Planning Committee Report

Significant progress has been made over the past 12 months around our Strategic Plan. As foreshadowed in last year’s report, we developed a draft Strategic Plan that addressed some of the key opportunities we have at Pennant Hills Golf Club. We noted that an important feature of a Plan was the inclusion of input from you, our Members, as well as our Staff prior to the Plan being finalised.

We are fortunate to have the founder of one of Australia’s pre-eminent market survey companies, Mark Sundquist, as one of our members. With his skillful and generous assistance, we conducted a comprehensive survey of Member’s views late in 2021. Almost 40% of our members responded reflecting the passion that you have toward making our Club a better place. The key areas that you indicated needed our attention were course improvements, practice facilities, general course condition and presentation, the cost of playing golf and the range of membership options that are offered. We have ensured that these areas of focus are either key elements of our finalised Strategic Plan or remain priority agenda items of the Board Committee responsible for them. We will again seek your input in Q4 of 2022 so that we can measure your satisfaction regarding the progress that has been made. This feedback will also serve as an important tool to modify any parts of the Plan that require adjustment.

We held Member and Staff briefing sessions in May so that we could share the finalised plan with you. In addition, the Plan was posted to our website so that those unable to attend the face-to-face sessions could review the Plan and make comment. We had many positive and supportive comments regarding the direction that has been undertaken, as well as some very helpful input about other areas that need further consideration.

I want to specifically thank Michael Rowan for his ongoing wise council, as well as the leaders of each of the strategic initiatives for their support and commitment to the planning process and the terrific work they have done:

 Damian Maguire, our Captain, is leading the “Build and Deliver the Course Master Plan” initiative.

We are excited that we will be able to share the concept for the Course Master Plan with you in the second half of this year. This plan will significantly improve the quality of greens, green surrounds and bunkers, as well as address the out-of-bounds risks, resulting in better playability and reputation amongst current and future Members.  There have been ongoing discussions with NorthConnex regarding seeking access to their water to deliver our “Create Water Security” initiative, and we look forward to having some news about this in the next few months. This initiative will ensure continuity of water supply independent of mains water for irrigation and will enable the preservation of our course and gardens into the future.  Sue Fabian and Lesley Roberts lead the Membership and Member Experience initiative. Whilst

COVID has provided a boon to most golf club membership numbers, much work has been done to create an environment where prospective Members want to join and remain at Pennant Hills Golf

Club, both in the on-course and off-course experience. This has resulted in a strong pipeline of new

Members, and lower than normal attrition. Of course, it is critical that we remain conscious of the need to preserve the quality of access to tee times for our existing Members, and this is reviewed monthly.  David Blackshaw has worked with Barnaby Sumner and Craig Usher to deliver the “Preserve

Financial Stability” initiative. The have ensured our investment decisions are targeted to the areas of greatest need and timed so that we manage our finances in a conservative and prudent way. We have also seen significant levels of capital investment, ranging from the solar panel installation to new fairway, rough and greens mowers. These investments in course maintenance equipment also contribute to achieving the “general course condition and presentation” improvements that were highlighted in the Member survey.  Our “Invest for Growth” initiative is targeted around working with the Pennant Hills Golf Club

Foundation to direct their fundraising efforts towards projects that will grow our Club into the future.

We are excited that work around the Training Academy has progressed, and we are close to the submission of a development application and sharing the detailed design concepts with you.

 Andrew McDonald has led the “Strengthen Corporate Governance” initiative that has seen the implementation of a range of programs around performance management, workplace health and safety, risk, and crisis management as well as other important process and policy enhancements.

A milestone of the Planning Committee this year has been the transparency we have achieved through making our plan public. We believe this is critically important and has been welcomed by Members and Staff alike as we continue our journey together towards being:

“A Leading Sydney Private Members Golf Club”.

Mark Bradbury

Chairperson Planning Committee