Aldwickbury Park Newsletter - July 2023

Ian McDowell General Manager

Dear Member,

Having recently enjoyed some time away on annual leave, one thing I wasn’t expecting to find on my return was a green golf course, but what a difference the rain has made! While the wet weather over the past couple of weeks has not been the most enjoyable for golf, the course and flower beds have been grateful for the reprieve and look much better for it (It can get dry and sunny again now though!).

Congratulations Maddie!

Congratulations to our Sales Executive, Maddie Richardson who graduated from Brunel University this week with a BSc Hons in Sociology. Maddie has been working hard to get the last of her work finished off in her spare time since joining the Sales Team earlier in the year.

Renewal Update

Our main renewal period is now complete, and I would like to thank members for their continued support of the club for the upcoming year. Our renewal has been very positive, particularly in view of the rising pressure on cost of living, and we continue into the 23/24 season with a healthy membership base. We still have a limited number of 7-day memberships available (in addition to 5-day and Flexi), so if you know of someone who may be interested in joining us, please encourage them to get in touch.

Patio Furniture

I am pleased to report that following somewhat of a hold up, we are expecting to take delivery of our new patio furniture for the main patio at the start of August, let’s hope the brighter weather returns so that we can enjoy it!

Entering and Exiting the Club

A big thank you must go to Craig and his team for nursing the course through the dry spell so well and reacting quickly to make the most of the rain when it arrived – alongside a big spike in cutting!

Members are reminded to take care driving through the main entrance on Piggottshill Lane when arriving at or leaving the club. When exiting, cars should stop and check in both directions to ensure the road is clear before proceeding on to the lane as cars can be passing from the right too.

Please also ensure that you observe the 15mph speed limit throughout the site and adhere to directional signage and junctions around the carpark.

Specials Board

Senior Head Chef, Peter Knight has been at the club for just over two months now and it’s been great to hear so much positive feedback about the quality and consistency of food being produced both from the lunch menu and the numerous member events over the past weeks. Following discussions and feedback from members, Peter and the team have been working hard to offer a variety of lower cost food options for members to enjoy through our specials board – please remember to check what’s available when you are at the club as it is changing daily!

Men’s Changing Room

Closed – Monday 31st July pm until Tuesday 1st August pm

Pleased be aware that the men’s changing room will be closed from 6pm on Monday 31st July until 6pm on Tuesday 1st August to accommodate players taking part in our Ladies Open. Members wishing to remove essential items should do so before 6pm on Monday 31st.

Checking in and Cancellation of Tee Times

We are still finding a few members out on the course who have not checked in prior to play, some who had also assumed that it was acceptable to pay a guest fee following the round - this is obviously not the case and will result in sanctions. Please remember that you are required to check in at the Pro Shop prior to every round, irrespective of the time of day or how busy the course is. It is also the member’s responsibility to ensure that any guests joining them have paid prior to play and guests should retain their receipt during the round.

Please also remember to cancel any unwanted tee times as soon as you can, particularly at peak times – it is so frustrating when valuable slots are wasted that could have been enjoyed by other members.

Please Share Your Stories and Photos!

This summer we are encouraging members to share photos and stories relating to your life at the club which we can share via the newsletter and social media – hole in ones, significant birthdays and personal best scores can all be celebrated! To help, we have created a business WhatsApp account which you can use to send us your pictures or stories – please use the following link to connect: https://wa.me/message/ RKSQB7MSCIL5B1

We look forward to seeing your photos!

Ian McDowell General Manager

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE

Steve

Pick Club Captain

A Message From The Captain

Last time I wrote to you all we seemed to still be in the throws of winter. Well that picture has certainly changed and whilst the dry and warm weather was great for golfing, I did see a worried Craig looking up hopefully at the clouds wishing for rain at various points. I have to say I think the course held up very well in the weather, certainly compared to others I saw.

