Fore Info August 2021
Content
Here are some of the August highlights:
- Next steps in deciding on Tee Times
- A new Lady President from Alresford GC
- Results of our Junior Club Championships
- Updates on the Course and some future plans
- Results from our Team Matches
- Vets Championship Results
- Final Results of Team Golf
- Update on Upcoming Social Events
- Lucky Winners in the 100 Club
- Pro Tip from Mark Wood on ‘Bombing your Driver’
[hr]I hope you enjoy the read. July is always one of our busiest months, take your time to take it in…
If you have ideas to further improve Fore Info, please email me at newsletter@alresfordgolf.co.uk or look me up on the club directory for a chat.
David Marshall
Editor
The photo above may seem ordinary, but it is far from it! Tom Beecher looks rather happy as he had just driven the 18th. Your eagle eyed editor was about to pick up the ball as nobody was in sight, not left in trees, right in trees or on the fairway. Two minutes later Bill Ragan and Tom appeared in the far distance, almost 350 yards away, Tom grinning like a cheshire cat. Sorry for Tom, but he left the eagle put one inch short! No problem as he had already won his match. I apologise to all those who drive the 18th green, but this is the first one I witnessed. Let me know of your exceptional shots.
Management Corner
Tee Times
As Covid restrictions have eased, together with advice from Golf England, our Club no longer needs to operate pre-booked Tee Times due to the pandemic and have therefore reverted to traditional ‘open tees’ for casual play and most competitions. As is traditional at the Club; there will continue to be Tee Bookings for Club matches and Golf Societies etc.
Tee Time bookings for casual play were brought in 15-months ago under emergency provisions aligned with established Club rules and it had been signalled since that inception; there is no mandate to continue with Tee Time bookings beyond emergency requirements. Therefore, as emergency provisions have been removed our normal queueing system is now in place, and all golfers are reminded not to join the queue until all playing partners in their group are present. There will no ‘saving places’ in the queue, and no jumping in. If you are playing in a 3-ball, for example, all three players must be present before joining the queue; there cannot be any exceptions.
The subject of Tee Times is being considered through a consultation with golfing members of the Club, which will lead to a members’ vote at a General Meeting of our Club to determine future arrangements either with or without some pre-booked Tee Times. If you have an opinion on the future of Tee Times at our Club you need to contribute to the consultation and ultimately cast your vote at the General Meeting when held. You really should not leave this to other members to decide for you; your comments and vote at the future General Meeting have equality with everyone else. Club-Captain, Mark Tiplady, has included further information in his report within this edition of Fore Info.
Membership
As expected, and predicted by the Management Committee in December 2020, our Club has a full membership for the first time in recent memory. This is testimony to; the overall management of our Club under General Manager – David Maskery, the work of the Management Committee and the Planning and Development Committee, and the brilliant and welcoming environment created by all members and of course our Club Captain, Mark Tiplady, who arranges a meeting with all new members ahead of joining us. The ‘year-round’ quality and presentation of our course is undoubtedly a significant reason for new members choosing to join our Club.
We tend to experience attrition in membership of up to 9% at the time of annual renewal in December each year, that means that we expect to lose around 50 current full-members this year. The Management Committee has created a ‘Temporary Membership’ scheme so that aspirant new full-members applying for membership at this time could join our Club but are not currently permitted to play at peak times. As we become aware of individual members leaving our Club the Temporary Members will be converted to ‘Full-Members’, thus we have a pipeline of new full members which secures a very positive immediate future. Currently, the Temporary Membership scheme is likely to contribute about 50% of spaces for full members in December. I would therefore recommend that any Academy Members who are considering taking-up full membership should make this known to David Maskery as soon as possible. Also, any member wishing to introduce friends or family to join as full members next year, should also make David aware as soon as possible.
