Member News
General Manager Report Stephen Norton
The year seems to be whizzing by at such a rate. As we approach the half way point in the year I reflect back on what a busy period we have had so far. The golf course had a tough Autumn and the team worked incredibly hard during the Winter to turn it around. Whilst we still have so much we want to do and improve, I am incredibly proud of the team and the conditions they are producing this season so far. In April inflation was at 9% with significant increases seen in utilities, food costs, fuel and wages. This National outlook is something we cannot escape and with inflation predicted to reach double figures in the coming months, it is something that is likely to get tougher before it gets better. As a company committed to our sustainability, we are exploring how we can combat some of this burden with energy efficiencies, exploring new technologies and exploring investments we can make to help. Knowing the pressure all our members and customers are feeling at home, we carry out regular market reviews to ensure that we remain competitive within our pricing.
On Tuesday 7th June, I had the pleasure of inviting Club Captain, Duncan Anderson, to join me at the GCMA South East Guest Day at Sittingbourne and Milton Regis Golf Club. The club was a fantastic host and the golf course was in fantastic condition. The GCMA is the Golf Club Managers Association and it brings together Managers and Secretaries from all sorts of clubs, to network and build relationships. Whilst it is a huge help and support to be part of a group like Burhill, it is also nice to talk to Managers outside the group to collaborate and understand the issues they are facing and how they overcome them.
I am afraid that my lack of practice soon showed as I failed to offer my partner too much support in the Betterball format. It was great to spend time with Duncan and get to know him a little better and it was nice to play with the winners of the day Manager Matt Hart and his captain Mark from Hythe Golf Club. They amassed a very impressive score of 45 points.
It is worth noting - I may have won the "Longest Drive" having took a wrong turn, I proceeded to spend almost an hour in a traffic jam. All in all, the journey that should have been just over 30 minutes, took around 90 minutes. Thank you to Duncan for his company and apologies for the lack of support on the day.
Membership Renewals Membership renewal requests have recently been sent out and I would like to remind anyone who pays in full to renew their membership in advance of the renewal date to ensure continuity of membership and booking access. If anyone has any queries or wishes to discuss their membership with us, please contact Kerryn in the office via the button below:
Contact us about your renewal
Course Manager Report Neil Crittenden,
I think May forgot that it was May and turned back into April. We have been getting a lot of heavy showers right they way through the month. This has been a great bonus in aiding the all the hard work the Greenstaff have been putting in to getting the course back to where it should be. The Greens are healthy, have been playing and looking great and are in good shape, height of cut has been reduced and the summer program of works is in full flow. May is normally a great month in our world; the sun is bright and shining high in the sky, the threat of frost is all but gone and the course is beginning to come into its own. But while May is one of my favourite months, there is a downside during this time that I must deal with every season, Poa (Annual Meadow Grass) seed heads. As you would have noticed when on the Greens, they get a whitish sheen to them, and they might not be as smooth as they should be, this is down to Poa seeding. All plants, including grasses, sprout a flower and attempt to produce a seed, it just so happens there is a particular grass plant that can survive at heights of down to 3mm and produce copious amounts of seeds on Golf Green commonly known as Annual Meadow Grass, otherwise known as Poa Annua or simply Poa, it can be a pest on Golf Greens, but you will find it on all inland golf courses in the UK. While there are many negative effects to having Poa Annua in a Green, none are more annoying than the massive amounts of seed heads the plant can produce, creating a bumpy and uneven surface and giving the greens a white sheen in appearance. To manage this, we need to understand Poa’s life cycle. Poa Annua is a winter annual, meaning it survives the winter as a mature plant and produces seed in the spring; if the temperatures become too hot during the summer months the plant will die (although not common in the UK), the seed that was produced earlier in the season germinates in late summer to start the whole process over again. Though listed as a winter annual many strains of Poa Annua, like the ones here in the UK act much more like a perennial, surviving year after year. We use a variety of methods to smooth the putting surface, mowing, rolling, brushing, and grooming, are all important components to help control the seed, also the use of chemicals maybe needed. Applying a growth regulator at the proper time helps keep Poa Annua from producing seed, thus keeping greens smooth and helping to conserve the plants energy for the summer stress ahead but this can only limit the amount and not control them 100%. Come the end of May the Greens will start to return to being how they should be as seed productivity comes to an end.