Next we had the Aldwickbury Masters which is one of the most interesting competitions of the year. This is a medal over 18 holes followed by a three hole scratch play-off amongst the winners of four handicap groups. It was brilliant to have an audience of 40 or so people watching the play-off between Max Warren, Kris Smith, Corin Superfine and Ed Wilkinson this year. In a tremendously exciting finish, the highest handicap in the final (Ed) came through on top winning the coveted Masters Jumper. Well done Ed!

Dear Redbourn

Member, Giatinum nobitae eici officipicit ventur, conesequat quatur, quodist ruptat. Ecte verest qui necation natem cori sament officid quiatem facidusam ducid mi, odis eatus autas doluptae exeratium fugia dunt quam vellandit ipis con peligendel etur, odisciis doluptur, eum dolum repra am faccus expel iunt.

It’s been great to see a number of new members up at the club and I know a few of you have been getting involved with club competitions and the swindles. As ever, if you have any questions about these please do give me a shout.

On to competition results and as ever, this is busy period of the year with lots of different competitions going on.

On the late May Bank Holiday we had the mixed Jubilee Cup competition which our Vice Captain, Carl Lawson kindly hosted whilst I was away. It was a great day for the ladies occupying three of the top four places with Caroline Leith winning on the day.

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Let’s kick off with the Combination Cup. A pairs event consisting of three different types of scoring. Always a hotly contested competition and won admirably this year by James Hillman and Mark Quigley.

Continued on the next page

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE

On June 10th we had another mixed competition with a huge field of over 100 ladies and gents contesting the Swindle Challenge. This was a great day kindly organised by Steve Lee with not only the main prize available for the winning Swindle, but also plenty of nearest the pins, front nine/ back nine prizes and even mystery wins for those who didn’t manage to scoop anything with their actual golf. On the day, the Wednesday New Members Swindle came out on top narrowly pipping the Ladies –well done to all.

fantastic couple of rounds of nett 70 and nett 71 to win by three shots.

A huge well done to both of you.

Dear Redbourn

Member,

Moving to perhaps my biggest day of the year on 17th June, we had the Charity Cup. Our biggest fundraiser for this year’s charity – The Hospice of St Francis. A huge thanks from me to everyone who took part in the day. I’m delighted that we raised over £6,000 in total thanks in large part to all those who bought raffle tickets and bidded on the auction items. It was a fantastic day and the overall winner was Mark Upton – topping the six people who scored 40 points or more in total. Well done Mark.

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The hotly contested Gents Canadian Scramble was next in the diary on Sunday 25th June and was won in quite some style by Ally Hill, Jimmy Hill, Vito Saponaro and Dan Thurlby with a nett 52 score overall.

And finally…

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And finally, perhaps the most prestigious competition of the year for the gents came up on the 1st and 2nd July. This was the first time in a few years that we’ve played the Club Championship and Championship Plate over two days and feedback on the approach seemed to be very positive. 36 holes of medal play in the July sun (albeit with a little wind) was always going to be a test but massive congratulations to our winners on the day:

There are still plenty of competitions taking place over the summer months so please keep an eye on the notice boards and via the PSI / HDID for upcoming events.

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Matt Brown won the Club Championship overall by one shot from Mike Van Wyk. It all went down to the 36th hole with Matt’s ball staying in bounds on the 18th by a matter of inches helping him retain the title.

And in the handicap competition – The Championship Plate, David Lodge played a

And please also do continue to take care of the course. The greens have been firm recently but with the rain, they are softening off and it’s as important as ever to continue to repair pitch marks. Damaged and left unrepaired, pitch marks can take months to recover so even if you see one on the green that you didn’t cause, taking 10 seconds to repair it ensures our course remains in great condition for the rest of the year.

Steve Pick Club Captain

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE

Mick Beaufoy Aldwicks’ Captain

A Message from the Aldwick’s Captain

Hi again,

Honours Board Competition Results:

27th April - The Medal Winner’s Trophy 2023 - a competition for the winners of the Aldwicks Summer Medals and Winter Stableford Competitions in 2022. Robin Edwards was third, Lee Edwards was the runner-up and the Winner was Pete Laurence.

