Board Talk

Welcome to another Board Talk!
 

2020 is already racing away on us. Hopefully many of you have been able to enjoy the superb condition of the Golf Course this year.
 
Given the enormous tragedy of the bush fires and drought across Australia, Drouin has not yet been directly affected having only had a number of days of substantially reduced visibility due to smoke from the East Gippsland fires. The rain during January has kept the overall course green and in good condition with Ryan Hammond, Course Superintendent, and our ground staff very busy ensuring it is superbly presented.
 
January Board meeting
 
Progress in a number of key areas were noted:
 
Membership profile
 
Our current membership is 377 with 304 male and 73 female members. This is a slight decrease from 12 months ago, so I encourage all of you to ‘join up a friend’.  The promise of a superb golf course is too good to miss!
 
I would like to thank Karen Adams and also Helen Moon for their ongoing work with the membership system over the past 15 months.  We now have a true and accurate record of membership and it certainly has been challenging to sort out.  None of the IT related systems have been easy to keep going and Karen has been most responsive to concerns of members as we have made our way through the process.  The Board has agreed to provide further assistance in ensuring our administration systems work smoothly and Kylie Campion is now working some administrative hours to assist with this important work. Many of the members will know Kylie through her ongoing help in the functions area, but she also has substantial experience in administrative and IT systems so should be ideal to help us in the office related areas. Welcome Kylie to this additional role!!
 
Activity through the golf course
 
Despite having an outstanding course, one of the challenges in the past few months has been the timing of adverse weather around our ‘busy’ days of the week. So, our activity is about the same as last year, but has not ‘jumped’ the way we had hoped.  The Board is optimistic that over the next three months with the course in outstanding condition, our patronage will increase even further.  Do spread the word……..  green fee players are always welcome! And the rates of day light saving rounds are particularly attractive for that ‘after work’ event.
 
Bar Revenue and Functions
 
Our ongoing thanks to Michelle Thomas and her team of staff who were kept very busy across November and December.  Functions are now a significant income stream for the club and the reputation of Michelle and her team is spreading far and wide for a ‘fun filled event’. The Finance Committee and the Board continue to review our revenues and payments in this area very carefully. For those who are trained in hospitality, the balance of revenue, food and beverage costs as well as labour costs is known to be challenging. It is obviously important that any Function fully covers costs and makes a good return to the Club to allow for the club’s viability including ongoing maintenance and replacement of our infrastructure.
 
For this reason, the club continues to have to be very careful about opening on a Sunday or Public Holiday.  Penalty rates for additional staff make most Sundays and Public Holidays a ‘loss maker’ – something the club literally cannot afford. Thank you to Anthony who has agreed arrangements in place with the Pro Shop and the club to assist in a ‘reduced service’ on some of these days. We will continue to monitor demand and alternate opening models for the future.
 
Finances Overall
 
With the ongoing close scrutiny of the club finances, it does appear that the club is now much closer to having a business model that is financially viable. However, there is still a need to lift our membership, ensure that club house is increasingly used in a ‘business like’ way and carefully watch all of our expenditures.
 
With this growing degree of confidence, the club has been able to provide a small amount of resource into the financial area through Adams Financial Services and also the administration systems through Kylie Campion as explained above. We still have substantial demands for more sophistication around our administrative support and public profile endeavors as well as a better approach to much needed capital replacement.  These will be a priority as we move ahead.
 
Our positive financial result of YTD EBITDA for the six months ending 31/12/2019 was $14,521.  This now the second month in a row we have been able to demonstrate consistency in our net profit.  I congratulate the Finance & Risk Committee, Board Members and staff who have largely contributed to this result.  This has been a huge effort and I would like members to reflect this achievement and the tight financial stewardship given the $500K losses for each the first two years out of administration.
 
Development Committee
 
Many thanks to Darryl Bryce who chaired the Development Committee meeting in January and progressed the understanding of our requirements. Members  of the Development Committee are 2 Board, Darryl Bryce and Matthew Long, Member rep, Ron Tomasetti, Pro, Anthony Bambridge, Captain, Jim Bransgrove, Course Superintendent, Ryan Hammond, Functions Coordinator, Michelle Thomas.
 
The availability of the two new holes according to our contract with the developers needs to be when they are ‘of similar quality to the golf holes situated on 13 – 15 McGlone Road’.  As outlined in a recent email by Ryan Hammond, this is a difficult to put a time line around.  It may be up to 12 months away to have a grass surface to handle 100 to 150 golfers a day. But we certainly do need to plan for this event as all changes take time. The Development Committee determined the following priorities for our work plan
 

1. Specifications for the new practice fairway
2. Specifications for the new machinery shed
3. Specifications for the new car shed
4. An agreed estimate of the additional parking required

 
 
The Board has determined the reserve price for each of these items. The highest bid will be accepted. If the reserve price is not met, there may be further negotiations, solely at the discretion of the Board of DGCC.
 
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Volunteers
I am sure members have seen the fantastic efforts that our volunteers are putting in to both the course and the clubhouse.  An obvious improvement is the clearing of the grasses around the entrance to the club and pro shop.  Other significant volunteering support has been clearing the course after storms, assisting in the bar and kitchen and table waiting for functions and a huge amount of work with the boxing day races. Thank you to all, it is very much appreciated.



 
Golf Australia

Golf Australia has implemented a program to generate gender equality in Victorian golf clubs.  ‘Even Par’ is a four-part workshop series to enhance the capacity of golf clubs and their leaders to bring about greater gender equity for clubs, their leaders and their membership.
 
The Board endorsed the Golf Australia policy at the January meeting and our Captain Jim is heading up the working group to respond to Golf Australia’s action plan.  The Board has nominated 2 members Diane Sullivan and Darryl Bryce while other members of the working group are Sharon Rippon, Sue Hatfield, Holly Barton, Anthony Bambridge and Vin Bibby. 
Currently female membership of our club comprises approximately 20% of overall membership and this is reflective of the state average.  Clubs will examine ways to increase membership and participation of girls and women in golf.  More information about this program will be provided once the working party has met later this month.  Please look at the website www.changeourgame.vic.gov.au for further details.

Signage
 
The DGCC is now ‘in the hands’ of the Baw Baw Shire to progress our application of signage along the road boundary of the club and also near the car park.
 
 Sponsorship package
 
A reminder that the new Sponsorship Packages are available.  For those who missed it, they are displayed on the notice board in the clubhouse and on our website.

 
Good golfing.  All the best out on the course and for your next function at our club!

Diane Sullivan AM
Board Chair