The Club and Members. Sandringham Club 92 Beach Road Sandringham,VIC p: 03) f: 03)

Transcription

1 The Club and Members In its simplest terms the is a sporting and social club for gentlemen. Our membership at present is mainly over the age of thirty-five. Most enjoy sport and a drink. Most live within 10 km of the premises. Most have learned of the Club by word of mouth and were introduced by another member. The Club attracts people for a variety of reasons. For the younger guys with young families it is a chance to slip away one or two days after work to enjoy a hit of tennis or squash and/or a beer. For the older members it offers the opportunity to pass time with friends on the tennis court or bowling green. For social members the chance to enjoy a beer, a meal and to attend our functions is the attraction. The core of the Club is the long standing members. These people retain the history of the Club and pass on stories of the past and old traditions. They have formed long standing friendships with other members that extend outside the Club to their families, business or other interests. These friendships allow celebration of the good times and support in difficult times. History is a feature of the. It permeates the Club s architecture, its trophies, its pictures and its formal and informal traditions. Our dining room and bar have recently been restored in the heritage style befitting a building of Coggleshall s history and age. They are now, undoubtedly, among the finest in Melbourne, adding to the charm of the place as a contrast to today s high-tech precision world. The Club culture really embraces eccentricity and characters. We offer members and guests a temporary oasis from the pressures of daily life. It gives all of us a place to drop our guard, to be a bit silly, to make fun, to be less than politically correct without fear of the scrutiny that society usually places on us. Word of mouth is very important. We have a great oratorical tradition. We enjoy making speeches, passing on stories, telling jokes, thanking people and remembering the lives of recently departed members. The has a culture of openness and friendship and humour. This extends to making all new members and guests feel welcome. The Club is run on relatively informal lines. This sometimes means that things are a little disorganised, or slow, but we seem to get there in the end.

2 Social activities The is by its very nature a very social place, with members and guests circulating through the club on a daily basis. The bar is the main meeting place, where if you arrive alone, you can be certain of being invited to join an existing group. Thursday night is our regular dining event where between 25 and 50 members enjoy a two course meal at a nominal set price (currently $25). This is an informal forum for chats about life s experiences, lots of jokes and a general chat about the clubs activities. This is also an excellent place to introduce guests and prospective new members to the club. An arranged program of lunches and dinners occurs throughout the year with typically one each month. They include: our joint dinner with the Sandringham Zebras Football Club; Life Member and 50 Year Members dinner; an End of Financial Year lunch; an AGM/Sports Awards dinner; an AFL Grand Final lunch; New, 30 and 40 Year Members dinners and the year concludes with the Len Bingham-Asthma Victoria dinner. In addition to these dates we have some great traditional functions at The, the hallmark of which is the Melbourne Cup Calcutta, a black tie affair held on Cup eve and filled with fine food, racing personalities and a very healthy prize pool. For members and their partners we have a range of well supported mixed events which include a Rock & Roll night, an Irish night, a formal dinning evening and a number of Jazz Sunday afternoons during the year. Many members make use of the club tennis and barbecue facilities with their wives and families on Sunday afternoons, meeting up with other members at this time. These often develop into impromptu social events in the bar afterwards. The social calendar is fittingly ended with our family Christmas Festival where the entire Club is Christmas-themed with lots of children s activities and entertainment. This is a full day of fun for the whole family, especially enjoyed by proud grandfathers, fathers and wives and capped-off with a visit by Santa during the day.

3 SNOOKER AND BILLIARDS Two excellent Billiards tables are located in the Snooker/Billiards room. The room offers a unique old world atmosphere which enhances the enjoyment of playing Snooker, Billiards or Eight Ball. Snooker is the most popular game played by members and guests and can be enjoyed socially at any given time. Thursday evening, when we have our weekly dinner, is particularly popular with both tables in use. There are three tournaments played annually which all members can enter with the champions having their name placed on the board in gold. They are the Handicap Snooker, Handicap Billiards and a new event to the club this year, the Bernie Hanmer Snooker Tournament which is a scratch event. We have four inter club competitions a year with eight players making up each team. We play the Mt. Eliza Club twice a year for the Cup, which has a twenty year tradition, and the Kooyong Club and Bentleigh Club once a year. These competitions are keenly contested with team members enjoying the challenge of playing singles and doubles with Club pride at stake. Snooker, in particular, is very enjoyable to play and there are any number of members who gain much pleasure by having a game or two with a beverage and the constant challenge of out scoring their opponent.

4 SQUASH The Sandringham club has one squash court with more than 40 active squash players. Squash in the Sandringham club is predominantly pennant competition, with practice and social matches at other times. The club has six pennant squash teams competing in the Midweek Club Circuit from F troop to B grade. Currently all six teams are successful and most will likely participate in the coming finals. Squash pennant is played from Monday to Thursday evenings with a typical evening involving four individual matches followed by a sit down meal with drinks and social interaction. The pennant season begins with an all pennant player function in the Pavilion to open the season, discuss pennant issues, and mix socially. At the end of the pennant season each team has a small function usually at a restaurant. One court can accommodate up to eight pennant teams so ultimately the club would like to create two or three new pennant teams (15 players) from new squash members. There are two individual squash trophies on offer. The Sandringham Squash Club Singles Championship, which is a knock-out format played over several months. And the Jack Schaffer Trophy based on number of pennant wins for the year. The squash court is available for member use from 8.00am to 10.00pm daily, however use outside these hours can be arranged with the club manager. Court times are managed by the monthly booking sheets located on the squash court notice board.

