www.lewesgolfclub.co.uk May 2009

CAPTAIN – John McAdams

I am now over two months into my role as your Captain and I am thoroughly enjoying it! There have already been some challenges, which I had not quite anticipated, but so far so good and I hope all our members are looking forward to an enjoyable golfing year – let’s hope we get blessed with lots of sunny days!

My charity for 2009 is St Wilfrid’s Hospice. I am proud that Lewes Golf Club has a strong association with the hospice movement; they are underfunded and receive minimal government support for the superb work they do. Please support my charity and also other fund-raising for both St Wilfrid’s Hospice and St Peter’s and St James’ Hospice.

The Captains’ drive-in was a very nerve racking experience. I would have much preferred two sheep and a shepherd to turn up, but on the day we were watched and supported by many, many members. Despite the huge crowd, we all hit long, straight drives – phew! The day was made even more special when I made a hole-in-one – very expensive with such a full bar!

Congratulations to the 15 pairs who qualified for the Turkey Trot. I am really looking forward to playing with Tony and hopefully winning our fair share of the matches.

The April Captain’s Committee revisited the request to permit the tee of the day for the Winter Eclectic to be at the players choice, i.e. either white or yellow. After a lengthy discussion it was agreed that for this non-qualifying competition players may choose whichever tee they prefer to play from and “general play” scores would not apply. On days when there is a Saturday Stableford qualifying competition, members choosing not to play in the qualifying competition would now be able to play their eclectic round off the yellow tees if they wished.

I am liaising with David Pilfold with a view to arranging one or two more “shotgun-start” competitions (subject to finding a vacant slot in our fixture list). These have proved to be very popular in the past and hopefully we will be able to incorporate them with a social function of some kind – watch this space!

Finally I am delighted to report that a sponsorship deal has been secured for our PAV team with Cuckmere Valley Turf Co to the sum of £1500. This deal is for two years and will cover the cost of clothing and meals. Thanks to James Cuthbertson & Mark Hilton who were instrumental in obtaining this sponsorship. Resplendent in their new team colours, Lewes beat five times winners Copthorne 8-4 to progress to meet Ham Manor away on May 30th.

LADIES’ CAPTAIN – Hilary Osman This is my 1st letter to you all at a very busy time of the golfing year. Division II and III matches are well underway; both teams have had a share of wins, the spirit of the game has been very pleasant and wonderful home teas much appreciated by the visiting teams.

Competition news: in the Mail on Sunday we got through to the 3rd round away to East Brighton. A very close match with many games ending on the 17th or 18th – but eventually they were too strong for us. In the Morrice Foursomes we had a bye in the 1st round only to draw our rivals Copthorne; close matches ensued but unfortunately we lost. Thanks must go to Roseanne Kidson, Min Zara, Mandy Quick, Lucia Simpson, Barbara Broadway and Christine Robinson who represented Lewes in these competitions. In the Daily Mail Foursomes myself and Hilary Black knocked out Royal Eastbourne at home in the first round and then Eastbourne Downs at home in the 2nd round and now wait to see who are our next opponents.

Congratulations to our first trophy winners of the year: Jane Burfoot won the Easter Trophy, Barbara Broadway won the Knight’s Bowl with a net 70 and then Barbara also won the Sunday Salver. The Handicap Salver at the Spring Meeting was won by Amanda Quick, with Amanda Zara winning the scratch trophy.

The ladies entertained the juniors during the Easter holidays with a Texas Scramble. Although only a small field, the competition was enjoyed by all and it was lovely to see the juniors play golf with enthusiasm and with a gentlemanly conduct. Congratulations to the winning team of a gross 64, with a superb putting performance by Kristian Decaix.

My charity is the Meningitis Trust: an illness which can affect anyone, at any age, at anytime. Nowadays the majority of people survive but thousands can be left with debilitating affects such as deafness, blindness, learning difficulties and behavioural problems. Please support this cause putting your spare coins in the white tin on the bar (generally hidden behind the summer eclectic board!). To raise a bit extra my forfeit for the ladies on medal days is – if they 3 putt on any hole I ask them to contribute 5p/10p depending on their handicap; if you would like a challenge please participate in this forfeit and shed a few pennies, thank you.

