All posts by Ian Barnard

Governance

Presidents Report – 2019

Firstly my apologies for not being here. If Bob is reading this then I am stuck out in the Tasman somewhere and simply unable to swim that far to get here.

Thank you all for being here, and I will try keep this short.

We now have 120 members, with approximately 50 members playing in our weekly competitions.  Many of you make a point in staying for the presentation every week which definitely adds to the club atmosphere and supports the basic philosophy of the Vets club, which is to socialise with other members.

I would like to sincerely thank all our supporters:

  • Paul and Sarina for their generous support of our members draw each week.
  • Selva for his support in providing the trophies for our Club Championships.
  • Greg Hall and in the past, Luke Brabant for helping in the smooth running of the Vets and for putting up with my seemingly continuous changes to formats and rules etc.
  • Peter Rickard for his help in establishing our relationship with Horizons Golf Resort and enabling us to remain a viable and financially stable entity.
  • Greg Ramsey for his invaluable help in establishing the Vets and his continued assistance by providing advice and ideas.

I would like to pay special tribute to our Committee. Bob Treloar, John Lee and Alan McDonald. A finer group of Australian manhood has never before been assembled. All of them have performed superbly, to the extent that I am proud to say that we have not had a single committee meeting during the year, everyone just does their job and gets on with it. All of the committee has nominated to serve on the committee for next year and I would like to recommend that the membership endorse these nominations.

My biggest regret this year has been the apparent inequality between men’s and women’s winners in our competitions. As you know, ladies currently get a handicap advantage in Stroke and Stableford competitions, but not Ambrose and Best Ball competitions. This will change in February next year with the introduction of the World Handicap System which will see the ladies get additional handicap consideration in all club events.

Lastly I would like to thank you, the members, for your support and encouragement throughout the year. The club was established so that you could enjoy your golf and the social interaction that goes hand in hand with that. If you have enjoyed yourselves, then the club I think is a success.

Sincerely

Ian Barnard.

Membership

HVGC Championships

Update:
1st RND Pairs Results – 1st October – 2 Person Ambrose
1st RND Singles Results – 8th October – Stableford

The HVGC Championships are to be held in October. Since we play 50% of our games as either Teams events (Ambrose and 4BBB) and the other 50% as individual rounds (Stableford and Stroke), it has been decided that we have two club championship events:

  • One for Teams and
  • One for Individuals – separate for Men and Ladies

The best placed 2 person team for the Ambrose and the 4BBB combined will be declared the winner of the Team Championship. The best placed players (men and ladies) of the two individual rounds consisting of Stableford and Stroke will be declared the winners of the Individual event.

See the full calendar of events in October here or click the individual event links from the Event Highlights in the adjacent panel.

More to come on the subject of the method for countbacks.

There will be a perpetual trophy for the winner of each category, plus $50 each for the pairs winners and $75 each for the mens and ladies winners.

Prize presentation, AGM and Member Draw will accompany lunch from the menu below. Pre-order your lunch at the bar before 22nd October and pay your $5 on the day.

Everyone can compete as it’s only a normal Tuesday competition over 9 holes off the yellow tees, no special arrangements required.  

EXCEPT: Players in the team event must play with another HVGC member for both rounds for the Team Event.

Membership

Member Survey

Thanks to all those who took the time to complete the second HVGC survey regarding the operation of the vets. The results of the survey are below, along with a comparison of the results from the first survey we held in November last year.

Click to enlarge

The survey results mostly align very well with the members input from the first survey. There is an overwhelming preference for 9 hole competitions with the option to play 18 holes on occasion.

The biggest surprise in the survey results is that 68% of members would like to be involved in some kind of “away games”. The committee will look at this and come back to the members with some suggestions and options.

Other than that, it seems like most members are happy with the way the club is functioning at the moment and no major changes are required.

Thanks again for the responses and also to Alan McDonald for putting together the web site response system, it made the whole process much easier.