5 TENNIS Tennis is one of the most popular activities at the. Its players are currently 140 in number and recently growing by over 10 per cent each year. Three mod grass and two en-tous-cas courts, all with lights for night use, are available for member use from 8.00am to 10.00pm daily. An arranged program of 10 daytime tournaments and three 12-week Monday and Tuesday Night Teams tournaments provide 80 organised event days of tennis each year. Organised casual tennis is also played four times weekly on Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, Thursday afternoons and Saturday afternoons. Tennis lessons from a Tennis Australia accredited coach are available at the Club on Tuesday evenings. Members partners and friends may use the courts on weekday mornings and Sunday afternoons by arrangement with the Club Manager and payment of a $5 green-fee. Sons of members between 14 and 18 years of age may also play tennis with their fathers at any of the above times free of charge. The daytime tournaments include three doubles tournaments (named after former club members Ted Moran, Arthur Burton and B.G. Ross). Each typically involves four sets of tennis before lunch, a sit-down meal, one further set after lunch, a formal tournament final and presentations, speeches and bell-ring drinks in the bar at the conclusion of the day. Typically players participate in these events. A Veterans versus Juniors Team Tournament is also held on a Sunday in Spring using a similar format to the above. The cut-off age is around 55 years and each team usually comprises 10 to 16 fit and/or crafty players. The Monday and Tuesday Teams Tournaments currently involve about 14 teams of four players with a range of skill levels in each team. Matches commence at 7.00pm and involve three sets for each player. On completion of tennis at about 9.45pm, a barbecue or equivalent simple meal is provided (usually in the Houston Pavilion) and is followed by results, awards, jokes/stories and a few drinks around an outdoor wood fire. The Club Singles Championship, named after former member Ralph Burt, is played in the Spring months using a knock-out format with a three-set final and awards dinner held later in the year. An inter club competition against Beaumaris is now played on two evenings per year at the Club and at Beaumaris. Typically three to five teams of four players represent the Club. Tennis players are kept aware of the status of current and forthcoming events via the Noticeboard in the Club Changing Room or via the weekly tennis which is currently sent to over 100 members who make-up 70 per cent of the tennis fraternity.

6 LAWN BOWLS Bowls is played on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and on Sunday morning. The dress code is casual on all days except Saturdays when traditional creams or whites are worn. Start times are: 2.30pm 2.30pm 2.00pm 2.00pm 10.00am New Bowlers are encouraged to practice outside these times and to contact the convener when wishing to play. Our experienced bowlers are happy to assist new bowlers with coaching; this can be arranged through the convener. Bowls can be borrowed by new players from the Club at no cost. There are two major tournaments each year, these are a singles and a pairs competition and are usually played on Saturdays. There are two social games during the year with our traditional rivals the West Brighton Club. We have a new special event trophy donated by the late Richard Bean and is played in the Spring/Summer. Normally all tournaments are accompanied by a lunch or supper. Please feel free to discuss any of the above with our Bowls Convenor.

7 GOLF A large majority of members are also members of a golf club or group. The yearly golf competitions consist of a Country Championship at Sorrento Golf Club and the Club Championship at Victoria Golf Club. If we have sufficient numbers a bus can be provided for the Sorrento competition. This format has been working very well for some years. There are members of The who are members of the above mentioned clubs and they are able to act as sponsors on our club days which make them far more affordable. Light lunches and snacks are available and the days normally draw between 24 and 30 players. The dates for our championships traditionally are: Country Tournament, Sorrento Golf Club, March City Tournament, Victoria Golf Club, Nov/Dec The tournaments are handicap events with a stableford scoring system and are played for the Club golf trophies. The maximum handicap is 27. The days usually finish with a BBQ at Victoria Golf Club and the Sorrento Golf Club Day is followed by dinner at the Sorrento Hotel. These are optional events of course. Please feel free to discuss any of the above with our Golf Convener.

8 FISHING Fishing is one of the popular informal sporting activities of the Sandringham Club, as there is no regular commitment required. The emphasis on fishing trips is to ensure that the anglers have an enjoyable time. We nearly always catch fish, but we always have a good time! There are usually 2-3 trips a year. Port Phillip Bay One or two day trips on Port Phillip Bay in a charter boat with about 20 anglers. Jack Brockoff Memorial The Jack Brockoff Memorial fishing trip on Port Phillip Bay. The trophy honours the memory of Jack (of Brockoff biscuit fame), and a Club member for many years. The competition starts early in the morning, with weigh-in at lunchtime. Anglers fish from Club members boats. The number of boats varies from year to year, but usually six to eight boats participate. Following the weigh-in, the morning s exploits are analysed in the comfort of the Club bar. The Jack Brockoff event has been off the agenda for a couple of years, but will reappear in October-November this year. Interstate fishing Once a year, 20 or so of the Club s more enthusiastic anglers leave the comfort of Coggleshall and fish for 4 to 5 days, usually interstate. Over the last few years we have fished out of Port Adelaide, King Island, Wonboyne, Eden and Flinders Island. Interstate trip / June 2005 For June 2005, we have booked our third four-day trip in six years on the Falie, a 34-metre 300 tonne steel sailing ketch which accommodates 20 anglers in comfort in two to four berth cabins. We normally fly to Adelaide on a Thursday morning and return home the following Monday morning. Joint outings We have also recently established informal discussions with the Sandringham Anglers Club (based on the foreshore near the yacht club) with the view to possible joint outings which will benefit both Clubs.