Fore Info February 2022
Content
Here are some of the February Issue highlights:
- Update on subscriptions
- Clubhouse Development progress
- Upcoming Fixtures
- Ladies Results and Team news
- Rules Quiz Question: what can you repair on a green?
- Plans for General Play Scores
- Upcoming Competitions
- Details of Summer Knockout signups
- News of Vets Winter League Team Results
- Social update: Quiz night
- Divot Party plans
- AGC Member publishes a golf health book…
- Details of upcoming Rollups
- Pro Tip from Mark Wood on The Correct Body Turn
- Updates on the Course: Greenkeepers daily plans
- Winners in the 100 Club: could it be you?
- Joke of the Month
A member lost a Swiss Tissot Watch in early December, somewhere on or around the course. It has special sentimental value and I hope the member that inadvertently put it into their bag will hand it to the Office or Pro Shop so we can return it to the owner. Many Thanks.
Finally please send me any questions for Simon, our Course Manager to answer about the course as I will interview him next month.
David Marshall
Editor
newsletter@alresfordgolf.co.uk
PS Next Months Fore will be issued a little later on March 7th, for scheduling reasons. Worth waiting for!
WOULD YOU LIKE A TWO HOUR COACHING SESSION WITH MARK?
As some of you may be aware Mark and Mandy Wood were scammed by four individuals who entered the Pro Shop just before Christmas and got away with £2,600 worth of goods.
Unfortunately neither the bank nor their insurance company are prepared to meet this loss.
It has therefore been proposed that we hold a raffle to help recover some of this loss.
A sum of £5 minimum per ticket is requested for your entry into this raffle but you may enter as many times as you like. The prize will be a two hour coaching session with Mark, kindly donated by a lady member who wishes to remain anonymous.
Payment should be made in the office, via your bank or gold club card.
The closing date will be 15th March and the draw will take place shortly thereafter.
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS INITIATIVE
Mark Tiplady – Club Captain
Bob Archer – Vets Captain
Jan Harring – Ladies Captain
Getting to know our new Ladies Captain: Jan Harring Interview
Although many of us know Jan Harring is our new Ladies Captain, none of us had the opportunity of a ‘Drive In’ to get to know her better. I recently sat down with her to get her back story.
Editor: So Jan, looks like you have been in the wars? What happened?
Jan: Yes David, I am still hobbling around after my total knee replacement. Years of sport have taken their toll on my body. At school I was always the sporty one, playing in any team I could. I loved tennis, badminton and athletics but my passion was always horse riding. I only got into golf many years later, joining Wheathill Golf Club and became Ladies Captain in 1999.
Editor: I hear you are not Alresford born and bred. Tell us about yourself.
Jan: I am originally from Reading in Berkshire. I worked as a PA until I had my children. My ex-husband and I then moved to Dorset to run a business and I stayed there until 2010. We sold the business and I then I spent 24 years as a civilian working for the Police in Somerset. My 2 sons are married, one living near me and the other near Perth in Western Australia (WA). I have 5 grandchildren and a great grandchild due in March in WA. Hopefully the rules will change soon and we can travel out to see her.
I moved to Alresford in 2012 for family reasons and never left. I met up with my partner, Tony (Hutt) in 2014. We knew each other many years ago and it was great to see him again. By then we were both single. He moved from Suffolk and we bought our house in Alresford in 2016.
Editor: How did you get into golf?
Jan: I always thought golf was for oldies, so never considered playing, despite my golfing father often trying to persuade me. Many years later a friend saw an advert for a starters course at a local club and asked me to come along. Soon afterwards she gave up, but I had got the bug. The rest is history.
Editor: Firstly tell us what you see as the key responsibilities of a Ladies Captain?
Jan: My overall aim is to make the ‘ladies’ a happy and enjoyable section, that covers the high and low handicappers and many new members. I really want to integrate these new members and help them enjoy their golf at Alresford. We are a big section of about 140 ladies, so it will be difficult to keep everyone happy all of the time. I believe if we have a problem there is usually a solution to be found. Thankfully we have a really good committee so it will be a privilege to work with them for my Captains year.
