Captain’s Update Monday OCTOBER 7TH, 2024

Sponsor: – WAVGA

El Caballo WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

Perfect weather for our second game of the year at El Caballo. The fairway grass had regrown, although the daisies put a stop to any roll!’ Ian Trapper was as welcoming as always. We had 51 players on the day, our best field at El Caballo since I have been with the vets.

Speed of play is essential, particularly with a shotgun start. One slow group has the rest of the members waiting for the final presentations. Please keep up with the group in front of you.

One sour note on the day. Lou Rigo’s car was hit in the car park. No note left. If anyone saw the incident, contact Lou.

There was one grade on the day:

• A grade and overall winner was Warren Howard with 38 points;
• OBE was Terry Porter 35 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 2: Bill Little;
  • Hole 8: Lou Rigo;
  • Hole 12: Doug Hudson;
  • Hole 15: Brendan Curtin; and
  • Super pin, Hole 12 for $44: Doug Hudson.

Next week on Monday 14^th October is an 11:00 start at Secret Harbour, sponsored by Shani Waugh Golf. This is followed by an 11:30 shotgun start at Meadow Springs on Monday 21^st October.

Captain’s Update Monday SEPTEMBER 30th, 2024

Sponsor: – WAVGA

The Vines WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

What a fantastic day for golf! Perfect weather and a great golf course. We were originally booked to play the Lakes course at The Vines but, due to changes at The Vines, we played the Championship course. What a course, plenty of room for the occasional sprayed shot.

We had a very disappointing 62 players on the day, I am perplexed as to why our WAVGA membership decided to give this one a miss.

This the second week in a row with small fields. 

There were only two grades on the day:

• A grade and overall winner was Alan Baker with 40 points;
• B grade winner was Phil Davies with 38 points;
• OBE was Jeff Watkins with 33 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Neil Thatcher;
  • Hole 8: Tony Darbyshire;
  • Hole 13: Graham Bourgualt;
  • Hole 16: Mark Gardiner; and
  • Super pin, Hole 13 for $50: Graham Bourgault.
• John Ryan eagled the 10^th for a $15 credit. John now has eagles in the last two games.

Next week on Monday 7^th October is an 11:30 am shotgun start at El Cabello. The course was very dry earlier in the year but, after the winter rains, should be in good condition. It is always a good day at El Cabello, Ian Tapper and his team are always welcoming.

Monday 14^th October is at Secret Harbour, sponsored by Shani Waugh Golf, a rolling start commencing at 11:00 am.

Captain’s Update Monday SEPTEMBER 24th, 2024

Sponsor: – NUTRIMATE

Melville Glades GC WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

Another fine day dished up for Melville Glades on Tuesday. Melville Glades are in the middle of upgrading their greens complexes so that we played the first six holes on temporary greens. Small but tricky, they presented their own challenge. Some good scores indicted some good golf played.

There were three grades on the day:

• A grade winner was Gordon Sherlock with 37 points;
• B grade and overall winner was Barry King 40 points;
• OBE was Paul McShanag with 38 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 8B: Robert Murphy;
  • Hole 9: Neil Thatcher;
  • Hole 14: Charlie Lancey;
  • Hole 17: John Ryan; and
  • Super pin, Hole 14 for $45: Charlie Lancey.
• John Ryan eagled the 13^th for a $15 credit.

We had only 52 players for the day, very disappointing. Even though there were some temporary changes to the course it was still a very enjoyable day and a very enjoyable golf course.

Next week is Monday 30th September with a shotgun start at 11:30 on The Vines championship course, I would encourage members to play on what is a great golf course.

Following this on Monday 7^th October is an 11:30 shotgun start at El Cabello. The course was very dry earlier in the year but, after the winter rains, should be in good condition. It is always a good day at El Cabello.

Captain’s Update Monday SEPTEMBER 9th, 2024

Sponsor: – DRUMMOND GOLF

Wanneroo WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

Wanneroo turned it on for the final of our Club Championships. Fine weather, course, as usual, in top condition, with nice fast greens. To add to the enjoyment, we played off the blue tees for the championships.

The Club Champion for 2024 is Brendan Curtin with gross 158

2024 A grade nett Champion is Tony Giorgio with 145.

2024 B grade nett Champion is Doug Hudson with 147.

2024 C grade nett Champion is Stan Bartley with 69 points.

The days competition results were;

• A grade and overall winner was Tony Giorgio with nett 70;
• B grade winner was Evan Jones with nett 71;
• C Grade winner was Teresa Smart with 36 points;
• OBE was Graham Bourgault with nett 77;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Digby Barrett;
  • Hole 8: Tom Grimston;
  • Hole 11: Evan Jones;
  • Hole 15: Stan Sexton; and
  • Super pin, Hole 15 for $66: Stan Sexton.

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.7)

Rule 8.k.9(s) – Advertisements claim that golf scores can be improved by purchasing new golf equipment. Since this is financially impractical for many senior golfers, one half stroke per hole may be subtracted for using old equipment.

The senior golf rules outlined in this publication are important and copies should be kept in the golf bag for reference.

Golf is, above all, a game of integrity.

Next week is Monday 16th September at Mosman Park sponsored by WAVGA.

Captain’s Update Monday SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2024

Sponsor: – DRUMMOND GOLF

Rockingham WAVGA Golf RESULTS

Perfect weather for golf at Rockingham! A fantastic start to the 2024 Club Championships. I am sure that everyone enjoyed playing the course, it was in great condition. Scores were fairly even on the day, setting up a very competitive final day of the championships at Wanneroo next week.

There were three grades for the day with A and B grade playing stroke and C grade playing Stableford.

• A grade winner was David St George with nett 71;
• B grade and overall winner was Richard Morphett with nett 65;
• C Grade winner was Barry King with 41 points;
• OBE was Geoff Smith with nett 72 (36 points);
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 3: Jeff Peake;
  • Hole 8: Matt Lynn;
  • Hole 12: Peter Humphry;
  • Hole 15: Scot Brown; and
  • Super pin, Hole 3 for $70: Jeff Peake.

After round one the leading sores are;

Club Champion; – Scott brown with gross 78 and Darrell Lynch, Lou Rigo and Matt Lynn, all with 79.

A grade: – David St George, Darrell Lynch and Lou Rigo with nett 71 with Peter Mills and Scott Brown on 72.

B grade: – Barry Judge with nett 68 and Glen Stewart and Doug Hudson with 71.

C grade: – Don Lamont is leading with 37 points followed by Stan Bartley with 36 and Craig Marshall with 34 points.

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.7)

Rule 7.G.15(z) – There is no penalty for a ball in a water filled penalty area, as golf balls should float. Senior players should not be penalised for and shortcomings of the manufacturers.

Next week is Monday 9th September, second round of the Club Championships at Wanneroo, Sponsored by Drummond Golf.

Captain’s Update Monday AUGUST 26TH, 2024

Sponsor: – WAVGA

Sun City WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

As usual, windy conditions greeted us at Sun City. Also as usual, the course was in great condition, good fairways and nice, quickish greens. Always a pleasure to play there.

We have a couple of gripes. Please ensure that the first thing you do upon arrival at the course is register at the desk. We have had occasions when the delegate, a volunteer, is waiting to mark off a player who has been at the course for some time.

Also, note that if you are the last group of the day, please pick up the nearest the pin markers, including the ball position marker on the green, on your last nine holes. If you tee off on number one, pick up the back nine markers. If you tee off on number ten, pick up the front nine markers. 

There were two grades for the day.

• A grade winner was Neil Munro with 37 points;
• B grade and overall winner was Jane Ellis with 38 points;
• OBE was John Hutchinson with 32 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 3: Doug Hudson;
  • Hole 8: Phil Ellis;
  • Hole 14: Kath Fordham;
  • Hole 17: Peter Mills; and
  • Super pin, Hole 12 for $62: Phil Ellis.

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.6)

Rule 6.a.9(k) – There is no penalty for so called “out of bounds”. If penny-pinching golf course owners bought sufficient land, this would not occur. The senior player deserves an apology, not a penalty.

Next week is Monday 2^nd September, first round of the Club Championships at Rockingham. Sponsored by Drummond Golf. Final round of the Championships is the following week at Wanneroo.

Cost will be $15. Please declare your intention of playing in the Championships when registering at Rockingham. A and B grade will play stroke whilst C grade will play Stableford. There will also be the usual Stableford competition played on each day.

The conditions of entry are on the web site in the fixtures section.

Captain’s Update Monday AUGUST 19TH, 2024

Sponsor: – Hartfield GC

Hartfield WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

Another day of good golfing weather at Hartfield on Monday. A bit of rain at the start but cleared into a dry day. We had 85 players on the day, only three short of a full field, even though cart usage was restricted by Hartfield GC to medical certificate only.

Once again the scores reflected the good weather on a good course. Of course, having all bunkers declared GUR probably helped.

I need to thank Sean in the proshop for his help on the day. 

There were three grades for the day.

• A grade winner was Franis Forrester with 39 points;
• B grade winner was Tony Giorgio with 40 points;
• C grade and overall winner with 40 points was Andrew Jappy;
• OBE was Terry Porter with 35 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Sam Giuffre;
  • Hole 6: Mark Hollis;
  • Hole 12: Francis Forrester;
  • Hole 15: Roland Scheffler; and
  • Super pin, Hole 12 for $70: Francis Forrester.

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.5)

Rule 5 – Putts that stay close enough to the hole that they could be blown in, may be blown in. If the veteran golfer is unable to get down to blow the ball into the hole, the veteran golfer can declare the ball holed. This does not apply to a ball more than 3 inches from the hole. No one wants to make a mockery of the game. 

Next week is Monday 26th August at Sun City sponsored by WAVGA.

This will be followed over the next two weeks by the Club Championships at Rockingham and then Wanneroo. Cost will be $15. Please declare your intention of playing in the Championships when registering at Rockingham. A and B grade will play stroke whilst C grade will play Stableford. There will also be the usual Stableford competition played on each day.

The conditions of entry are on the web site in the fixtures section.

Captain’s Update Monday AUGUST 12TH, 2024

Sponsor: – YORK GC

YORK WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

Our annual visit to York Golf club was a great day. As usual the hospitality of the York GC and, in particular, the catering of the York Ladies was fantastic.

President Darryl Mitchem and his team had put in a heap of work on the course, it was in really good condition. Of note was the change in the greens as the club moves away from the black, oiled greens. They were good to putt on but, as usual with sand greens, difficult to stop an approach shot.

Of special note is the assistance of Mick Nottle, Graham Hunt, Bill Wagner, Captain Matu Peipi and the rest of the York members, they made the day an enjoyable experience.

WAVGA members who elect not to play at York are missing a good golfing day.

There was one grade for the day.

• Winner was Graham Davies with 38 points;
• OBE was Graham Hunt with 38 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 5: Darryl Polard;
  • Hole 8: Marie Intini;
  • Hole 13: Darryl Mitchem;
  • Hole 17: Pam Porter; and
  • Super pin, Hole 8 for $33: Marie Intini.

As can be seen by the results, the York crew picked up most of the loot with visitor Marie Intini grabbing the super pin cash.

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.5)

Rule 4.c.7(h) – If a putt passes over a hole without dropping, it is deemed to have dropped. The Law of gravity supersedes the Rules of Golf.

Next week is Monday 19th August at Hartfield sponsored by Hartfield GC.

Captain’s Update Monday AUGUST 5TH, 2024

Sponsor: – WAVGA

ARALUEN WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

After a break of a couple of weeks to move house Captains Corner has returned.

Yesterday the annual North versus South was played as well as an individual Stableford competition at Araluen in good golfing conditions, a touch cool early, but warmed up nicely.

We had an initial allowance for 80 players but, disappointingly, we only managed a field of 72. Members who decided to not play missed a good day on a good course.

Going on the scores the field struggled throughout the day, although the course was in really good nick

Winner of the Nth v Sth was North with 597 to 525 points. Our southern members did not turn up in numbers leaving the north with a decided advantage.

There were two grades for the day.

• A grade winner was Peter Mills with 33 points;
• B grade and overall winner was Tony Kingsbury with 36 points;
• OBE was Geoff Smith with 33 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Charlie Lancey;
  • Hole 7: Terry Porter;
  • Hole 12: Tom Grimston;
  • Hole 16: Peter Livingstone; and
  • Super pin, Hole 16 for $60: Steve Langoulant.
  • Peter Hayward scored a great eagle on the par 4 15^th. Well done, Peter!

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.4)

Rule 3.b.3(G) – There shall be no such thing as a lost ball. The missing ball is on or near the golf course and will eventually be found and pocketed by someone else, thereby making it a stolen ball. The senior player is not to compound a criminal act by charging himself with a penalty. 

Next week is Monday 12th August at York sponsored by WAVGA. Always a good day with great country hospitality. Shotgun start at 10:00am.

Captain’s Update Monday JULY 15th, 2024

Sponsor: – PERTH GOLF CENTRE

WAGC WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

As usual, WAGC presented in fantastic condition, greens great and fairways, what I saw of them, were terrific. We were once again blessed by perfect golfing weather.

Thanks to Lyn in the proshop, the ground staff and bar staff. I don’t give enough thanks to these people critical to our great game.

We had a fixture for 120 players which filled very quickly, although we had 115 players plus the sponsor on the day.

The conditions were reflected in the scores. A special mention for Ross Clarke with a gross 32, Graham Bourgault with a fantastic 25 points on the back nine, one over par, and also to our OBE winner, Paul McShanag, with 36 points.

There were three grades for the day.

• A grade winner was Ross Clarke with 41 points;
• B grade and overall winner was Graham Bourgault, also with 41 points;
• C grade winner was Paul McShanag with 36 points;
• OBE was Paul McShanag with 36 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 5: Mark Petterson;
  • Hole 9: Peter Sweetlove;
  • Hole 11: Adrian Oliver;
  • Hole 16: Terr Porter; and
  • Super pin, Hole 5 for $95: Scott Brown.

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.3)

Rule 2.d.6 (B) – A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed NOT to have hit the tree. This is simply bad luck and luck has no place in a scientific game. The senior player must estimate the distance the ball would have travelled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball from there.

Next week is Monday 22nd July at Kwinana sponsored by WAVGA.

Captain’s Update Monday JULY 8th, 2024

Sponsor: – ROCKINGHAM GC

Rockingham WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

71 members fronted up for the Rockingham fixture. A bit different this week. We played individual Stableford as well as a two-ball aggregate Stableford. Always good to change things a bit. The weather was cool but fine right up to the last hour, then things got a bit wet. Still, a good day for golf, which was reflected in the scores.

Thanks to Brenton for setting the game up and to Maggie and Graham in the proshop.

Ron Ross and Angelo Capraro at the registration desk did a great job.

I have a build up of super pin prizes. Although there have been some rumblings of putting it over the bar at the end of season function, I would prefer it to be picked up by the winners.

Stuart Hutchison;

Francis Forrester;

Andrew Sutherland; and

Neil Munro.

There were three grades for the day. 

• A grade winner was Tom Grimston with 39 points;
• B grade winner was John Jones with a very good 42 points;
• C grade winner and winner overall was Ross Hancock with a fighting 43 points;
• OBE was Jeff Watkins with 32 points;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 3: Phil Becker;
  • Hole 8: Mark Bradbury;
  • Hole 12: Neil Munro;
  • Hole 15: Steve Knowles; and
  • Super pin, Hole 12 for $54: Neil Munro.

Rules for Veteran Golfers (pt.2)

Rule 1.a.5 – A ball sliced or hooked into the rough shall be lifted and placed on the fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried or rolled into the rough with no penalty. The senior player should not be penalised for long grass which the ground keepers failed to mow.

Next week is Monday 15th July at WAGC Yokine sponsored by Perth Golf Centre.

Captain’s Update Monday JULY 1st, 2024

Sponsor: – SHANI WAUGH GOLF

Pinjarra WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

We had 59 players at Pinjarra, a little disappointing for a good course. There were two visitors, Jamie Forrester from Geraldton GC and Ian Walsh from Bunbury GC. Once again, we experienced perfect golfing weather on a course in good nick. Nice, quick greens.

Vice-Captain Stan Bartley did a great job on the registration desk, collating the results and making the presentation at the end of the day. Thanks heaps Stan.

There was a mix up with the OBE. Eric Curley was named at the presentation but, it was then found that Paul MacShanag had reached the OBE milestone last week, records were out of date. Happy Birthday Paul.

Peter Humphrey eagled the 8^th hole, well done Peter.

There were two grades for the day.

• A grade winner was Charlie Lancey with 36 points;
• B grade winner and winner overall was Ross Hancock with a very good 40 points;
• OBE was Paul MacShanag with 34 points. Sorry Eric;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 2: Andrew Sutherland;
  • Hole 4: John Tandy;
  • Hole 11: Chris Dixon;
  • Hole 15: Peter Millett; and
  • Super pin, Hole 2 for $49: Andrew Sutherland.

Rules for Veteran Golfers

Rule 9.k.34(a): If a tree is between the ball and the hole, and the tree is deemed to be younger than the player, then the ball can be moved, without penalty. This is because it is simply a question of timing; when the player was younger, the tree was not there so the player is being penalised because of his age.

Next week is Monday 8th July at Rockingham sponsored by Rockingham Vets. This a two-competition day, 2 ball combined Stableford and individual Stableford.

Captain’s Update Monday June 24th, 2024

Sponsor: – CHEQUERS VETS

Chequers WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

48 vets competed at Chequers. The Chequers course is getting better and better, fairways were great and the greens were fantastic, they had been mown and prepared for us. Thanks Chequers. The weather was perfect for golf and it is a shame that we only had 48 players.

Graham Dore ran the registration desk and Brian Milburn set up the day in MiScore for us. 

• There was only one grade for the day, the winner was Doug Hudson with 36 points;
• OBE was Terry Porter with 27;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 3: Geoff Hope;
  • Hole 8: Jeff Peake;
  • Hole 11: Jeff Peake;
  • Hole 15: Graham Bourgault; and
  • Super pin, Hole 15 for $44: Graham Bourgault.

Q: What is the easiest way to hook a ball?

A: Try to slice it.

Next week is Monday 1^st July at Pinjarra sponsored by Shani Waugh Golf.

Captain’s Update Monday June 17th, 2024

Sponsor: – DRUMMOND GOLF – MANDURAH

Mandurah CC WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

Once again we had 92 vets on Monday. The Mandurah course had been flooded during the previous week but, despite this, was in great condition. The ground staff at Mandurah did a fantastic job getting the course back into condition. Greens had a good bit of speed and the fairways were excellent.

Todd Bergerson made some changes, set up the competition in MiScore for us and printed off the results. We just made it in before it became too dark for play.

Shortest day next weekend so we will gradually begin to finish in better light.

• The winner of A grade was local Jerry Hetharia with 38 points;
• B grade winner and winner overall with a good score of 40 was Mike Stokes;
• C grade and OBE winner was John Hutchinson 35;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 1: Michael Hart;
  • Hole 6: Steve Potter;
  • Hole 14: David St George;
  • Hole 17: Tom Colella; and
  • Super pin, Hole 3 for $67: Francis Forrester.

When asked, “What did you get on the last hole?”

I answered, “Depressed”

Next week is Monday 24^th June at Chequers sponsored by Chequers Vets.

Captain’s Update Monday June 10th, 2024

Sponsor: – Author K.A.HUDSON & WAVGA

Wanneroo WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

92 vets teed off on Monday at Wanneroo. A cloudy but good golfing day. We did get some rain on the last couple of groups but overall a good day for golf.

Wanneroo, as usual, was in fantastic condition, always a treat to play there.

• The winner of A grade was Tom Grimston with 37 points;
• B grade winner and winner overall with a good score of 40 was David Lampard;
• C grade winner was Don Lamont with another good score of 40;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Jeff Peake;
  • Hole 8: Brian Friend;
  • Hole 11: Jeff Peake;
  • Hole 15: Mark Gardner; and
  • Super pin, Hole 11 for $73: Jeff Peake.

Joe Colabro picked up the OBE with a fine score of 35 points.

My wife said I spend too much time thinking about golf! Do you even remember the day we got married? Of course I do! It was the same day I sank that 45-foot putt (I wish).

Next week is Monday 17^th June at Mandurah sponsored by Drummond Mandurah.

Captain’s Update Monday June 4th, 2024

Sponsor: – MT LAWLEY VETS

Mt Lawley WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

We had a near full field of 102 at Mt Lawley on Tuesday, maybe one tee time too many with the 15-minute delayed start at the request of MLGC combined with the time of sunset. The field moved quick enough for the last group to just get in. Well done, we can play quickly.

The scores on the day were very good, 25 players with 36 points or better.

John Ryan, playing off a 3 handicap, came in with 37 points, a really good game

• The winner of A grade was Peter Mills with a great score of 40;
• B grade winner and winner overall with a fantastic score of 44 was Matt Ferguson;
• C grade winner was Sharon Fitzpatrick with another fantastic score of 42;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 6: Mike Stokes;
  • Hole 8: Shaun Greenfield;
  • Hole 13: Shaun Greenfield;
  • Hole 15: Fook Soo; and
  • Super pin, Hole 13 for $87: Shaun Greenfield (Shaun is financing his vets golf with the super pin)

The Cobra 8 iron lost on the course last week was found in the members golf bag when he got home, shame we don’t have a fines master.

Next week is Monday 10^th June at Wanneroo sponsored by WAVGA and author K. A. Hudson.

Captain’s Update Monday May 27th, 2024

Sponsor: – GOLF CORNER TRAVEL

Secret Harbour WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

73 started and 71 finished at Secret Harbour. Heavy rain midway through the round made things difficult but it was only for about 20 minutes. Pretty good conditions for golf, other than that short period.

The course was in good nick and handled the rain easily.

Thanks to Sophie and the crew in the proshop, they handled everything with a smile.

Maggie Thatcher ran the registration desk, thanks Maggie.

We had just enough for three grades with some pretty good scores recorded.

• The winner of A grade was Stan Sexton with39;
• B grade winner and winner overall on a count back from Stan with 39 was Tamara Morey;
• C grade winner was Phil Shelley with 38;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 5: Gary Maher;
  • Hole 7: Bob Allert;
  • Hole 12: Chuck Mac Farlane;
  • Hole 17: Marc Arnold; and
  • Super pin, Hole 5 for $61: Gary Maher.

A Cobra 8 iron was lost on the course, please let me know if you have found it.

Next week is Tuesday 4^th June at Mt. Lawley, sponsored by Mt Lawley Vets.

David St George will be on the desk, early start David.

Captain’s Update Monday May 20th, 2024

Sponsor: – WAVGA

Araluen WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

We were one short of a full field with 79 players.

As usual the Araluen course was a treat to play golf on for those who can play the game, yours truly excepted.

Thanks to Elise for her assistance.

Richard Day gave me a hand on the desk, thanks Dickie.

The competition was a two ball Ambrose except for one three ball. A late withdrawal meant we were one short of all two ball.

• The winners were the three ball of Ian Rowson, Ian Gay and Graham Muir with 60.17;
• Second place was Graham Bourgault and Charlie Lancey with 65.5.
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Don Lamont with a Hole in One;
  • Hole 7: Tom Colella;
  • Hole 12: Joe Colabro;
  • Hole 16: Steve Duffy; and
  • Super pin, Hole 4 for $69: Gary Lightfoot.

Don Lamont’s hole in one on the fourth was our second for the year, great shot Don. Unfortunately, Don failed to enter the super pin, so missed the $69.

Next week is Monday 27^th May at Secret Harbour, sponsored by Golf Corner Travel.

Maggie Thatcher will be on the desk.

Captain’s Update Monday May 13th, 2024

Sponsor: – DRUMMOND GOLF, BOORAGOON

Royal Fremantle WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

We had an excellent field of 102 at Fremantle, fine weather and a well-presented course. Another day with great greens, deadly on the downhill putt.

The Royal Fremantle Golf Club Veterans donated an engraved beer mug to the player with the best nett present at the presentation after the game. Thanks guys.

Amanda loaded the fixture and Enzer in the proshop made the usual on the day changes to the field.

On the registration desk were Tony Viner and Jamie McEwan with Clayton Gunning as sub.

Thanks to Lucy Guppy, RFG GM for working us into their busy schedule.

We played three grades this week, Congratulations to:

• A grade winner was Fook Soo with 38;
• B grade winner was Murray George with 39;
• C grade winner and best nett was Graham Finch with 42;
• OBE was Brian Friend with 39; and
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 3: Doug Hudson;
  • Hole 8: Francis Forrester;
  • Hole 12: Clint Cooper;
  • Hole 17: Mark Brown; and
  • Super pin, Hole 8 for $83: Francis Forrester.

A woollen hybrid club cover in Dockers colours was found on the course. I will have it if the owner wants to claim it.

After recording a very poor score for the day, Tony is on his way to the club house from the 18th having a chat with Jamie.

“That round was so poor; I think I’m going to jump into the lake by the 15th and drown myself”

“I honestly doubt that” Jamie replied, “ You won’t be able to keep your head down long enough”

Next week is Monday 20^th May at Araluen, 2 ball Ambrose, always a good day. Tee off is 10:30. Please arrive early to allow the cards to be prepared.

Captain’s Update Monday May 6th, 2024

Sponsor: – WAVGA

Maylands WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

We had a full field of 60 at Maylands. A perfect autumn golfing day on a good course. The greens were amongst the best we have played on this year, nice speed and true.

Thanks to Steve in the proshop, always helpful.

Richard Day, once again, gave me a hand on the desk, thanks Dickie.

We played two grades this week, Congratulations to:

• A grade winner was Mick Brazier with a great 43;
• B grade winner was Kath Fordham with 39;
• OBE was Geoff Smith with 30; and
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 5: Neil Thatcher;
  • Hole 8: Mick Brazier;
  • Hole 9: Grant Cillis;
  • Hole 16: Marc Arnold; and
  • Super pin, Hole 13 for $47.10: Peter Sweetlove.

A great score from Mick Brazier, a run-away winner for the day. It was Mick’s first game back after shoulder surgery, we would all like to know the name of his surgeon!

Q: When is it too wet to play golf?

A: When your golf cart capsizes.

Next week is Monday 13^th May at Royal Fremantle, it will fill up quickly so make your plans and booking.

Captain’s Update Monday April 29th, 2024

Sponsor: – MEADOW SPRINGS G & C CLUB

Meadow Springs WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

75 players eventually teed off at Meadow Springs, a little disappointing, but maybe Seniors Pennant is taking some of our players.

It was a fairly windy day, something we have become familiar with over the past few months. Nice greens and good fairways, a really good golf course.

Thanks to Scott for helping to set the day up and Ian for assistance with some changes to the field on the day.

Meadow Springs supplied three vouchers for a game of golf for two, including a cart. These were awarded to the three grade winners.

Mal Kent and Ted Holliday manned the desk and did a great job.

Prior to tee off Mike Stokes gave a brief talk on feeding the local bird life and the negative impact this can have on their health. I support Mikes comments, we should leave the wild life to forage as our processed food can be harmful to them.

We played three grades this week, Congratulations to:

• A grade winner was the evergreen Stan Sexton with 36;
• B grade winner was Bigby Barrett with 38;
• C grade winner and overall winner on a count back was Ross Hancock with 38;
• OBE was Colin Thorniley with 32; and
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Adrian Oliver;
  • Hole 8: Tony Viner;
  • Hole 11: Adrian Oliver;
  • Hole 16: David St George; and
  • Super pin, Hole 4 for $62: Adrian Oliver.

