Fore Info July 2023
Our 2023 Club Champions: Jenny and Will
Content
- An update from the Chair: news on the planned new office structure
- Club Captain News: report on a busy inter club match season and Past Captains Event
- Ladies Captain News: yet another Hampshire successful month for AGC
- Rules Quiz Question and Answer: removing an out of bounds post to play. OK?
- Competitions: all the results for the Club Champs
- Mixed Matches: results and upcoming change, sign up to be part
- Juniors: upcoming roll ups and competitions/away days
- Vets update: strong results in the summer matches
- General Managers update: lots of key info.
- Team Golf: more results and great scores
- Greens News: an insight to special green keeping for the club champs
- Pro’s Corner: staff changes, wedge day and a video on pitching
- Winners in the 100 Club: did you win? Need some/more tickets?
What makes a golf club the best? Many would say ‘the course’. Others want a great social scene. Most would say it has to be friendly and a place to meet new friends. Whatever reason you personally have, you made the right choice. I have been a member in 10 clubs prior to AGC and it certainly beats the rest for me. We are a ‘members club’, not run by a big business, so we try to listen to input from members. Although we cannot adopt all ideas, many of the changes you see over the last few years came from members input. Keep your ideas coming and management will continue to weigh up the options and continually strive for improvement within our financial parameters.
This month we said farewell to Melissa in the office. Always a friendly smile and a reliable partner, she will be sorely missed. Find out in this edition how the club wants to manage the myriad of back office tasks in the future, to better serve members, the club and to make employees jobs more effective. Also read about the Club Champs: an incredible weekend it was.
Finally congratulations to Laurie Clarke for his hole in one on the 16th. It was a wonderfully well struck tee shot that earned him a tidy 6 stableford points as well! Double lucky as he won the 100 Club draw prize this month too. Get your shares soon to qualify for the excellent 100 Club competition & dinner on July 28th.
Let me know if you or a friend gets a hole in one so we can recognise them here.
As well as our monthly newsletter we post lots of photos and news on our various Social Media Platforms – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, if you aren’t already following us then please do. Don’t worry if you don’t have, or want to have, an account, if you click on the links at the bottom of our website page you can still see what is going on!
If you take any photos or have any stories that you think will be of interest to fellow members or our Social Media followers then please send them to David Maskery or Elaine Capp.
Enjoy the read,
David Marshall
Editor
From the Chair
Office Structure
Following the Administration & Governance review a final new structure for the office is being implemented. Our day-to-day bookkeeping function has been outsourced to a specialist provider with immediate effect, supported by our General Manager and Finance Committee as usual. Our Chair of Finance, David Crawshaw, developed the most suitable solution for the Club having considered a variety of options.
Mel left us on Friday after 10 years supporting the Club in a very tricky role, balancing the accounting function with constant general enquiries. She managed incredibly well given the need to fully concentrate on detail whilst being continually distracted by other activity. By outsourcing the bookkeeping function, we solve the issues that Mel dealt with so well.
In addition, we have now offered the advertised, new, full-time role of Golf Operations Assistant and await confirmation of a suitable start date. This new role will have a defined set of functions which will be confirmed to members shortly. We will communicate to members how to engage with the new office structure and will ask for their patience and assistance in establishing the new role. To be clear from the outset, the person in that role will be new to the Club and will of course need 3 or 4 months to find their way around and to get to know us, and will therefore NOT be expected to handle complaints or general grumpiness.
The intention of the new structure is to provide improved, full-time support for our General Manager to release David to operate at the top of his license to develop our Club as set through our committee structure. We also intend that the new structure will provide more full-time capacity in the office to support customer service, once established. Linda will continue to provide essential financial support in the office.
Patio Canopy
Across the Club Championship weekend we experienced the huge benefit of the new patio canopy; you will recall that Architects, House Committee Chairs, Finance Chair and General Manager worked against a restrictive budget to establish a final solution for the design. The weekend proved the benefit of their work in providing an excellent improvement to our patio, which featured so strongly in the original member survey. I recall, when we had the old parasols, how we all had to shift around half sunburnt and half in shade in beautiful weather. So, to have the new canopy fully deployed for the weekend was amazing.