Editor: What would you like to change if you could?
Jan: As I said we are a large section of the club and I would like to work towards a larger ‘ladies’ voice in the club, although I realize we are a minority overall in numbers.
I would also like to find new ways to better integrate new members and make them feel at home. I am always open to new ideas and ask ladies to approach me to discuss.
Editor: Is it difficult to get the ladies to integrate and play with a new group?
Jan: I understand that many ladies have built strong friendships over the years and prefer to play amongst themselves, even on a Tuesday morning. However, this can limit the integration of new members. We are presently trialling a new roll up system for an hour on a Tuesday morning. We have a random draw made from those who have expressed a desire to play in that hour. They are informed via email prior to the relevant Tuesday. So far it seems to work.
Editor: What are your aspirations for the Ladies Section?
Jan: The covid pandemic has adversely affected the ‘golfing life’ in the ladies section. I would like to bring back the strong ‘social side’ and make the most of our new clubhouse, when completed. I am also keen to continue our ‘team and individual golfing’ success in the region, hopefully integrating some of our new members. Success for me looks like a larger, happier and more fun group of ladies in a section envied by other clubs in the region.
Quickfire Q and A
Favourite Golf Course?
St Andrews Old course
Your biggest golfing achievement?
Eagling the 5th hole at Alresford from 150 yards out in a Stoneham match (with a low handicap opponent- the look on her face was priceless!).
Favourite holiday destination
Galapagos Islands (a special memory during my round the world backpacking tour in 2008)
Favourite Food?
Depends on place and person I am with….. anything Tony cooks!
Favourite drink after a round?
Orange squash or a cup of tea
Favourite Movie?
Pretty Woman
If you had only one thing to take on a desert island what would it be and why?
A man! Why? Apart from the 1st obvious reason, he could build a shelter, cut down coconuts and catch fish
| Present Role | Ladies Captain, Alresford Golf Club 2021/22 |
| Marital status | Happily un-married to Tony Hutt |
| Children | 2 boys |
| Hobbies | Golf, Entertaining and Horseriding (if my new knee lets me!) |
| Golf Handicap | 23.7 |
Management Corner
Subscription Renewals
On behalf of the Club I extend my thanks to 556 members who have paid their membership subscriptions to date for the year 2022; and the eight members who have made arrangements with David to re-join later in the year when their health permits. It is thought that around 24 further members may wish to pay their subscriptions for this year, however, any member who has not renewed by 31st January is not guaranteed membership for this year, unless arrangements have been made in advance with the General Manager. It is anticipated that the few available memberships for 2022 will be filled within the coming weeks.
We now enjoy a very healthy number of members which exceeds by 100 the worrying number of renewals we experienced in January 2019.
The Club is now in a much stronger position due to the focus on prioritising membership which reduces our reliance on ad-hoc green fees and Golf Societies. However, we must continue to understand that 20% of our golfing income comes from non-members who also provide significant support for our Head Pro and Bar & Catering.
Clubhouse Development
Ascia have been on site for two-months now and work progresses well. The Club has made initial payments against work done, as advised by our retained Quantity Surveyor; we continue on budget and largely to schedule. We must continue to be mindful of the continuing impact of Covid which has the potential to delay any of the specialist materials on order, however Sue Masser and the House Committee continue to work closely with our professional advisers and the contractors.
We have 95.6% of the funding in place, or pledged in loan notes, required to complete the Clubhouse Development Phase 1. The Management Committee and the Finance Committee will review our cash flow forecast, in light of subscription renewals, to decide whether we need to raise the final 4.4% as loan notes or use cash reserves.
Much work goes on outside of the major works to consider our Honour Boards, our Bar and Catering offer on re-opening, and furniture and fittings; for example.
I will continue to provide updates through this monthly column.