I would like to wish everyone good, enjoyable golfing during 2009/10.

CHAIRMAN – David Stenning

As I write this I have been Chairman for just 63 days and the way ahead looks no less daunting than when I started!

Like many clubs around the country and in our own county we are facing some difficult decisions this year in the light of the current financial climate.

You will read elsewhere in this bulletin how we are doing financially and in regard to the course, clubhouse and the membership. In the context of the challenges we face, I am pleased that we have a new and refreshing Council and I am confident that we will see some positive changes to our club and its facilities.

With the agreement of Council, I have formed a Working Party to review all our activities including administration, greens and the Club Professional. The Working Party consists of myself, the Treasurer (Graham Forster), Chairs of Front of Course and Greens (John Crabb and David Pilfold), and the Compliance Director (Alan Keys). There is also a position for a co-opted member and I propose to use this vacancy to invite comment and contributions from across the membership. I expect the outcomes to be presented to the members in early autumn.

In the recent past the structure and effectiveness of Council has been questioned and the current Council has agreed in principle to produce a proposal for a two tier structure comprising a smaller Board of Directors responsible for the future direction of the Club and the Captain’s Committee taking responsibility for all golfing and social matters.

The questionable benefit of our spare land alongside of the 16th fairway continues to exercise my mind and I have asked Council to engage with Sussex Wildlife Trust to explore the possibility of a beneficial land swap, which may improve our practice facilities. This exercise is at a very early stage and may not come to anything, but I thought members should be aware that Council continues to be active in trying to make improvements and get the best use of all our assets.

We are already seeing the benefits of the members “Self Help Scheme” and I congratulate those who have taken part. The next significant self-help activity will be painting the outside of the clubhouse and I hope that will be starting soon.We really do have a wonderful club and golf course and, in these difficult times, all offers of help from members to maintain the facility will be gratefully received.

In the meantime we will continue to strive to provide members and visitors with a “value for money”, enjoyable golfing and social experience.

CLUB TREASURER – Graham Forster

As we move into May, we can now see the results of the subscription payment period. We have fallen short of budgeted subscription numbers by 33 playing fee members, BUT we are 1 over budget for full members. The result is that we are looking at a shortfall against budget for the rest of 2009 of around £17,500.

We have had our usual crop of resignations on age, travel and health grounds. However, the economic situation has undoubtedly been the major cause, be it directly through redundancy or lack of funds, but also indirectly through members assessing the value of membership to them against the amount of golf they have been playing.

This is a disappointing outcome, but taking into account the difficult economic conditions, one that is not entirely unexpected. In fact there have been some positive signs: we have had more members switching from playing fee to full membership than full to playing fee and we have signed up a number of new members with more applications in the pipeline.

We will be looking to attract more new members over the coming months. We need to decide on the product and the price that will appeal to them, whilst being fair to our current members who have supported the club by renewing their memberships.

The course continues to be our biggest asset and is drawing favourable comments from visitors. Green fee income has been ahead of budget for each of the first 4 months of this year, which is encouraging. Long may it continue! Of course the icing on the cake would be to convert the visitors into members.

The shortfall in subscription income and the unexpected costs (water tank, Gator, computers) that we have incurred in recent months, mean that we will need to keep a tight rein on our expenditure over the coming months. For the time being, ‘Cash is King’.

FRONT OF COURSE – John Crabb

Sincere thanks to the many members who are contributing their skills and time to help maintain and improve our clubhouse. The patio tables are resplendent in their new coatings of paint – the team: Roger Martin, Ken Barber, Brian Cheesmur, Peter C Jones and Peter Gibbons. David Stenning and myself ensured the showers in the men’s locker room are gleaming while Hugh Turner replaced the lock on the outside store cupboard. Not really front of course, but we also thank Julian Dawson for sourcing the superb

new bell at the 11th and Norman Parsons for engraving it and securing it so robustly. Mark Broadway’s team will soon start work on the exterior paintwork and there is a team of rabbit-fencers ready to prevent more nasty-niffs from underground (if you haven’t noticed – don’t ask!)

