Fore Info October 2022
Content
- Results of the photo competition
- Editors Interview: getting to know our Ben and his team
- An update from the Chair: managing increased running costs and canopy issue
- Club and Ladies Captain News: another successful month
- Rules Quiz Question: can you practice between holes in a competition?
- Upcoming knockouts and Terms of Competitions: don’t miss out
- Vets update: more from Bob
- World Cup Football: learn how and when you can watch it at AGC
- Social : lots of new events coming soon… sign up quick
- Greens News: latest on the state of our course and special maintenance
- Winners in the 100 Club: check if you won
It is great to see the first big Social in the new clubhouse recently. Midwich Dawn helped members let their hair down and dance till late. Well done Ben and his team for ensuring nobody dehydrated.
There is a variety of new upcoming events also highlighted in this edition. If you have any ideas for new socials let Steve Johnson know.
On the course the Ladies Stoneham Cup Team (captained by Rosemary Verrall) excelled and reached the final, narrowly losing to Sandford Springs. Well done Ladies!
The Men also did well and Richard Lane captained the AGC side to win the Kindred Cup. Well done Team. AGC goes from strength to strength. If you fancy representing the club in any of the interclub matches contact your respective Captain.
Photo Competition: Do we have our own mysterious Crop Circle?
The winner of the September Photo Competition recognised correctly that is was not a crop circle. Several interesting answers were received- members have quite some imagination! The correct answer is that this is where a bunker by the ‘pre-bypass era’ 7th green stood. Well done Graham Marshallsay who wins a drink on me. He also shared the photo below of the course back then, with the bunker circled in red.
Editors Note: Graham was so happy to win he spilt tea all over the photo as you can see. 
As always keep in touch to get your news in this, your club mag e-zine. Don’t forget to let me know of your ‘hole in ones’ (with photographic proof) too.
David Marshall
Editor
Interview: Big Ben and Team keeping us well fed and watered…
In this months interview, I get to find out more about our new caterer Ben and his team. Ben describes his challenges and aspirations for the club and shares his plans for the next few months.
Editor: So Ben tell us about yourself
Ben: Although I was born near Manchester I spent most of my life in and around Hampshire. I started my hospitality career with 11 years working for Pizza Express. Starting at the bottom and working my way up to setting up and running restaurants around the UK and the Channel Islands. From there I moved to work for Jamie Oliver, setting up over 40 restaurants both locally and internationally. I even set up one on a cruise ship. I was then lucky enough to be chosen by Jamie to set up restaurants in Australia and spend several months down under.
Editor: What do you do when you are not working?
Ben: I have always been keen on sport and played Hockey competitively. Although I play golf, I am just a casual player. I spend as much time as I can with my wife Lizzie and my 2 year old, Milo.
Editor: How did you come to take over at AGC?
Ben: Lizzie was working at the Golf Academy in Winchester and a table of members were visiting from Alresford – overheard Lizzie explaining who we were and what we do and the rest they say is history….
Editor: Ben, how many staff do you have?
Ben: Although the numbers vary depending on the day of the week, we have 13 dedicated staff at AGC. I can bring in others from Winchester whenever I need to.
Kay is our Head Chef here and Sam is supporting when we have big functions. I am happy that Gary just joined so we are well set up for the future at AGC.
Jane is our manager and we have Tracey, Immy, Harriet, Vicky and the kids at the weekend in the bar and serving food.
Editor: what have been your biggest challenges at AGC?
Ben: Working in a members club is so different from where I have worked before. Its great to have loyal customers and faces I see every week.
I want the clubhouse to feel welcoming and accessible and not just for when we finish a round of golf. Honours boards will be back, but in the meantime a few pictures of the course on the walls and a few more flowers I think will help. A lot of members arrive, play and go home. I want to introduce new ideas to members and show they can have fun and enjoy the club with other members, family or friends too. They can make so much more from their membership.
Editor: How have you developed your approach over the last few months?