Finance
Our current financial year runs through to September 30th 2021. In August each year our Chair of Finance, Ray Panter, sets an annual budget for our Club and reports to the Management Committee on that budget at regular intervals. It appears that our second ‘Covid-affected year’ will result in lower income than normal from visitors, guests and societies but effective management of the Club’s finances will ensure that we are close to breaking even. We still have two-months’ of the financial year to go, but we do appear to be doing very well and have been very well managed despite the impact of the pandemic.
John White
This year we acknowledged John White’s contribution to our Club over many years; specifically in running the Thursday evening Team Golf completion which has been a fixture at the Club for 20 years. The reason I bring it to your attention is that; it is a unique opportunity for older members, juniors, new members, men and ladies to compete in the same team of six golfers. It also provides the opportunity for individuals to Captain their own team.
John also reached out to other local Club’s and the winning team from each Club compete in a final inter-club Team Challenge. This year, Alresford lost to South Winchester who enjoyed their visit to our Club last week.
John has always been well supported by his wife, Jan, who has also made an enormous contribution to our Social Committee over many years at our Club, and this year James White also helped to ensure that the seasonal Team Golf competition ran perfectly.
This year the Club inaugurated the ‘John White Trophy’ to recognise the 20th year of Team Golf, which was presented to the winning team Captained by Mark Pyne. Do look out for the ‘John White Trophy’ – a large wooden bowl beautifully crafted by our expert, professional woodturner and ex-Captain; Les Thorne.
Closing Comments
I do hope that we can continue to enjoy golf without further restrictions, but must ask that all members consider the safety of our staff and franchisees when coming to the Club.
….and please, do make sure that you contribute to the consultation on Tee Times, we need to hear all views so that relevant recommendations can be made to vote on at the General Meeting.
Robert White
Chairman of the Management Committee
President of Hampshire: highest accolade for Jane
Every member at AGC can feel immense pride at the recent announcement that Jane Scott has been invited to become the next Hampshire Ladies Golf (HLG) President.
HLG looks after the golfing interests of all ladies and girls in Hampshire and has approximately 4,500 members, providing training, welfare and competitive golf for ladies and girls of all golfing abilities.
Jane (and Malcolm) has worked incredibly hard for Hampshire over the years and was County Junior Organiser before becoming Vice Captain and then Captain in 2016.
As most will know, Jane is a tireless worker and was Captain at Alresford in 2013. She brings a wealth of county-level knowledge to her 3 year term when she takes up the Presidency at the end of this year, having played 2nd team golf for Hampshire against many of our neighouring counties and further afield.
We all wish you well Jane for the future and know you will be ably supported by your entire family and us all at Alresford.
Ann Younger
Delegate, Hampshire Ladies Golf
From the Club Captain
July is a busy month for golf in the UK and we all had packed diaries. The Men’s Friendly team, superbly organised by Vice Captain Simon Freemantle, had matches with Lee-on-the-Solent (away), Blackmoor (away), Basingstoke (home) and Meon Valley (home) with mixed results but all highly enjoyable contests. We also had some super mixed team fixtures, entertaining Royal Winchester and visiting Rowlands Castle. We also had our first match with North Hants. This fixture finally took place at last after 3 years of trying and was highly enjoyable. A great addition to our fixture list. Great work by Marion and Alan Bruce who are meticulous in their management of the mixed matches. The Mixed Invitation will take place on Sunday 5th September and full details will be published soon. Please support this great opportunity to invite friends to share a super day at our club.
The Men’s competition teams have also been busy with matches in the EAGG, Annodata and County 7’s. Led by Jim White, wins against South Winchester, Hartley Wintney and Bohunt Manor were well earned. Only one loss to Andover.
Jim White, Dave Fox, Gary Mugford and Bill Ragan joined Simon Freemantle and me at the Waterlooville Cup. On a very tough, high scoring day we finished in a creditable 4th place. Simon was the only golfer in the field to beat his handicap and, despite my very poor performance, we won the Captain/Vice Captain Trophy. Great stuff Simon!
