Captain's Newsletter June 2023

Captain's Newsletter: June 2023 Since my last newsletter the weather has been brilliant, the course in fantastic condition, and lots of golf has been played. We have had numerous complimentary comments from societies, members and members of other clubs on how well our course is playing and on the friendly and welcoming atmosphere all around our club. The new toilets are on hold at the moment. Details on the new benches we are looking to purchase will be included in next month’s newsletter. Captains’ Day is fast approaching, and Lady Captain Sue and I would like to share the day with as many as possible on 8th July. We will have a nearest the pin on the 5th for the ladies, nearest the pin on 12th for the men and closest to the line on the first for all. There will be on course refreshments by the tee on the 5th. If any member would like to donate a raffle prize, please leave it at reception or bring it on the day. We would be grateful for donations. Tickets will be on sale on the day. Competitions It has been another busy month with the Honours Board competitions well under way. Results and next rounds can be accessed on ‘ig’. We have a number of teams and individual members involved in various fixtures at Clays and against other clubs. Best of luck to all involved. Well done to: Jane and the Ping team on their ongoing success with wins over Conway and Mold. Jack Whitehouse and Jane Evans on winning Redfern gold cup mixt open at Vicars cross Dave Palferman and Richard Collier on winning the Prestatyn open Paul Wallace Jones on winning the Seniors Memorial Trophy with a fantastic 45 points Clays team 1 on taking 1st place in DGU regional qualifier at Old Padeswood with 110 points. Clays team 2 on a very close 2nd with a score of 109 points. Both teams progress to play at Celtic Manor Congratulations to all, great results! Clays DGU team on a great win (4 ½ 3 ½) on Sunday 25th at the Moss, a very difficult place to get a win so well done Team Clays. Coming up: The Draw for JCB quarter final has been made so please check ’ig’ for the details. The Jubilee plate 1st round is now complete, so please keep an eye on the notice board for further details. There are plenty more opportunities coming up so please enter as many competitions as you can to support the club. Ladies report With the Golfing season well and truly underway, the Ladies Section have been playing in a range of both Club, Honours Board and external competitions. It has been great to see some of our ladies returning after a winter break and we have also welcomed new ladies on a Wednesday morning. In the NWLCSA (North Wales Ladies Challenge Shield Association) we moved up a division at the beginning of the year. In previous weeks we have won against Denbigh and Royal St Davids but unfortunately lost to Porthmadog. Plenty of matches still to come! Over the Bank Holiday Weekend, we were invited by the Ladies of Mile End to play a mixed friendly. Seven pairings were able to attend and we received a very warm welcome. They are keen to play a return fixture at Clays next year. Congratulations to Jane Evans and Beverley Hood on progressing through several rounds in of The Daily Mail, Jane and I are also through in the Purves Cup. Congratulations also to the Ping team. The Ladies New 2 Golf sessions are now halfway through. Rhodri has organised the Group lessons and thankfully for good weather at the first 3 sessions the Group have experienced tuition on the putting green and on the Driving Range. My thanks to a number of ladies from the Section who have been able to support this initiative with a ‘Meet and Greet’ rota. We are running a Ladies Open for the first time in several years in July. This is a great opportunity to show off the Club. Support has been excellent with a range of Clubs attending. There are only a couple of slots left so if you know of any ladies who may wish to play, please contact Josh. The Ladies Section have an ‘Awayday’ organised on August 16th at Upton By Chester Golf Club. Plenty of ladies already signed up for the day but time still to join up for this if not already done so. Other great news to report is that Bill has approved the plan to raise the ladies’ tees. The Greenkeeping Team will be starting work in September on a number of tees currently playing off the fairway, so next season those which have been improved will be fully functioning. The plan is to complete any remaining tees over the following months. Finally, a reminder that we have Captain’s Day on Saturday July 8th. Mick and I are looking forward to sharing the day with as many of you as possible. Enjoy your golf! Sue Falcus (Lady Captain) And finally from me… On the 28th of July, I will be taking on 72 holes of the course in aid of this year’s Captains’ charity the Wales Air Ambulance Charity. Angela Thomas-Williams will be joining me for the full 4 rounds, Lady Captain Sue Falcus will be joining in the first two rounds and Jack Whitehouse take on the final two rounds with us. We would be extremely grateful for your support along the course. We would be grateful if you could make a donation towards this worthwhile cause if you are able on our JustGiving page via this Link We are still looking for a Safeguarding /Welfare Officer, and a Junior Organiser, to encourage new young members to join our club. These are important positions so if any members are interested, or if you know of anyone who would be interested in these roles, please get in touch with myself or any member of the council. Please be aware as it’s getting very busy out on the course over the next few months, please avoid slow play. Please remember the 3 R’s: Rake, Repair and Replace and most of all enjoy your golf! Kind Regards, Michael McHugh

