Half Year Update
The last six months have been a wonderful opportunity to work with a cracking new management team. The vision for the club remains the same. We will be successful if we focus on:
1) being a happy and productive team delivering great customer service
2) improving the quality of the golf course each and every year
3) building a learning culture at the club which enables members to maximise their enjoyment of golf
Customer Service
I would like to thank Nick, Michelle, Luke, Becky M, Ed, Bridie and Becky L for all their hard work in delivering such a good customer experience. The feedback I have received on their behalf has been wonderfully positive. That said, we are working hard to improve our service levels and have been guided to a number of areas for increased focus:
* Greater consistency of tidiness; specifically patio areas and changing rooms
* An upgrade to the shower rooms
* An enhanced lunchtime menu for all days of the week
* Better communication and website experience
Course Investment
A big thank you to John, Sam, Jake and of course Bob and Simon, who continue to work incredibly hard to deliver such a high quality course. In the next 6 months we will be focusing on completing important programmes:
* Back to basics – increasing general standards around the course such as bin emptying, shoe cleaning area, rusty signage…watch this space!
* Improving Greens and Tees – continued enhancements to consistency and quality using a combination of our new ‘thatch away’ machinery and an enhanced pro active fertilisation and disease control programme.
* Improving bunkers – focusing on sand quality, edges, drainage and bunker playability. We will be enhancing greenside bunkers on the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th. The priority is to enhance the playing experience by ensuring that the ball rolls to a challenging but playable position.
* New Short Game Academy Course – we are engaging with an agronomy and a course design specialist to ensure that we have a playable course by May 6th. The course will obviously improve over time but to find out more, click here.
* Planning for the next “Signature, Course Enhancement” – In my first two years, we added a new raised Tee and a lake to hole 3. We are in the planning and consultation stage for the next “signature upgrade” which will be finished and in play within the next 18 months… more to follow.
Learning Culture
A massive thank you to Bruce for his engagement and ideas in bringing this project to life. The new 9 hole Short Game course is being designed to help Bruce coach golfers on ‘the 9 smart shots to a better scorecard’. Each hole represents an opportunity to improve on a particular ‘smart shot’. The insight is simple and proven. The better you play this wonderful game, the more you enjoy it, no matter what your current handicap. The big idea is that once you know how to play each ‘smart shot’ correctly, you can have fun competing with the course and with other golfers, whilst practising the right way to play these all important shots.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Members and particularly the Committee for all of their ongoing support. The quality of both the outgoing and incoming captains and committee members is why this great club is exactly that. We will continue to listen to what matters to you and reflect that in our actions. We consider improving our communication with members to be pivotal to achieving our vision.
Thank you once again to everybody who has made such a commitment to moving the club forward, year after year.
Happy New Year
Gary
