President’s update 31 March 2026
Hello Members
I hope you have been enjoying your golf.
It has been a while since my last report from the Committee. Here are some updates on a few matters.
- Bore water.
You will remember that ECAN issued an abatement notice in September 2023 requiring us to stop using the current bore from 1 June this year.
You will also recall that we drilled 4 unsuccessful wells on the course over the next two years, the last one being a well on hole 13 in October 2025. On that site we found only 1litre/sec of rechargeable water, which was deemed impracticable and unviable to capture, even with a huge bank of storage tanks.
We need at least 5 litres/sec and 120m3 per day to water our greens and tees, which is a tiny amount of water in irrigation terms.
Over the last 5 months we have had numerous discussions, and negotiations, with ECAN’s planners about other options to source water, including going back to our first proposal two years prior - i.e. that we simply apply for consent to continue using the existing bore on the Donaldson property on Rippingale Road.
ECAN advised us, on numerous occasions, that such a consent would not be granted because our usage did not comply for several reasons - basically the bore location doesn’t meet new regulations established in the last decade or so.
With the passage of time, ECAN officers have now become quite sympathetic to our plight (and they are well aware of our expensive unsuccessful drilling to date). We have now been able to work with them to overcome their original concerns about the existing bore.
As at today, we are now reasonably confident that ECAN might give us consent to continue using our existing bore well into the future.
Our consent application was lodged with them on 12 March and we expect an answer from them by mid-April.
Fingers crossed. It is by no means a done deal, but very promising!
We will keep you posted on their response when it comes to hand.
2. Staff
We wish Marc Kelly a belated welcome to our team. Clearly he has settled in well in his new role. He says so and the members say so, which is great news!
With his Club Professional qualifications and experience in Perth he is a perfect fit to our needs. We effectively share him with the Amuri Club.
The committee wishes to thank David and Mike for offering to reduce their own hours to make Mark’s role affordable to the Club.
It is a win-win for everyone because Marc’s appointment now gives the office team much better cover for Saturdays, major tournaments, after-hours clubhouse hires, holidays, sickness etc.
In entering into this new staff structure the Committee wishes to acknowledge and thank all of the Club volunteers who have “plugged the gaps” in the office and bar over the past few years.
3. Financials
Our financial results to the end of February are in good shape and are in line with last YTD after adjusting for timing variances.
Although we are 3% down on green fees compared with last year, this is consistent with the nationwide trend of golf games played.
The weather, the economy and the cost of petrol are listed as the reasons for this decline. The Iran war and impact of continued price hikes, and possible fuel restrictions to come, are definitely a concern going forward.
4. Capital projects and deferred maintenance projects.
At a recent Committee meeting we approved expenditure on an upgrade to the kitchen (mainly floor repairs and new appliances), a similar upgrade behind the bar, a refresh of the ladies changing rooms, a new sound system (thanks Bruce), a new office computer and the planting of trees along the roadside of holes 17 and 18 (to help prevent damage to cars and houses once the trees grow). These works should all be completed before Winter.
They were largely funded by the generous $19,500 grant that we received in January from the Kiwi Gaming Foundation.
5. Ladies tournaments
These were a huge success with 96 players starting in the 9 hole tournament and 128 players in the 18 hole tournament.
Thank you to everyone who helped in many different ways to make these such great events.
Special thanks, of course, go to Sandra Best (with help from Mike and David) for her overall organisation, and for her outstanding work in marketing and selling of the tournaments.
And a big thank you too, to Carolyn and Nicky for finding sponsors and headlining the entertainment!
We wish to acknowledge the support from many local sponsors who supported these two tournaments, which are now firmly established as premier events on the South Island women’s golf calendar.
6. Course
Our course has been in amazing condition all summer thanks to the unseasonal rain and some great work by Steve and Neil to keep all areas well mown. Thanks guys.
Have a great Easter break everyone and good golfing.
Kind regards,
Graham
… on behalf of the Committee.
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