Water Project
We are aware that significant change is planned by government which will impact water usage on the course; these changes are set to be implemented in 2030, just six or so years away. The new regulations for water usage are not yet published but we expect them to impact our use of mains water and potentially the water consumed from the bore hole. This is likely to require us to store rainwater on the course in a reservoir, however until we know the full extent of any new regulations we cannot begin to effectively plan and design a solution as we obviously do not know what to plan for at this time. So, at this early stage we seek to understand the problem.
Robert White
Chairman of the Management Committee
From the Club Captain
Summer is here, I do hope you are all enjoying your golf.
First, congratulations to Will Pakenham-Walsh and Jenny Myers for their wins at the Men’s and Ladies Club Championships. After a short delay, we will now be able to add their names to the Club Champions Honour Boards due to be installed in the coming weeks.
Being Club Captain is a never-ending round of golf, but I am not looking for any sympathy – it is a privilege and great fun representing Alresford and many different events. I took a team of three Committee Chairs to Salisbury and South Wilts on your behalf as a thank you for their hard work they do for us all. George Clelland and I competed in the Burma Salver at Romsey, finishing just outside the prizes with 39 points. Upcoming events include the Waterlooville Cup were Vice Richard and I will take a team of sub-10 handicap golfers. This will be followed by Captain and Past Captain events at Brockenhurst, Stoneham, Meon and Hockley. In between all of that, Gunnel Berry and I will take our Vice Captains to play for the Promethean Trophy hosted by Royal Winchester. All of these events are often seen as ‘flagship days’ at our neighbouring clubs.
At Alresford we hosted our own flagship day for other clubs just a few weeks ago. The Triumvirate Trophy, which was created over 20 years ago and on constant display in the clubhouse, is played for in threes as matchplay against each other. Quite a unique event which is eagerly anticipated and keenly fought for. We encourage other captains to make up their team with members who volunteer help and do good for their clubs. This year we extended the invitation from 15 to 18 clubs (always has to be divisible by three). One of the new invitees, Farnham GC, won the day. Many of the captains asked me to pass on their thanks to our members for allowing Alresford to host the day and congratulated us all on such an outstanding event, clubhouse and course. I’m sure you will agree it is important we continue and keep our high regard and profile amongst our peers.
Along with the external events, it is the tradition for the incumbent captain to take part in our Alresford Past Captains Salver (even though I can’t win!). I had a splendid lunch, 18 holes and dinner with 19 of our Past Captains. The Salver was won by John White for the first time, congratulations John. (Editors note: his gross score even matched his age… no he was not a founder member.)
Finally, thank you to all those who donated prizes, auction items and participated in the Captains’ Charity Day on June 4th. An astonishing £4k was raised in just one day. We are privileged to belong to such a great club and with privilege comes responsibility to others – thank you for taking that responsibility seriously and for your generosity.
Off for another round! Thank you for your continued kind words and support.
Simon Freemantle
Captain
Ladies Section
‘June’ has been a most gorgeous month to play golf! The sun has shone continuously and been a welcome source of light and warmth reaching far into the evening! The Ladies Section in the Alresford Golf Club is shining yet again with exceptional results.
Hampshire Competitions:
1st June Mandy Overton won the Hampshire Ladies Golf Veterans Championship. A master performance!
5th June Robert and Mel Gates won the Hampshire Golf Mixed Greensomes competition at Blackmoor which again is an amazing outcome. Congratulations to all three for such a remarkable perform
ance.
Club Competitions:
4th June – Captains’ Charity Day was a great success and raised in the excess of £4k for the club charity. Thank you to all who came to play, helped and donated!
6th June – Salver comps respectively were won by:
Silver: Kelly Travers – nett 67; R/U: Dorothy Shore Nett 69
Centenary : Jackie Coulson – nett 72; R/U: Helen Marchant nett 73
Summer : Penny Lamonby – nett 37; R/U: Margaret Jones – nett 36
8th June – Ladies Away day to ‘Skylark’ was well attended and considered a great success playing 18 holes of golf and then sit down for a well earnt meal. Team: Jane Andrews, Caroline Warne, Jo Youngs and Sarah Staines collected 114 points and won the team competition. Jane Andrews herself alone managed to click up 41 pts on her birthday, too!