The Club’s 3-year plan
Our sub-committee Chairs, our General Manager and myself have been working closely with Nick Duncan; Chair of Planning and Development, to compile and finalise the Club’s 3-Year plan. I am delighted that the plan will shortly be in place and adopted by the Management Committee.
2022
We have had a tough start to the year having lost some great friends of the Club. I was so saddened that a great friend of mine, David Brant, passed away suddenly having paid his subscription to re-join our Club with his son only three days before. It has come as terrible shock to those who knew David well. As our General Manager said at the time, it serves as a reminder to all of us to cherish our Club and the friendships that we enjoy here.
2022 is a landmark year for the Club as we complete phase 1 of the Clubhouse Development project, and re-open the Clubhouse in late Spring/early Summer. As set out in my first section; the Club enjoys a wonderful number of members which gives me so much confidence for the coming years. We continue to plan annual improvements to the Course and practice facilities, to make our Club a brilliant place to play golf and to socialise with our friends and families.
I wish you a brilliant golfing year to remember.
Robert White
Chairman of the Management Committee.
From the Club Captain
This time last year we were snow-covered. This year the course has celebrated “dry January” with frost and fog the only hindrance to golf. Great to see our superb team of greenkeepers able to progress the winter projects. We all hope for good Spring weather to get the course off to a great start.
Behind the scenes our committees are still working hard on our behalf. Gill Freemantle and her match committee are putting plans together for the competitive golf season and have completed the 2020 & 2021 trophy winners project mentioned here last month. CapCom are also working on golfing matters. Vets and Ladies reports will cover their progress, but Vice-Captain Simon and the Men’s match organisers are ahead of schedule arranging our friendly and match fixtures. Work on the clubhouse progressing well so the House Committee are fully occupied while Trevor and his Bar and Catering committee are energetically selecting catering options for when we reopen. The Social Committee are preparing for re-opening and events for the year ahead. Thank you everyone!
The first Fixture is our traditional curtain raiser with the County Team on Sunday 13th. This will be the 50thplaying of this prestigious event and sadly will be “golf only”. We will mark the occasion properly next year!
Captains Charity Trip on Monday 2nd May to Friday 6th May. We now have space for one more team of 4 and one individual at the time of writing. Hotel prices are now confirmed, and I will send out full information separately. Please do not hesitate to ask me for more information.
Thank you to those members who have taken the time to write to David and/or myself with their suggestions on Tee-bookings. CapCom will take all these views into account when we review. We certainly welcome the lengthening daylight hours.
Onwards and upwards.
Mark Tiplady
Club Captain
Ladies Section
Having just managed to wander around the garden and seen signs of leaf buds fattening and bulbs re-emerging from the soil, I realise that there is light at the end of the winter tunnel. The days are getting longer and as I write the days feel a bit warmer but as we still have February to get through I am not holding out much hope that this will continue!
The new year started off well with a warm 1st January, the hottest new year’s day for a very long time.
The ladies organised a fun competition, a New Year’s Day Stableford. We had mince pies and mulled wine served by Gunnel Berry, ably assisted by Tony Hutt and Jane and Derek Andrews. We were delighted to welcome twenty eight people to play. The worthy Winners were
1st: Harriet Riches and Peter Gunn.
2nd: Gunnel Berry and Ian Sutherland.
Our next event of note was the second round of the Winter Triple, a Stableford competition, ably captained by Gunnel Berry on Monday 17th January. The Winter Triple is a competition between Lee on the Solent, Corhampton and ourselves. The format is St Andrews Greensomes off half combined handicap. The team consists of four pairs and the three highest scoring pairs are added together to find the winner on the day. Alresford were one point ahead after the first round at Lee on the Solent but this time Corhampton took the honours. Our final match at Corhampton is away on Monday, 21st February where we have a bit of catching up to do so best wishes to our team.
