Seniors 13th putting session December 19th 2023. Report from Mike Healey

Seniors - The inevitable happened after overnight heavy rain so we headed for the studio for our 13th putting session. (is this a record?) 12 putting addicts still turned up indoors for their kitty comp fix and breakfast bap. Ken Tieszen finally won with a single putt, after a prolonged play off with Barry Evans. Barry went for the killer blow on the penultimate hole and was waving his arm in glory as the ball lipped out at the last. He was a worthy runner-up! Tony Vorster was runner-up in the long distance putt and today's winner (44 my A**) was Peter Taylor with a glorious hole in one. Today's golf - short and sweet - coffee - prizegiving - nuff said! Thursday 21st - If the course is open there will be a Pairs Betterball over the 13 holes........ but it is looking unlikely given rain in between and gales with rain forecast for Thursday itself. If closed - some more putting but it will start at 10.00am. Breakfast baps at 11.00am and Hayley is opening the bar for a little tipple to say Merry Xmas midday - ish - and NO the beer is not FREE. See you Thursday unless you like wrapping presents or chasing sprouts

2023 Seniors Xmas party. Report from Don Wraight

Senior Xmas Party 2023 - Tuesday12th December. What a day!! The course being closed was not unexpected given that most of the other courses in the area are also closed. The pre-party Scramble was organised by Don and ready to go but not missed, as Stuart Miles kindly organised a short putting session for the regular golf addicts. Very loud Xmas jumpers were on show and the prize was won surprise, surprise, by our top-winning prize winner of 2023 – Mick Carnell. Time to put the glad rags on and what a magnificent effort was made by all of the seniors on show. Old jumpers and over trousers miraculously morphed into sartorial elegance. I didn’t know they scrubbed up so well - it reminded me of Cinderella. The actual meal began on the dot at 2.00pm but all attendees were at their seats in plenty of time for pre-festive presentations and it was a pleasure to present the following: The immediate Past Senior Captain, Chris Jacques was the first recipient, following thanks for his two-year stint in office and he was presented with a Xmas gift on behalf of the entire senior section. We moved onto the annual Devon outing in June - Les Williams, Mike Scott and Neville Bassett were mentioned for the Forrest Trophy and the 28 My Aspidistra award, but unfortunately, they were not present to receive their trophies. The remaining Ramnee Trophy was collected by Liam Roddis, with a magnificent accumulation of 167 point over the 4 days. The Donderbuckles Trophy (best nett medal through the year) was also presented to none other than our Club Captain – Mick McHugh with a nett 64. The two course Xmas feast ensued and the wine flowed throughout. The food was delivered with precision and was excellent in both quality and quantity. There were many comments about how good the food was but Don sidled up to me and said that the food was not good…. “It was bloody brilliant!!” Time for the thank-yous: Hayley was first up and she was thanked for her efforts, not only on the day, but throughout the year. She received a bouquet of flowers and a generous collection by way of thank-you from the floor, to share amongst the catering/waiting-on staff. Mark Jones was next up and both he and the greenkeeping staff were thanked for their continuous efforts throughout the year. He was also --presented with a generous token of thanks to be shared, from the senior section. At this stage, I felt it only right to extend my thanks, once again, to Steve Monk and Don Wraight who organised yet another superb Xmas Party. At this stage, the troops were ordered not to hail their taxis as there was going to be a draw, not only for early subs payment but the remaining bottle prizes from the cancelled Scramble. The winner of the malt whisky for early subs was club President – Chris Jones. All of the names that signed up for golf and party attendees went into a hat for three bottles of red and three white. The winners were Peter Lord, Peter Bowen, Alan Barnsdale, Barry Evans, Vic Rogerson and Jon Falcus. I can honestly say that those winning names took some remembering given the amount of cloud that has entered my brain since. Quiz sheets had been left on the table from the very start and the troops carefully filled the answers in whilst eating and drinking. Chris Jacques was the quizmaster and he took the floor following the raffle draws. The answers were disseminated and scores calculated. The winning table belonged to Don Wraight et al. who were presented with a veritable parcel of large Toblerones. Don “Bailey” Wraight kept the party going with snaps and photographed all of the presentations. The attendees were given the word - “conviviality“ at the very beginning and the whole occasion was held in great spirit. All were thanked for their attendance and wished a safe journey home.