Multplier result June 29th 2023 and other information Via Mike Healy

Seniors - Where do I start? Firstly messages and reminders: There is a sign up sheet for the match against Northop at home on the 13th July. Malcolm has asked that you sign up asap in order to make selection. You received the July calendar on Tuesday but there was an omission - the Aldersey Green Senior Open is on Wednesday 2nd August (and not on 31st August as in the club calendar). Don asked that seniors sign up asap for all of the forthcoming comps - 6th July (Senior medal) 8th July (Captain's Day) 11th July (Senior/Vets Trophy) 18th and 20th July (2 Day Challenge). All of these comps are in ig so sign in or contact reception. I am reminded that the 2 Day Comp announces payment on 2 days - YOU ONLY PAY ON THE TUESDAY - ONCE!! Last notice - Stuart Miles sent out his invitation for the Devon trip next year, in the hope of attracting enough seniors early enough to warrant a discount. There are now only 2 weeks left before that discount disappears, so if you are interested, get in touch with Stuart: shmiles58@gmail.com Today's Multiplier Report: Despite at least half a dozen senior pairs doing battle in knockout competitions around the course, no fewer than 38 other members turned out for the tally draw. Twelve threeballs and a pair with a ghost player teed off to contest a Multiplier event. The course was in fantastic condition with greens getting faster all the time, the weather was warm with a gentle breeze and there were no excuses for poor cards. No Ballsweep today. There were three prizes in total: Multiplier Result: First: Fred Court, Peter Taylor and John Kelty - 125 points Second: Paul Wallace-Jones, Andy Mitchell and Keith Hawthorn - 111 points Third: Chris Jacques, Tony Jackson and Irwin Elkin - 104 points

Individual Stablefod June 27th 2023. Report from Mike Healey and report from Malcolm ref Aldersey Green match

Seniors - the ranks were split today with Malcolm Williams taking his senior team over to Aldersey Green. I believe no fewer than 20 members made the journey and were required to do battle (report to follow). We received an excellent welcome today as we once again renewed fixtures with Aldersey Green. They kindly gave each player a small welcome pack of tees, marker, pencil and divot repairer because the action took centre stage! Matches were extremely closely fought with some being decided on the 18th green! Clays finally emerged winners by 5 and a half to 4 and a half. We enjoyed a friendly and sporting day with the course in excellent condition and a very tasty meal after our games with our opponents. We now look forward to welcoming them back to Clays on Thursday, 10th August. Mal Other seniors are still involved in Knockout rounds leaving 18 seniors for today's tally draw and kitty competition. Andy Mitchell kindly took charge of proceedings in the absence of the committee members over at Aldersey. There wasn't a kitty comp. scheduled as such, by name because of the match and the ongoing knockout rounds, so an individual Stableford transpired and 18 cards were handed in. The forecast rain was on cue early doors but jackets came off just after 9.00am and the warm conditions were just right for our golf. There was no ballsweep today and the four prizes were won by the following players (a few needed countback to divide them): Individual Stableford First: Peter Taylor - 45 points Second: Andy Mitchell - 41 points (c/b) Third: Bob Jarvis - 41 points (c/b) Fourth: Paul Wallace-Jones - 39 points (c/b) Dave Jones also carded 39 points but just missed out on countback. Other cards of note - Tony Jackson on 36 points and I must report Fred Court's 35 points, including a magnificent Birdie on the 3rd hole - we won't mention the non-scoring holes.

