MEMBER NEWS
1 May 22 Members’ Newsletter Dear Redbourn Member, Firstly, please don’t laugh at the photo I have taken, I am told I shouldn’t be in any photos, but needs must. What a difference a month makes!! The sun is out the majority of the time now and I have even seen a few members in shorts and skirts; not from the members sections I would have expected, but the only thing we judge here is 4 putting on the 72nd hole at Augusta to win the Masters... With the weather getting better and the grass starting to grow, all be it slowly; the course seems to be recovering well from a very tough spell early March. The 12th & 16th greens have been rope drained, and are still recovering, but we are hopeful that in the next couple of months with proper verti-cutting and rolling that they will be playing the same as the rest. Hopefully as most of you seen the back of the 18th green and glower bed project has started and hopefully the area by the 1st not long after (as you read this, the project may have been finished already). 2022/2023 Renewals I believe most of you should have received my members communication from 24th April regarding the 2022/2023 membership prices. I would like to re-iterate that anybody who has pre-agreed with Steve Brown to have their 2021/2022 membership suspended for any period due to injury, please get in contact if you haven’t already to see if any discount is applicable. Membership is up for renewal on 1st June and we will send out a notification on the Elite App at the start of May to invite you to renewal. Direct debit members do not need to do anything as monthly amounts will be automatically adjusted. A reminder of all yearly benefits to take advantage as Redbourn Members: • • • • • • • • • •
14 days preferential bookings as opposed to 7 days for visitors No societies before 12pm Friday - Sunday No societies before 10:30am Monday-Thursday 50% free on the range on top ups over £50. 1 Monthly game at all our other BGL courses, excluding Burhill. T&Cs apply Additional 2 rounds per month at Aldwickbury park Golf Club 1 complimentary round at Burhill. T&Cs apply 10% off in the bar on all drink & food when using your levy card Discounted rates at Thornbury Golf & Lodge in Bristol Free room hire for events. T&Cs apply
As we are currently at membership capacity, we are keen to make sure that membership is maintained at a sensible level and that members benefits don’t get too diluted in terms of booking availability. Every day we are putting people on a waiting list as we currently don’t have space, so when renewal does go out, we would appreciate a prompt response either way so that we know where we stand in terms of that capacity. Recently I have also been aware of an issue that there are some 5 days members who are unaware that their 5 day membership doesn’t include the short course on weekends. I am afraid that a 5 day membership is only valid Monday-Friday on both courses. I would like to bring this to everyone’s attention before renewals for clarity. If anybody wishes to discuss, then I am more than happy to.
2 Course Manager Update Going into May, we have seen a very dry April, relative to previous years and with low soil temperatures, the grass isn’t growing as quickly or to it’s full potential. This hasn’t helped the bare areas on the course, but we have seeded and fertilised a lot of these. The works left by the irrigation contractors will also be getting repaired shortly, with some seeded and top dressed, and others turfed, including behind 3rdh and 5th green. Over the next couple of weeks, fairways will be fertilised along with tees and approaches alongside selective weed killer, which this year to due wormcasts are a lot worse than previous years. We have learnt from this previous winter/autumn and will make plans well advance so we can keep on top of them next winter. We have just received a new verti-cutting unit, which will allow us to control the organic matter content, helping us to reduce disease on greens as well as help produce a firm and true putting surface to play on. This with little and often top dressing as well as rolling will help get the greens into great shape this summer. All greenside and fairway bunkers will have their lips edges and those with little to no sand will be topped up. We are expecting a 20-tonne load of sand the back end of April that will fill the worst of them, however we are finding it difficult to source proper sand in from our suppliers due to shortages, but we are doing our best to keep on top of it.
Lady Captain Update Welcome to the Ladies Section of Redbourn Golf Club. The weather and the course conditions have improved over the last few weeks so nothing to prevent us from having good fun on the golf course. I am very mindful that there are many of our ladies who have health issues at the moment. To all our ladies who are suffering from ill health, I sincerely wish you a speedy recovery. The golfing season has got off to a great start with many ladies participating in our competitions on Sundays and Wednesdays. Although I do not usually play with the Doves, I often see them after their round on Mondays and it is usually a fantastic turn-out.
