Covid-19

We continue to be alert to the issues relating to the Covid pandemic and are continuing to make adjustments on an agile basis, as and when the Club receives mandates and/or guidance from advisers and regulators. Following the most recent guidance it would appear that we will need to be patient and potentially wait until the New Year before we are able to return to golf as normal.

Members have been magnificent in their adherence to the necessary precautions, which helped us all to thoroughly enjoy our golf. We continue to be really well served by David Maskery whose timely and knowledgeable interventions have kept us all safe and playing lots of golf.

Clubhouse Development

The recent members survey in relation to potential Clubhouse Development revealed more than 80% of members are in support of continued planning to improve our Clubhouse. Sue Masser and David Maskery are working with our appointed architect and surveyors to finalise a potential phased scheme to be put to the members at a SGM, when that is possible. Prior to any SGM, Members will be provided will full information and costs so that we may all make informed decisions when we come to vote on the final, phased scheme. All plans will take account of the impact of the Covid pandemic on both use of the Clubhouse and the Club’s financial performance.

Chairman’s Cup

I am pleased that we will be running a new competition that seeks to recognise volunteers at our Club. This year we are indebted to those members who have volunteered to act as ‘starters’ which enables all of us to play a lot of golf. Therefore, everyone who has acted as a volunteer starter will be invited to participate in an 18-hole team and individual stableford competition on the morning of 11^th October; shotgun start. More information on this competition can be requested from the office, however, the intention is to make this an annual event as our Club relies on many volunteers. In subsequent years we will be opening the competition to our volunteer committee members, and others, however for this year we really do need to recognise the priceless contribution of our volunteer starters.

Bar and Catering

Chair of Bar & Catering; Trevor Pearce, is bringing forward

recommendations for catering at the Club at the next meeting of the Management Committee on 12^th October. We are grateful to Chris and Kelly for their continued commitment to the Club and we wish them continued success in their new roles. Obviously catering at the Club has been hugely affected by the lack of events, matches and societies so; again, we will need to be agile in our planning during these Covid affected times.

Head Professional

The next time that I write this monthly update will be Malcolm and Jane’s last day as our professional team. It seems unreal, even after 10-months of knowing, that there will be change of Head Professional at our Club in one month. Our plans to celebrate with Malcolm, Jane and family on 31^st October have been amended due to further, recent restrictions due to the pandemic. However, the Club will still be running an all-day event on the 31^st October; more news from Les Thorne in the coming days.

You will begin to see Mandy Wood at the Club towards the end of this week. Mandy is the wife of our new Head Pro, Mark, and will be partnering Mark and Terry in the Pro-Shop from November 1^st. Malcolm and Jane have kindly offered to spend time with Mandy to ensure that she is familiar with systems and our Club in advance of the transition on November 1^st. Mark and Mandy will have the unenviable task of remembering 580 members’ names; which I guess will take some time.

AGM

The Management Committee is considering the format of this year’s AGM in light of the Covid pandemic and restrictions that are in place. It is very unlikely that restrictions will ease in time to hold our usual format of AGM in November. Other Club’s and organisations have run AGM’s on-line or by written reports with proxy voting. Once we have considered the possibilities, the Management Committee will consult our Club rules and then decide how to run this year’s AGM. More news on this during October.

I hope that your recent enjoyment of the course matches my own experience; we are truly fortunate to have such a well-run Club with committed staff providing such excellent facilities for us to enjoy.

Robert White

Chairman of the Management Committee

The entry for both competitions will be limited to the first 32 pairs who sign-in.

Matches should be played using the new handicapping system.

In the mixed foursomes the handicap allowance is 50% of the difference between the combined course handicaps of each pair. It is recommended that each player when they tee off should use their own ball and that they should be only person to lift and replace the ball for any reason during play of that hole.

In 4BBB matches, player with the lowest course handicap gives strokes to the other 3 players based on 90% of the difference between the course handicaps. The strokes taken are always based on the player with the lowest course handicap regardless of whether that player is present or not.

