February 2012
This has been a good week for the Captain. It started well last Saturday with a sell out Burns Dinner night.
The members and guests were ceremoniously piped into the Amcrest Suite, which was fully decked out in tartan and the Scottish saltire.
At the appropriate time the haggis was piped and paraded for George Quinton to give a stirring rendition of Burns’ Address to the Haggis.
Over coffee we were entertained by Bob Mitchell, with the loves, lusts and fine poetry of the man himself Robert Burns.
After which the fun really started with everyone joining in with some Scottish Ceilidh dances.
The dancers didn’t always follow the precise instructions but they had a ball, which was what it was all about.
Sunday brought the first of, we hope, many Pro/Captain challenges.
The first lambs to the slaughter were Matt and Tom Vaughan.
Things were looking pretty dodgy for us when the lads were 3 up with 5 to play.
It still didn’t look much better when we were still two down with three to play.
But this is where experience told and Steve won the next three holes to take the match by one hole.
So hard luck lads and don’t forget to put the fiver in the Captain’s jar.
The end of this good week was a ‘Mail on Sunday’ match against Mapledurham.
This was to be played away but frosted greens at their track meant some quick fire phone calls and co-operation from our opponents and the pro shop,
which allowed us to transfer the match to Bishopswood.
It was a closely contested match, which after the first two games we were two down but our team of Alastair Melrose, Matt Vaughan, Dave Roberts,
Kevin Fleet and Martin Smith came through with a fine victory, 3 games to 2.
So well done our team and thank you for giving me a super finish to a good week.
Let’s hope that we have many more.
So what’s to come. There are still a few places left for the Cross Country Challenge next Sunday.
This is only a 9 hole Texas Scramble and should be great fun. This is followed on Thursday 23rd February by Night Golf.
The entry sheet for this will be on the notice board this week.
The Captain’s Drive-in event, which will include a Split Sixes shot gun start and an optional carvery lunch,
will be on Sunday 4th March. We already have a couple of teams of past Captains lined up, so you will need to get in quickly,
when the entry sheet is posted.
That’s all for now. Enjoy your golf
David
January 2012
Well here we are in the middle of January and only now are we experiencing winter temperatures. I hope that you have been taking advantage of the unseasonable warmth and enjoying our super course. We can now appreciate the work done throughout last year, in the upgrading of all the paths giving us much improved conditions underfoot when the rain comes.
Congratulations to Mike Baillie and John (Drakie) Drake on reaching their milestone birthdays. Without giving too much away Mike had already qualified for the Seniors and John only has a few years to go. I understand that they celebrated in great style, at the club and a great time was had by all.
Our Burn’s night is approaching rapidly and I am delighted to say that your response has been fantastic. I am sure that you will enjoy the mixture of Scottish tradition and fun social dancing with two great musicians. If you haven’t already bought your tickets, be warned there are only a few left.
Our next golfing event is the Powerplay on the 22nd January. This is followed by the nine hole ‘Cross Country Challenge’ on the Sunday 12th February. This should be a great fun competition on a course designed by Kevin, using all the regular greens but some unfamiliar tee positions. I am expecting a full field for this event so get your names in early, when the list is posted.
Another fun event in February is the night golf on Thursday the 23rd. So again keep a look out for the details and entry sheet. The final event for February is the next Powerplay on Saturday the 25th.
I hope to see many of you at these events but if not enjoy the season ahead.
David
Christmas Texas Scramble 2011
Following two years when the Christmas Scramble had to be called off due to inclement weather,
this year we managed to squeeze into a weather window of a couple of days and enjoy this traditional event.
The start sheet showed a full house of fourteen teams but, as it was carrying only on the day, this was reduced to ten.
When the claxon sounded, weather wise, the day did not look promising with cold rain falling.
Despite this everyone was in good humour and we got away on time, with the exception of the late arrival of a former President.
(I wonder who that was?) We were rewarded for our efforts, as after a few minutes, the rain stopped and we were blessed with a fine, sunny, crisp day.
Scoring was unbelievably good with the winners Paul Vaughan, Matt Vaughan,
Steve Collins and Nick Avery having a gross score of 61!!! and a net score of 57.
The same team also took the Secret Six. There were four teams with a gross 68 but, taking shots into account,
second place went to Roger Taylor, Roy Ward, Gordon Smart and Roger Haines, with a net score of 62. The Captain’s team,
which included Jane Rae, Guy Rae and Derek Andrew, finished with a very creditable net score of 69 but with this they were only rewarded with the WOODEN SPOONS.
Still they had the consolation that Derek got the nearest the pin on the 5th, so they walked off with two prizes each.
Everyone enjoyed the day, which was made even more agreeable by the bacon baps half way round provided by Kevin and the management team.
Our thanks go to them, also to Steve Ward for sorting out the final team compositions and starting us,
our Vice Captain, Dave Roberts and Treasurer, Nick Leonard for dealing with the scores, plus of course to Jackie for all the preparations.
If you didn’t manage this one why not join in the New Years Day Scramble.
Only nine holes and with a nice comfortable starting time of 10.30am.
The entry sheet is in the Pro Shop.
I wish you all a Very Happy Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.
David
Hi Folks & MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Yes it’s that time of the year to put on the silly hats, drink too much plus join in the activities at our super club. I’m sorry but if you didn’t get your name down, you have probably missed, the Christmas Party Nights and the Christmas Scramble. You have also missed the Mixed Christmas Celebration, organised by Jeanie and the Ladies Section and what a cracking event that turned out to be. So what else is there to look forward to. First up is the New Year’s Eve Ball. This will be a super event including all that’s best for a good night out so, if you haven’t already booked, get the last few tickets before they all go.