Our Junior Captain Jenny Myers continues to represent the club with distinction. At the England Golf South Region Ladies and Girls Championships, held at Hartley Witney, Jenny was the Under 18 handicap winner. few days later she won the club junior championship again. Well done Jen!!
Tony Stanton and I played 2 further rounds in the Daily Mail foursomes, beating Waterlooville away and then Somerley Park at home. We are now waiting to see who we play in the 7th round, with the winners going to the finals weekend in October.
Finally, an update on the tee booking Consultation/Working party. Chairman Rob has confirmed the background to this in his report. I am grateful to the “volunteers” I have coerced into being part of this working party. They are Alistair Gray, Andy Gagen, Chris Reilly, Caroline Warne, Charlie McLaughlin, Clare Monkhouse, Derek Andrews, Drew Fielden, Jean Coveyduck, Peter Gunn, Polly Church, Simon Tillson and Simon Wills. Jenny Myers will represent Juniors. Please make your preferences and feelings known to myself or any of this group. This can be face to face or by email. I am grateful for the many emails I have received on this subject. These have all been well thought out and will really help with our process. All feedback will be considered.
The working party met initially via Zoom. We will keep in contact, record all views and opinions. We will share and measure all our information. We will then use this information to design an online survey.
As you might expect, we have found that members preferences do range from Fully Open as we have now, to the 100% booking as we had during lockdown. We have also discovered that members do understand and respect that other members have different views.
I am proud that we are a member’s club. We have said all along that we, the members, will decide on this matter. Thank you for taking part in this consultation.
Finally, members often tell me what their friends and family think of our course. I was pleased to receive the following email which is a typical example. “I took a friend round yesterday afternoon who had never played the course before. To say he was impressed would be an understatement. He thought it was as good as any he has played in the area.
Please let the Green staff know their hard work is appreciated not just by members but by visitors as well.” Hear hear!
Happy golfing!
Tip
Ladies Section
This month began with our Stoneham team winning 5/2 at home against Brockenhurst but losing away 4/3. We did however have a great away win 4/3 against Cams Hall. We have two matches to go having to win one in order to go through to the next round.
My Captain’s Charity Stableford was a huge success and despite only 43 entries managed to raise well over £ 800 for the Carroll Centre. This will help with the Holiday Play Scheme and also go towards a new sensory play area. Whilst essential for all this is beneficial fo children experiencing difficulty playing with others. Thank you all for being so generous.
Some of our Ladies enjoyed the Ladies Triangular match with Liphook and Meon Valley with Alresford runners up to Meon Valley.
Sharing my Captain’s Day with last years Captain Mal was a great success.
All Ladies embraced the Carnival atmosphere and seemed to enjoy the one Lady Steel band who sadly only played for an hour. Our team format questioned some Ladies maths but all seemed to manage. My thanks to all who helped, Tip and David Hope-Mason for starting, Ray Panter and Tony Hutt for running the putting competition, David and Mel in the office, Simon and his team,Tracy and the Bar and Kitchen Staff and Gill for doing the cards.
Our Annodata team won their third round and play next on Tuesday. We enjoyed our mixed Matches at Rowlands Castle and North Hants kindly organised by Marion Bruce.
Tip Mal, Grahame Marshallsay and I played in the Promethean in very hot weather at Royal Winchester managing to come somewhere in the middle of the field.
Liz Williams covered herself in glory winning the 2nd division of the Hampshire Senior Ladies Championship at Royal Winchester.
It shall be interesting to see how we all cope with no tee times after the regimentation we have become accustomed to. Please be polite and abide by the rules.
Our junior girls have been doing well and Congratulations to Jenny Myers who won the under 18 Net Competition Southern Region recently.
It was with great regret that I accepted Rox Dhand’s resignation from the Committee as she felt she could not commit due to other activities.
Sarah Staines has accepted Jan’s and my invitation to join the Committee and we wish her all the best.
Play well and enjoy.
