Captain's Blog (2020) #10

Captain’s Blog No 10, (30.07.20)

One of the great features of golf is that it is a sport accessible to all ages, this has been clearly demonstrated over the past fortnight at Pryors Hayes.

A real highlight of my year so far was to be present to welcome competitors and their parents to the European Junior Tour event that Roger put on at Pryors Hayes last Thursday. This is one of a large series events Roger organises each year.

Obviously, the programme has been somewhat curtailed this year but there was no disguising the youthful exuberance or the sheer talent of the competitors last week! It was really thrilling to witness.

Over 30 boys and girls, aged from 7 to 14 took part all of whom are potential future golf stars. Several youngsters from PHGC were in the field with Michael Stonehouse returning a nett 66. Well done to everybody involved.

Like most members I have long been aware of Roger’s involvement with Junior golf but seeing the tour event up close really bought home what a wonderful job he does and what a great advert his activities are for Pryors Hayes.

Perhaps towards the other end of the golfing age range, it was also great to take part last Friday in the first full ‘nine and dine’ event of the year. These are always fun evenings. There were over 30 competitors who played a 3-ball waltz followed by an excellent meal (thanks Bill).

A huge thank you to Norma for organising everything, particularly for her meticulous planning of the arrangements in the clubhouse to make sure we were all Covid safe. I think this has set a benchmark for future group dining experiences while the pandemic persists.

While on the subject of age, I played in my first senior’s event of the season on 14th July. One of my playing partners was the remarkable Walter Gilbert. Walter is apparently over 90, but you wouldn’t know it when you watch him play golf.

Golf really is a game for all ages!

Some recent highlights;

In the Ladies Section, the Senior Ladies Trophy was won by Sue Hulme, one of the longest standing and most senior lady members, with a wonderful score of 41pts with her new junior clubs!

By contrast the July EWGA medal was won by one of the younger members (and fellow Barrow resident) Sophie Runciman with a nett 67, someone to look out for in the future!

In the Seniors, the monthly medal was won by David Hollingwoth with a nett 59!!! That’s not a misprint it really was a 59.

The monthly winners of the stableford prizes were; Division 1 - Graham Jones 42pts, Division 2 – Mike Taylor 38pts, Division 3 - Ian Craven 38pts.

In the Men’s section the Chairman’s Trophy was won by Matthew Jones with a nett 66, narrowly beating Jack Craven who had an excellent 72 – 5 – 67.

Well done to all recent winners.

Jack’s excellent gross score of 72 is the latest in a series of low scores from our low handicappers (mostly relative youngsters) which promises a very competitive club championship over the weekend Aug 8th and 9th.

Remarkably we already have over 100 entries for the club championship, it should be a really exciting weekend.

Looking further forward, there are still places available on both Captain’s away days (Henlle on Sept 20 and Eaton on Sept 21st, details on the Captain’s noticeboard).

It would be lovely to fill both days, please contact me if you would like to join us on one or both.

Until the next time, stay safe and enjoy your golf
Dave

Captain's Blog (2020) #9

Captain’s Blog No 9, (16.07.20)

Dear Members

The golf club remains very busy, lots of activity on the course and over the past 2 weeks some activity in the clubhouse! It has been lovely to be able to enjoy a drink and a snack after golf with the partial reopening of the clubhouse. I understand some members have been concerned about Covid related safety within the clubhouse.

The club has undertaken a full risk assessment and introduced protocols designed to keep everyone safe and to comply with the government guidelines for bars/restaurants. It is really important that we all follow the procedures laid down (use the hand sanitiser provided, register via your mobile if you are going to sit inside the clubhouse, follow the one way system and maintain sensible social distancing), if you do have concerns please let the staff know.

Golf events continue to come thick and fast. The course remains busy (since the course reopened I have averaged 5 rounds a week and the body is starting to complain!). The course continues to receive many positive comments from members and visitors, so a big thank you to Andy and his team for their hard work.

I recently attended a meeting of the Greens Liaison Committee and was very impressed with the positive approach and commitment to ongoing improvements. The minutes of the GLC and Andy’s reports are available on the members notice board. I recommend them to give you a sense of the concrete steps being taken to maintain and improve the course. 