Ben: ‘The Kitchen @’ concept is based around the idea that the kitchen is the hub, not only of the family but the home. It’s where we eat, meet, entertain and really come together. My approach at AGC will always be for the club to feel like this and I have and will continue to adapt to comments, feedback, chats at the bar and so one to ensure that this remains the case
Editor: What are your ambitions for the club?
Ben: I aim to be our members first choice venue in Alresford. Whether playing or not, fancying a coffee with friends or a light lunch or a Friday night dinner. Fish and Chip Fridays, Curry or Moules Frites Evenings are all on the way.
Coming soon on our next menu, I want to add Wintery Club Classics such as Chilli con Carne, Lasagne and after 1001 requests ‘Cheesy Chips! I am also finalising a Christmas menu and hope members will book early to celebrate with their friends and family. If you have a special request for lunch or dinner just ask.
Quickfire
Favourite food: Italian
Favourite drink: tea at home, Latte when out.
Favourite holiday destination: Puglia, Italy
Best Film: Commitments
If you were stranded on an island what one item would you like to take with you? Suncream- I burn badly!
| Present Role | @The Kitchen Founder and Caterer, Alresford Golf Club since July 22 |
| Family | Wife Lizzie. Son Milo (2) and Finan (18) |
| Hobbies | Hockey, Golf |
| Golf Handicap | 20 |
Editor
David Marshall
Management Corner
Finance
Our Finance Committee has been battling the impact of the inflation spike and increasing energy prices to drive out a budget for this financial year, which begins today 1st October 2022.
Our timely interventions to install energy efficient fittings and equipment as part of the Clubhouse Development will help significantly but still will not protect us from huge energy price inflation. Just prior to the Clubhouse Development project our Club invested in new gas boilers which were designed and installed with the help and expertise of Paul Batty. The new boilers replaced three inefficient domestic boilers and a leaky, inefficient hot water cylinder.
The Club also benefitted from the foresight of our General Manager, David Maskery, who had previously fixed our energy prices for four years. As you can imagine it is now not possible for us to fix the prices again at any reasonable rate. The compound impact of changing from David’s four-year fixed deal to market prices in 2022 has resulted in a projected, five-fold increase in the cost of gas and electricity. Whilst we enjoyed the benefit of David’s foresight we now must deal with the reality of 2022 and through 2023. Ultimately this has to be reflected in the budget for this financial year.
The Finance Committee , led by Richard Lane, and ably assisted by David Crawshaw together with David and Mel in the office, finalised the budget for FY 2022/23 which was approved by the Management Committee at our meeting on 28th September 2022.
There will be a significant impact on subscriptions for the 2023 golfing year, which will be fully explained in advance of the AGM in November. It is also appreciated that we are all facing increased bills at home and that any increase in subscriptions for your membership will be equally unwelcome, however, we must also protect the Club and need to ensure that we can at least project a small surplus to maintain and progress the quality of the Club as a whole. We are also closely monitoring how our competitor Clubs are dealing with the inflationary impact on subscriptions and we will include those findings too when reporting on proposed subscription increase at our Club.
Clubhouse Development
We continue to address the final snagging list for the Clubhouse Development project, with the help of Sue Masser and Bill Ragan from the House Committee.
The Management Committee has decided to remove the delayed canopy from the original contract with Ascia and thus have removed the cost of the canopy from the contract price. The Club had struggled to make progress on this matter with our contractor so we have now decided to go direct to the manufacturer. We are unlikely to install the canopy during the winter months but will have it in place in the Spring.
As you will have seen, work has begun to install security gates at the entrance to the car park. The gates, when closed, will help us to secure the car park and course from vehicular access for the first time. As we are not sited in an urban area we do not need to protect the Club from excessive, random parking by non-members and so need not be automated, but will open and close in the morning and evening at times to be confirmed.
