Fore Info December 2018
Burns Supper 2019
Saturday 26th January 7.00pm for 7.30pm
As you start to think of what you’re going to do after New Year and are looking for something to brighten up those dreary January nights, what better than an evening out with friends to enjoy a good hearty meal at one of the highlights of the social scene.
Come and enjoy the 27th Annual Burns Supper – a uniquely Scottish experience in good company featuring whisky, haggis, neeps (mashed swede) and tatties, and a light hearted appreciation of Scotland’s Bard, and of course, the skirl of the bagpipes.
This is always a popular event in the social calendar so look out for the sign-up notice that will be posted on the Social notice-board on Christmas Eve. The cost will be £26 per person and includes a three course meal with coffee and a glass of your favourite tipple for the toasts after the meal. The main speakers are in the process of being confirmed and will be featured on the notice board.
Members and guests are all welcome.
Contact George Clelland for further information.
Dress: Black Tie
Management Corner
Thank you David
Sincere thanks to David Pain, who has stepped down as Chair of the Planning and Development Committee, for all that he has achieved for the Club over many years
Responsible for Strategic Planning, Marketing and Communications, Membership Recruitment, IT and much more, we are indebted to David for many things; but foremost amongst these are the establishment and delivery of the highly successful Winter Membership and HPLS (Police) Schemes, both contributing significantly to our annual income.
Maintaining, indeed growing the number of playing members remains paramount to the future of the Club, and linked to this are the further developments we must now start make to enhance the appeal of the Club, not just on the Course, but off it.
New Members are joining the Committee and we look forward to reporting on future project progress as we go forward.
From the Club Captain
Brian who? It doesn’t seem possible that Brian Wright’s tenure as Club Captain is now over. Brian, Mary and Chris have had a fantastic year. I have enjoyed working with them as Vice Captain and I congratulate them on raising £9000 for their charity – Transplant Sport.
The Armistice Day Greensomes competition raised £385 for the Royal British Legion and the participants were able to pay their respects courtesy of 2 minutes silence before the shotgun start. The winners were Claire Gould & Peter Sly with 36 points with Mel Exton & Roy Torbett 2nd with 35 points OCB from the dream team of Brian Wright and yours truly; well, a team of Dreamers is probably a better description.
I look forward to working with Sue Masser & Mal Hope-Mason Captain & Vice Captain of the Ladies Section, Drew Fielden & Ed Tinley Captain & Vice Captain of the Vets Section and James Parry Captain of the Juniors. I want us to take a One Club approach in 2019 as, whilst we may play golf as part of the different sections within the club, we are all individual members of our fine golf club with equal rights and responsibilities – One Club.
I am delighted that Mary Rook was confirmed at the AGM as Vice Captain and she will be our Club Captain in 2020. Mary has given many years of service to golf in Hampshire, our Ladies Section and of course she has been Chairman of our own Management Committee for the last 5 years. Well done Mary! I look forward to working with you. The fact that we have a lady as our Club Vice Captain is not new, but it is of course new to Alresford Golf Club. Mary recognises the sensitivities of this and patently we will be taking things step by step, learning as we go forward.
One of those steps will be to appoint a Match Manager for the Mens Friendly Matches. The appointment of a match manager is not new as we have had them in the past. If you are interested in taking on this role please send me an email captain@alresfordgolf.co.uk The 2018 fixture list for the Mens Friendly Matches concluded with a rearranged match at home against Stoneham that ended in an honourable half. The final stats for the year were Played 18 – Won 9 – Lost 4 – Halved 5 a great set of results that will be hard to better next year.
The 2019 charity chosen by Sue, Drew and myself is the UK Sepsis Trust The charity’s goal is to end preventable deaths from sepsis and improve outcomes for sepsis survivors. Sepsis doesn’t discriminate between male or female, young or old, black or white it can affect you all. In fact our own caterer Chris Pullinger was bitten by insects whilst out playing golf earlier this year and contracted Sepsis – he was lucky that he was given the correct drugs early and thankfully he has made a full recovery.