Unfortunately our Maple Leaf match, captained by Marion Bruce, at home, had to be postponed due to the weather conditions and will now take place on 22nd February. Let us hope for better weather. Eighteen temporary greens due to frost would have made the result a bit of a lottery!
Finally, congratulations go to Mel Gregory-Pulling who has qualified to enter the draw for a place in the England Golf South Women’s Medal to be held at Knole Park, Kent on 11th June. Mel had an aggregate net score differential of -26.0, across four eligible competitions last year. A tremendous result and we wish her well as she goes forward and hopefully gets to play in this event.
Jan Harring
Ladies Captain
Competitions and Handicap Committee Report
General Play Scores
As we hopefully enter better weather and the Course winter projects reach a conclusion, General Play Scores will be active from Monday 21st February 2022. The Competitions and Handicap Committee would like to remind golfers of their responsibilities when it comes to returning a score from General Play.
- As well as following the Rules of Golf, you are expected to act with integrity by following the Rules of Handicapping and to refrain from using or circumventing the Rules of Handicapping for the purposes of gaining an unfair advantage.
- When returning a score, you are expected to complete the round and attempt to make the best score possible at each hole. All rounds for handicap purposes must be played on a measured course. If the course, is deemed non qualifying, your score may be removed.
- You must, when returning a score for handicap purpose, have pre-registered that score intent as a General Play Score prior to play or ensured that you have entered any competition in the required manner. The GB&I Governing Bodies have introduced new regulations for the returning of General Play Scores for the purpose of safeguarding handicap integrity where regulations now stipulate a maximum distance that the player can be from the Club when a round is pre-registered, and minimum duration before a score is returned using a mobile device.
Distance and minimum time limits (England) are 2 miles/3.2 km and a score returned within 1 hour for 9 holes and 2 hours for 18 holes. (Distances are measured from the Longitude/Latitude embedded within the Club’s software).
Any General Play Scores that are pre-registered by the MyEG App or Club V1 that are not retuned within an acceptable period will be designated as a penalty score within your handicap record. It is in your best interest to ensure that any scores that are pre-registered are returned as soon as possible. Should your score not be submitted you will receive a reminder email asking you to contact the Competitions & Handicap Committee. If you do not act, an automated penalty score will be applied to your handicap record, which could adjust your handicap upwards or downwards.
If you have any issues submitting your score you should contact the Competitions and Handicap Committee who can act on the information you provide.
Note: A penalty score will normally be (CR+CH). That is the Course Rating for the course played plus your Course Handicap for that course
Scorecard Return
With the clubhouse refurbishment there is limited access to the clubhouse. If you finish your round after the Pro Shop has closed, please use the new post box clearly labelled “Scorecards” located near the main doors to return your card. Scores should continue to be recorded electronically
| Forthcoming Competitions | ||
| Mixed |
Pro’s Stableford:
|
Saturday 5th February Sunday 6th February Saturday 12th February Saturday 19th February |
| Juniors | TJ Evans: | Monday 21st February |
| Men/Ladies | Stableford: | Saturday 26th February |
| Mixed | Stableford: | Sunday 27th February |
Summer Knockouts
Entrants for all the knockout competitions, must have a Handicap Index and have played in at least 6 competitions between 15th March 2021 and 14th March 2022 (General Play Scores do not count).
To enter the knockouts (it does depend a little on what device you use) Club V1> Club (or drop down menu)> Knockouts> select the down arrow for each knockout to view details and enter.
Entry will close on Sunday 6th March at 10pm.
Rotherham:
Mixed Foursomes (Drawn Partners)
Entry by gender through Club V1:
“Rotherham Entries 2022 – Ladies”
“Rotherham Entries 2022 – Men”
Entry Fee £3 per person (taken when the draw is made)
Cooper: Men’s Foursomes (choose your own partner)
a pair through Club V1: “Cooper Foursomes 2022”
If you don’t have a partner but you would like to enter this knockout please email handicaps@alresfordgolf.co.uk, and we’ll find you a partner.
