Work on the new greens is due to start on September 4 and last eight months. During this period there will be a temporary standard scratch and new score cards to include the two temporary holes.

The stroke indices will have to change when the 16th hole and the new par-3 hole have been measured. This is in hand.

The mixed matches are played as greensomes which causes some disruption on the course at the weekend. It has therefore been decided that when there are mixed matches and junior matches, the tee times from the 1st will be suspended and that from 11.45am any format may play from the first tee. Anyone starting from the 10th tee after 12 noon may play only nine holes. As there are no more than three mixed matches at home disruption will be minimal.

A reminder about the revised times will be posted in the Palm Court and on the website one week in advance.

Members are reminded that they are only allowed to put their own name on the starting sheet for medals and stablefords. There have been several instances of players failing to turn up for competitions because they were unaware their names were on the list. Starting times for competitions at the weekend are at a premium so please help us to avoid wasting precious time.

The Ladies County Championship held at the club last month and was an outstanding success. On behalf of all those associated with the championship I would like to thank members for the warm welcome they gave everyone and for their good-natured tolerance of the disruption to weekend golf. And a very special thank-you to those who volunteered to help the championship run so smoothly.

Rowena Hemmings
Chair of Golf

The forthcoming course work has led to some of the dates for the ladies’ competitions being changed.

The Westgrove Cup will be played on Tuesday, August 28, and the alternate day   (AD) ladies medal will be played on Sunday, August 25.

The Tattersall Cup will now be played on Tuesday, July 31, and the Business Ladies Cup will be played on Sunday, July 29.

The Lady Captain v. Vice Captain will be on Tuesday, September 4, and the AD ladies stableford will be on Sunday, September 2.

The monthly stableford will now be on Tuesday, October 23, and the AD ladies stableford will now be on Sunday, October 21.

Captain’s Day, on Saturday, June 23, will be a little different this year – and not just because of the Indian breakfast which will precede Saturday’s morning play, or the Indian nibbles play in the afternoon.

The competition will be played in groups of four as an individual stableford. But instead of the usual tee-off times, there are to be shotgun starts at 8.30am and 1.30pm.

Play on Saturday is open to seven-day and restricted seven-day members only. Five-day members, ladies and juniors are invited to play on Friday when tee-off times will be determined by ball chute until 5.30pm.

Pro’s Day, on Saturday, June 9, is proving as popular as ever this year. Hardly had the list gone up than all 160 places were fully booked.

As usual, teams of four will compete in a Texas scramble, with shotgun starts morning and afternoon. There will be prizes for members of the first three teams, and nearest-the-pin prizes for both ladies and gents.

The golf will be followed by the raffle draw for a set of clubs and possibly an evening barbecue if enough members express interest (see notice board).

The Summer Ball, which follows the golf on Captain’s Day, is a sell-out, with a lengthy reserve list. In an effort to finalise tables and guest numbers, distribute tickets and collect payment, the office has written to members who have reserved tables in their name. If you have not yet responded, please do so now.

Other forthcoming events include:

Friday, June 8: Nine, wine and dine. Bring a golfing guest for nine holes of golf
(4-5.30pm) followed by Thai food and fun quiz. Casual dress. Cost: Golf and dinner £15.99 (includes green fee and prizes). Dinner £10.99. Book on list in Palm Court.

Friday, July 13: Barbecue for golfer and non-golfer. This is a repeat of last year’s successful formula in which the golfer plays to the green and the non-golfer does all the putting.

It isn’t often that rain closes the course in the summer. It did occur, however, on bank holiday Monday, the second day of the Benevolent Cup. At the time of the early morning inspection, the 6th green, in particular, was flooded.

It has since been decided that, should this happen again over a weekend or on a public holiday, there will be a second inspection between 10am and 12 noon by David Gleeson or his assistant and they will be authorised to open the course if conditions have clearly improved.

