January 2022 Member Communication

Welcome to 2022

Hope you all had a wonderful, safe and happy holiday period. It's been busy around the Club, with lots of people enjoying both the course and clubhouse facilities. Thanks all for your support and we've hosted some great events already, including our January Ambrose and Junior Open tournaments.

Although you've already had a communication around the Red light requirements, there have been a couple of changes. More detail below, please familiarise yourself with these. As NZ readies itself for the case numbers to rise, please remember that we are all in this together and if you need any help or support to just reach out.

Look forward to seeing you all soon!

Red Light Requirements

All of NZ is now at Red. As we hold a liquor license, the RBGC Clubhouse operates under the hospitality guidelines. Please see below the measures in place for our operation at Red;

• Vaccine Passport must be presented and verified for all those over 12 years 3m old
• The Clubhouse is limited to 100 people on site at any time (includes children)
• Please stay seated with your group and remain separated from others, the tables have been spaced accordingly. This means no table hopping.
• You can order and pay at the bar, please avoid queuing and keep your distance from others

Mask Wearing from 3rd February, it is mandatory that everyone within the Clubhouse wear a mask when they are not seated and actively eating/drinking. This means you must wear a mask when you are entering or exiting the building, going to the toilet or ordering at the bar. This rule applies to all people on site, with the exception of children under 12 years old or if you can provide proof of an exemption.

We know that the above restrictions require some getting used to and that masks aren't the most comfortable things to wear. Please remember that we don't make the rules, we just have to follow them. Our staff are all vaccinated and have to wear masks too.

Upcoming Events and Dates to Note

The entries are open for Vets, 4BBB and Mixed 4BBB. Sheets for these are on the noticeboard in the Clubhouse, entries close end of February. For those that have noticed, we have aligned our age range with the NZ Veteran Golfer Association - anyone over the age of 50 is eligible to play register for this competition.

The Salt Streetfood Shootout competition has started, best five scores throughout the year count. Men can play Friday and Saturday, Women can play Wednesday and Saturday.

4-7 February Waitangi Weekend

Business as usual, meals available on Friday night. Bar open on Monday at 4pm.

12-13 Feburary Men's Open

This event is fully booked, if you would like to register on the waitlist please contact the office or pop your name on the list in the Clubhouse.

19 February Private Event - Clubhouse Closed

The Clubhouse is closed for a private event on Saturday 19 Feb. Club Day golf will still continue as usual but the bar will not be open this day. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Committee Update

• The tennis court renovations are nearly completed all new signage is being developed and should be in situ shortly. They have been well utilised during the summer. Thanks to Cath Green for taking over reporting to the committee about tennis. Local Tuesday morning women’s competition is starting up again beginning Tuesday 1^st Feb. The official opening and this year’s tournament has been moved to Labour Weekend 2022, due to congestion of events during the summer period. More information will follow.
• The Committee continue working with our architects for detailed plans and costs for the clubhouse renovations
• The programmes for 2022 both the main committee and women’s is available on the website with hard copies in the clubhouse.
• There are a number of subscriptions still outstanding, we understand that some reminders / emails may have gone directly into your spam, if you haven’t received an invoice, please contact the club and we can update your status or re email your invoice, reminders will be sent out again shortly.
• Power Outages / fluctuations - This continues to be a concern for the committee as these interruptions are becoming more frequent. We have contacted Powerco and they have advised that a generator is being installed at Riversdale in the near future. To speed this process up one of the 4 criteria is to have a history of poor performance and heightened customer sensitivity. I urge you to contact Powerco through the website or the email below and register your dissatisfaction of supply and see if we can speed this process up, attention to Shonagh Robinson – Customer resolutions Officer at www.powerco.co.nz . Remember the Club has a generator so for longer power outages this will be turned on and you are welcome to come down and access our facilities.
• The planting of the second round of Pohutukawa trees has been completed and the name tags all printed and will be affixed shortly. Thanks for your support.
• Many of you will notice the new protection that has been erected in front of the greens shed, thanks to those involved, Stu can work a little safer these days.
• The dual pin placement option for number 7 and 16 green is being worked on and the grounds committee is hopeful that it will be in play for the Men’s Open. Work on the new number 2 and 11 green is progressing and we are still hopeful of using it for the Men’s Open as well but too early to say for sure.

A gentle reminder, when you are in then clubhouse please return your glasses and rubbish to the bar when you depart. I know you have all enjoyed the table service but this is not the norm, remember we are a club and not a pub!

Finally, an update on our Covid Vaccination Policy. The vaccine questionnaire was sent out prior to Christmas, we had a total of 132 respondents, 74 wanted the course and facilities open only to double vaccinated members and public and 58 wanted the facilities open to double vaccinated only and the course open to all regardless of vaccination status. Therefore, the committee instituted this from the New Year. During the Christmas break a petition was submitted for reconsideration of the requirement to be fully vaccinated when playing the course. Although the petition did not meet the criteria set out, this was discussed at the latest meeting, and we resolved to maintain the status quo. This item will be a reviewed at each monthly meeting going forward. Should we receive a petition with 30 full Playing members names, we resolved to resend a questionnaire out to our membership for re-evaluation.

Thanks, Karen Barbour (Club Captain)