The hunch-weather season is with us! It’s an old 18^th century word used to describe weather such as drizzle and strong wind – bad enough to make people hunch over when they walk! It’s a shame that we haven’t had a sustained period of cold frosty weather to drive the grubs, which the rooks have been feeding on, deep into the soil. The green keepers have done a great job repairing the damage that the rooks have caused but I have a feeling that they would prefer to be spending their time on other more important work. A spot of weather as described in the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter” is what we need – with “earth stood hard as iron” and the “water like a stone”.

Whilst on the subject of carols, our own Carol Roe and her team have been very busy during December, first putting up the festive decorations in our clubhouse, next assisting with the White Christmas Quiz (more on that below) and then on Boxing Day helping with the refreshments after the popular seasonal Captain v Professional challenge where 69 members and guests enjoyed 9 holes followed by savoury snacks and a whisky mac. Malcolm’s team was again triumphant with a 9 ½ – 7 ½ victory to retain the trophy.

Thanks to Malcolm and Jane for squeezing a £1 donation from the participants, plus they included a donation of their own, to add a total of £100 to the Captains Charity. The guests were very complimentary about the quality of our course despite the new damage caused by those pesky rooks. The final social event of the year – New Years Eve dinner dance – sold out very quickly and is eagerly awaited – well done Carol and all of the Social Committee for their efforts in arranging the very diverse set of the events during 2018.

Well I have hit the ground running since the AGM and Drive In – if I thought it would be reasonably quiet in the run up to Christmas I was very wrong!

The first thing I did was to attend a rules session together with Gill Freemantle at Dummer golf Club put on by the HLCGA. This highlighted not least the need to make sure that all our Ladies are up to scratch with the 2019 rules before they come into play on January 1^st. You will have seen notices and received emails from me on the subject but in case the message has not got through please do attend one of the sessions which will be run by the club in January – the dates can be found below in the Match Committee Report.

The Turkey Trot took place on just one day due to the appalling weather on the Saturday. The Tuesday started frosty but turned into a glorious day and the winner of Division 1 was winter member Dorothy Shore with 33 pts, of Division 3 Gunnel Berry with 32 pts and the overall winner as well as winner of Division 2 was Elaine Spreadbury with 37 pts.

The next day I was invited to play in the Vets Texas Scramble and enjoyed a lovely game of golf followed by Christmas lunch – thank you to Drew Fielden for the Invitation and to Wyn Tufnell for the excellent organisation.

The first round of the Winter Triple took place at Lee on The Solent and we had a cracking game on a beautiful day which ended in a great result for Alresford. We are lying 4 points clear of Lee and 6 points clear of Corhampton at the moment – let’s hope we can keep this up in the next two legs.

I do hope you all enjoyed the Ladies Christmas Texas Scramble and lunch as much as I did.  Again we were blessed with lovely weather and a huge field of 84 with a further 8 joining us for lunch.  After golf we quizzed and we sang as well as enjoying lovely food and I am so grateful to you all for supporting my first big event.

Since then I have participated in the White Christmas Quiz with my team The Captains & Their Mates and we came third in spite of scoring nil points in the golf section….!  A great night with many thanks to Rob White and Jim White

The Pro Christmas Draw and Carvery was also excellent – Malcolm and Jane welcomed us with a glass of Christmas cheer before we sat down to a lovely meal provided by Chris and Kelly and then the draw followed.

Annual Review of Handicaps

The Committee will be conducting the Annual Review of handicaps for men on Friday 18^th January. We will also be carrying out a review of the performance of players who have been returning a long sequence of scores above their buffer zone.  Players whose handicaps are adjusted as a result of these reviews will be notified by email or letter. The Annual Review for the ladies will be held towards the end of the month.

New Rules of Golf

The new Rules of Golf are effective from 1^st January. It is your responsibility to know the Rules. The last few issues of Fore have included information on the changes and links to various websites with further details and graphics. Free copies of the Rules books can be ordered on-line from the R&A Shop (you only pay for the postage), and Apps are available for your Android or Apple smartphone. We are also 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 12^th January @ 08:30
• Saturday 12^th January @ 14:00
• Tuesday 15^th January @ 14:00
• Wednesday 16^th January @ 13:00

All the sessions are open to everyone.

It is already over a month since the changing of the guard at the club Drive–In and for the Vets Section it has been a busy few weeks. Four of the eight winter league matches have been played; some of it in near dark conditions and at South Winchester on a stormy day, the teams endured icy conditions blasted by sleet. Halfway through the season we sit midway in the league and all to play for in the New Year. All signed up Vets with a competition handicap are eligible to play in these matches against local teams which are competitive and fun.