Seniors Memorial Trophy results June 22nd 2023. Report from Mick Healey

What a magnificent day for the Senior section of Clays Golf. Don Wraight arrived early for the distribution of photos of past players, on each of the starter tees. It means a lot to some of the current players, who remember their colleagues of the past and that is what the Memorial Trophy is all about. In response to that, we must have had some sort of record today, to have 57 seniors turn up for the tally draw. Thinking caps went on and we got everybody away asap (not easy) off 3 tees into the glorious weather that persisted throughout the day. Timing was not at all bad around the course, but given the numbers, resolution of cards, collection of money and presentations, all took a little longer than usual. There was a lot of conviviality in the dining/bar area and the atmosphere was brilliant throughout. Chris Jacques (Senior Captain) conveyed his thanks to all for the turnout, held a minute's silence for past players and proceeded to present the prizes and Memorial Trophy to the eventual winner. The ballsweep was hotly contested, with no less than 5 players scoring twos: Mike Parks, Richard Collier and Fred Court on the fifth hole and Don Wraight and Stewart Poole on the twelfth hole. There were 9 prizes in total for the main event: Memorial Trophy: First and Memorial Trophy Recipient: Paul Wallace-Jones 45 points Second: Dave Palferman 43 points Third: Ian Jones 41 points Fourth: Chris Blazdell 40 points (c/b) Fifth: Ralph Hardy 40 points (c/b) Sixth: Barry Dare 39 points (c/b) Seventh: Eric Thwaites 39 points (c/b) Eighth: Ian Ketland 39 points (c/b) Ninth: Mike Hollings 38 points (c/b) Bob Brown and Bob Jarvis also carded 38 points but missed out on count back.

Kitty competition June 20th 2023. Report from Mike Healey et al

My thanks to Don and Steve for organising the golf today. Don sent this report through - Bruce Willis would have been proud today...11 ( Die Hard ) Seniors showed up today for golf albeit 2 in a singles knockout. Leaving 9 in the kitty comp but 1 player submitting a handicap card. Weather was very wet, rain falling up to 9.30 hence a delay in starting but from then on perfect conditions. Sun shone and the course was magnificent. We made a decision to have bunkers GUR as they were so wet. An individual Stableford was played. Good scores from all with Alan Barnsdale winning with a fantastic score of 45pts grrrrrrrr from Don Wraight on 38pts.

Devon results 2023 from Stuart Miles

Great week helped by superb weather and good company. Ramnee Trophy. Total accumulative points over 4 days. 1st Liam Roddis 167 points. 2nd Nev Bassett 162 points. 3rd Mike Scott 151 points. Forrest Chaless. Best net score on any day. 2 tied for the trophy. Les Williams and Mike Scott both with a net 62. 28 My A*** Trophy. Most 4 points or better over 4 days. Nev Bassett with 8. (winner for four straight years.) Congratulations to the winners.

Pairs both scores count June 15th. Report from Steve Monk

Despite 3 separate away trips today, involving around 24 players, we still had 36 players turning up for the kitty competition. To acknowledge the high turnout, and the continuing great weather, we decided to make the competition a pairs-both-scores-to-count format. On return to the clubhouse, one or two players were upset about this as they felt they had been held up by the slightly slower play involved, so apologies to them. The remainder enjoyed the day and some played very well! The course is immaculate, both in appearance and in playing characteristics. Results were:- 1st - Barry Evans (44) and Tom Blackshaw (36) - total of 80 points. 2nd - Stan Roberts (36) and Peter Taylor (35) - total of 71 points. 3rd - George Hughes (34) and Chris Jacques (36) - total of 70 points. 4th - Alan Barnsdale (35) and Peter Fraser (34) - total of 69 points