Entry Fee £3 per person (taken on sign up)
Company Cup: (by qualification)
Eligible entrants will be invited by email from the C&H Committee. These are winners of qualifying competitions* in 2021. Please DO NOT enter this competition unless invited to do so.
Enter through Club V1: “Company Cup 2022”
Entry Fee £3 (taken on sign up)
*A list of eligible competitions is available in the Club Diary and in the member’s section (C&H Committee) of the websit
Gill Freemantle
Chair Competitions & Handicap Committee, Handicap Secretary
A Look at the Rules
Question.
Rules on repairing whilst on the green. Which of the following may be repaired on the line of play on the putting green without penalty?
a: Damage caused by players equipment including footwear.
b: Damage to the hole caused by the flag stick.
c: A raised area of grass caused by hollow tining.
d: A pitch mark on the edge of the hole.
e: A hoof mark.
f: A rough edge of the hole caused by natural wear.
Vets Section
What a quiet month January has been apart from two winter league matches and the Wednesday roll-up.
The weather has meant we have had frost and temporary greens first thing in the morning with the ball turning 90 degrees when trying to land it somewhere near the flag on the frozen ground, but this has not stopped a good turnout of Vets
The first league match at home turned out a comfortable 4-0 win against South Winchester.
The seconded game away to Corhampton resulted in a good win 3-1 this will keep us top of the league with two games to play.
The first competitive game to start the 2022 Vets season is the Vets Captain v Vice Captain on 9th March. The sign-up sheets are on display in the club shop and at the starters hut.
On Monday I attended the funeral of Dave Marsh someone I have known for some time. Dave was captain of the darts team at the Chequers pub in Ropley where I played. As some of you may know he was also a member of the golf club as well as Vets Captain in1999.
We are approaching the start of the summer matches and the sign sheets will be going up in February at the starters hut. If you have not played in the matches before, please put your name down and have a go, you will find them to be very sociable with hopefully a meal after if we can arrange a place to have it.
Hopefully I will have more to report next month
Bob Archer
Vets Captain
General Manager’s Update
NEW MEMBERS
Following the renewal period, we now have a limited number of vacancies for playing membership. We have already received several enquiries which we will now begin to process, but if any members are aware of any potential members who are interested or thinking of joining, please let them know we are currently accepting applications.
Thank you.
CLUB ‘ROLL UP’
Fancy a game during the week? All members are welcome to come along to the informal ‘club roll-up’ on Wednesday mornings. There is a tee reservation between 11.00-12.00 – members wishing to take part should 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. If you do not wish to play with this group please choose another time if possible. If there continues to be a limited use of this time , then the Captains Committee will review the tee allocation.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS 2022
All subscription invoices for 2022 have been issued by email or post. If you haven’t received it, please check your inbox or junk mail or contact the Office asap. These were due on 1st January. You may not play if you do not intend to renew your membership.
Outstanding payments can be made over the telephone with credit/debit card or even better via BACS transfer (details on the bill).
2022 Bag tags and diaries are now available to collect from the Pro-Shop.
2021 TROPHY WINNERS
Trophies have been engraved and returned (most of them !) and so are available to collect from the office if you wish to display at home? Please give us a min. of 24hrs advance notice of when you wish to collect as we have to locate them from several storage boxes and are not immediately accessible
Winter is on it’s way- Be Safe on the Golf Course
Rain/Mud/Frost/Ice = slippery golf course, especially grass banks, wooden sleepers and any untreated areas.
PLEASE TAKE CARE AND KEEP TO THE PATHS WHEREVER POSSIBLE
DO NOT WALK ON SLOPES
DO NOT TAKE YOUR TROLLEYS ACROSS THE SIDES OF SLOPES AND BANKS
PLEASE ADHERE TO ANY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SIGNAGE ON THE COURSE
KEEP BUGGIES AND TROLLIES AWAY FROM THE EDGES OF GREENS AND TEES
If roads are icy in the morning on your way to the club, it is fair to assume that the car park and the paths around the club will be icy too! We do our best to grit and salt these areas but please take care.
