Martinborough Golf Club Report

We have certainly had a lot of rain over the last few weeks, so much so that the course has had to be closed on a couple of occasions.

Grumpies have missed out on a couple of days over the last month, but winners have been Brian Russo, Rob Smith and Bob Schofield.  Twos have gone to Greg Dalton, Bill Gordon, Kane Sim and Jason Shaw.

The Ladies have also had a couple of their competitions washed out but 9 hole winners have been Ali Russell and Jo Guscott, 18 hole winners were Pamela Messervy, Ju Allen and Nicola Warren.  The only twos have gone to Pamela Messervy and Carol Parkinson.

Thursday Club winners have been Andy Morison, Bill Gordon, Nick Morison and Doug Clark.  Twos have gone to Seamus O’Sullivan (3), Malcolm Wood (3), Doug Clark (2), Sandra Petersen, Jo Anne Loe, Ed Elworthy, Andy Morison, Nick Morison, Jason Shaw, Ailsa Malneek, Brian Russo and Darren Bevan.  Nearest the pins have gone to Rod Cranswick, Doug Clark, Griff Page and Darren Bevan.

Winners of the weekend competitions have been Alistair Boyne, John Warner, Jason Shaw (twice), Nick Morison, Phil Collins, Colin Whibley-Smith, Malcolm Bridge and Malcolm Wood.  Malcolm Wood also won the Birds Nest last month and twos have gone to Phil Collins, Seamus O’Sullivan, Julie Dondertman, Derek Stephens, Jason Shaw Brian Russo (2), John Warner, Rob Lopez, Doug Clark (2), Olivia Clark and Dayle Scrimshaw.

That’s it for July – here’s hoping that August is somewhat drier!!!

 Kris Chamberlain Secretary/Administrator Martinborough Golf Club

Martinborough Community Garden

Well, weather like we have had recently makes one understand the frustration of the animals on the Ark! It also poses the question…what on earth did they eat? Not a lot from the Martinborough Community Garden that’s for sure, as with Covid amongst the gardeners and the very wet conditions we have hardly been  harvesting our usual contribution to the Larder.

That said…prior to the deluges we had a massive clean- up under our nets, with the purpose of placing, initially a couple of metal planter boxes under the nets, thus raising what , at the best of times, is a damp area of the garden with the hope of having some fast turnaround crops. The planters have been ordered, but in these uncertain times we can but hope for a speedy delivery. Once in place they will be filled in the usual layered approach…cardboard/newspaper; horse pooh; topsoil compost and a warm layer of pea straw. … Continue Reading

Martinborough Business Association

We  don’t always get it right…. In last month’s article our focus was on the Olive oil industry in Martinborough, We spelt the name of one of the formative olive growers incorrectly. Our apologies go to Colin and Nalini Baruch. We will do better.

Relationships…..

The  Martinborough Business Association holds the building and growing of relationships important and  central to what we do. We continually look at how we can best serve and support the broad range of members. This year we decided to classify the businesses into sectors and appoint a committee member as the lead for each sector. This was to improve communications between members and the committee

(leads create opportunities for this) and to provide the committee with real time information to help with the  decisions that need to be made. The sectors are Retail & Hospitality, Accommodation, Activities & Olive Growers, Vineyards & Professional services.

At the regional level we’ve entered into a partnership with Business Wairarapa ( the regional Chamber of Commerce) . This will provide our members  access to comprehensive training and development  packages, member to member offerings and broader business after five / network opportunities. Additionally our Association gets a seat on the Business Wairarapa Board which increasingly is a vehicle for regional business feedback between central and local governments. Allan Hogg our Chair is the current member. Business Wairarapa will include Carterton and Featherston at the completion of their developments. It will be great to be involved in whole of Wairarapa considerations. … Continue Reading

Maree’s musings

ONE THING and ANOTHER

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s sometimes difficult to get our heads around important stuff, so in order to help us make sense of our increasingly confusing world, we often make comparisons. Being ‘confined to barracks’ recently, I had time on my hands and dug some out. Thanks, Covid! With living costs escalating, for example, Those in Charge use items we can relate to. The price of a 1Kg block of cheese is the traditional benchmark, but for those more strapped for cash, it’s a lettuce or the humble cabbage, my celery maybe. News of galloping inflation goes down like a lead balloon: a phrase poached from a 1924 Mom’n’Pop comic strip, where Pop’s stock investment was going up as fast as one. The saying took off, though.

My Internet scrolling revealed a whole raft of new expressions. ‘Unprecedented’ [we’re all over this on both counts] had a good innings; now nothing surprises and we learned to suck it up and catch those curveballs. We encouraged folks to escape from rabbitholes and stop hiding under rocks. More geography featured with mountains made from molehills. Most of us have never met a mole, although we do have bats here. Their dubious reputation provides us with ‘bats in the belfry’ or just plain bats. And of course, batshit. … Continue Reading