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)