A damaged windscreen was discovered on one of the carts used by the vets, unknown who had the cart. Please report any damage to the course management or the WAVGA Captain or committee members. It is essential we maintain good relationships with the golf clubs and courses we play at.

Tales From The Vault

John and Don are playing a game of golf when John sliced his ball deep into the tangled scrub. He grabbed his 7-iron and proceeded down an embankment into the scrub in search of his ball.

The brush is quite thick, but he searched diligently and suddenly he spotted something shiny. As he got closer, he realized that the shiny object is in fact a 7-iron in the hands of a skeleton lying near an old golf ball.

John excitedly called out to his golfing partner: “Hey Don, come here. I’ve got some real trouble down here.”

Don came running over to the edge of the embankment and called out: “What’s the matter, John? Is everything okay?”

John shouted back in a nervous voice, “Throw me my 8-iron! Apparently, you can’t get out of here with a seven.

Next week is Monday 6^th May at Maylands (the year is going very quickly).

Captain’s Update Monday April 22nd, 2024

Sponsor:- SHANI WAUGH GOLF

The Cut WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

60 players eventually teed off at The Cut, one of my favourite courses.

The course was, as usual, a treat to play on. Nice firm fairways and good greens. Every hole at presenting a different challenge.

Thanks to Caroline for helping to set the day up, lots of changes to be made on the day.

Richard Day gave us a hand on the desk, thanks Dickie.

We played two grades this week, Congratulations to:

• A grade winner and best score on the day was Mark Bill with 39, a good score on a tough course;
• B grade was Ross Hancock with 36;
• OBE was Dave Petterson, 33;
• NTPs were: –
  • Hole 4: Mike Stokes;
  • Hole 13: Rob Watt;
  • Hole 16: Chris Dickson; and
  • Super pin, Hole 16 for $54: Chris Dickson.

Yvonne Turner was presented with a “Hole in One” trophy from the Lakelands competition. Once again Yvonne, well done.

Next week is Monday 29^th April at Meadow Springs, always a good day.

Captain’s Update Monday April 15th, 2024

Sponsor:- PERTH GOLF CENTRE

Joondalup WAVGA Golf RESULTS:

80 players played the Dunes/Lakes 18 holes at Joondalup in perfect conditions.

Steve potter donated three bottles of wine to the NTP winners who did not win the super pin, thanks Steve.

The course was in great condition which resulted in some great scores, particularly in A grade.

Thanks to the Joondalup team for helping to set the day up, particularly Matt keeping tight control of the carts.

Even though he was not playing, Bredan Curtin came in to run the registration desk, Thanks Brendan.

Here we go again, members need to register at the desk at least 30 minutes before the last tee time. Late arrival makes it very hard on our delegates and the course staff. Except for extenuating circumstances, the desk will pack up 30 minutes before the last tee time.

We played three grades this week, Congratulations to:

• A grade winner and best score on the day was Tom Colella with a fantastic 45;
• B grade was Terry Porter with 39;
• C grade was Tony Kingsley with 36;
• OBE was terry Porter, 39;
• Best gross Tom Colella with 38;
• NTPs were:-
  • Dune 4: Milan Trifunovic;
  • Dune 7: Don Mackenzie;
  • Lakes 3: Shaun Greenfield;
  • Lakes 8: Steve Langoulant; and
  • Super pin, Lakes 3 for $64: Shaun Greenfield.

My golf game is that bad, I had to get my ball retriever re-gripped.

Next week is Monday 22^th April at The Cut.

Captain’s Update Monday April 8th, 2024

Sponsor:- WAVGA

El Cabello WAVETs Golf RESULTS:

44 players competed in a 2-ball combined Stableford, shotgun start at El Cabello.

A nice sunny day with a bit of wind to make it interesting.

Thanks to Ian Tapper and his crew at El Cabello.

I know this will sound like a broken record, but members need to register at the desk at least 30 minutes before the last tee time. Late arrival makes it very hard on our delegates.

Only one grade this week, Congratulations to:

• Winners, new member Tony Darbyshire and Graham Finchwith 65 points, $50 voucher ea.
• No best gross or OBE this week.
• NTPs for $10 credit were: #2 Neil Munro, #8 Graham Bourgault, #12 Tom Colella, #15 Graham Bourgault.
• Super pin was won by Graham Bourgault, $38.

Next week is Monday 15^th April at Joondalup.

It is a shotgun start with food afterwards.

Captain’s Update Tuesday March 2^nd, 2024

Sponsor:- Distinctive Golf

Melville Glades WAVETs Golf RESULTS:

63 players hit off at Melville Glades this week. A perfect golfing day, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

My thanks to Matt Sturmer and young Matt in the proshop for setting up the competition in MiScore and for making changes to the start sheet on the day.

Willie Henry came in and operated the registration desk, even though he was unable to play. Thanks Willie.

Once again the time sheet was compressed due to four empty time slots. The second half of the field hit off 14 minutes earlier than the time shown on the web site. To this end, please check the fixture in the web site, even better, try turn up for the day 35 to 40 minutes before your tee time. Gives time to prepare.

We had two grades, Congratulations to:

• Overall winner Warren Howard with 38 points, $75 voucher.
• Best Gross winner Warren Howardwith 38 points, $15 credit.
• Doug Hudson won the money on the Super Pin Hole #14, $50.
• OBE winner Larry Manno with 36 points, $10 credit.
• NTPs for $10 credit were: #5 Ross Hancock, #9 John Ran, #14 Ben Ditoro, #17 John Ryan.

Next week is Monday at El Cabello, a 2 ball combined Stableford. Always good day of golf at El Cabello.

It was a sunny Saturday morning, and Mike was beginning his pre-shot routine, visualizing his upcoming shot when a voice came over the clubhouse loudspeaker: Would the gentleman on the Ladies tee please back up to the men’s tee!”

Mike was still deep in his routine, seemingly impervious to the interruption. Again the announcement:

“Would the man on the women’s tee kindly back up the men’s tee!”

Mike had had enough and shouted: “Would the horse’s ass in the clubhouse with the loud speaker kindly shut up and let me play my damn second shot!”

Captain’s Update Monday March 25^th, 2024

Sponsor:- NUTRI-MATE Dog Rolls

Mosman Park WAVETs Golf RESULTS:

We had 44 starters at Mosman Park. A perfect autumn day, sunshine and a light breeze. Just right for great golf. Mosman Park is not an easy course, shown by the results, nobody shot the lights out.

My thanks to Tony Howell for setting up the day and to Richard in the proshop for his work in making the usual changes that every golf day seems to require.

James Carslaw did a great job on the registration desk with only one player not fronting.

We had three time slots without players registered in them, which caused the start times to compress by 21 minutes. To this end, please check the fixture in the web site or, even better, try turn up for the day 35 to 40 minutes before your tee time. Gives time to prepare.

Players waiting at the tee for partners to turn up is not the look we want for WAVETs. The delegate on the registration desk is also playing in the competition and needs time to prepare.

The registration desk will pack up 30 minutes before the final tee time, but this doesn’t help with late arrivals for earlier tee times.

OK, nuff said. On to the winners. One grade only.

Congratulations to:

• Overall winner Carlo Bevilaqua with 36 points, $75 voucher.
• Best Gross winner Scott Brownwith 31 points, $15 credit.
• Don Mackenzie won the money on the Super Pin Hole #12, $32.
• OBE winner Brian Friend with 32 points, $10 credit.
• NTPs for $10 credit were: #3 Richard Day, #7 Scott Brown, #12 Don Mackenzie, #16 Gordon Sherlock.

Next week is Tuesday at Melville Glades.

SOUTH WEST TOUR 18^th – 20 March

Another City vs Country tour is over with victory going to Country 695 to 676, a fairly solid win.

The shield, due to our Captains foresight, is still in our possession. Forgot to take it with me!

I will, with much reluctance, send it down to our country cousins in the next few days.

My thanks to Ron Ross who set the three days of golf up, he has made the job of Captain much easier.

Also, thanks to the three country course representatives, Peter Green at Bunbury, Greg Bell at Collie and Ian Foot at Sanctuary. All three did a great job setting up the golf for us.

OK, lets look at the golf.

Day one. City vs Country at the fantastic Bunbury Golf Club.

The weather was perfect for golf and the course in great condition. Nice fast greens for the first time this year.

City fronted 55 players and, although we tried valiantly, we went down convincingly.

The only thing we really featured in was the ball raffle.

Ah well, we will get another chance at Mandurah on November 18^th.

The best of the city scores were Doug Hudson and Brian Bell on 37pts, Colin Willis and Terry Smith with 36. Mark Petterson had 35pts. Phil Epis, Peter Murphy and Peter Stewart had 34pts.

Day two. Collie Golf Club

Another great day for golf. The main difficulty of the day was the wind, it was strong and variable all day.

We were welcomed by Greg Bell who laid out trays of salad sandwiches for us. Fantastic.

At the end of the day there were two large pavlovas for the weary field. Appreciated by us all.

We had 42 players in the field.

Winner: – Jeff Peake 36pts – $70

Second: – Yolande Krebbs 35pts – $50 Well done Yolande, our only lady player on the day.

Third: – Tony Viner 35pts – $40

Fourth: – Glen Colling 34pts – $30

Fifth: – Graham Finch 34pts – $20

NTPs: – Jeff Peake, Tony Viner and Andrew Quin.

Day three. Sanctuary Golf Club

Well, I do hate to repeat myself, but, perfect golfing weather again.

We played in the club competition with 16 players in the am field and 42 in the pm field.

Notable city scores for the day were Tony Viner who came fourth with 36 points and Terry Smith ninth with 35 points. There were a number of us in the low thirties, so not a bad day.

The resort gave three golf shirts for prizes, one for the ladies, one for the country vets and one for the city vets. Tony Viner was the city vets winner. He was presented with what I thought was a long dress it was so large. Chuck said a skirt suited him!

Peter came up from the country for a game of golf with his city mates.

Lined up his first drive of the day and flat pulled it into the water.

Undaunted, Pete grabbed another ball from his bag and drove it long and straight down the middle.

He turned to Charlie, his city playing partner, and said, “in the country we call that a mulligan, what do you call it here?”

Charlie looked him straight in the eye and said, “we call it three”

See you at Mosman Park next week, Monday March 25th.

Melville Glades is next, Tuesday April 2nd.

Captain’s Update Monday March 11^th, 2024

Sponsor: – Hartfield CC

Hartfield WAVETs Golf RESULTS:

Another top day for golf. We had a field of 82 competitors, a fairly good number.

Mike Stokes had a red-letter day, 41 points, four clear of the next best in the field.

Well done Mike.

The pro-shop did a great job rearranging the field as we had a heap of changes to make.

Thanks to Gordon Sherlock for his solo job on the registration desk, the club delegates are a fantastic support to the members of our club.

Please be mindful that the delegate on the registration desk is also playing in the competition and needs time to prepare. Try to arrive and register early. The registration desk will pack up 30 minutes before the final tee time.

Next week is the city versus country in the South West. Our next fixture is Mosman Park on the 25^th March.

OK, on to the winners. The numbers allowed us to have three grades.

Congratulations to:

• A grade Francis Forrester with 35
• B grade and overall winner Mike Stokes with 41 points.
• C grade Andrew Jappy with 36 points.
• Best Gross winner John Ryanwith 32 points. A top effort off scratch.
• Stan Sexton won the money on the Super Pin Hole #12 – $60
• OBE winner Max Stewart with 35 points.
• NTPs were: #4 Mal Kent, #6 Martin Sheehan, #12 Stan Sexton, #15 Brendan Curtin.

The fixtures for the South West trip are now closed, final arrangements are being made. Contact Doug Hudson if you need to drop out or would like to be included.

Captain’s lament:

I had a terrible round today, I only hit two good balls, and that was when I stepped on a rake.

Captain’s Update Monday March 5^th, 2024

Sponsor:- WAVET

Kwinana WAVETs Golf RESULTS:

A Field of 55 competed at Kwinana. A low turnout at a great course due to the long weekend. Conditions were warm, with a breeze, which made the day enjoyable. 

My thanks to Phil Curnel in the proshop for his work setting up the day.

Also, thanks to Dennis Clarke and desk apprentice Scott brown on the registration desk.

As Scott said, any errors were not his fault, he was only the trainee.

Due to the low numbers we had to move players quite significantly to compact the field and ensure bot nines were fairly even. Everyone played without their part without any problems, which helps enormously.

Please be mindful that the delegate on the registration desk is also playing in the competition and needs time to prepare. Try to arrive and register early. The registration desk will pack up 30 minutes before the final tee time.

OK, on to the winners. Two grades only.

Congratulations to:

• A grade and overall winner Stewart Hutchison with 38 points.
• B grade winner Paul McShanag with 36 points.
• Best Gross winner Tom Colellawith 29 points.
• Stuart Hutchison won the money on the Super Pin Hole #3 with a Hole in One! – $45.
• OBE winner Terry Porter with 33 points.
• NTPs were: #3 Stewart Hutchison, #6 Tom Colella, #14 Steve potter, #16 Wayne Howes.

A 56-degree wedge was found on the course, contact Doug Hudson to recover.

The fixtures for the South West trip are now closed, final arrangements are being made. Contact Doug Hudson if you need to drop out or would like to be included.

Next week is Monday at Hartfield.

Captain’s Update Monday February 26^th, 2024

Lakelands WAVETs Golf RESULTS:

A Field of 103 competed at Lakelands. A great turnout played in warm conditions, with a breeze which made the day enjoyable.

My thanks to Dave Martin of LCC who worked to ensure the day went off without a hitch and to Phil Davies for his sterling work on the registration desk.

We had one new member competing at Lakelands, welcome Dorian Bennett.

Please be mindful that the delegate on the registration desk is also playing in the competition and needs time to prepare. Try to arrive and register early. The registration desk will pack up 30 minutes before the final tee time.

OK, on to the winners.

Congratulations to:

• A grade and overall winner Barry Judge with 38 points.
• B grade winner David Lampard with 37 points.
• C Grade winner Glen Colling with 37 points.
• Best Gross winner Peter Millswith 29 points.
• Yvonne Turner won the money on the Super Pin Hole #13 with a Hole in One! – $75.
• Congratulations Yvonne.
• OBE winner Jeff Watkins with 33 points.
• NTPs were: #4 Glen Colling, #7 Doug Hudson, #13 Yvonne Turner, #17 Darrell Lynch

Next week is Tuesday at Kwinana.

The fixtures for the South West trip are open.

Captain’s Update Monday February 19^th, 2024

Rockingham WAVETs Golf RESULTS:

A Field of 45 competed at Rockingham. The numbers were low due to forecast hot temperatures. As it turned out it was fairly hot and humid but did not reach the 40+ of the northern suburbs.

My thanks to the pro Shop who made the multitude of changes and Shaun Molone and staff of RGC for the provision of their facilities and assistance on the day.

We had two new members at competing at Rockingham: Adrian Oliver and Phil Mannin.

Due to the low numbers we only had one grade for the day

OK, on to the winners.

Congratulations to:

• WinnerDoug Hudson with 38 points.
• Best Gross winner Chuck MacFarlanewith 31 points.
• Warren Howard won the money on the Super Pin Hole #3 – $40.
• There were no OBE players on the day.
• NTP’s were: #3 Warren Howard, #8 No one on board, #12 Tim Turner, #15 Jamie McEwan
• Club Delegates at the registration desk were Ron Ross and Alan Baker.

Next week is at Lakelands, a return after a number of years not playing there. Thanks to the Lakelands members who have facilitated our return.

The fixtures for the South West trip are open.

Captain’s Update Tuesday February 12^th, 2024

Gosnells Golf Club RESULTS:

A field of 66 players competed at Gosnells, a little disappointing, with quite a few withdrawals.

Sponsor on the day was the Golf Corner Travel, with sponsor Paul Deans playing with us. Paul supplied four golf handtowels for the presentation.

Gosnells Golf Club also donated four vouchers for a game of golf at Gosnells which were given out at the presentation.

The weather was once again great, warm but not too hot.

My thanks to the pro Shop and the management and staff of GGC for the provision of their facilities and assistance on the day.

We had two new members at Gosnells: Wayne McKay from Rockingham Golf Club and Joe Fragnito from  Royal Fremantle Golf Club.

I missed one new member last week at Wanneroo. Welcome to Jeff Peake of Chequers Golf.

Due to low numbers we only had two grades, A grade 0 – 18 and B grade 19 and up.

OK, on to the winners.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner David St George with the day’s best score of 38 points.
• Best Gross winner Clint Cooperwith 29 points.
• B Gradewinner Phillip Shelley with 35 points.
• David St George won the money on the Super Pin Hole #4 – $56.
• The OBE was won by Geoff Smithwith 35 points.
• NTP’s were: #4 David St George, #7 Geoff Smith, #9 Tom Grimston, #11 Mark Peterson and #14 Yvonne Turner.
• Welcome by Club Delegate at the registration desk by Terry Smith in a solo effort.

Next week is at Rockingham, always a good day.

The fixtures for the South West trip are open.

Captain’s Update Tuesday February 5^th 2024

2024 SEASON OPENING ROUND

Wanneroo Golf Club RESULTS:

A field of 95 players competed at Wanneroo, a good turnout.

Sponsor on the day was the Drummond Golf, who is our Platinum sponsor. Drummond Golf also supplied the Taylormade TP5 golf balls for the ball draw

The weather was fantastic for our first fixture of the season.

My thanks to the pro Shop and the management and staff of WGC for the provision of their facilities and assistance on the day. Also thanks to the members for supporting the event.

We had three new members at our 2024 opener: Graham Finch from Chequers Golf Club, Geoff Lake from Fremantle Golf Club and Andrew McDonald from Melville Glades Golf Club.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Simmon Proud with 37 points,
• Best Gross winner Chuck Macfarlanewith 31 points. A fine effort on count back from Terry Smith.
• B Gradewinner Doug Hudson with 40 points and best score of the day.
• C Grade winnerJohn Hutchinson with 34 points.
• Geoff Lake, a new member, won the money on the Super Pin Hole 15 – $74.
• The OBE on the day was won by John Hutchinsonwith 34 points.
• NTP’s were: #4 Geoff Ross, #8 Maggie Thatcher, #11 Peter Murphy, #15 Geoff Lake.
• Welcome by Club Delegate at the registration desk: Warren Howard in a solo effort.

Welcome to the 2024 Season!

For the 2024 WAVGA season please make note of the following and apply these considerations to you and your groups golf rounds throughout the season ensuring all players enjoy the golf and celebrate their game in the Club House and at the Presentation ASAP!

*  Watch your teammates hitting off and comment on the ball’s location, and suggest hitting a

provisional if in doubt.

* Adopt habits that don’t promotes “Slow Play”.

*  Let “Ready Golf” be the norm.

*  Assist by raking each other’s bunkers so to promote Continuity of Play.                           

* When it’s your turn to putt – putt out!       

*  When falling behind, the first 2 players to putt out should proceed to the next hole and tee-off.

*  If you lose contact with the group in front of you, work collectively to catch up.

*  Be considerate of your fellow golfers – behind, with and in front of you!

* Encouragement promotes good golf.

We love our golf and enjoy completing the rounds in under 4.5 hours.  

Captain’s Update and Final Update for 2023.

WAGC EVENT AND RESULTS

What a day with AGM, Golf in the Afternoon and Dinner and Party time in the evening! A great way to finish a very successful year.

The success of the day can be directly attributed to the WAGC WAVGA Members who sponsored the day.

A big thanks:

• To the WAGC members whose contributions added over $500 worth of prizes to the day.
• Charlie Lancey and his fancy woodworking skills with the provision of Longest Drive and Longest Putt Markers plus the fabulous handcrafted ‘Coasters’ that the major prize winners on the day received. I am sure you will see these featured at quite a few events next year!
• Steve Potter for donating a Bottle of Red and Bottle of White to each of the Nearest the Pin Winners.
• WAGC for providing ‘Top Notch’ facilities and tucker along with a fantastically prepared golf course.
• To all the players who supported the day with positive enthusiasm.
• Club Delegates on the day, Graham Bourgault and Charlie Lancey once again a fabulous effort!
  • Winners:  A Grade – Che Haw Ling, B Grade – Tim Trafford and C Grade – Teresa Smart.
  • Best Gross – Scott Brown
  • OBE: Jeff Watkins.
  • Super Pin: Peter Millet who won $88.
  • Men’s and Women’s Order of Merit Winners: Ken Carson and Yvonne Turner.

Not all our 2023 sponsors were able to attend the day, but we certainly appreciate the support that these ‘elite’ people generously provide for our association. We were fortunate to have some sponsors attend: Chris Harris (Drummond Golf), Richard Pace (Nutrimate Dog Rolls) and Gary Carter (Life Member).

AGM

Well attended event and a thankyou to those who attended who were able to offer advice and guidance to the incoming executive and committee members for future refinement of the WAVGA. The position of Captain remains vacant at the present time, but when the committee meet early in 2024, I am positive that this position will be filled. My thanks to all members, for your support over the last two years as Captain – it has been a privilege! However, my 2-year tenure has been completed and I look forward to working with the incoming captain to make their transition seamless. I look forward to the enthusiasm that the new captain will no doubt bring to the Association. I have enjoyed the comradery and thankyou for all the personal ‘thanks’ received following the AGM/Dinner at WAGC.

It is the Committee, the Vice-Captains the Club Delegates and the Members that made the position of Captain enjoyable – it is so good to know so many of you personally following 2 years working with you and enjoying golf together!

NEXT FIXTURE

The Club Delegates for WANNEROO, Jim Treloar, Warren Howard and Darrel Lynch, already have the Delegates Bag and are keen to welcome you on Monday February 5, 2024 for the first fixture of the year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Have as good one! Signing of now from Captain’s Corner for 2023.

Regards and Good Golfing!

Ron Ross

Captain WAVGA – 2022/23 Seasons

2023 Order of Merit Winner

Ken Carson

Captain’s Update Wednesday November 6, 2023

HARTFIELD COUNTRY CLUB RESULTS:

A field of 76 players. Sponsor on the day was the Hartfield Golf Club who supplied the wine prizes for the nearest the pin winners (had to be present to receive the wine).

It was certainly a day for records!

1. Denis Clarke (Kwinana GC) had the best score on the day with 48 points. His playing partner on the day, Bill Little, was heard to say, ‘It was like playing with Min Woo Lee – Denis could do no wrong and played amazing shots with accuracy and precision’.
2. Denis Clarke also recorded the highest score achieved by an OBE for the season.
3. Tim and Yvonne Turner won that many prizes on the day: NP Cash and Wine, positions in top 5, Ball Sweep, etc. they nearly needed a ‘Woollies’ trolley to shift their prizes!
4. Terry Porter not only won B Grade he also won 2 nearest the pin prizes – attributing his success to his coach Pam Porter.
5. All-in-all a great day had by all and some great scores and personal achievements on the day.

My thanks to the pro Shop, management, and staff of HCC for providing the facilities to assist with our competition on the day and to the members for supporting the event.

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade winner Chuck Macfarlane with 36 points,
• Best Gross winner Chuck Macfarlane with 23 points.
• B Grade winner Terry Porter with 41 points.
• C Grade winner Denis Clarke with 48 points and $75 voucher winner with best score on the day. What a score!
• Tim Turner won the money on the Super Pin Hole 12 – $62.
• The OBE on the day was won by a very happy and jubilant Dennis Clarke with 48 points.

LAST ROUND FOR 2024!

Join us on Monday 11 December for the last WAVGA Fixture of the year!

• AGM: 10.30am – meet your new WAVGA Committee for 2024!
• Welcome by Club Delegates at the registration desk: Chaley Lancey & Graham Bourgault: 11.15 onwards.
• Shot Gun Start: 12.15.
• Presentation after the Round: Season Prizes, Sponsor Recognition and Daily Prize announcements.
• Buffet Dinner: 6.00pm

Captain’s Update Wednesday 29 November

Nedlands Club Golf Club

Despite the Golf Course having been renovated the previous week the Playing Condition of the Nedlands Golf Course was exceptional. The layout of the golf course is always pleasurable to play. My thanks to Golf Manager Ben Unbehaun for making us welcome and offering a discount on the day because of the renovation work on the greens and fairways.

Club Delegates on the day, Richard Lee and Gerhard Saueracker did a fantastic job welcoming everyone to Nedlands.

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond golf.

• Congratulations to Best Gross Fook Soo with 32 points on a 6 handicap!  
• A grade – Mark Petterson with 40 points.
• B grade – Peter Murphy with 42 points and the $75 winner with best score on the day.
• It was Gary Lightfoot who won the money on the Super Pin Hole 16 – $44.
• The OBE on the day was won by Jeff Watkins with 35 Points. It was great to see 6 of our OBE’s playing on the day.

At presentation we welcomed David Donaldson-Stiff as a new member to WAVGA and it was also pleasing to see Ako Futaesaku play his first game after an absence of over 2 years.

The OBE Club is growing with Geoff Smith (Cottesloe) and Collin Thorniley (Karrinyup) becoming eligible to be an OBE – Happy Birthday gentlemen!

DRUMMOND VOUCHERS

We now have these back in ample supply and will endeavour to hand out as many as we can to attending members at the remaining fixtures of the year so you can use them to buy yourself a ‘Golf Christmas Present’ at your local Drummond Store. Please check your balance on the Drummond Voucher Summary Sheet located on the Captain’s Corner Page and you have values that are in $25 increments please make sure you see myself, or Tom Grimston to collect the vouchers. Balances will roll over into the 2024 Season.

Up Coming Fixtures:

Hartfield:  The ‘Penultimate’ game for 2024. Gordon Sherlock will welcome us to the Club.

WAGC: Booking sheet has opened for the last event of the 2023! Exceptional value for game and buffet meal for $61. Also lots of additional novelty prizes on the day along with increased value of prize money for the day. Charlie Lancey and Graham Bourgault will feel like Father Christmas on the day welcoming you to WAGC on the day. A huge thankyou to the sponsor on the day – The WAGC WAVGA members!

Captain’s Update Monday 20 November 2023

City Vets V Country Vets for Bruce Rowley Shield

129 players competed on the day! 64 Country Vets and 65 City Vets. The result being that the CITY VETS won and maintained their hold on the shield with a 4-point advantage. The results of the top 20 scores were Country: 679 and City 683. It was a fantastic day (though a little warm with 35 Degree temp) but everyone was in great spirits, and it was good to have a fantastic representation on the day.

My personal thanks to the Registration Team on the day of Stan Bartley and for the Country Vets Bill Hasch.  

Winners on the day:

• A Grade: Michael Hilsz with 40 points.
• Best Gross John Ryan was Stan Sexton with 27 Points.
• B Grade: Terry Porter 40 Points. (Best score on the day with a C/B – and Pam and Terry’s 52 Wedding Anniversary Day).
• C Grade: John Hutchinson 36 points
• OBE: Terry Porter with 36 Points
• Super Pin: Phil Warburton (Collie) won the jackpot – pocketing the $102 on Hole 2.

AVGU Championships – Canberra 2023.

