WGI Operations Manager Appointed - welcome Steve Weir

A letter from Stephen Bridle (WGI Chair) to all WGI members

Ladies and Gentlemen,

New Operations Manager

I am pleased to announce that Steve Weir has been appointed WGI Golf Operations Manager.  Steve will be known to many involved in men’s interclub as the Manager of Shandon’s Otaki Cup team for the last 17 years which covers 13 wins.  

In addition to being an active member of the golfing community, Steve also brings with him more than 20 years of business experience, including 8 years as a small retail business owner, and sales, marketing and finance experience from his role as business manager with Dulux NZ.

While Steve’s role with WGI precludes him from having an active role in competitive golf with any club, his wealth of experience of the golf community in Wellington and in-depth knowledge of our key programmes mean his knowledge will be invaluable to our future growth.

We are delighted to bring him into the organisation and I trust you will join with us in welcoming him to the position.  Steve will start from 1 August 2016 and will be contactable at the office on (04) 560-0330 from that time.

New Board Director

In accordance with our Constitution, we (the Board) are able to appoint persons to fill any vacant positions, therefore I am equally pleased to announce the appointment of Miramar Golf Club’s Carmen Blackler to the WGI Board, where she will hold office until at least the next AGM.

Carmen is an experienced strategy and management consultant, and has covered our day-to-day operations management under contract for the last seven months.  Carmen is also the junior convenor at Miramar and has been managing the Wellington U19 representative team over the last 12 months.  

We see Carmen’s mix of direct involvement with players, first-hand knowledge and broader business skills adding a lot of value to the organisation and we are delighted to have these at our disposal.

Representative Team beats Hawke’s Bay

Last weekend was the start of the representative season with our first fixture being against Hawke’s Bay at the Napier Golf Club.  After an early start, where the team left Wellington at 6:30am on Saturday morning, both our men and women won their reverse singles matches.  At the end of Saturday the men were up 5-3, and the women up 4-2.  On Sunday the singles matches were a little closer with the men winning 4.5 – 3.5 and the women square 3-3.  The aggregate scores meant a victory to Wellington of 16.5 – 11.5.  A list of the full results is attached.

Wellington’s next match is against Tasman at the Marlborough Golf Club, Blenheim 30/31 July.

Interclub Competition 2017

This month sees the completion of the 2016 Interclub season, with the Riverside Cup competition being the final division to complete their season with their finals scheduled for Friday, 29^th July 2016.

Planning for 2017 has already begun, with interclub meetings having been held with the Women, Men and Juniors.  The Match Committee are finalising the 2017 Golf calendar with feedback from these meetings, and initial Club registrations for the 2017 Interclub season are due to close on Friday, 22^nd July.  This will then enable the Match Committee to confirm the teams (by Club) in each division, with a call for team registrations in August.

We are pleased to be at an advanced stage of our scheduling for the 2017 season, and thank the Clubs for working with us to achieve this. 

Half Yearly General Meeting

Lastly some advanced notice that WGI’s half yearly general meeting will be held on Wednesday, 14^th September 2016 at Pelorus Trust Sports House.

Kind Regards

On behalf of the Board

Stephen Bridle

Chair