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January 2024 Golf Course Update

Monday 22 January 2024

It’s been a very interesting first month at Pakenham Golf Course, and despite unseasonal weather and some significant challenges on the course, visitation is now on the rise at the venue!

Golf Course

After assuming management of the course late last year, the maintenance team certainly have been presented with quite a few challenges, including:

• • Obtaining staff and machinery on very short notice.
  • Very strong growth of foreign grasses and weeds.
  • Significant storm damage that saw many trees come down in the playing area
  • Flooding significantly delaying maintenance on areas which badly needed cutting and hadn’t been touched for 8 months.
  • Many irrigation leaks requiring substantial man hours and replacement parts.
  • With no chemical applications for an extended period of time, a number of greens were severely infested with Star Weed, Dry Spot and Broadleaf. Chemical programs are now slowly doing their thing, with most areas beginning to recover. Unfortunately the process takes time and also makes certain areas of the green unusable and cosmetically unattractive. It is expected that over the next 4-8 weeks the majority will recover.
  • Many areas of the rough are still much longer than our preferred length and we are hopeful of significant improvements over the coming weeks.
  • The tees are in good condition and fairways are fantastic in most areas.

Photo of Pakenham Golf Course Green – Taken May 14 2023 (Prior to GSM)

An OH&S assessment of the venue resulted in a re-routing of the course to widen the hitting area of the range. After thorough consideration of 6 different masterplans, the new layout received council approval and over 60 new signs were installed, just prior to opening.

Unfortunately it didn’t matter which way the course was routed, unavoidable longer walks between some holes was required. Whilst frustrating, we remind patrons ‘you can only play with the hand you have been dealt’.

Operationally

We are pleased to have appointed a number of quality staff at the venue.  We look forward to Troy, Beau, Rachel and Sophie forming a great team to take Pakenham Golf Course forward.

The new golf booking systems have been well received, and the shop has some great stock on hand. The additional motorised carts available for hire have also proven to be very popular.

Now that players are becoming familiar with the new layout, Competitions will resume in late January. MiScore has been updated and Pakenham Golf Course is ready to added to your course list!

Driving Range

The range has been a great success with lots of utilisation by the community – particularly with the expanded trading hours. In further good news… a teaching professional is expected to commence shortly! New Clinics will be announced in the coming weeks.

Clubhouse

The coffee station and Café have been in full operation – word is getting out the new coffee machine is a real winner!

Unfortunately we are still operating with temporary food & liquor licenses which restricts the services we are able to deliver. It’s a painfully slow process and we are hopeful of providing a much broader offering in Autumn – watch this space!

We genuinely thank those that have been patient and complimentary of the work we have undertaken at the venue. For those few whom expected the course to be in pristine condition from day one and felt compelled to tell the world that it wasn’t – we hope that friendly service from our competent team will win you back over!

We can’t wait to see what unfolds over the coming months and look forward to seeing you at the venue again soon!