Some highlights of the past couple of weeks:

In the Ladies’ section Joan Hayes won the Reade Rosebowl

In the Men’s section the scoring has been excellent. In the July monthly medal there were several Nett 65s, the winner on countback was Rick Smith. The Captain’s Trophy was won by Thomas Peters with a Nett 66 and the Midweek Masters by Adam Page with a fantastic round, Gross 71! Nett 63.

In the Seniors Section I ran a Captain’s Charity Stableford on July 7th. It turned out to be an extremely wet morning! Despite this, 53 members took part and remained very cheerful if rather wet. The prize winners were:

Division 1
1st Graham Jones 42pts, 2nd Ronnie Taylor 40pts, 3rd Steve Wynne 39pts
Division 2
1st Ian Craven 38pts, 2nd Russell Jones 37pts, 3rd Derek Evans 34pts

The Captain Challenge
26 (!) of you beat the Captain and won a sleeve of balls
20 hit the green and were entered into the draw for a fourball at Wrexham Golf Club, the winner was; John Kummer.
Nearest the pin (about 12inches!) Mike Taylor

Due to everyone’s generosity over £400 was raised for Prostate Cancer UK, thank you all.

Captain’s Matchplay Challenge

This is proving very successful. So far I have played 7 challenge matches, 2 singles and 5 mixed doubles (with Isabelle as my partner). All the matches have been great fun. The record to date is W3, L3, Halved 1. If you fancy the challenge (singles or pairs) contact me to fix a time (davehughes1954@btinternet.com or 07801 036632).

Captain’s (Mens) Away Days (Sun Sept 20th and Mon Sept 21st)

I had planned a 2 day trip to Patshull Park unfortunately they have closed down! Fortunately they returned the deposit!. 
As an alternative I have arranged a 2 day golfing extravaganza which will not include staying away (with the complications of social distancing while sharing rooms).
The new plan is;

Sunday Sept 20th; Henlle Park Golf Club
Arrival – Bacon roll and tea/coffee 12.00
1st tee 1:00 to 2.30
2 Course Dinner 7:00
Monday Sept 21st Eaton Golf, Chester
Arrival – Bacon roll and tea/coffee 9:00
1st tee 10:00 to 11:30
2 Course Meal 4:00

There are 40 places available at both venues and the cost for each day will be £47.50, first refusal was given to those who had booked to go to Patshull but there remain plenty of places on both days. To reserve your place (for either or both days) please contact me; (davehughes1954@btinternet.com or 07801 036632)

Until the next time stay safe and enjoy your golf.
Dave

Captain's Blog (2020) #8

Captain’s Blog No 8, (29.06.20)

As we gradually emerge from lockdown (let’s hope that the virus continues to decline!) events on the golf course have moved on at pace. Over the past 2 weeks the competition schedule has swung into full operation. Making up for lost time, competitions and in particular major trophy events, have been coming thick and fast!

It is really exciting to see that the numbers participating in all competitions are at record levels, the only difficulty now is finding tee times for everybody. It’s a great problem to have! Already the men have played 5 trophy competitions with the winners listed below.

The Rosebowl – Tim Spence, Nett 63
The Barnes Cup – Gareth Hughes, Nett 66 
Northern Trophy – Thomas Gibbons, 40pts
McEwans Trophy – Jon Briggs, 40pts
Hogan Trophy – Jamie Randles, 38pts

The Ladies section has also been busy with 2 further trophy competitions, their winners were;

Calloway Trophy – Karen Green (Lady Captain), Nett 71
Curtis Trophy – Linda Heaher, 34pts
Divisional winners of the Thursday Stableford on 25th June were,
Sharon Shorthouse 36pts, Teresa Girdham 41pts (great score) and Joan Hayes 35pts.

The Seniors section is also thriving, with more than 60 competitors in each Tuesday morning competition. Their highlight this month was the June Medal with some really low scoring, the winners were;

Division 1 - Ronnie Taylor, Nett 64
Division 2 - Cyril Craven, Nett 61 – amazing score!
Division 3 - Ian Craven, Nett 67

Well done to all the winners.