Di
Ladies Captain
Match Committee Report
Junior Championship
The Junior Championship was played on Monday 26th July. This is a 36-hole competition played on one day. The first round is scored as a Stableford competition for the John Holmes Trophy and was won by Jasmine Jury with 34 points. The afternoon round is played by the top 4 gross scorers from the morning round with the result of the Championship determined by the aggregate gross score over the two rounds. This year’s Junior Champion is Jenny Myers who scored 83+78 for a total gross of 161; Marcus Kail was the runner-up with 82+83 for a total gross of 165.
Husbands & Wives
This popular foursomes Stableford competition is back. Booking is now open and filling up fast; Booking will close at 7pm on Saturday 7th August to allow time to make the draw and then the Start Sheet will be emailed to everyone at the beginning of the following week. This particular competition is also open to 5-day members without payment of a green fee. We’re anticipating a 2 tee start from approximately 08:27 till 09:30, but we may be able to extend this is necessary. Costs and details for the lunch will be made available shortly.
Greens Maintenance & Casual Scores
The first week in August is Greens Maintenance week during which there could be a number of temporary greens in use on some days Consequently, Casual Play scores will be suspended from Monday 2nd August through Friday 6th August.
Match & Handicap Committee Documents
We have added to our page on the Club website a document giving a more detailed summary of the Results of the Survey than appeared in last month’s Fore Info. The Committee thanks all that contributed and will take the feedback into preparing the 2022 Competitions Calendar.
The General Terms of Competition document has also had some updates applied recently.
George Clelland
Chair, Match and Competitions Committee
Mixed Matches
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There are only 3 mixed matches left to play this year. The sign up sheets for the matches until the end of September are on the notice board. The remaining matches are:
Bramley Home Friday 20th August at 2.00pm
Basingstoke Home Friday 10th September at 2.00pm
Corhampton Away Friday 8th October at 2.30pm
If you are unable to get to the club to sign up you can ask the office to do it or contact Marion or Alan Bruce and you can be added to the list. The sign up sheets close 3 weeks before a match.
Any club member with a CONGU handicap is welcome to sign up to play. All the matches are played in a friendly manner and everyone is welcome, no matter what their handicap. It is hoped that members who haven’t played before will join in and sign up for the opportunity to play mixed golf both at home and on some very enjoyable away courses. Playing partners are drawn as part of team selection.
The match teams will be communicated by posting the team list on the Mixed notice board and an email will be sent to all individuals involved. Team members are requested to play in team colours of white shirts and navy jumpers.
All matches will include a meal after the game.
For more information or any queries please contact Marion or Alan Bruce.
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A Look at the Rules
Question.
In a 4BBB competition, on one of the holes, Player A returns a score of 4 and Player B returns a score of 5. Player A was in breach of Rule 12.2b(1) for touching sand in making a practice swing in a bunker but neither partner was aware of the penalty before returning the scorecard. The committee was then made aware of the breach of rule Rule 12.2b(1).
Which action by the committee is correct?
- Player A’s score of 4 counts.
- Player B’s score of 5 counts.
- Player A’s score of 4 plus 2 shot penalty, making a score of 6 counts.
- The side is disqualified.
Vets Section
July was a busy month for the Section with seven friendly matches in the diary, the Vets Past Captains Plate and the 36 hole Championship.
The month started well with a fine victory at Test Valley 5 – 1 but the bubble was soon burst with a rather crushing defeat at Tylney Park 5 – 2. However we soon bounced back to record a home win against Bramshaw 41/2 – 11/2. This was a very close match with 3 of the games being decided on the 18th green so it could have gone either way. Once again we received plenty of compliments from our visitors both about the condition of the course and the after match hospitality.
Our visit to Hampworth on the 26th started a run of 3 matches in the final week of July. For those of you who have played the course you will appreciate the test of golf it presents. Although we could not overcome a strong home team going down 5 – 1 it could have been a much closer score with three of the matches being decided by a single hole. Blackmoor is always a popular venue and there were 23 players looking to be selected for the match. I am pleased to say that our teram secured a fine win 41/2-21/2.