Once the final snagging list has been completed the Club can then finalise payments to our contractor and report to the Club on the final spend. We still anticipate to be within 1% to 2% of the budget, including the cost of the canopy as a provisional sum.
AGM
The provisional date for the AGM is 24th November 2022, and we hope to be present in the Clubhouse for the first time in three years.
You will have seen the draft rule changes that have been distributed and we await your feedback. We are committed to getting the final draft to you well in advance of the AGM so that members have plenty of time to re-review. The final rule changes require a vote at the AGM to bring them into force.
So with the change in seasons, we look forward to our autumn and winter golf and hope that you can reflect on a fantastic summer of golf at our Club.
Robert White
Chair
From the Club Captain
September was another busy month of golf.
We got off to a fantastic start with our Kindred Cup team getting to finals day at Lee on the Solent golf club. Drawn against Corhampton in the morning semi-final the team came out on top with a hard earned 3&2 victory. This gave us an afternoon final against Barton on Sea which we won 3&2 thanks to a last hole win. This is the first time we have won this significant trophy so congratulations to all involved and especially Captain and organiser Richard Lane. I understand that we celebrated spectacularly well! Personally, I was sad to miss the day but given the result it was no doubt for the best!
On the same day we held a very successful Mixed Invitation. This saw 20 members invite guests on a lovely Sunday afternoon. All enjoyed the day with a very surprised Barry Scott and his guest from Mill Ride, Edna Roe, coming out on top. The course was in excellent condition while Ben and his catering team showed the club in good light. A very well organised day.
Thursday 8th September was an unforgettable day. We will always remember the day of Mark’s first Pro-Am as we sadly lost Queen Elizabeth II. Despite the day having many heavy rain showers (Stoneham closed their course before 10am) the course remained remarkably fit and fair for play. All guests and Professionals were extremely complimentary about the course, clubhouse and catering. Mark deserves great credit for organising an outstanding event, attracting professionals rom all over the South Region. He had a super team of our members supporting and organising and the prize table was outstanding for professionals and amateurs alike. The winning team was led by our own James Banks.
It was great to see one of our old boys, James Ablett (Lee on the Solent), as joint winning professional with Richard Wallis (Canterbury Golf Club) both on 40 points. Full results here Alresford Pro-Am – Professional Individual Leaderboard | The PGA (bluegolf.com)
Simon and I enjoyed the hospitality of Corhampton Golf Club for their Salver without success. We sent 2 pairs to Meon Valley for the Millennium Pairs Trophy. Simon and Brian Wright had no more success than me and Graham Marshallsay. Similarly, Les Thorne and I 3-putted our way around Hockley in the Hockley Twyford but enjoyed another good day.
Captains Day on the 11th was another super day, very well attended and some great golf. Pat and I were very pleased to see so many members enjoying the day. The winner of the Captains Prize was Richard Lane. Best Man was Merv Fulbrook who had a fantastic round helping his team to runners-up position. Sue Pearce was Best Lady while Junior Captain Harriet Riches was the best (and only!) junior.
Sue and her team of husband Trevor, Rob and Nikki White won the team prize. Merv, Gavin Jones, Suzy Batty and Mark Pyne were second with Mike Skinner, Terry Waters, Gerard Skinner & Paul Shaw third.
While this is not primarily a charity fundraising day, almost £2000 was raised for Captains Charity by the generosity of our members.
Jan and I were proud to be Starter for the 17th playing of one of our most prestigious events, the Alresford Cup. It was great to see teams from Dorset, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Sussex, Wiltshire and Surrey out on the course for the 2022 competition.
Huge well done to all the teams that took part and a special mention to all the girls from the various counties that were representing their counties for the very first time. It was wonderful to see all the supporters watching the girls tee off the 1st and 10th holes and to have a club house full of people creating a brilliant atmosphere for the prize giving. Wiltshire were winners for the first time, making it a very special day for one of their team who was playing her final event as a junior! Great day, superbly run by Mary Rook and the ladies.
