Tee Times – January 2008
OFF TO A SPECTACULAR
START…
A
month of my captaincy has already gone by – and what a month! It started with
the carol evening, and was followed by my dine-in with friends, and then an
“explosive” drive-in and Christmas lunch.
John
May trumpeted members to the 1st tee for the drive-in. Ladies’
Captain Carole Bamford drove first – a distance that raised £65 for her
charity, the Children’s Arthritis Trust, and won a bottle of champagne for
Gillian Edmonds.
Then
David Gleeson teed up the special ball for me to drive off with the traditional
hickory-shafted brassie. Full of confidence, I swung… only to be enveloped in a
cloud of white powder. Too late, I realised that the ball was sabotaged. This
somewhat dented my confidence, which is perhaps why my drive “for real” was a
little hurried and hooked. Even so, I managed 119 yards – a distance guessed
correctly by Vice-captain Kevin O’Donnell, who won the silver spoon.
After
a family Christmas at home, we enjoyed New Year’s Eve celebrations at the club
in the company of around 100 members. Martin Jeens and his committee have had a
busy time on our behalf making sure that all the above events ran smoothly, for
which many thanks.
Since
the AGM, the new committee members have been appointed to chair the various
sub-committees and I am very confident that we are in good hands.
As
I have said, my priorities for my year as Captain are friendship, fellowship
and fun. I believe in being a member of a club and not just a course, and draw
your attention to the social calendar posted in the Palm Court. To these three
‘f s’
I
would add three ‘c s’ – courtesy, common sense and co-operation.
Enjoy
your year at Porters Park as I wish to do. I look forward to your company.
Lionel
Cooper
Club Captain
COURSE CORNER
Work has now
started on the paths at the 6th, 8th and 10th.
The end product will be grass-like, filled with sand along the lines of
Astroturf. This will give a more natural look, helping the paths blend in with
the course. The artisan sections are helping the greens staff with this as part
of their winter programme, and we hope to complete this task by the end of
February.
Members will
come across several bunkers out of play over the next few weeks, as alterations
are made to soften their faces. Each bunker will only take several hours to
complete and the work will continue over the winter as time permits.
Some fusarium
is noticeable on the greens at present. This is to be expected due to the
weather conditions. Fungicide and granular iron are being applied to keep it
under control. Worms are also active at the moment and suppressant is being
sprayed.
Several areas
have been roped off and more will follow shortly to spread wear. Verti-draining
and fertilising will take place to aid recovery in these parts.
Intensive
aeration of the entire course will continue through until April. This will
include fortnightly slitting of greens and fairways, solid-tining of tees, and
monthly verti-draining of greens and aprons and fairways as time and weather
permit.
Martin Smith
Course Corner
HOW CHARGING WORKS FOR
CLUB FUNCTIONS
You will normally be charged from your club bar
account approximately 48 hours before
the function/event for which you have entered your name. Please ensure that you have funds to cover this charge. Please
also observe the following:
1.
Unless you cancel at least 48 hours beforehand, you will be charged the
full fee. You must inform the office or, failing that, the kitchen or bar.
Answer-phone messages are not acceptable because they are unlikely to be heard
in time. If you have special
circumstances which may affect this rule you must inform a member of staff in
the office.
2.
If you enter the name of another member you must only do this at their specific request.
3.
If you are bringing guests and enter ‘A member x 6’ you will be charged
for SIX people. If other members are in your party and they are to pay, enter
their names and the numbers they will be paying for. If your guests are not
members YOU are responsible for payment. It is not necessary and causes
confusion if their names are entered on charging lists.
4.
When entering your name please show your initials with your surname.
Several members share the same surname and it is tedious for us to have to make
phone calls to establish identities.
5.
Our software update now permits us to charge members’ cards even if they
have insufficient funds. This must only be a temporary situation, so we will
endeavour to send out statements as reminders to top up card balances.
GOLF RULES
CHANGE
The R & A have made two important rule changes with
immediate effect. These are:
1. If you hit yourself, your partner or your
equipment with a ball in stroke play, the penalty is now reduced from two shots
to one. This also applies to match play instead of loss of hole.
2. You can now lift and identify your ball in a
hazard – e.g. a bunker. But if, as a result, you still play the wrong
ball, then the appropriate penalty will apply.