The return match against Bramshaw was played over the Forest Course. Certainly a different experience and one some of our team had not experienced before. Apart from the vagaries of the course we also had Storm Evert to contend with. This all proved too much for us and we had our first, and hopefully only, whitewash going down 6 – 0. I often remark on how close these friendly matches are but can’t do that this time as the star performance of the day came from Nick Duncan and Graham Lumb who only lost 3 & 2. Its perhaps worth noting the comment from the Bramshaw Seniors Captain who can’t remember the last time they lost a match over the Forest Course. Perhaps we can take some solace from that.
The Vets Past Captain Plate on the 8th July saw 12 players taking part in this annual event. An individual stableford competition, Ed Tinley’s score of 40 points proving too much for the rest of the field. A further 6 Past Captains joined us for the after match hospitality enjoying the opportunity to catch up with friends and golfing chums. Thanks to Vice Capt. Bob Archer for organising a very enjoyable day which proves to be a popular event in the Vets diary.
The Vets Championship, held on consecutive Mondays in the middle of the month, had a strong field competing in the hot weather conditions we were experiencing at the time.
Robert Doley’s gross 158 proved far too good for the rest of the field winning by a comfortable 9 strokes from 2nd place Brian Wright with 167 and Jonathan Scott a further 2 shots behind. Congratulations to Robert and also to Brian Wright who also wins the Best Nett Trophy with an excellent 133 from Geoff Jenkins in second place with 142.
Entries for the Vets Invitation on the 12th August have now closed and the draw for 4 balls will take place within the next couple of days and everyone involved will be notified. This is a shotgun start at 9.00 followed by a Hog Roast, hopefully on the patio weather permitting.
The return to golf balls in the bag for our Wednesday Roll Up was welcomed by all those taking part. 20 players joined in and it was especially good to see a few new faces rolling up and can only look forward to seeing more players taking part over the coming weeks. To keep the Roll Up players together could anyone looking to play please roll up by 9.00am. This will also help clear the 1st tee by 09.30. Thank you to all Club members for respecting the preferred tee times on a Wednesday morning.
Gareth Rees
Vets Captain
General Manager’s Update
NEW MEMBERS
Welcome to the following new members who have all joined the club during July ; Clovis Axton, Mark Hudson, Simon Buckenham, Marc Leckie, Darren Wilkes and Alex Hammond ( Temporary Member) and Paul James (Country).
We hope that your time at the club will be a long and enjoyable one for all of you.
COVID RESTRICTIONS & GUIDELINES
As of 19th July, the updated Government roadmap dictated that almost all Coronavirus laws and restrictions would be lifted. The choice now falls back to individual golf clubs as to how best to safely manage their facilities and the health and welfare of their members, their staff and their visitors. Consequently, some practices and advice will remain in place. We urge all members to proceed with caution and to continue to be mindful of others around the clubhouse areas and on the course.
With this in mind here are some key guidelines still in place at the club;
- As of 26th July the booking system is NOT now in place , DO NOT attempt to use it.
- Access to the course is restricted until 07.30am
- Members are reminded that access to the course is subject to availability and any pre-booked club team matches or golf societies have priority on the tee for the specific allocated time. Please refer to the club website diary and tee reservation notices for details of these.
- Members should queue in an orderly manner at the designated queuing points, only taking a place when their entire playing group is present. If all your players are not present then you may not join the queue.
- Queuing points will be marked from the starters hut back towards the driving nets.
- Members should observe the normal 1st tee protocol as displayed at the tee and if they have seen the group in front tee off – wait for the bell to be sounded OR if they have not seen the group ahead tee off – wait a minimum of 9 minutes before teeing off. This will ensure safety and maintain a good pace of play.
- Guests of Members are permitted after 11.00am weekdays and again after 1.00pm on Sundays plus any non-board competition Saturdays
- Visitors are only permitted after 12.00noon weekdays and Sundays.