10/13th June – Yellow Tee Trophy Competition was won by Karen Fox. Sandra Hooker was R/U. Well done to all of the competitors playing a much longer course than normal!
14th June – Final of the Australian spoon competition was played by Jo Youngs and Judy Wright at the Drift GC in Surrey. Jo & Judy finished somewhere in the middle of entrants which is a good effort and very good experience for both. Well done.
17 & 20th June – The annual Ping 4BBB competition was run at the end of June and won by Jane Scott & Linda Wager with 43 pts. R/U; Karen Fox and Dorothy Shore 41 pts. If picked amongst the top 52 pairs in the country, Jane and Linda go on to the National Final at Thonock Park, Lincolnshire on 4th Sept .
18th June – The Dawn Patrol competition on a very early Sunday morning was won by Mel Gates with Nikki White as r/u. Well done.
24/25 June – AGC Championships 2023 was held in blazing sunshine with temperatures reaching the early 30’s on the second day. 31 ladies had entered the competition.
Overall winner was: Jenny Myers. Winner of the Brenda Hedges Trophy was: Lesley Martin with 2 rounds of medal scores 67 & 71. Gunnel Berry won the Dorothy Coombs Trophy matching Lesley’s scores of 67 & 71.
27th June – Ladies Invitation Day . 38 pairs played and enjoyed seeing old and new friends at AGC. It was a most enjoyable day organised by Sue Pearce and Jane Macrae with other committee helpers facilitating the smooth running of the day.
Inter-club Knock out Competitions:
Alresford Scratch, Annodata, North Hants Trophy, Stoneham Trophy matches continue with regular intervals throughout the summer. So far, Alresford is not always at the top but doing well overall. Well done and thank you to all team leaders to get everyone sorted!
The Friendlies – AGC ladies played in a Triangular with Basingstoke/Hockley at home winning comfortably . Pat Vokes scored 42 pts! and at Sandford Springs only just losing out.
Team Golf – Club competition on Thursdays continue until the end of July.
Mixed Golf – played at Cowdray Park
12th June – Club Surgery. The Lady Captain runs a ‘meet the captain’ from 0915 for an hour on the 2nd Wed of the month for the benefit of members to have an informal or formal chat. You are most welcome. Unfortunately, in July, the chat hour is cancelled due to a golfing match at another club on the same day.
20th June – Saying good-bye to Melissa (Gori) who leaves the office at the end of the month. Melissa has worked at the AGC for 10yrs and will be sorely missed! The Ladies Section gave a small presentation in appreciation of her dedicated and excellent job she has carried out, presenting her with a card, flowers and donations from members wishing her great success in her next adventure as fitness instructor.
Gunnel
Gunnel Berry
Ladies Captain
Competitions and Handicap Committee Report
Club Championship
Let me start by thanking all of my committee for their help in the preparation leading up to Club Championship weekend, and in particular to Richard Calton for helping all weekend on the Committee Desk and to David Maskery for marshalling the course on both days.
We also had many volunteers over the weekend starting, marshalling and ball spotting. The ball spotting in particular was appreciated by all players, so a thank you to everyone who gave up their time this weekend.
The course did indeed look spectacular from our Committee desk, although the view did become a little obstructed once the patio filled up!
Congratulations to all our players who enjoyed the tricky course conditions at the weekend and in particular to our winners (see below). It was an exciting finish to the weekend with Mark Wood, refereeing the play off between Ashley Wilmott and Will Pakenham-Walsh. I am not sure the caddies (Alan Farrell and Simon Wills) were expecting the additional holes.