It was fantastic to look at all the results and some notable performances were:

• A Grade Net: Gavin Furness (Nedlands) 2^nd
• B Grade Net: Joe Alexander (Nedlands) 1^st
• C Grade Net: Paul McShanag (Kwinana) 6^th and 1^st in C Grade Gross.

The Western Australian contingent feature prominently across all the grades.

Check out further results at: AVGU National Championships- Leaderboards for 60 days (miclub.com.au)

Nominations for WAVGA Positions and Committee

Get these nomination forms to Tom Grimston by Wednesday this week!

Rolf and Shelley Kraus Condolences

It is with great sadness that Rolf Kraus informed us of the passing of his wife Shelley on the 8th November as a result of a serious car accident. Rolf also was injured in the accident and will undergo a shoulder operation on the 5th December which unfortunately will keep him away from golf for 4 – 6 months. We look forward to the day Rolf can rejoin us on the golf course but it will be Shelley and her vibrant personality and passion for golf that will be forever in our memory.

News of Shelley’s passing was announced to the membership during the presentation at Pinjarra GC, and after a short Eulogy of Shelley’s involvement and participation in many WAVGA events, a minute’s silence was observed by all present. You will be greatly missed Shelley!

Deepest sympathies from both myself, and the entire Vets membership are extended to the Kraus family and friends.

Vale Shelley!

Next Fixture

Nedlands. Please be aware that Course Restoration works will have been completed when we play on Monday, my thanks to the Nedlands GC for reducing the Green Fees on the day, but they assured us that the course will be in sound condition on the day and the drinks afterwards in the bar will be cold! Club delegates Richard Lee and Gerhard Saueracker will be on duty to welcome us to their club.

Guest at Nedlands Fixture and Historical Link to the WA Golfing Past.

Dan Cullen will be playing in the field at Nedlands next week. Who is he and what is the significance of his attending. Read below to find out more and you might find it very interesting and ask dan a few questions when you meet him at Nedlands about Hickory Golf!

“Hickory Golf is establishing itself in WA and WA Veteran Golfers are being encouraged to give it a go!

At a time when debate rages about technology and how it is making or going to make significant and historic golf courses redundant, hickory golf, that is as the name implies, golf played with pre-1935 hickory shafted clubs and approved replicas is gaining renewed interest and not just amongst those interested in the game’s history.

Hickory golf in Western Australia is being led by Royal Perth Member, Dan Cullen. Dan a member and Club Champion at the New South Wales Golf Club and St. Michael’s Golf Club was born into the game and taught to play and the craft of club repairs by his father, Dan Snr.

Dan Snr was Western Australian born and served his apprenticeship which he started as a 14yo at Seaview in 1928 and then moved with his boss, Eric Alberts to Swanbourne when Cottesloe Golf Club relocated. Dan Snr won back-to-back Western Australian Opens in 1937 & 1938.

In 1938 following a match with World Golf Hall of Fame Member, Bobby Locke at Royal Perth, the great South African golfer recognising Dan’s ability urged him to “go East” where there were more career opportunities in golf.

Unfortunately, WW2 interrupted Dan Snr’s career. He served in the RAAF, flying out of England being a Flight Lieutenant / Captain as part of the legendary Lancaster bomber 460 Squadron, completing 33 missions. He was awarded the DFC.

After WW2 Dan Snr settled in Sydney and was the Club Pro at Roseville and St. Michael’s. He started Dan Cullen’s Driving Range in 1966 next door to St Michaels. He taught thousands of people to play golf, was President of the PGA Australia 1951-1955 and was later awarded life membership.

Dan Snr had a fabulous career and life in golf, but one can only wonder what might have been had he not lost those years like so many between 1939-45. In 1977 Dan Snr, at 62 years of age, became the oldest ever qualifier for The Open Championship at Turnberry which is a record that still stands. Dan Snr regularly shot under his age at NSWGC and also achieved this feat at The Australian Seniors Championship and The British Seniors Championship.

Dan Snr passed away at 2016 at 101

Dan Jnr has been playing golf since he was a small boy and started playing hickory golf in 1995 with the NSW based Australian Golf Heritage Society (AGHS).

In his retirement, Dan Jnr relocated back to his ancestral home, Perth. In 2019 he established the group “Hickory Golf Western Australia” with the assistance of Royal Fremantle and WAVGA Member, Clayton Gunning, Lake Karrinyup Member, Alex Cleave and Darryl Arnett – who generously donated many clubs. The group only has 12 active members but over 250 followers who regularly interact through Facebook.

Hickory games have been played at Royal Perth, Royal Fremantle, Seaview, and Collier Park. Dan Jnr is looking for a Golf Club to call “home” for hickory golf where regular events can be played.

WAVGA Members are encouraged to join our Facebook group and give hickory golf a try. Hire Clubs are available, and the $10 fee goes back into purchasing and repairs for clubs.

Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.”

Dan Cullen

E: hickorygolfwa@gmail.com

Captain’s Update Tuesday 14 November

GOSNELLS GOLF CLUB RESULTS:

A field of 82 players for Season game Number 47 – 4 more fixtures until the end of the season: Pinjarra, Nedlands, Hartfield and finally WAGC! Where has the season (and year) gone!  My thanks to Gosnells GC for sponsoring the day with a Voucher for 4 players for a round of golf at Gosnells – won by Barry Judge with the best score on the day. My thanks to Doug Hudson for hosting the day as Vice-Captain and Club member Terry Smith for doing a great job on the registration desk.

My thanks to the Pro Shop, management, and staff of GGC for providing the facilities to assist with our competition on the day and to the members for supporting the event.

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade Winner Darrell Lynch with 40 points,
• Best Gross winner John Ryan with 34 points.
• B Grade winner barry Judge with 42 points and $75 voucher winner with best score on the day.  
• C Grade winner Dave Brown with 38 points.
• Tom Collela won the money on the Super Pin Hole 4 – $63.
• The OBE on the day was won by Peter Livingston with an outstanding 38 points.

Next Fixture: Pinjarra – City Vets Challenge. Come and join us on the day to win and maintain ownership of the ‘Bruce Rowley Perpetual shield. Since 2016 City vets have won 7 times to Country Vets 6 times. 8 to 6 would sound better! Don’t forget that this is a shotgun start and you will be paired with players from the SW Vets. Presentation and food will follow the event.

CANBERRA NATIONALS

No news yet from Canberra. A 4BBB was played on Monday and the first Round of the Championship is began today.

LOST ANYTHING LATELY?

Vice-Captain Doug Hudson has the following items in his possession:

• Head cover from RPGC
• Water bottle from El Caballo
• MGI remote controller from Gosnells
• Bushnell laser range finder from Gosnells.

See Doug at any of the remaining fixtures to claim your missing (and in some cases valuable) items.

Captain’s Update Thursday 9 November 2023

Royal Perth GC Fixture

Excellent field of 101 starters on the day and looking at the results some very competitive games of golf enjoyed. Royal Perth always turn on a great venue and fabulous hospitality.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner Barry Johnson with 44 and was also Best Gross.
• B grade – Darryl Mitchen with 42 points.
• C grade – Yvonne Turner with 40 points.
• The OBE on the day was won by Bob Howe with 36 Points.

El Caballo Country Club Fiuxture

48 enthusiastic golfers enjoyed the hospitality of El Caballo. By all reports everyone enjoyed the day. However, it was those that left themselves an uphill putt that tended to score better on the day. Apparently, the greens were ‘super-fast’ and anything being putted down hill proved to be treacherous!

• Congratulations to Winner David St George with 35 points and also Best Gross on the day.
• The OBE on the day was won by John Hutchinson with 34 Points.

Thanks

My thanks to Vice captains Doug Hudson and Stan Bartley for covering the fixtures in my absence. I was supposed to be down south for a week of golf, but it was postponed after sustaining a hand injury on arrival in Bunbury. Let’s just say I will get the stitches out soon and should be fit enough to play at Pinjarra for the City v Country Challenge! 

Good Luck.

To all the WAVGA members that are flying out to Canberra for the Vets National Championship – I wish you good luck and great times in Canberra next week! Fantastic to see so many representing WA in this National event. It would be great to hear of your success on return, but not necessary to hear all the stories as ‘What happens in Canberra, Stays in Canberra” (usually!) It would be great to publish a few of the stories in Captain’s Corner if you are willing to let us in on some of the memorable events of the week!

CITY v County Challenge

It is on again in Pinjarra on Monday 20 November. We lost at this venue last year, so we need maximin numbers for the event. Bookings are open NOW and there are still many vacancies to fill. I know we have members in Canberra, so for those that don’t return in time to play Pinjarra, please make an effort to commit to this event. It is a Shotgun Start and help defend the shield that we did win back at the Sanctuary earlier this year.

WAVGA Committee Nominations

By this stage you would have received information from Tom Grimston regarding Committee Nominations for 2024. Please make sure you get these to Tom by the required time.

Next Weeks Fixture:

Gosnells. Terry Smith will be there to welcome you and Gosnells GC is donating 4 x 1 Round of Golf Vouchers to be won on the day. Vice-Captain Doug Hudson will present these to the winners at the Presentation Event following the fixture,

Captain’s Update Tuesday 24 October 2023

MEADOW SPRINGS

Host Scott Proctor and General Manager at Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club always provides a well-presented golf club and is always on hand to ensure all WAVGA members have an enjoyable golf experience. MSG&CC were the sponsors on the day.

Thanks to the Registration Team on the day of Mal Kent and Ted Holloway – excellent job, and thanks to everyone for endeavouring to arrive ½ hour early before the fixture commencement.

Some outstanding golf on the day with a Hole in One by Adam Sutton and an Eagle for Darrell Lynch.

Winners on the day:

• A Grade: Stan Sexton with 42 points as well as Best Gross.
• B Grade: Rob Watt 41 points.
• C Grade: Fred Feucs 38 points.
• OBE: Eric Curley with 30 Points
• Super Pin: Adam Sutton pocketed the $51 on Hole 8 with his ‘ace’!

NEXT FIXTURE: Royal Perth Golf Club. Club Reps and Delegates Rolf Kraus and Rob howes will welcome you and assist with your registration. Please remember that the registration desk closes ½ hour before the last group Tee Off.

Vice Captains Doug Hudson and Stan Bartley will be filling in for the next 2 fixtures as I will be away on the days of those fixtures.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 17 October 2023

SECRET HARBOUR GOLF CLUB

Looks like the warmer the weather the ‘hotter’ the score gets!

It was a warm day at Secret harbour with the temperature reaching 34C during the event – just as well we were close to the ocean! An amazing score by Pam Porter of 46 Stableford Points and closely followed by Kath Fordam with 41 points. It was not only the women doing well it the heat it was also A grade winner Chuck Macfarlane with 40 points and Best Gross on the day, B Grade winner was Adam Sutton also having 41 points. Congratulations to OBE winner Jo Calabro with 35 points.

Big thankyou to the Sponsor on the day being WAVGA member Tom Colella. Pam chose a good day to get the best score on the day getting the $75 Drummond voucher as well as Tom Colella’s Sponsor prize of a $75 golf voucher.

My thanks to Vice Captains Doug Hutton and Stan Bartley for overseeing the Presentation formalities – although from all reports Stan tried to give the ‘Ball Sweep’ prizes away to whoever was close to him instead of the called winner!  

COMMITTEE MEETING

Your WAVGA Committee met today and many of the items discussed and decided upon will be included in the minutes and will form the basis of the newsletter that Vice-President Stan sexton will release very soon. Some items of note include:

• Decision to include Midwest Tour again in 204 (Proposed Date Monday 26 – 30 August: Kalbarri, Spalding, Geraldton and Dongara Golf Clubs. The event will also be held to try and win back the Midwest Ron Cole Shield!
• AGM/Dinner @ WAGC cost will be $65 including golf and dinner. Partners can attend at a fee of $35. More details soon.
• 2024 Committee: nominations will be called for shortly. My (Captain) 2year tenure has been completed and I will stand down as Captain at the end of this year, so looking for a nominee for this role and other positions as they arise.
• 2024 fixtures discussed and been prepared for 2024.
• Ball Sweep’ balls will be ‘upmarket balls’ once the remaining ‘Srixon’ Stock of 6 dozen balls is utilised.
• 27 new members in the last month – don’t forget if you nominate a new member and the application is successful your person $40 annual fee will be waived for 2024. Time is running out for this incredible deal so get your mates signed up quickly.
• More exciting info to follow in Stan’s newsletter that will be emailed to all members shortly.

Next Fixture: Meadow Springs – shot gun start at 11.30!  

Captain’s Update Tuesday 10 October 2023

COTTESLOE GC

112 players competed on the day! Our biggest field for an event this year!

My personal thanks to the Registration Team on the day of Geoff Smith, Peter Livingston and Peter Stewart. Also, my gratitude to Geoff Smith for his personal involvement in negotiating and liaising with the Cottesloe Admin to ensure our fixture was secured and available at the best price.

The course was in superb condition following their Championship Weekend and it was particularly pleasing to see a full field thanks to a couple of players on the ‘Waiting List’ who were able to fill in at short notice – thanks Digby Barrett and Mike Stokes for filling an unforeseen vacancy!

Winners on the day:

• A Grade: Fook Soo with 39 points.
• Best Gross with a Daily handicap of 2 on Daily Handicap was John Ryan with 34 Points.
• B Grade: Carmelo Salpietro 35 Points.
• C Grade: Ken Carson 40 points and best score on the day who received $75 Drummond Voucher.
• OBE: David Petterson with 34 Points
• Super Pin: Graham Hunt pocketed the $90.05 on Hole 11. Thanks to the person who donated the 5c or did they mistake a 5c for a $2 coin?
• Luckiest Golfer on the Day: Richard Day. Wait until you ‘hear’ why he was so lucky – just ask him! 

Next Fixture: Secret Harbour.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 3 October 2023

BOOKING SHEET CLOSES AT 6.00pm SUNDAY

Our host clubs need plenty of notice to load players into there systems so that everything is set and accurate when it comes to the start of our fixture. Cancelations after 6.00pm on Sunday evening require further communication, apologies to the club and quite often leave fellow members with minimal players that require further manipulation. If you are not 100% sure of making a fixture, PLEASE cancel your booking before the fixture closes! Worse still are ‘no shows on the day’! Yes, I know urgent matters and illness arise from time to time but losing several players after numbers have been confirmed is causing angst amongst our host clubs and is also a big inconvenience to your fellow members.

BIG FIELD FOR COTTESLOE

It appears that Cottesloe fixture will be a very full field with last groups Teeing Off at approx. 1.00pm. It is very important to be mindful of ‘Ready Golf’, so these later groups finish at a respectable time. If you are getting too far behind the group in front, please make every effort to catch up! Remember, 3 minutes is the maximin time to locate a lost ball – after that time your ball is no longer in play!

VINES GOLF RESORT FIXTURE – THE LAKES COURSE

• 81 Players – was 90 when player information was first relayed to the club!
• The Lakes course had only been open a week since Reticulation work had been completed and provided a great playing surface – though a few holes were spoilt with a ‘bit of heavy condensation’ during the day!
• The hospitality provided after the match was enjoyed by all and the catering of the Vines was first class. A big thankyou for everyone staying behind for the presentation and celebration of winners on the day.
• Our sponsor for the day was WA Veteran Golfers Association.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner and Best Gross Phillip Mannin,
• B Grade winner Richard Day and best score on the day with 36 points.
• C Grade winner was Ken Carson.
• Peter King won the money on the Super Pin Hole 4 – $66.
• OBE was won by Jeff Watkins.

Next Fixture: Cottesloe. If you haven’t managed to get on the starters list, please make sure you join the ‘Wait List’. As someone withdraws you will be automatically notified of your placement in the field.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 27 September 2023

MELVILLE GLADES FIXTURE

It was a shame that a few of our members opted out of playing Melville Glades because of the temporary green arrangement. It was quickly evident that  Melville Glades knows how to make a ‘temporary green’! Judging from the scores on the day and the comments of the 56 players who played, it was a great day of golf with the course being assessed as very good! The improvements that Melville Glades are presently undertaking will no doubt make it one of the premium courses in the future and it will be a popular venue for all WAVGA members for a satisfying golf experience.

The OBE Competiton is heating up with friendly competitive rivalry growing between the members of the OBE Club. On this occasion it was Brian Friend who triumphed with 37 points on a count back from Gary Carter!  

Well done to our winners on the day:

• A Grade: Doug Hudson (Chequers GC) with 40.
• Best Gross with a Daily handicap of 1 was John Ryan with 35.
• B Grade: Phil Wong (Melville Glades) 43 Points and best score on the day.
• OBE: Brian Friend (Ledge Point GC) with 37 Points.

NEW MEMBER WELCOME

Phil Mannin was welcomed to the WAVGA at Presentation. It was also nice to see Charlie Lancey have Suzanne Lancey join the group of Graham Bourgault and John Tandy on this occasion.

WELCOME BACK

Tom Grimston has returned from ‘global wandering’ and will have his first game back at the Vines. No doubt he will have a ‘slide show’ prepared for all to see!

NEXT FIXTURES

1. The Vines – Lakes Course. Make sure you stay for Presentation and the Post Game Catering supplied by the WAVGA. Always a good day being a shot gun start.
2. Cottesloe – Cottesloe have advised that the time interval between games is 9 minutes. With first groups hitting off at 11.00am and the last groups close to 1.00pm it is important that the flow of golf is ‘Ready Golf’ to ensure later groups are not delayed and finish in the ‘twilight’.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 20 September 2023

ROYAL FREMANTLE

108 players on the day! Royal Fremantle Golf Club Fixture was our 39^th game for the 2023 season leaving us with 12 more fixtures until we conclude the season at WAGC on Monday Dec 11! Where has the season (and year) gone? But some great venues remain to play those 12 fixtures.

Royal Fremantle proved to be a popular venue once again with a warm welcome to the club provided by Clayton Gunning and Barry Judge at the Delegates Registration Desk. It was pleasing to see everyone followed the Fixture instructions and arrived early. There was a bit of confusion with the start time with our registration sheet indicating 8-minute gaps between groups, but Royal Fremantle has now reverted to 7 minutes – so some of the later groups being called earlier than anticipated. But this worked in our favour, as everyone had arrived early and more could remain for the presentation.

WAVGA Sponsor Paul Dean – Golf Corner Travel, addressed the group at Presentation, being introduced by WAVGA Vice-President Stan Sexton, who had recently travelled with Paul on one of his escorted tours to Thailand. By all reports the golf Trip was amazing and Paul provided information and pamphlets with enticing information about forthcoming events he encouraged our members to join. I would like to also thank Paul for the additional prizes that he made available at presentation!

My thanks to the Royal Fremantle WAVGA Members for sponsoring the Best Nett Trophy that Clayton Gunning presented to Richard Lee during presentations. Big thankyou to Melissa Castaldi – Manager Golf Operations for ensuring the day ran smoothly and providing valuable assistance with this fixture.

During Presentation, Peter Humphry was presented with his ‘Club Champion B Grade’ trophy that he was not able to be present for at last week’s Wanneroo fixture!

Well done to our winners on the day:

• A Grade: Nick De Laurentis with 36 Points.
• Best Gross Clint Cooper with 30 Points.
• B Grade: Richard Lee 40 Points and RFGC Trophy Winner for Best Nett Score.
• C Grade: Gary Cater 36 points and OBE winner
• Super Pin: Scott Brown pocketed the $87 on Hole 3.

NEXT FIXTURES:

Melville Glades – Tuesday Sept 26.

Vines – Lakes Course – Monday Oct 2. As it is a ‘Shot Gun Start’ WAVGA will again be providing a selection of hot and cold platters following completion of your round. Please plan to stay and enjoy some hospitality compliments of WAVGA.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 12 September 2023

WAVGA CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Congratulations to the winners:

• Gross Winner and Club Champ: Scott Brown
• A Division Net Winner: Tony Giorgio.
• B Division Net winner: Peter Humphry.
• C Division Net Winner: Fred Feucs.

For a full run down of scores and calculations refer to the ‘Results Page’ on the Web Site.

A HUGE Thankyou to Rob Bennett for donating his time, and a personal sacrifice of opting not playing in the Championships, to be available, prepare and input player information/data into multiple spread sheets to generate results.

Finally, congratulations to all players who participated in this year’s Club Championships.

A Grade Net runner up – Ross Clarke

C Grade Stableford runner up – Yvonne Turner

WANNEROO FIXTURE:

• 102 Players!
• Again, we have been spoilt with a quality course to play our Championship event on! Wanneroo are to be congratulated on their course presentation and hospitality.
• Club Delegates on the day, Jim Treloar and Craig Sheiles welcomed everyone to the Club.
• Our sponsor for the day was Drummond Golf.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner and Best Score on the day Geoff Luck with a Nett Score of 68.

• Best Gross and Club Champion was Scott Brown with 79.
• B Grade winner Phil Davies with Nett Score of 73.
• C Grade winner with Score of 35 was Glen Stewart.
• Craig Marshall won the money on the Super Pin Hole 15 – $77.
• The OBE on the day was won by Jeff Watkins 34 points.

Concern: It was noted that someone had ‘Scratched the Putting Surface’ when marking where a ‘nearest the pin’ marker was obviously removed and replaced for putting. Please don’t mark the greens in this manner!

WELCOME TO THE WAVGA.

We have had quite a few new members lately and at times we don’t have a chance to acknowledge their welcome to the WAVGA at Presentation.

Welcome to:

• Jonathon Nicol – Nedlands Golf Club.
• Brian Moresco – Melville Glades GC
• Phillip Mannin – Mandurah Country Club
• Gary Maher – Secret Harbour GC
• Mark Petterson -Sea View GC
• Ken Gorringe – Hartfield GC
• Peter Ebell – Joondalup CC
• Gary Furness – Nedlands
• Mary and Rob Anderson – Meadow Springs CC.

Remember: If you nominate a new member who registers as a WAVGA Member before the end of this year you receive next year’s membership fee of $40 as a discount.

NEXT FIXTURE

Royal Fremantle. We will be playing the WHITE TEES and please be early as the registration desk will close early. Please refer to the information on the Booking Page. Also, to be eligible to win the Royal Fremantle Members Trophy on the day the winner must be present.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 5 September 2023

WAVGA CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 2.

The Booking Page has now been updated and all those who played Round 1 and Nominated for the Championships by paying the Nomination fee of $15 have now been allocated a place in the second round at Wanneroo – please check that this is correct.

A ‘Wait List’ is still operational for ‘Day Players’ for spots that may become available if any withdrawals appear.

Pace of Play: Please be very conscious of the fact that you must keep up with the group ahead of you. Ready Gollf – if you are getting behind send those that have finished putting off to the next tee to hit early.

ROCKINGHAM GC ROUND 1 CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURE:

• 94 Players with 73 players registering for the Championship!
• How good was the course? The Rockingham Ground Staff verticut, dusted and then cut the greens specifically for our event leaving a course well prepared for the Championships!
• Club Delegates on the day, Alan Baker and Ron Ross welcomed everyone to the Club.
• Our sponsor for the day was Drummond Golf.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner, Best gross winner and Best Score on the day Ross Clarke with a Nett Score of 68 and Gross score of 77.
• B Grade winner Jeff Pace with Nett Score of 70 and Gross Score of 87.
• C Grade winner with Score of 40 was Ron Ross. (C Grade is Stableford scoring).
• Alan Baker won the money on the Super Pin Hole 3 – $73.
• The OBE on the day was won by John Hutchinson with an impressive 36 points.

Next Fixture: Round 2 of Championships at Wanneroo Golf Club. Good Luck and Good Golfing to all on the day!

Captain’s Update Sunday 3 September 2023

WAVGA CLUB CHAMIONSHIPS 2023

First round will be held at Rockingham. Remember to nominate at registration if you will be playing the Championship as an additional entry fee of $15 will be charged to cover the cost of prizes etc. It was unfortunate that the opening time for the 2^nd round at Wanneroo mistakenly opened as the same time as Rockingham. It is important that all players who nominate for the Championship can play at Wanneroo! Because Wanneroo is over subscribed at the present time it will require some of the Day Comp players to forfeit their placement at Wanneroo if some of the Championship players don’t get a placement. As explained on the entry sheet a ‘ballot system’ will be utilised to decide the remaining places and fill these with ‘Local Comp’ players once all Championship players have been placed. 

3 vacancies remain at Rockingham!

MIDWEST TOUR (Monday August 28 to Thursday August 31)

What a great success and the Midwest Vets hosted 4 magnificent venues and were most appreciative of our visiting the Midwest. They are keen for the event to continue into the future. A Geraldton Golf Course on Wednesday the Midwest Rone Cole Challenge Shield was contested – unfortunately the Midwest won the Shield with a 25point margin – 625 City Vets and 650 Midwest Vets. It was fantastic to see the Shield polished and ready for presentation – oh well next year perhaps it will return to Perth!

Notable performances during the event.

• Kalbarri – Neil Munro won the event with 39 points.
• Spalding – Doug Hudson was second with 35 points.
• Geraldton – Peter Sweetlove – 35 points.
• Dongara – Doug Hudson – 35 points.
• Overall, Tour Champion: Doug Hudson with total of 141 combined Stableford Points, closely followed by Mick Brazier with 133.

 Midwest Veteran Captain, Trevor Jackson accepting the Midwest Ron Cold Challenge Shield from WAVGA Captain Ron Ross

Captain’s Update Wednesday August 23, 2023

MIDWEST TOUR – 28 to 31 AUGUST

To all the WAVGA supporting this event we wish you safe travels and good times. Good luck winning the Midwest Veteran Golfer Shield back from Geraldton.

The event begins in Kalbarri and ends in Dongara. The local clubs are adding their own players and guests to the fixture and the therefore the times on the ‘Booking Sheet’ may be altered to accommodate visitors playing and mixing with locals. I strongly suggest that all competitors arrive at each venue a minimum of ½ an hour early to enjoy and participate in the hospitality of the club and be prepared for an altered start time.

The events will still commence at the allotted times on the booking sheets but your group and playing partners may change – for those that have called and booked shared carts will not be affected on the day as changes can be easily made on site.

Geraldton Golf Club have over 50 players in the field on the Wednesday and are putting on a ‘Welcome Sausage Sizzle’ prior to the start of the Shield event – so be early for this event!

Start times are as follows:

• Kalbarri GC – 10.30am
• Spalding Park GC – 11.00am
• Geraldton GC – 11.30am
• Dongara GC – 9.00am

HARTFIELD GOLF CLUB RESULTS:

A field of 83 players. Sponsor on the day was the Hartfield Golf Club who supplied the wine prizes for the nearest the pin winners (had to be present to receive the wine).

At presentation new members Mark Petterson, Peter Ebell and Brian Wilkinson were welcomed and introduced.

My thanks to the pro Shop, management, and staff of HCC for providing the facilities to assist with our competition on the day and to the members for supporting the event.

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade Winner Gordon Sherlock with 37 points,
• Best Gross winner John Ryan with 33 points and played of 1!  
• B Grade winner Bill Wagner with 39 points and $75 voucher winner with best score on the day.  Two weeks in a row and in great form!
• C Grade winner Thor Linnet with 36 points.
• Brendan Curtin won the money on the Super Pin Hole 12 – $67.
• The OBE on the day was won by a very happy and jubilant John Hutchinson with 36 points.