Sign-in for the Ladies Winter Foursomes will also be available from 5^th October. Details will be sent by email to the Ladies Section.

The 2019-20 versions of the Winter Leagues have been completed. The winners of the Lombard 4BBB were Simon Freemantle and Nick Austin, and the runners up were Louis Parker and Andrew Skirton. The winners of the Winter Mixed Foursomes were Paul and Linda Wager, and the runners-up were Nick Duncan and Cynthia Mariner.

Prize Money for Competitions

As Malcolm and Jane’s retirement is almost upon us, from 1^st October prize money for competitions will be paid directly to your bar card account by the Office. Any existing Pro’s Shop credits you have should be used up before the end of October.

World Handicapping System (WHS)

The switch over to the World Handicapping System is on track for 2^nd November. To allow for this, the last day for submitting a Supplementary Score will Friday 23^rd October and  there will be no competition play between 27^th October and 7^th November other than some testing for the Committee to try to make sure the transition has worked successfully.

By late October, you will be able to view your predicted Handicap Index on the England Golf Website (www.englandgolf.org). After 2^nd November, when you go out to play, you should use the Course & Slope Rating table at the 1^st tee to determine your Course Handicap …

• Look for the table for the tees you are going to use Men-White, Men-Yellow, Ladies-Red. (The Ladies-Yellow is for use in the future.)
• In that table, find the range which includes your Handicap Index.
• Read off the Course Handicap next to that range.

Your Course Handicap is the handicap you use when playing your round and your score relative to your Course Handicap is what will be used for any handicap adjustments.

More information on how WHS affects competition play and general play/social scores in next month’s edition.

George Clelland

Question.

In Match Play

• Both balls are on the putting green.
• Player A putts and their ball hits Player B‘s ball.

Is Player A subject to a penalty, if so, how many shots?

At long last I managed to get my hands on the Wessex Seniors Winter League Trophy which was handed over by Francis Sheath, the South Winchester Seniors Captain

Further to this, I received the very good news that we will be allowed to defend our title in 2020/21, the first game of which is a home match against Corhampton on Monday 2nd November. Clearly, this will be subject to any current or future COVID restrictions but, we are hopeful that as well as playing the competitive 4×4-balls there will be a socially distanced meal afterwards.

Keith Turner who has taken over responsibility for co-ordinating AGCs involvement in this year’s Winter League competition will shortly be requesting players to sign up for the Corhampton game. A condition of this being that anyone wishing to play will need to provide a contact telephone number and indicate if they intend to stay for the post-match meal. Assuming all goes according to plan, the home game against Hockley will take place shortly afterwards.

Some other good news. The Vets will be holding this year’s Bagman Trophy on Monday 5^th October. Despite few Vets Roll-Ups since the end of March, we consider there is still a sufficient number of Bagmen who have fulfilled the role during the year or who volunteered to do so before lockdown. There will be no entry fee and no prize money, however, the winner will acquire the honour of being “Bagman of the Year” together with possession of one of the most sought after trophies in the Club’s Trophy cabinet.

Some other winning performances by members of the Vets section this month are:

• Robert Doley, winner of the Linnets 36-hole Medal with a net score of 134.
• Geoff Jenkins, winner of the September Over 60’s Stableford with 43pts, pipping fellow Vet Chris Thompson by 1pt.
• Peter Morgan whose 39 points won the late August Saturday Mens Only Stableford.

Enjoy your golf and continue to stay safe!

Ed Tinley

of the new bunker will have the new style liner the revetting walls will be of natural turf rather than artificial.

Top15 give feedback – how about yours?

Whilst we lacked members feedback on the trial of the swale grass height on the 16^th we felt some debate existed and appreciated the feedback from the top 15 players in the Club Championship to the question. Previously the grass was at 20-30mm being 28mm for the Championship; to provide some context the first cut of the rough is 25mm. We have now decided to accomplish a 3-month trial at fairway height which is 10-20mm. To be fair, the Hawtree Report did suggest swales should be at fairway height. A ‘marmite issue’ for many, but do let us know what you think.