The subject is covered in more depth in Golf Monthly (February issue, P56).
THIS AND THAT
Club website: The current phase in the redesigning and
up-dating of the club’s website is nearing completion. As well as information
about the club, its facilities and the golfing opportunities it offers members
and visitors, the website will include brief descriptions and illustrations of
the holes. It provides an ideal way of catching up with the latest news about
social events, competitions and visiting society days.
Sunday lunch gets a dressed-down new look (no jeans please) on
January 27 when there will be two sittings from 1pm - 3pm and 3pm - 5pm. If the
extended hours prove popular they will be repeated. Reserve your table now via
the notice in the Palm Court.
The social sommittee are organising a trip to Royal Ascot for Royal
Hunt Cup Day on Wednesday, June 18, at
a cost of £52.50 per head. To test initial interest, please enter your name on
the list in the Palm Court by February 15.
Top prize in the New Year raffle – a set of Wilson irons –
went to Michael Dawson. Other lucky winners included Alasdair Forrest (Stuburt
waterproofs), John Lomas (Cobra bag), Mike Mealey (Ashworth sweater), David
Gristwood (Greg Norman shirt), Colin Robinson (12 Wilson balls) and Colin
Murray (Stuburt shoebag).
Junior coaching for members aged 11 - 16 with Matthew Masters is
scheduled for 2pm on the following Saturdays: January 26, February 23 and March
15.
The club regrets to record the death of Alan Higgs.
Summer competition entries have opened. Sign on in the pro shop now.
WHY DIARY DATE WASN’T KEPT
You should now
be in possession of your club diary and have seen a copy of the apologetic
letter sent to our managing secretary by Pembertons, suppliers of our club
diary for many years.
Normally
diaries would have been available for collection on the day of the AGM. However,
with as many as six new committee members to be determined at the meeting on
the evening of December 9, it was decided to postpone printing until the names
of those elected were known and could be included.
Pembertons
were happy to promise a seven-day turnaround, which meant the diaries should
still have been available well before Christmas.
This, the
company have since said, failed to happen because they were faced with an
unexpected influx of “approvals for printing” from other clubs and found themselves
unable to meet their commitments.
Efforts by the
Porters Park to pursue the matter with Pembertons before Christmas were in
vain, and it was only well into the first week of the New Year that contact
with the company was re-established and progress made.
This year,
with the club AGM being held even later on December 14, the diaries will be
made available to members before the AGM. Details of the club officials will be
printed on a separate page for subsequent insertion by members.
DANCING IN THE NEW YEAR
More
than 100 members and their guests celebrated New Year at the club. After complimentary drinks in the lounge to
the background accompaniment of a pianist, guests moved to the dinner table for
a choice of starters and numerous dishes from a hot and cold buffet. Sweets and
coffee were followed by a disco which kept the dance floor busy for the rest of
the evening.
At
midnight, club Captain Lionel Cooper wished all a happy New Year and thanked
everyone for making the evening such a success.
Coming
shortly: Jan 25 – Burns Night; Feb 14 – Candlelit dinner; Feb 22 – buffet and themed quiz.
WEEKEND GOLF FOR NEW MEMBERS
Playing
membership of Porters Park offering the immediate prospect of weekend golf is
very much available. The club has vacancies for as many as 50 seven-day
restricted members. Five-day membership is also on offer.
Although the
club was pleased to welcome as many 30 new playing members last year, it lost
25 members and so made only a very limited net gain.
Annual
subscriptions apart, entrance fees do much to boost the club’s finances. If you
know of any golfer who may be interested in switching clubs, or who perhaps has
just moved into the area, please do not hesitate to encourage them to apply.
The club much
prefers to rely on boosting membership in this way rather than turning to
advertising, a course it has always avoided.
ELECTRIC TROLLEY SPACES DOUBLE
By the time
you read this, work will be well in hand on converting the old trolley shed
behind the pro shop.
Thirty new places,
each fitted with a charging facility for an electric trolley, are to be
provided. These will occupy one half of the available space. The other half
will be free for members to park their pull-trolleys as before.