The saying that charity begins at home certainly applies, and this year 25% of the money raised by Club members will be returned to the Club to be used in pump priming a Clubhouse Improvement Fund. There will be some fundraising events where 100% of the money raised will be given to UKST, for example my wife – Sarah – has been busy making Christmas bunting and she will be donating 100% of the profit. Other events where this applies will be advertised in advance.
The Drive-in on Sunday was well organised by Carol Roe and her team. Sue, Drew, James and myself stood trial, the presiding judge Mike Battison was resplendent in a wig and red gown (it may not be the first time he has worn this outfit!) Carol’s husband Mike played Devil’s Advocate with Catherine Carberry as our defence lawyer – I think we got off lightly despite her efforts! Our thanks go to Chris, Kelly and team for providing an excellent Sunday roast. Mary Rook again took on the task of selling the pegs that raised £671 to be split between the UK Sepsis Trust and the Clubhouse Improvement Fund. It was apt that all the Captains took heed of my One Club rallying call as all of our balls ended up in roughly the same area in the swale at the back of the green – well done team. The winners of the 4 bottles on offer were Club Captain; Duncan Webb, Ladies Captain; Kathryn Fielden, Vets Captain; Wynne Tufnell and Junior Captain; Tony Hutt.
The next social event is on 14 December – Whit Christmas Quiz – places are filling fast, get your names down soon to avoid disappointment. The New Year’s Eve event is already oversubscribed and there is a reserve list in place, testimony to the good work put in by the Social Committee on your behalf.
Please don’t forget the Captain v Pro Challenge on Boxing Day it would be nice to see a good turnout and, as an added bonus, it’s an opportunity to walk off some of that turkey or nut roast from Christmas Day. To get 2019 off to a good start come along to the New Years Day rollup at 11am, you know you want to but it’s oh so difficult to drag yourselves out of bed, please make the effort it will be worth it – honest!
I am very appreciative of all the kind messages of support I have received from so many club members, it really is proof that ours is the friendliest club in Hampshire. Finally, I’m looking forward to Ready Play next year and putting the GO back into GOlf. I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and Good Golfing for 2019.
Graham Marshallsay
Ladies Section
Suddenly, here I am Ladies Captain of Alresford Golf Club – where did the last year go? Once again I must thank Mary Panter for being such a great Ladies Captain. On Saturday I said how friendly, kind and inclusive she had been this year – she will be a hard act to follow!
Mary wrote her last Fore Info on the 25th October which means there is much to tell you about before my year had even started. The Ladies Breast Cancer Sale at the end of October raised a fantastic £540 for the charity – thank you everyone who baked, bought and sold.
The Christmas Coffee Morning on the 6th November organised by Catherine Carberry involved sixty-six ladies played from twelve different clubs. We had ten visiting stalls for early Christmas shopping and the raffle raised £375 for Transplant Sport.
The Maple Leaf Trophy matches have started and Gill Freemantle – Maple Leaf Captain and Lesley Martin – Stoneham Captain, organised a singles match play competition between Stoneham Ladies and Maple Leaf Ladies with twelve matches going out in cold wet weather last Tuesday – it was very helpful for the Maple Leaf Team to get match play experience from many of our expert Stoneham ladies.
On the 16th November we had the Trophy Presentation Evening – the table looked amazing and the evening went very smoothly. There was a half time break for drinks and canapes – the whole event was extremely well organised and well done to all our Ladies who received trophies on the night.
The Ladies AGM went very well with 60 ladies attending. We now have three new Committee Members having said goodbye to Jennifer Clelland, Mandy Overton and Annie Beale who were warmly thanked for their contributions to Ladies Golf. We welcome Jan Harring and Linda Wager as new members as well as Claire Gould who is now Secretary. Gill Freemantle becomes Handicap Secretary, Catherine Carberry takes over the Opens and Invitations whilst Di Peisley, Sandra Hooker and Barbara Hutcheson remain in their roles as Treasurer, Competitions Secretary and Academy and New Members liaison respectively.