- For the ongoing protection of members and staff (many of whom are younger) our preference is that you continue to wear a face covering when entering and moving around the clubhouse.
- Please continue to use the hand santisers when entering or exiting the clubhouse.
- You may now order drinks directly from the bar or continue to enjoy table service. We will provide both options.
FACEBOOK – check out our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/alresfordgolfclub
Make sure you ‘like’ our Facebook page and you will link to it and get the regular pictures and updates on what’s happening ! Share with your friends to help us boost our online and social media profiles
Follow us at https://www.instagram.com/alresford_golf_club/
Butts: no joke!
Judging by the number of complaints we have received over the past couple of weeks , this is becoming a major issue. Please use the ash trays and bins provided.
CLUB ‘ROLL UP’ RESUMPTION
Fancy a game during the week? All members are welcome to come along to the informal ‘club roll-up’ on Wednesday mornings. The usual start time is between 11.00-11.30am all year round but may change subject to any advanced tee reservations. Everyone welcome, meet at the starters hut from approx. 10.45am for allocation of groups. As per the times highlighted for the Ladies and Vets Sections, we politely ask members to show courtesy to those who wish to play in this ‘roll up’ at this time.
AUGUST
Wednesday 4th ~ 11.00am
Wednesday 11th ~11.00am
Wednesday 18th ~ 11.00am
Wednesday 25th ~ 11.00am
DON’T FORGET ‘GREEN MAINTENANCE WEEK’ – Monday 2nd – Friday 6th August
There may be times when temporary greens are in play – Casual Play scores will be suspended from Monday 2nd August through Friday 6th August.
Greens Staff have priority on the course.
David Maskery
General Manager
Social
Saturday 4TH SEPTEMBER 2021
TEAM GOLF ’21
A successful season ended with a flourish on a glorious summer’s evening on Thursday 22nd July, having started in complete contrast to the pouring rain nine weeks earlier. Ten teams completed their nine rounds of leagues matches a week earlier with the closest of finishes.
The penultimate week of the League, saw three teams level second, all on 13 league points, 3 behind leaders Massers Mates. On the last round of the competition, top team Massers Mates were then beaten by the team in 10th place, Birdies and Eagles with David Thomas’s last putt on the last green in the last match, putting three teams on 16 points at the finish! Stableford points (SP) then came into the reckoning giving Team Golf debutantes Rabble without Applause, Captained by Mark Pyne, a fine win by 3 SP from Massers Mates & Captain Sue Masser with Free ‘n’ Easy & Captain Simon Freemantle, third a further 2 SP behind. Fourth was Papa Morph & Captain Ian Cantrill.
The Championship and Prize giving evening was held on the 22nd July when all players took part with best four Stableford points to count for each team, although unfortunately a few players were unavailable. The outcome was also very close again with Massers Mates just pipping Papa Morph by 3 points on countback of their 5th player, followed closely by Free’n’Easy in 3rd place (again!).
Following supper, TG Organiser John White introduced the Prize giving, reminding all that last year was the 20th year since we started playing Team Golf at Alresford. To celebrate the occasion, Les Thorne had kindly made a magnificent wooden bowl, which a ‘certain’ committee decided it should be named ‘The John White’ Challenge Bowl. Unfortunately it could not be competed for last year, so was presented for the first time this year.
John then thanked a number of people who had helped to the success of this event including the two starters, Keith Monkhouse and Robin Kennedy, David Maskery and his staff, but most of all the support of the team Captains and all their players. Mary Rook, past Club Captain, presented the prizes to both the League and Championship winners. The twelve gross birdies during the League games were rewarded with a sleeve of golf balls – a notable winner being Jim White with a total of 6, three of which achieved in really wet conditions on the very first round in May.
The Club Chairman, Rob White (no relation to the organisers!) thanked the White family, John, Jim and Jan for organizing and running this popular and enjoyable competition. It enabled members from all sections and new members to mix, meet and play golf with a number of golfers they would otherwise probably not come across, plus add a few pennies to the bar takings!
