21/9/2011 In the aftermath of the success in qualifying for the club championships it would be remiss of me to not backtrack to the Junior Coaching clinic on Friday just gone at the club. With a group of 18 year 6-7 students from the Primary School, the regional coach and three volunteers the couple of hours went along really well. The interest by the students and the fun they had with golf shows what can be achieved and the real future of golf that is there to be developed. Of course there are hurdles, getting volunteers on a regular basis is not that difficult. The government need for training, police checks etc and all that entails is a pain in the neck. Make no doubt I and the rest of the members are fully aware of why this must be done. The commitment to having a successful club far outweighs the imposition of time spend in doing administrative duties. The plans for regular junior clinic over the school holiday period are certain to be developed and acted upon after this recent example of junior interest.
Do not be misdirected that this is all too much, instead it is an example of why many golf clubs are struggling. Volunteers are in the main happy to do the work but having to become pseudo employees is an anathema to many. I have lasted one year as secretary not because I do not want to be involved in the club. It is because if I wanted to be an administration officer then my career would still be that and not my current profession. The amount of tasks which involve supplying information to public operations for statistical purposes is not balanced out with the same bodies returning the effort in assisting the smooth operation of golf clubs.
Now to the reason of why I am a golfer, playing the game. The satisfaction of qualifying has proven every effort to get out and practise in 2011 was worthwhile. Out in the rain and wind of storms on the practise range, without hesitation all because I wanted to give myself the best possible chance. Having to come in with a spot on score to set myself with the best possible matchplay pairings did come off. All season I have wrote about my game strategy working towards setting particular goals that if reached in a round enabled specific targets to be set over 18 holes of golf. One was to always aim at being set up after the 12th-13th holes to be able to be aggressive and not playing to minimise damage.
On Sunday even after a pair of 7’s on theses two par four holes, I could go hard on the closing five holes and it was by millimetres that I missed out on getting all 5 in regulation par scores. This left me in limbo as to what the matchplay pairings would be having tied with another golfer in qualifying. By good the good fortune of my scores I won out in the pairings and miss playing both the defending champion and one of the club’s (with 15 “A” grade championships) best golfers in the semi and qualifying finals. It is still going to be a hard road through the matchplay finals, it is realistic in dreaming of making the final. Luck has had and will have no bearing on the outcome, making it happen is up to me and not changing what has been in place all season. All the aches pains and crunchy bits that I feel now because of the seasons’ effort are not pleasant, but having succeeded and made it this far were well worth inflicting upon myself. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em Straight all” Geoff
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