Golf report June 13th 2023 from Steve Monk

We had a superb morning for golf, with little or no breeze and wall-to-wall sunshine. Several umbrellas-acting-as-parasols were in use! 26 turned up to play, so we added a ghost player and played in 9 x 3-balls. By consensus we played 'Best Two Scores at Each Hole' to make the game fairly quick, bearing in mind the heat. All 9 teams competing matched or improved on par, and there were 3 prizes available. The top 3 were: 1st - Chris Jacques, Tom Bradshaw and Bob Jarvis, with 83 points. 2nd - Fred Court, Brian Beaton and Peter Taylor, with 82 points. 3rd - Ian Ketland, Peter Lynch and Colin Williams, with 81 points.

Prestatyn Seniors Open 2023

You have already had our kitty comp winners for Prestatyn but the official winners for the Open have just pinged in from Brian Beaton. Please read on: First: Dave Palferman and Richard Collier (41 points) Clays Second: Dave A Jones and Nigel Davies (40 points) (c/b) Clays Third: Dennis Wolsterhome and Steve Parker (40 points) (c/b) Other Fourth: Paul Wallace-Jones and Stuart Leyland (39 points) Clays All four pairs won varying amounts in vouchers, to be spent in the pro shop at Prestatyn GC - Brian will have the details. Five individuals scored 2's in the ballsweep, including Alan Barnsdale (Clays) Our thanks again go to Brian for his general organisation and work both before and after the day.

Individual Stabeford June 8th 2023. Report via Malcolm Williams

We had a good turn-out of 23 members today bearing in mind a large number were at Prestatyn Open. We held an Individual Stableford Competition and Peter Fraser emerged as the winner with an outstanding score of 41points (including a blob on the 11th!). Results as follows:- 1st:- Peter Fraser - 41pts; 2nd:- Graham Bryne 37pts; 3rd:- Malcolm Williams – 36pts; 4th:- Bill Kelleher – 35pts; 5th:- John Kelty – 35pts (c/b); 6th:- Keith Hawthorn – 35pts (c/b); Cheers, Mal

Captains News letter May 2023

Captain's Newsletter: May 2023 May has arrived and with that some good weather at last so get the suncream in your bag. Mark and his team have taken advantage of the good weather and have carried out extensive work on the course and the putting area. The course is in fantastic condition thanks to all their hard work, so, I ask that we all do our own little bit and rake bunkers repair pitch marks and replace divots to keep the course in tip top shape. Competitions This month is really starting to busy up now with the Honours Board competitions well under way. Results and next board comp. rounds can be accessed on ‘ig’. Our teams and individual members are involved in various fixtures at Clays and other clubs, so best of luck to all. Well done to the senior team traveling to Old Padeswood and coming away with a fantastic 7 – 1 victory. Congratulations to Alan Barnsdale on winning the Karen Griffiths Trophy with Nett 66, and to Chris Jacques and Bill Kelleher on winning the Seniors Gemini Trophy with a combined score of 133. A big thanks to all who took part. There are plenty more opportunities coming up so please enter as many competitions as you can to support the club. Ladies Report We have been able to catch up with our Monthly Medal and Stableford Qualifier competitions as the weather and course conditions have improved. Attendance has been increasing with a great turnout of 17 ladies one week who played either the comp or social golf, followed by food and drink in the Clubhouse. The Ladies section commenced their NWLCS matches the first match away at Royal St Davids in Harlech, a great team performance however on this occasion a home win for Harlech. We look forward to their return visit to Clays. In The Daily Mail Foursomes Competition, played at Carden Park, Jane Evans and Bev Hood have progressed through to the next round. By all accounts a thrilling match to the 18th Hole. In the Purves Cup Foursomes, played at Conwy Golf Club, Jane Evans and Sue Falcus also achieved a win in their first round. We have received approval from Wales Golf to run Ladies New 2 Golf lessons. The first group participating, identifid through Wales Golf are scheduled to commence lessons on June 1st on a six week programme. Initially this was planned for May however due to holiday commitments from some of the Group who will be attending, this date has had to be pushed back. An expression of interest has been forwarded to Sport Wales to apply for an equipment grant for the Ladies New 2 Golf programme. We are currently waiting to hear if we are allowed to proceed forward with a formal application. As we are requesting a small grant we are optimistic this will be given due consideration at this stage. My thanks to Jane Evans for organising and co ordinating the Ping team and their fixtures, I wish all those involved great success. The Clays Ladies Open on Wednesday July 12th, a fixture which has not been on our calendar for a number of years has teams participating represented from a number of Clubs, with only a few remaining tee times now available. Hopefully the weather will be kind with a great day planned. The ladies Section are also now in receipt of fleece gilets with the Clays logo and together with polo shirts from last year are ready for the season ahead. My thanks to Shan Lady Vice Captain and a great team of ladies supporting the Section in various roles. And finally We are currently looking for a Safeguarding /Welfare Officer, and a Junior Organiser, in order to try to encourage new young members to join our club. These are important positions so if any members are interested, or if you know of anyone who would be interested in these roles, please get in touch with myself or any member of the council. In the next few weeks we are hoping to agree on the type of toilets to be located on the course. Don’t forget as mentioned above the three R,s Rake, Repair and Replace and most of all enjoy your golf. Kind Regards, Michael Club Captain

