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Fairway Times Newsletter
Taupo GC 14th August
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Fairway Times Newsletter Taupo GC August 14th 2017

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Kon'nichiwa from Renee’s Desk

Quote of the Week

Grief is like the ocean, it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing.

Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming.

All we can do is learn to swim.

Vicki Harrison

Our People

It is with great sadness that on behalf of members I would like to acknowledge Daryl (Morris) who recently unexpectedly passed away. Daryl has spent all his retirement years working at the Club and was well known and loved by so many.

MORRIS, Daryl James (Bunter):
On 3rd August 2017, peacefully at Rotorua Hospital. As he wished a private service has been held. TGC
will be holding a memorial golf tournament to celebrate Daryl’s life and his contribution to the golfing community.

Please save the date 2nd September - Details to follow.


John Sheargold Ohope Resident Golf Professional (previous Taupo Golf Club Professional)

Excerpt from the Whakatane Beacon

JOHN Sheargold played his last round of golf last Sunday as the Ohope Golf Club’s professional.

He was joined by more than 100 members and friends, enjoying a day of sunshine and saying farewell to him and wife Annie.

John was born some 67 years ago in Sydney, Australia. He says he was not a great student but excelled at sports, especially soccer and later golf. It was his soccer coach who introduced the team of boys to golf. Amazingly, from that introduction three of the boys went on to become golf professionals in Sydney.

John’s father wanted him to become a salesman but a local wealthy businessman who had watched John’s golf progress and played with him occasionally offered to finance his entry and into the professional ranks. This association was to last for seven years while John played the Australian golf circuit with visits to Fiji and the Islands.

John was moderately successful. He won a few and paid his way but when a chance came to play in the British Open he did not have the confidence to travel and decided to take up an offer to be the Lakes Golf Club, Sydney professional. This club is one of the premier clubs in Australia and a prestigious position for a young pro.

While John was at the lakes the great Sam Snead visited Sydney. Sam played top golf for more than 40 years and his successes were seven majors, including the recently competed for British Open and 82 victories on the PGA tour.

Sam’s visit to the lakes was to be commemorated by an exhibition nine-hole match with the club’s pro, John Sheargold.

More than 1000 people followed the two golfers with some pretty hefty wagers on each player. At the end of the nine-hole John was even par and Sam three over, due, he says, to not being able to read the greens correctly. John had a lot of mates that night.

In 1984 John came to New Zealand and for the next 20 years was the pro at the two Taupo courses. He says they were the golden years of golf in New Zealand and he had more than 1700 members to coach and service for golf equipment and clothing.

He wanted to retire from full-time work and so offered his services to Ohope Golf Club. Pam Conway was the president at the time and she and her committee snapped him up.

John and Annie bought a unit near the golf course and for the past eight years they have been very active, committed members of the club. John has, of course, been engaged in coaching, not only the Ohope members, but also many other golfers and prospective golfers from all over the Eastern Bay.

He has been of great value to members wanting to buy golf equipment and clothing with advice and contacts in the industry. He has made himself available for the committee and served terms as vice-president and member.

He and Annie have spent many, many hours maintaining the club house and grounds. John ran a number of popular tournaments and competitions including the Sunday Club last weekend.

Sunday was a happy-sad day for club members who were sad to see the couple go, but feeling happy and fortunate to have known them over the past eight years.

John and Annie have sold their house at Ohope and are heading overseas, first stop Australia.

Golf Managers Meeting – Hamilton Golf Club

‘Feeling proud’. I recently attended a Waikato/BOP golf managers meeting. While the presentation speakers were really interesting the general questions/discussions amongst the team after were very enlightening, it was evident how well the TGC is performing. Annual green fees for TGC bring in approximately 38% of income for the club. We can improve the number of return players. Green fee return rates are dependent on a number of factors. The overall green fee experience, the condition of the golf course and the interactions we have with other golfers can seriously make or break the overall experience. A friendly environment is key. Golfers of all levels are welcome at TGC.

Greenkeepers

Frost delays

While frost delays may be annoying it’s important to note that the greenkeepers/proshop staff are not putting a frost delay in place to make you angry. They are set in place for a very special reason. It is imperative to protect the course so we can continue to have a great putting surface and green fairways to hit from. There is also the other issues such as slipping and ending up with a broken leg or hip. Please be patient and remember spring is coming and with it less frosts!

