A warm welcome to the newsletter (under new editorship), especially to our new members with best wishes for the golfing year ahead.
There is much going on as new committee members get used to their roles and responsibilities. While we endeavour to achieve a seamless transition, your patience and support is greatly appreciated during this period.
Apologies for the oversized newsletter this month and I promise future editions will be easier to digest!
We're moving to a predominantly automated system whereby booking, sign-in and score entry all take place in Master Scoreboard.
The intention is to ease the workload of competition organisers (otherwise known as your Captains & Vice-Captains). In order for this to work effectively, we need to play our part as members by taking responsibility for entering scores in a timely manner.
If you can spare 4 hours complete 18 holes of golf, please don't make trite excuses for not taking an additional couple of minutes to enter your score.
Here is a list of other things to remember regarding competition play:
Please ensure your competition purse is in sufficient funds. Most competitions are £3 per player so your purse should never be less on the day you intend to play the competition. Your purse is clearly visible in Master Scoreboard.
When topping up your competition purse, please ONLY TOP UP BY £36 as this enables John Ash allocate the money to the correct place. Failure to comply could result in you not having sufficient funds and you will probably be disqualified. Also, please top-up in good time as there is administration involved in allocating funds from the bank account to Master Scoreboard.
Our default position is to follow the COURSE when it comes to defining course conditions and stipulating preferred lies for our competitions, unless specifically stated otherwise.
Know your handicap...please follow these 3 steps:
Handicap INDEX (on Master Scoreboard)
COURSE handicap (from the Board in the clubhouse - white, yellow, blue, red or purple tees)
Thanks to Lars for sharing this article that you may find interesting, especially if you've been querying the logic of the 95% handicap allowance for singles stroke play format games. No doubt it will divide opinion.
Whilst Covid restrictions limit what we can do socially, we are determined to still have a fun day out, welcome our captains and raise some money for charity along the way. We have additional tee times to cope with the anticipated high demand and will be playing a Texas scramble, always a popular format.
The entry fee is £10, there are prizes galore and we will be raising money for our chosen charity (to be confirmed).
So, sign up on Master Scoreboard https://www.masterscoreboard.co.uk/bookings1/index.php?CWID=3266 and we look forward to seeing you there!
Lockdown restricted our ability to suitably crown our various winners but we have thankfully managed to deliver all trophies to their rightful owners. Congratulations one and all!
Shaun Bausor & Ellen Soe - Eade Mixed Pairs William Butler (L) - Captains Cup Tim Powlesland - TRUP Cup
Roger Emett - Frank Harvey Supervet Martin Bragg, Roger Emett & Tom Clayton
We're looking to revamp the website and make it a focal point for gathering and sharing important club information and news. This will include a Noticeboard section so you'll have all the essential guidance information for competitions, using Master Scoreboard, WHS etc.
This will hopefully leave more room in the newsletter to share good news stories and celebrate the exploits of our members and showcase various events throughout the year.
Martin Bragg retired from his role as organiser of Thursday Funday.
On March 29th, Mike Green, Steve Pyle and Tim Powlesland performed an informal presentation on the second tee whilst waiting for the green to clear (3 Rabbits ahead of them apparently).
Some photos of this occasion together with the card are attached for your enjoyment.
Congratulations and thanks to Martin for all his hard work and endeavours over the years.
I recently met with Mark Young as part of my immersion into the role of Secretary and the notes below outline the discussion points.
While we all have our opinions on how the course and facility is managed, I'll do my best to act as a liaison between our members and the Council staff. I welcome your your feedback so that this club can thrive as a private entity on a public course.
Record of Meeting: The South Buckinghamshire Golf Course (the Course) & South Bucks Golf Club (the Club)
Friday 16th April 2021, 2.00pm at the Course
Attended by:
·Mark Young: General Manager, the Course and Farnham Park Playing Fields. (MY)
·Rishi Sidhu: Secretary, the Club (RS)
Agenda Item:
Summary & any agreed actions.
Communication Protocol between club and management team.
Chris Margetts (Operations Manager) remains the main point of contact for all golf matters. MY can be contacted for any other club business.
Once the Club resumes face to face Committee meetings, it should advise the nature of input required from MY.
Action: RS.
Complaints and escalation.
Any matters unresolved with MY that require escalation can be raised to his line manager Sophie Payne (Service Director, Culture, Sport and Leisure) and her boss is Richard Barker (Corporate Director, Communities). RS Comment: This should be done in a transparent manner and demonstrate that all reasonable communication avenues have been exhausted with MY.
Club block bookings, Competition play, member usage.
MY will review 10-minute tee-times by 1st May with a view to implementing changes in line with next easing of Covid restrictions on 17th May.
SB Saturday block booking timings to be reviewed (RS requested to move these forward so the last time is no later than 10.00am) within same timeline as above.
Club matches (outside of block booked times).
MY will honour member rates for SB opponents and would like to be advised dates/times of such events once known. Action: John Eade.
Covid-19 update – including change to 8-minute gaps.
To be reviewed by 1st May with possible implementation by 17th May. (MY)
Course Maintenance and committee involvement.
MY invited feedback on course condition and suggested improvements. He noted that Farnham Park have done this, but he is yet to receive any feedback from the Club.
Bar and Catering – Menu, Member discounts, club matches/events, new Head Chef.
Appointment of new Head Chef will lead to a review of menus – the Club has once gain been invited to provide suggestions based on demand from our members. Member discounts won’t be reinstated for the foreseeable future.
1 May 2021 – New prices, Season Tickets, Flexi Points.
To be announced in the coming week but likely to see a £1-2 increase in green fees across the board for members with a £3 benefit v public Pay & Play prices.
8-month season-ticket to be introduced from beginning of May which could be extended from January 2022 if there are no further lockdowns.
2022-23 Season - Pricing, Golf Card, club numbers, block bookings.
MY wants to introduce the Golf Card and limit the number of overall members (SB, FP, and Golf Card holders) to facilitate additional tee-times to be booked by the public.
MY would like to know how many Club members actively participate in club competitions that take place during block bookings.
Staff update.
A casual worker (Wendy) has been recruited to assist in the pro-shop. In addition, there may be casual bar-staff taken on once lockdown restrictions are lifted and there is increased demand.
Bucks Council update.
MY advised that Buckinghamshire Council is enthusiastic about supporting leisure facilities in the area including the golf course and the Course will benefit from procuring shared resources e.g., machinery and contractors by virtue of being part of a larger organisation.
AOB
Club logo & branding
MY advised that the Club should be using an updated version of the logo and RS requested a high-resolution format of the original so that the Club branding can be uniformly updated.
