HKSGS NEWSLETTER APRIL 2022

Introduction.

When we discussed "Newsletter content" in committee a few weeks ago we had some difficulty in mustering any worthy news for the newsletter. We thus contemplated just skipping it altogether. But, (drum roll please), since our meeting we do have some mildly good news to pass on which is obviously dependent on Covid decisions soon to be announced. So, voila, here is your first quarter newsletter.

Courses reopen 21 April 2022.

At the time of writing, (which is ominously the 1st April), Hong Kong Golf courses are set to open again for play on 21 April and thus our published event programme will resume from that date. This can be found under the "fixtures" page at https://hksgs.com.hk/fixtures.

Bookings to resume as normal.

The booking and priority system we have had in place over the last few years will also resume. Invitations to book a place at an event and letters of confirmation will also resume. There are no changes to the published "Rules and Guidelines" which can be found at https://hksgs.com.hk/rules-guidelines.

That's the good news now the caveat.

Of course there has to be a "but" to all this. The first point to note is that the first two events are at Deep Water Bay and it seems that the HKGC will probably cancel these bookings in favour of their members. This is not confirmed but we are not getting our hopes up. The second point to note is that each venue has understandably general and specific covid abatement requirements. All players will require some level of vaccination at the entrance with the appropriate proof of vaccination / exemption which is usually on the Leavehomesafe app details of which are at https://www.leavehomesafe.gov.hk Failure to comply with the requirement at a venue is very likely lead to one being turned away which of course would also result in a "no show" penalty by the society. Please ensure you are fully up to speed with the requirement. We will of course do our best to inform you of requirements in advance but the onus has to remain with each player.

Event's this year.

Normally at this point we summarise the events of the year so far but we have only had one gathering in January so allow me to point you to that on our site... https://hksgs.com.hk/fixtures/2022-schedule/event-1.

A big thank you to all our sponsors'.

Our wide range of sponsors continue to support the Society and I am pleased to inform you of another sponsor who's logo now sports the bottom of our pages, namely, April International. I do hope you can support them in return.

Late withdrawal penalty system.

I should mention the penalty system for late withdrawals. This is clearly defined within our rules and is in place to discourage late withdrawals and thus reduce the chaos that this can cause. I am pleased to report we rarely have late withdrawals. We do not wish to include a penalty system for late withdrawals but if this was not in place, we know from experience that withdrawals would increase and they would very likely confound the system. Please refresh yourselves with the withdrawal system. Please do not book an event unless you know for certain that you will be able to attend. If you have to withdraw please ensure you withdraw prior to the publication of the tee time sheet.

Conclusion.

If all goes well we hope that all the remaining 36 events (70%) on the 2022 schedule occurs without a hitch and that we can return to our usually catalogue of complaints regarding three putts on the green, the slow play from the group in front and that lost ball which we were positive landed in the middle of the fairway. I, and the committee look forward to seeing you soon on the course.

Sincerely
Clive Hunter
HKSGS Captain