to build a greens nursery with the planting of turf salvaged from the course enabling works. The location was selected due to proximity to fresh water and maximised sun light. .
Please refer to new course direction signage and never enter the work zones for your own safety.
The club’s website now has a development tile on the home page, providing links to development drawings and documentation.
Winter is problematic for course maintenance, as the cold weather restricts the growth of grass and with the amount of traffic Cumberland receives, we ask you to treat the course with respect. Fill in divots, repair lob marks and rake bunkers, basically treat your course as you wish to be treated.
Our team of 8 green staff lead by our talented superintendent Matthew Turner continue to present the course superbly week in week out but disappointingly unfixed lob marks and unraked bunkers ruin this!
Martin Smith
Vice Captain
Chair of the Greens Committee
LADIES PRESIDENT REPORT
On Tuesday 15th July we held our annual Christmas in July event. It was pleasing firstly in that it didn’t rain(!). Secondly, we had a great response from other clubs fielding approximately 100 ladies, and thirdly everyone got into the spirit of the day by dressing in Christmas colours, which helped add to the day’s fun and enjoyment.
Tuesday 12th August we will welcome visitors from Muirfield as their own course will be closed for maintenance. Our next Open day will be our Cancer Awareness Day on 7th October. Meanwhile we can only hope that as we come towards the end of winter we can be spared all this rain.
The ground staff are keeping us well supplied with sand across the course, so let’s put it to good use and fill in not just our own divots, but those we see along our way.
Keep well and warm. Be patient with the evolving course layout and most importantly play and enjoy good golf.
Barbara Cocks
Ladies President
Ladies Captain’s Report
Just when we were getting some great winter days for playing golf, the extreme rain made an annoying return. As a result of the course closure, the Silver and Bronze I Salvers and the Bronze II Plaque will be rescheduled to Tuesday 19th August.
Our Christmas in July event on Tuesday 15/7 was a huge success this year with a field of 108 players. It was wonderful to welcome so many visitors from other Sydney clubs, and to have them praise our course and join in the fun event and festivities on the day. Thank you to Barb, Tricia and helpers for their hard work in setting up and decorating to make the day extra special.
The 2025 Chick of the Walk has been won by Won Kim. Well done and Congratulations!
Unfortunately, the final match between Won and Diane Nam could not be played due to Diane hurriedly having her appendix removed the day before the final. Wishing Diane a very speedy recovery, and back to golf soon.
The newly formatted combination of The Coronation Medal, Bronze Medallion and Pewter Plate events – The Women’s Club Challenge, will take place on Monday 11 August at Mona Vale GC and Elanora CC. Good luck to our team Eunmi Pyun, Jina Lee and Jane Boo playing at Mona Vale and SuJin Yoo, Cecilia Hwang and Jenny Choi playing at Elanora. Go team Cumberland!
Upcoming Events
19/8 Silver and Bronze I Salver and Bronze II Plaque
26/8 Course closed. Game at Muirfield GC, please use booking in sheet in the ladies locker room if you want to play. Entries close 15/8.
Good golfing Ladies!
Tracey Hilton (Ladies Captain)
Hello all and a big welcome to everyone from the Proshop for August. Hopefully that’s enough rain for a while now and everything can dry out and get back to normal.
Another huge month in the shop as our Demo days continue to be extremely popular. This Friday sees Titleist come to the course and then finally next Friday the 15th we have Callaway onsite. Just a warning that spots for these two are very limited now so check your emails for booking links or call or pop into the shop to book, but be quick.
With such a burst of wet weather, luckily, we have new releases from Foot joy, Adidas and Under Armour instore now. Make sure you check those shoes, gloves and anything else to make sure you are fully prepared and don’t get caught out with wet socks.
In the store everyone will definitely notice the brand new layout of stock and specials. We have a great new Specials wall with all the final winter stock of the season. Jump in now and grab a real bargain on the last of this season’s fashion.
Our Open Championship Raffle for that sensational bag continues this month. Simply spend $100 instore before the 20th of August and you are automatically in the draw to win the Limited Edition Taylormade Staff Bag that is on display. Just top off any purchase with some balls, accessories or a glove to make the hundred dollars and you’re in with a real chance to Win!
This Month’s tip comes from Myo who says – when its dry and fast on the course and the greens, distance control is key. Remember to stroke your putts and not “hit” them. Putting using your hands only makes it very difficult to control speed and distance, so plant the lower half and get the chest moving!
Happy and Dry Golfing from everyone at Banners Golf
See you Soon!
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
Thank You To all Our Sponsors for their support!