With all these competitions and the really high numbers of members playing (both competitively and socially) despite the very abnormal backdrop, there has been a real buzz at the club. Thank you to everybody for creating such a positive atmosphere.  

With the further relaxation of the lockdown in the coming days, I understand the clubhouse will be partially reopening on Saturday. I look forward to sharing a cup of tea or a drink after a round of golf with as many of you as possible in the coming weeks.

Stay safe
Dave

Captain's Blog (2020) #7

Captain’s Blog No 7, (15.06.20)

In these very strange times I wanted to mark the delayed beginning of the competitive golf season with a significant event – hence ‘Not the Captain’s Drive In’ on Saturday. It was a wonderful day. The weather was great (much better than forecast!), the turn out (112 players) was fantastic and the generosity of members was stunning (we raised nearly £2000 for Prostate Cancer UK).

There are many people to thank. Rachel for her calm organisation, the greens team for setting up the course and the gazebo on the 9th, IPC Ian Jackson for his early morning starting duties, VC Gordon Wallace for his marathon stint on the 1st tee, Sue Worrall and Alan Dunne for sorting out all the scores and results and Isabelle for her unflagging support both in the lead up and on the day. A huge thank you to you all.

And most importantly thank you to everyone who took part or donated to the charity. It was a real pleasure to meet everybody on the 9th tee, many familiar faces but also lots of new members. There was a lovely atmosphere all day, everybody had a smile and a kind word (even those who sliced their tee shots into the car park!). Days like this emphasis why Pryors Hayes is such a great club to be a member of.

For the record the Prize Winners were;

Ladies Men’s Division 1 Men’s Division 21st, Margaret Davies 37pts 1st, Steve McLetchie 36pts 1st, Keith McLetchie 48pts
2nd, Pat Coulson 37pts 2nd, David Ephraim 35pts 2nd, Andrew Jackson 40pts  
3rd, Linda Heaher 34pts 3rd, Michael Smith 35pts 3rd, Hugh Rowlands 39pts
4th, Erica Cowley 33pts 4th, Alan Runciman 34pts 4th, Thomas Gibbons 37ptsNTP, Pam Stonehouse NTP, Steve Winterson  

Captain’s Challenge

11 (only 11!) hit the green and won a sleeve of balls,

The roll of honour; Steve Winterson, Pete Reynolds, Alan Runciman, Tony Gibbons, Bob Grindey, Fred Worrall, Dave Williams, Pam Stonehouse, Alan Hughes, Garry Randles, Howard Davies

39 players beat the Captain. They were entered into a draw and the winner of a fourball voucher for Llanymynech Golf Club was;

David EphraimWell done to the winners, I will try to see each winner at the club over the next week to make a social distanced presentation of the prizes.

Other Competition News;
All 3 competition groups (Ladies, Men and Seniors) are now up and running. Perhaps the most notably feature of the first rounds of competitions has been the very healthy numbers taking part, clearly we have all missed the thrill of competition. 

The Ladies kicked things off with the Porter Challenge EWGA Medal on June 4th. Some players might have been rusty but not Karen Jones who won with an excellent net 65. Even more remarkable was Ann Yue’s winning score in division 3 of the Saturday stableford on June 6th, 49pts!! Fantastic round, well done.

The Men have started with a couple of stablefords, with the best return to date from James Page in the midweek stableford on June 10th with 42pts, good round. In the next couple of weeks there are several trophy competitions coming up, so its time to sharpen up the game!

The Seniors programme started with a stableford on June 9th, the best result was 43pts for past Captain, Dave Tweddle, pretty impressive stuff!

Captain’s Matchplay Challenge
I am delighted to report that I have had quite a number of challenges, with several matches arranged for the coming 2 weeks. So far I only have 1 result to report, a defeat! Chris and Karen Jones beat Isabelle and me 4 and 2, so are the first names on the role of honour, into the draw for the fourball voucher and early contenders for the Matchplay Challenge prize. Well done (through gritted teeth!).

Final thought – we are still in a pandemic
Playing golf and certainly on a day like Saturday it is easy to forget that we are still in the middle of a pandemic, so it is important that while at the golf club we all continue to observe social distancing and the play safe, stay safe protocols.

All the best

Dave