Dear Members
 
Thank you to everyone who joined us in last week’s financial information session. We indeed are in unprecedented times and we value the opportunity to have open transparent dialogue with you our Members.
 
During the session it was important to illustrate the impact of reduced income streams on our Club despite our best efforts to manage overheads as tightly as possible. As a Committee it was important for us to improvise,reforecast and remodel the way in which we operate in order to ensure that our golf club remains relevant into the future. Despite the fact that we are currently operating with approximately 50% of our original staff compliment, Werner and his team have delivered and ensured that we have outperformed what we had forecast post the hard lockdown.
 
With that being said, we face the reality that our club has depleted our reserves by approximately R700k. This leaves us in a vulnerable state, and should factors beyond our control work against us, we may be forced to request a funding bailout from you the Members. Werner and I laid this out as we felt it important to be proactive and ensure that everyone have a full understanding of our current financial position. Various options were presented and I can confirm that overwhelming support was received in favor of a once-off financial contribution towards the Club. This was also preferred to a green fee levy which would discourage members from getting out on to the golf course.
 
As a result I can confirm that the Committee have agreed to implement the following measures –
 

• All Members, excluding juniors and students, will make a compulsory once-off contribution of R500;
• Members will have the opportunity to either have this deducted in a once-off installment effective 31 August 2020, or through 5 equalinstallments of R100 per month; and
• A non-member green fee levy of R20 per round.

 
We have received numerous requests regarding the possibility of contributing further towards this initiative and should you wish to do so please get in contact directly with Werner who will be able to assist. This certainly would be appreciated.
 
All existing membership benefits will remain unchanged and we will engage further with the Welgemoed residents regarding measures in which they could assist.
 
We understand that Bellville Golf Club is not an isolated instance during these difficult times and it was for this very reason why we felt it best to collaborate with you when making this difficult decision. For those of you who were not present I can assure you that we have and will continue to act in your best possible interests.
 
I would like to thank you for your incredible support over the last few months and years. Reflecting on this has made me immensely proud to be associated with Bellville Golf Club which has a membership base who genuinely loves our golf club.
 
Lastly we will be staging virtual sessions on a more frequent basis and I encourage each and every one of you to join and participate in the running of our Club.
 
I trust that you and your family will remain safe and look forward to seeing you on the golf course.
 
Sincerely,
 
Morne Patterson
Captain
Bellville Golf Club