Men’s Club Championship (Gross)
| Club Champion | Will Pakenham-Walsh | 73 + 76 | 149 |
| 2nd Overall | Ashley Wilmott | 74 + 75 | 149 |
| 3rd Overall | Oscar O’Herlihy | 76 + 76 | 152 |
| 4th Overall | Tom Humphris | 74 + 78 | 152 |
| 5th Overall | Ben Ludlam | 74 + 78 | 152 |
| Best Round 1 | Dave Fox | 75 | |
| Best Round 2 | Gary Mugford | 77 | |
Men’s Club Championship (Nett)
| Winner | Les Thorne | 71 + 70 | 141 |
| 2nd Overall | Sam Blackwell | 68 + 73 | 141 |
| 3rd Overall | Mike Pigott | 73 + 69 | 142 |
| 4th Overall | Mark Barter | 72 + 70 | 142 |
| 5th Overall | Lee Feast | 71 +71 | 142 |
| Best Round 1 | Mark Tiplady | 67 | |
| Best Round 2 | Gary Mugford | 68 | |
Ladies Club Championship (Gross)
| Ladies Club Champion | Jenny Myers | 79 + 74 | 153 |
| Runner Up | Rosie Rooney | 84 + 85 | 169 |
Brenda Hedges Trophy (Nett HI 20.0 and below)
| Winner | Lesley Martin | 67 + 71 | 138 |
| Runner Up | Jenny Myers | 74 + 69 | 143 |
Dorothy Coombs Trophy (Nett HI 20.1 and above)
| Winner | Gunnel Berry | 67 + 71 | 138 |
| Runner Up | Alicia Hardy | 67 + 74 | 141 |
Ladies Best Nett
| Round 1 | Jo Youngs | 69 |
| Round 2 | Karen Fox | 71 |
Gill Freemantle
Chair Competitions & Handicap Committee, Handicap Secretary
MIXED MATCHES
The new fixture has been added to Club V1, if you are available please sign up.
A Look at the Rules
Question
A player finds their ball in bounds close to an out of bounds marker post. They remove the out of bounds marker post. Before playing their next shot, their opponent claims the hole. The player then replaces the out of bounds marker post and plays their next shot. What is the ruling?
Juniors Section
I hope you are all well and enjoying the lovely weather we have been having – Perfect for our sport. It’s been great to see so many of our Juniors out enjoying the course and taking part in the competitions, Captains Charity day and Championships. Our Junior section is growing in numbers and I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest members to the club, we have a junior whats app chat to keep in touch, if you would like to join the group please send your number to Juniorcoordinator@alresfordgolf.co.uk and we will get you added. With the long summer holidays just around the corner I am looking forward to seeing you all on the course!
We fielded two teams in the Hampshire Pro Am at Sandford Springs on the 31st May. Players were Harriet Riches, Tobias Cobb, Finton Cobb, Ralph Bottomley, Jacob Howells and myself. A brilliant day, perfect weather and a beautiful course!
Really close 2nd round of the Greenjackets (27th May) against North Hants on the 17th May played by Harriet Riches, Tobias Cobb and myself, unfortunately we lost by 1 point but it was great to have taken part and been involved in the competition.
Junior comp on 1st June saw a good turnout thanks to all who took part and the Junior Globe Knockout matches are underway.
We have really enjoyed wearing our team shirts during the matches too, they have gone down really well with the juniors and it’s been great representing the club in them – thanks again to the club and Mark for the shirts!
We are in contact with the Junior Co-Ordinator at Hockley and hoping to arrange a return match at the end of August which will be great after playing them at home last month. More to follow on that shortly.
Girls Golf Rocks is going well and proving a great success with 8 signed up for the 12 to 18yr old course which is now underway!
Junior Roll ups throughout June as follows, 2pm at the first tee – looking forward to seeing you there:
- Sunday 9th July
- Saturday 15th July
- Sunday 23rd July
- Saturday 29th July
And finally, a huge congratulations to Jenny Myers, former junior captain for winning the Ladies Club Championship!!
Oscar Vaughan
Juniors Captain
Vets Section
The fine weather continued throughout the month which was good for the Summer Friendly matches and for the rollups, although I for one am beginning to find the long rough increasingly challenging.
Rollups have been well supported by vets new and old and we have welcomed another new vet, Lynn Aston, to the winner’s enclosure. Congratulations Lynn.
At the Captains Charity Day, Oscar and I had an enjoyable time running the Putting Competition which was very well supported. With a set-up which was rather more challenging than it looked nobody blitzed the course. It was good to see a fellow vet finish joint first, well done to Lee Phillips.