On 5 December we held the Christmas Texas Scramble and lunch, excellently organised by Wynne Tufnell and attended by over half of the Vets Section members. It was a great opportunity to say thank you to our guests David, Melissa and Linda from the Secretary’s office, Adam our acting head green keeper, Malcolm and Jane  and the club and ladies captains. We were well fed and watered and entertained to a medley of Christmas carols by George Skayman on his flugelhorn…

New Members

Welcome to the following new members who have all joined the club starting during December and January so far ;  Tim Forster (7 day), Stephen Chandler ( Academy), Sophia Lane (Junior).

We hope that your time at the club will be a long and enjoyable one for all of you.

Remember  – YOU , our members are our best salespeople. We need new members and have vacancies in all categories? If you know any friends or acquaintances who are thinking of joining a club or changing clubs, or have new neighbours who have recently moved to the area , please do your best to sell them the benefits of Alresford Golf Club.

Fancy a game in the week?

All members are welcome to come along to the ‘club roll-up’ on Wednesday mornings. The usual start time from January 2017 will be 11.00am all year – all timings subject to any advanced tee reservations.

January

Wednesday 2^nd  ~ 11.00am

Wednesday 9^th ~ 11.15am (due to society)

Wednesday 16^th ~ 11.00am

Wednesday 23^rd  ~ 11.00am

Wednesday 30^th  ~ 11.00am

February

Wednesday 6^th  ~ 11.00am

Wednesday 13^th ~ 11.00am

Wednesday 20^th  ~ 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.

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

FORTHCOMING EVENTS YOUR DIARY

Friday 18^th January
Fun Pub Quiz

Sunday 20^th January
Sunday Lunch Carvery

Saturday 26^th January
Burns Night (limited spaces still available)

Saturday 2^nd February
Chinese New Year Buffet & Quiz

Friday 22^nd February
Fun Pub Quiz

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 4^th January

Friday 11^th January

Friday 1^st  February

Friday 15^th February

Please check the club website and main noticeboard for changes to these dates.

The course has fared exceptionally well with heavy rains over the last few weeks. The greens remain consistent for the time of year with very little flooding. This is due to a repetitive aeration program. Every week we are either pro-coring to a depth of 125mm with a solid 9mm tine or using a sarel spiking roller to just gently spike the top 50mm. Added to this is the use of wetting agents to enhance filtration through the soil profile keeping the playing surface reasonably dry.

The fairways and outfield are performing well although still being pecked by birds the team have been proactive on repair and deterrents. Bunkers have been flooding of late and the team are slowly replenishing the old contaminated sand in areas of flood. This again will aid percolation away from the surface into the substructure.

The team have planted a beech hedge around the yard by the tenth tee. The saplings are 90-110cm in height and will in time shield the unsightly yard giving a similar look to the hedgerow around the carpark. These saplings will grow 30-50cm per year needing two cuts per annum.

John Goodacre has now left the team to go on his winter vacation in France with his wife Esme. We would like to thank John wholeheartedly for the help that he has provided the team since June. We will never forget this, and we are very grateful.

Simon Justice is set to join us on the 2nd of Jan with exciting new ideas for the course and full backing of the team. If you see him around do not hesitate to introduce yourself and give him a good Alresford welcome.

Simon taking over will be a great relief to Adam, who is looking forward to returning to his favoured position of right-hand man. Adam has led our small, depleted team with drive, determination and inspiration. His pride in the club, the course and his team has led to us having a course at the high standard we have come to expect. It has been an experience he and the lads will look back on with pride for many years to come. He has asked me to include the following in this report. I am happy to do this, considering that he wrote the first 5 paragraphs himself!

Adam would like to thank everyone at the club for all the support that he and the team have received since May with special mention to Tip for his direction and mentoring, Dave for staff management advice and Mel for financial guidance. They have made a difficult situation easier and he is forever grateful.

So are we Adam!

Happy golfing in the New Year!

Mark Tiplady

The winners of the 100 Club prize draw for January were:

£100    Claire Gould

£50      George Skayman

£32      Harold Young

£32      Peter Harwood 

£32      Barry Norgate

£32      Jess Miles

Congratulations to the winners of the first draw for 2019.  The next draw will take place in the week beginning 21^st January 2019.

Firstly a big thank you and farewell to David Farr and Robin Good who have stepped down as Trustees of the 100 Club after as many years as anyone can remember. Many thanks to both for their wise custodianship of 100 Club funds during those years. George Clelland and Ian Swann have agreed to take over as Trustees so this is now in place. George has therefore relinquished his role as Administrator and I have taken over. So a very big thank you to George for the last 10+ years managing the affairs of the 100 Club with such dedication – a hard act to follow!