Club Newsletter: March 2024

Update From The Board

From The Chair

This month we lose our current Captains and President whose terms come to an end at our AGM on Wednesday 20th March. The board would like to take this opportunity to thank the efforts of both Captains Rob Cook and Sally Madsen and all on the Captains Committee for all the Golf and social activities they have organised throughout the year. Together with our esteemed President Mike Buckland Sally and Rob have attended monthly board meetings acting as the eyes and ears of the membership and given great advice and guidance over the last 12 months and will be missed but not forgotten. Good luck to their successors in filling the void.

Finally a reminder to members to please submit your votes for the 2 Director roles. This year we have 3 very good candidates for these 2 vacant positions, in no particular order Marc Anderton, Andy Elson and Brian Trendell. All three are good club stalwarts with various talents and experience.

Tony Shanahan as the only applicant will be ratified as our new Financial Director at the AGM Please
find the appropriate link to vote for the Directors below.

From Our Captains

From Our Mens’ Captain

My year in office

As I write today my year is coming to its end and I would just like to say what an honour and privilege it has been to be Captain of such a fantastic club.

I would like to start with a few thank yous. First, I would like to thank all of the members who have served on this years Captains & Social committees, thank you for your help and support during my year in office; your assistance and wise words have been greatly appreciated. Secondly, I would like to thank Madame lady Captain, Mr Konten & Mr Bhogal for your guidance and support, without which I would have found things far more difficult and much less enjoyable. Thank you.

As you know, it’s been a year of change for the golf club, with the management team coming in and taking over the running of the Club and the instigation of a Captain’s Committee, responsible for club golf and social. Many find change difficult, and I suspect that includes each of us here. For my part, it has sometimes been challenging not to have the level of input in the running of the Club experienced by my predecessors. That was especially the case in instances when Members have questioned me, or requested information, seemingly unaware of the new organisational structure or, perhaps more accurately, the respective allocation of roles and responsibilities within that structure. However, the proof will be in the pudding, so to speak, and it is still very early days in the context of the pace at which golf clubs traditionally evolve. I wish you all the best for the challenges ahead.

This year we introduced a social events calendar, this enabled members to see what was happening throughout the whole year.

We started the year with the Anniversary dance and that was a great success, although the Elvis night was successful, what was very disappointing was the lack of commitment from the members to support other events.

We had our final event on Saturday March 2nd and I’m glad to say it was a sell out.

This year we also seen the start of a working party, this was a great success and along with the helpers of which I am enterally grateful we managed to get a lot of much needed work completed Divots, patio painting, Flower pots, to name but a few.

Golf

My first challenge was the captains drive in, and thank god I didn’t top it or slice it in the woods, what was very pleasing to me to see so many players out on the course, with all of our competitions and related initiatives, including the new eagle series all being so well supported. Obviously, that has been prejudiced in the winter months by the very poor weather but nonetheless I think we can say it was a very successful season this year, which was assisted by the condition in which the course was maintained. Beyond that, it has been very rewarding for me personally, is to see the progress Tom and his team have made in relation to the junior section. The youngsters are the future of our Club and it’s been a breath of fresh air to see so many juniors out on the course and around the clubhouse. We should continue to both support and invest in our juniors and I’m sure that’s something Brian and his new team will build on.

I would also like to personally thank my friends for all their support, thank you my friends really appreciate your friendship.

Lastly I want to wish the incoming Captains Gurnam Bhogal and Gill Rees all the best for the season.

Your Captain

Rob Cook

From Our Ladies’ Captain

Dear Members

As I near the end of my year in office I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me during my year of Captaincy, it has been an honour to be your Ladies’ Captain. Where has the time gone? I would like to thank the Board of Directors for inviting me to their monthly meetings. This has provided me with an insight into the decision making that goes on behind the scenes which has made me appreciate the hard work our Directors put in to ensure our Club moves forward and is progressing in today’s business world. It is safe to say that we are in safe hands.

Also, my thanks go to Rob our Captain for all of his support throughout the year and to the Captains’ Committee for the advice and encouragement they have provided. This has helped to maintain an active Ladies’ Section. For my Captain’s Charity I have been supporting the Alzheimer’s Dementia Society and we have raised just over £3500 which will be presented to this charity at the Ladies’ AGM. My sincere thanks go to all of the membership for their generous donations throughout this year, whether it was supporting my 4BBB vouchers auction, the various raffles or joining me on my 1 million steps challenge, which I am delighted to say raised over £1000. Your support has been fantastic and greatly appreciated. I would like to thank the Ladies Section for their support and friendship, which has helped make my year of Captaincy an enjoyable time.

Finally, I wish Gill and Gurnam all the very best of luck for their year in office. Hopefully it will be a
season with less rain!

Thank you
Sally Madsen