SLOW PLAY REMINDER

If your round is more than 4hr 30 minutes and your group has been holding up play behind you, please try to streamline your play, and that of your group, so we don’t have rounds of 5 hours or more.

WAVGA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022

• Green Fee Rockingham: $26 + $15 entry for Club Championships. Green Fee at Wanneroo: $36.
• Conditions of entry to club championships: Must have played at least 6 Vets games in the past 12 months.
• All members are eligible to play in the day competitions at each venue.

Round 1 Rockingham GC:  Please make sure that you let the delegates know on registration that you are or are not playing in the Championship as the additional $15 for entry can only be paid on this day. No late entry will be accepted at Wanneroo the following week.

Round 2 Wanneroo GC: Monday 11 September.

Based on numbers for the Championship allocations like our normal 3 grade handicap calculations. This may change on the day depending on players nomination. Prizes for Club Chamionships are: Gross Winner and Club Champion $500; A, B & C Grade Winners $250; Runner Up each Grade $150. 

• A Grade: Stroke Event
• B Grade: Stroke Event
• C Grade: Stableford Event

Your Handicap will determine the grade you play but you will play off your Daily Handicap.

The same Grade Splits will also apply to the Day Comp,

Captain’s Update Tuesday 15.8.2023

YORK GOLF CLUB

We have completed game 31 for the season! Your Golf Course was presented immaculately through the effort of WAVGA member and York GC member Mick Nottle who had the fairways mown to perfection. A big thankyou to Mick and his willing band of helpers who had the course in peak condition. A HUGE thankyou to the ladies in the kitchen who welcomed all to the club with a beautifully prepared morning tea on arrival, BBQ lunch and then a fantastic afternoon tea after completion of the round.

Not only was the hospitality ‘top notch’ but the weather was extremely sunny and perfect for golf! The only regret on the day was the reduced numbers in the field – you missed a spectacular day!

Results:

• Best score was recorded by Bill Wagner with 34 points.
• Best Gross was Lou Rigo with 23 points.
• OBE was Eddie Fong with 31 points.
• The ‘Super Pin’ was won by Jamie McEwan on challenging hole 17 – $31. This money will no doubt go towards his fees at his new club of Royal Fremantle!
• Eagle: Guest, Kim Bailey got the Eagle on hole 16 – though he wasted the time of his playing group searching for his ball, thinking it had gone through the back of the green – only to discover there it was in the Cup!

A great day was had by all at York – mark it on your calendar as a ‘must play’ next year!

MIDWEST TOUR

Booking sheets are open! Please support!

On each of the days of the fixture the WAVGA players attending will be re-allocated placement times with local players – I suggest you plan to arrive ½ an hour from the ‘First Tee Time’ so you are ready when you are called to the Tee!

CLUIB CHAMPIONSHIPS

The first round will be held at Rockingham GC on Monday September 4. Remember to be eligible to play in the Championships you must have played a minimum of 6 games during the year. At Rockingham, at the delegates desk you will declare if you will be playing the Championships and an additional fee of $15 will be charged – no late entries at Wanneroo the following week will be accepted. However, this does not prevent non-championship players from playing at either event. For non-championships normal fees will apply.

The $15 goes towards the cash prizes awarded to Grade Champions and runner-up champions which will be presented at Wanneroo after completion of the final round.

Next Fixture: Hartfield.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 8 August 2023

Araluen Golf Resort – North of the River v South of the River Challenge.

70 enthusiastic golfers (40 northerners and 30 from the south) enjoyed great conditions for bragging rights on the day! I was the ‘northerners’ who prevailed by a slimmest of margins! It came down to 2 points in the end with the Top 20 stableford scores from the North totalling 581 point compared with those of the south with 579 points. Captain of the South Team, Stan Sexton presented the ‘Golf Club Trophy” to North Captain, Doug Hudson at Presentation.

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond Golf.

• Congratulations A Grade winner Charlie Lancey with 37 points and B Grade winner Paul McShanag with 33 Points on a count back from Ian Holding.
• The Money Pin was Hole 4 and it was won by Susy Italianio, worth $52.
• John Ryan had Best Gross with 33 points from a scratch handicap.
• Jeff Watkins returned from England after picking up pointers from the Players of the British Open & Seniors Tour and won the OBE with 31points.

Up Coming Fixtures:

York:  our ‘Eastern Golf Tour” continues! Araluen this week and further east next week to the hospitality of York. The weather forecast is looking good, and the hospitality is always ‘top notch’. Booking sheet is open so get a group together and enjoy a great day out. If you want to bring a guest just message me (Ron on 0438217065) their name and GL Number and I can book them in for you. Remember fee is $30 cash payable on the day at York Golf Club (No Credit/Stripe Payments option for this Fixture – as per instructions on booking sheet).

Bon Voyage

Tom Grimston is heading to Europe for 7 weeks and he has handed over ‘Secretary/Treasurer’ responsibilities to me (Ron) for the duration of his absence. I f you have any problems feel free to contact me and I will endeavour to assist you – if I can’t, I’ll add it to the list for Tom to deal with on his return.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 1 August 2023

WILL NORTH OF THE RIVER WIN AGAIN?

This Monday sees the Annual North of the River players challenge the South of the River players at picturesque Araluen Golf Resort. The inaugural winners ‘North of the River’ under the guidance of Captain Doug Hudson prevailed in 2022, South of the River Captain, Stan Sexton is very confident this year of winning this prestigious event bringing in some of the ‘big hitters’ that were absent last year. The title is decided by adding together the top 20 Stableford Scores from each side. Still a few vacancies in the field so please fill these spots. Please read the conditions at the top of the booking sheet carefully!

SUN CITY COUNTRY CLUB FIXTURE:

• My thanks to Josh Goupillot and his helpers in the Pro Shop who are always helpful and welcoming and had everything prepared for the 72 WAVGA members who played.
• Again, thanks to Vice-captains Stan and Doug for hosting the Presentation. I am confident my first game back with the WAVGA will be this coming week at Araluen as I recover from my wrist injury – hopefullywill  play well enough to contribute to the ‘South’s’ winning tally! 
• Club Delegate on the day, Robert Bennett welcomed everyone to the Club and got everyone organised for a great round of golf!
• Our sponsor for the day was Westech Flooring.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade: It was account back on 41 points for Clint Cooper and Grant Collis with 41 points, but it was Clint who won on a countback securing the $75 voucher for best score on the day.
• B Grade winner Ken Carson with 39 points.
• Clint Cooper was certainly in good form off a 5 handicap and Best Gross winner with a score of 36 Points.
• Greg Shieles won the money on the Super Pin Hole 8 and pocketed the cash – $57!
• The OBE on the day was won by Peter Livingston with an impressive 33 points.

Next Fixture: Araluen, York,  Hartfield and then on 28 August we head North for the Midwest Tour!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 26 July 2023

6 MONTHS TO CHRISTMAS – in case you needed a reminder! 

KWINANA GOLF CLUB 24 JULY

82 starters for Kwinana! It was excellent to catch up with everyone at presentation – I am hoping it will only be a few more weeks and my wrist will be good enough to play. I certainly want to be in the field for the Midwest Tour with the bonus $800 worth of prizes sponsored by the Midwest Vets! The Kwinana Club was very accommodating in not insisting on payment for the two players who ‘forgot to arrive’ for this fact I am very appreciative of Phil in the Pro Shop for accommodating us.

Please remember, if you can’t play, take your name of the list before 6pm Sunday evening. We did have a couple of members who were looking for a game, but because no vacancies were evident at the time, they didn’t play!

Club Delegates on the day, Denis Clark and Peter Hayward welcomed everyone to the Club.

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond Golf.

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Brian Bell, B Grade winner Robert Parry and C Grade winner Ken Carson, who also had the best score on the day! Kwinana member Scott Brown Best Gross winner. It was Tim Turner won the money on the Super Pin Hole 16 – $64. The OBE on the day was won by Terry Porter with 32 – with fellow OBE players Gary Carter, Denis Clark and Peter Livingston narrowly missing out with 31 points each!
• Tim and Yvonne Turner had a day out! While Tim won the Super Pin, he was also 2^nd in B Grade and Yvonne was 2^nd in C Grade. they each won a golf ball in the ball sweep. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear they won Lotto later that night extending their winning streak!

Next Fixture: Sun City country Club, hosted by Club Delegate Rob Bennett. Apparently, there will be a few temporary greens with some sewerage works impacted on the course as the new estate surrounding the course is being completed.

YORK 2023

The members of the York Golf Club are busily preparing for our visit on Monday 14 August. They have indicated that with the recent rain the course will be in great condition as will be the catering provided on the day. Remember though, if you have special dietary requirements, they do not cater for this so bring your own ‘tucker’ if this affects you!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 19 June 2023.

NEWS FLASH: Did you read the news below that the Midwest Veran Golf Association will sponsor each of the event with $200 worth of prizes at each venue? Numbers at present are disappointingly low, so please consider a few nights ‘up north’ and join in the hospitality of the Midwest Vets.

WAGC EVENT AND RESULTS

My thanks to Vice Captain, Doug Hudson, for presiding over the formalities at the Presentation in my absence. The weather on the day was amazing once again, we have been lucky throughout winter generally having fine weather when we play on Mondays.

• Club Delegates on the day, Graham Bourgault and Charlie Lancey once again a fabulous effort!
• Our sponsor for the day was Life Member Gary Carter. Thanks, Gary, for the generous sponsorship and a huge thank you to your dedication to WAVGA over many years:
  • Winners:  A Grade – Peter Millett, B Grade – Tony Farrow and C Grade – Glen Stewart
  • Best Gross – John Ryan
  • OBE: Terry Porter.
  • Super Pin: Chris Dixon who won $73.
  • Eagle: John Clarke on Hole 4. Well done Ross!

Next Fixture: Kwinana GC – which is in superb condition! Denis Clark and Peter Hayward will be there to welcome you to the Club and give you all the local information at the Registration Desk. It is important that all players check in with the Registration Desk and please remember to arrive early so Delegates can ‘close shop’ early and have sufficient time to prepare for their round of golf. 

BREAKING NEWS – MIDWEST TOUR FUNDING.

For the upcoming Midwest WAVGA Tour, the Midwest Veterans have just announced  they are sponsoring each of the 4 events (Kalbarri GC, Spalding Park GC, Geraldton GC and Dongara GC) with $200 going to each of the Clubs for prizes on the day. My thanks to the Midwest Veteran Golfers Association for the allocation of $800 from their funds to support our visit to the Midwest.

Please make the effort to support our Midwest golfers and book now and secure yourself a  chance to win some of that $800 prize money ……. and help WAVGA win back our shield! 

Captain’s Update Tuesday 11 July 2023

MIDWEST TOUR – 28 to 31 AUGUST

Booking sheets are open! Book individually or get a group together! Time to win back ‘OUR’ Shield from the Midwest Country Vets who have it securely fastened to the wall of the Geraldton Club House.

ROCKINGHAM GOLF CLUB RESULTS:

A fantastic field of 89 players for our ‘Double Comp Day’ – Stableford and Combined Stableford. The sponsor on the day was the Rockingham Members and a total of $655 of prizes were awarded on the day. The comments from the players were very positive on the day as they were most impressed with the condition of the course and in particular the quality of the greens – looking good for the first round of the club championships on Monday September 4!

At presentation new members Charlie Elvard and Bruce Gains were welcomed and introduced. With the extra novelties on the day and the double comp format the presentation was a little extended but pleasing to see so many members staying back for the event. RGC President and WAVGA Member Marco Perer, welcomed everyone to the club and extended an open invitation to all should they like a game at RGC in the future.

Well done Fred Feucs for your nearest the pin achievement on Hole 15 – even though your mates dobbed you in as having hit a tree with the shot and ricocheting of a tree to a spot close to the pin! That’s using the natural attributes of the course to your advantage Fred like a PGA Champ!

My thanks to the pro Shop, management, and staff of RGC for providing the facilities to assist with our competition on the day and to the members for supporting the event. Our best turn up at RGC in a long time!

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade Winner Roland Scheffler with 40 points,
• Best Gross winner John Ryan with 36 points and played of scratch!  
• B Grade winner Grant Collis with 42 points and $75 voucher winner with best score on the day.  
• C Grade winner Ken Carson with 38 points.
• Peter Murphy won the money on the Super Pin Hole 3 – $65.
• The OBE on the day was won by Terry Porter with 35 points but there was plenty of competition on the day with 10 OBE players in the field.
• Combined Stableford Winners: Ken Carson and Brian Bell with a combined score of 75.

Next Fixture: WAGC – Delegates Charlie Lancey and Graham Bourgault are looking forward to welcoming you to the club next Monday. A big thankyou to our Life Member Gary Carter for Sponsoring the Day. 

CANBERRA NATIONALS

You would have received an email from Tom Grimston regarding participation in this event. With only 27 booking from WA at the present time we would like to hopefully boost this number – so get a few mates together and ‘Just Do It”! Info below to help with your planning!

This is a reminder that entries for the 2023 AVGU National Golfing Championships to be held in the Canberra Region during November will be closing soon on 31 July 2023.

The golf commences with a 4BBB Medley on Monday at Fairbairn and Murrumbidgee golf clubs. This will be followed by the 54-hole Championship rounds for Men and Women rotated thru Queanbeyan, Gungahlin Lakes and Gold Creek courses on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. It concludes with the fully catered Presentation Dinner on Friday night.

The GOLFER PACKAGE is $390 (includes the welcome function, four rounds of golf and the presentation dinner). Carts are an optional extra.

Wednesday is a free day, with the option of participating in an organised tour to the Murrumbateman wine district.

The NON-PLAYING PARTNER PACKAGE is $190 and includes welcome function, tours to local attractions on playing days and the presentation dinner.

Evening social functions for golfers and partners including a welcome function, beer and wine tasting events have also been arranged for your participation.

Entries close on 31 July 2023.

Entries received after this date may be considered on application.

• For more information on Canberra accommodation options and entry forms visit our website: www.avguchampionship2023.com.au or
• email: admin@avguchampionship2023.com.au

Captain’s Update Tuesday 4 July 2023

ROCKINGHAM FIXTURE: Make sure you book early and don’t be disappointed by missing out on our first ‘Double Comp’!

• There will be two competitions today, both an individual stableford event and also a combined stableford event.
• You will play normal stableford and at the end of the day Miscore will match your score with your partners and calculate your combined score.
• There will be the normal divisional prizes for the individual stableford and in addition there will be 1st to 5th paid for the top scores in the combined stableford.
• Additional chance to win: Longest Putt and Longest Drive for each of the Grades.

Please plan to stay for presentation after the event – with so many prizes to distribute it will be better than the Lotto Draw!

NORTHWEST TOUR 2024: Book now and play the magnificent courses of the Geraldton Region during the last month of winter and enjoy some of that warmer weather. Bookings open now!

PINJARRA FIXTURE:

With the anticipation of playing Pinjarra the weather had to interfere again and numbers were greatly reduced BUT a huge thankyou to the 27 intrepid golfers who braved the elements and played the course. Big thanks to Vice Captain Stan Bartley, who coordinated the Pinjarra Fixture ensuring that Pinjarra Hospitality was enjoyed by all! We do return to Pinjarra on Monday November 20 for the City Vets v Country Vets so those who were disappointed about missing Monday’s fixture will have another chance to play there in November.

Well done to the dedicated 27 payers and our winners on the day:

• Winner: Graham Bourgault (WAGC) 36 Points and $75 Voucher Winner.
• Best Gross: David St George (Mt Lawley GC) – 22 points.
• Super Pin: Graham Bourgault (WAGC) Hole 11 – $23.
• OBE: Eric Curley (Mandurah GC) with 29 points.

Next Fixture: Rockingham GC and then we return to WAGC on Monday 17 July.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 31 June 2023

Chequers Golf Club

66 players enjoyed a great day of Golf at Chequers Golf Club on Monday 26 June. The course improvements over the past 12 months have certainly enhanced the golf course and made for a pleasurable round for all concerned. My thanks to the Club Delegates and the Members of Chequers for hosting this event – a jib well done! 

Our sponsor on the day was Chequers Vets.

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner David St George (Mt Lawley GC) with 34 points (on a count back from San Sexton)
• Best Gross John Ryan with 29 points.
• B grade – Ken Carson (Checkers GC) with 33 points.
• It was John Ryan who won the money on the Super Pin Hole 15 – $44.
• The OBE on the day was won by Terry Porter with 28 Points.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 21 June 2023

MIDWEST TOUR (Monday August 28 to Thursday August 31): Booking sheets are open, many have asked if they can play only a couple of the days. The answer is definitely yes, but the Wednesday Game at Geraldton Golf Club is the event where we play for the shield, so the more we have playing on this day the better

PACE OF PLAY: Congratulations to the players at Mandurah for adopting the ‘Team Approach’ to their golf rounds that resulted in a good steady flow of golf for all players with all round completed close to that 4½ hour window of play.

APOLOGY and THANKS: Though I was able to be present for presentations at the Mandurah Fixture I have recently been fitted with a Wrist Brace for a ‘Distal Radial Fracture’ and I have been advised that I cannot play golf for the next 4 weeks. This means I will be absent, not only as a player, but at some of the presentations. My thanks to Vice-captains Stan and Doug for stepping up to do the job while I am ‘moping and convalescing’! Don’t worry, I will be keeping a keen eye on the scores!

MEMBERSHIP FEE 2023: Don’t forget the WAVGA the current Membership Offer! If you sign up a new member to the WAVGA you will have your 2023 membership waived in appreciation of your recruitment skills. So, start chatting to members at your club about becoming a WAVGA Member and save yourself an ‘Inflation Beating’ $40 next year!

MANDURAH CLUB FIXTURE:

• Club Delegates on the day, Eric Curley, Bajan Sangah and Jerry Hertharia welcomed 86 players to Mandurah CC.
• Our sponsor for the day was Drummond Golf.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Rob Murphy (Busselton GC) with 37 points.
• B Grade winner Eric Curley (Mandurah CC) and $75 Voucher winner with best score on the day with 40 Points and top OBE winner on the day.
• C Grade winner was Ken Carson (Chequers) with 38 Stableford Points
• Rob Scott (Cottesloe GC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 17- $70.
• Congratulations to Gross winner Brendan Curtain with 31 points with a 1 Handicap!

The OBE Competition was very tight with some very high scoring. In addition to Eric Curley’s 40 points, it was also Gary Carter (38 Points) and Jeff Watkins (36 Points) who were mentioned in the top five scorers in their respective divisions.

NEXT FIXTURE: Chequers – Lots have work has been done on the course since last year and the Chequers Delegates Graham Dore and Dave Barton as well as the rest of the Chequers are keen to welcome you to the course.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 13 March 2023

MIDWEST TOUR – 28 to 31 AUGUST

• The booking sheets are open! Please Book early and arrange you accommodation. It is a few years since the Midwest Veteran Golfers hosted us in the Midwest and we need to win that shield back so we can be like the Australian Cricket Side and Novak Djokovic and hold all the titles simultaneously! The Midwest Vets have been working tirelessly on accommodating these fixtures and we need to show our gratitude by turning up in force and numbers – please try and fit the fixture into your busy schedules!
• Booking sheets are open! Book individually or get a group together! Time to win back ‘OUR’ Shield from the Midwest Country Vets who have it securely fastened to the wall of the Geraldton Club House.

COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY 13 MARCH JOTTINGS:

More detailed explanations will be forthcoming when Vice President Stan Sexton delivers his July Newsletter to the membership, but topics covered included:

• Check in and arrival at fixtures: All players should arrive a minimum of 30 minutes prior to their Tee Time and be on the Tee a minimum of 10 minutes before time. Being 30 minutes early will ensure Delegates can also prepare for their round. Make sure you check in on arrival!
• Membership Drive: To increase our membership, we will be offering our present members an incentive to recruit new WAVGA Members – sign up a new member and your membership fee for 2024 will be waived!
• Southwest City V Country Challenge: The date and venue for this has been confirmed! The Date will be Monday 18^th March to be held at the Bunbury Golf Club. 10am Shotgun Start with a fee of $30. The fixtures for those staying down for the remainder of the week will be confirmed later in the year.
• Club Championships (Rockingham Sept 4 & Wanneroo Sept 11): Prizes will be CASH! Gross winner $500, 3 Grade Winners $300 each and Runner Up Grade Winners $150. Championship fee of $15 will need to be paid at the first fixture. Non-championship players can play at each venue but will not be included in Championship.
• Ladies Order of Merit: To qualify players must play a minimum of 6 games during the year.
• Closing Dinner: WAGC on Monday Dec 11. Menu and pricing have been finalised. Yum!!
• Treasurer/Secretary Absence: Tom will be absent from Mid-August through to end of September. Ron Ross will fill his role while absent gallivanting through Europe!
• York Fixture: The York fixture will be on Monday August 14. For WAVGA players the Credit Card payment will not be used, and players will be asked to pay in cash on the day at the Registration Desk.
• Two in One Comp Day: Monday July 10 at Rockingham will be a Combined and individual Stableford event as a trial for this concept and the possibility of similar combinations in the future.
• Reserved Booking Lines: Lines marked as ‘Reserved’ on fixtures will only be opened when the ‘Wait List’ is large enough to ensure any late withdrawal spots can be adequately filled.
• Sad News: The WAVGA was informed that Manfred Rushchmann recently passed away. Our sympathies being extend to his wife, family, friends and his playing partners on this sad occasion. Manfred was an enthusiastic player of the WAVGA over many years and will be missed.

WANNEROO GOLF CLUB RESULTS:

• My thanks to Darrell Lynch and Tom Grimston for setting up the Delegates Registration and preparation for the event. Certainly a better day for golf than the previous Tuesday at Mt Lawley! Thanks also to Vice Captains Stan Bartley and Doug Hudson for ensuring everything flowed smoothly with presentations etc.

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade Winner Clint Cooper with 36 points,
• Best Gross winner John Ryan with 34 points with a +2 handicap – good golf John!
• B Grade winner Doug Hudson with 37 points. Well done Doug an impressive 25 points on the back 9 to win the countback for the top score on the day and $75 voucher – you can do the maths on how many points he scored on the front 9!
• C Grade winner Graham Dore with 37 points.
• Milan Trifunovic won the money on the Super Pin Hole 11 – $76.
• The OBE on the day was won by John Hutchinson with 34 points.

Next Fixture: Mandurah Country Club – Eric Curley and Bajan Sangah will be on the Registration Desk to welcome you – remember be 30 minutes early and make sure you let them know you have arrived!

Captain’s Update Tuesday 6 June 2023

Northwest Tour

Don’t forget to book in now. Booking sheets now open!

Mt Lawley GC Results:

Wow! Winter Arrived with a vengeance with June rainfall records tumbling with unprecedented record rain! BUT – it was 24 ‘Very Brave’ players who faced aversity and played the fixture regardless of the relentless rain.  To make it worse the rain started when the round started and abated when the round concluded. At least the players enjoyed the hospitality provided by WAVGA at Presentation to warm up and discuss their challenging round. It was pleasing to see surprisingly some good golf scores.  (Look on the ‘Results Page’ to see the names of the brave 24).

Well done everyone for completing your round!

My thanks to WAVGA President David St George for arranging the fixture at Mt Lawley GC and welcoming everyone while running the registration desk.

Congratulations to Winner John Lennon (Royal Fremantle GC) with 35 points It was Paul David St George (Mt Lawley GC) who won the money on the Super Pin Hole13 – $21. Best Gross winner was Tom Colella (Melville Glades GC)

The OBE on the day was not awarded as they all decided to sit this event out and relax in the warmth and comfort of home!

Thanks

I must say thanks to Vice Captains Doug Hudson and Stan Bartley for filling in during my absence while I was ‘busy’ in the northwest of the state. Also, for Tom Grimston for liaising with the clubs regarding the setting up of starters lists for events. Thanks gents!

Next Events

Monday June 12: Wanneroo

Monday June 19: Mandurah Country Club

Captain’s Update Monday 29 May 2023

GOLF RESULTS:

Neil (Maggie) Thatcher and Tamara Morey did a fabulous job setting up and running the Delegates Desk and welcoming all players to Secrets!

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond Golf.

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade Winner Marc Arnold (Kennedy Bay GC) with 37 points,
• B Grade winner Neil Munro (The Vines) with 39 points.
• C Grade winner Craig Marshall (Nedlands GC) with 42 points and $75 voucher for best daily score.  Also congratulations to Craig on his Eagle on hole 11.
• Best Gross went to Brenan Curtain (Joondalup GC)  with 34.
• Bajan Sangah (Mandurah CC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 17 – $70.
• The OBE on the day was won by David Petterson (Nedlands) with 36 points.

82 players enjoyed the day with the course presenting itself as challenging but an idyllic course to play.

Midwest Tour: Fixtures now open to book and plan your ‘sunny northwest’ excursion.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 23 May 2023

Araluen Golf Resort – 2 Person Ambrose

Fantastic to see a full field of 80 players represent the WAVGA at Araluen on the day – apologies to those few members who were still on the ‘wait list’ and missed the day.

The 2 person Ambrose was an entertaining event and closely contested – the range of final scores went from 68.25 through to 84.25. In the first half of the field the range was only 6 shots! Well played everyone and an enjoyable change in format for the day.

The Ambrose format provided a chance to acknowledge our ‘Hardest Triers’ on the day, with the proviso that the winning combination had to be present for presentation so their achievement could be recognized. Well done for our ‘Hardest Triers’: Colin Thorniley and Richard Pace for staying around and participating in the comradery of Presentation!

A huge thankyou to the Araluen Management and Staff for having everything organised for us on the day, our sponsor and the players who made the day a great success. What an amazing golf setting and their ‘signature hole’ the 16^th is spectacular and challenging!

Our sponsor on the day was Danny Davila and Westech Flooring.

• Congratulations to the Ambrose Team of Tony Viner and Jamie McEwan who won on a count back from Paul Ward and Clive Hume with 67.25.
• The Money Pin was Hole 4 and it was Me (Ron Ross) who finally after years of investing in ‘Nearest the Pin’ expectations finally saw a return on the investment dollars of $58.

Vice Captains: Doug Hudson and Stan Bartley will officiate over the WAVGA games in the next few weeks as I will be absent in the north of the sate playing golf and fishing!

Up Coming Fixtures:

Secret Harbour: Monday 29 May 2023. Relive the excitement of the 2022 National Championship by again playing Secret Harbour. Club Delegate, Neil (Maggie) Thatcher will be your host at the Delegates Desk.

Mt Lawley GC: Relax after the long weekend with a leisurely game of golf on the Tuesday at Mt Lawley. WAVGA will again be providing some catering on the day so make sure you stay for the presentation. Thanks to WAVGA President, David St George for being MLGC delegate and arranging the venue and facilities for us all to enjoy.

Delegates: Remember our delegates are playing on the day as well and are also eager to get out on the golf course. You can assist them by getting to the club earlier than your allotted time so they can wind up the Delegates Desk and prepare for their own round! Try to arrive at least ½ an hour before your round starts.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 16 May 2023

Maylands Peninsula Golf Club

The WAVGA has returned to Maylands after a 2-year absence and those who played certainly enjoyed the golf! The weather was idea – 22C, bright sunshine and no breeze. The presentations after the round were held in the alfresco area as the club house is undergoing major renovations.

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond golf.