We have played another five Summer Friendlies since my last report and seem to have turned a corner as far results are concerned:
Waterlooville Away Lost 6.5:0.5
Corhampton Away Win 4.5:2.5
Basingstoke Home Win 6:1
Hockley Home Draw 3:3
Weybrook Park Home Win 5.5:0.5
The match against Hockley is always keenly fought and a draw is a creditable result. Hopefully we will go one better in the away match towards the end of the season.
Next week we will be playing the Vets Championship over 36 holes on 3 and 5 July. This Board competition is open to all vets with a qualifying handicap and there are Trophies and prizes for the best Gross and the best Nett scores.
On 13 July we host the Vets Past Captains day for past and current captains. This event is always well supported and it is good to hear the stories of the old days over the post match lunch.
Vets Captain
Steve Oldham
General Manager’s Update
New Members
Welcome to the following members who have all joined us since 1st June; Peter Tudor, Matt Goodwin, Michel & Charlene De Carvalho (7 day), David Carnegy, Joe Coleman (Intermediate) , Theo Roberts, Max Binfield (Student), Dom Scheggia (Country) , Bevan Parker, Madison Sharp, Ben Bray (Juniors) Simon Packer , Harry Davies and David Holman ( Academy).
Welcome to Alresford and we hope you enjoy your time at the club.
COURSE MARSHALLS & STARTERS
Do you have some spare time once or twice a month ? We are looking to bolster our Course Marshall Team over the summer months particularly in the afternoons – full training given.
Our Course Marshall & Starters programme has now begun. Course Marshalls along with our Starters, will be Club Ambassadors and will be used at times when we anticipate the course being busy (competition and non-competition days) as well as for golf societies.
We have a ‘real time’ calendar of dates and times when Marshalls are required so you can select convenient times in advance. If you are interested please speak to the General Manager .
COURSE SAFETY – NEAR MISSES
We had a ‘near miss’ on the 17th on Monday. Walkers can cross the fairway from both the left and right hand side. Use the viewing steps , when your group is teeing off.
All members should be aware of the footpaths that cross the course. Alresford players are responsible for advising any non-Alresford playing partners (guest, visitors or in matches) of the location of these . There are signs on the tees to identify these holes. Please exercise care when playing towards these footpaths. Walkers have priority at all times. PLEASE TAKE CARE.
ALTON LIONS/CARDIAC REHAB GOLF TOURNAMENT
For many years Alresford GC has entered teams for this exciting and highly enjoyable day out on the Test Valley course. This year we have space for one of two more teams – but hurry before we are over-subscribed!
The 2023 event will be held on Wednesday August 9th at Test Valley Golf Club. The tournament takes over the course with a shot-gun start at 9am. Twenty teams of four battle it out for the magnificent trophy and prizes which are awarded to the winning team, the individual and second placed ladies and men – with additional prizes for nearest pin in one and two and nearest the line drives.
The day starts with coffee and bacon rolls from 7.45 and concludes with a delicious lunch of carvery and pudding. A raffle is held with great prizes to be won.
Entry is £55pp or £220 per team.
To enter, either as a team of four or individually (we will find you a team to join), please contact Dave Crocker at 8 Vaughans, Alton GU34 2SQ or dave.crocker@btinternet.com
HAVE YOU DOWNLAODED YOUR COUNTY CARD APP?
The new County Card App is now LIVE at Alresford.
It is only available to those members to which Alresford is their HOME club. If Alresford is your AWAY club , then you must download the App from your HOME club link when it becomes live. This may be later in the year dependant upon subscription renewal date.
The app replaces the old ‘hard cards’ that went to subscribers. If anyone does not have access to an app/suitable phone, please let me know . We will inform the County and they will provide a card.
Members who used to pay their annual County Card fee by Standing order – please cancel this now. If anybody has renewed their card via their original standing order within the last 6months, contact the County Office who will offer a pro-rata refund or give you the option of transferring any credit to the County Junior Development Fund.
The card gives beneficial rates to over 1300 courses in England and normally offers a discount on green fees between 20-50%.
Instructions to Download;
- To download the County Card App, using your smart phone go to the relevant App store and enter igCounty in the search bar, once found, download.
- Once you have downloaded the app and opened it you will be asked if you want to allow igCounty to use your location, if you select ‘yes’ when it displays the clubs it will include the distance from your location in miles.