I am delighted that Mal Hope Mason agreed to be my Vice Captain and I know we will work well together this year. Mal is already hard at work organising the Winter Triple with the first leg at Lee on Solent on the 10th December. The next day we have the Ladies Christmas Texas Scramble and Lunch and the list is now full – if you haven’t entered please do let us know if you want to be a reserve. December also sees the Turkey Trot and two roll ups so don’t forget to check the club calendar.
Yesterday saw the Captains Drive In where we were tried as to our suitability for our new roles. We made it through and all hit good golf shots into the swale on the 18th! For those of you who weren’t there After Eight Mints will likely be the biggest Captains Challenge this year!
I am intending to send out a monthly email telling you all what is available for Ladies during the following month so do look out for that. One other plug – we are organising the Club Roll Up on New Years Day – this starts at 11am and is nine holes of golf followed by warm sausage rolls and nibbles so please do come and join us.
Finally can I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a fantastic New Year with lots of great golf in 2019!
Sue
Match and Handicap Report
Trophy Presentation Evening
All the Club’s trophies on display is an impressive sight. Congratulations to Will Holmes on being awarded the beautiful Fred Morse Trophy for being the most consistent player in 2018.
Trophy winners and runners-up and Medal and Stableford winners who were unable to attend the Trophy Presentation Evening may collect their glassware memento from the Pro’s Shop; trophy winners who wish to take their trophy home should inquire in the Office. A full list of prize winners is on the main notice board.
Rules of Golf 2019
You should all be aware of the changes to the Rules of Golf which become effective on 1st January 2019. The 100 copies of the new Player’s Edition of the Rules have all been taken, but we will hope to be able to get more copies from the R&A. A comprehensive set of information can be found on the R&A website www.randa.org/en/rules-modernisation. There are also Apps available for Android and Apple devices.
We are planning to hold some education sessions in the Clubhouse on the changes to the Rules. These will probably last about 60-90 minutes and the dates which we’ve pencilled in are …
- Saturday 12th January @ 08:30
- Saturday 12th January @ 14:00
- Tuesday 15th January @ 14:00
- Wednesday 16th January @ 13:00
The 20 changes you need to know are ..
1. Drop from knee height (NOT shoulder height)
2. Measure the area to drop in with the longest club in your bag (except a putter)
3. Drop in and play from the relief area
4. When dropping back-on-the-line, your ball cannot be played from nearer the hole than your chosen reference point
5. Time to search – 3 minutes (NOT 5 minutes)
6. If you accidentally move your ball when searching for it, replace it without penalty
7. No penalty for a double hit – it only counts as one stroke
8. No penalty if your ball hits you or your equipment accidentally after a stroke
9. No penalty if your ball strikes the flagstick when you have chosen to leave it in the hole
10. Spike mark and other shoe damage on the putting green can be repaired
11. Ball accidentally moved on putting green – no penalty and replace
12. Ball marked, lifted and replaced on putting green is moved by wind to another position –replace ball on the original spot
13. Penalty areas replace water hazards, and you can move loose impediments, ground your club and take practice swings in penalty areas without penalty, just as you can on the fairway or in the rough
14. You can’t take relief from a penalty area unless you are at least 95% certain your ball is in the penalty area
15. In bunkers you can move loose impediments
16. In bunkers you cannot touch the sand with your club in the area right in front of or right behind your ball, during your backswing or in taking practice swings
17. Free relief is allowed if your ball is embedded on the fairway or in the rough (but “embedded” means that part of your ball is below the level of the ground)
18. Unplayable ball in bunker – extra option to drop outside the bunker for 2 penalty strokes
19. You cannot have your caddie or your partner standing behind you once you begin taking your stance
20. Pace of Play – it is recommended that you take no longer than 40 seconds to make a stroke (and usually you should be able to play more quickly than that) and Ready Golf in stroke play is encouraged.