Extensions in progress 

As I write hire equipment is in to facilitate moving chalk and subsoil to allow the 1^st and 12^th Tees to be extended whilst the ground is still dry and hard. So far 100 tonnes has already been moved from the side of the range to the back of the 12^th tee. Hopefully the creation of the practice swale can also start.

Course Treatment

• There was an abundance of crane flies recently, as expected. The insecticide Acelepryn has been applied to the greens to avoid the birds lunching on our turf.
• Fungicide has also been applied in a preventative strategy to combat fusarium, some small spots of disease noted on 10^th  and 11^th  over the last 10 days, typically due to shading for longer periods of time. Autumn fertiliser has been applied to all greens to harden the grass plant and keep it that way as we go forward into longer nights and damper days.
• Aprons have been ‘hollow tined’ to remove organic matter with over seeding and dressing being applied along with fertiliser to aid in recovery. Tees will have an Autumn fertiliser and will also be ‘hollow cored‘, as and when time allows.

• Fairways are slowly recovering but do need some over seeding in areas with a long-term plan to ‘hollow core’ some areas to create a seed bed, along with brushing and raking to aerate the surface. Concerns about pest damage, as some areas on fairways are dying off due to an abundance of chafer grubs. The area below is 15cm by 15cm, and although only illustrates 3 grubs, 8 were actually found in this small area.
• All Tees and Aprons and 10% of fairways will be treated with insecticide.
• Birds are pecking out in the field forcing divotting and seeding these areas every morning, the problem is certainly chafer grubs.

Historic Value? – Dont Miss Out!

The old score cards were exhausted much sooner than expected forcing a hasty switch to the new cards. So, we have around £2,500 worth of ‘hole signage’ on order to reflect the changes. In the interim, please follow the new score card. The old signage will be removed as carefully as possible and will be made available in the hope of interest from some members for their historic value, or simply for their sheds etc!

Would you like to join our ‘Green Party’?

Now if you have managed to read this far, perhaps you have a passion for Greens Issues! Our committee is made up of 10 members from a cross-section of the Club with 4 Chairman Invitees. As Tip (the original instigator of 1^st Impressions) is heading onto greater things as Club Captain he will stand down from the Greens Committee creating a vacancy. Sadly, you won’t get to drive any of the machinery! We have 6 professionals for that, so your main role will be ensuring due process is followed and we as a committee are communicating as openly and honestly as possible.

Drop me a line, if you are interested, at greens@alresfordgolf.co.uk and I can explain a little more.

Bob Moore
Chair of Greens Committee

Answer.

In Match Play

• There is no penalty and Player A‘s ball is played as it lies.
• Players B‘s ball must be replaced.

Note: In Stroke Play

• Player A would receive the general penalty of 2 shots.

Rule 11.1b

The objective is to raise funds for projects or items requiring capital expenditure which will enhance the Golf Course and/or Club House. These would generally be considered as extras and not necessarily within the Club budget.  Over the years many items have been purchased or contributions made towards the cost – notably the shoe and trolley cleaner, the information board and clock on the 1^st tee, the Starters Hut and several sets of patio furniture including the new rattan furniture last year.

The draw is monthly and there are cash prizes to be won: £100, £50 and four at £32.

How do I join?

If you would like to join and enjoy the chance of winning a cash prize each month then it is very easy. Each share cost £1 per month paid for by monthly standing order and there is no limit on the number you can purchase.  Members generally have between 1 and 10 shares with 5 being the most common holding.

The list of prizewinners is posted on the Secretary’s noticeboard in the entrance hall and of course in this section every month.  

Application forms can be obtained from the Secretary’s office or from me –  Pat Wallis phone 01420 564417 or email peterpat51@outlook.com

Pat Wallis