Dear Members,
The club has seen an increase in use of motorised carts on the course. Causal factors include membership growth with increases in member rounds, increase in non member play, change in culture of how people play golf and recently there has been a large increase in member owned private carts. With the constant rain and dormancy of winter, wear and tear on the course is a continuing issue and we need to better manage our cart usage.
The Management Committee has determined to undertake a full review of cart use and how we structure for the long term. Whilst this is taking place, we need to responsibly manage and control cart use so accordingly we advise members of the following:
- The club will not allow any more privately owned carts until the outcomes of the review are decided. We currently have over 50 privately owned carts and the course cannot handle an unlimited amount, so we need to work through our long-term strategy.
- Members with the privilege of using private carts must minimise their use and you are required to share if there are two or more privately owned carts in a group, with single drivers. There have been instances of up to four carts for one group and this is not considered acceptable and an easily avoidable way to minimise wear to the course.
- Please ensure you adhere to our cart traffic management, especially:
- Follow directional signs
- Not driving within 10m of a green
- Avoid obvious wear areas
The club has always provided excellent cart privileges for members, which includes a large fleet to cater for those requiring a cart, private carts being allowed on the course, and the cheapest member cart hire for 9 or 18 holes of any of the Metropolitan courses for members.
The Committee is well aware that there are many valid reasons to have golf carts available, importantly to provide continued golf access for those who have mobility problems. However, there is also the requirement to ensure the number of carts using the course is sustainable due to concerns about the ever increasing volume of traffic and the resulting wear and tear on the course, particularly in winter.
In the best interests of looking after our fantastic course, we require members to support these requirements and in due course, we will advise of our longer term strategies.
Regards
Grant Shortland-Jones, General Manager
