Abbey Hill - Member's Newsletter (Sept - Oct)

AN UPDATE FROM...

Russell Heady General Manager

Hello all, Welcome to the September 2023 edition of our newsletter. Newsletters are sent out every two months to keep you updated on everything Abbey Hill Golf Centre. You still have the November edition to arrive later this year.

I returned to work a few days ago from two weeks in Florida. It was a lovely family break, but I did start to miss Abbey Hill and golf. Our rental villa did back onto a golf course, but I resisted the temptation to take my clubs and instead spent family time at the Disney and Universal theme and water parks. The weather in Orlando was super-hot with most days around 35 degrees. Checking the weather back in the UK it seems you’ve had an indifferent summer of weather. Not very hot and quite a lot of showers, unfortunately. Certainly not the six weeks of hot drought weather of last summer.

On my return having had a walk around the golf course, I am really pleased with the condition. The fairways are good, and the greens continue to be excellent. Credit to the greenkeeping team for their ongoing excellent job this year. I know it has been said most years recently, but I certainly believe that the course has been in its best condition in 2023. An outstanding achievement considering it has been difficult for greenkeepers with the strange weather trends. It would now be nice to have a few weeks of dry hot weather to finish the summer as we move into the autumn.

We had the Club Championships on the weekend of 29th and 30th July, earlier in the year than previous championships. This worked well for us to prepare the course in tip-top condition. Both days saw some wind and there was a downpour towards the later stages of the second round so not easy conditions. There were some good scores nonetheless and congratulations to Demi and Mike, this year’s ladies’ and men’s

champions.

I met our local MP, Iain Stewart at Abbey Hill on 7th July. It was a great opportunity to show him our clubhouse refurbishments so far and talk through our future plans for the full refurbishment of our driving range including TrackMan technology in each bay, new drainage for all the main course bunkers, and a new reservoir to keep us selfsufficient for water.

It was great in July to have so many members and their families take up our offer of free pirate adventure golf. Hopefully you had fun and this helped with your putting! We are adding extra value to your membership this year where we can by offering free extras. Look out for free footgolf in September and bring a friend for a free round in November!

This newsletter features a course update from Ross, a pro’s tip from John, some excellent value pro shop offers, an update on reciprocal golf, a fantastic free footgolf member offer, a sustainability update, our new shoe wash area, club champions pictures, news on Sam’s experience at The Open, and a link to our brochure for our fantastic Christmas events. Enjoy!

Best regards and see you around the centre.

Russell

COURSE UPDATE

Ross Course Manager

Hello and welcome to my fifth newsletter of 2023 as we approach the end of summer and the beginning of the autumn season.

After the dry and windy June, my prediction from the beginning of the year, that we would experience an unsettled summer of weather has come true. July turned out to be a rather unsettled month with frequent heavy rain, culminating in what transpired to be, nationally the second wettest July on record. Here at Abbey Hill, it was a slightly different story though. However, nevertheless it was still our sixth wettest July with just over 75 mm for the month. It was also our second wettest month of 2023. A positive from the July weather though, did mean that unlike in previous years, we did have a fresh, green-looking course for the weekend of the club championships, and we were able to get the course sparkling for that event.

photosynthesis which is the energy source for plants and the production of chlorophyll (green colour) This along with the high humidity has increased the pressure on plant disease formation. Up and down the country turf managers have been fighting against many turf diseases, some of which, up until a few years ago were seldom seen in the UK. We have not been immune to it ourselves and in recent weeks have seen signs of the disease Anthracnose affecting our sward on the greens. This disease has become as common as Fusarium in recent years due to the demand that is placed on the grass plant, plus the weather patterns we experience.

