July Newsletter #9

Dates for your Diary
 
Our first club major, Mr Captain Adrian Copeland’s day, is nearly upon us.                           
Qualifying Day 1 & 2 will be played on Saturday 2nd July and Sunday 3rd July, with the final day on Saturday 9th July. There will also be a Ladies 9-hole stableford qualifying competition on Saturday 9th starting at 15:30 pm.
Still time to get some practice in for this coveted prize! Time sheets for the qualifying days are open and there are still some time slots available. There will be a Three course dinner in Mossel Bay on Saturday 9th July for members and friends. Cost €32 p.p. Booking must be in advance through the restaurant or bar. Captains prize giving will be on Saturday 9th July at 9.30 p.m. followed with music by ‘Fretless’ at 10p.m. and dancing till late. Good luck to all.
 
Lady Captain Mary Cooper holds her qualifying day on Tuesday 19th July followed by Lady Captains Buffet that evening in the clubhouse. You will find full details on the Ladies notice board.  The final will be played on Saturday 23rd July. with a Men’s 9-hole competition in the evening. Time sheets for Day 1 will open two weeks in advance. Lady Captain Mary will hold her prize giving on Saturday 23rd and there will also be music and dancing on the night.
 
As we are returning to normal indoor entertainment after two years of restrictions, why not come along to either, or both nights for some fun and also to support your captains, in what promises to be fun filled nights.
 
While the men will be battling to qualify for the Captain’s prize on the 2nd July, the Ladies have their Lady Captains Away Day in Coollattin. This will be a Team event with food and prize giving later that evening in Courtown clubhouse.
There is a full fixture list available from the Pro-Shop, Bar or Office. The fixture list is also available on the website and may be found by clicking on Events. 

Open Week was a great success this year and very well supported by members and visitors. Thank you to all our sponsors for your generosity. The course was in fantastic condition for the week, and this was commented on many times by visitors to the club. Well done to James and the team. Gorey Guardian Summer Series continues every Wednesday and some great scores have been recorded to date. Don’t forget the Open Ladies and Gents Singles the first Thursday of the month, and the new 9 to Fivers on Thursday evenings is up and running. Nine and Dine Any Combination Fourball will continue for the Summer on most Friday evenings and is great value at €15 for members and €25 for visitors for 9 holes and a main course. Start the weekend with golf and Dinner in Courtown ……..
 
Sunday 10th July is an Invitation 2 Person Team Competition, kindly sponsored by Mossel Bay. This is our annual Teams Classic and entry is €10 p.p. and €25 for visitors.
 
We remind you that if for some reason you must take your name off the timesheet, would you please contact your playing partners as soon as possible to give them time to organise opposition. This particularly applies to a fourball competition. We are currently working with Clubnet to close the time sheet at 6:00pm the day prior to play. We will keep you informed of any changes made to the booking system.
 
We have increased our booking time with Clubnet, so you now have two minutes to enter the names and save the booking.
 
You will have noticed some trees in spinneys marked with blue tape. When the spinneys were planted, they were overplanted to ensure a good strike rate and some of them need to be thinned out. Following a course walk, it was decided to mark the trees for removal, and the decision was made based on which trees had the best opportunity to survive, condition of the trees and density of tree growth preventing the progression of the ball towards the fairway or green. It is hoped to start this work during the Autumn. Any young trees that may be removed will be replanted in other more suitable locations.
 
It is hoped to commence the painting of the exterior of the clubhouse in the next few weeks, (weather permitting).
It was great to see so many of you using the patio area during the recent sunny spell. Let’s hope the sunshine returns shortly!
 
Teams
We still have some teams in the Inter Club matches. Well done to all who participated or played on a team. Still going strong are the Men's Barton Cup Team and Men’s All Ireland Fourball. Ladies Challenge Cup Team and Ladies Revive Active Fourball are flying the flag for the Ladies.
Ladies Revive Fourball beat Tullamore on Friday 1st July and are now through to the Semi-Finals. 
Barton Cup play Greystones on Sunday 10th July and Ladies Challenge Team play Rathdowney also on Sunday 10th. The Men’s Fourball are also out on Sunday 10th against Waterford. Your support would be appreciated by the teams.

Bar and Catering
 The Bar is open every day from 12 midday with closing time dependent on patronage.
Mossel Bay hours are on the Notice Boards, with weekend booking for Dinner or Sunday Lunch advisable.
 
Other News
Congratulations to Mike Beetlestone who has just published his novel, ‘Finding Santeria, Losing Sanity’.  The book is available to purchase on Amazon or Kindle Amazon.co.uk : finding santeria... losing sanity
 
You may be aware of a new 18-month membership offer currently available to new members only. If you know anyone that may be interested, please encourage them to join.
 
The Horizon Irish Open comes to us from Mount Juliet this weekend, and with some of the big names in golf competing, it should be a great four days of golf.  Best of luck to our own Irish golfers.
 
Rules Refresher
 
Pace of Play
 
Clubnet has introduced a pace of play tracker on the app.
 
Golf Rule; Relief from Movable Obstruction
Removal of Movable Obstruction. You may remove a movable obstruction without penalty anywhere on or off the course and may do so in any way. If your ball moves while you are removing a movable obstruction, there is no penalty and your ball must be replaced on its original spot (which if not known must be estimated)

DIAGRAM #1 15.2a: BALL MOVES WHEN MOVABLE OBSTRUCTION REMOVED (EXCEPT WHEN BALL IN OR ON OBSTRUCTION)
 
But there are two exceptions when movable obstruction cannot be removed:  
Exception 1 - Tee Markers Must Not be Moved When Ball Will Be Played from Teeing Area.                                      Exception 2 - Restrictions on Deliberately Removing Movable Obstruction to Affect a Ball in Motion.
​See The R&A - Rules Of Golf (randa.org) for more information on the Exceptions.