Captain-Pro Challenge
For various reasons Mark and I have had to extend the event to let us rearrange challenges cancelled due to weather or other reasons.
Finally, we were at last able to hold the event to mark the retirement of Malcom and Jane. After another super meal, Malcolm entertained the guests with a slideshow of the course, clubhouse and members over the 40 years he was our Head Professional. One guest observed that it was the first time for years that we had a room full of people where he knew everyone! A most enjoyable evening!
Best wishes to all for a great month of golf.
Mark Tiplady
Club Captain
Ladies Section
Wednesday, 7th September saw several ladies attend the Div. 2 HLCGA Autumn Meeting at Skylark Golf and Country Club. I was one of them and never having played the course before arrived more in hope than expectation. The first few teams out were greeted by rain of monsoon proportions but this eventually blew through. To my surprise I was leading in the club house with 39 points almost until the last lady from Skylark came in, also with 39 points and she won on countback. However I was delighted with my win. Jane Macae came fourth and Alresford Ladies turned out more entrants than any other club in the County so well done all of you.
Sunday, 11th September saw many of the ladies enjoy the Captain’s Day. It was good to see the club house full and a great atmosphere.
Sunday, 18th September. Final of the Ladies Scratch event held at AGC. Well organised by Lynne Cowser.
Thursday, 22nd September. The semi-final and finals day of the Stoneham Cup meant an early start for Rosemary Verrall and her team, plus supporters at North Hants GC. In the morning, after some good golf, AGC ladies won their semi-final against Barton on Sea. The final against Sandford Springs who beat Stoneham in the semis provided an exciting afternoon of golf. The matches were all very close finishing on the last few holes but victory went to Sandford Springs. 
Our Stoneham squad is to be congratulated on some fine golf throughout the season and particular thanks to Rosemary Verrall who has captained the team and made some inspired team choices. Well done, ladies.
Sunday, 25th September. HLCGA Alresford Cup. Teams of six juniors from various counties competed for the trophy. The event was ably organised by Mary Rook and all of the teams were looked after by a ‘shepherd’ from the ladies section who made sure the girls kept their mind on their golf. A great day with a win for Wiltshire.
Tuesday 27th September. Ladies Autumn Meeting. What started off as a bright and sunny day morphed into something a bit wet and windy. Not withstanding that, seventy ladies turned out for our last major event of this season. A three ball Bowmaker followed by a fairly fiendish putting competition, organised by Tony Hutt, was hopefully enjoyed by all. The winners were 1st Lynne Cowser, Sarah Scott and Charlotte Marsh. 2nd Jane Hendry, Charlotte Johnson and Annie Beale. 3rd Sandra Hooker, Sigi Hill, and Joan Stopp. 4th Sarah Staines, Rosie Hallas, enhanced by a ‘hidden’ card from Lyn Jones. The nine hole Stableford that ran alongside the Bowmaker was won by Carol Roe. Of special note was Jacqui Sanger’s putt that went straight into the hole whilst most of the rest of us were twelve feet away. Had it missed the hole, goodness knows where it would have finished! It was good to see some of our non-playing ladies join us for lunch that finished off a good day.
Jan Harring
Ladies Captain
Competitions and Handicap Committee Report
Winter Knockout Competitions
Men’s Lombard 4BBB
Mixed Winter Foursomes
The draw for the Winter Knockout competitions have now been made and both have been emailed to competitors and a copy placed on the Club’s Notice Board. A copy of the Terms of Competition for each of the competitions is also available on the Club website.
Play in the League stage may commence on 1st October and must conclude by close of play on Sunday 15th January 2023. If the League stages conclude earlier then the knockout draw will be brought forward.
Terms of Competition
I have had a couple of queries recently regarding the Club’s 6 qualifying card rule. Alresford along with many other golf clubs implement such a rule to ensure that each competitor in a competition is playing to a handicap that matches their current playing ability.