Dear Redbourn

We are now deep into our busy friendly match season and we have one or two matches every week. Since the last newsletter we have played eight more matches. Three were at home - we won two and drew one - and five were away matches, of which we won one at Whipsnade Park GC, drew another, and lost three. It is always more difficult to win away but the quality and speed of our greens always give us an advantage at home (thanks to Craig and the team). So overall we have a win ration of 54.2% in 2023 – please keep it up.

Member, Giatinum nobitae eici officipicit ventur, conesequat quatur, quodist ruptat. Ecte verest qui necation natem cori sament officid quiatem facidusam ducid mi, odis eatus autas doluptae exeratium fugia dunt quam vellandit ipis con peligendel etur, odisciis doluptur, eum dolum repra am faccus expel iunt.

I have to mention the away match against Chesfield Downs which we were unlucky to lose 2.5 to 3.5. During the match, Alistair Holt-Thomas achieved a remarkable holein-one on their hardest par three, the 12th. Alistair bought several bottles of wine to enjoy with the meal. Well done.

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We have had 49 different players turn out for the club so far but we have had a few matches where we have struggled to achieve a full team ,so it would be great if a few new Aldwicks could sign up for some fixtures on Howdidido and take the pressure off the “regulars”.

Both Lee and Pete had the same gross score of 82 but Pete had the best net score of 72. Well done to you all.

4th May - The Gentlemen’s & Ladies’ Senior Club Championships. Organiser Brian Hanksthanks.

Firstly, the Ladies Results:

The Winner of the Ladies’ Championship, with a gross score of 85, was Linda Reeve, The Runner-up Chris Marsden with 87, narrowly beating Elaine Meaguer on countback.

The Winner of the best net score was Chris Marsden with 77.

And the Men’s Results were:

The Winner of the Mens’ Championship was Dave Clouting with a gross 82.

Graham Payne was second with a gross 83 and Pete Laurence pipped Lee Edwards for third place (on countback) with 84.

The winner of the best net score was Robert Harper with 70.

22nd June – The Peter Ashe Pairs: A random pairs competition named for our first Senior’s Captain.

The Winners were Robin Edwards and Tom Walters (with 44 points). Narrowly beating Peter Holman and Annie Kirkham (on countback).

My congratulations to the winners - who are both already multiple winners of this trophy.

My thanks also to Bob Bright for the picture of myself and the winners (on the next page).

Continued on the next page

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE

The winner of Division 2 individual competition was: Peter Tonathy with 43 points. And the runner-up was Andy Wyatt with 42 points. John Cowie was 3rd on countback.

Other Significant Competition Results:

9th May – Ladies vs Aldwicks’ Men Pairs Competition:

6th June – Captain’s Away Day at Dunstable Downs: Another tremendous day with excellent weather and tremendous camaraderie at the excellent meal in the clubhouse afterwards. The winners of the Team Competition (on countback) were: Robin Edwards (again), Helen Greensmith and Keith Sheffield with 76. The runners-up (also with 76 were: Axel Flaig, Kate Bull and Mick Beaufoy.

Dear Redbourn

My sincere congratulations to the Ladies on a comfortable win (7.5 to 2.5). Well played Ladies. I expect Ladies newsletter entry will include a picture of the winning team.

Member,

Pete Laurance won the Individual competition on countback from Annette Bugaighis. Keith Greatbanks completed the podium (on C/Back).

13th June – June Monthly Medal

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16th May – May Monthly Medal and Trial Stableford competition

23rd May – Captains’ Day, I had a great day - the weather couldn’t have been better, the course was apparently lightning fast and the post competition meal was the best that I have had at the club for some considerable time. I was delighted to raise £552 for our charity from the sale of Mulligans and the Halfway House. My thanks to Sue Hattam for helping me out at the half way house. The Team winners were: Mike Howell, John Russell, Ray Crawley and Jon Clapham (143 points).

The winner of Division 1 was Robin Edwards (with 67) beating Alistair Holt-Thomas on countback. The winner of Division 2 was Michael Crofts (with 66) and the runner up was Andy Wyatt (on C/ Back).

Upcoming Events and Competitions

Up-coming Events and Competitions:

4th July – Aldwicks Memorial Trophy (over 75s) –organiser Brian Hanks.