Ian Barnard

Membership

Member Update

Hi Veteran Golfers. As promised when we first established Horizons Veterans Golf Club, it’s time for a second round of the members survey to determine if there are any changes you would like to see in the operation of the Club.

The questions in the survey are substantially the same as the first survey with one deletion and two additions. The deletion is for the preferred day to play as Tuesday is now locked in from a Horizons management viewpoint and this is unlikely to change. The two additional questions are:

  • (1) if you are happy with how things are now, which means we don’t have to look any further down the list, and
  • (2) if you are interested in being involved in games away from horizons, be they NSWVGA events or otherwise. If you are “happy” with how things are being managed at the moment it is still important to reply, otherwise those who want changes will get all the votes, and you may no longer be “happy”.

Please proceed to the Member Survey, enter your email address to begin, answer the 6 multiple choice questions and submit your survey.

Separate Competitions

On the question of separate competitions for men and women, please be aware that in January 2020 we will be moving to the World Handicap System when all ladies will get a 2 or 3 shot additional handicap adjustment for all competitions, not just stroke and stableford competitions as is the case now.

Lucky Draw

On a positive note, the Committee has decided that we will have a members draw every Tuesday at the conclusion of the presentation. The Committee will offer a $20 Horizons voucher for the draw, and Paul and Sarina from the Café have very kindly offered to provide an additional $20 voucher, many thanks and much appreciated Paul and Sarina. This means that the members draw will be worth $40 every Tuesday, with winners having to be present at the time to claim the prize. Unclaimed prizes will jackpot until they are won. Hopefully this will encourage members to stay for the presentation and socialise with the other members, which is the whole point of Veterans golf. We are still working out the logistics of how this draw will work but we should have it to start next Tuesday.

Regards,
Ian Barnard
President / HVGC.

Membership, Results

Member and Handicap Update

Hi all. Time for some catch up on some HVGC items for your consideration. The newsletter contains a list of members with shirts awaiting payment and pickup next Tuesday.

Prize allocation: When we initially sent out the questionnaire to all prospective HVGC members to ask if we should have separate men’s and women’s competitions, the committee at the time undertook to reviewing the allocation of prizes at a later date to see if both genders playing in the same competition from the same tee box is fair. After some recent and timely comments from HVGC members I have looked at all the games played in the Vets so far to review the prize awards. While 14 games is not statistically very significant the data (available from me for those who are interested) indicates that women in our Vets competitions are underrepresented in the prize awards by an average 36%. This is a serious discrepancy that must be addressed.

After much  investigation and discussions with MiClub it appears that, for the determination of prizes in our Tuesday competitions, only the Slope Rating (117 for men, 125 for women) Handicap adjustment for all players has been taken into account, and not the additional course Scratch Rating (SR) adjustment (33 for men, 36 for women on the front 9) that should be applied when both men and women play from the Yellow tees. To cut a long story short, this means that all women players from the yellow tees should receive an additional 3 handicap strokes advantage over the men.

Unfortunately, this additional handicap cannot be applied prior to hitting off and can currently only be applied after the round is completed. This situation will change in January 2020 when the World Handicap System (WHS) comes into force in Australia, but for now we are stuck with post applying the SR adjustment.

In future I will ensure that the correct handicaps are used in prize calculation. All ladies should be aware that the handicap written on their score card from now on will be increased by 3 shots at the end of the round. How we apply this in events such as 4BBB and Aggregate is unknown at this stage, we will just have to play the game and see the results. Since this week’s round is a 2 Person Ambrose and next week’s round is Stroke, there’s no need to think about your handicap until after the round anyway. We’ll make some tests and compare reality with the above theory, and update members again in following newsletters on this subject.

I apologise to all our Ladies for this serious error in our management of events. A case could be made for reprocessing all our events so far and reassessing the prize allocation but this is not practical. I take full responsibility for this situation and any of our members who would like to make comments regarding this serious error are more than welcome to take the issue up with me personally at any time.