Jim White closed the proceedings saying we hoped to see everyone back next year and wished Rabble without Applause good luck with their representative match against South Winchester at Alresford.
John & Jim White on behalf of the Social Committee
TG Match v South Winchester
Our League winners Rabble without Applause represented Alresford on the 29th July against their team also consisting of four men and two Ladies, one of ours being our Junior Captain, Jenny Myers, who was our highest scorer with 16 points.
It could have been a very even match with both teams having four scores either side of 14. However an excellent round scoring 20 stableford points by John Samson for S Winchester swung the result in their favour by six points. As Alresford had won the Challenge Cup for the last four years they were particularly pleased with their win. We look forward to returning to South Winchester next year and winning it back!
John White
Pro- Corner
How to Bomb your Driver
WIDEN YOUR STANCE TO SET YOUR SPINE ANGLE
For a normal set up to the ball we have our feet shoulder width apart, this gives you mobility and balance for the full swing. But when you really want to notch it up a gear to hit the long BOMB from the tee, I want you to widen your stance a few inches. Keep the ball opposite the left heel and widen out the stance with the right foot. This will tilt your spine more behind the ball and will naturally drop your head more behind the ball as well. More weight will be felt down your right leg and into your foot; this is absolutely fine – just go with the feel of it.
TURN YOUR SHOULDERS FULLY
A typical fault that most golfers do when they are trying to generate more distance is to generally make the swing quicker- quicker in the backswing!!
If this happens you rush to the top of the backswing, arms and body out of sync and a real poor short body rotation. This is a big power lose in a golf swing.
Just concentrate on making a smooth backswing turning your shoulders fully, a good thought to have is to get your left shoulder behind the ball at the completion of the backswing.
LET’S RIP IT
Now you are fully coiled in the backswing now is the time to let rip……
You need to shift your weight into your left side with a slight lateral movement before you start your rotation, this will drop your club on the perfect plane on the downswing, just slightly on the inside. Keep the body turn speed up and focus on keeping the clubhead accelerating into the back of the ball and all the way through to the finish of the swing.
Enjoy the extra distance and enjoy bombing it past you’re playing partners.
From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy
WISHING BENJY WELL
Mandy and I would like to thank Benjy for all of his hard work and help over the past 4 months in the professional’s shop. We would like to take this opportunity to wish him all the very best for the future as he leaves us at the end of next week to get ready for his university studies at Bournemouth which starts in September. Please feel free to pop into the shop this week to wish him well for the future.
MORE GOLF TIPS
I am always filming new video tips and popping them over on my YouTube channel which is completely free to subscribe to. You can find my channel here – https://www.youtube.com/user/markwoodgolfacademy
Greens News
It’s both lovely and odd to have all the course furniture back in use. Have you noticed how many people are happy putting with the flag stick left in now? Will there be a flood of cheap small rakes available in the Alresford area I wonder! Sadly I’m still seeing footprints so would again ask members to leave the bunker as you would like to find it. The white rakes should be left completely in the bunker with the handle pointing away from the green back towards where you came from. If you leave it half in and half out the greenkeepers need to shutdown their mower before getting off to put it back in again to allow them to cut the edge.
Now if you have overdosed on TV Golf please be realistic about our bunkers. Compared to other courses in Hampshire ours are very good and we simply don’t have the budget or climate to provide what you see on TV. Extra efforts are being made to rake the bunkers but after rain they are effectively reset and need to be raked again.
The grass is growing like crazy so that the course is in fabulous condition. The priority has to be the tees; fairways and greens so if you think the grass is a little longer than normal under the trees it’s not a devious plot to hide your ball. It’s more a difficulty in keeping up with the growth we have.
So having got the course into great condition it must be time to have some Greens Maintenance then! In the first week of August the plan is to deep tine the greens to around 8 inches; scarify to 5mm in two directions; seed; top dress and brush in. The Tees will also be hollow cored to remove thatch and top dressed and over seeded.