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner (on a count back from Brian Bell and Graham Bourgault) and Best Gross Warren Howard (Wanneroo GC) with 37 points on a 5 handicap!
• B grade – Fred Feucs (Checkers GC) with 37 points but got the $75 voucher on a countback from Warren Howard for the best score on the day.
• It was Ross Clarke who won the money on the Super Pin Hole 13 – $28.
• The OBE on the day was won by Denis Clarke with 30 Points.

Captain’s Vacation Information: As Tom returns from his vacation on the east coast I am heading to Carnarvon for my annual fishing comp. I will miss the Secret Harbour and Mt Lawley Fixture but will meet up again for the Wanneroo event on Monday June 12. Vice-captains’ Doug Hudson and Stan Bartley will oversee events in my absence.

Up Coming Fixtures:

Araluen: 2 Person Ambrose – limited to only 80 players. Great deal with a fee of $51 including cart! Please read the instructions and conditions at the top of the Booking Sheet as late cancellations will still need to be paid as a condition of booking at Araluen.

Secret Harbour: Monday 29 May 2023.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 9 May 2023

Mosman Park Club Golf Club

Game 17 of 51 for the year! Manager and Club Golf Professional, Tony Howell provided a fantastic golf course and great hospitality for WAVGA members who enjoyed the day – though looking at some of the scores obviously, some enjoyed it more than others! This is one of the largest fields we have had at Mosman Park Gold Club for quite a few years. 55 players meant that the event was a 2-grade comp – the first time ever for WAVGA at Mosman Park! My thanks to everyone honouring their booking intensions and not withdrawing at the last moment!

Club Delegate on the day, Ian Hutton did a fantastic job and his printed ‘Local rules and guide’ to playing MPGC was appreciated by all and explained the ‘idiosyncrasies’ of the course beautifully.  Job well done Ian!

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond golf.

• Congratulations to Best Gross Brendan Curtin (Joondalup GC) with 29 points on a 1handicap!  
• A grade – Doug Hudson (Vines Golf resort) with 35 points on a countback from Peter Humphry and B Grade Ken Carson (Chequers GC) with 36 Points.
• It was Billie Little (RFGC) who won the money on the Super Pin Hole 12 – $38.
• The OBE on the day was won (again) by that young OBE Terry Porter with 30 Points. It was great to see 6 of our OBE’s playing on the day – certainly some great rivalry developing amongst this elite group!
• Congratulations to Doug Hudson for his Eagle on the 11^th! It was quite an achievement to score an Eagle from a drive that landed on a different fairway – see Doug for more information, but as he says you don’t have to draw a map as to how it was achieved – it is just the final result on the hole!

Up Coming Fixtures:

Maylands: Please read last weeks information in relation to this ‘new/old’ venue. Please support this event and fill all the available spaces so we can show the new management how enthusiastic we are for this venue and use this as a negotiating tool to get an even better deal in the future!

Please check your TEE Times.  On Friday I will need to equalise numbers on each of the 1^st and 10^th Tees and let Maylands know our numbers. As a courtesy to Maylands, we also need to have approximately equal number off each Tee. If your time needs to be adjusted, you will receive a ‘cancellation’ and a ‘new booking’ email to confirm your start time! See you at Maylands!

Araluen: 2 person Ambrose – limited to only 80 players. Great deal with a fee of $51 including cart! So, select your partners and book when it opens or simply put your name on the booking sheet, and someone will partner up with you. Please read the instructions and conditions at the top of the Booking Sheet as late cancellations will still need to be paid for as a condition of booking at Araluen.

Secret Harbour: Monday 29 May 2023.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 3 May 2023

Kwinana Golf Club 

How good is the weather at the moment? Monday at Kwinana GC was outstanding – as was Jamie McEwan’s 40 points.

67 starters on the day with a variety of scores ranging from Jamie’s 40 points to a few low scores in the twenties. Club Delegates on the day, Denis Clark and Peter Hayward welcomed everyone to the Club.

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond golf.

• Congratulations to Best Gross Matt Lynn (Rockingham GC) with 33 points on a 4 handicap!  
• A grade – Jamie McEwan and B Grade Paul Ryan with 37 Points.
• It was Maggie (Neil) Thatcher who won the money on the Super Pin Hole 3 – $49.
• The OBE on the day was won by that young OBE Terry Porter with 35 Points.

MiScore Changes

You will notice on the Booking Sheet the reference to the new Australia Wide scoring format for Miscore where you will be submitting your partners score on the MiScore App. For those not utilising the MiScore System can I suggest you get the Pro-Shop to print your partner’s card instead of yours as he/she will be marking your score on their phone and you will need their card to record their score!  Once the round is completed, everything verified and signed please ensure that the card is submitted immediately by someone  – perhaps you can do this on behalf of your partner who now has to submit their card to the Pro-Shop instead of the convenience of MiScore.

Up Coming Fixtures:

Mosman Park – enjoy the views of the Swan River as you play this historic course!

Maylands: We return to Maylands after an absence of a few years. I played this course a few months back and it was in great condition! It is under new management, and they have provided us with a great playing rate on the day. I am hopeful that we can show great support on this day with good numbers. The new Club House and Presentation Venue is under construction at the present time so the Presentation and announcement of winners etc may be a bit limited, but the manager of Corporate Golf, Allid will set aside an area for us to gather for this purpose. Players will require their current GA to convert to the daily handicap on the day. Scoring will be on Cards for this event, but it will be processed by Golf Link and be recorded on your games record. Please support this Venue – it promises to be even better for us next year with the new facilities promised!

Araluen: 2 person Ambrose – limited to only 80 players. Great deal with a fee of $51 including cart! So, select your partners and book when it opens or simply put your name on the booking sheet, and someone will partner up with you. Please read the instructions and conditions at the top of the Booking Sheet as late cancellations will still need to be paid for as a condition of booking at Araluen.

Secretary/Treasurer Absence: Tom is relaxing in the Eastern States for a few weeks and will return to play with us after the Araluen Fixture.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 25 April 2023

Royal Fremantle

106 players competed on the day! Our biggest field for an event this year, but still disappointing that so many members withdrew over the weekend or on the day! Having negotiated with Royal Fremantle Golf Club for additional playing slots to accommodate a ‘massive wait list’ and verbal requests of wanting to play, we had positions for 120 players on the day! Royal Fremantle were happy but come the day they were disappointed that so many withdrew with them making changes to member accessibility to accommodate us! Still, I am sure you have your reasons for late withdrawal, and thankyou to those that contacted me to explain their absence, but I can assure you that you missed out on a great day of golf!

The weather on the day, although intermittent showers were predicted, turned out to be perfect – slightly overcast at times and good patches of sun light with little breeze. The course that Royal Fremantle offered was off the White Tees and utilising the ‘Alternate Tee’ placements that RFGC have developed over the last 12 months. The course was in excellent condition and credit goes to the RFGC Ground Staff!

RFGC General Manager Lucy Guppy and Golf Operations Manager Melissa Castaldi were a tremendous support on the day ensuring a warm welcome to Royal Fremantle Golf Club and it was great to see them join us for presentation.  Club delegates Clayton Gunning and Chuck Macfarlane welcomed all to the club at registration. My thanks to the Royal Fremantle WAVGA Members for sponsoring the Best Nett Trophy that Clayton Gunning presented to Alan Baker during presentations. Drummond Golf was represented on the day with Chris Harris (Drummond Golf Cannington) playing in the round and presenting Drummond Vouchers to Grade winners at Presentation. It was tremendous to see so many of our members at the presentation.

During Presentation, a warm welcome back was extended to George Hutchinson, one of our OBE Members, who has returned to play after a 11-month absence.

Well done to our winners on the day:

• A Grade: Alan Baker (Rockingham GC) with 39 and RFGC Trophy Winner for Best Nett Score (Countback win from Carlo Bevilacqua also on 39 Points.
• Best Gross with a Daily handicap of 2 Drummond Golf Representative Chris Harris with 32 Points.
• B Grade: Carlo Bevilacqua (Nedlands GC) 39 Points.
• C Grade: Larry Manno (WAGC) 36 points.
• OBE and Life Member: Barry Virgo (Mt Lawley) with 33 Points
• Super Pin: Richard Day pocketed the $90 on Hole 3.

Next Fixture: Kwinana GC.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 18 April

Royal Fremantle Fixture Reminder: Remember: no black or coloured socks! White only – if wearing shorts! The waiting list is in use for this fixture, please be patient and as members withdraw their names the next on the list will autofill and you may get a position in the field.

‘The Cut’ Results!

71 players enjoyed the scenery of The Cut and the coastal strip. We were lucky to maintain our booking on the day as Golf WA scheduled a Senior Pennant match on the course, but manager John Stokeld, negotiated an early start for the Pennant Players and our fixture could continue. The weather got better as the afternoon progressed, but later groups were stretched out to maximin time to finish after 5pm because of slow play issues – another reason why it is important for all players to maintain contact with the playing group in front of them!

Having to play on the course set up for the local pennants Teams was a challenge but still some great scores achieved!

New member Liz Hondros was welcomed to the WAVGA – she celebrated on the 8^th Hole with a Birdie! Her third shot in from 135 metres out went straight in the hole – great shot Liz!

Thanks to all those that managed to stay for presentation – the Ball Sweep draw was popular with only an unlucky few missing out on a ball!

Well done to our winners on the day:

• A Grade: David St George (Mt Lawley) with 38 and Best Score/Best Gross with a Daily handicap of 12.
• B Grade: Ross Hancock (WAGC) 37 Points.
• OBE and Life Member: Gary Carter (WAGC) with 30 Points
• Super Pin: Maggie Thatcher pocketed the $53 for his great shot on the 16^th!
• EAGLE: Congratulations to Bob Allert (Northan GC) for his Eagle on Hole 6. 

Next Fixture: Royal Fremantle

Captain’s Update Tuesday 4 April

Royal Fremantle Fixture Reminder: Remember: no black or coloured socks! White only – if wearing shorts!

Melville Glades

The weather gods smiled on us and it was a fabulous day for golf with sunshine, cool temperatures and a great course. Many players remained for presentations and this is greatly appreciated, not only by the Committee but also the host club who extend their trading ours to cater for us.

Gary Carter nearly had the ‘shot of the day’ on the Par 3 14^th and money hole! Gary mistakenly (I guess) pulled his Tee Shot Left and it rattled around a few trees only to be seen emerging from the ‘jungle’ rolling out on the green and quickly zooming towards the pin! Great shot Gary – utilising the ‘natural’ resources of the Golf Course to enhance your golfing dexterity. Unfortunately for Gary the ball came to a halt outside the ‘Nearest the Pin Marker’ and Jamie McEwan retained the nearest on the hole status and claimed his $55 prize money during presentation.

Well done to our winners on the day:

• A Grade: John Ryan (Mt Lawley) with 39 and Best Gross with a Daily handicap of 1!
• B Grade: Ray Wilson (Chequers) 42 Points and best score on the day.
• OBE: Terry Porter (The Vines) with 39 Points.

Next Fixture: The Cut – 17th April. The booking sheet is limited for numbers but make sure if there isn’t a spare spot, put your name on the ‘wait list’ and there is every opportunity you will get a spot in the field as some players withdraw because of late commitments or illness. Next name on the list is automatically uploaded into vacated spots.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 4 April

Royal Fremantle Fixture Information: The first of our 2 fixtures played at Royal Fremantle Golf Club will be on Monday 24 April. The Club delegates have advised us that only ‘WHITE’ socks are suitable if you are playing in shorts on the day. Black or coloured socks will not be allowed on course and player will be denied access to the comp and club. Please don’t book if you don’t have white socks to wear on the day!

Vines Resort Golf Fixture and summary:

A true ‘Heineken Classic’ event player’s course – all that was missing was the gallery following the WAVGA members and the TV coverage!  Even though the course was set up ‘long’ the playing conditions were fabulous, and the carts eased the pain getting to the ball for the next shot!

When we play the Vines again in October (Lakes Course) we will be on the White Tees for the Men and Red Tees for the women.

The day was sponsored by WAVGA and those that stayed behind for the Presentation were amply rewarded with a ‘smorgasbord of snacks’ and settled into the comradery of the event.

Big thanks to the “Chequers Boys’ for returning the Hole No 5 Nearest the Pin marker in ‘pristine and as new’ condition at the completion of the round!

New member Trevor Brown (Secrets) was welcomed to the WAVGA being his first game since joining.

Well done to our winners on the day:

• A Grade: Scott Brown (Kwinana GC) and top score on the day with 36 points.
• B Grade: Barry Quigley (Kwinana GC) 33 Points.
• C Grade: Ian Rowson (The Vines) with 34 Points
• Best Gross: John Ryan (Mt Lawley) – 32 points with a 2HC.
• Super Pin: Ross Clarke (WAGC) Hole 8 – $62.
• OBE: Jeff Watkins (Melville Glades) with 31 Points

• Next Fixture: Melville Glades Tuesday 11 April.  Willie Henry, Club Delegate, will be there to welcome you!

Happy and Safe Easter to all!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 29 March 2023

Vale Don Hall: Before Presentation at Meadow Springs a minute’s silence was observed on the news that long time WAVGA Member and Participant had passed away. Don will be missed for his ‘Witty ‘ sense of humour and comradery he created amongst all his fellow WAVGA members and friends. Our sympathy goes to Jen and all Don’s family and friends on this sad occasion. He will be sadly missed!

Vines – Ellenbrook: Please plan to stay for presentation after the event. The WAVGA is catering with snacks prior to announcement of winners on the day.

Southwest Tour 2024: Planning for the 2024 City V Country Vets Bruce Rowley Shield is already taking shape. The Event will again be at The Sanctuary Golf and Country Club on 11^th March 2024. The Country Vets are planning to make the event bigger and better than this year with a play and stay challenge dinner package being discussed. Other venues being considered for the Tour are:

• Collie GC on Tuesday 12^th
• Shot gun start in the afternoon at Bunbury GC on Wednesday 13^th March, and
• Harvey GC on Thursday 14^th March

 It is hoped that many of the Southwest Vets will join the City Vets at the clubs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.   

Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club Fixture:

Meadow Springs was impeccably presented and was a joy to play. Manager Scott Proctor and Sponsor for the day, always welcomes us to the event and provides Meadow Springs Golf Vouchers for each of our Grade Winners, golf balls for the ‘Ball Sweep’ and a bottle of wine for the Best Score on the day. 86 Players enjoyed the day, and it was good to welcome a host of new members to the WAVGA:

• Max Etherington (Meadow Springs G&CC), Tim Trafford (Gosnells GC), Amee Hau (Melville Glades GC), Bernard Choi Lee (Melville Glades GC), Thor Linnet (Mandurah CC).
• A welcome was also extended to Ray Cody (Busselton GC) as a guest on the day.

Well done to our winners on the day:

• A Grade: Digby Barrett (Kwinana GC) 39 Points (Won on a count back).
• B Grade: Phil Epis (Rockingham GC) 39 Points.
• C Grade: Dino Russocaronte (WAGC) and top score on the day with 44 points.
• Best Gross: Clint Cooper (The Cut) – 37 points with a 4 HC.
• Super Pin: Adam Sutton (WAGC) Hole 11 – $68.
• OBE: A strong field with 6 playing but it was that “Young Bloke’ Terry Porter who won again on a count back from Peter Livingston with 30 points!

Next Fixture: The Vines – Shot gun start at 11.30 so be there at least 30 minutes before start time!  Stay for WAVGA catering following the game!  

Captains Update – Tuesday 21 March 2023.

Committee Meeting Information:

Grade Changes:

• 3 Grade Competition: player numbers will be 80+ (Previously 90),
• 2 grade Competition: player numbers between 50 and 79 (Previously 60 – 89),
• Single grade Competition: player numbers less than 49 (Previously < 60).

Booking sheet:

• Bookings for upcoming events will open 1 week before event fixture @ 7.00pm on Monday evenings.
• Competition Closure time will be Sunday evening prior to Competition Day @ 6.00pm.

The Committee felt that with the high number of late withdrawals, 2 weeks was proving too much of a gap for unplanned personal commitments that often resulted in gaps in the field. All too often fixtures have big ‘waiting lists’ on a Thursday/Friday only to find when the fixture closes on Monday mornings there are big gaps in the field. Late notification of this big change in registrations to clubs is causing them ‘angst’ and comes a financial loss to clubs hosting the WAVGA.

No Shows on Day of Fixture:

While it is understood that last minute urgent issues may arise that prevent players from attending a booked fixture please let the Captain or member of Committee know that you cannot attend. In the past many have notified the captain of their nonattendance – and that is fine. However, there have been instances when people have been classified as ‘no shows’ without explanation. The Committee has decided that should this occur on 2 or more times the members access to booking of fixtures will be blocked for a week. A simple message to the Captain or Committee member explaining ‘no show’ will prevent this impost being implemented.

New Shirt Orders:

This can be done through the website and online. Payment will be automatically taken from your credit card as per fixture fees.

Sponsorship:

As happens at many of our clubs, individuals step forward to sponsor an event. If you or a group of players would like to sponsor a particular event, particularly one at their home club when the WAVGA play, please let the Captain know what you propose and this could be incorporated in the presentations on the day.

Trial of Multi Comp Day:

With MiScore capabilities becoming more sophisticated this opens up opportunities to run a couple of events simultaneously. It is planned for Monday July 10 to try this. It could take the form of many combinations: E.g., Individual and Combined Stableford. More details to follow closer to the event. Result: more chances to win on the day!

HARTFIELD FIXTURE:

Well for those that played Harvey Golf Course in the rain last Thursday the conditions at Hartfield could not have been so different with Temperature reaching the 36 degrees mark. The hydration session after the game was thoroughly enjoyed by those who celebrated their round with a ‘quenching’ drink!

Thanks to the Hartfield Golf Club for Sponsoring the event and thanks to Mike Stokes and Gordon Sherlock for being the Club Delegates who ran the registration desk.

Winners on the day were:

• A Grade: 42 Points and best score on the day Dennis Morgan (Mt Lawley GC)
• B Grade: 40 Points Richard Day (Lakelands GC).
• Best Gross: Darrell Lynch (Wanneroo GC) 39 points on a 9 daily handicap.
• OBE: 29 Points Jeff Watkins.
• Money Hole 12: Milan Trifunovic $64.

VINES, Ellen Brook Course on Monday April 3:

This will be a Shot Gun Start Event and catering has been arranged (no charge to Players) for this event so make sure you stay behind for the ‘food’ and the presentation. Book as soon as the event becomes live on the website!

NEXT EVENT: Meadow Springs (Shot Gun Start) – Sponsor on the Day is Meadow Springs Country Club!

Peter Humphrey

accepting his winners prize

Collie winner – Adam Sutton

Harvey winner – Barry Judge

Slow Play

This seems to be the ‘hot’ topic at the moment. During the Southwest Tour the following signage was noted and displayed prominently at Harvey Golf Club:

Be ready on the first and stand with ball on tee and club in hand.

On the next tee saving time’s not hard, one drives off, one marks card.

Don’t leave buggies in the way or those behind must wait to play.

Keep up with those ahead of you, to lose a hole is strictly taboo.

Lost a ball? Not a clue? The following players must be called through.

In stableford if you cannot score, pick up your ball and putt no more.

If a slow coach you must stay, then please play later in the day.

Next Fixture: Hartfield – Club Delegate Gordan Sherlock and Mike Stokes will welcome you to Hartfield!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 8 March 2023

Our next fixture is the City V Country Vets at the Sanctuary in Bunbury. I played the Sanctuary a week ago and I can say that those who are making the journey to Bunbury are in for a golfing experience and treat! The Sanctuary course is in fantastic condition – but bring a few extra golf balls in case you accidentally end up in one of the many water features that can trap the best of golfers! For those that are joining us on the ‘Southwest Tour’ for the remainder of the week at Donnybrook, Collie and Harvey – don’t forget to bring cash for Club Playing Fees and $5 for a comp fee – eftos will not be available!

Tee off Times for each venue:

• Sanctuary (Shotgun Start): 10.00am
• Donnybrook: 10.30am (Check your booking for start times)
• Collie: 10.30am (Check your booking for start times)
• Harvey: 10.30am (Check your booking for start times)

Kwinana Golf Club Golf Club Monday 8 August

Wow! What a great day for golf at Kwinana – unfortunately there were only 47 quality starters but the course, weather and comradery was a great way to relax after a ‘hectic’ long weekend! Thanks to Kwinana for assisting with our Tuesday Fixture and providing a course that has been meticulous maintained! It was only a 1 Tee Start, because of the lack of numbers, but the play flowed very well with most completing the course within a respectable 4½ hours.  

Club Delegates on the day, Denis Clark and Peter Hayward welcomed everyone to the Club.

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond Flooring.

• Congratulations to Winner and Best Gross Allan Godsell (Kwinana GC) with 40 points It was Paul McShanag who won the money on the Super Pin Hole 9 – $42. The OBE on the day was won by Larry Manno with 31.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 28 February 2023

Well, that is summer 2023 finished for the time being and the temperatures for the first few games have certainly reminded us of those high temperatures which seem to coincide with Mondays. However, we will no doubt try and fool ‘Mother Nature’ and play Kwinana next week on a Tuesday and hopefully break the trend of hot playing days. Still a few spots left for Kwinana so try and fill ASAP. If gaps in the field remain I will need to compact the field prior to advising Kwinana Golf Club of the starting numbers. If there are time adjustments to your starting times you will receive 2 emails: one cancelling your original booking and a second advising, you of your new start time. Club delegates Peter Hayward and Denis Clarke will be your hosts on the day.

Pace of Play Information for Sun City Country Club:

A myriad of reports can be generated by Miscore. One such report that Golf Clubs is a report that reports the fixtures run time for all players in the field. This report highlights:

• Participants name.
• Tee Start Time.
• Finish Time.
• Round Time by Tee Time.
• Round Time by App.

The most significant information is the ‘Round Time by Tee Time’ The range for Suncity was rounds of 3 hours 59 minutes through to 4 hours 56 minutes – a large variation in playing time!

City v Country Challenge Monday 13 March

We need a full team to win back our shield. There are 3 spots available – these are designated as ‘walking holes’ but if you are not booking in these spots because of the  ‘walking’ designation please fill up these spots and book a cart to secure these as a ‘City Vet’ position! Closer to the event the list of country and city vets will be amalgamated and any spare positions will be allocated to Country Vets making up groups of 4. Get in quick and fill our allocated positions please.

Southwest Tour

Not long to go until we follow up our ‘Victory’ on March 13 with a tour of Southwest Golf Clubs. Bookings are open. Players at the 3 venues are reminded that fees will need to be paid in cash on the day to each respective club – the exception being the Monday Comp at Sanctuary Golf Resort where normal Fixture cost will be through the WAVGA credit card process.

SUN CITY COUNTRY CLUB FIXTURE:

• Sun City Country Club had finished their Summer Cup Series on Sunday and the course was in magnificent condition – though some of the pin placements were interesting and challenging but a great day for golf!
• Josh and Jim in the Pro Shop were as helpful as usual and had everything prepared for the 86 WAVGA members who played. Great to see some new faces on the day. New Member Scott Brown (Kwinana GC) was welcomed to the WAVGA as well as many returning members who had been absent for some time.
• Club Delegate on the day, Robert Bennett welcomed everyone to the Club and politely mentioned the expected round time of 4 hours 10 minutes – slightly optimistic but the average time being 4½ hours.
• Our sponsor for the day was Drummond Golf.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner Chuck Macfarlane (Royal Fremantle GC) with 37 points,
• B Grade winner Phil Flavell (Guilderton GC) with 36 points.
• C Grade winner Bob Johnson (Guilderton GC) with 39 points.
• John Ryan (Mt Lawley GC) was back in form being Best Gross winner with a score of 35 Points with a Handicap of 2.
• Tony Giorgio (Lakelands GC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 8 – $60.
• The OBE on the day was won by Jeff Watkins (Melville Glades GC) with an impressive 35 points.

Next Fixture: Kwinana

Captain’s Update Wednesday 22 February 2023

MiScore Idiosyncrasy: The Clubs we play at and utilise MiScore are all issued with the following instructions when setting up our event on the day:

 “Stableford, MIXED Competition based on Daily Handicap Men from BLUE markers, Ladies from Red, set up for MiScore. Grades: A Grade 0 – 13, B Grade 14 -21, C Grade 22 and above”. (Or something similar depending on markers and Grade Allocation).

However, of late there has been some of the ladies been attributed a handicap off the Blue Markers. MiScore has been notified of this inconsistency and are looking into why this has occurred on a few occasions and is working to establish why this happens. In the meantime, can I suggest to all players to check that you have been awarded the correct Tee Markers and appropriate handicap. If you notice a mistake, please refer it to the Club’s Pro Shop to rectify before commencing playing.

Pace of Play: At Rockingham, the average round time was 4 hrs 25 minutes. On a hot day it would have been nice to have this reduced a little! It is pleasing to see everyone adopting ‘Ready Golf’ etiquette and assisting in enabling a steady flow of golf. Remember, the lead groups have an important role to play, because if the lead groups are slow it has a magnified impact on time for the later groups. Please always keep up with the group in front!

New WAVGA Members Welcome: At the presentation at Rockingham the following new members were welcomed and introduced (though some didn’t remain for the presentation unfortunately): Tamara Morey, Trevor Brown, Bajan Sangah, John Brady and Carol Burns.

City V Country Challenge: Only a few more sleeps until we win back our shield from the Country Vets. Still a couple of vacancies on the player list for the Sanctuary Golf Resort venue – members please make a concerted effort to fill these last few remaining spots.

ROCKINGHAM GC FIXTURE:

• 74 Players.
• How good was the course? Winner on the Day, Doug Hudson, saying in his speech that Rockingham had some of the best prepared greens he had played on, and others agreeing that they would like to ‘take the greens’ back to their clubs. For those members that didn’t play Rockingham – you missed a treat. Though it would have been more enjoyable if the temperature hadn’t risen higher than expected!
• Club Delegates on the day, Alan Baker and Jamie McEwan welcomed everyone to the Club who were also joined by Rockingham Member Angelo Capraro who joined them on the desk and told a few jokes to put a welcoming smile on everyone’s face.
• Our sponsor for the day was Rockingham WA Veteran Golf Members.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner Doug Hudson (Vines) with 41points,
• B Grade winner Ken Carson (Chequers) with 40 points.
• Matt Lynn (Rockingham GC) was Best Gross winner with 40 points on a 5 handicap.
• Stan Sexton won the money on the Super Pin Hole 3 – $51. (Or a present conversion rate: 23 Pounds Sterling).
• The OBE on the day was won by Eric Curley (Mandurah CC) with an impressive 34 points.

Next Fixture: Sun City – time to head north for a bit of warmth with host and delegate, Rob Bennett who will welcome you to the Club.

Kwinana Fixture: Tuesday 7 March following Labour Day Holiday Long Weekend.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 14 March 2023

VALENTINES DAY: No doubt you will read this quickly as you are most likely rather busy dealing with all those ‘Valentine’ responsibilities! It was good to see 88 players play at Gosnells GC on a course that was in excellent condition, having been prepared for their Summer Cup Tournament.

