Castle News - July 2010
CASTLE VIEWS - An official publication of Clevedon Golf Club keeping the membership informed
CHAIRMANS PIECE
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Here we are, halfway through the golfing season and three quarters of our
financial year and what a year. A good old fashioned winter caused the
course to be closed for some eighteen days and this impacted on our income
in the early part of the year, followed by the driest start to our summer
for some considerable time but we must not complain as we were able to
continue playing golf compared to the previous three years.
Despite these problems and the continuing credit crunch we are making
significant progress towards our objectives. Our Captain, Charles Griffiths
is working tirelessly for the Club and we are very grateful for his efforts.
David Fife and his team have also worked wonders in promoting the Club
encouraging new members and, at the same time Richard Dix has exceeded our
expectations in generating more societies and this is now delivering returns
on our investment. Our latest Head Chef, Steve Taylor is keen to provide
value for money with his new menu and Sunday lunches which I can only
encourage you all to try. He is a good asset to the Club. However, our
greatest challenge for the year is the recruitment of a new Head Greenkeeper
(Course Manager) and we anticipate concluding interviews during August.
Many congratulations to Ashley Mansell on becoming County Champion, Club
Champion, County Foursomes Champion and now part of the Somerset Team. Rest
assured Ash, the whole Club is behind you in your future ambition.
Finally, my thanks to those members who attended the May forum. We will
repeat the exercise in October at the end of our financial year.
Good golfing to you all. Roy Quipp - Chairman
CAPTAINS CORNER
Members will be aware that the Club has been running a special offer on
joining the Club. This offer is the same as the winter membership that we
have promoted over the last two years but packaged in a different way. To
ensure the financial stability of the Club it is vital that we increase the
number of full playing members and this initiative is helping achieve that.
We have given a discount on the joining fee to encourage people to join, but
the alternative to increasing playing numbers was to increase the annual
membership fee for existing members well beyond normal inflation.
A small group has been looking at the Club’s finance and membership trends
and it was evident that the net loss of 10-15 members each year, which we
had seen over the last 5 years, was not sustainable. With Board approval
fliers have been circulated round Portishead and Clevedon and we are
delighted with the response.
Of the many people that have taken the opportunity to come and play the
course, 42 have joined. Along with the 20 that joined under the winter offer
that means 57 new members this year and we are still receiving applications.
It is likely that we will reach 45 from the summer offer. We also have a
database of possible future members.
I would ask your support to integrate these members into the Club. Please
invite them to play with you if they are on their own. We will continue to
organise roll-ups at the weekend to enable them to meet playing partners. We
will only succeed if they enjoy the Club and are members for many years.
Charles Griffiths, David Fife, Ian Gorham and Simon Cannell
CAPTAIN ELECT APPOINTMENT
The Board is pleased to announce their nomination for the position of
Captain Elect for 2011 is Tim Liddeat.
Tim, who plays off a handicap of 12 and has been a member of the Club since
1982 was born and brought up in Brislington in Bristol. After school he
joined Bristol Constabulary and spent most of his career as a mounted
policeman. He retired in 1994 having received the Queen’s Long Service and
Good Conduct medal. Tim will be enthusiastically supported by his wife
Susanne who is an active member of the Ladies section.
FINANCIAL NEWS
We are now three quarters of the way through our financial year and our
finances are good in some areas and poor in others. We have managed to
reverse the decline in membership and consequently our subscription income
is not far off the budgeted figure. This is very good news and if we can
maintain this trend and keep improving our membership numbers it will ease
our financial situation considerably. So, for the nine months to the end of
June we are minus £5.5k on subscription and joining fee income, but we are
minus £12.5k on bar and catering. We budgeted to make a small surplus in
this area and although much of this loss was due to the poor weather in the
winter and spring (do you remember the snow and ice? with our current hot
summer it seems a long time ago!), we are not recovering from the earlier
losses. We have made a small surplus in the last month but our cumulative
loss is still there, although it is coming down slightly. Our golf income
(green fees whether from societies, visitors or members guests) is over
budget, mainly due to the increase in society income we have targeted this
year.
Our accounts are showing a cumulative loss at the nine month period of
£16.2k. However the June month alone figures were very encouraging showing a
variance of plus £7.2k, and if we can repeat this each month for the
remaining three months we could well finish with a small surplus. We must
bear in mind that the CASC rebate is not guaranteed, which is the reason why
we do not include it in our accounts until the year end, and it could well
be targeted by the government as an area of cost reduction and it could be
scrapped in the future!
