What an interesting week it’s been at Avondale. It’s fabulous to see our Members enjoying their time on the course, and in doing so adhering to and respecting the social distancing requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After an assessment of the last week’s patterns, the following changes to the playing schedule will take effect this Thursday April 9:
- Play will start at 6:30am each day, except for Wednesdays when play will commence at 9am. This late start on Wednesdays will allow David’s team more time to work on the course uninterrupted by golfers.
- The Pro Shop will open at 7am each day.
- If your clubs are located in the storage facility please do not book in for golf prior to Pro Shop opening time.
- Scorecards will be available for collection at the Pro Shop front door.
- On Tuesdays and Fridays, the exclusive Ladies times will run to 12:30pm
- On Thursday, the exclusive Men’s times will run to 2pm
- On Saturdays, the exclusive 7 day Member times will run to 2pm
Due to the high demand for tee times, there will be a limit of 3 bookings per week per person. Furthermore, each person may only book 2 morning tee times. Many players have missed out on golf this week; these restrictions are designed to share the available times so that more Members have the opportunity to enjoy the course.
Time sheets will continue to open at 6pm 3 days prior.
In the event that an exclusive period is not fully booked, the time sheet will be amended to permit Members from other playing categories to book in. This amendment will occur at 6pm the night before.
In order to increase the playing numbers, tee time intervals will be decreased to 6 minutes for the first 2 hours of play each day. May I ask all players, particularly the early ones, to try to keep the pace up to enable social distancing and a minimum of wait times out on course.
The flag sticks will be inserted to an inverted cup, whereby the ball will only drop fractionally below the surface of the green, allowing the removal of the ball without the need to touch the flag or the cup.
At this stage all golf will be social. There will be no competitions until further notice.
The Match Committee will continue to monitor the playing programme. We will balance the Members’ wishes with the requirements around the current health crisis.
Please continue to follow the instructions sent earlier this week around arrival and departure times and the restrictions on the use of practice facilities:
- Members must be booked on to a time sheet to attend the club.
- Members should arrive no earlier than 15 minutes before their scheduled round, and on completion of their round make their way home as soon as practicable.
- There should be no gathering after play.
- The range and practice putting green will be open for warm up purposes only prior to your round and not for general practice.
Surprisingly, I have noticed and many Members have commented to me on the increasing appearance of unfilled divots on fairways and on tees. The course is in terrific condition, however we need to maintain our responsibility to fill our divots. Please make a special effort to fill yours and perhaps a few others!
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Good golfing!
Mark Bayliss
Filed under: App News