YOUR HELP REQUIRED – DIVOTTING
THE ANNUAL DIVOT PARTY WILL TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY 25th APRIL
COURSE CLOSED UNTIL 10.00am
MEMBERS HELP WITH THIS IS ALWAYS GRATEFULLY APPRECIATED BY OUR GREENSTAFF.
FULL DETAILS TO FOLLOW
David Maskery
General Manager
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/
Dear Alresford GC member,
I have just published a book about exercise – “Get off the Couch, Before it’s too Late!”
Here is a short article about the health benefits of golf which is not in the book but gives a flavour of what the book is all about.
Golf, exercise and health
The place of golf in helping maintain physical activity and good health is a somewhat underestimated and unsung field. A couple of recent publications have helped to fill this neglected space.
I liked the po-faced definition in a paper on “the relationships between golf and health”1 : “Golf is a sport usually played on a large open-air course, in which a ball is struck with a club, with the aim of taking the lowest number of shots possible to get the ball into a series of holes in the ground.
How many golfers are there?
About 5 million in the UK, 25 million in the US and perhaps 55 million worldwide, representing 1/127 of the global population – enough to make a difference. The game tends to attract older individuals and is played in later life by many who have long given up other physical activities. The advantage over just walking is the added interest and element of competition.
How much exercise are golfers taking?
The intensity of golf has been variously estimated at between gentle and moderately vigorous. A lot depends on how the clubs are transported around the course. If a buggy is used the exercise is light indeed but if a heavy bag is carried it is certainly moderately vigorous or more, particularly if the player is in a hurry to finish the round. Other factors include the hilliness of the course and the age of the player. The intensity of playing golf has been reckoned as between 2.5 and 8 METs*. Caloric expenditure lies between 260 and 450 kcal/hour and the number of steps per 18 hole round is between 11,000 and 17,000 to cover about four miles. The actual distance covered depends upon the skill of the player.
Effects on physical features
Studies of older people have shown a significant beneficial effect on body weight, BMI and body fat content. Strength, muscle function and balance are improved as are aerobic fitness, blood lipids and insulin-glucose levels.
There have been no randomised trials of golf to show an effect on chronic diseases. However the changes wrought are very likely to be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of a number of chronic diseases such as coronary disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and various cancers. There are also a number of mental and social gains for the participants.
The prevention of frailty and premature death
The fact that so many older people play golf greatly adds to its utility. This is an age group which has much to gain from physical activity – playing golf gives older people an incentive to keep active at a time of life when they are becoming increasingly sedentary. Regular golf must be an excellent way of postponing the frailty associated with inactivity.
A recently reported study2 has examined the death rate among golfers compared to non-golfers. There was a reduced rate of strokes and heart attacks in the players and a significantly lower death rate. A Swedish study compared mortality in golfers compared to non-golfers. The players had a 40% lower mortality rate and golf was projected as contributing to a 5-year increase in life expectancy.
Any downsides?
Well yes, but only a few. Amateurs rarely sustain more than minor musculo-skeletal injuries, mostly lower back, elbow, wrist, hand and shoulder strains and sprains. Head injuries from ball or club collisions do happen. Use of golf buggies is associated with occasional falls, collisions and limb entrapment. Lightning strikes are well recognised but rare. Sudden death on the golf course does happen but very infrequently – nevertheless many courses have at least one fairway christened heart attack hill.
And the cost?
Quite a lot, with few golf clubs offering membership at less that £1,000 per annum. More expensive courses can have fees as high as £125,000 for joining with an annual membership costing £16,000.
However for most clubs the cost is modest if calculated as price per hour of excellent entertainment. If you play three rounds per week at a course costing £1,000 pa, each round is costing £6.40 and each hour of fun comes in at just £1.60. You can’t get much better value for money than that.
And the benefits to your health are enormous.