Most turf diseases in the UK affects a certain type of grass plant, Poa Annua. It’s considered a weed grass, however, the reality is many courses in the UK are predominately formed from Poa swards. This doesn’t mean that decent surfaces cannot be produced though with this type of grass plant, however, the aim is to reduce the amount of Poa in the sward due mainly to its susceptibility to many turf diseases and try to encourage the grasses that are less prone to disease as well as those that are more durable, drought resistant and have a fine leaf blade. In recent years we have been on a programme of overseeding our surface three times a year and have been trying to introduce these more desirable grass species (Agrostis) - a programme we carried out in early August and will do so again in mid-September.

We are also due to verti-drain, micro core and sand dress the greens again during September as we start to prepare the greens ready for autumn/winter. I have mentioned before that we do understand it can be frustrating when, as golfers, you see what seems like the green staff continually doing work on the greens. It is really essential that the work is carried out to give us the best chance of producing decent putting surfaces throughout the year.

Other events happening during September will also include a site tree survey carried out by external arboriculturists. This is carried out every five years in accordance with the management of the site to ensure the safety of all golfers and staff out on the course. The visit will provide us will a detailed report on the condition of our trees on site and of any remedial work that will need to be carried out.

Into August and what has been a challenging month weather-wise, due to a couple of reasons. Yes, we have still had some frequent rainfall events that have kept the course green and kept my rain gauge ticking along nicely (37 mm) but our biggest challenge has been the lack of sunshine to assist in the process of

The long areas of rough will also be cut back in preparation for next year and we will be planning our second phase of bunker works that I will have more details of in my next report.

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The plan is also to continue with our policy of new drainage for the older greens, with the 2nd green being the next on our list to complete, week commencing Monday 9th October.

GOLF UPDATE

John Scheu

Head PGA Pro Pro’s Tip

Simple Course Management Tips - Shoot

Of course, It won’t be long until we begin our annual battle with leaves. We are reasonably well equipped with our out-front rotary mower that can collect and mulch leaves as well as grass, plus two mid-range tractors and rear mounted blowers. Please be patient with us, we seldom have less than two guys on blowing and collecting leaves every day. Unfortunately, this is one of the downsides of having such a great number and variety of tree species meaning that our leaf season is busy and prolonged.

Pitch Marks

Did you know that a pitch mark repaired within five minutes can be completely recovered within 24 hours and a pitch mark left for 10 minutes or longer can take 15 days to recover! Here is a reminder to our wonderful members how to repair any pitch marks out on the course. Not sure how it’s done? Here’s a little visual to help. Image courtesy of @BIGGALTD

As always, I ask you to keep up the good work with repairing pitch marks and encourage your playing partners to do the same.

Lower Scores!

• Preview the course you’re playing, understand conditions and have a plan.

• Know your yardages, GPS, laser, course Planner, don’t guess!

• Have a favourite yardage, off the tee and from 80 yards in.

• Use a club you’re confident with off the tee, keep the ball in play.

• Leave yourself a full shot into the green.

• Don’t be a hero, take your medicine and play back out onto the fairway.

• Avoid short siding yourself around the green, middle of the green works, attacking the pin can be a card wrecker.

• two-putts are enough, practice green speed first, lag putts to the hole, leave an uphill putt.

• Remember the most important shot in golf is the next shot, try to let pervious mistakes go and fully commit to the next one.

• Ensure you have customised golf clubs tailored to your game, your clubs should have clean grooves and decent grips, contact with ball and player are key, play the right golf ball, use a GPS/laser to understand your yardages.

• If you require any additional information on custom fitting, equipment technology, distance products or our regripping service, please speak with a member of the Professional Team today – we’re here to help!

John Scheu PGA Head Professional Abbey Hill GC

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Golf Shop Offers!

PRO SHOP’S CHOICE

Srixon double dozen packs in store available to buy now.

Grab the AD333 for £36.99 & Distance for only £24.99 a box. Amazing value available now whilst stocks last.

Lost Property

To help your fellow golfers please hand any items of lost property in to the golf shop. We keep all golf related lost property in the pro shop for a minimum two weeks, so please let us know if you have lost anything. Common items include club head covers and wedges!