Regards,
Ian Barnard
President / HVGC.

Membership

Member Update

Hi Veteran Golfers. Time for a quick update on HVGC.

We now have 107 members, which I think is a testament to our current format and the friendliness of the clubs members. I would like to thank you all for helping make HVGC a success.

I would also like to thank everyone for picking up their club shirts, almost all shirts have now found a home. However, we have one mens shirt left over and we are missing one ladies shirt. This would indicate that one man has been given a ladies shirt. While it may enhance your figure, please check your shirt, if it has three buttons then it is a man’s shirt. If you have the wrong one please bring it back, I won’t make any comments, honest.

Next Tuesday is stroke play followed by a noon BBQ. We have had to change the BBQ format and unfortunately the committee has been forced to make a $2 donation compulsory for all members attending. I hope all members are ok with this charge. Also, as we had a number of non members line up for a free feed at our last BBQ, the committee has decided that all members must wear their club shirt to attend the BBQ. For those members who do not yet have a shirt, please see me at the BBQ.

I would like to bring to your attention a couple of Veterans events you may be interested in. The Port Stephens Vets week of golf (WOG) is being held in October this year. If you have never been to a vets WOG this would be a great event to get you started. Played at four courses in Port Stephens, it is a very friendly, enjoyable and cheap way to have a great week of golf and make new friends. The second event is the NSWVGA Veterans matchplay championships, held at four Newcastle courses in November. This is a graded event and no one is knocked out, you get games all four days. It is very well run and has some great prizes. Details of these and other vets events can be found on the HVGC website.

Finally, for those wanting the current NSWVGA events program book, I have left some signed ones in the cupboard under the computer in the clubhouse.

That’s it from me, see you at the course.

Cheers,
Ian.

Check this week’s Results here
Check our Calendar of events here

Membership

New Members

Hello and welcome to all new members of Horizons Veterans Golf Club (HVGC). I hope you enjoy your time with the Club and make use of all that the New South Wales Veterans Golf Association has to offer.

As new members you are entitled to a subsidised veterans golf shirt. The cost to you will be $15. It is important that you receive a shirt, in that all NSWVGA events and some of our own events, require proof of membership of a veterans organisation. As well as a signed members booklet from your home Vets club (HVGC) the other form of proof that is accepted is the official Vets shirt.

If you haven;t provided your shirt size, please do so as soon as possible. If you don’t provide me with a size within a week then I will assume that you do not want a shirt.

The sizes are normal shirt sizes, in that people who ordered what they usually wear received shirts that fitted. Ladies, please give me the size in LADIES shirt sizes i.e. numbers (whatever they mean, I have no clue).

Please let me know by return email as soon as possible.

Thanks and again, welcome.

Ian Barnard
President / HVGC

Governance

Horizons Vets Update

Hello Veteran Golfers. I thought it was time for an update on HVGC and what is happening in the next couple of weeks.

First of all congratulations are in order for Andy Raeburn who today shot an even Par 72 off the stick on the Yellow course. Andy shot less than his age which is an outstanding achievement for any golfer. Congratulations Andy. And yes, he did win the back 9 comp. But Andy could not beat the excellent score of 23 points from Brian Degotardi on the front 9. That’s some round of golf Brian, well done.

We have had an average of over 40 players each Tuesday since we started the Vets competitions, which I think is excellent. Please hang around the clubhouse if you can after the game for the presentation, it is after all the point of having a Vets competition as opposed to a normal, standard, play and go home competition. Maybe we need a members draw for a cash prize to keep people around? Something to consider.

The Vets shirts have been ordered and I hope to be in a position to hand them out on the last Tuesday of this month. I have been advised that the bulk of the shirts are in stock, have left Melbourne and are currently on route to the embroiderers. 7 shirts were out of stock (not sure what sizes) but more are due into the country on the 18th of this month.