- The next screen you will see is the ‘County Selection’ page. Scroll down and select ‘Hampshire, Isle of Wight & Channel Islands’ and click the ‘Save’ button at the bottom of the page.
- When you click on the Clubs icon on the bottom of the app it will provide a list all affiliated clubs in Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands.
- IMPORTANT TO NOTE this is a list of all Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Clubs and not those necessarily taking part in the County Card Scheme. These can be found by visiting our website under the heading ‘County Card’
- Having clicked the ‘Save’ button you will be taken to the home page.
- The home page provides details on: County News – provides details of current news from Hampshire Golf news which again you can click onto for more information.
- Course Handicap Calculator – provides the facility to enter your handicap index and a course’s Slope Rating to see your Course Handicap.
- To activate your County Card, on the bottom select ‘County Card’ in the righthand corner and click, ‘Continue’.
- Enter all details as requested, turn the ‘Enable’ switch on and click ‘Activate Card’.
- Your County Card is now ready for use. The County Card scheme will run for 12 months
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/
Team Golf
What a year it has been for Team Golf and with two rounds to play it is all to play for to find out who will be the League Winners this year.
Jabba the Putt, captained by Alicia Hardy, lead with 23 points, by one point from Ady Cobb’s team The Cobblers and David Thomas’s team the Sunrisers, both wth 22 points. Hot on their heels is The Titorius Titans led by Steve Johnson with 21 points and one behind them, The Tweets led by Mel Gates, on 20 points.
The last few weeks have seen the course in excellent condition and there have been a number of superb scores in the twenties, topped with a season-best 25 in the last two Thursdays. This week it was by Dan Pulling & Garry Venn for the Titorius’s Titans and the previous week, Dave Seager & Richard Prescott, with Richard eagling the 4th then birdies on 6 and 8!
This year has seen a real Birdie Barrage, with 40 to date, so well played everyone and, in addition, a notable success last week was recorded by the Pipe Dream team of Captain Nic Scarr and Paul Hutchison, who scored 21 points to halve with the One Team-No Vision pair, John Coulson and Richard Bennett. This tie at last opened the Pipe Dream score with their first point.
The League culminates on the 13th July and our last evening, a week later, the 20th July, is our Championship and Prizegiving when everyone plays and the best four scores count towards The Championship. All players and teams are mixed up and will tee off from the first and tenth from 5pm – Captains will receive the start sheet and timings by 13th July, once we know who is, and who is not attending.
On Presentation evening, there will be a barbecue starting at 7pm to which families, friends and supporters are invited to celebrate the year and congratulate the winners.
Good luck and may the best team win the League and Championship.
John, Jan, and Jim White
Organisers on behalf of the Social Committee.
Greens
The recent Club Championships went well, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the greens team for all their hard work in the build-up, they presented the course superbly. That said, I also want to acknowledge that our team work hard all year to present the course as best we can, not just for the championship weekend.
Given the many positive comments we’ve had about the course presentation for the championships I thought that this month members might be interested to know just what the greenkeepers do in the week leading up to the championships.
Firstly, the greens were hand mown daily at a cutting height of 4mm and rolled daily to keep them true. Consequently, they were rolling at 10 feet by the Wednesday and had jumped up to 11 feet by Sunday morning (N.B. green speeds are measured primarily on the 9th green). Obviously given the footfall and small amount of growth they would have slowed up slightly as the day went on although the hot windy weather will have balanced this out as very small amounts of grass clippings were recorded each day. To get the greens in the condition we wanted by championship weekend the team applied a liquid nutrition and growth regulator on the morning of the Monday before the championships. This gave the greens the vibrant colour through the week.
Watering, including hand watering the areas of the greens that needed extra water, was a key element in the work of the green staff in the week before the championship replacing 3mm overnight. This had to be balanced delicately so as not to slow the greens down or lose grass. Holes were changed on Wednesday and then each day on the championship weekend. Annoyingly birds pecked some of the greens during the build-up so these holes were sand filled as and when needed (we think that other areas of the course were so hard and dry that they couldn’t peck anywhere other than the greens).
Tees and Aprons were cut every day from Tuesday including each day of the championship. We also applied a wetting agent and iron to maintain strength and bring out the green.