Alan Wignall - Director (Finance)
AROUND THE COURSE
There is a huge change in our course as from June this year with the retiral
of Barry Reeves. Barry has served this Club loyally for the last thirty six
years and has had a huge influence on our golf course. We most certainly
would not have the existing layout and eighteen USGA standard greens without
Barry’s efforts. He has spent years of his life dedicated to Clevedon Golf
Club and his contribution will not be surpassed. I am sure all within the
Club wish Barry and Cheryl a long fruitful and happy retirement.
The course has stood up well to the recent dry weather with the fairways
running and the greens holding and putting well. It is very flattering to
the shorter hitters amongst us. The dry weather however has caused some
problems resulting from the amount of water we have had to put on the greens
but I am sure this will be rectified once we inevitably return to our normal
summer weather. We have had a delivery of approximately thirty tonnes of
Astroturf from a company replacing a hockey pitch. This is free material and
we hope to use this in the upgrade of our paths throughout the course. The
plan is to carry out this work during the winter months.
As mentioned by the Chairman the appointment of a new Head Greenkeeper
(Course Manager) is obviously in the forefront of all members’ thoughts and
we are presently going through a selection process. We advertised the post
in the appropriate media and we had in excess of seventy applications. We
are presently in a process of reducing these to a short list and have
arranged for the selected candidates to go through a procedure that will
involve visiting the course and producing a work plan for the future before
they move on to a formal interview. It is hoped to finalise the selection
process during August. Our existing acting Head Greenkeeper is fully
involved in this procedure.
The playing season is progressing and we have had, I think a very good first
half of the year. I can see no reason why things should change. All I ask is
for members to help in this process by doing the normal - replacing divots
and repairing pitch marks etc. We have a course to be proud of so please do
not allow the legacy of Barry’s years of dedication go in vain.
Martin Reid - Director (Course)
COMPETITIONS AND HANDICAPS
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
This year’s event was well supported with numbers well up on previous years. Congratulations go to Ashley Mansell on securing his 4th successive win, some achievement I’m sure you will agree.
TEAM NEWS
The 1st team have experienced some close 3 & 2 losses but still stand a chance of staying in Division 2. The 2nd team have faired better and if their good play continues promotion to Division 5 is a possibility. Congratulations to Steve Parker and Alex Godley for their success in the Daily Mail competition before they were finally beaten when playing away by a pair from Farrington.
CLUB KNOCK-OUT COMPETITIONS
Please note that these are not to commence before 11 o’clock on Sundays to allow early morning golfers an opportunity to play on this day. At the same time competitions for 2011 are being reviewed with the aim of creating more time for social golf.
INACTIVE HANDICAPS
As I am sure you realise Rule 19, as it was known disappeared two years ago and handicaps can no longer be adjusted on ‘general play’. The answer is simple - sign up in the Pro’ shop, complete supplementary cards and hand these in.
Willy Rowlinson – Director (Competitions and Handicaps)
MARKETING AND PUBLICITY
As you will have seen from Secretary Jim’s email, we still have a few spaces left for your Company to advertise on the tee signs. A number have already taken up the offer at a cost of £250.00 plus VAT for 12 months. This includes sixteen free rounds of golf. Contact Jim or Richard in the office for availability. Steve's Sunday lunches have also commenced. Why not bring the family along and what a choice - roast beef, roast pork, poached salmon supreme, supreme of chicken and braised lamb shank. All dishes with all the trimmings for only £6.95 plus a selection of starters and sweets for £3.25. You can also book the Restaurant for family events so, again contact Jim or Richard in the office.
Martyn Mills – Director (Marketing and Publicity)
LADIES
What a year it has been with unprecedented weather conditions – lots of snow and bad weather early on followed by a prolonged dry spell. The latter has meant lots of roll on the ball and subsequent reductions in handicaps for a number of our Ladies. Congratulations to everyone on their achievements. We have had some good results in our Club Competitions as well as external competitions:
– Alison Leatt and Jackie Parkins went through to the third round of the Daily Mail Foursomes but unfortunately lost to Newport
– Ruth Steele and Carol Kirkwood worked their way to the quarter final of the BDLGA Handicap Foursomes but lost to Saltford at Bath
– Jill Middleton and Georgina Read are through to the area final of the Peugeot Coronation Foursomes and will be playing at Minchinhampton on 18th August
– and Vice Captain Sue and I are through to the finals of the County Centenary Plate to be held at Saltford on 31 August.
The Club Championship was held at the end of June in extremely hot weather but twenty two Ladies persevered over 36 holes and congratulations to Lizzie Stephens who triumphed again as Club Champion. There were many other interesting results which prove that you don’t have to be a low handicapper to enjoy this event and win a prize.