Peter Marshall will also have the authority to open the course, although he is not likely to be in attendance over a weekend.

Should the course be closed early in the morning, the staff will leave a message to this effect. This will also state that members should phone the pro’s shop after 10.15am to see whether there has been a change.

The ruling for winter closures remains the same: once closed, the course will remain so for the day.

The recent wet weather is causing fusarium on the greens. This has been sprayed with fungicide mixed with insecticide to control the leatherjackets which the birds are pecking at, causing holes on the greens.

Tree-planting is now finished until the autumn. The greens staff will continue to water through the summer months to ensure the trees have the best chance of survival.

As soon as this wet spell is over, the greens and fairways will receive a light scarifying. The greens will also be over-seeded, as will the few bare areas of the fairways after they have been spiked.

With good growth now underway on the fairways, an application of growth suppressant will be applied to slow down the growth and thicken up the grass cover. This will be applied to the tees as well. It proved successful on the greens last year and we hope for the same response on the fairways.

Martin Smith
Course Manager

Members will surely have noticed the attractive borders that now surround the car park and the entrance gates.

These areas were, to be frank, tatty, writes Alan Pountney. The club’s warm thanks therefore to Dale Pangbourne, a long-standing member of our greens staff, who took it upon himself to bring about this considerable improvement.

Before he became a greenkeeper Dale was a landscape gardener, and so has the required knowledge for planting under trees.

Martin Smith produced from his budget the funds for the shrubs, but the project has been down to Dale and we salute both his enthusiasm and his skill.

The Equality Cup is due to be played on Sunday, June 3. Entry is open to 7-day, restricted 7-day and juniors under nine handicap. The entry sheet is posted so please sign up.

The Eclectic will now start at 3pm instead of 3.30pm, owing to an increase in the numbers playing.

That rare bird the albatross made a couple of appearances at Porters Park last month.
Geoff Kirby Sen. holed in one at the 1st and Adrian Smith, playing in the Eclectic, reduced the 13th to a three wood and a five iron, both perfectly struck.

Nigel Weekes has agreed to be co-opted to the greens committee. His presence on both the golf and communications committees should be a further help in keeping members fully informed as to what is going on around the course.

Yet another plea for members with an email address to make it known to the office. This will not only save the club money on postage but will also save office staff the time and trouble of printing unnecessary copies and putting them into envelopes. An insert to allow the easy transmission of this information will be included with posted copies to encourage members with an email address to put the club’s convenience before their own.

In an effort to draw members’ attention to important forthcoming events, a new display panel is to be installed in the foyer just inside the front doors of the club. The aim is to allow for a more peaceful assimilation of news than is possible in the Palm Court. Any items posted here will also appear on the relevant Palm Court notice boards.

A second Ladies’ Academy will be held on Saturday, June 2, at 2pm. This is a great chance for wives, daughters or girlfriends to find out what golf is all about. So don’t miss the opportunity of a free lesson with David and the invitation to sign up for a course of lessons. Please sign the list in the Palm Court or contact Ladies’ Captain Linda Lambert.

The course was beginning to look a little dry after more than a month with no rain and low night-time temperatures. Since then the rains have come and it is all looking a treat.

The fairways responded immediately and the rough, too, is in better shape than it ever has been. For this we can thank the new rotary rough cutter. This allows Martin Smith and his team to cut the rough a touch shorter but, more importantly, after it has been cut the grass sticks up, whereas previously it tended to flatten out.

The cutter also offers the team the chance to cut stripes in the rough, adding a distinctive touch to an already impressive looking course. The county ladies, here for last month’s championship, were particularly impressed with the course and the way it was set up and said so in a fulsome letter to the club.

Newly planted trees: Members will have noted the many new specimen trees planted around the course. Our thanks not only to Dave Gristwood and Andy Tomms (as recorded in last month’s Tee Times) for the generous discounts they arranged, but also to Peter Robinson for his personal input and expertise.