Fairways and Surrounds were cut Tuesday to Friday and the rough was patched as and when the team considered it to be too untidy.
On the Tuesdays we had 11mm of rain which put a green tinge on the course but unfortunately after 2 days of dry weather it had all but evaporated back out of the ground.
In the week building up to the championships the team also edged and fly mowed the bunker edges. The sand depths were checked, and some “stone picking” was undertaken. There was also some “tidying” carried out including the Yardage Base areas, areas of pathway, the edges of the sprinkler pop-ups and boundary hedging.
The greenkeepers also filled divots and trimmed around the yardage discs on the tees.
As you know we had a serious issue with our irrigation system towards the end of last month which the green keepers, plus a few member volunteers dealt with heroically. I pleased to report that we have almost completed all the repairs and made the replacements associated with this.
Moving forward into July the Course Manager will be reviewing the long grass around the bunkers and will cut some of the thicker bits down. In the longer term, in order to encourage more wispy grass, these areas will be left natural, and no fertiliser applied.
Finally, some of you have seen that we had a pyramid orchid bloom in the cleared area between the trees and hazel on the right-hand side of the 4th hole. Although not rare I’m sure you will agree that it is good to see native plants such as this returning to the course.
Derek Myers
Chair of Greens
Pro’s Corner
Thank you
Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank our team, we are so fortunate to have a great team around us,
Hammy (For those of you that wonder short for Hamilton) who has relocated from the bar to us 18 months ago is a top salesperson and always ready with a smile. Hammy is often found improving his golf and product knowledge throughout the day to provide the best service to the members, plus he has to have the smoothest voice in Alresford, we are hoping that he doesn’t get poached by the BBC for voiceovers!!
Hammy really is an integral part of the AGC family, and the oracle for members names if we ever forget!
Gareth Rees, like Hammy, has supported us through the ups and downs over the last 2 and half years. Gareth is the unwavering support that always steps up in a crisis, Gareth not only works in the shop every Thursday morning, but he completely picks the range every Wednesday night to enable the Greenkeepers to cut it on a Thursday morning. Did you know that not only does Gareth help us out massively, but he is also the junior organiser! Over the last year Gareth has organised and part funded a junior kit for the Junior team, personally paid for 6 of our juniors to play in a Pro Am tournament at Sandford Springs of which they raved about for days, organises (with Oscar Vaughan and Harvey Vaughan) roll ups for the juniors on alternate Saturday and Sunday afternoons to enable the juniors to meet other juniors and to help them obtain a handicap if they do not have one already and also he organises the Girl Golf Rocks Sessions that have commenced. I often ask Gareth if he actually sleeps ever!! We really are lucky to have such a dedicated member of the golf club and someone that we are proud to call a dear friend.
It’s a family affair…. I bet you didn’t know that both of Gareth’s grandsons are part of the Pro Shop family too! Oscar and Harvey help us out during the week with the ball picks and Oscar is going to be working a few hours in the Pro Shop going forward, which we are very much looking forward to.
Sad News
By now most of you have probably met and been charmed by the lovely Liam Spencer the Head Assistant Pro, sadly our good fortune was not to be….. however happily for Liam he has been Head hunted by a company called Foresight Golf who sell Launch Monitors, with an amazing salary and a Monday to Friday work pattern which enables him to spend more time with his new fiancée we wish him all the very best for the future and thank him for all his hard work and cheerful demeanour.
Club Champs
Fantastic and exciting club championship weekend, sun was out, pizza was on tap and we even had an exciting playoff to up the ante. Thank you to all who were involved in the day but a special mention to Simon and Gill Freemantle who put in so much work to ensure the day went smoothly The greenkeepers deserve a huge thankyou as the preparation that goes into getting the course in such top condition for the Championship takes a number of weeks building up to the event. Well done Greenies…
The tote proved a popular addition to the day, leading to Mark Tiplady, Andrew Thorne and Les Thorne winning the grand total of £114 and £138 each respectively in shop credit- well done gents
A testament to the high standard of play across the weekend was the number of twos that have been given out as balls this week. If you entered the twos competition and were successful in getting a Two, then please come into the Pro Shop to collect your winnings.