Although the
work will double current number of electric trolley spaces, the ability to
leave electric trolleys on charge at the club (rather than have them cluttering
the garage at home) has proved so popular that all the new berths are already
spoken for.
HASSLE-FREE CLUB CARDS SOON
The club’s
long-awaited “proximity” cards should be with members before the end of next
month.
In fact, they
have already arrived at the office but are perceived to have shortcomings in
that there is no mention of Porters Park Golf Club on the card, nor is there a
club logo. Discussions are taking place to remedy this.
Meanwhile,
pads which respond to the card have already been fitted to all club entrances
and to the car park exit.
The new card,
which has a picture of the course rather than the clubhouse, has been
deliberately designed to look different from and prevent confusion with the
current card, which members will be able to continue to use if they wish.
Its main
advantage is its “proximity” feature. It will no longer be necessary to swipe
the new card through a slot, only to wave it in the direction of the reactive
pad. This will be particularly welcome at the exit to the car park, where
swiping often proves fiddly and irksome, especially if it is raining.
It was
originally suggested that members should pay a premium for the new card. It has
since been decided to issue a proximity card to every member free of charge.
Members losing or damaging their card, however, will have to pay for a
replacement.
LADIES LOOK TO THE FUTURE
Ladies are
being consulted on the future of their section.
Should they
disband the ladies’ committee and leave it to the golf committee and office
staff to run their golfing functions? Or should they retain a committee limited
to five (including a captain and vice-captain) which would continue to manage
ladies’ affairs with input from the secretariat?
In a survey
currently being conducted by ladies’ Captain Carole Bamford following a
suggestion at last year’s ladies’ AGM, all playing members of the section will
be asked to state their view.
Under the
first option, supported by the general committee, the ladies would retain only
a titular captain and vice-captain. After 2009, future ladies’ captains would
be selected by the nominations committee from candidates who had gained useful
experience from previous committee service.
Volunteers would be needed to run the Pearson Trophy, league and other
big days. Should the need for general discussion arise, meetings of the section
could be convened at any time by the ladies’ Captain.
Under the
second option, the ladies’ committee, working closely with the secretariat,
would oversee knockout competitions and such events as spring and autumn
meetings, invitation days, drawn competitions and eclectics. Again, volunteers
would be needed to help organize and run some events.
Survey forms
are being mailed to playing members of the section before the end of the month
and should be returned via a box in the ladies’ locker room.
There is little doubt that members feel an
enormous sense of pride in our course and for many it would have been the prime
motivation in applying to join Porters Park. Martin Smith and his green keeping
team play a vital role in the success of the club and I am pleased to be both
your liaison with them and the General Committee, and theirs with you. I have a
great deal to absorb in the coming weeks and in conjunction with both Peter
Marshall and Martin will be having a number of meetings concerning the various
issues that the Greens Committee need to consider. For example, there is a
large report on the risk assessment of each hole and procedure on the course in
connection with Health and Safety regulations…………………….
Of prime
interest to everyone is how are the new greens developing and when can we play
on them? The answer is that they are coming along much as had been expected.
There has been a little settlement in certain areas of both, the 6th
has already had some work to correct this and we are planning some similar work
on the 16th. The STRI have visited us as part of our contractual
arrangements with them and recommended a treatment plan which we are following.
There will be over seeding and coring in both March and April and the target
date for play remains 1st May.
I will do my best to contribute to the continuing
development of our course following the considerable input of my predecessor,
Alan Pountney.
Please note that there will be a ban on buggies
and electric trollies with effect from Monday
January 21st. until the end of February. It will be permissible
to use pull trollies, with or without hedgehog wheels, during this period. The
ban will be for at least a four week period and will be lifted after that when
conditions are judged to be suitable.
Nigel Weekes - Chairman of Greens.
CONGRATULATIONS
Jai Raja who won the January stableford with 40pts from Brian Kelly with 39pts. David Robinson won Div 2 with 39pts
from Stephen Pike with 38pts
Mike Hanson who won the January midweek stableford with 36pts
from Brian Buckman with 33pts
Shirley Gudgeon who won the five clubs and putter stableford
(silver division) with 39pts from Averil
Mackett with 29pts. Carole Bamford
won the bronze with 37pts (back nine) from Carole
Sharp
ends