To help your recovery from the night before join in the New Year’s Scramble. Only 9 holes and not an early start, so get your name in and get rid of the hangover with some good fresh air. Next is the first of my mini social events. This is a night of team TV bowls and golf. Previous skills at either game don’t count for much so bring along your partners for a really fun night. To end January we have our first major social of the year, the Burn’s Dinner & Ceilidh Dancing. We will have a piper to greet all the guests and pipe in the haggis plus live music for the dancing from a couple of the best Scottish Dance musicians in the South of England. The dances will all be simple and called by my wife Margaret, so I am sure it will be a great night and everyone can join in the fun of this traditional January function.
So, enjoy your golf but please keep watching the notice boards and join in our wonderful social events.
David
Incoming Captain’s AGM Address - November 2011
Like, I am sure, all my predecessors I am delighted and proud to be standing here as your Club Captain. I have had many words of support from past captains & members, which have meant a lot to me and for which they have my sincere thanks.
Having played with many of you, at sometime during my 20 plus years as a member of the club, you will know not to expect scintillating golf from your new Captain. However, I do hope to provide good leadership and commitment, by supporting all of the clubs activities both on an off the course.
I am extremely fortunate in that I am the first Captain to have a full year in our great new clubhouse, provided by David & Sally, which I know is the envy of all our visiting clubs. In addition I will, in my Captain’s year have the full benefit of the numerous improvements to the course that are being overseen by Kevin and carried out by Lee, Peter and David’s men and equipment. Despite helping with the upgrades Lee & Peter have still found time to keep the course in splendid condition and Steve continues to provide us with all our equipment needs. For this they deserve our thanks.
I must also thank Mark and his staff, who without exception provide us with a friendly, efficient service, which dovetails perfectly with the friendly nature of this club and is one of the principal reasons that we continue to attract new members.
Whilst in the thanking mode I would like to thank our webmaster Dave C Williams for keeping members informed of all our activities via the website and also for the work he does in refreshing the layout of the site to keep it looking vibrant and interesting.
Over the past seven years I have worked closely with Jackie, organising Seniors’ events and latterly some club events. So I have seen at first hand the work and dedication that she puts into all our activities. I am aware that she always gets a mention for this but unless you witness it first hand it is difficult to appreciate the commitment and experience that she quietly brings to bare on many situations and for this she deserves a hearty round of applause. As a small personal thank you I would like to present Jackie with a nice bottle of her favourite tipple, which I am sure will go down well after a stressful day.
As Vice Captain I have, I hope, supported Keith, as and when required in his Captain’s year. In doing this I have had the chance to work with our General Manager, Kevin, who I have always found both helpful and accommodating. I therefore look forward to working with him in the next year and benefit from his enormous experience both in golf and clubhouse matters.
The success of a Captain’s Year, I believe, is in large part a function of the support received from the members. I do hope that I can provide the necessary spark and encouragement such that you will want to support the Club’s activities both on and off the course.
Jackie will be pleased to hear that I do not intend to introduce any new qualifying events. However, I do hope that in the next 12 months we can fit in a session of night golf, a ‘cross country challenge’, where the course is played in a different order and from some unusual tee positions and another fun event which I hope will get non-playing family members or friends onto the course. This year we also intend to bring back the Captain/Pro challenge. Steve is very enthusiastic about this, (I’m not sure why given my pedigree) but I hope that we (I mean he) can add handsomely to the Captain’s charity coffers.
As the eagle eyed will have noted I postponed the Captain’s Drive-in until March 2012. I did this so that we can make this a special day to kick off the playing season, so please look out for the notice and support it if you can.
On the social front we have a number of dates set aside for major events, the first of which is the Burn’s Dinner and Ceilidh Dancing on the 28th January 2012. This is especially significant for my wife and I, as she is a Scot and we both Scottish Country Dance. We will have a piper in attendance and for the dancing we will have live music provided by a couple of the best Scottish country dance musicians in the South of England. But please don’t be put off by any of this. All the dances will be easily managed by those not familiar with the activity and I know that we will have a great time. The Summer Ball will again take place in July and we will have the usual crop of quiz nights and some indoor TV bowls and golf.
One of my passions is the involvement of all members in the club’s activities, especially club matches. For senior matches we manage to engage about 60% of the senior membership but for gents’ and mixed matches the gents figure drops below 30%. I would like to see this figure rise dramatically this year. Please bare in mind that these are friendly matches and are great fun to take part in. So whatever your handicap have a go. The entry sheets go on the board a few weeks before the match and don’t be surprised if you find me encouraging or coercing you into playing.
My charities this year will be the Hants & IoW Air Ambulance and Wessex Cancer Trust. Both are Hampshire based charities and I hope you all will support any events and fund raisers that raise money for the Captain’s Charities.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Tom Vaughan, our new Junior Captain and wish him all the best for the coming season.
Only two things remain. Firstly it is time to announce the name of my Vice Captain. This is a member, who has worked in the background on a number of our events, has been a regular member of our gents teams and more importantly, as far as I am concerned, always has a smile on his face and I know that we will work well together over the coming season. So please give a big round of applause for my Vice Captain, Dave Roberts.
Finally, please join me at the bar for a drink when the meeting is over.
Thank you.
David