It is important for all competitors to be comfortable that all other competitors are playing at a handicap that is realistic and reflective, which is particularly important when playing for a trophy.
As a reminder 6 qualifying cards do NOT include General Play cards and must be bonefide competitions held at Alresford or other Clubs, such as Board competitions, or organised medal and stableford competitions.
Any member who enters such a competition to achieve their 6 qualifying rounds, would not be eligible for prizes may request their entry fee to be refunded via the Office.
For any knockout or a drawn competition, a member of the C&H Committee checks the entrant’s Handicap record to ensure that 6 qualifying competitions have been completed in the preceding 12 months from the competition closing date.
Gill Freemantle
Chair Competitions & Handicap Committee, Handicap Secretary
A Look at the Rules
Question
A player starts their round on the 10th tee in a stoke play competition as allowed by the committee. After 9 holes, they walk up to the 1st tee and see a group just about to tee off. While waiting they decide to walk back to the practice green and practice chipping. Is the player subject to a penalty?
Juniors Section
We are pleased to announce we have initiated a regular 9 hole junior roll up on Saturday afternoons to encourage more juniors to play and get handicaps. We had the first one on the 24th with 10 juniors playing. There was a nearest the pin competition, which Oscar Vaughn won.
Harriet Riches
Juniors Captain
Vets Section
After the good weather we have had, ball running well, we are back to finding our distances a lot shorter. Now we are having to think a bit more than in the summer heat.
This month we were due to play 5 matches. Unfortunately, Basingstoke was called up due to work at Dummer. Royal Winchester was called off after 13 holes because of torrential rain and flooding of the greens. Stoneham was called off due to the Queen’s funeral. The two games we did play we won, both at home, Hartley Wintney 4.5 to 1.5 and Cowdray Park 4.5 to 3.5. We have our last two Summer League matches both away to Cowdray Park and Hartley Wintney.
I had a great Captains Day playing alongside Drew and Kathryn Fielden and John Goddard.
The Joe Kitchen competition was played at the end of the month, results not in at time of writing but can be seen on HowdidIdo.
Also, this month we had our Flag competition. Again, the results are not yet in at time of going to press. More about these two competitions next month.
In October we have our annual Vets and partners dinner. We still have room for anyone who has not yet put their name down. Signed up Vets members only.
I have one more report for the Fore for the Vets before I hand over to Steve Oldham at the A.G.M. after which I will be taking a well-earned holiday.
Bob Archer
Vets Captain
Editors Note: we will miss smiling Bob, but still need to put up with smiling Ewan for another year!
General Manager’s Update
NEW MEMBERS
Following a decision taken at last months Management Committee, we have now closed our 7-day membership categories until January 2023. We are still accepting 5 day applications. We have however re-introduced a Waiting List category which provides limited access to the course but with a guaranteed space at renewal time in January.
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.
STARTERS – HELP REQUIRED
October is proving popular again for visiting golfers.
Can you assist with Starter duties for visiting Golf Societies on the following dates?
Monday 17th – 09.45 – 10.45
Wednesday 19th – 09.45 – 10.30
Thursday 20th – 09.45 – 10.45
Friday 21st – 10.15 – 12.15
Monday 24th – 09.15 – 10.30
Thursday 27th – 09.45 – 11.00
Please advise David if you can help. Thank you.
ON-COURSE SAFETY
We have revised our safety instructions for golfers (members and visitors). These are available via the website. Please make yourself aware of these guidelines and instructions.
/www.alresfordgolf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Health-Safety-Course-Information-for-Visitors.pdf
BAR & CATERING
Bar opening from 07.00am for Tea/Coffee/ Juices etc and 11.00am for normal alcohol sales.
Kitchen open for food service from 09.00am for breakfast/brunch menu (until 12.00) and All Day menu from 12.00noon.