The renovation work that we carried out on the tees and the divoting program that we have in place is really coming into its own now, we have upped our feeding regime to aid recovery from the intense play and think they are looking and playing great and will only get better the more we continue to work on them.
Hopefully you would have noticed the Pathways on the 14th and 18th have been completely refurbished, we are trialling tarmac chippings as a finished surface as when rolled and compacted the chippings bind together better than other aggregates. If they do bind together as much as we hope, we will be then replicating them on all pathways. This will also provide a far less "slippy" surface than tarmac for when we move to some of the paths with more slope involved. These will start to look a lot better still when the grass grows around them again.
The Practice/warmup Nets are coming along nicely and when complete will be a great asset to have for you before the start of your game. With all the things that we do hear we always try and get the best products and upgrade as much as possible giving you the best possible experience. As you can see by the photo the Netting enclosure is of the best quality ensuring it will last and look good for years to come. The whole area around the Practice net site will be landscaped and finished off with hedging and shrubbery. Hope your all enjoying your golf and if you are please leave us some great feedback we really appreciate it and keeps our spirits high
An update from Club Captain - Duncan Anderson I would like to thank the 76 members that attended the jubilee day and thank them all for coming together to support the captains charities. We had a great day celebrating the queen’s remarkable achievement and playing the sport we love. The day was won by Patsy Carey with a impressive 43 points. We also managed to make £787 pounds for the charities. We have lots of golf to look forward to in June and July. The popular Gibson Cup the Professional cup and the Captains cup and Lady captains cup. We look forward to seeing you all down the club. Thanks very much everyone who helped out organising the golf
An update from Head PGA Professional Stephen Lee
Members Jubilee Charity Day I’d like to thank the Club Captain Duncan Anderson for inviting me to play in the recent Jubilee Charity Golf Day which took place on Thursday 2nd June. It was really good to be out on the course playing again after such a long time and to be in the bar afterwards interacting with the members. This is something I’ll certainly try to make a regular occurrence moving forward. My playing partners for the day Patsy, Steve and Phillip were a pleasure to play with and congratulations to Patsy on winning the event. I hope that lots of money was raised for the Captains Charity the Freddie Farmer Foundation.
Tee Times You all may have noticed that getting the popular tee time slots has become more difficult since we have come out of the lockdowns. This is largely down to the volume of golf our membership base are now playing. We are combating this is in many ways which have been previously communicated in these newsletters. One new strategy we have recently implemented is to encourage the members to cancel any tee times that they book and then don’t use so that other members could use the vacant slot. Some of you may have realised already that if a tee time doesn’t get used, I have been e-mailing the member that booked the time reminding them of the importance of cancelling. Did you know that since 22/01/22 when we started this policy 142 tee times have been booked by members and then subsequently not been used. To make it easier to cancel we have changed the app so that it now allows you to cancel up to 2 hours before your booked tee time. Within 2 hours of your time, we request that you call the club to cancel. I am confident that this will go some way to easing the issues around getting the popular tee time slots.
An update from Food & Beverage Manager Jaspal Singh
I hope everyone had a lovely weekend of celebrations for the Queens Platinum Jubilee. We enjoyed seeing lots of familiar and new faces, both in the main bar and driving range. The F&B team are very pleased that their most recent event for Father’s Day sold out and are looking forward to their next event, Jazz on the Terrace on 8th July 2022. Book now with our sales team to avoid disappointment! The change back to bar service in the main restaurant is working well and facilitating a faster service for customers, please remember to take a note of your table number when coming up to order. The Driving Range is excited for their new offers of ‘Group Packages’, perfect larger groups for birthdays, work parties etc. Check out more details in the ‘group golf’ section of our website and keep an eye on our website for up coming events and special occasions during the summer months.
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on the terracE AT BIRCHWOOD PARK
FRIDAY 8TH JULY BBQ & LIVE JAZZ BAND £32.00 PER ADULT
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