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The runners up were: Sid Sinclair, Stuart Insall, John Cullen and Eleanor Brooks (138 points).

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The winner of Division 1 individual competition was: Robin Edwards with 41 points. And the runner-up was David Phillips with 40 points. Gill Lee was 3rd with 39 points.

6th July – Aldwicks v South Beds Home –organiser Jon Clapham.

13th July – Aldwicks v Whitehills Home –organiser Trevor Pyne.

25th July – July Monthly Medal – organiser Ray Crawley.

27th July – Aldwicks v Hartsbourne Away –organiser Robin Edwards.

3rd August – Aldwicks v Whitehills Away –organiser Trevor Pyne.

9th August – Aldwicks v The Shire Away –organiser Eric Wyllie.

17th August - Aldwicks v Aldenham Home –organiser Peter Timms.

22nd August - Aldwicks v Panshanger Home –Organiser Mick Beaufoy.

Continued on the next page

GOLF UPDATE

24th August – August Monthly Medal –organiser Pat O’Higgins.

29th August – Mick Railles Pairs – organiser Andy Wyatt.

31st August - Aldwicks v The Shire Homeorganiser Eric Wyllie.

So there are plenty of events to join in with - please check your diaries and sign-up on Howdidido/PSI if you possibly can.

OK – that’s it for another two months – there is no doubt that summer is here so make sure you take plenty to drink on the hottest days.

Dear Redbourn

Cheers

Member,

Mick Beaufoy

Aldwicks’ Captain 2023

Ladies Report

The early summer period has seen a number of fantastic Ladies results, not only in competitions, but also in team and county events. It’s fantastic when all the talent, team spirit and hard work come together.

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Well done to everyone who had a hand (or club) in the following events:

Trophy Winners:

Rose Bowl – Leah Fitzgerald with 35 points

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Mixed Jubilee Trophy – Caroline Leith with 40 points, three of the top four players were ladies!

Summer Cup – Janet Ball with a score of +3 in this BogeyPar competition

Swan Trophy – Helen Greensmith, Gill Lee and Janet Ball

GOLF UPDATE

Swindle Challenge

Our ladies put up a fantastic fight and were just pipped at the post by one of the Mens swindles, but well done to everyone who played.

Race to Woodhall Spa

Margaret Chury represented our Ladies at the Eastern Region event of this competition, having won the club foursomes event.

Ladies Pairs vs Aldwicks Gents

The Ladies regained the trophy shield this year with a resounding 7.5:2.5 win over the Gents.

Herts Ladies Inter-club Foursomes

22 teams (88 players) from across the county turned up at Moor Park on Monday 12 June to play in this prestigious foursomes team and pairs event – only for it to be abandoned halfway through the afternoon because of lightning strikes. Let’s hope for better weather next year. The afternoon tea and cakes were lovely though.

Kate Bull

On behalf of the Ladies Section

Dear Redbourn

Ladies Scratch A Team – Division 1

Pro TipNatural Speed

Our A Team have got off to the best possible start with a 5–0 win against Moor Park, followed by another 5-0 win against South Herts. Both matches were at home, so the hard work begins now with the start of away fixtures.

Member,

Ladies Scratch B Team – Division 4

Our B Team also got their season underway with a solid start of one draw and a win.

Ladies Annodata Matchplay Team Knockout

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An excellent win away at The Melbourne got this national team matchplay competition off to a great start with our five ladies giving 10 to 15 shots to the home hosts. This was followed by another win at home to Redbourn and the team is now looking forward to its third-round home match against The Bedfordshire.

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Herts County Mixed Greensomes Knockout

I was reminded recently, whilst pushing my five year old niece on a playground swing, of the natural role gravity plays in the action of swinging. All I needed, to delight my niece, was to pull the swing back and let go. I think it would be a great idea to swing your club in much the same way. From the top of your backswing simply let gravity take over. You don’t need to add any extra effort to get the club to come down, when you do it’s likely to throw your timing off and ruin your swing path. So, let go of all the tension and allow the speed and power to build gradually. Learn to use the natural force of gravity and experience the wonderful feeling of effortless power.

