VGC ON GOING WORKS
There’s plenty happening around our wonderful club right now, with even more exciting developments still to come.
The new third tee block has just opened and has resulted in a much larger teeing area. This will guarantee a grassed surface to hit off all year round as there will be more tee options.
Work has also started on the new bunkers to replace the old bunker on the left-hand side of 12. The new work should dramatically improve the drainage and make bunker playable after heavy rain. You will also notice topsoil and new turf has been laid to improve the fairway as well.
The 13th grass bunker and re-turfing of the back part of the green is also nearing completion. The area behind the green has had new soil brought in to give the turf root system a better growing base. As this area behind the green doesn’t get much sun and struggles to grow, the new concrete path will have a curb on the left-hand side, with the area then to be re-turfed to improve the playability of the area. The added curbing will stop carts driving off path, protect the grass, and reduce bare patches developing.
The Board has also approved the fast tracking of the cart path project for the main course. Another contractor has been sourced who can do large scale work. The plan is for this contractor to start with fairways one and two over the course of the next 3 to 4 weeks. We will then move on to fairways 16, 17 & 18 which is expected to be complete by the end of June/early July.
Our present contractor will continue 7 and 8 as well as other smaller distance jobs like 11, 3 etc. The main course18 holes will then all be cart pathed by the end of this financial year. This will be a great achievement and as we have seen help with the maintenance and improvement of the course as there is less wear and tear on the fairways.
We thank our Green’s Superintendent Barry Lemke and his small team for the pre-work for the paths and the turfing of the edges after the paths go down. This is extra duties for them. They do a great job, and it helps keep the costs down. Thanks guys.
With the help of one of our members Brad Hope of Hastings Deering we were able to replace our old skid steer bobcat which had some issues with a totally refurbished machine. The new machine has tracks not wheels and will certainly make light work digging the trenches for the new paths. It has already been used for the work on 12 and 13 and will be used for many other jobs around the course.
The other decision the Board has made and you will see in coming months is the replacement of 6 and 7 year-old carts in our fleet. The plan was to replace these carts at end of the year. Substantial price increases coming and the increased cost in upkeep of these older carts has resulted in the Board deciding to bring this purchase forward. After this purchase of 20 new carts the whole fleet of 53 carts will be less than 2 years old.
After all cart paths and bunker work is completed the next major project for course is fairway remediation to improve the playing surface. The cart paths will provide better access for heavy equipment needed to carry out remediation work on the fairways. These paths will help protect fairways from the equipment as it moves around the course to areas needing work.
The women’s bathroom renovation is due to be completed in early May. The men’s bathroom demolition will then follow with this renovation expected to be completed around end of June.
As I started with, there is a lot going on and more to come. The Board believes all this work will be complete without having to borrow any money whilst still retaining our cash operating buffer of $2 million. This is all possible because of the support from our great members and our local community. Tony Bourke and his team consistently deliver a high-quality product with warm, friendly service helping make our club a destination people genuinely want to visit.
Noel McLean
VGC President