The buggy store is now complete with space for four buggies. Our greens’ staff have done all the work and saved us considerable cost. Tony will soon complete his buggy fleet to four shiny vehicles.

GREENS – Dave Pilfold

Following my appointment as Chairman of Greens it is my intention to keep members informed of work being carried out by our Greens Team. There are two keys channels to provide information: the notice board and the website, both of which will have the same information on a timely basis. If you want to know what is happening out on your course, please read the board or visit the website regularly. On the website, there is now a new section “Greens” available only to logged-in members.

You will all have noticed the changes recently made to the 1st Fairway – as promised above, drawings of the changes were publicised for a week before Lawrie and his team started the work. The reason for these alteration is that long hitting players teeing off the 1st tend to draw the ball over the 2nd Tee. The new rough area between the 1st green and 2nd tee will discourage this, while the creation of more fairway to the left effectively creates an interesting dog-leg. Importantly we have improved safety for players on the 2nd tee. Whilst we appreciate that not all members like changes to the course, we are convinced that these alterations will create an very interesting 1st hole!

The winter program has now been completed and the new water tank is fully installed. The Greens staff are now busy cutting grass and ensuring the course continues to provide us with a great facility. Following the recent work on the Greens, they are now beginning to improve and will hopefully be back to our usual high standard in the next couple of weeks

MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING – Chris Burgon

The LGC Academy

Our Try Golf Scheme, very ably organised by Ray Ward, has been very successful at introducing newcomers to the great game of golf. However, not all Try Golfers go on to join the Club and this month we are launching a new scheme to encourage more to continue playing at Lewes.

The LGC Academy is only available to golfers who have completed our Try Golf Scheme, but do not feel confident enough to become full or playing fee members. The scheme offers access to the course in off-peak times for six months and has some additional lessons for an inclusive fee. It is only available once for each Try Golf Graduate and does not confer any of the benefits of club membership other than access to the course and some club facilities.

The cost is £290 - ask in the office for full details.

Buddies

There is some evidence that every year we lose some newly joined members because they have not felt integrated into the life of the club. The Council would like to introduce a Buddy Scheme (horrible title but we can’t think of anything better at the moment).

The scheme would offer new members a Buddy who would be a current Club member and who would contact the new member from time to time to check that the new member is enjoying the experience of belonging to LGC,has partners with whom he/she can play regularly etc etc.

If you are interested in helping us to retain members in this way please speak to Joan or ring me on 01273 890301 Free Taster Sessions

Free Taster Sessions for adult beginners take place on Sat May 16th and Sat June 20th. Groups of 6-8 people receive an hour’s coaching with Tony and can enjoy a putting competition. These sessions have proved very popular in recent years and we hope for a full house again. Please encourage friends and family to come and have a go – registration through the office.

LOGS CAPTAIN – Bob Coomes

The first round match of the Cyril Blake was won at home against Dale Hill 3-1. The winter league is now complete and we finished a creditable third.

To date six interclub matches have been completed and all have been won – but only one played away from home so far so the trickier ones await!

The first of our two matches against the ladies was played and enjoyed by all with most matches being close, finally won by the LOGS, which avenged last seasons two defeats. 

Three new senior members have joined the club following their involvement with the LOGS during their winter membership which is most gratifying. Tuesday and Thursday meetings continue to be very well supported.

JUNIORS – Sue Richardson (junior organiser)

Our Junior Captain for 2009/10 season is Louis Osman and we all wish him well in his year.

The first Downland league match was played at Eastbourne Downs. Well done to Kristian Decaix who shot a net 66 and picked up 3rd prize in handicap competition on the day.

Well done again to Kristian Decaix and to Tom Richardson who have both been selected to represent South region in Sussex U15's regional match at Chartham Park.

Congratulations to Keiron Martin who only joined the club beginning of April and got a hole in one on the 4th playing in his first junior medal competition on Sunday 27th April.

PLAN TO PLAY IN AUSSIE – BEWARE!

LGC member Philip Tombleson was fined $200 for entering Australia with dirty golf shoes. The description on his Infringement Notice was “Nature of Offence: having declared he was not in possession of biosecurity risk items”??!!