GOLF BOOKINGS: The first 2 fixtures of the season have seen time sheets filling quickly with members having to join the waitlist to secure a game. The disappointment is that many of these people that book in early ‘Withdraw’ very close to the event! The result has been that the fields are no longer full, members left with awkward vacancies that mean a shuffling of players to form playing groups and embarrassing discussions with host clubs why there are gaps in the field. Clubs that host the WAVGA are willing to give us blocks of their playing times and with the ‘reduced’ fields with gaps this comes at a financial expense to clubs when they cannot put green fee-paying members on their courses because we have a group booking that is not fully booked. I realise, urgent issues arise that may require late cancellation of a booking but as an example the Gosnells Fixture had 15 people on the wait list, I negotiated with the Club for more times and opened these times up and from the time I presented the preliminary booking sheet to GGC on Friday to an hour later their was now vacancies on the booking sheet.

Please when booking:

• Commit to your booking.
• If you book a group to play with you make sure they can play and are committed to honour the booking. (I can understand 1 member withdrawing for personal reasons , but the whole group prior to the fixture?).
• Fill spaces in the booking sheet, rather than booking on a new line.
• Don’t book in the hope you might make the event and preclude others from securing a playing slot.

PACE OF PLAY

A little slower for Gosnells with the average time being closer to 4¾ hours. Please adhere to ‘Ready Golf Protocols’ and keep the game moving for everyone’s enjoyment.

ROCKINGHAM FIXTURE 20 FEBRUARY

Course improvements, hospitality arrangements along with the appointment of a new General Manager for the Club have added greatly to the Clubs Membership growth and prestige over the last 12 months. Book in now for next week and you won’t be disappointed for the experience. Sponsors on the day are the Rockingham WAVGA Members – come along and support their efforts. Rockingham GC will also host the first leg of the Club Championships later this year so get yourself familiar with the course.

SOUTHWEST TOUR AND COUNTRY v CITY VETS

Booking sheets are open! Time to win back ‘OUR’ Shield from the Country.

GOSNELLS GOLF CLUB RESULTS:

• My thanks to Terry Smith for his professionalism in setting up the Delegates Registration and preparation for the event. Another perfect golf day, though a little warm, but with the later start on the day the sea breeze arrived early.

Our sponsor on the day was Gosnells GC who sponsored ’18 Holes of golf for 1 player walking’ for each of our Grade winners and Gross winner.

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade and Best Gross Winner Warren Howard with 39 points,
• B Grade winner Richard Day with 40 points.
• C Grade winner Glen Stewart with 43 points and $75 voucher for best daily score.
• Ken Carson won the money on the Super Pin Hole 4 – $64.
• The OBE on the day was won by Terry Porter with 36 points.

New Members Welcomed: During the presentation the following new members were welcomed to the WAVGA: Rebecca Donald (RPGC), Glen Stewart (The CUT), Tony Watchman (WAGC), Sharon Fitzpatrick (WAGC), Stan Fetisow (Suncity CC) and Neil Scott (Lakelands GC).

Next Fixture: Rockingham (See above for details).

Captain’s Update Tuesday 7 February 2023

OPENING FIXTURE WANNEROO: 84 players enjoyed fabulous golfing weather conditions on a course Wanneroo that presented beautifully! At the presentation ceremony Terry Porter was welcomed into the OBE Club, and then won the OBE on the day to celebrate. Also welcomed as new members to the WAVGA were: Ian Rowson, Teresa Smart, Yvonne Turner, Stephen Potter (not to be confused with WAVGA Member Steve Potter) and Pam Porter. Welcome to these and other new members joining us in 2023.

Club President, David St George, addressed the group and welcomed all players to the 2023 season wished everyone success for the forthcoming season.  

SOUTH WEST TOUR (Monday March 13 to Thursday March 16): Booking sheets are open NOW! If you can’t come for the whole week, at least make an effort to play on the Monday at the Sanctuary Bunbury. We take on the Country Vets and will win back the Rowley Shield that we narrowly lost to the Country Vets at Pinjarra last year!

PACE OF PLAY: Congratulations to the players at Wanneroo for adopting the ‘Team Approach’ to their golf rounds that resulted in a good steady flow of golf for all players with all round completed under 4½ hours!

WANNEROO CLUB FIXTURE:

• Club Delegates on the day, Warren Howard, Jim Treloar and assisted by Tom Grimston welcomed everyone Wanneroo and ensured they read the local rules and logged into AVGU on MiScore.
• Our sponsor for the day was Westech Flooring.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner and Best Gross was Stephen Potter (Suncity CC) with 38 points.
• B Grade winner Graham Bourgault (Mt Lawley GC) with 34 Points.
• C Grade and $75 Voucher winner with best score on the day was Ken Carson (Chequers) with 39 Stableford Points
• John Tandy (WAGC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 15 – $60. This was collected by Graham Bourgault on behalf of John so it could be divided up and shared amongst the syndicate group of Lancey, Tandy, Bourgault and Burns.
• Congratulations to OBE winner Terry Porter with 34 points!  He sent a message to his fellow OBE Competitors to look out for the ‘Youngsters’ who are now qualifying for OBE!

Next Fixture: GOSNELLS – at the present time all positions are full but join the ‘Wait List’ and you will automatically be placed into vacancies when they arise.

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE FEBRUARY 1, 2023

WELCOME TO SEASON 2023: The Committee and the Delegates representing your club met yesterday to review the coming season. The 2023 season will have 51 rounds of golf – including local venues and the courses played on the Southwest Tour (March) and the Midwest Tour (August). The fixtures includes our regular events: Country v City Vets, North of the River Clubs v South of the River Clubs, a 4BBB Fixture, 2 Man Ambrose, regular stableford events and Club Championships.

Welcome to our new members joining us in 2023 – 29 new members to date!

FIXTURE NUMBER ONE: Wanneroo Club Delegates Warren Howard and Jim Treloar will welcome you to Wanneroo Golf Club on Monday 6^th February.

DRUMMOND VOUCHERS: Credits will carry over from the 2022 season and be added to your winnings throughout 2023. Your Drummond Credits can be viewed by clicking on the ‘DRUMMOND VOUCHERS ACCRUED SUMMARY’ above.

2023 PRIZE STRUCTURE: Similar to 2022 with the exception the best Net Score on the day, regardless of what Grade it is in, will receive a $75 Drummond Voucher in lieu of the normal $50 Voucher.

MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS: I thank Tom Colella and Graham Bourgault for putting the following contribution together to remind us of playing etiquette and the need to work as a team to make everyones golf experience even more enjoyable. Please read and apply the following principles throughout our 2023 playing season:

ADDRESSING THE NEW VIEW ON SLOW PLAY.

It has long been a problem that the WA Vets are guilty of slow play.  Introducing penalties is not the solution most members will agree to and so a more constructive and encouraging approach is suggested.

This idea (suggested by Tom Colella) is to push a teamwork concept for every flight of golfers.  The focus is playing as a team not only on the tee box but watching and supporting each other on all shots throughout the game. How often have you asked, “Did anyone seen where my ball went.”

The Teamwork idea makes every player in the group responsible for keeping play flowing by working as a team.

This means:

*  Watch your teammates hitting off and comment on it’s location, and suggest hitting a

provisional if in doubt.

* “It’s all about me” focus only encourages Slow Play.

*  Let “Ready Golf” be the norm.

*  Assist by raking each other’s bunkers so to promote Continuity of Play.                           

* When it’s your turn to putt practice putting out.      

*  When falling behind discuss the first 2 to putt out should Go and tee-off.

*  IF YOU LOSE CONTACT WITH THE GROUP IN FRONT OF YOU, WORK COLLECTIVELY TO CATCH UP. 

*  Be considerate of your fellow golfer.

* Encouragement promotes good golf.

Vets love their golf and enjoy completing their rounds in under 4.5 hours.  This becomes upsetting when a round of golf approaches 5.0 hours.

Captain’s Update Friday 16 December 2022

Thankyou to our hosts – Western Australian Golf Club, for hosting the final fixture for the WAVGA 2022 season! Fantastic weather, the AGM was short and concise, the course was exceptional and the catering for the dinner was superb!

Gross Winner Calculations: For 2023 ‘Best Gross Winner and Calculation’ it was ratified at the AGM that calculation method was to be ‘Stableford score minus the players Daily Handicap’. It was felt that having players having to putt out and record a score on every hole was not conducive to ‘ready golf’ and slowed the pace of play for all.

2022 Order of Merit Winners:

• Congratulations to Fred Feucs on being the 2022 men’s winner and Kath Fordham (Nedlands GC) for being the most consistent with the women members.

WA Golf Club Fixture and Results:

• Club Delegates on the day, Graham Bourgault and Charlie Lancey once again a fabulous effort!
• Our sponsor for the day was the Westerna Australian GC WAVGA Members. Thanks to the members for the generous additional sponsorship:
  • Winners A, B and C grades $100 Drummond Voucher.
  • Runner-up A, B and C grades $50 Drummond Voucher.
  • Nearest the pins received (if they were present) 2 Bottles of wine, sett of Charlie Lancey’s handmade coasters and 2 golf balls.
  • Mystery Raffle, and
  • Ball sweep was 2 golf balls.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Biff Brody (Lakelands GC) with 35 points.
• Best Gross winner John Ryan (Mt Lawley) on 32 points with a 3 handicap.
• B Grade winner Allan Spooner (Chequers GC) with 40 points.
• C Grade winner Paul Ryan (Lakelands GC) with 38 points.
• OBE winner Gary Carter (WAGC) with 36 Stableford Points
• Charlie Lancey won the money on the Super Pin Hole 5 – $99.05.

Next Fixture 2023: Wanneroo GC on Monday 6^th February 2023

Wishing all members and families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 7 December 2022

Sun City Country Club fixture:

Sea Breeze was fresh!

Robert Bennett did a fantastic job on the Delegates Registration Desk – though unable to play on the day he made himself available to make sure everything was prepared for the days golf event. Brett Flatters who was ready to assist Rob on the day unfortunately could attend because of Covid. I thank Rob and Brett for their assistance at Sun City throughout the year!

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Steve Potter (Melville Glades) with 37 points.
• Best Gross winner Charley Lancey (WAGC) with 84 Net,
• B Grade winner Ken Carson (Chequers GC) with 37points.
• OBE winner Peter Livingstone (Cottesloe GC) 29 Stableford Points
• Tony Viner won the money on the Super Pin Hole 17 – $63.

Next Fixture and last Fixture for 2022: WAGC – Charley Lancey and Graham Bourgault will be there to welcome you.

• AGM: 10.00am.
• Shot Gun Start: 12.15pm, and
• Buffet Meal: 6.00pm.

2023 Season:

Planning is underway and Golfing Venues for 2023 will appear on the WAVGA Web Site once confirmations have been received.

City v Country 2023 Challenge

See Information Below so you can plan and book accommodation early! 

WAVGA 2023 City Vets V Country Vets Southwest Tour

 Early Notification of Dates, Venues and Accommodation Deals Negotiated and available for a limited time for Early Bookings:

 The dates and Golf Course Arrangements for 2023 Southwest Tour:

• Monday March 13, 2023: City V Country Vets Challenge @ Sanctuary Golf Resort Bunbury (Shotgun start 10.00am)

Followed by a day of golf at the following golf courses for those who want to extend their stay in the southwest:

• Tuesday March 14, 2023: Donnybrook Golf Club (2 Tee start 10.30am)
• Wednesday March 15, 2023: March: Collie Golf Club (2 Tee start 10.30am)
• Thursday March 16, 2023: Harvey Golf Club (2 Tee start 10.00am)

Accommodation Packages Negotiated for City Vet Golfers:

1. Riverside Caravan, Cabin and Camping Park Bunbury: 5 Pratt Road, Eaton WA 6232. Phone (08) 97251234

Caravan Sites available for $34.20 per night. When booking simply say that you are a Member of the WA Veteran Golf Association, and the rate will be applied to the length of your stay.

2. Sanctuary Golf Resort Bunbury:

Currently on hold are for City Vet Golfers are:

8 x Two-bedroom apartments at $290/room per night. This is a Room only rate. The Sanctuary do also have the below package that they can offer as well.

Sanctuary Golf Resort are pleased to offer the following package option which would suit accommodation and golfing requirements, and have summarised the details below:

Please Note: The below packages do not include any cart or equipment hire, you will need to contact the Pro Shop directly for these items and prices

‘Sleep & Play Package’ which includes (Bedding can be either. 4 x Single beds, 1 x King and 2 x Single beds or 2 x King beds)

• Overnight accommodation in a standard Two Bedroom Apartment
• 4 x 18 Holes of Golf
•      4 x Small Buckets Driving Range Balls
• 4 x Fully Cooked Breakfast in The Sanctuary Bar & Restaurant
• Sunday – Friday Rate: $530 Total ($132.50 per person Quad Share)
• Saturday Night Rate: $590 Total ($147.50 per person Quad Share)

*Please note there is an additional charge of $20 per person per night if booking falls on a long weekend.

*Please also be aware that with Sleep and Play Packages that require 4 x single beds must be stated at time of booking as not all the apartments can have this specific bedding configuration.

Please do not hesitate to contact reception further assistance or you would like to make a reservation.

Kym (Guest Services Agent)

Phone (08) 97252777

Email: escape@sanctuaryresort.com.au

Lot 100 Old Coast Road, Pelican Point

Bunbury WA 6130

The Southwest Tour:

In conclusion,  I would like to thank the Southwest Veteran Golf Association and specific members: Peter Green, Ian Foot, Alan Perkins, Greg Bell and Jeremy lister who assisted putting together these Venues and accommodation packages for the City Vets.

I must thank Sanctuary Golf Resort who went out of their way to accommodate our golfing needs when Bunbury Golf Club suddenly cancelled our booking because of a better ‘corporate’ deal  and cancelled our 4-month-old booking! Other Southwest Golf Clubs were approached for the tour, but many like Capel and Margaret River had their courses closed for maintenance, coring etc and could not accommodate our needs – all venues selected will provide a high degree of hospitality making each day memorable.

Southwest Tours have been popular in the past and allow for wives, husband and friends to join you in a great southwest golfing event. Book accommodation early and support the companies that are welcoming us to the southwest. Put the dates in you ‘New Year’ Calendar now, and plan for a great week of fun and comradery in the Southwest March 2023!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 30 November 2022

Gosnells Golf Club fixture:

Isn’t it great to feel warm again while playing golf! The course was in excellent condition, the bar area was airconditioned and comfortable for presentations – all in all a great day enjoyed by all 92 starters

A special thanks to Terry Smith who temporarily returned from his annual Swan Valley holiday to man the Delegates Desk – a great effort Terry and much appreciated by all WAVGA members! No doubt Terry imbibed in a few more local ‘Reds’ when returning to the Swan Valley after finishing the Rego desk.

Richard Pace (Nuri-Mate Dog Rolls) was the sponsor of the day.  At presentation he was as generous and entertaining as usual, supplying members present at presentation with samples of his excellent product! I’m sure when the members got home their pets were appreciative of the ‘treats’ that were bought home that night. Thanks once again Richard for your generosity to the WAVGA!

At the Presentation we welcomed new members to the WAVGA:

• John Davis (Suncity CC),
• Stan Fetison (Sun City CC), and
• Ken Carson (Chequers GC).

They enjoyed the experience and featured in the prize list for the day.

Congratulations to Dave Falconer who had an Eagle on the 5^th!

Congratulations also to:

• A Grade winner Francis Forrester (Hartfield) with 40 points.
• Best Gross winner Lou Rigo (Kwinana GC) on a C/B from Francis Forrester with 31 Points.  
• B Grade winner Tony Viner – Alias ‘Aquaman’ – so named after showing his swimming prowess  at Pinjarra Golf Course last week while retrieving his buggy from the deep, (Geraldton GC) with 41points.
• C Grade winner Donald Lamont (Vines CC) with 37 points.
• OBE winner Denis Clarke (Kwinana GC) on a C/B From Peter Livingstone with 33 Stableford Points
• Craig Marshall won the money on the Super Pin Hole 4 – $70.

Next Fixture: Suncity Country Club. Rob Bennett and Brett Flatters, Suncity Country Club delegates,  will be on the registration desk and welcome everyone to the Club.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 22 November 2022

TWO POINTS – THAT’S ALL! 57 WA Veteran City Golfers took on 64 Country Vets for the Bruce Rowley Shield. Initially calculated on the day by the Country Vets it looked like we lost by a whopping 134 points, but Tim Hunter from the Country Vets checked his figures later that night and realised that the results were printed on both sides of the sheet, and he made an honest mistake of not turning over the page to add the scores of the top 20 players listed on the back. The revised scores were City 705 points to Country 707! The shield did go to the rightful winners on the day! What a close result – who missed a couple of putts on the day that cost us those valuable points? Regardless of the close finish – a great effort Team City!

DRUMMOND GOLF VOUCHER COLLECTION: Please check the Spread sheet located within ‘Captain’s Corner (Above) and check how much you have in credit. I will be at Gosnells early so please come and collect your vouchers if you have $25 and above owing while you are checking in with Terry.

PINJARRA FIXTURE:

• Club Delegates on the day, Stan Bartley and Mark Hales. Thanks Stan and Mark for making sure everything was organised for a 10.15 Shot Gun start.
• Our sponsor for the day was City Vets – supported by lots of prizes and balls left over from the AVGU Championships.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Jeff Heath (Country Vets) with 40 points.
• Best Gross winner Jeff Heath with 79 Net,
• B Grade winner Ian Foot (Country Vets) with 39 points.
• C Grade winner Ian Rowson (Vines – new member) with 40points.
• OBE winner Eric Curley (Mandurah CC) with 32 Stableford Points
• Peter Flint won the money on the Super Pin Hole 15 – $100.

Next Fixture: Gosnells Golf Club. Terry Smith, Gosnells Club delegate will welcome everyone to the Club.

Captain’s Update Saturday 19 November 2022

SAD NEWS: Ron Cole, one of our two life members, passed away on Thursday night. Ron was one of the pioneers of the WAVGA and for those who knew him know how passionate he was in regards the WAVGA.  Ron served in many roles within the organisation. He is to be remembered and acknowledged for his contribution to the WAVGA. Our sympathies are extended to Ron’s family. ‘Valedicere’ Ron Cole!

VINES (Lakes Course) FIXTURE:

• Club Delegates on the day, Doug and Kerrie Hudson, did a fabulous job with the organisation and registration at the Vines. All was in readiness as we all gathered for the 11.30 shotgun start.
• Our sponsor for the day was Real Estate Plus.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Chuck Macfarlane (RFGC) with 38 points.
• Best Gross winner John Ryan (Mt Lawley) with 75 Net,
• B Grade winner Fred Fuecs (Chequers GC) with 36 points.
• C Grade winner James Carslaw (Mosman Park GC) with 33 points.
• OBE winner Eric Curley (Mandurah CC) with 33 Stableford Points
• Chuck Macfarlane won the money on the Super Pin Hole 4 – $60.

Results and closure of the competition was completed on the Wednesday following our inability to load ‘score cards’ into the system at the Vines on the day. My thanks to Doug Hudson for having the Vines process Score cards and finally have everyone’s scores and handicaps complete in the Golf Link system.

Next Fixture: City v Country vets Challenge at Pinjarra GC. Wil March (City Vets) winners retain the Bruce Rowley Shield?  

Captain’s Update Thursday 3 November 2022

AVGU CHAMIONSHIP

Well, it has been a lot of organisation and planning, but the time has finally arrived for the big event. To all WAVGA members playing the AVGU — good luck!

CITY V COUNTRY VETS AT PINJARRA

Still lots of Vacancies – please make an effort to support this event as we are the current holders of the shield and we don’t like giving it back to the Country Mob! The booking sheet is open now! 

ROCKINGHAM AND ROYAL PERTH FIXTURES

My thanks to the Vice-Captains and the Delegates at each of the respective Clubs for their organisation and preparation for each of the events in my absence. Looking back on the results I can see that some fantastic golf was played and enjoyed. It is great to see our members supporting the clubs we play at – it is only because of the increase in numbers that host clubs can offer greatly reduced playing rates!

Rockingham Highlights:

• 67 players – a little disappointing as at one stage on the Booking sheet were 80 players!  
• Alan Baker and Don Hall welcomed members to the Club and provided all the information required to enjoy the course.

Congratulations to:

• A grade Winner Terry Smith (Gosnells GC) with 35 points and Best Gross.
• B Grade Winner Kath Fordham (Nedlands GC) with 38 Points.
• OBE winner Denis Clarke (Kwinana GC) with 35 Stableford Points
• Graham Bourgault (WAGC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 3 – $59.

Royal Perth Highlights:

• 95 players – excellent turn out!  
• Bob Howe and Rolf Kraus did a fantastic job on the desk!

Congratulations to:

• A grade Winner Darrell Lynch (Wanneroo GC) with 41 points and Best Gross.
• B Grade Winner Terry Scanlan (Pickering GC) with 38 Points.
• C Grade Winner Manfred Ruschmann (Royal Perth GC) with 41 Points.
• OBE winner Peter Livingston (Cottesloe GC) with 32 Stableford Points
• Terry Scanlan won the money on the Super Pin Hole 12 – $71.

Next Fixture after AVGU: The Vines!

Captain’s Update Tuesday 18 October 2022

PACE OF PLAY: This continues to be an issue! Please make sure you know the etiquette of ‘Ready Golf’ and keep the flow of play going. Basically, this requires you and you group to:

• Be at the First Tee at least 10 minutes before your start time.
• Keep up with the group ahead of you.
• 4½ hours should be the maximum time for a round to be completed.
• If getting behind, finish putting and move to the next Tee and play while the remainder of the group finish putting.
• If you are ready to play – play your shot where applicable.
• Putt out on the green – allowing for location of other players balls when necessary.
• Rationalise the time spent filling in scores – can be done while other players are Teeing Off.
• Use the MiScore App to speed up stroke recording!
• Time spent looking for a lost ball is STRICKLY 3 minutes – after that the ball is no longer in play (even if found) – move on ASAP to the provisional ball you have hit.
• Call through groups if you know they are waiting and you will be a while looking for multiple ball loses.

Only a few suggestions to keep our game enjoyable but achievable!  If we all adhere to these suggestions and reduce the sometimes, vented frustrations I receive regarding slow play it will add to everyone’s enjoyment and get us into the Club House to celebrate the game together.

ROCKINGHAM GC AND ROYAL PERTH GC FIXTURES

Vice Captains Doug Booth and Stan Bartley will be officiating at these event as I will be away for these fixtures. My thanks to the Delegates at each of these venues:

• Rockingham: Alan Baker and Don Hall.
• Royal Perth: Bob Howe and Rolfe Krause.

Who will welcome you to their respective Clubs and assist you at Registration.

SECRET HARBOUR GC FIXTURE SUMMARY:

• You can see the improvements at Secrets and in the next two weeks the quality of the greens will be in excellent shape for the Nationals beginning on November 7.
• Playing of the Blue Tees on Monday provided a good practice round in preparation for the Nationals. It was pleasing to see the ground staff had located the Blue Markers in places not usually utilised during our recent visits to Secret Harbour. I am sure of the WAVGA members playing the Nationals made good use of the experience!
• At the Nationals there will be a $1000 Hole-in-One prize at each course. For Secret Harbour it will be located on Hole Number 17 (over the water) – Mark Bill was the closest on Monday!
• Club Delegates on the day, Maggie Thatcher and Mark Bill welcomed everyone to the Club.
• Our sponsor for the day was Nutri-Mate Dog Rolls.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner and Best Gross Brian Bell (Chequers CC) with 41 points and 81.
• B Grade winner Norm Thomas (Guilderton GC) with38 points.
• Peter King (WAGC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 7 – $73.
• The OBE on the day was won by Max Stewart (WAGC) with an impressive 37 points.

Next Fixture: Rockingham GC – In 2023 Rockingham GC will host the first Round of our Club Championships.   

Captain’s Update Wednesday 12 October 2022

YORK GOLF CLUB FIXTURE – Monday 10 October 2022:

• 54 WAVGA Members, Guests and Local YGC members enjoyed the hospitality of the York Golf Club! We even had a golfer from Ireland, John Dunne, who described it as one of the most unique and enjoyable golf experiences he had ever had!
• Congratulations to the York Golf Club and members for preparing the course so magnificently. Having been a member of a country golf club that relies on its members giving up their time to do all the maintenance on the course and facilities, I know how much effort locally has gone into this event to make it a success and I am sure we all appreciate this level of effort!
• Mick Nottle, Graham Hunt, Eddie Fong and Bill Wagner welcomed members to the Club and provided all the information required to enjoy the course.
• A huge thankyou to the ladies in the kitchen for keeping us well nourished during the day.
• It was the York Golfers who put on some additional novelties around the course and the winners received a 6 pack of beer for their efforts.

Congratulations to:

• Winner Stan Sexton (Melville Glades GC) with 34 points and Best Gross
• OBE winner Peter Livingstone (Cottesloe GC) with 30 Stableford Points
• Graham Bourgault (WAGC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 8 – $47.

Next Fixture: Secret Harbour – an excellent opportunity for those playing the AVGU to get some practice in at one of the courses being utilised for the championship!

Captain’s Update Tuesday 3rd October 2022

Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club Monday 3 October:

• The hospitality and Sponsorship commitment to WAVGA from Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club and in particular General Manager Scott Proctor are to be congratulated and applauded. The day produced some amazing golf results with the course in prime condition. The ‘Shotgun’ format provides a great social event at the end of the round, and I thank everyone for staying back and enjoying the prize presentation comradery!
• Congratulations and well played to our Grade winners: Mal Kent (A Grade) with an outstanding 38 points, Graham Bourgault (B Grade) with 37 point and Fred Feucs (C Grade) with an impressive 42 points. Mal, Graham and Fred each received a Voucher from Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club for 18 Holes of golf for 2 people including motorised golf cart!
• Well done Clint Cooper with the Best Gross of 78.
• Peter Livingstone was our OBE winner with 39 points and runner-up in C Grade.
• Peter Humphry was happy to pick up the ‘Super Pin’ cash of $78 for his effort on hole 16, though it was Mark O’Donoghue who won the ‘Nearest The Pin’ $10 Credit but however he was disappointed to find the $1 coin in his pocket that he intended to enter the ‘Super Pin’  with – but in his excitement to Play Meadow Springs forgot to enter!

Drummond Voucher Balance of Credits: Your current balance of uncollected accrued credit can be found on the Web under ‘Captains Corner’. Once you have reached increments of either $25 of $50, vouchers can be obtained from the captain for you to utilise at Drummond Golf

Next Fixture: York GC

• See you there next Monday.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 27 September 2022

‘SPRING HAS SPRUNG’! After emerging from a wet Winter, the weather at Melville Glades was amazing and hopefully signifies the beginning of some great golfing weather to come.

YORK FIXTURE BOOKING: Numbers are building! Guests are welcome to enter this event.

If you want to book a guest or guests to attend the York event with you simply text a message to the captain (0438217065). Please include:

• Guest’s name,
• Golf Link number
• Tee Time and Hole Choice, and your quest will be booked in to play with you.

Guest competition fees will now be collected (Cash) on the day and paid direct to York Golf Club reps on the Registration Desk. For WAVGA members the usual Credit Card Payment will continue!