Wedge Fitting Event
Wedge Fitting Event- Friday 7th July- 1-4pm- half hour appointments booked via pro shop or mark@markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk
‘It’s fair to say that the golf wedge is the unsung hero of your set. While drivers and putters often steal the headlines, the wedge is there to pick up the pieces and carry you along the way.’ Understanding Clubs: The 4 Types Of Golf Wedges – Golf Circuit
On Friday 7th July we are running our first ever Wedge fitting event, we will be on hand to guide you through the process of the right wedge for you and your game, with many types and brands of wedges for you to try Mark will make the whole process simple and effective.
Q and A
How many wedges should I have in my bag? You need 3 or 4 wedges in your bag to ensure there are no gaps in your clubs
Which loft should I go for? – as long as you have consistent gaps
The ads talk about bounce, what does that mean, and can you get different types of bounce? Bounce is the sole of the golf club, whether you are a sweeper low bounce, digger high bounce.
What are sole grinds and finishes? Different grinds work in different situations eg Titleist offer a K grind which is bunker specific, Saturn chrome black is a special finish.
I have graphite shafts in my irons, should I have graphite wedges? It depends but more weight in a wedge is better.
Should I renew my wedges more often than my irons? Every 2 – 5 years.
What brand should I go for? That depends on budget and what suits you better.
Upcoming Events
-Wedge Fitting Event- Friday 7th July- 1-4pm- half hour appointments booked via pro shop or mark@markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk
– Ping Custom Fitting Event- Friday 25th August – 10am -2pm- To book please contact the Pro Shop or email mark@markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk
-Swing Out Sister fashion show- Tuesday 3rd October- Times to be confirmed (PM)
Tip of the Month-Pitching
Enjoy the video by clicking here >>>>> (5) 2 Steps for Better Pitching Consistancy – YouTube
A Look at the Rules
ANSWER
As the player replaced the out of bounds marker post before playing their next shot, there is no penalty and therefore the opponent was wrong to claim the hole. Play should continue. See definitions of boundary objects and Rules 8.1c & 16.1
Thanks to Brian Overton for all these Rules Q and A’s. If you have any rulings questions for Brian he will answer them here in future editions, just email the editor.
100 Club
The Clark’s hit the jackpot!
Winners in the 100 Club prize draw for July 2023
£100 Carol Clark
£50 Laurie Clark
£35 Prizewinners
Tineke Ribbink
Ron Markwick
Nick Male
Bob Germon
Mary Rook
Congratulations to all our winners in the July draw. Carol and Laurie have done the double scooping the two top prizes so congratulations to the Clark household. Tineke’s winning share number is number 1 which is of course the lowest number in the draw. Currently the highest number actually in play is 665 with 646 being the highest number to be drawn out in the last six months.
Summer Stableford and Evening Meal on Friday 28 July
This is a social competition open only to 100 Club members followed by a meal in the evening.
It’s a mixed stableford open only for 100 Club members
No entry fee
Arrange your own playing groups and times and sign in online before starting your round
Men off yellow tees
Ladies off red tees with two extra shots – calculated automatically when signing in
All 100 Club members are invited to come along for the meal whether or not they have played.
The cost is £18 per person to include a two course hot meal and coffee
This will be taken from your gold club card by the office
See the poster on the clubhouse noticeboard and sign up for the meal
Please note the meal will be served at 7.30 so if you are playing in the afternoon please aim to be finished by then.
Come along and join in – a chance to meet fellow 100 Club members
Join the 100 Club today and take part in the Summer Stableford
If you have recently joined the golf club then how about making 2023 the year that you join the 100 Club. You will then be eligible to play in the Summer Stableford and to come along for a sociable meal in the evening. As a 100 Club shareholder you will be actively contributing towards future enhancements to our golf club facilities and have the chance of winning a cash prize each month.
To know more about the 100 Club, how it began and what the funds are used for then please give me a call or email – details below.
For those who already belong then please encourage your fellow golfers to join us too.
The monthly draw is for seven cash prizes: £100, £50 and five at £35.
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
Editor: David Marshall
DISCLAIMER
The Editorial Team take no responsibility for incorrect information received from Contributors.