Match Committee
I’d like to thank all the members of the Match & Handicap Committee for the work they have done over the year. After several years of service 3 members are standing down the Committee – Alan Bruce, Darren Boreham and Torquil Jack, and also Gill Freemantle is replacing Mandy Overton as the Ladies’ representative. Rest assured this has nothing to do with the changes to the handicap system in 2020. Fortunately, I’ve been able to recruit 3 willing volunteers to take their place – Gary Mugford, Ian Jones and Richard Bass. With the addition of 16 more singles competitions next year, we’re on the look-out for anyone who would be interested in joining the Committee.
George Clelland
A Look at the Rules
Question.
A player uses a compass during a stipulated round to help determine the direction of the wind or the direction of the grain in the greens. Is the player in breach of Rule 14-3?
Vets Section
Chairing the AGM on 7th November was Chris Thompson’s final act as Vet’s captain after an excellent year leading the club’s “senior” players; all 133 of them! A huge thank you to Chris for a really successful captaincy and some good golf results; enjoy your well earned break in New Zealand.
After an extended tenure on the Vets committee first as treasurer and latterly match secretary, both demanding roles, Dennis Jones has taken a pace back to concentrate more on playing golf. All our thanks to Dennis for his great contribution to our section. Tony Freeman has stood up in his place to organise the 39 Vets friendly matches next year. Ed Tinley has also joined the committee as our new vice captain and we wish him well in his new role.
The Winter League matches are well under way with 4 played to date, with somewhat mixed results; last year of the 5 competing clubs we were runners-up. We will do well to emulate that this year; however,… we still have 4 return matches to play in the New Year. Well done and thank you to Robin Bashford for co-ordinating these matches and the league.
Our Christmas Texas Scramble and lunch in early December will be the last formal Vets function of 2018 and along with some 70 members of the Vets we look forward to hosting Graham Marshallsay and Sue Masser as the new Club and Ladies captains.
Wishing all Vets a very happy Christmas and a great golfing 2019.
Drew Fielden
…from the Secretary
Welcome to the following new members who have all joined the club starting during November and December; Hugo Hiley (Student), Andrew Hoult , David Worsley and Philip Mettam (Social Extra).
Our popular Winter Membership is available once again this coming year from 1st November to 31st March and we can now welcome the following new winter members ; Andy Axton, Richard Boden, Gail Botwinski, Laurence burke, Christopher Coates, Ann Cyphus, Neil and Jean Dalton, Roger Davies, Ned Densham, Jim Duckworth, Paul Goodhew, Joseph Hannam, Colin Hersey, Terry Hope, Geoffrey Iredale, Michael Johnson, Kevin Jury, James Macrae. Roger moore, Colin Newton, Lene Rasmussen, Jill Penn, Mark Simpson, Darryl and Jackie Skinner, Stuart Smith, David & Gill Stubbs, Alan Wear, Steve West and Peter Whiting.
We hope that your time at the club will be a long and enjoyable one for all of you. We hope that you will enjoy using the club and its facilities and are able to participate in the many social events and competitions we have over the winter.
May I remind all members that we are welcoming new membership enquiries for all categories? If you know any friends or acquaintances who are thinking of joining a club or changing clubs, please do your best to sell them the benefits of Alresford.
DECEMBER
Wednesday 5th ~ 11.00am TBC
Wednesday 12th ~ 11.00am
Wednesday 19th ~ 10.00am ( due to Skool Xmas luncheon)
Wednesday 26th ~ NO ROLL UP – Play in the Captain v Pro Challenge
JANUARY 2019
Wednesday 2nd ~ 11.00am
Wednesday 9th ~ 11.15am (due to golf society)
Wednesday 16th ~ 11.00am
Wednesday 23rd ~ 11.00am
Wednesday 30th ~ 11.00am
May I remind all members that we are welcoming new membership enquiries for all categories? If you know any friends or acquaintances who are thinking of joining a club or changing clubs, please do your best to sell them the benefits of Alresford.
