October 2020

Presidents Report – David Coverdale

In early September we held the bi-annual Captains and Presidents golf match and dinner. As President I presented the ‘state of the nation’ regarding the golf club and am writing a summary here for members.

We have had a good summer regarding new members and visitor fees which has helped our cash position, but we continue to struggle to fund bar and catering without external events. Full male membership is close to capacity. We will enter the difficult winter months in a strong position, but our cash must take us through to next June, when an increase in fees must be expected.

We will continue to improve the facilities where prudent, with work on the course and clubhouse being undertaken. Refurbishing the Ladies lockers is agreed, but waiting on a clearer financial position. Activity on the Practice Ground has picked up again, and this is building a Development Fund for the course, where we have had a hole-by-hole review undertaken by a course expert.

We are also refurbishing the 19th utilising an extension of our brewery loan, so many thanks to those who continue to drink at the club as this pays down what we owe.

As a club, we have managed the Covid crisis pretty well so far, and I am very grateful to Council, the Manager, Professionals, Greens and Bar staff for their hard work and support of the club throughout.

Members have been very supportive in observing the rules, but we may have new restrictions applied to us soon, so it is important that we continue to observe the rules, keep safe, wash hands, maintain distance and wear face coverings when moving about.

David Coverdale – President 2020

Men’s Captains Report –
Paul Edmondson

It was good to be part of the final’s day, both supporting the players and refereeing. There are still a couple of the matches left to play due to certain players being involved in more than one final. John Gunn our competition chair has reported on the winners and runners up, my thanks John for keeping everyone focussed.

Internally we have managed to have a couple of mixed matches, with a team Texas scramble and a very competitive Ladies Vs Gents, I was delighted that the Captain and Lady Captain, supported by the Vice President Carol Outhwaite and husband Rob managed to win the mixed Texas, by 4 clear shots! And equally delighted that the ladies managed to steal a victory.

Externally I succeeded in playing a number of Captains matches, Headingley home and away, Selby and Otley at home. The match against Otley is played for the Centenary trophy initiated by past captain Peter Croft in 2006. Unfortunately we were narrowly beaten in 4 very competitive matches.

I also managed to play in the Pro/Captain event, this year at Fixby, Huddersfield Golf Club. Dean and I started well on the front nine with 21 points, sadly the back nine beat us up a bit. Of course there is always next year to look forward to!

We held a junior open, which coincided with our finals day, this event was very well attended and all credit to Andy Jones for his presence, support and excellent organisation.

We are nearing the end of the competitive season and work starts in earnest on bunker renewals, the new pond on the 18th and renovation work on the 3rd /16th to effect better drainage. This will cause an element of disruption, so please be patient and bear with us. This will put the course in a better place for the start of the new season 2021. Ian Hawkyard and Kyran Lilley are doing a great job.

Remember - swing slow, play well, enjoy your golf.

Paul Edmondson

Business Development – Brian Roddick

Business Development Committee - Brian Roddick

We continue to see additional revenue from visitor green fees above our forecasted levels. This is important as revenue from our bar and catering is below forecast levels based on current COVID restrictions. Equally we have seen an increase in membership numbers above forecast levels and as a result we are reducing our lady’s incentive joining fee structure.

Unfortunately, England Golf have rejected our COVID funding application for a covered practice bay, we will have to look at alternative sources of funding. A funding proposal is being submitted to Council to refurbish and modernise the lady’s locker room, we will communicate when this project can become a reality.

Competitions – John Gunn

Congratulations to the winners of our finals day competitions played on Sunday 6th September.

• Paul Taylor - Horsforth Cup
• Dave Vine - Scratch Matchplay
• Mark & Liam Bennett - Will Davis Trophy
• Dave Vine – Green Emmott
• Paul and Pam Taylor – The Family foursomes

Commiserations to the runners up –
David Oldroyd, Stuart Bennett, Jack Ryan and Andrew Denny

A big thank you to Dean, our resident professional, for all his help during the day and to our referees, Paul and Brian. Thanks to the bar staff and green staff for their help in making it a memorable day. The weather held off until the last few holes and we are thankful for that.

Thursday 10th sept - Men’s Senior Open Day

Over 120 players competed in our final open tournament of the year – I know they found the course in top condition despite the recent rain.

It takes time to complete competition results due to a software issue, and we ask all members to be patient during these times, remember, it is advised that cards should not be touched by others for 48 hours.

Please ensure that all scores are entered into the computer in the clubhouse - if you cannot enter your score for any reason, you MUST inform a member of the comps committee or one of the professionals at the earliest opportunity. Simply placing the card in the box may result in your score being overlooked.

Thank you for your help and support.

England Golf – World Handicap System (WHS) Privacy Notice

With the introduction of the new W.H.S. on the 2ND November 2020 England Golf have released information for golf club members regarding how members’ data will be stored. This information is on our website and can be accessed via the link below:

whs-privacy

Greens – Ian Hawkyard

Work started on Tuesday 22nd September on the new water feature at the front of the 18th green.

Contractors should be on site for 5 weeks while the work is done. A new temporary green is sited at the top of the hill on the 18th. We are sure that we all agree that this will enhance the hole and the view from the clubhouse will be spectacular.

While the 18th is o.o.b, please DO NOT go into the area to collect the balls. It is a breach of Health and Safety rules.

The bunker program is continuing and with good weather we will get the new turf cut and the sand in place before long. There is a lot of work going on around the course, but this is the right time to get things done, after the main playing season and before winter weather makes it too wet. It is a very short window.

Ladies Section – Carole Edmondson

All our new ladies now have competitive handicaps and the majority are joining in the weekly comps and new members are still coming – we have 50 playing members now.

A medal round was played on Sept 8th; division winners; Amy Walker, Janice Windsor, Pamela Taylor and Sharon Cawtheray.

Lady President Christine Walker had her day on August 25th but unfortunately the golf was postponed but a very successful bbq was held in the evening and over £200 raised for our charity. The golf was rescheduled for Sept 15th and the division winners were;

• Carol Outhwaite
• Janice Windsor
• Pamela Taylor
• Ruth Kilburn

On 31st August we held a closely fought mixed Texas Scramble the winners; The Edmondsons and the Outhwaites.

The Ladies v Gents was contested on September 13th, good to see new faces competing and a record number of players 18 ladies and 18 gents. The ladies were victorious and the pink ribbon is in its rightful place on the trophy!

Carole Edmondson - Lady Captain

House – Kevin Hill

Hope everyone is keeping well and getting used to our new local restrictions. As you will have seen on the email circulated last week we have implemented new clubhouse rules to fall in line with the latest government guidelines.

These new rules will remain in place until the guidelines are changed so please observe them for the safety of your co-members.

We continue to review staffing levels in order to accommodate the new rules and meet with customer needs. As you will appreciate this is a fine balance when we also factor in the cost of staff wages against sales. We will continue to monitor the situation and consider our options.

Our steward Chris Taylor returns to work next after being on furlough since May this year. He has had a meeting with Simon, as has Paige, and they are both happy to return to work with the safeguards we have in place.

In relation to the 19th bar refurbishment, work has started with the seating removed for re-covering and the new patio doors have been installed. The redecoration is due to start at the end of October and we are hoping to have all the internal work completed by mid-December. The external work involving the decking etc will be done early next year and all will be ready for the start of the 2021 golfing season.

Other works that have taken place over the past few weeks have included a new external door to the gent’s locker rooms, new flues to both boilers and new pipe work in the gents toilet area.

Kind regards
Kevin Hill