CHINESE NEW YEAR BUFFET

& QUIZ NIGHT

Saturday 2^nd February

See Social Noticeboard for details and ‘sign up’ sheet

The first Management Committee meeting of the year took place earlier in January, and with a number of new members to the committee in place, under the chairmanship of Rob White, there was excellent consensus on two considerations: the need to start planning for clubhouse development, but also the absolute requirement to consult our membership every step of the way.

It is likely by now that members will have received an initial ‘ideas / blue sky thinking’ questionnaire, but despite this it is worth repeating a little of why this project needs to advance.

Like most Golf Clubs we have an ageing membership, across all playing categories.

To illustrate the point we have just 5% of members (men and ladies) who are currently less than 50 years old!  And just 1% in the 30 – 40 year group.

There is no guarantee that we will be able maintain membership at current levels without appealing to future membership, across all ages. In short older member resignations are likely to rise at a faster rate than newer members joining.

This is the very beginning of a planned programme of consultation with the membership, and there will be plenty of future opportunities for members to consider and comment further as our plans develop. Most importantly this is about the specifics of what members would like to see changed, NOT about changing the clubhouse for its own sake.

Exciting times ahead ….

Looking ahead there will be a Chinese New Year Buffet and Quiz on the 2^nd February and you can reserve your place by signing up on the sheet in the club foyer.

The men’s matches commence on the 17^th February when we will take on the County Team in a scratch competition. This is followed two weeks later by a match against the County Juniors.  Please come along to watch as you will see some very good golf.

A new feature this year will be WHO’S BALL IS THIS? If I find ball on the course and it has an identifying mark it will be published in Fore Info, the owner can collect it from the Secretary’s Office, if they wish to donate a few pennies to the Captain’s Charity bottle on the bar that would be appreciated but entirely voluntary. If you recognise the ball as belonging to one of your playing partners and they don’t fess up please email me captain@alresfordgolf.co.uk and I may embarrass them! I have a number of “found” balls for future issues of Fore Info.

I am often asked how many rounds of golf I will be playing during my year as Captain, I have no idea but I thought that guessing the number could be a bit of fun, so you will find a sheet on the noticeboard in the Clubhouse where you can enter your guess. The person who is the closest to the final number will win a bottle of wine. It is FREE TO ENTER, the competition is open to all members, playing or non-playing – ONE CLUB, but you may enter only once. Each entry must be a unique number so no copying your mates! I will be keeping a record of all of the rounds I play (social or competitive except foresomes and singles matchplay), on any course during the year and they will all count towards the final total which will be announced at the AGM.

Other free to enter competitions will be announced in future issues of Fore Info.

Graham Marshallsay

We tried to play the second leg of the Winter Triple at Corhampton on the 21^st however whilst it was clear in many places, the fog stubbornly refused to lift there even after a couple of hours so we will have to go back there in March and try again.  Four of us who should have been playing came back and played nine holes at Alresford – another reminder of how lucky we are to be members at Alresford.

Our Ladies handicap Committee will carry out its annual review on the 1^st February after which any ladies with handicap changes will be notified as soon as possible.  I asked George Clelland to explain the 2020 handicapping changes to the ladies present at the Tuesday afternoon rules session.  From some point in 2020 you will be allocated a revised handicap based on the average of your eight best cards from your last twenty submitted in qualifying competitions and be warned – the data goes back seven years.   It is therefore in your interests to submit as many qualifying cards as possible this year so that your 2020 handicap is truly based on your playing ability.  It also means that one bad round may not mean you automatically go up 0.1!

By the time you read this I will have attended Burns Night and – as is apparently customary – given the response on behalf of the Lassies.  I’m sure it will be a great evening even with my speech!

Finally, if you haven’t already done so, do fill in the Friendly Matches form – the closing date for the March and April matches is the 1^st February so be quick!   The Esme Norris knockout sheet is also up with a closing date of the 15^th February and the Annodata Team sheet (maximum handicap 24) is on the Captains Board with a closing date of 28^th February.

Best wishes

Sue 

This year we have also been conscious of the new World Handicapping System to be introduced in 2020. When WHS is implemented all players will have their handicaps re-calculated by England Golf based on the average of their best 8 qualifying scores from their last 20.Thus it is important that your current handicap reflects your actual playing performance.

We will be monitoring members’ performance throughout the year, particularly those who a struggling to play to handicap.

Supplementary Scores

To be valid, a round for a Supplementary Score must be played over a qualifying course. So, if there are more than 2 temporary greens and/or the length of the course has been reduced by more than 100 yards, you cannot submit a Supplementary Score. While it’s fairly obvious when there are temporary greens in operation, it is difficult to gauge the adjusted length of the course when the tee markers are often being moved forward some distance and if 11^th forward tee is in operation. To compensate for this situation, between now and the beginning of March, if, and only if, you are playing a round for a Supplementary Score, you should play off the distance plates for the course you are playing.

A reminder of the procedure for registering intent to submit a Supplementary Score. You must sign-in using the computer terminal in the Entrance Hall, and on completion of your round you should enter your score on the terminal. Failure to follow this procedure will result in your submitted score being null and void.

