Hello members and welcome back for the year 2026,

Unfortunately, the weather gods have not been kind, and we have been severely impacted by rain again this year, we have had in excess of 1100mm of rain, which all of you are aware has severely impacted our course.

We have run a trial utilising a large pump at the Tee box of hole 13, as a proof of concept for a large drainpipe to be installed at the same location. The trial has been favourable and has added weight to the progressing of this project.  The installation of this drain is hoped to minimise the effect rain events will have on a large portion of our course. The three days that we had the pump running allowed us to move in excess of 15,000,000 litres of water off the course (approx. six Olympic swimming pools), this has expedited the drying of the course and allowed Jason to pump extra water from the front nine.

Match Committee:

This year we have a match committee comprising of myself and three other members. These members are Michael Guinea, Jeff Burton, Andrew Morris and Margaret Schultlink. Please feel free to ask us any questions you have. I also please ask that if you have anything that you wish to be considered if it could please be emailed to captain@rowesbaygolfclub.com.au this will allow us to properly address what has been proposed formally and action accordingly.

Match play

Matchplay has been discussed and the new rules for this year are attached, they are also on the noticeboard. The nomination form for Matchplay will be on the noticeboard and on the websiite, just a friendly reminder of the $10 nomination. Match play will serve as the foundation for the selection of pennants teams this year.

Focus hole:

This year each week we will be running a focus hole on each of the nines, the idea behind this is that members will take extra focus on repairing of divot marks on tee boxes and fairways and pitch marks on the greens.

2026 Major Event Dates:

Please find below the major events for this year’s calendar. Just waiting on Vets and Ladies for final confirmations, as soon as we have these they will be on the website. But as always, these events may need to be changed due to unforeseen circumstances, members will be updated as soon as possible for any changes to these events.

• Commencement day 7th March
• Mens Eclectic commences 7th March for Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday competition
• Single Match play: Commences 7th March, with match completion dates as follows;
• Round 1 –Played by 29th of March 2026.
• Round 2 –Played by 19th of April 2026.
• Round 3 –Played by 10th of May 2026.
• Round 4 -Played by 31st May 2026
• Round 5 -Played by 21st of Jun 2026.
• Round 6 -Played by 5th of Jul 2026.
• 21st March Danny Woodfield 4BBB
• 11th April Mixed Foursomes
• 18th April 4 person Ambrose
• 16th May 2 Person Ambrose
• 22nd 23rd June Pro-Am
• 4th, 11th 18th July Men’s Club Championships
• 15th August Waltz
• 29th 30th August Rowes Bay Open
• 26th September Foundation Day 4BBB/ Stableford
• 17th Oct 2 Person Ambrose (Min 8 Drives Each)
• 14th November Lavarack Lives Split Sixes
• 28th November Christmas Breakup 4 Person Ambrose (Min 3 drives each)

More information on the conditions of play for these events will be available prior to the event.

Members with the updated webpage and the fact that we now have access to this, I am hoping to use website more to relay information to all. So, when you login to your members portal on the login page at the Members Home Page you will see the list of articles available for you to read. Anything that starts with Match will be from me and I hope you take a few minutes to read the article as it may contain vital information about your next round or an upcoming major event at the Bay.

That is all I have for you all for now and hopefully we will get this year underway on time for a change and run with minimal disruption to the playing calendar.

Here is to another wonderful year at the Bay.

John Still

Club Captain.