Food service ends at 19.00pm on Sunday -Wednesday, 20.00pm Thursday-Saturday
TROPHY WINNERS 2021
Would all trophy winners please return their trophies to the club. They all need to be returned so they can be audited and engraved in readiness.
All Trophies (including any won and already presented in 2022) must be returned to the Office by Friday 7th October.
Every year we are left with a few unhappy members who either do not have an engraved trophy or a trophy at all, where previous winners have forgotten to return their silverware in time.
PLEASE RETURN YOUR TROPHIES IN PLENTY OF TIME.
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/
CAR PARK
A couple of near misses recently prompt me to remind ALL MEMBERS that when entering and exiting the car park please follow the directional signs. DO NOT be tempted to take the short cut to get the ‘best spaces’ or out get out quickly.
Similarly, please only park in designated spaces and if none are available use the Overflow Car Park.
Parking adjacent to the B3046 Cheriton Road potentially blocks access to the Overflow car park, access for ambulances and prevents delivery lorries entering the car park to off load at the far end. This can be a major issue.
Replace your divots and pitchmarks
It only seems a few weeks ago since we were talking about cracks on the fairways and rock hard playing surfaces – as we go into the Autumn, it is very important that we do our bit to help the greens and fairways by repairing pitchmarks and replacing divots whilst the growing season is still favourable. Care and attention now will benefit us all in the long run through the winter.
PLEASE NOTE : Greens maintenance week takes place week commencing 17-21st October.
This will include the greens being solid tined (punched holes) to achieve aeration with a sand dressing then applied. The greens will then be brushed and rolled.
The fairways will also be scarified in places where the dry summer conditions have caused significant wear and tear. These ‘patchy’ areas will be showing little or no growth at present. They will have become hydrophobic (or water repellent) and so will require assistance to recover. By ripping out thatch and dead organic matter from the surface it will aid water penetration when the rain eventually comes and assist with nutrient uptake when we add fertilisers etc. The 8th fairway will also have an additional dressing of humus (not the dip!) . Humus greatly increases soil fertility and overall health, and thus plant growth, thanks to the presence of beneficial nutrients like nitrogen and carbon. It may be a bit smelly …
As always the exact timing and duration of this will be weather dependant but it is hoped to achieve it all by the 19th October. Temporary greens will be in play whilst the greens are being worked on.
Coming Soon
World Cup 2022 takes place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December ; 32 teams compete in eight groups; England face Iran on the second day of the tournament while Wales face USA; Wales vs England on November 29. Book your golf to coincide with the match schedules and enjoy pre or post game refreshments in the clubhouse and enjoy the matches on the TV’s . Full details to follow shortly.
David Maskery
General Manager
Social
On Saturday 17th September Music Night went ahead and what a great night it was too. The band, Midwich Dawn, played from 20.00 to 23.00 and members were dancing to the tunes all night. The food was good and Ben had a couple of guest cocktails which went down well especially the ‘Long Island Iced Tea’. We should get the band back next year for an encore!
On Saturday 8th October it is Kit’s Quiz with a prompt start at 19.30 so we can get through the 10 rounds of questions in good time. Good luck to all the teams
For future events we have the ‘Club Dinner’ on Saturday 12th November and the ‘Sign Up Sheet’ will be on the notice board shortly.
Also in the calendar in the near future are a ‘Race Night’ and the ‘New Years Eve Dinner /Dance’.
If any members have suggestions for future events, please email me on malea56@sky.com and I will put it to the Committee for discussion
Team Golf
The Whites (John, Jan and Jim) are taking a well earned rest…
Greens News
I was at the club this morning to meet with one of our members on Greens committee business and was pleased to see the Alresford Cup underway. If you do not know about this competition, ask one of the ladies section, it is something we at Alresford Golf Club should be proud of. Thankfully, the Course Manager reports that the greens are performing well and have met target speeds of 9 feet or above throughout the week. I hope the girls, representing counties from all over the south of England, enjoyed our course as much as I do.