MELVILLE GLADES GOLF CLUB – Tuesday 27 September:

• 67 enjoyed great golf conditions with the course being challenging for some with 5 temporary greens in place while MGGC staff returf and redesign greens. Club Delegate on the day, Willie Henry provided a warm welcome to players, and it was good to see some of the local Melville Glades members fill a few of the vacant spots on the day – future Veteran Members we hope!
• Our sponsor for the day was Advance Care.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade and Best Gross winner Stan Sextant (Melville Glades GC) with 40 points and 79 off the stick – local knowledge used to perfection!
• B Grade winner Paul McShanag (Kwinana GC) with 39points.
• OBE winner Denis Clarke (Kwinana GC) with 35 Stableford Points and third in B Division – certainly hit a bit of form lately!
• Brian Bell (Chequers GC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 5 – $59.

Next Fixture: Monday 3 October at Meadow Springs.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 20 September 2022

YORK FIXTURE BOOKING OPENS EARLY: Bill Wagner and the York Golf Club crew have been working hard over the winter months make this years WAVGA Fixture at York the best! The event has been opened for bookings a week earlier to usual so catering needs can be arranged and an opportunity for members to invite guests along so that we can fill the event and set a record attendance that will help the York golf Club enormously.

If you want to book a guest or guests to attend the York event with you simply text a message to the captain (0438217065). Please include:

• Guest’s name,
• Golf Link number
• Tee Time and Hole Choice, and your quest will be booked in to play with you.

Guest competition fees will charged to your Credit Card and it is up not you to recoup the Fee from you guest who will pay you direct.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Check the AVGU Web Page – the Preliminary 4BBB starters sheet has been released!

Search: avguchampionship2022.com.au – keep checking this web site for updates and player information.

ROYAL FREMANTLE GOLF CLUB FIXTURE – Monday 19 September:

• 95 players battled the strong winds on the day at a fantastically presented course. Club Delegates on the day, Clayton Gunning and John Lennon welcomed members to the Club and provided all the information required to enjoy the course.
• Big thankyou to the RFGC WAVGA Members who sponsored an Engraved Glass Tankard Trophy for the Highest Net Score on the day with the stimulation that the winner had to be present to receive the Trophy. Marc Arnold with 37 Points was present, received the Tankard and thanked to RFGC members for their generosity.
• I must thank RFGC for allowing us to play at their Club, there was speculation that out of respect for the solemn event and funeral for Queen Elizabeth II that the Club would close on the day – but this was avoided. At the WAVGA Presentation a ‘minute silence’ was observed as a mark of respect for our long serving Queen.
• I must also thank Clayton Gunning for his summation regarding RFGC’s long association with ‘Royalty’ at our Presentation that was entertaining and enlightening to all present.
• Our sponsor for the day was Drummond Golf and big thanks to Steve Herbert in the Pro Shop for his assistance with the competition on the day.
• Did you see Min Woo Lee on the driving range working with his coach during the day? I think I should have listened in – I might have done a bit better on the day!

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Marc Arnold (Kennedy Bay GC) with 37 points,
• Best Gross – Warren Howard (Wanneroo GC).
• B Grade winner Tony Haabjoern (Chequers GC) with 35 points.
• C Grade winner Ian Holding (Cottesloe GC) with 33 Points
• OBE winner John Hutchinson (Melville Glades GC) with 30 Stableford Points
• David St George (Mt Lawley GC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 8 – $77.

Next Fixture: Tuesday 27 September at Melville Glades.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 13 September 2022

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS: done, dusted, completed, and celebrated for 2022! Congratulations to our new Gross Winner and Club Champion Brendan Curtain and all the respective Grade winners: Warren Howard, Mal Kent, Jamie McEwan, Mick Brazier, Kevin Essing and Paul Ryan.  A full list of Grade Winners and Scores is listed on the ‘Game Results’ section of the WAVGA web.

Thanks to all the players that participated in the Club Championships this year, and those that joined us for the Daily Comp at each Venue. We were extremely lucky with the weather and some wonderful golf was played.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Check the AVGU Web Page – the Preliminary 4BBB starters sheet has been released!

Search: avguchampionship2022.com.au 

WANNEROO CLUB FIXTURE:

• Club Delegates on the day, Warren Howard, Jim Treloar and assisted by Tom Grimston welcomed everyone Wanneroo and ensured they read the local rules and logged into AVGU on MiScore.
• Our sponsor for the day was Drummond Golf.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade and Best Gross winner Warren Howard (Wanneroo GC) with 77 Net,
• B Grade winner Barry Stewart (Mt Lawley GC) with 70 Net.
• C Grade and OBE winner Gary Carter (WAGC) with 36 Stableford Points
• Darrell Lynch (Wanneroo GC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 15 – $73.
• Congratulations to Brendan Curtain who had an Eagle on Hole 10.

Next Fixture: Royal Fremantle Golf Club – at the present time all positions are full but join the ‘Wait List’ and you will automatically be placed into vacancies when they arise.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 7 September 2022

YORK FIXTURE: With the later fixture scheduled for York GC this year (10^th October), Bill Wagner (York GC) informs us that the Course is in magnificent condition following all the improvements the members have initiated throughout the year. York GC always welcomes the WAVGA members attending this event and is already planning the hospitality and catering to make this year’s York WAVGA fixture the best! Please mark this event on your calendar, join the York Members in supporting their Club on the day and experience Country Golf and Hospitality!

WAVGA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022:

• Round 1 Harfield: Completed! We were very lucky with the weather having no rain fall during the fixture, but the course was wet due to early morning downpours!
• Round 2 Wanneroo: Monday 12 September for round 2 of the Championships the GA for each division will remain as for Round 1: A Grade 0 to 12.4, B Grade 12.5 to 18, and C Grade 18.1 plus. However, the slope rating for Wanneroo will vary from Hartfield and you may be playing on a different handicap, but after Daily Handicap has been applied you will remain in the same grade as Round 1 regardless of GA variation and Daily Handicap

AVGU APP

The AVGU Site will be utilised at Wanneroo.

SLOW PLAY

If your round is more than 4hr 30 minutes and your group has been holding up play behind you, please try to streamline your play, and that of your group, so we don’t have rounds of 5 hours or more.

HARTFIELD COUNTRY CLUB FIXTURE:

• Huge thanks to Tom Grimston for making himself available for the day and ensuring scoring was successfully trialled using AVGU MiSCore App.
• Club Delegates on the day, Mike Stokes and Gordon Sherlock welcomed everyone to the Club.
• Our sponsor for the day was Hartfield Country Club, and I thank Brian Close for the bottles of wine that each of the nearest to the pin winners received.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade winner Neil Thatcher (Secret Harbour GC) with 71 Net,
• B Grade winner Jamie McEwan (Rockingham GC) also 68 Net.
• C Grade winner Ross Hancock (WAGC) with 38 Stableford Points
• Best Gross was 77 by Brendan Curtain.
• Tony Farrow (Mt Lawley GC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 12 – $64.
• The OBE on the day was won by Denis Clarke (WAGC) with 36 points.
• Congratulations to Darrell Lynch who had an Eagle on Hole 17.

Next Fixture: The Championships Day 2 – Wanneroo.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 31 August 2022

WAVGA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022:

• Round 1 Harfield: You can still play in the Championships if you are playing at Hartfield! If you were late registering for the Championship let the Club Delegates, Gordon Sherlock and Mike Stokes know at the Delegates Desk at Hartfield when you register. However, placement at Wanneroo cannot be guaranteed for Round 2 as the fixture may fill. My advice is register now for a spot at Wanneroo before all spots fill!   If you registered early for the Championship, you were automatically given the same booking at Wanneroo.
• Round 2 Wanneroo: Monday 12 September.

Based on numbers for the Championship the following GA Grade allocations will be utilised (This may change on the day depending if more Championship Players nominate);

• A Grade: 20 Players 0 -12.4
• B Grade 21 Players 12.5 – 17.4
• C Grade 21 Players 17.5 plus

This will determine the grade you play in but you will play off your Daily Handicap.

The same Grade Splits will also apply to the Day Comp, at present being:  25 A Grade, 29 B Grade and 36 C Grade Players.

AVGU APP

The AVGU location will be used for the Championship please load this venue (Add a Club) now for use at Hartfield and Wanneroo.

SLOW PLAY

It is important to be aware of your place in the field and consider your fellow players. Please:

• Keep up with the group ahead.
• Play Ready Golf
• Hit a Provisional Ball when in doubt and if your ball is not found within 3 minutes it is deemed lost and cannot be played – even if located later!
• If not keeping up, once you have finished putting moved to the Tee Box and hit off waiting for the rest of the group to finish.
• Use the MiScore App to speed up stroke recording!

 SUN CITY COUNTRY CLUB FIXTURE:

• Sun City Country Club had finished their Championships on Sunday ant the course was in magnificent condition – though some of the pin placements were interesting and challenging but a great day for golf!
• Josh and Tom in the Pro Shop were as helpful as usual and had everything prepared for the 83 WAVGA members who played.
• Club Delegates on the day, Robert Bennett and Brett Flatters welcomed everyone to the Club.
• Our sponsor for the day was Drummond Golf.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner Rob Bennett (Sun City CC) with 36 points,
• B Grade winner Ian Hutton (Mosman Park GC) also with 36 points.
• Digby Barrett (Kwinana GC) was back in form being Best Gross winner with a gross score of 83.
• Barry Judge (Royal Fremantle GC) won the money on the Super Pin Hole 8 – $56.
• The OBE on the day was won by Max Stewart (WAGC) with an impressive 33 points.

Next Fixture: The Championships – Hartfield.

Captain’s Update Monday 23 August 2022

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022:

• Round 1 Harfield: Monday 5 September.
• Round 2 Wanneroo: Monday 12 September.

SPEEDY RECOVERY

For those who asked as to the where-abouts of our Club Secretary/Treasurer, I can assure you he is recovering well after his ‘Evil Knievel’ style bike accident that left him a bit sore and sorry for himself and he will be back on deck asap. I am sure we all wish him a speedy recovery!

ROCKINGHAM GOLF CLUB FIXTURE:

• How good was the course? Rockingham had just finished their Club Championships on the weekend and the course was in very good condition – 64 enthusiastic golfers enjoyed the trip south and it was pleasing to see a large majority of these players stay for presentations – one of the biggest groups to stay behind and enjoy the comradery of the occasion for quite a while! Scores on the day ranged from 18 to 38 Stableford Points so while some found it challenging others settled into a steady scoring routine!
• Rockingham General Manager, Shaun Malone addressed the group at presentations and extended a warm welcome to all WAVGA members with an open invitation to enjoy the facilities of the Club at future events.
• Club Delegates on the day, Alan Baker and Don Hall welcomed everyone to the Club.
• Our sponsor for the day was Rockingham WA Veteran Golf Members.

Congratulations to:

• A Grade Winner Brian Bell with 37 points,
• B Grade winner Ross Hancock with 38 points.
• Geoff Hope (Kwinana GC) was Best Gross winner with a gross score of 84.
• Neil (Maggie) Thatcher won the money on the Super Pin Hole 3 – $49.
• The OBE on the day was won by Peter Livingstone with an impressive 36 points.

Next Fixture: Sun City – time to head north for a bit of warmth with hosts Rob Bennett and Brett Flatters.  

Captain’s Update Monday 15 August 2022

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022:

• Round 1 Harfield: Monday 5 September.
• Round 2 Wanneroo: Monday 12 September.

Book now as the Hartfield Fixture is now open – please read ‘Conditions of Play’ attached to the fixture when entering. When you book Hartfield, and you are playing the Championships, you and your booking group and time will automatically carry through to the Wanneroo fixture.

ROCKINGHAM FIXTURE 22 August:

Course improvements, hospitality arrangements along with the appointment of a new General Manager for the Club have added greatly to the Clubs Membership growth and prestige over the last 12 months. Book in now for next week and you won’t be disappointed for the experience. Sponsors on the day are the Rockingham WAVGA Members – come along and support their efforts.

GOSNELLS GOLF CLUB RESULTS:

• My thanks to Vice Captain Doug Hudson for assuming Captain Duties in my absence due to ‘Covid Quarantine’. It was fantastic to see the event well supported and the weather remaining fine until play was completed – another perfect golf day!
• The AVGU National Championship MiScore App was trialled once more – huge thankyou to Tom Grimston for making himself available to successfully ‘trial and sort out the bugs’ prior to the use at the Nationals. The AVGU app will be utilised again during the Club Championships.

Club Delegates on the day, Terry Smith and Tom Grimston welcomed everyone to the Club.

Our sponsor on the day was Gadean Footwear.

Congratulations to:

•  A Grade Winner Carmello Salpietro with 38 points,
• B Grade winner Kevin Essing with 35 points.
• Terry Smith (Gosnells GC) was Best Gross winner with a gross score of 82 on countback
• Francis Forrester won the money on the Super Pin Hole 4 – $58.
• The OBE on the day was won by Denis Clarke with 30

Next Fixture: Rockingham (See above for details).

Captain’s Update Tuesday 9^th August 2022

AVGU MiScore Site to be Utilised at Gosnells next week: On the registration desk at Gosnells next week will be Gosnell’s Member Terry Smith as well as Tom Grimston. Tom will be available to assist players to ensure they can load and access the AVGU site that will be utilised to record your scores at Gosnells. This is another trial, similar to the Joondalup trial, that we will use during the National Veteran Golf Union Championships that we are hosting in November.

• Before playing at Gosnells go to the MiScore App and in ‘Add a Club’ type in ‘AVGU Nationals’. The AVGU Club is what will be used at Gosnells!
• Cards will not be printed and if not using the App make sure you know your GA so you can calculate your handicap with the Gosnells Slope Rating on their standard score card.
• Cards will need to be handed to Tom at the completion of the round so he can ‘manually’ enter scores on the computer.

Kwinana Golf Club Golf Club Monday 8 August

A few of the early starters experienced extreme wet weather but with those that persevered the afternoon conditions abated into very good golfing weather with 63 players enjoying the very well-presented Kwinana Golf Course and hospitality following the play. The Club was very accommodating in not insisting on payment for late withdrawals and for this fact I am very appreciative of Phil in the Pro Shop for accommodating us. Our next fixture at Gosnells will be on Monday 15 August.

Club Delegates on the day, Denis Clark and Peter Hayward welcomed everyone to the Club.

Our sponsor on the day was Westech Flooring.

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Rolfe Kraus with 37 points and B Grade winner Graham Dore also with 37 points. David Falconer (Nedlands GC) was Best Gross winner with a gross score of 78. It was David St George who won the money on the Super Pin Hole 6 – $52. The OBE on the day was won by Peter Livingston with 30

Next Fixture: Gosnells, hosted by Club Delegate Terry Smith and Tom Grimston to assist with AVGU Scoring.

Captain’s Update Sunday 31 July 2022

Pinjarra Fixture CANCELLED: The ‘’Bureau of Weather’ has released  severe weather forecasts for the Pinjarra area for Monday and this, along with fact that the growing number of  player withdrawals left very few members still registered the fixture is cancelled. The Pinjarra Golf Club agreed and supported our decision to cancel this WAVGA fixture. My thanks to Pinjarra Club Delegate Stan Bartley for his assistance and communications with the Pinjarra Golf Club.

Next Fixture: Kwinana on Monday August 8 – let’s hope it is fine for this Fixture!

Captain’s Update Tuesday 26 July 2022

Late Withdrawal Notification: Please, if after registrations close and on the Day of the fixture you are unable to attend a fixture please message (preferred) or ring the Club Captain on 0436217065. Too many times late withdrawals are not known until the last minute and often it leaves a playing group of only 2, or it denies someone that was on the waiting list being denied an opportunity to play the event. If messaging, please make sure you sign off with your full name – thanks!

Joondalup Country Club 25 July.

75 players gathered at Joondalup to ‘Celebrate Christmas in July’ and enjoy a wonderful golfer’s course – The Quarry and The Lakes. Billie Little certainly enjoyed the day with 41 points and the highlight of his round being a Hole in One on the Quarry Par 3! He celebrated the milestone by ringing the bell at presentation and those present toasted his achievement! Well done Billie – in great form at the moment with a win at Meadow Springs and now this week a win at Joondalup!

Club Delegates on the day, John Dec, supported by Doug Hudson, Tom Grimston and Ron Ross –welcomed everyone to the Club and providing valuable information for the players. The biggest innovation was the testing of the MiScore AVGU Nationals App. I thank all players for trialling this innovation and it certainly was worth the trial as it exposed a few areas that needed to be researched but overall, it worked! We will trial the AVGU Site again at the Gosnell’s fixture on Monday 15 August. By the time of the Nationals, we should have worked our way through all the idiosyncrasies!

Our sponsor on the day was Brad Hutchinson Hearing providing Player Vouchers and a dozen Golf Balls for the Ball Sweep.

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Billie Little with 41 points and B Grade winner Colin Thorniley with an impressive 37 points. Mark Hollis was Best Gross winner with a gross score of 81. Billie Little new which hole to Ace! It was the money hole with $52 in the ‘Kitty’. Peter Livingstone was in form and know doubt loves the Joondalup Course when he was a clear winner of the OBE Award with 36 points.

Next Fixture: Pinjarra where Stan Bartley will be on the Registration Desk to give you instructions on how to ‘birdy’ every hole at Pinjarra. Pinjarra will be the venue for City v Country Vets so use this opportunity to practice and familiarize yourself for the big event later in the year on Monday 21 November.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 19 July 2022

North of the River WAVGA Players Versus South of the River WAVGA Players:  This Inaugural event has been played and won at Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club. 92 golfers played (41 players South and 51 North) and after the top 20 Stableford Scores were added from each region the result was South 647 and North 675.

Congratulations to the Northern WAVGA Golfers on your win!

Many thanks to Tony Farrow for coming up with the concept and providing the now Perpetual Trophy that will carry on as a tradition into the future. The Trophy was accepted by North Captain, Doug Hudson on behalf of his team.

Joondalup next Monday: As is becoming the case more often these days, when events are booked, Clubs want upfront payment and are insisting that all players booked into a fixture regardless of late cancellation or no show are paid! This is now the case for Joondalup! It is important that you read the instructions of play that are posted above each fixture as you book so you are clear on information provided for each fixture.

Scoring at Joondalup: When playing at Joondalup next week don’t use Joondalup for scoring Mi Score! Go to ‘Add a new Club’ and put in ‘AVGU NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS’ and this will be where you will score at Joondalup. Tom Grimston will be there along with Joondalup Delegate, John Dec, to assist. Those not using the App will need to score using a card which must be handed to the Captain or Tom at the end of your round.

Meadow Spring Golf & Country Club Monday 18 July.

92 players turned up to play for the North v South Trophy Day and win ‘Bragging Rights’ as to where the best golfers play!  MSG&CC Manager Scott Proctor supports the WAVGA with great hospitality and sponsorship making it a great day!

Club Delegates on the day, Mal Kent, Alan Wiseman and John Holiday – great job welcoming everyone to the Club and providing valuable information for the players.

Our sponsor on the day was Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club with Manager Scott Proctor providing Player Vouchers and a dozen Golf Balls for the Ball Sweep.

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Alan Wiseman with 37 points, B Grade winner William (Billie) Little with an impressive 43 points and C Grade winner Norm Thomas with 39 points (This week’s rooster was last week’s feather duster – a lot of solid training during the week no doubt!). Local member Billie Little was Best Gross winner with a gross score of 79. It was Neil thatcher who also won the money on the Super Pin Hole 16 – $74. Eric Curley blitzed his fellow OBE competitors with a solid 31 Points!

Next Fixture: Joondalup hosted and welcomed by local member John Dec.

Captain’s Update Tuesday July 2022

North V South Challenge: Only one week to go and we will know!  ‘North v South’ played at Meadow Springs fixture on Monday July 18 will decide if North of the River or South of the River has the best golfers! Book in now to support your territories reputation! The winner will be decided with the total of the best 20 scores from players from each area.

Joondalup Scoring: Club Secretary Tom Grimston, will utilise this fixture to test the MiClub system that WAVGA have purchased for the Nationals Events which we will host in November. Players will be able to use the MiScore App but importantly it will not be through Joondalup but using the AVGU National Championships club. There will be no printed cards and those members using a card will have to get their daily handicap from the lookup chart – there will need to be one on the registration desk. These cards will then have to be given to Tom after the game to manually enter

• Remember, enter “AVGU National Championships” as the host club and your scoring and playing partners will appear as per normal. We hope!

Gross Winner: A remainder that to win Best Gross you must record a score on all holes – even if you wipe a hole put in the score for the hole to ensure you record a total stroke record on the MiScore App which I utilise to calculate the Gross Winner!

Lake Karrinyup Country Club Monday 11 July.

104 players! This was less than was expected however there were a few late withdrawals and it was these that missed a very enjoyable golf experience! The day was perfect for golf – weather was ideal, the course was amazing, and the hospitality was outstanding.

Club Delegates on the day was Colin Thorniley who was thrilled to welcome everyone to his home club after a few years absence from our annual list of fixtures.  It was Colin’s liaison with LKCC that enable us to secure this fixture for 2022 and we hope it will continue as a reoccurring fixture into the future.

Our sponsor on the day was Drummond Golf.

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner David St George with 34 points, B Grade winner Mark O’Donoghue with 38 points and a spectacular (or lucky) C Grade win by Ron Ross with 35 points! Best Gross winner with a score of 80 was John Ryan. OBE winner this week was Peter Livingstone who returned to the winner’s circle to claim victory over fellow OBE competitors. It was Alan Godsell who also won the money on the Super Pin Hole 5 – $77.

Next Fixture: Meadow Springs, hosted by Club Delegates Mal Kent and Ted Holliday – David Scott gives his apology as he will be lazing around a pool in Singapore thinking of us and planning for the upcoming AVGU National Championships!!!

Captain’s Update Tuesday 5 July 2022

Welcome new members: Gee Lightfoot, Jayne Duffy and Tony O’Shea  were warmly welcomed as new members of the WAVGA at the Presentation after golf at WA Golf Club.

Registration Desk: I ask that all WAVGA members check in with the Registration Desk on arrival at each of our venues. This is our record of who arrives and plays – please don’t leave it up to other members to register your arrival. This information is important for charging credit cards and finalising the Comp Details. As I mentioned last week, it is important that all players submit their playing cards so the Comp be finalised and no time wasted trying to locate missing cards! 

North V South Challenge: Who has the best golfers – North of the River or South? This event was postponed when the Araluen fixture in May was cancelled due to stormy weather!  ‘North v South’ will now be played at our Meadow Springs fixture on Monday July 18! Book in now to support your territories reputation! The winner will be decided with the total of the best 20 scores from players from each area.

Western Australian Golf Club Monday 4 July.

112 players experienced a fantastic day of golf – a course in top condition and fabulous weather. The Club was very accommodating, and the support given by the WAGC staff in catering for us was exceptional – Nicole Martino (GM) and her staff deserve high praise! Our next fixture at WAGC will be on Monday 12 December – Golf and Presentation Dinner!

Club Delegates on the day, Graham Bourgault and Charlie Lancey welcomed everyone to the Club. Charlie going above and beyond by providing a WAGC Tee to all players and making an additional ’Nearest the Pin’ marker for the additional Par 3 that WAGC has.

Our sponsor on the day was WAVGA Life Members – Gary Carter and Ron Cole. Gary spoke at the Presentation and explained the reason for Ron Cole’s non-attendance due to health reason, but Gary certainly enjoyed the day by not only winning the OBE with 31 points but was also 4^th in C Grade!

• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Digby Barrett with 38 points, B Grade winner Lindsay Stagoll with 37 points and C Grade winner Graham Dore. Local member Ross Clarke was Best Gross winner with a gross score of 79. It was Ross Clarke who also won the money on the Super Pin Hole 5 – $88.

Next Fixture: Karrinyup, hosted by Club Delegate Collin Thorniley. There is a wait list, but as always seems to be the case lately, we end up with vacancies on the day and all those on the wait list get a game! 

Captain’s Update Wednesday 29 June 2022

Chequers Golf Club Monday 27 June

52 Players and a great course set up along with fabulous hospitality. Thanks for the WA Veteran Golfers Chequers Members who sponsored the day.

• Congratulations to Winner and Chequers GC Member Fred Feucs on a countback of 34. Best Gross was John Ryan.
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegates; Dave Barton  and Graham Dore. Brian Milburn and Graham Dore deserve a special thanks for processing the comp and assisting with results.
• OBE: Jeff Watkins.  

Next Fixture: Western Australian Golf Club (Yokine). Club delegates Chalie Lancey and Graham Bourgault will welcome you to the Club. Don’t forget to let Graham know if you are available to assist at the Nationals in November!

At the present time we have 128 starters in the field and 20 players on the start list! We are unable to get anymore places as we are at the maximum allocation by WAGC. If you cannot play for any reason please take your name of the list early so other members are not disadvantaged! Charlie and Graham will be busy with this many starters!!

Score Submission: If for some reason you don’t complete a round and a NSA (No Score Associated) record needs to be awarded, please let the Pro Shop aware of your circumstances or the captain. All too often time is wasted trying to find these missing cards before a competition can be completed.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 22 June 2022

Vines Resort Monday 20 June

88 Players enjoyed the day with a leisurely drive around 18 magnificent, but tricky holes!

• Our sponsor on the day was Real estate Plus.
• Congratulations to A Grade Winner John Lennon with 35 points, B Grade winner Fred Feucs 36 points and C Grade winner Peter Stewart 29 points. Royal Fremantle member John Lennon was Best Gross winner with a of 84. It was Doug Hudson won the money though on the Super Pin Hole 5 – nearly a hole in one, hitting the flag stick and centimetres from the hole!
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegates; Steve Spenser and Doug Hudson welcoming us all to Vines Resort – Ellen Brook Course.
• OBE: Gary Carter.  Well done Gary in good form following last week’s win!

Next Fixture: Chequers Golf Club. Club delegates Graham Dore and Brian Bell will be your host on the day.

Travel Tip: For those who have travelled the USA you will be aware of the respect that their Military Veterans are awarded. Many businesses offer discounts to Veterans and in particularly Museums and Public Venues. It was one of the WAVGA members from Chequers GC who is presently in the USA who wore his WAGA Shirt to one of these venues and was immediately offered a 20% entrance discount and thanked for being a Veteran. The Tip: Wear your WA Veteran Golf Shirt when visiting USA! If you haven’t got a shirt see Tom Grimston to order one now!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 15 June 2022

Sun City Country Club Monday 13 June: 84 enthusiastic golfers played the event in conditions that began windy but ended up perfect – the course was in wonderful condition and Josh Gopupillot, Golf Operations at SCCC made sure everything was in readiness for our fixture:

• Our sponsor on the day was Drummond Golf.
• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Richard Day with 43 points and B Grade winner James Carslaw (39 points). Local member Brett Flatters was Best Gross winner with a of 77. It was Ian Gray won the money though on the Super Pin Hole 8.
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegates; Robert Bennet and Brett Flatters welcoming us all to Sun City Country Club.
• OBE: Great to see so many of our OBE (Over Bloody Eighty) members joining us at SCCC, but it was Gary Carter who showed us all how to play with 36 points to be the best OBE scorer on the day and got second outright in B Division. Well done Gary!