We are making every effort to fill gaps on the course with various types of tree, without of course spoiling the golf. The positioning of trees, however, is not an exact science and one or two may not be quite where they should be. These will be moved in the autumn following advice from Neil Coles.

Rest assured that the green staff have been watering the trees and will continue to do so throughout the summer (and the winter, if necessary). 

Alan Pountney
Chair of Green

The scratch league started in April with a tough game away to West Herts. With half of our normal starting eight still out of the country, we again started with a weakened side. We gave it our best shot but unfortunatly lost 8 - 3½ , with only Steve McAlister and Calum Shinkwin winning in the singles.

The Herts Champion Club tournament was played at Brocket Hall. Nick Pateman, Gordon Forster and Ewen Wilson represented Porters in the 36-hole scratch medal, with all three scores counting.

Nick with 76, 70, Gordon with 73, 71 and Ewen with 74, 73 shot an aggregate 437 to emerge the only team under par and win by five shots. Thanks to this sterling effort Porters can fly the Hertfordshire Champion Club of 2007 flag for the season. Well played all three.

Junior and pre-junior coaching sessions with PGA teaching pro Matthew Masters have got off to a cracking start, with some 44 youngsters enrolling. This is more than Matthew had planned for, with the result that he has had to form an extra group. He has also started a waiting list for another course of lessons.

The six-week courses feature separate lessons on putting, chipping, pitching, bunker play, long game and target golf.

Lessons, with eight or nine to a group, take place at weekends. The pre-junior six week course costs £30 and the junior six-week course £45.

Matthew says: “I am delighted with the all-round standard. There is some excellent potential here.”

The Captain is pleased to welcome as full playing members: Steven Pardoe, Stewart Weir, Peter Grumbridge, Peter Waldren, Michael Rourke and Mrs Meera Patel.

Ken Specter who won the Humble Salver medal with 83-18 = 65 from Simon Peck with 72-6 = 66 and Leon Sultan with 83-15 = 68 (top 16 go to knockout stages for the Humble Salver)

Jenny Chan who won the Benevolent Cup (second day cancelled due to course closure) with 38pts (back 9) from Susan Lawrence (back 9) and David Fennessey 

Michael Moore who won the Richmond Cup (36-hole medal) with 69,68 = 137 from Callum Shinkwin with 74,71 = 145 and Ewen Wilson with 73,72 = 145

Robert Davis who won the May midweek stableford with 34pts from Isao Arichi with 33pts (last 6) and Robin Leach

Lucy Glyn who won the Robinson May Cup with gross rounds of 79,77 = 156 from Hilary Skinner with 82,84 = 166

Judy Williams who won the silver division of the April stableford with 39pts from Fionnuala Smith with 36pts. Diana Barry won the bronze division with 41pts from Sandra Mackenzie with 36pts

Fionnuala Smith who won the silver division of the May medal with 79-7 = 72 (last 9) from Rosemary Watters with 78-6 = 72.  Jenny Chan won the bronze division with 105-32 = 73 from Sandra Mackenzie with 107-33 = 74  

Mary Wilson who won the Grannies’ Competition with 30pts from Christine Dingley  with 29pts (last 6) and Janet Hardy.

Shirley Gudgeon who won the silver division of the ladies’ Spring Meeting with 90-14 = 76 from Dagny Moffat with 92-15 = 77 and Rena Delaney with 95-16 = 79.  Sue Lawrence won the bronze division with 93-21 = 72 from Jenny Chan with 106-31 = 75 and Sandra Mackenzie with 112-33 = 79.  Anita Prosser won best gross with 84.   Winners of the best front nine were Christina Lye, Ros Lake and Shirley Gudgeon with 42pts, while the prize for best back nine went to Viv Fletcher, Margaret Kaye and Sandra Mackenzie with 35pts 

Jan Kilsby who won the Winter League, with Janet Hardy runner-up.