The team have applied a nutritional spray of liquid feed and wetting agent this week. They will continue to keep a close eye on growth rates and will make another application of fungicide when conditions are right. The main job this week has been hollow coring, cleaning up, overseeding and top dressing the worst areas on tees. This work will be followed up by an application of granular fertiliser to tees and aprons to aid recovery.
Fairways are recovering slowly from the extended period of high temperatures and no rainfall. They appear to be greener every day and the green keepers’ next job will be to rake, brush and scarify the fairways to help the recovery process. All areas of the course have been cut twice this week and the rough has received a single cut.
The team have cleared and repaired the damage caused by birds as best as they can. Unfortunately, we have both Chafer and Leather Jackets in the ground and the birds are attacking the bare areas where grass has died and to feed on them. We had hoped that the drought may have reduced the number of Chafers and Leather Jackets however, they did not seem to be affected other than to feed and take moisture by eating the roots of the turf causing it to die, hence the bare patches. We have been given approval for pesticide use on leather jackets and we will treat all the greens, tees and 10% of the fairways (each club limited to 10%).
Over the next month our green keeping team will undertake the following work.
- 8th Fairway – early October – scarify, brush and seed followed by a top dressing with humus to speed recovery.
- Fairway scarification and brushing – week beginning 17th
- Greens maintenance – week beginning 17th October – solid tine aeration to 6” and 3” followed by top dressing.
Finally, following on from my comments in the last edition of FORE about sand depth in bunkers we have established a working group, including the Course Manager and the Head Pro, to recommend to the Greens Committee, the depth of sand (both compacted and raked) in our green side and fairway bunkers. I will keep you informed in future FORE articles.
Derek Myers
Chair Greens Committee
A Look at the Rules
Answer
There is no penalty, a player may practise putting or chipping on or near the putting green of the hole just completed and any practice green and the teeing area of the next hole.
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.
Pro’s corner
Although the weather was not on our side, the Pro Am on the 8th of September proved a huge success and the feedback has been hugely positive ranging from compliments about the course, food and the organisation. It really was a fantastic day. Congratulations to James Banks (AGC) for the winning team, a well-deserved win. Most importantly a huge thank you to all who participated, sponsored, volunteered, Greens staff, the office, bar and my fabulous Pro-Am committee. I am looking forward to next year’s event already!
Well done again to the Stoneham Ladies team ably led by Rosemary Verrall who got all the way to the finals of the Stoneham Cup.
We have another Taylor Made Demo day coming up on the 14th October, we have a few spaces remaining so please get in contact if you would like a slot with Oliver the fitting expert.
New Seasons stock is arriving day by day so do come in and have a look at what’s new. We are introducing Island Green for men and Oscar Jacobson new for AW22.
Stop Making Holes in Your Golf Glove
In this video I show you why you get holes in your golf glove and how to improve things to stop this from happening.
100 Club
The ladies have picked up the top prizes this month!
Our winners in the 100 Club prize draw for October 2022
£100 Sarah Thorne
£50 Jane Scott
£35 Prizewinners
Mike Pigott
Ashley Wright
Mike Bryett
Tony Marshall
Richard Calton
Congratulations to all our prize winners this month. Both Jane and Mike Bryett are first time winners so maybe the first of many. The next draw will take place week beginning 24th October so look out for the result on the noticeboard.
I have an apology to make to Carol and Brian Young following my report last month. I mentioned that they were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary during the weekend of the 100 Club Summer Stableford. I should have said they were celebrating their Diamond Anniversary. I’m sorry for losing you ten years Carol and Brian so many congratulations on your 60 years together.
Why not make this the year you join the 100 Club – you may win a cash prize. You have to be in it to win it!
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 will now be 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
Quote of the Month
‘Golf is an awkward set of bodily contortions designed to produce a graceful result’- Tommy Armour
Editor: David Marshall
DISCLAIMER
The Editorial Team take no responsibility for incorrect information received from Contributors.