Special Member Referral Offer
Refer a new 5 or 7 day playing member* and receive an EXTRA £50 credit on your bar card
Speak to the Secretary for more information.
* not applicable to Winter membership applicants
RECIPROCALS
Due to the unprecedented success of our WINTER MEMBERSHIP programme this year combined with the additional wear on the course last winter due to the weather and resulting additional visitor play, the Management Committee has decided to suspend the reciprocal arrangements with our partner clubs during the period November to March.
Any reciprocals currently booked will be honoured but no further bookings will be made by the Office until 1st April (or before if notified).
We appreciate that many of you enjoy the ability to visit other clubs, but historically we receive many more visits during the ‘wet months’ than our members visiting other clubs. At this stage all our partner clubs are happy to resume our arrangements as normal in the spring.
Good news….
We are proud and delighted to announce that we have secured a ‘reciprocal agreement’ with EL PARAISO GOLF CLUB, near Estepona, Málaga, Spain.
Alresford GC members can enjoy preferential rates all year round when booking. Booking arrangements will be confirmed shortly.
El Paraiso is one of the most established courses on the Costa del Sol. Set out in the peaceful El Paraiso valley with the backdrop of the majestic ‘La Concha’ mountain to the north and the sparkling Mediterranean to the south, El Paraiso has a real members club feel to it and you can be sure of a warm welcome. Lush fairways are punctuated by meandering streams, flanked by palm trees and an abundance of exotic fauna, including oleander, jacaranda and mimosas. Lakes provide a home for waterbirds and the golf balls of the unwary! It is an enjoyable test of golf for both the low and high handicapper. Good practice facilities, very reasonable Pro-Shop and excellent restaurant – all come highly recommended.
It’s the time of year when the greens are becoming softer. Repairing pitchmarks and replacing divots is a basic responsibility of all golfers, so please look around the green when walking to your ball and try to repair a pitchmark on every green even if it is not yours. Grass growth will be less over the winter and so damage to greens takes longer to repair. Lets all do our bit to help ensure our greens stay in good condition for as long as possible.
If you are not quite sure how to repair a pitchmark properly please view this video by copying and pasting this link into your web browser;
Friday 14th December – SOCIAL COMMITTEE XMAS QUIZ
Sunday 16th December – CHRISTMAS SUNDAY LUNCHEON CARVERY ( and PRO-DRAW)
DON’T FORGET
BOXING DAY ~ Captain v Pro Challenge 9 -10am
NEED SOME FRESH AIR ON BOXING DAY ?
BLOW AWAY THE COBWEBS AND WALK OFF THE CHRISTMAS CAKE ?
All members are welcome to bring friends or family to play in the
9 holes competition FREE OF CHARGE.
PLEASE NOTE : If you are not playing in the competition – normal green fees apply for guests and visitors.
NEW YEARS DAY ~ 9 hole ‘roll up’ from 11am
See the Social noticeboard for details.
Help Please
Are you an avid Facebook user? Can you help us with encouraging postings and engagement with members and non-members?
If you would like to help with keeping our Facebook page ‘up to date’ and interesting please speak to the Secretary.
Facebook
check out our Facebook page
www.facebook.com/alresfordgolfclub
Do you like the regular daily posts which are currently happening? Is there anything which you feel would be useful to include?
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 our page to your friends.
SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS 2019
We will endeavour to send the majority of subscription renewal notices out to members via email again this year. Please ensure that we have your correct email address and pass this information on to any of your colleague’s if you think they are not receiving the FORE INFO. Any members who we do not have email addresses for will still have these details posted as normal.
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE TO FRIDAY BAR CLOSING TIMES
Over the Winter / Spring period the Clubhouse (and Bar) will close on Fridays as per the normal weekday times , unless there is an event or pre-booked function. Below is the current list of dates when the bar will be closed earlier.