PUTTING 3 BALL KNOCK OUT DECEMBER 5TH 2023 REPORT VIA MIKE MIKE HEALEY

Today we had to cancel our 9 hole Scramble (course closure) but apparently most of the other courses in the area are also closed, so there is a little satisfaction to be gained from that. The weather and conditions have both been appalling, making any ground maintenance nigh on impossible for Mark and his staff. 18 regulars still turned up expecting some form of golf, so our ninth putting session became a threeball knockout, starting with groups of three teams in each of the six pools. They were split into two sections and there were clear cut winners after three laps of the circuit. The winners of each section went on to a final with prizes for both the victors and runners-up. Just to keep matters fresh and ticking over, we also held a single long-putt comp. which was won after a play-off. All retired to the restaurant for refreshment and whiled away half an hour until the AGM started. Barry Dare will circulate the individual Officer's reports and results for the AGM election of officers for the year 2024 Putting Knockout results: First: George Hughes, Mick Carnell and Barry Evans Second: Mick McHugh, Colin Brown and Bob Brown (aka Mrs Brown's Boys) Long-Putt Competition: Stuart Miles

Captains Newsletter November 2023

Captain’s Newsletter: November 2023 Since my last newsletter we have played very little golf due to the continual wet weather, thus a very short report. We did however manage to get a few turkey trots played ,well done to the winners and runners-up. The seniors made the best of the bad weather by turning out on Tuesdays and Thursdays in large numbers to take part in some indoor putting competitions organised by Mike Heeley with bacon baps, coffees and a bit of banter afterwords, well done Mike . I will be attending The AGM at Denbigh on 6th of December where Patrick McHugh the Clays team captain will be presented with the Inter club division one team winners trophy and Tom Price also from Clays will be presented with county seniors stableford winners trophy .I will also be picking up the inter club fixtures for 2024. The concrete base for the halfway house is now complete, the building is ordered ,due in this week. I expect it to be in place on the 5th tee sometime in the near future the raising of the ladies tees is ongoing. Two have been complete however bad weather has hampered progress meaning the remainder will be put back till next year. Ladies Captain, s Report Unfortunately the weather has taken a turn for the worst, which has, as expected, restricted some of our planned golfing events in the Ladies Section. Hopefully the Law of Averages will mean that the very wet Autumn will be followed by a dry winter! Having said that I am delighted that we have been able to play 3 games in our tinsel trail, a series of mini competitions forming part of our winter league. For 2023 this format concludes at our Ladies Christmas party at the beginning of December. The first 2 games played were over 9 holes and included a Greensomes format and an Individual Stableford. The third game was an indoor putting competition. The intention is to run a further league after Christmas up to the end of March, weather permitting, which it is hoped will keep us all engaged in playing golf and meeting socially over the winter months. There is much discussion regarding the re rating of the slope index of the course, particularly amongst the Ladies Section which will see a sharp fall in the slope index from the red tees. The impact on Ladies handicaps will not be evident until our golfing season gets underway in April. The informative email from Josh clarifying these changes and those of the WHS was welcomed and much appreciated by the Ladies Section. Last week Jane Evans represented us both at the Welsh National Counties AGM to receive the Purves Fourball trophy, which will hopefully find a place in our trophy cabinet at Clays shortly. A Save The Date notice for March 22nd, Captains Last Supper, further details to follow and how and where to obtain tickets will be announced shortly. In conclusion if there is an opportunity to get back out on the course soon, happy golfing! Sue Falcus (lady captain) And finally from me… A reminder when we do get out on the course please keep all trollies behind the white lines around the greens, rake bunkers replace divots and repair pitch marks. So until next time enjoy your golf, fingers crossed the weather will get a bit dryer soon Kind Regards, Michael McHugh (Club Captain)