Our Alliance ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams are holding their own in their respective divisions – the ‘A’ team are in 1st place after 6 matches with 60 points and the ‘B’ team are 6th in their division after 6 games with 38 points. Still lots of points to play for – keep up the good work. The Ladies Open Bowmaker in June fielded 99 players with more visitors than we have had before. We won the Loving Spoon against the Seniors for the second year in a row and the Ladies Invitation Day, despite the inclement weather was a great success. Lady Captain’s Day is in August and the Captain/Lady Captains’ away visit to Trevose takes place in October.
I look forward to seeing you there! Susie Gibbins – Ladies’ Captain
SENIORS SAY
The year is flying by. As I write this eight months have already passed by
with only another four to go. The Captains/Vice Captains Challenge raised
£120 for a charity called SENSE who work with children who are both deaf and
blind. Thanks to all who took part. Some golf balls and a couple of bottles
of whisky will be handed out at the AGM in November.
This year’s AGM will not include a prize presentation. These will be
presented at a lunch in December so if you have won anything this year put
the date in your diary.
As many of you know our Vice Captain could only play in 9 of the 12
challenges. For the record, when playing with Bob we won 7, halved 1, and
lost 1. Peter Hobbs partnered me in one challenge which we halved and past
Captain Mike Parker partnered me in two challenges and we lost both. Draw
your own conclusions!
I think everyone enjoyed Seniors’ Ladies Night, our away day at Raglan Parc
and the overnighter at Highbullen.
The Seniors have now played nineteen of our matches against other Clubs. Our
home record is a perfect played 10 and won 10 including an 8-0 whitewash
over Long Ashton. Our away record is a very good too - played 9, won 5,
halved 2, and lost 2. Many Senior Captains of other clubs have commented on
the difficulty they have in getting enough players for matches. I count
myself very lucky that there are so many enthusiastic golfers at Clevedon
which often results in our matches being oversubscribed. To date, sixty
different Seniors have played in the 19 matches and there are more to come.
Let's see if we can keep our 100% record going for the remainder of 2010.
The Loving Spoon match against the Ladies Section has been played. Sadly the
spoon has not changed sides, but it was a good competition and great fun.
The Ladies played some excellent golf and were deserved winners. The
standard of their golf can be summed up by the fact that one pairing
received in the better ball format 8 and 5 shots respectively and still went
down 6 & 5.
Enjoy the rest of the year. Paul Smith – Seniors’ Captain
JUNIOR NEWS
Yet another successful season is in full swing for the Juniors under the
Captaincy of Toby Chapman and Vice Captain Tom Rowlinson. They head their
league with two games to go and hope to reach the playoffs for the 3rd year
running.
A number of the Juniors are playing for the Club 1st & 2nd Teams and gaining
valuable experience for future years. Myles Angell has been playing for the
County U.18’s, Ali Balcombe has made the U.16 squad and Jamie Tompkins has
been playing for the U.14’s.
The Clevedon Junior Open held in June did not see Myles Angell repeat his
wonderful performance of last year but it did see Clevedon Juniors stamp
their authority on a competition attended by all the top junior players in
Somerset.
Adam Williams was 3rd in the gross with 78, Joe Swift won the Castle Cup for
the Best Nett Score and Andy Ferris won the Spike Bar Shield.
At the recent Avon Schools Golf Championship the team from Clevedon School,
including Toby Chapman, Ali Balcombe and Stuart Balcombe won and represented
Avon Schools at the EGU National Championship at Came Down in Dorset.
Ali Balcombe also qualified for the National Schools U.16 Championship due
to be played on 20th July.
As well as Junior golf at the top level, the Junior section is flourishing
with many new younger players being coached at Tickenham, a scheme sponsored
by the Somerset Golf Partnership.
Junior Club Night on a Monday evening is well attended and my thanks must go to Andy Payne, Toby Chapman and Tom Rowlinson and others who give up their time to coach and encourage our youngsters. I would also like to thank the Club and all the members for their generous donations to the Juniors and their encouragement and kind comments about them.
Tony Brown – Junior Co-ordinator
An official publication of Clevedon Golf Club editor – Paul Middleton
Jim Cunning Company Secretary Clevedon Golf Club Limited Castle Road Clevedon Somerset BS21 7AA
Company Registered in England & Wales, No 4256251 VAT No: 137 4068 69 secretary@clevedongolfclub.co.uk www.clevedongolfclub.co.uk