New Shoe Wash Area

We recently installed our new shoe wash area. The area is fully contained and has a drop pit to store and then remove the mud and stop mud spreading across our back patio area. The new compressors also produce more power and so the air jets should be more effective. Safety glasses are also available.

Cobra Fitting Day!

On the look out for a new set of clubs? Then why not come and get fitted by the experts at Cobra. We will be hosting the fitting event on the 15th September between 1.00pm and 5.00pm and the team will be on hand to answer any questions you have.

We have limited slots available, and you can book by heading into the pro shop or calling the team on 01908 562566.

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Buggies

Looking to take the weight off your feet but still get in a game? Why not hire one of our buggies to escort you around the course. Available to book online and in the professional shop today.

Sam at The Open

Our apprentice greenkeeper Sam was selected as one of only two apprentice greenkeepers in the UK to work at The Open Championship. Sam had a fantastic experience, being responsible for the cutting of several of the greens each day of the championship. He even got to play the course at Hoylake, Royal Liverpool on the Monday after the tournament and tells us he broke 100 off the championship tees and parred the controversial new par-3, 17th hole!

NPS Surveys

By way of a brief reminder, you’ll get around five or six online surveys emailed to you each year. We currently have only around a 10% response rate, and at the time of writing the average score for the year is 50, which is very good when compared to other recognised companies and brands. The score is calculated based on your response to the question “Your willingness to recommend Abbey Hill Golf Centre to friends and family”. We do like to read your positive feedback and enjoy it when team members get a personal “shout out”. Please keep the responses coming. Likewise if there is some constructive feedback where you think we can do better we would prefer to know about it. The calculation on how the scoring works is shown in the image below.

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Sustainability Update

Our three new EV charge points are currently being installed at the bottom of the car park. These will enable electric and hybrid vehicle drivers to charge up whilst playing golf and enable more green journeys to and from the golf centre, thus reducing our carbon footprint!

Birchwood Park – Kent

Hoebridge – Woking, Surrey

Redbourn – Redbourn

Ramsdale – Nottingham/Derby

The Shropshire – Telford

Thornbury - Bristol

Wycombe Heights – High Wycome

You can book your round up to Seven days in advance by speaking to the team in our sales office by calling them on 01908 562566 (option 2) You can also take non-member guests at members’ guest rates!

We are proud to announce that all our waste produced at Abbey Hill is now carbon zero! Less than 1% of our waste goes to landfill, we recycle glass, metal, paper, cardboard, plastics and food. Our waste company also invests in tree planting schemes around the UK to offset any carbon emissions from our waste.

Members’ Reciprocal Golf

Don’t forget a fantastic benefit of membership at Abbey Hill is one free round per month at one of the other nine BGL Golf sites around England. The options are:

Aldwickbury Park – Harpenden

Burhill – Surrey

Redbourn is a lovely course, only 40 minutes’ drive from Milton Keynes and well worth a round.

Free Footgolf

Following our successful free Pirate Adventure Golf member offer to you all, which I’m pleased many of you took up, we are now offering all members and your families free Footgolf in September. To get booked in for this amazing free offer, simply drop Russell an email at r.heady@abbeyhillgc.co.uk

(Maximum free group size six people and you as the member must play, only available September 2023)

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We are Hiring!

We are currently recruiting a full-time sales executive to help us sell golf memberships and group golf whilst supporting the excellent sales team sell events like parties and weddings. For more information, please email our sales and events manager Kath: kcloughton@abbeyhillgc. co.uk

Christmas Events

Our Christmas brochure has landed!! It is never too early to secure your festivities with us, so whether you are looking for a party night, festive wreath making, bringing the kids to brunch with Santa or partying the night away on NYE we have you covered.

For more information view our brochure or give us a call on 01908 562566 and one of the team can help.

https://issuu.com/bglbrochures/docs/bgl_christmas_ abbey_aw_foil_uv_2023?fr=sMDk0ZTYxNTUwMTg