I know this will help. Enjoy your games.

Steve Barker PGA Professional

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Mixed fortunes in this event with the county winners from last year (Elaine Meagher and Pete Laurence) going out to a very strong pairing away at Mid Herts in the first round. Our other pair, Leah Fitzgerald and Ed Wilkinson had a great result playing at Knebworth and now face Verulam at APGC in the next round.

GOLF UPDATE

Special Offers:

COURSE UPDATE

Craig Betts Course Manager

Dear Members,

We have been hand watering hot spots pretty much everyday since the middle of May as we are losing anything between 4 to 6mm of evaporation daily. So even with the irrigation system running programmes at night, and hand watering in the day we are at a loss most days.

Dear Redbourn

We are definitely in the thick of the playing season now with surfaces getting firmer and faster. This is making for a very good test of golf and some very good scoring from the recent competitions.

Before the recent wet spell, we were at over 50 days without any significant rainfall on the course after the 45.5mm of rain on the 10th May which caused the huge wash outs to the bunkers. While there was often some rain about on forecasts, they always seemed to miss us which was frustrating with the irrigation system working overtime to deal with the temperatures.

Member, Giatinum nobitae eici officipicit ventur, conesequat quatur, quodist ruptat. Ecte verest qui necation natem cori sament officid quiatem facidusam ducid mi, odis eatus autas doluptae exeratium fugia dunt quam vellandit ipis con peligendel etur, odisciis doluptur, eum dolum repra am faccus expel iunt.

Recent strong north easterly winds have also been making life harder, cutting through the golf course and disrupting the irrigation coverage with heads struggling to hit through the wind. This has meant that we have had to spend time hand watering and overseeding a number of areas that began to struggle.

Greens

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We have managed to get back into our monthly routine with our aeration Programme. We have managed to go with an 8mm tine at about 4.5 inches to help us with getting water into the rootzone. This also allow us to relieve some of the compaction with the high volume of traffic and get oxygen into profile.

Even with the greens as firm as they are at the moment there are still far too many pitch marks being left unrepaired. Green staff repair as many as possible but it is down to the member/individual to repair their pitch mark. Please look around the green when waiting for playing partners and see if there are any that can be done on the greens.

Continued on the next page

COURSE UPDATE

Course

We have been able to put some focus on various areas around the course, with more strimming working and divoting. We have also been tidying up the driveway with mulching around the bases and raising the canopies.

We have tidied the avenue of trees to the left of the 10th, and the hedges on the 12th and 13th have had their yearly trim.

The Team

Dear Redbourn

Member,

At the time of writing, we have had a substantial amount of rainfall, we have timed these well with getting granular feeds on all playing surfaces, and applying wetting agents to give us the best chance of recovery before we head into the cold winter months.

Bunkers

After the huge storm we suffered at the start of May all the bunkers were left in a bad Way. A massive thank you to my team for getting the bunkers back in play in two days following the storm. Since the storm there has been a noticeable drop in raking of bunkers and far too many footprints left unraked.

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Bitatur, sinctin nobist modiatio blaboritat estia quo voluptatur aperfer fercia pos ut optaquid quas ipsaniet dolorep erspelistiis reptio occatibuscil int qui omnimendit, occum sendelendi se rem as as vendele ctotas doluptatis volore est, sunt illaboreri officae invende sequid quia quidero quat. Aquibus, ipid ex exerum verumqu iaestio rporro

When entering the bunker go into the bunker from the lowest point with your club and rake, play your shot and exit from the same point. I’ve seen and spoken to a few members who walk from the highest point as this is the shortest route in, but this is then loosening up the sand that’s compacted and causes inconsistency in sand levels throughout the bunker.

On a positive note, I’d like you to give a huge welcome to our new Deputy Course Manager, Mike Smith, when you see him out on the course; Mike has joined the Green staff here from Moor Park having previously worked at a number of great courses, Mid Herts, Knebworth and Wentworth.

See you all at the club very soon.

Craig Betts Course Manager