Seniors Fourbal. June 6th 2023. Report via Mike Healey

Another good turn out for today's kitty comp. 38 members went into the draw - 10 groups with the 2 front runner groups employing a ghost player. The event was a Fourball - 3 to Count with 3 prizes for the winning groups. The majority wore shorts following the 19 deg. forecast but there were one or two comments about being cool in the nether regions as it got no higher than 14 degs. Unfortunately, the organiser cannot control the weather. The groundstaff have been working hard and given the great course condition, there was no excuse for poor golf today. We were not disappointed, with scoring tight at the top and lots of countback required. Read on: Fourball - 3 to Count: First: Don Wraight, Mike Griffiths, Stewart Poole and (Ghost) - 126 points (c/b) Second: Mike Hollings, Peter Lord, Bob Jarvis and Tony Jackson - 126 points (c/b) Third: Chris Jacques, Alan Bottomley, Mike Parks and Graham Bryne - 124 points (c/b) In unofficial 4th place - Wynn Jenkins, Colin Evans, Tom McGrady and Bill Kelleher also carded 124 points but were beaten on c/b. The next two groups both had 123 points, so scoring was very tight indeed. Well done all.

Seniors June medal June 1st 2023. Report from Mike Healey

Let's start with the weather - cool start with a gentle breeze developing into a warm sunny day. They were ideal conditions, once again, for golf, so why did we hear so many excuses in the clubhouse? The most popular and repeated line today was "the card was rolling nicely until I had an 8 (or a 9 - or a 10)." It was quite comical after a while. I think most of us suffered because it was simply individual stroke play. The greens had been watered and caught a few of us out, in terms of speed but really it was just you against the course - now history!! Congratulations to those members who did manage to score well and a mention of the ballsweep - Jon Falcus shot a 2 on the 5th hole and Barry Dare gained his share of the money with a 2 on the 17th hole. The top three in each division read as follows: June Medal Result Division 1: First: Alan Barnsdale - 70 (c/b) Second: Tony Jackson - 70 (c/b) Third: Paul Wallace-Jones - 72 Division 2: First: Stewart Poole - 68 Second: Bill Kelleher - 69 (c/b) Third: Sean McCarthy - 69 (c/b) Division 3: First: Tom Pierce - 68 Second: Bob Jarvis - 69 (c/b) Third: Dave A Jones - 69 (c/b