If you would like to read more about frost click on the link below

Frost delay info

Every club needs a Ron

The cart shed has had a makeover in terms of a good old fashioned clean up. We are currently in the process of making the space safer by taking the chargers and power cables off the ground and routing them through the roof. Ron, Kevin and myself headed to Wairakei Sanctuary for a quick tour of their cart facilities to aid us in our effort to improve our cart set up. The Wairakei Sanctuary staff were very open and helpful enabling us to consider some great ideas for our cart shed. Ron is ably assisting us to get this sorted and has been providing us with a helping hand to set up the practice nett too. Ron you really are a super hero of a member. I salute you on behalf of us all! You really have been a great help for us all here at the club. I know you will hate the fact I have publicly thanked you but I had too. I love your Scottish humour, your ability to think outside the box and your number 8 wire skills (not sure if that’s and kiwi or Scottish skill) both perhaps ??

Speed of Play

If you were to ask me I would say “you can never play fast enough”. While I may like to run around I don’t expect you to do the same thing! Just a friendly reminder to keep up with the group in front of you not in front of the group behind!

How friendly is Taupo ?

It’s hard for me to believe I’ve been here for five months now. Time has flown and while lots has been done there is plenty more to do! Having lived and worked in a few places around the globe I always find the different club culture/environments interesting. TGC has to be the highest green fee visitor club’s I have ever worked and been too. Something to be very proud of. This is fantastic but we can do better.

Golfers of all levels are welcome regardless of the weather. The golf experience may be a: hit and giggle, foot-golf, birthday party, young, middle or golden aged men or women out for 6-9 or 18 hole game of golf.

I often hear of people having a bad experience when visiting a course and they never go back. I too have had this experience. As custodians of the game we all have a responsibility to share our love for the sport and make golf enjoyable to all. I had been here four months before a member of the club asked me for a game of golf. Before you play the violin and feel all sorry for me its ok - I’ve played enough golf in my life time and not playing on those cold wet days is ok with me. But it got me thinking is this the experience people new to the club are having.

Golf is a community sport for all people of all ages that is what is so marvellous about our game and I’m proud to say I am a Taupo Golf Club Member.

Golf is just fun and a laugh is important. Laughter is good for your health. Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after. Laughter boosts the immune system.

A good game is a fast game. I hate spending unnecessary hours on the course. I like to enjoy every shot and the take in the wonderful environment our Club offers on a great day. The morale of the story – invite new members out for a game and enjoy the company of our fantastic members.

Administration office

Currently the administration staff are transitioning our old system to new software systems. I don’t envy Melita and Louise as it is quite an onerous task. However, in the long term the system will be better and hopefully easier for all parties. It is great members and new proposed members can come to a one stop shop now! We as a team are enjoying getting to know each other better too.

Recent Events

Patrons cup 2017

The final was a battle that went to the 19th Hole. Congratulations to John Yates and Gail Searle. 

Mid-winter pairs 2017 – 82 pairs competed this year. A number of players from Miramar in Wellington played too.


Well done to the Rangatira GC members who cleaned up 1st 2nd and 3rd place.

As a footnote I am proud to say I won my very first raffle of all time. That was a real buzz for me!!

 

Pro-shop

Recently we had a member make comment that “you guys must get really bored here in the pro-shop”. This comment really did fill me with joy as the team must appear so relaxed and in control. We currently manage 24 major tournaments here a year at the club, not to mention over 360 club events. So it’s fair to say we are far from bored. We are actively working towards improving our booking system so we can run a more reliable and efficient system that will enable us to focus on introducing golf to new people and growing our membership further.

Spring is in the air

As scary as it seems its lighter in the morning which means more time for some twilight golf. Even enough light for a sneaky 9 before work.

Give Golf a Go day – Saturday November 4th – if you know of anyone wanting to learn or get back in to golf spread the word.

Cash Outs

It’s been noted that a few members are using the bar and pro-shop as an ATM. More and more people are paying with Eftpos resulting in less cash in the till. Don’t be surprised if we can’t always accommodate your cash needs.

Upcoming events

19th 20th Aug Annual Representative event Auckland Vs Wellington

1st Sept Contact Energy Day

2nd Sept Bunters Memorial Day

2nd Sept Golf Demo day – Ping – Titleist – Callaway are more on show

Tip from the pro-shop

Be the reason someone smiles today ??

Taupo Golf Club
http://www.taupogolf.co.nz
(07) 378 6933
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