Chipshots – 19 January 2017
Posted on: 18 January
COURSE AND NEW CLUBHOUSE NEWS
Clubhouse works are going full steam ahead. The building is swarming with contractors with numerous projects all being worked on concurrently.
The wall sheeting on the lower ground floor is ongoing and most areas that are not exposed to the weather have now been erected. Trusses for the suspended ceilings on the lower ground floor have also been installed.
This week the task of running cabling for out data and AV requirements commenced. Over 8,000m of cables have been run so far, and this is just the start.
From outside you will be able to see that cladding of the club exterior has now commenced. This cladding will be patched and then painted to give us the final surface.
Work on the stormwater lines in front of the clubhouse is nearing completion. Only a short section remains to reach the river. There is still further stormwater work that needs to be done, such as a retention pond, but this work can be done without impacting the progress of our course works. A sewer pit which is to be installed near the new 9th tee was also delivered this week and should be installed in the coming days. Flemmings will take over this area next week and begin preparing our new practice facilities.
Unfortunately last weekend our new 18th green suffered some damage due to a heavy vehicle carrying stormwater pipes driving across the edge of the green and the collar. Jabbcorp have accepted responsibility for this damage and have agreed to cover the cost of repairing this area back to its original condition.
On the course this week Flemmings have completed shaping on the new 9th green. Drainage was installed on Tuesday and gravel has already been spread over the base.
Over on the eastern side the irrigation of the 15th and 16th greens was completed this week. The polymer coating was sprayed in the green side bunkers on Wednesday and on Thursday morning these bunkers were filled with sand. The 16th tee complex has also been shaped, and the concrete path was poured on Thursday. Turfing of the green surrounds was done early Friday morning. This will allow our course staff to seed these greens early next week. Additional turf for these areas will be delivered and laid next week.
Course Superintendents Report
As the membership is fully aware and can appreciate, the Strathfield Golf Club course staff are currently in the midst of a major reconstruction phase of our golf course. The course staff have been charged with a plethora of added responsibilities outside the realms of our normal day to day maintenance of the golf course. To add to our difficulties, Sydney weather has thrown its fair share of tumultuous weather our way. These inclement weather conditions have been testing for our staff, especially when attempting to grow in a delicate cool season grass from seeding to 3.5mm turf during 44 degree weather.
We’ve also encountered issues relating to the location of irrigation pipework before the inevitable disaster strikes. This takes time and considerable effort to ensure we maintain the integrity of the current irrigation system. There has been the necessity to plan and apply programmed preventative pesticide applications to maintain the greens at their highest standard. Soil and plant amendments compliment programmed nutritional applications to ensure we preserve the plant health and vitality through these difficult weather conditions.
Course staff and our mechanic have been engaged in implementing a planned and intense series of mowing height adjustments through the grow-in stage of our greens, tees and approaches. On our greens, this is to ensure we expedite the grow-in period from a highly susceptible juvenile seedling stage to a playable condition in a 10 to 12 week time frame.
For many of the junior course staff members, the grow-in and construction experience has been a completely new one. This has been taxing on the senior staff as they continually educate and guide the rest of the staff through the construction phase. It is imperative to understand, these are extremely difficult and trying times for the course staff. There is an extremely fine line between maintaining adequate moisture levels, drying the greens surface out and over watering. All of the extremities can potentially come with fatal consequences on young juvenile greens and it is imperative that we do not allow the turf to regress at any stage.
The course maintenance team endeavour and continue to present the course week in and week out to the highest possible standard for our members and guests. In the end, I am confident that we will produce an amazing product that all the membership will be proud of. In the meantime, I appreciate your patience and best wishes during this major operation and I look forward to its completion, so our members can enjoy the fruits of our labour
Andrew Cannon – Course Superintendent
MEN’S FOUR-BALL KO
Qualifying rounds for this event will be conducted this weekend. Conditions and Rules of Play have been posted on the web site and notice boards.
As done last year during the course works, there will be 16 pairs qualifying over the two days.
Please note the dates of the Saturday match play rounds when deciding if your pair wish to qualify. Members failing to appear for their matches may forfeit the right to qualify for next year’s event.
Click Here for Conditions and Rules of Play
MIXED PENNANTS
This week the Mixed Pennants team played the second round of competition at home against Hurstville. The conditions on the day became extremely tough for all players with strong wind gusts persisting throughout the day.
This match was a close contest between both teams and came right down to the wire. With both Strathfield and Hurstville securing two wins each, the number 4 pair of Danny Sidhwa and Jenny Byun were all square playing the 18th. All players were on the green for three, with reasonable putts left. The opponent from Hurstville struck the first blow by rolling in his putt from over 20ft to give Hurstville the advantage. Not relenting to the pressure, and with the final putt of the match, Jenny Byun confidently holed her putt from 15ft to save a half in this match and also halving the day with 2.5 wins each.
Congratulation to the pairs of Jack Snelgrove & Angela Choi, along with EJ & Regina Kim who won their matches on the day. There was also a great win at reserve by Kieran Windon & Lucy Rasiah who came back from two down with three to play, and wont the last three holes to win 1up. This was due to great birdies by Kieran on the 16th and 17th, and a par by Lucy on the 18th to take the match.
This weekend the team will head to Glenmore for an away match. Hopefully a win this weekend will put Strathfield back on track to compete for top of the division in later weeks.
Restricted Special Events
The match committee would like to remind members that in all restricted events such as Father & Child, Grandfathers, Ex Services, Left-Hander’s, Veterans, Husband & Wife etc., Members must indicate if eligible on their score card. Please check with the pro-shop if you are unsure if you are eligible to participate in these restricted special events.
GOLF AUSTRALIA NEWSLETTER
GOLF TIP
Simplify your driver swing for effortless power – Gerina Piller (GolfDigest)
The benefit, I’ve found, is that it makes it easier to find the sweet spot on the clubface and create effortless power. If you tend to sway too much and/or swing too hard, you’ve got to rely on really good timing to have the same consistency. So if you’re struggling to hit your driver solid and far, try copying the way I swing. Here I’m going to walk you through how I do it.
Address and backswing: Stay Centered
At address my weight is pretty neutral, meaning equally supported by both feet. Still, I like to be aware of the weight on the inside of my right foot. When I sense it there, I know I can swing back and create some leverage for the hit. Essentially, I’m loading my weight before I start swinging. But as I take the club back, my body doesn’t drift off the ball the way you see it move for a lot of golfers. My weight stays pretty centered (above). I’m rotating instead of moving laterally. It feels like my upper body is twisting away from the target while my lower body braces against it. When you try this, you’ll feel a lot of torque building in your core muscles. That’s good. You’ll need to release that tension when you swing down. That’s what creates the power you need to hit it farther.
Where’s the whoosh in your swing?
Downswing and followthrough: Let’s build speed
The mistake I see amateurs make is trying to generate as much speed as they can with their hands. If you hit it worse when you’re swinging your hardest, this is probably the reason. Instead, let the speed gather so the clubhead is at its fastest as it strikes the ball—that’s how you get effortless power. If you think of your swing as moving along a clock face, you want it at its quickest from 7 o’clock to 4 o’clock. To get a feel for this, hold your club upside down and swing it trying to make that whoosh sound loudest when the grip end is closest to the ground. This will teach you what it feels like to put your energy in that 7-to-4 zone. Now flip the club around and re-create that same feeling—and speed—when you hit shots. You might be surprised how much power you can generate without having to sway off the ball or swing like a maniac.
Gerina Piller, a three-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team, had a fairway accuracy of 75.6 percent on the LPGA Tour in 2017.
WEEKLY GOLF RESULTS
