Well I certainly chose a good time to be away as the weather has been awful. As I type this, we are back to 17 holes with the 10th remaining closed. I hope it stays that way for the foreseeable future.
This weekend's competition will be a 4 man team event as published by the Handicap committee not a Texas Scramble as we have carried over the sheet from the competition that was cancelled on the 16th. This is the last Shotgun start of the season so for the next competition we will be reverting back to the sheet coming out on Sunday morning at 8.30am. However with Sunset on 13th February being 5.15, I don't see any problem with fitting everyone in.
The entry sheet for the 2016 Captains Prize is now available in the Professional shop.
I hope you all enjoyed watching the golf last weekend at Abu Dhabi, it was good to see Rory, Jordan and Ricky Fowler the winner playing but like Mark Roe who was commentating at the time, I will not be stocking or wearing Ricky Fowlers high top shoes!!!
New stock is starting to arrive in the shop, see the photo of the new FootJoy and adidas shoe arrivals.
I do have to report after the comments in last week's newsletter.. Alex didn't receive any Razors for his birthday!!! I have kept my piece short this week as Rod has done a piece below to keep you up to date with what's happening on the course.
GREENS UPDATE 25/01/2016
I cannot believe how wet the course has been! It is a most frustrating winter - we cannot proceed with any of the planned work.
Despite record rainfall, we have managed to keep the course open most of the time, even if on a reduced number of holes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members for carrying their clubs wherever possible and for using pull trolleys over the past week or so. I really cannot see things improving very much in the next week.
I know the decision to "impose" a trolley ban has caused some debate about the validity of the decision and indeed challenged by some members. I know that a "motion" was passed some years ago that we could not impose a trolley ban, but the adoption of the new constitution changed all previous decisions, in that each duly elected chairman was empowered to make appropriate decisions in relation to their area of responsibility.
The fifth hole is giving us the most trouble at the moment. The pathway from the greens sheds is very compacted and the whole area is a quagmire. We appear to have a blocked drain from the pond to the right side - we are working to clear it as quickly as possible. There seems to be a knock on from the poor drainage, as the fifth green is the wettest across the whole course. There will be a temporary green in play until we solve the problem.
I have "borrowed" the plastic car park matting from Alisdair Mackay to make a walkway across the worst area on the fifth and this seems to be a success. Please ensure that you use this path for access to the fifth green (when it's back in play) and to the sixth tees. We have also installed some of the matting to the rear of the fourth green.
As soon as the weather permits, we shall complete the work to the tenth hole and continue to clear the area behind the ninth tee and complete the clearance of the trees between the thirteenth tee and fourteenth green. These areas are being cleared for new tees next year.
What about the rest of the course?
Well, we cannot get mowers on the course, other than the greens which we are hand mowing. With the continuing mild weather, the grass is still growing and I know the rough is in desperate need of a cut, but it will have to wait for the time being.
I look forward to improving weather in February!