Next Fixture: The Vines an 11.30 Shot Gun start – make sure you arrive no later than 11.00am for the briefing and time to drive out to your starting tee. READY GOLF will be essential to keep the pace of the game moving so that the round is complete well before sunset! This is the shortest day of the year, and the sun sets very early at 5.19pm!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 8 June 2022

 Vice Captains:  My thanks to Doug Hudson and Stan Bartley for stepping up and managing the Royal Fremantle and Mosman Park fixtures in my absence while away on ‘Fish Research’!

Results:

• Royal Fremantle: 102 starters and nice weather. Well played by grade winners: Warren Howard (gross winner as well), Terry Porter and Liam Burns. On the desk were Chuck Macfarlane and Clayton Dunning. Tony Oehme certainly knows the venues to win the nearest the pin picking up $80 for his effort! My thanks to the Royal Fremantle Members of WAVGA for sponsoring the addition prize for Best Nett Overall Player that was won by Stephen Duffy (winner had to be present to receive the trophy).
• Mosman Park: 48 starters and thanks to Ian Hutton and James Carslaw for again welcoming us to Mosman Park and congratulations to event winner (and Best Gross) Roland Scheffler.

Next fixture – Sun City Golf Club: My thanks to Sun City Members Brett Flatters and Rob Bennett for accepting the Delegate positions for SCGC.

Presentation Suggestion: When it does come to sorting out the Awards for Presentation it does take time to collate all the relevant information. However, one of the major hold ups is the finalization of the player results with the Pro Shop. All too often the delay is created by players who don’t use the MiScore App that are late in submitting their cards to the Pro Shop. The Suggestion (as proposed by some of our members): If you do not utilise the MiScore App please don’t book yourself into the last 2 or 3 groups!

Thanks to the members who suggested this action as a means of enhancing our golfing experience. If you have similar practical ideas that could help with the enjoyment of the comradery and participation, please drop me an email and I can share this with our members as well. Ron Ross, Captain.

Captain’s Update Sunday 22 May

Araluen Fixture – the decision has been made to cancel the WAVGA fixture for Monday 23 May. This decision was a difficult decision to make but many factors had to be considered in making this decision:

• Monday forecast for the Armadale Area is 30-60mm with very high (near 100%) chance of showers and thunderstorms predicted in the morning/afternoon.
• Low number of players remained in the comp and the fact that many more could drop of the starters list (as is the trend) when bad weather is eminent.
• The charging structure of Araluen GC – once numbers are set, WAVGA is expected to pay for all players listed (which would be on charged to members irrespective if they played or not.
• If the event was cancelled later than 10am Sunday WAVGA could be liable for a 10% cancellation fee of the original 80 player booking – a $400 cost to WAVGA. This could have also been the case if starter numbers on the Monday remained very low.

The North of the River verses the South of the River Comp will now be rescheduled to a later date and venue.

Again my apology to those few golfer who remained on the ‘Starters Sheet’ for Araluen but for golfer safety and financial reasons, as stated above, the decision to cancel was made. Thank you for your understanding of the cancellation in this instance and happy golfing!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 18 May 2022

ARALUEN North of the River V South of the River Challenge: Booking sheet is full but the weather forecast is not looking flash – just as well golf is an ‘all weather’ sport! Please read the important ‘Charge’ information for this event on the ‘Fixtures’ page. Once starters names/numbers have been reported to Araluen GC early Monday morning that is the number we have to pay for. So, if your name is on the sheet after the fixture closes you will be obliged to pay even if you do not attend! Sorry about this arrangement, but this is how Araluen GC operates as a business!

Captains for the Challenge will be Stan Sexton (South) and Doug Hudson (North) may the best team win!

Royal Fremantle: As predicted, the field has filled very quickly. Please add your name to the ‘Wait List’ if you have not been able to get a time slot. It is hoped that Fremantle will be able to provide some more playing places, but with the earlier sunsets sometime this may not be possible. Please consider your booking certainty and the needs of your fellow members. Please do not leave withdrawal from the event until the last possible moment preventing someone else taking your placement. Chuck Macfarlane and fellow RFGC Members will be the Delegates welcoming us to their Club.

Captain’s Apology: I will be absent for the Royal Fremantle and Mosman Park Fixtures as I will in Carnarvon on a fishing ‘research’ project for two weeks (better known as a Fishing Comp!). I am sure the Vice Captain’s, and the Committee will ensure the continued smooth running of the WA Veteran Golf Association during my absence.

Welcome: Welcome to new members of the WA Veteran Golf Association, and in particular John Jordan from Melville Glades GC, who joined us for his first game with WAVGA at Nedlands. I am sure he enjoyed his game and will enjoy the comradery of the WAVGA into the future.

Sun City Golf Club: Yes, we move north of the metropolitan area to sunny weather for this event on Monday 13 June! My thanks to Sun City Members Brett Flatters and Rob Bennett for accepting the Delegate positions for SCGC.

Nedlands Golf Club Monday 16 May.

A huge thankyou to Nedlands Golf Club and their GM Mellissa Castalidi allowing us to play at Nedlands after Rockingham GC had to cancel our planned fixture there due to Senior Pennant commitments imposed by Golf WA.  

• Our sponsor on the day was Gadean Footwear.
• After a few late withdrawals the field was reduced to 58 starters and therefore only a 1 Grade Comp. Congratulations to Winner Shaun Greenfield (41 Points) and runner-up Chuck Macfarlane (39 Points). Shaun Greenfield was Best Gross winner with 75. Darrell Lynch won the money ($46) on the Super Pin Hole.
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegate; Richard Lee welcoming us to Nedlands Golf Club.
• Next Fixture: Araluen and then Royal Fremantle.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 11^th May 2022

ARALUEN North V South Challenge:  Bookings are now open and only a few spots left – so get in quickly! The number of entrants so far is looking a little ‘loaded’ from the north of the river players! North has 54 registered entrants and the South with 21. However, no matter what tactics the north players have planned, will quality rule over quantity on the day? Our Northam WA Veteran Golf Association Members have been deemed to be part of the South of the River Challenge as most of Northam Town Site is located to the South of the Avon River – welcome to the South Team Northan Boys!

VIEW FINDER: Secret Harbour Golf Club contacted me to report a View Finder was left in one of the later group carts utilised on the day. If you believe this is yours, contact the Pro Shop as it was left with them by the ‘Cart Staff”.

Secret Harbour Golf Club Monday 9^th May.

Fabulous weather for golf once again with 69 starters enjoying the course and hospitality!

• Our sponsor on the day was Richard Pace’s Nutri-Mate Dog Rolls.
• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Tim Turner (42 Points) and B Grade winner Barry ‘Shark’ Quigley (41 points). Darrell Lynch was Best Gross winner with a of 76. Doug Hudson won the money though on the Super Pin Hole, but it was Digby Barrett who won the Nearest the Pin on that hole – can someone lend Digby $1 next week and remind him to put his name on the Super Pin Sheet.
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegates; Maggie Thatcher and Doug Hudson welcoming us to Secret Harbour Golf Club.
• Next Fixture: Nedlands and Club Delegate Richard Lee.  My person thanks to Nedlands Golf Club making their course available for our use on the day after the originally planned fixtured club cancelled due to their ‘Senior Vet Pennant’ commitments.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 3rd May, 2022

BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR: Well maybe the most anticipated event of the year, but not necessarily the biggest, is nearly upon us! he big question is: who has the best golfers – those to the South of the river or to the North? The question will be answered on Monday May 23 at Araluen Resort Golf Club and let the bragging rights begin! When the event opens you will need to be quick to reserve your spot for the ‘defence’ of your territory’s reputation as it is limited to only 80 players! The Inaugural North v South Trophy will be presented at the end of the event! 

Wanneroo Golf Club Monday 2nd May:

Perfect weather for Autumn Golf!

• My thanks to Vice Captains Stan Bartley and Doug Hudson for hosting the presentation in my absence – from all reports a job well done! 
• Our sponsor on the day was Gadean Footwear.
• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Phil Wagner (38 Points) and B Grade winner Geoff Smith (37 points). Warren Howard was Best Gross winner with a of 77. Graig Shieles won $54 on the Super Pin Hole 15.
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegates: Warren Howard and Jim Treloar welcoming us all to Wanneroo Golf Club. The work that these Delegates do at their home club is invaluable to the WA Veteran Golf organisation and assists in making the visitors feel welcome at an event.
• Next Fixture: Secret Harbour Golf Club.  Secret Harbour has requested that there be no gaps in the field so please be aware that your requested Tee Off time may change prior to the event. If your time is affected you will receive an email advising of the change – however, for everyone please check your playing time on the morning of the event and allow travel time to arrive in plenty of time for your start time.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 27 April 2022

GROSS WINNER CALCULATIONS:  When using the Stableford Scores to calculate the Gross Winner, this method does not consider the holes that were recorded as a wipe (P on the MisScore App). In the future the Gross Winner Award will be calculated on the Gross Shots by the player. If a ‘P’ is recorded for a hole, the shots attributed to that hole will be the Par plus 3 shots – this will then be added to the total of strokes you played for the game. This will mainly affect A Grade Players. Therefore, it is advised that you record your shots for each hole up until the Par plus 3 score is reached. Eg: If you score 7 on a Par 5 and you would normally enter this as a wipe (low handicapper) put in the 7 score – otherwise the ‘P’ would be recorded as an 8 when the captain is calculating Gross Winner. Gross Winning Calculation was explained at the Mt Lawley Presentation and was utilised to determine the Gross Winning Score on the day. I thank the members that drew this ‘idiosyncrasy’ in the scoring app to my attention.  ‘Wipes’ will now be added for the calculation of Gross Score.

AVGU 2022 National Championship in Mandurah (6th to 11th November): Please read the notice on the fixture page ouling the assistance needed to host this event – let Graham know how you can assist!

 Mt Lawley Golf Club Tuesday 26^th April:

 Weather was perfect for some wonderful golf – proving the Weatherman wrong again!

• Our sponsor on the day was the Mt Lawley Vets.
• Congratulations to A Grade Winner Francis Forrester (40 Points and our winner last week at Melville Glades as well) and B Grade winner Robert Bennett (40 points). Warren Howard was Best Gross winner with a score of 77. Mal Kent won the money on Super Pin Hole 13.
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegates; David St George welcoming us all to Mt Lawley Golf Club.
• Next Fixture: Wanneroo Golf Club.  

Captain’s Update Wednesday 20 April 2022

VACANCIES ON BOOKING SHEETS: At many of our recent fixtures there have been vacant gaps between tee times for groups in the field, and at other times only two players left in a group. Golf Clubs are a business and have requested that our field need to be compacted so they can free up valuable playing space and availability on their courses. Therefore, to ‘keep the peace’ and to have host clubs continuing support with discounted rates and use of their facilities it will, at times, require adjusting placements in the field. When a fixture is condensed, or your position altered, members affected will receive 2 emails: one detailing their cancelled position and a second confirming their new Tee OFF time and Grouping.  You will not lose a placement in the field but who you are playing with, or your start time may change.

Please ensure you check your booking on the Web Page prior to the day of the event to ensure you know when to arrive well in advance of your allocated start time.

Booking Hints:

• See a space, fill it with your booking.
• Booking a group – fill the next available line.

Melville Glades Golf Club Tuesday 19^th April:

• Our sponsor on the day was Jeff Watkins and his company ACTIVE CARE.

• Melville Glades was being prepared for their Club Championships was presented in great condition. Congratulations to A Grade Winner Don Hitchcock (39 Points) and B Grade winner Colin Thorniley (40 points). Dave Falconer was Best Gross winner with a of 80. Tim Turner won the money though on the Super Pin Hole 4.
• Huge thankyou and congratulations to the Registration Desk Delegates; Willie Henry and Jeff Watkins for welcoming us all to Melville Glades.
• Next Fixture: Mt Lawley Golf Club’sDelegate David St George will organise his fellow WA Veteran Golf Members to be the welcoming committee to Mt Lawley – thanks to their members for being the sponsors of the day on Tuesday 26 April.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 13 April 2022

The Cut Tuesday 11^th April:

• Our sponsor on the day was Drummond Golf. The Mandurah Drummond Golf Store Manager Ian Taylor was scheduled to play in the event but unfortunately business commitments meant a late apology. He hopes to be at one of our upcoming events to meet the WA Vet Members.

• The Cut – Fabulous conditions for the early starters but a down pour and thunderstorm for the later starters! Still a great course with a fantastic outlook of the Indian Ocean and challenging holes! Congratulations to A Grade Winner David St George (39 Points) and B Grade winner David Lamont with an impressive 44 points! Peter Sweetlove was equally impressive with a Gross Score of 77. Tim Turner won the money though on the Super Pin Hole 4.
• Next Fixtures: Because of Easter and ANZAC Days being Public Holidays on a Monday our next 2 fixtures, Melville Glades and Mt Lawley, fall on a Tuesday. At Melville Glades members Willie Henry and Jeff Watkins will be on the Delegates Desk to welcome you all to their course! At Mt Lawley David St George will organise his fellow WA Veteran Golf Members to be the welcoming committee to Mt Lawley – thanks to their members for being the sponsors of the day on Tuesday 26 April.
• Drummond Membership Cards: These have been given to Club Reps and will be handed out at your respective clubs by whoever received these from Tom. Remember, for those that have not yet received their card, when at Drummond you don’t need your Drummond Membership Card to receive a discount, you as a WA Veteran Golf Member are recognised on their system and will be treated as a Drummond Club Member and entitled to all the benefits!
• Order Of Merit Update: This can be found on the ‘Results Page’ and will be updated at various times through the season.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 5^th April

Araluen! What a golf Experience! Those who played the Ambrose Event on the Day certainly had an enjoyable time – though some had a few more shots than they bargained for. Full results of the day are listed in the ‘Game Results’.

South of the River V North of the River: This event will be played at the Araluen Golf Resort on Monday 23 May. Bookings will be limited to 80 players, and it will be a Stableford Event.

Event Bookings: When booking into a fixture, and all fixtures, please make sure you read the information concerning the particulars of your booking. If your name is on the sheet after bookings close, Clubs are charging us for your ‘no show’ and the cost will need to be credited to your account! So – if you are not able to play, remove your name as soon as possible to avoid charges! Also, if you remove your name at the last possible time, you are not allowing those on the waiting list an opportunity to access to the fixture and all too often a playing groups are reduced to only 2 players on the day.

Variations in Playing Times: With some fixtures there are big gaps in the field. Clubs do not like to have these gaps between playing groups and as Captain, at times I will make changes to eliminate these gaps. You will receive an email, if changes have been made.  Please check the Booking Sheet’ on the morning of a fixture to ensure you have the correct time and arrive in time. Thanks!

See you at ‘The Cut’ next Monday (11 April).

Captain’s Update Wednesday 30 March 2022

Hartfield GC Monday 28^th March:

• Club Delegates: Lynton Piggott, Mike Stokes and Gordon Sherlock were our Gosnells Delegate this week. A bit of a ‘Hic Cup’ to begin with but a strong field got away OK! Harfield was in wonderful condition after a week of events celebrating their 50 Year Anniversary and the course was certainly enjoyed by all. Thanks to Harfield Golf Club for their Sponsorship and support of the event. Congratulations to Grade winners: Jeff Pace and Ross Hancock. Best Gross:  Maggie Thatcher. Great Eagle on the 9^th by Francis Forrester!

• Araluen 2 Man Ambrose Event
• How to play: Two players work as a team! Each player hits off the tee, the best shot is selected, and the other player picks up their ball and place it, within one handspan, alongside the best ball. Each person then hits a second shot from the same spot. Off the fairway, ball is dropped and played where it rests.
• Scorecard: Ambrose is scored in stroke.
• Handicap: A team handicap is calculated by adding the team members’ individual handicaps together then dividing it by four for a two-player team. This is then subtracted from the Gross Score of the Team to arrive at the Net Score. Please make sure you arrive knowing your current GA to calculate your Araluen Handicap.
• Member Bookings: I realise urgent matters do arise which prevent attendance at a fixture but if you know you can’t play on the day, please remove your name from the fixture ASAP so others can fill your spot! Removing your name late on Sunday evening, shifting your placement or adding your name makes it difficult to notify host clubs of changes on the Golflink scoring procedure and becomes annoying for them when I have to send through numerous ‘player updates’ for our event!
• Drummond Voucher Balance of Credits: Once you have reached increments of either $25 of $50, vouchers can be obtained from the captain/vice captains for you to utilise at Drummond Golf

Captain’s Update Friday 25 March   …..back from Southwest Tour.

What a great week down South for WA Veteran Golfers and their partners:

• BRUCE ROWLEY SHIELD: Played at Bunbury Golf Course on Monday 21^st of March retained and won by ‘Team City’. Well done all those who assisted in the win. A notable performance by new City Vet Member Rob Bennett who top scored with 41 points on a c/b from Michael Hardless who also scored 41 points. The WA City Vets were off to a great start and after the top 20 players’ scores from City and Country Vets were added it left little doubt that ”Team City’ had retained the shield with a score of 723 to 706.
• CAPEL GC: Notable Scores: Judy king (41pts) and Stan Sexton (40pts).
• Collie GC: Notable Scores: Doug Hudson (38pts) from Richard Day on C/B (38pts).
• Harvey GC: Notable Scores: Peter King (36pts) and Brett Flatters (33pts).
• Overall Combined Score Winners for the 3 days: 1st:  Teresa Smart, 2nd:  Judy King, and 3rd: Peter King

MiScore: Have you see the new feature on MiScore? A 3-minute timer has been added to the App to make the determination of the time spent looking for a ‘lost golf ball’ clearer and precise! Once a player begins looking for their ball and the 3-minute time allowance expires, that ball is no longer in play and players need to move on!

Hartfield is the Next event and thankyou for the delegates of Lynton Piggott, Mike Stokes and Gordon Sherlock making themselves available to welcome players to Hartfield on the registration desk.

Araluen 4^th April: Bookings are filling fast for this ‘2 Man Ambrose’ Event. Please ensure if you do book that you commit to the booking – all too often members withdraw, or don’t arrive,  at the last minute preventing members on the ‘wait list’ to fill a vacated spot!

Captain’s Update Wednesday 16 March 2022

Gosnells GC Monday 14^th March:

• Lodging Round Score: Can I remind members that at the conclusion of your round it is your responsibility to ensure that your score is entered into the golf link system. For those using MiSCcore this is easily done via the App. If still using a card system, enter score on the facility provided by the Host Club (If unsure check with the Pro Shop – and ensure your score is entered into the system). Presentation is unduly delayed because players cards are missing or not entered – thanks for your assistance.
• Club Delegates: Terry Smith was our Gosnells Delegate this week and it is pleasing to see that we now have several Gosnells Members indicating they will now be joining the WA Veteran Golf Association. Thanks Terry, for a job well done!
• City V Country Vet Challenge: Peter Green, from the Country Vets Association is already ‘crowing’ about a Country Win – we will have to see about that when we gather in Bunbury to decide the winner!
• For those staying the additional days for golf at Capel, Collie and Harvey. I am sure you will enjoy the hospitality and experience offered by these hosting clubs. Please make sure you check the web page for your starting times. The Country Delegates hosting our visits are:
• Capel: Peter Lange (First Tee Off time 8.45am)
• Collie: Greg Bell ((First Tee Off time 10.30am)
• Harvey: Jeremy Lister (First Tee Off time 10.00)

                Check the web site for the cost, comp fee and hospitality offered.

• New Members: At Gosnells we welcomed 4 new members to the WA Veteran Golf Association: Steve Duffy (Royal Fremantle), Steve Elias (Lakelands), Gary Lightfoot (Melville Glades), and Barry Judge (Royal Fremantle).
• Drummond Voucher Balance of Credits: Once you have reached increments of either $25 of $50, vouchers can be obtained from the captain/vice captains for you to utilise at Drummond Golf
• After returning from the Southwest Tour, we meet at Hartfield on Monday 28^th March.
• Please be advised that the first Araluen fixture scheduled for Monday 4^th April will be a 2 Man Ambrose event – so get your partner organised so you can book in together when the event opens on the web.

Captain’s Update Wednesday 9 March 2022

Mosman Park GC Tuesday 8^th March:

• Club Delegates: What a welcome, to a fabulous golf course, local members Ian Hutton and James Carslaw offered to our players on arrival. The extensive and precise ‘players notes’ equipped everyone for a great round of golf.
• The only hiccup on the day was that Mosman Park Golf Club had set the comp up as ‘Stroke’ – but with the assistance of MiClub this was converted back to ‘Stableford’ as originally requested. Once everyone had completed their round this conversion was completed leaving another problem: the winner’s card of 38 points was missing, and once verified by playing partners the omission error was corrected and prize allocation allotted accordingly.
• Congratulations and well played to our winners: Brian Bell and Warren Howard as Gross Winner with 77.
• Drummond Voucher Balance of Credits: Once you have reached increments of either $25 of $50, vouchers can be obtained from the captain/vice captains for you to utilize at Drummond Golf
• Gosnells next week!

Captain’s Update Tuesday 1^st March 2022

Royal Fremantle Monday 28^th February:

• Club Delegates: ‘Team Fremantle’ Delegates: Chuck Macfarlane, Clayton Gunning and John Lennon thanks for a job well done
• Lost and deleted Cart Bookings proved to be an annoyance and distraction for many on the day! However, after lengthy discussions with Fremantle I am confident this will not be a problem for our members for future playing dates at RFGC. If you were affected, as I know a few were unable to play because of lack of carts, I hope this will not deter you from booking at our next visit to RFGC on Monday May 30 – but keep contacting the Pro Shop to make sure you cart booking is saved and secure!
• Fremantle Members sponsored the ‘Best Nett Score’ on the day and Graham Dore with 37 points, won a RFGC Shirt for his outstanding score. Congratulations and well played to our Grade winners: Chuck Macfarlane (A Grade), Neil Munroe (B Grade) and Bruce Burns (C Grade).  
• By the way, Chuck Macfarlane recorded the best gross – well done Chuck! 
• Country v City Challenge in Bunbury: Sill some ‘City’ places to fill!
• Drummond Voucher Balance of Credits: Once you have reached increments of either $25 of $50, vouchers can be obtained from the captain/vice captains for you to utilise at Drummond Golf.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 22^nd February 2022

Meadow Springs Monday 21^st February:

• Apologies for the mix up of Grades at the Presentation – however, this has now been changed back to the correct required 2 Grade results and winners are correctly listed in the ‘Game Results’ section of the WA Veteran Golf Association Web Site.
• Congratulations and well played to our Grade winners: Rolf Kraus (A Grade) with an outstanding 43 points and Bruce Burns (B Grade) with an equally impressive 36 Points. Rolf and Bruce received a Voucher from Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club for 18 Holes of golf for 2 people including motorised golf cart – exceptional prize donated by Meadow Springs!
• Well done Peter Sweetlove with the Best Gross of 77.
• Country v City Challenge in Bunbury: Please book into the remaining available spots in this fixture! We are challenging the Country Vets on their hoe ground at the Bunbury Golf Club, and we need all our positions filled so we can have the best possible representation to retain the title, prestige and shield.
• Club Delegates: The expertise and organisation skill of the club delegates for each of the clubs played so far this year has been exceptional. At Meadow Springs it was Mal Kent, Alan Wiseman and David Scott being our hosts. Congratulations on a job well done!
• Drummond Voucher Balance of Credits: Your current balance of uncollected accrued credit will be listed in this ‘Captains Corner’ in future. Once you have reached increments of either $25 of $50, vouchers can be obtained from the captain/vice captains for you to utilise at Drummond Golf

Royal Fremantle 28^th February

• See you there next Monday – our largest field of players ever, so please keep the pace of play moving so our late starters finish at a suitable time.

Captain’s Update Tuesday 15^th February 2022

Cottesloe Monday 14^th February:

• Congratulations and well played to our Grade winners: Digby Barrett (A Grade) with 38 points – resting from the Wanneroo fixture must have inspired Digby, Tony Viner (B Grade) 36 Points and Ian Gray (C Grade) with 34 points.
• Well done Brendan Curtain with the Best Gross.
• PACE of PLAY: As mentioned at Presentation, please be aware of the need to keep up with the group in front of you. Please ensure, that when looking for a lost ball, that the group adheres to the 3-minute rule time.  If the ball is not located within the 3 minute time limit. move on quickly or preferably hit the ‘provisional ball’ to ensure continuity. Please note: if you find the ball after the 3 minutes search time that ball is NO LONGER in play!
• Club Delegates: Outstanding work by Geoff Smith and Peter Livingstone. It was fantastic to hear Geoff speak at presentation about Cottesloe GC and his passion for the Club and progress of the club and facilities.

Meadow Springs 21^st February

• Club Delegates Mal Kent, Peter Scott and Alan Wiseman will be Club delegates and hosts for this event.
• Shot Gun Start: Please arrive early to ensure we get away on time!

Captain’s Update Tuesday 8^th February 2022

Wanneroo Monday 7^th February:

• Congratulations and well played to our Grade winners: Michael Hart (A Grade) with 41 points and he revealed his secret to everyone at presentation as having minimal putts, Michael Van Drunen (B Grade) 35 Points and Dave Brown (C Grade) with 36 points.
• Well done Warren Howard with the Best Gross.
• PACE of PLAY: Those groups that played of the 10^th had an average round of 4 hrs 30 minutes, however for those beginning off the 1^st were complaining that the average round was 5 hours! With large field it is important for all of us to be aware of the reasons for slow play and encourage our group to always play ‘ready golf’ and keep the flow moving!
• Club Delegates: My personal thanks go to Warren Howard, Jim Treloar and Darrell Lynch for setting up and running the registration desk – fantastic organisation with all the relevant information available for visiting members.

Drummond Golf Sponsorship

• Our new Platinum Sponsor who will bring many benefits to our members – including membership to Drummond Golf Discounts at all their stores and online.
• Presentation Prize Values will now be as follows utilising ‘Drummond Credit Vouchers’: Best Gross $15, OBE $10, Nearest the Pin $10, Each Grade will have Vouchers for 1^st to 5^th place: 1^st $50, 2^nd $25, 3^rd $15, 4^th $10 and 5^th $5. (1^st and 2^nd on the day will receive vouchers – the other values will be recorded by the Captain and once the member wants to redeem accumulated values can request a vouch from the Captain/Vice Captain. Ball Sweep will continue with 1 dozen balls to be given out at presentation. Super Pin continues.

Booking Guests

• Please contact/text the Captain on 0438217065 or email if you wish to book a guest. The guest will not be booked until the Saturday before the fixture as Members have preference to the fixture and will only be booked if vacancies are available. In the Text message please include: name, guest’s home club and golflink number.

Cottesloe 14^th February

• Huge thankyou to Club Delegates Geoff Smith and Peter Livingstone (filling in for Peter Stewart in his absence) for your organisation in preparations for hosting the event.
• Waiting List: We have now secured more Tee Off times for Cottesloe as there was a large waiting list. Please keep checking the waiting list as your name is uploaded to the starters list.

Apologies For ‘No Show’

• If for unforeseen circumstances, if you cannot attend a fixture on the day, please contact the Captain or Vice-Captain to let them know. Preferably we would prefer you to take your name out before the fixture closes at 6.00pm on Sunday Evening to enable other members to fill the vacancy.

Booking Opening Time

• Bookings for the next event in a fortnight open on the web site at 7.00pm on Monday evening.

Country Week Bookings

• Open now! Guest (including partners) can be booked for the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday events by contacting the Captain now,