SUPPLEMENTARY SCORES

A number of members have asked about Supplementary Scores. Any member with a handicap who has played in 6 or fewer qualifying competitions in the previous calendar year may return up to a maximum of 10 Supplementary Scores for handicapping purposes. Play may be Medal or Stableford and must be played at Lewes. No more than one Supplementary Score card may be submitted in any one week. Members must register in the Pro Shop before play declaring their intention. If the Pro Shop is closed, then they must write details on a brown envelope and post it in the competitions box in the hallway, again before play.

The course Standard Scratch will be used, and handicaps will be adjusted up and down in the same manner as they would in a qualifying competition.

Supplementary Scores cannot be submitted when playing in a competition which is a non-qualifier (e.g. Winter Eclectic). Category 1 players are not permitted to submit Supplementary Scores.

There is a list of those eligible in the men’s locker room in the back of the handicap register book and in the ladies locker room on the noticeboard.

ARE YOU INSURED?

Golf can be a dangerous game and, in the age of litigation, it is prudent to have appropriate insurance cover.

Loss of golf clubs and hole-in-one insurance attracts large excesses, so it is best to get cover as part of your Home Contents insurance (juniors – talk to your parents).

Personal Liability cover is provided to members in the event of them being involved in an accident on the course, but this is limited to incidents here at Lewes Golf Club or when representing the club elsewhere. If you do not have other cover, it may be worth considering a specific golfers’ policy. Leaflets are available in the hallway – LGC does not endorse any particular product so you may prefer to consult a reputable insurance broker.

PROSHOP NEWS – Tony Hilton

The golf season is now well and truly underway and I’m looking forward to the warm summer that is forecast. Lewes Golf Club is certainly a wonderful place to work when the sun is shining.

Many of you will have received the first Pro Shop eNewsletter that I launched in April which I hope you found informative. If you can receive emails but are not yet on my circulation list, please send me your email address to proshop@lewesgolfclub.co.uk and I can add you to the mailing list. The newsletter includes features on products stocked in the shop as well as instruction articles and news from the world of golf.

I am currently working on producing a course planner; the course has been measured and I have been very impressed with the initial drawings. If any member is interested in advertising in the planner please contact me.

In the last couple of months I have been doing some teaching in schools and throughout June and July I am going to be teaching year 7 pupils at Chailey School at an afterschool club. Hopefully we can introduce some youngsters to the game.

As a lot of you will know, on the 18th of April I got married! Kate and I had a fantastic day and also enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon. Andrew, Mum and my brother Mark did a great job looking after the shop whilst I was away.

Finally I must congratulate Andrew, on his hole in one on the 12th during the Captains Prize Day.

LOCKERS

There are a few lockers available in the mens locker room at an annual cost of £35. Please enquire in the office

ARE YOU REGISTERED ON THE WEBSITE?

If you have access to the internet, but are not yet registered on the LGC website, please sign up.

All notices placed on the board are on the site and competition results are posted as soon as they are processed. You can pick up your bulletins on line, get greens news and will be emailed critical information.

Do not worry – you will not be bombarded with junk email, we do not share your email address with anyone, send only infrequent mails and you can opt out of those if you wish! Join us on line!

www.lewesgolfclub.co.uk May 2009

The views expressed in this Bulletin are those of individual contributors and not necessarily those of Council

NEW LOCAL RULE (early birds be aware!)

Mid Week CompetitionsRule 33-3Rule 33-2 (b)Members entering mid-week competitions may tee off no earlier than 6.45 am.Infringement of this rule will result in disqualification.

AND FINALLY…

Please, please, please can all members ensure that their names are on the booking sheet on the Pro Shop computer before they go out onto the course. The management not only use this information to assess course usage, but it helps with administration, checking up on speed of play issues, and of course, finding someone in the case of an emergency. If you know who you will be playing with when you book your tee time, why not tell the shop then.

SPECIAL OCCASION?

Have you got a special Birthday or Anniversary coming up?Don’t forget, members can hire the clubhouse for their private functions. Full details from the office.