- Murray et al. The relationships between golf and health: a scoping review.Brit J Sports Med 2017;51:12-19.
- American Heart Association. Golfing regularly could be a hole-in-one for older adults’ health. Science Daily 12 Feb 2020.
“Get off the Couch, Before it’s too Late!” how to get it
Oxley’s bookshop, Amazon and Waterstone’s – RRP £14.99.
It is also available at the Alton Cardiac Rehab Centre at £12.00
Or directly from me at hjnbethell@gmail.com at £10.00 – + £2.50 P&P if needed.
Best wishes
Hugh Bethell, member of AGC
* 1 Met is the energy used by the body at complete rest.
Social
Pro- Corner
I hope you are all keeping well and playing plenty of golf during this cold dry weather. The course is holding up well and the improvements that the greenkeepers are making are going to look fantastic. We are very lucky to have such a good team.
My tip for this month is all about how to turn your body correctly in the golf swing, I see a lot of golfers turning incorrectly, this will cause a lot of inconsistent shots and poor distance. To watch the tip please click below.
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/-oWrZJgjuXw” ]
The New Taylormade Stealth products are starting to come into us at the club, it looks amazing, and I am really looking forward to hitting it. If you are keen to try out the new Stealth product then please get in contact, and we will get an appointment scheduled in for you.
Best wishes
Mark, Mandy and the team
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
The winter continues to be a busy time for the green keeping team made more so by the shorter days and wintery weather. Typically the green keeping week at this time of year looks something like this.
Monday
- Course Manager checks weather for the week and plans the week.
- Course Manager assesses the course conditions and sets the days tasks including
- Brush greens, rake bunkers, divot tees and move tee markers.
- Move ropes and hoops to manage traffic.
- Winter Project work and woodland management continues
Tuesday
- Course Manager assesses the course conditions and sets the days tasks including
- Iron greens, change holes, move markers, rake bunkers, stone pick bunkers, sand any muddy areas.
- Winter project work continues.
Wednesday
- Course Manager assesses the course conditions and sets the days tasks including
- Cut greens, rake bunkers, cut tees and aprons, divot tees, move markers.
- Winter project work.
Thursday
- Course Manager assesses the course conditions and sets the days tasks including
- Brush greens, rake bunkers, move ropes and hoops, cut range if needed.
- Winter project work.
Friday
- Course Manager assesses the course conditions and sets the days tasks including
- Iron greens, change holes, rake bunkers, divot tees, mark fairway edges, white line any GUR areas.
- Winter project work.
All of the above are subject to weather conditions. For example if there is a frost our greenies will walk the course taking greens out of play and bringing the temporary greens into play. They will try to rake bunkers, salt areas around clubhouse and put the correct signs in place. Finally a review time will be set for trolleys and greens.
At this time of year the green staff also
- Change the holes each week
- Apply nutrition to the greens every 10 days or so conditions permitting.
- Cut the fairways fortnightly so long as conditions allow.
- Cut the Academy greens and brush the tee mats brushed weekly, normally on a Friday.
- Woodland management is ongoing.
- Machine maintenance on going.
Those of you have been able to get onto the course despite the various trolley and buggy bans will have noticed that the improvement projects continue a pace. At the time of writing, the red tee on the 3rd has been stripped, extended, levelled and irrigation laid. This will be turfed in due course.
- The 11th white and yellow tees have been stripped and levelled and if they haven’t already been turfed they will be shortly.
- The green side bunker on 13 has still to be reshaped (kidney style) but this is in hand. Once this has been done the sides will be revetted and the base laid. The surrounding areas will then be shaped and turfed
- The green side bunker on 17 is almost complete. It has been reshaped and moved closer to the green The sides have been built up with several course of man made revets before being completed with grass reverts. The grass revets provide the base for the turf that edges the bunker to grow. If the grass revet layer is too shallow the turf will die back. The surrounding area has been shaped and will be turfed shortly.