The Greens Committee recently met and amongst other things agreed this winters development projects, the Minutes etc are on the Club Website under the members section. Having done so the process is to seek Mancom approval and building it all into the next budget. We also discussed some of the marmite issues including rough height; curved fairway edges and carry from the red tees. The outcome was for things to stay as they are for the time being.
Going back to the Greens for a moment you might have noticed that sometimes the birds are doing a single “peck” into some of the greens. Exactly why is currently a mystery as we don’t think they are pulling out leather jackets. The situation is being monitored. At the risk of tempting fate we are fortunately facing little bird damage to the turf at the moment and hope this continues. It seems the starlings were reluctant to take up residence in the boxes we provided so they will be relocated for next spring in the hope some move in.
Some of you might have noticed the mowers have a set of brushes before the blades, this allows a drier cut earlier in the day. Did you realise our Greens Mowers are diesel powered? We have a rollover program and two of them are due to be replaced early next year. As they are retained for 10 years this time we will need to consider if it would be more strategic to switch to Lithium Ion powered! They are available already being a lot quieter and without hydraulics. The business case is only just about to start but this could be very interesting so watch this space.
Finally the course risk assessment has recently been updated which fits nicely with the New Academy 1st hole being able to open. So rather than walking beyond the chipping dome you can tee off near the end of the car park which means we now have 8 Academy holes open for play.
Bob Moore
Chair, Greens Committee
A Look at the Rules
Answer.
3. The Exception to Rule 3.3b(3) applies. As Player A’s score was the score to count on the hole, the Committee must apply the general penalty to Player A’s score on that hole for a breach of Rule 12.2b(1).
Therefore, the side’s score for the hole is 6.
See Interpretation 23.2b/2
If you would like to find out more about the rules, there is a wonderful rules section on the R&A website www.randa.org where you can also find these exceptions. Just download the R&A app (Rules of Golf) from the app store.
100 Club
100 Club
The winners of the 100 Club prize draw for August 2021 were:
£100 Ron Markwick
£50 Mary Rook
£32 Ray Grainger
£32 Jeffrey Staines
£32 Chris Thompson
£32 Kim Johnson
Congratulations go to all our winners this month. Next month’s draw will take place during week beginning 23 August.
The annual 100 Club Summer Stableford Competition was played on Friday 23 July on a warm but breezy day. Thirty six members played during the day and a number either stayed on or returned in the evening for a social get together with food available for those who wanted it. Members were given a brief update on the position of the 100 Club and some statistics on membership before the results were announced. The winner of the Salver was Andrew Frearson with 37 points, in 2nd place was Gareth Rees with 36 points on countback from Bob Germon who came 3rd.
This was an excellent number who entered the competition and despite there being no formal meal in the evening it was good to see some members enjoying a chat and meal after the game.
The 100 Club was started back in 1987 and continues today with the objective to provide funds for projects or items which would enhance the Golf Course and/or Club House and generally be considered as extras and not necessarily within the Golf Club budget.
Why not join in and for as little as £1 per month can have the opportunity of winning a cash prize in the monthly draw and know you are actively contributing towards future enhancements to the Golf Club’s facilities.
For more information then please contact Pat Wallis by phone 01420 564417 or email peterpat51@outlook.com or call in to the Secretary’s Office.
Pat Wallis
Funny Endings: Joke and Cartoon of the Month
Congratulations to Derek Andrews for winning this months best joke/cartoon. He already drank his free drink….
Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good pint of beer.
Golf is also like marriage, If you take yourself too seriously it won’t work, and both are expensive.
We are looking for golf related, clean, seriously funny humour suitable for all members. Send your contributions to the Editor at newsletter@alresfordgolf.co.uk
If we use your joke or cartoon, I will buy you a drink in the bar.
Quote of the Month
“The best wood in most amateurs’ bags is the pencil.”
Editor: David Marshall
DISCLAIMER
The Editorial Team take no responsibility for incorrect information received from Contributors.