The last Tuesday of the month will also be BBQ day, which is a free burger for all competitors who played (stroke) on the day and will cost $2 for those members who don’t didn’t play on the day. Craig Hickey and John Lee have kindly offered to cook the BBQ for us.

The committee have been working hard on the constitution for the Club and have had input from a variety of members on the contents and wording. The constitution is now at a stage where it can be enacted. Originally we had thought to provide all members with a copy of the constitution and then vote on its acceptance, however this would delay its issue and we need it in place to manage the clubs finances. Given that the constitution contains a clause on how it can be amended if members feel strongly enough to do so, it has been decided by the committee to issue the constitution as it now stands. As such, please find a copy of the constitution on the noticeboard from tomorrow morning. If anyone would like an electronic copy then please contact me.

Now that the constitution has been enacted we need to staff a new committee for 2019. I believe the current committee has done an excellent job in establishing a framework for the Vets Club, which is what was asked of them at the initial Club set up meeting last year. I would like to thank Viv Stephens and Chris Larsen for their invaluable help in establishing HVGC.  Those committee members have informed me that they are not in a position to continue in their roles in the day to day running of the Club. For myself, I will be heavily involved in other activities in 2019 which may see lengthy absences from Horizons and so I may not be in a position to coordinate activities on a weekly basis. In short, all Committee positions are available for nomination.

The constitution calls for Four (4) committee members. These are President, Secretary, Treasurer and Social Director. I have included the responsibilities and time requirements for these positions at the bottom of this email. In reality, the committee does not have that much to do. There is no requirement for regular meetings and any decisions can be made via email or by phone. Record keeping is easy and can (and should) be done electronically. The most time consuming committee position will be Social Director, as HVGC is primarily a social club. Without a Social Director, supported by a number of keen helpers and volunteers, there will be no social activities and therefore no sustainable Vets Club.

I know that there are many eminently qualified members who could easily fill the Committee positions or can help on the social side of the Club. Please give some thought to being actively involved and let me know if you would like to serve. I hope to finalise the committee positions, including any voting that may required, on the 26th of February (BBQ day).

Thanks, and see you on the course.

Ian Barnard.

Membership

HVGC Shirts

Hi all. Just a reminder that the Vets shirts will be ordered on Wednesday. If you don’t have your size beside your name on the sheet above the Club noticeboard by the close of the vets presentation tomorrow I will assume that you don’t want a shirt.

Colour

Just to answer those who think that the shirt colour chosen is too hot, below are the actual facts from a physics perspective (taken from the ABC website).

“Generally in summer, we’re treated to lines of loose summery white clothing. Not only is the white supposed to look nice floating around the edges of a picnic — until a few seconds into the event, when it has its first grass stain — people claim that white is the ideal way to keep cool in the summer. When we see white, we’re seeing the combination of all possible visible light. This means that white clothing reflects a great deal of wavelengths of energy coming in. This means it should reflect the sun’s rays back, instead of letting them cook us. And that’s perfectly correct.

Except that this explanation is incomplete. Heat is not just coming in off of the sun. It’s also coming off a person’s own, sweating, warm-blooded, mammalian body, which is a lot closer than the sun is. When all that body heat hits the white clothing covering it, it gets reflected right back towards the body. When we wear white, we cook ourselves.

The best colour to keep cool in the heat, it turns out, is to wear black. Black absorbs everything coming in from the sun, sure. But black also absorbs energy from the body instead of reflecting it back. Now, the helpfulness of black clothes depends on finding black clothes that are the same thickness and looseness as those summery white clothes. Black clothing also needs a little help from atmospheric conditions. Once it has absorbed heat, it has to have some way to radiate it away. If there’s even a little wind, black clothing is the better choice for those who want to keep cool, so find something black to wear this summer.

Another reason black is safer for you in the summer months is because of its high ultraviolet protection factor.  The darker a colour, the more protection from the sun you’ll have, whereas the lighter the colour, the less protection you’ll have from the sun.  This could mean the difference between skin cancer and staying safe.”