In addition, to the improvement projects the green staff are also working hard to maintain and develop our course. This includes the replacement of all the blue tee markers with ground discs .
Recently our green staff have sprayed all of the greens with iron and turf hardeners to strengthen the plant and help prevent disease. You will have noticed patches of fusarium on some greens. The sand based greens such as the 6th have been worst affected. Hopefully the recent freezing temperatures will have halted the spread of this fungus. The green staff will “plug” the worst affected areas once temperatures are high enough and the greens have defrosted.
As you can imagine grass growth is very slow so we are leaving the fairways longer in order to manage the wear but the greens staff will continue to cut the edges to provide definition. You won’t have missed the bird damage to the 4th fairway, we will be managing this with the rope bangers in the late afternoon. The green staff have also cut the green aprons. I’m sure all of you are monitoring the recovery of the 7th green as closely as I am and will have noticed that the repaired area has been top dressed and is looking good. It continues to settle as expected and please be assured it will be back in play as soon as it is ready. The crucial element is that it is sufficiently well routed to be stable.
Tree management continues as usual including the coppicing of the hazel in the copse between the 14th and 15th holes.
You will have noticed an outbreak of holes around the course. We’ve had to open up space around the irrigation valves so that they can be replaced. This will also help the green staff to isolate a leak we have in the system.
Finally, a date for your diary and something for next time
- Divot party – 25th April – details to follow
- next contribution to FORE will include a history of our greens.
Until next time enjoy our wonderful course!
Derek Myers
Chair, Greens Committee
PS Many thanks to Simon for all the great photos every month!
A Look at the Rules
Answer.
a. All except c and f can be repaired without penalty. Rule 5.7a
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.
Thanks to Brian Overton for all these Rules Q and A’s.
100 Club
Chris and Brian scoop the top prizes this month
See who else has won prizes in the 100 Club prize draw for February 2022
£100 Chris Chapman
£50 Brian Young
£32 Prizewinners
Ian Swann
Mark Tiplady
Tonny Maxwell
Bob Germon
Congratulations to our prize winners this month. The men have scooped the prizes this month with Tonny our lone representative for the ladies
How do we do it….
For those of you who wonder why your number never seems to be lucky in the draw then you may be interested to know a few statistics relating to the draws made last year. A database of shares and shareholders (members) is held on David’s office computer and he runs a programme which generates the six random numbers each month. Every number has an equal chance of winning.
The number range of shares actually in play at the moment is from 1 through to 649 with 609 of those actually allocated to 124 members. The winning numbers in 2021 ranged from 10 to 648 and were fairly evenly spread across that range so our very own ‘ERNIE’ has done a pretty good job. Three numbers were drawn out twice during the year but fifteen people were actually lucky enough to appear twice in the winners list. However ten people won something for the very first time during 2021 so you never know when it may be your turn. As I’ve said before – you have to be in to win it!
Why not make 2022 the year you join the 100 Club.
If you would like to be part of the 100 Club and actively contribute towards future enhancements to our golf club facilities, and have the chance of winning a cash prize each month, then why not join us. If you are already a member then please encourage your friends or new members to join us too.
The monthly draw is for six cash prizes: £100, £50 and four at £32.
Each share cost £1 per month paid for by monthly standing order and there is no limit to the number you can purchase. Members generally have between 1 and 10 shares with 5 being the most common holding.
For further information about the 100 Club or for an Application form please give me a call or send me an email – Pat Wallis phone 01420 564417 or email peterpat51@outlook.com Or you can pick up a form from the Office.
Pat Wallis
Joke of the Month
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/A0kdBDwNddc” ]
Thanks to Tony Hutt for contributing this months joke.
We are looking for golf related, clean, seriously funny humour suitable for all members. Send your contributions to the Editor (David Marshall) 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
“If you focus only on the target, you will play darn good golf” Dr Bob Rotella
Editor: David Marshall
DISCLAIMER
The Editorial Team take no responsibility for incorrect information received from Contributors.
