Captains Email – May
Golf Committee
I’d like to welcome Mike Trass and Simon Jarvis onto the golf committee. Both gentlemen are very passionate about the game of golf and our club, and I consider them to be sensible, pragmatic and reasonable. Mike has won both the Strokeplay and Matchplay club champs numerous times and represented Hawkes Bay at both open and master’s level. Simon has also played a lot of golf at a high level and now spends most of his time fostering the golf growth of his two talented kids, Luke and Ruby.
I look forward to working with them on the committee which is now comprised of Emma Mouat as women’s captain along with her vice, Jill Marshall, and on the men’s side, myself with Mike as vice-captain and Simon as a third men’s committee member.
Pennants
The finals of this season’s pennants were played last Sunday at Napier. Our champ 2 team was the only team to make it to the final and unfortunately lost to Napier on the day. Napier won 5 of the divisions, which is very impressive.
Thanks to all of you that represented our club. It was great to see some of our juniors getting involved too.
The thrill of playing a match for your club against another player is quite different to trying to put a score together for yourself, and I encourage you to give it a go when the call comes out for interest at the start of next year. Next inter-club match play event is the Greenwood cup closer to the end of the year.
Club Champs
Congrats to those of you that have progressed to the quarter finals. Next round to be played by 7th June. You can see the results here: https://hgc-2025clubchampionships.golfgenius.com/pages/11495770671833707698
The Grieve Salver/Tattersall Dixon
There are two mixed trophies coming up. On 25th of May is the qualifying for the Tattersall Dixon which is a mixed pairs best ball Stableford with men off white tees and women off yellow. The highest qualifying pair on that day will be awarded the Grieve Salver Cup.
Contact the pro shop if you want to enter: info@specialteegolf.co.nz
Waiohiki Masters
For those of you older than 40, the Napier Golf Club is holding a men’s masters 36-hole Strokeplay gross/net event on the 31st May/1st June. $150 entry fee. Apparently heaps of prizes. Go here to register: https://waiohikimensmasters.golfgenius.com/pages/11509071552444410074
I played in their Kapi Tareha tournament earlier in the year and they really do put on a good event.
Masters
Wow! What an incredible first major of the year. I feel like order in the world of golf has once again been restored now that Rory has completed the Grand Slam. Who would have thought it would have taken him so long after his early successes in his career. I can’t believe Brett, Ben and a handful of others were there to witness it!
Hearing Rory talk made me think about why one might practice and work on their golf game even through tough times when things don’t seem to go your way with this infuriatingly frustrating game we play – it’s all about trying to find out just how good you can be.
The PGA coming up should be very interesting, with so many guys playing so well at present, including Foxy! who has now qualified for it.
Opening and Closing Days
It’s quite common across NZ to have opening and closing days. Traditionally they marked the opening of the golf season, which was over winter. We’re open all year round, but that doesn’t have to stop us having a little celebration, and we might look to have a closing day to mark the end of the year towards December.
Changes to Match Club Comps
In our club’s rules book, we have quite strict rules about getting extensions for match play comps such as Jones Fourball. However, there aren’t clear rules for when both teams can’t play. Traditionally this has been decided on a coin toss in the interest of giving the next team a match rather than a default. The Golf Committee are reviewing this and looking to introduce a rule whereby this will no longer be allowed. Imagine the winner of the coin toss went on to win a trophy.
The course has bounced back well after the maintenance week, and we’ve gone back to the usual length rough after it was grown out for the PGA.
We’ve lost a few trees due to bad weather, and Ben is scratching his head (and getting experts to investigate) over a “disease” some of the cedar trees have got.
The Tiger 5 to Improve your Golf
Early on in his career, Tiger analyzed where he could improve and he came up with “The Tiger 5” which are a set of rules that he found if he sticked to, would result in him winning most of the time. He found that if he could make it through a tournament with only breaking them a few times (something like 2 from memory), he would win. They are:
- No double bogeys
- No three putts
- No bogeys on par 5’s
- No bogeys from closer than 135m
- Not getting up and down when you’ve got an easy up and down (e.g. plenty of green to work with).
What it comes down to is smart strategy and playing for par, rather than playing for birdie. I think these can be adapted for your handicap and we would all benefit from trying not to break them as far as possible.
Happy golfing gentlemen.
Nicholas Schnell
Men's Club Captain
nicschnell@icloud.com
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