Friday 7th December
Friday 21st December
Friday 28th December
Friday 4th January
Friday 11th January
Please check the club website and main noticeboard for changes to these dates.
BAR CARD ‘TOP UPS’ YOUR HELP PLEASE?
If you are coming to a function, please ‘top up’ your card beforehand. This helps the staff and your fellow members when it is very busy at the start of the evening and you are not taking the attention of one of the bar staff for a longer period of time than necessary and perhaps having to wait for the credit card machine as well etc etc. ‘Top Up’ the day before whenever possible.
David, Melissa and Lynda would like to thank all members for their help and support during the year and wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a healthy New Year.
Green News
Another busy month for our small team. Winter is with us! November and December are dominated by leaves. Our trees have shed most of their leaves now but the work clearing and collecting will continue for some time to come. With leaves needing collection and the grass still growing because of the mild temperatures it’s been a difficult task.
The team have completed two construction projects. A target bank has been constructed on the range. This was created out of stock combined soil as stated in last month’s episode, the bank is hugging a target post which creates a more attractive shot to that area further boosting the appeal of our practice facilities.
The 11th green side bunker has been renovated. It was in a poor state after the long summer with lots of play. The sand splash was up to a foot in places and grass just did not have a chance to survive. This left a bare sandy patch with broken edges all round it. The team de-constructed the face and edges replacing with revetted turf to create the shape. Then placed fresh soil on top to match the existing banking. This was then turfed, leaving a fresh-looking sand trap for the new year.
We are trying to renovate many bunkers along with reconstructing a few before next season. Finding time is difficult but in the new year with a full complement of staff we will complete all tasks.
The course has been put in to winter mode with many traffic restrictions out there. These are for the benefit of the course and will help the course recovery in the spring. Please replace any hoops after playing your shot and adhere to the traffic restrictions.
The sheep arrive week commencing 3/12/18. A little late this year due to the owner being so busy but nevertheless they will be here eating down the roughs on the 3rd/17th very soon.
Have a great Christmas and New year. Thanks for all the support you have given the Greenies during this difficult year. May 2019 be a great golfing/greenkeeping year!
Mark Tiplady
A Look at the Rules
Answer.
No. A compass only provides directional information and does not gauge or measure variable conditions or assist the player in his play.
100 Club
The winners of the 100 Club prize draw for December were:
£100 – Barbara Woolnough
£50 – Nick Male
£32 – Claire Gould
£32 – Mike Dale
£32 – Peter Wallis
£32 – Rosie Hallas
Congratulations to all the winners. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all 100 Club members and thank you for your support. To ensure we meet the deadline for the next issue of Fore Info the next draw will take place week beginning 17th December.
Not a member of the 100 Club?
The objective of the Alresford Golf Club 100 Club is to raise funds for projects and items requiring capital expenditure that will enhance the Golf Course and/or the Clubhouse. Such projects would generally be considered as ‘extras’ and not necessarily be within the Club budget. The 100 Club was launched in 1987 to raise funds to augment the Centenary celebrations of the Golf Club in 1990, but at the request of the members, the 100 Club has continued to raise funds for items such as the Information Board and Clock on the 1st tee and the Automatic External Defibrillator in the Entrance Hall.
If you’re not a member of the 100 Club, you can become one for as little as £1 per month. Shares in the 100 Club are purchased for £1 per month and there is no limit on the number of shares which can be held. In general, most members have between 1 and 5 shares and pay by monthly direct debit, though it’s also possible to pay quarterly or annually. Each share is allocated a number which in entered in the monthly draw. The top prize is £100, with a second prize of £50 and four other prizes of £32. For more information contact George Clelland on 01962 735008 or george.clelland@btinternet.com, or call in to the Secretary’s office.
George Clelland
Results
Editor: Andy Thomsen
DISCLAIMER
The Editorial Team take no responsibility for incorrect information received from Contributors.