George Clelland

Question.

When ground under repair is defined by a painted line on the ground, the line itself is in the ground under repair? True or False

The bane of every golfer’s life is slow play. The Club Captains’ Committee is currently reviewing how we can help improve the pace of play by following some simple common sense guidelines such as “ready golf”; linking these to the new rules of golf should enable all of us to play that little bit quicker. Revisions to the Alresford scorecard are being made to reflect some of these changes and should soon be available – worth reading them to ensure you are compliant.

If you know of others in the club who are 60+ but not members of the Vets Section please encourage them to join.

Finally some dates for your diary:

Wednesday 6 March         Vets Captain vs Vice Captain

Thursday 4 April                Vets and Ladies Breeze up

Thursday 8 August            Vets Invitation – invite a fellow senior golfer from another club to AGC

Happy golfing

Drew Fielden

Looking for a way to ease the burden of subscription renewal each year ?

Why not join the ADVANCE SUBSCRIPTIONS SCHEME in 2019 ? Choose any amount to pay over 10 months towards your subscription bill in 2020. Build up a credit on your account which is offset against your renewal bill due 1^st January 2020. Pay as much or as little as you wish. Speak to the Office for more details and to receive an ADVANCE SUBS mandate form

SLOW PLAY? It’s not me, it’s everyone else!

Slow play. It’s the topic of conversation that just won’t go away. Tap in to the post-round chat in virtually any clubhouse, and someone, somewhere will be moaning about how long it’s just taken to play a round of golf. The irony is that in an era when most us of us are facing more time pressure than ever, a round of golf is taking longer than ever.

In a comprehensive survey last year from The Golf Club Secretary Newsletter, most of the ‘Top 10 reasons for slow play’ from a shortlist of 26 were deemed to be down to the player, and many of those factors have made it onto the playlist of videos (listed below) that have been produced to draw closer attention to the issue…

Read and view the Golf Monthly video

• Players not being ready to play when the course is clear or it’s their turn
• Elaborate pre-shot routines that take too long
• Players not calling faster golfers through soon enough
• General greenside etiquette
• Not playing a provisional ball when the original is in some doubt
• Not following or watching offline shots closely enough
• Marking cards on tees when someone should be hitting

14th greenside bunker renovated, reshaped and turfed.

8th and 16th bunkers have had sand-splash faces removed, reconstructed and turfed.   The teeing area on the range has been enlarged and improved.  Course furniture (yardage posts and 150 posts) are being brought in for treatment or painting.

Tee tops are holding up well with regular divot filling and markers being moved daily.

Tree work has started in-house with some base pruning on the 1st and Academy and ivy removal on the 1^st tee area and the 8^th. As we are all aware over the coming month, considerable tree work will be undertaken on site.  Thanks to all the members who attended the ‘tree walk’ to take on the understanding of the programme of work.  The ‘Tree Management’ report can be found in the Greens area on the website as well as on the display board in the foyer.  There will be plenty of logs on the range please speak to the green keepers if you would like to take some.

Mark Tiplady

Answer.

True. When defined by a painted line on the ground, the edge of the ground under repair is the outside edge of the line, and the line itself is in the ground under repair.

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 ‘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 1^st 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 is 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 Pat Wallis on 01420 564417 or peterpat51@outlook.com, or call in to the Secretary’s Office.

Pat Wallis

Burns Supper 2019

A full house of members and guests sat down to our traditional Burns Supper on Saturday 26^thJanuary.

As always, the guests were greeted by the skirl of the bagpipes played by Iain Laird which set the scene for the evening. A supper of traditional Scottish dishes of smoked haddock pate, haggis, neeps and tatties, followed by Scotch Trifle infused with whisky, was expertly prepared and served by Chris and Kelly Pullinger and their staff.

As is traditional, the haggis was piped in by Iain Laird,carried by chef Chris and attended by John Murray bearing drams for the ceremonial party. The haggis was addressed, toasted and then returned to the kitchen for serving.

The main speech and toast,The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns, was proposed by George Clelland who reminded the audience of how many well-known phrases and sayings come from Burns’ work. Graham Marshallsay gave the Toast to the Lassies which was very complimentary, and then his final flourish of distributing red roses to the ladies around him gained him a lot of ‘brownie’ points! Sue Masser, in her Reply frae the Lassies, more than held her own for the ladies with a very witty Reply frae the Lassies which rounded off with a plea to be left not more than 9 inches from the hole in mixed foursomes.The evening concluded with everyone giving a hearty rendition of Auld Lang Syne.Keith Monkhouse did a splendid job as Chairman and Master of Ceremonies and kept everyone informed as to what was happening and keeping the evening flowing.

I would like to give my personal thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the evening. The dining room was prepared, and the tables dressed by Jennifer Clelland, Annie and Ron Beal and David Roberston. During the Supper itself, my thanks go to Carol Roe for delivering the Selkirk Grace; Drew Fielden for proposing the Loyal Toast; Chris and Kelly and all the kitchen and serving staff; John and Tracy at the bar; our piper Iain Lairdand of course, the principal speakers, Graham Marshallsay and Sue Masser

George Clelland