We had great fun on Easter Sunday, with nearest the pin, nearest the line and along with stableford qualifying competition there was a number of opportunities to win a chocolate treat. We had a visit from Mr Rabbit and Mr Duck, who sat prominently on the fairways waiting to help measure the nearest the line!
3 Eventually I have managed to catch up with Sue Wilkins who won the Most Improved Golfer Trophy 2021/22 and presented her with a replica trophy to remind her of this fantastic achievement. Congratulations Sue! Our inter-club friendly competitions have started in earnest. We play weekdays and weekends so there is plenty of scope to join in. Our friendly matches are a great opportunity to meet new people and play on new courses. Any one is welcome, regardless of experience. Our recent friendly was with Harpenden Common and we played a proper friendly format! A fourball team game with two ladies from each club followed by afternoon tea. We welcome new volunteers for the following matches:
Friday July 8th – playing at Brickendon Grange in a threeway match between Brickendon, Redbourn and Enfield. Monday July 18th - playing at Chesfield Downs in a threeway match between Chesfield Downs, Knebworth and Redbourn. Thursday August 25th - at Redbourn in a threeway match between Redbourn, Essendon and Whipsnade.
We have some special events coming up!
LADIES v FRIARS - Every year, the Ladies take on the Friars! On Wednesday 18th May, 18 holes of golf is followed by dinner at a cost of £18.50. This is such a great day with lovely people. There is still places if anyone wants to join us. SUMMER KNOCKOUTS - I am just finalising the Summer Knockout competition. A singles and doubles competition that is played throughout the summer months. This is Match Play format played over 18 holes. You can enter the competitions on HDID. Partners can be chosen for the doubles but we can find you a partner if you do not have one. No excuse not to join in as the timescale for completion will be flexible so you still fit it that long awaited summer holiday! New Members -welcome to Julie Coppola who is joining our Ladies Section and is going to play with our Sunday Ladies. You are very welcome Julie!
….and finally! We held a Quiz Night on Saturday 23rd of April in aid of the Captains’ Charity.
I am absolutely thrilled to report that it was a great success! We collected £527.30 for our Charity. My thanks to all those who helped to organise and supported the event..
There is lots of opportunities throughout the year to join in the fun so if you have any queries or questions please email me - shirley.deudon@yahoo .com. You will be guaranteed a warm welcome!
Very Best Wishes Shirley Deudon, Lady Captain 2022.
4 Club Captains Update
Thank you to everyone who came to the quiz night that we held on Saturday 23rd April. It was a great evening and I hope that those of you who came had a lovely time. Our little grey cells were certainly taxed by some of the rounds and well done to the winners. Thank you to Keith for running the quiz for us and for the support we received from Robin and Paula for this event.
Congratulations to Sue Hickman-Jameson and John Barber who won the Romain Trophy on Easter Monday. The weather was glorious, and the standard of golf was high, but no one could match our winners score on the day. Thank you to all of those who took part in this competition.
As a club we have had some friendly mixed matches over the last month. The first was away to Chiltern Forest on Sunday 24th April. Despite trying our best, we were comprehensively beaten on this occasion (7-0), but we look forward to getting our revenge next year. The second was away to Weston Trouville on Friday 29th April. We faired a little better on this occasion losing 4.5 to 2.5. I’m sure home advantage was the key factor in both of these!
June will be a busy month at the Club as we have several events planned.
Queens Jubilee Competition On Friday the 3rd June we are holding a competition to celebrate the Queens Jubilee. Full details can be found on the Posters in the club house and a signup sheet is on the notice board near the PSI machine.
Club Captains Day On Saturday 11th June its Club Captains Day. I am finalising details of this event over the next few days and will be putting up full details soon on the notice board. As I had to postpone my drive in due to poor weather, I will be including this in Captains Day this year.
Eric Russel Team Trophy On The Weekend of 25/26 June it’s the Eric Russell team trophy. This year is the 21st anniversary of this event. It is one the highlights of the clubs year and a major source of funds for the Captains Charity, the Rennie Grove Hospice Care. This year it will be held over the weekend of 25th & 26th June, and will be played in the same format as the Ryder Cup.
The reduction of team sizes last year was very successful; therefore, we are again inviting members to organise and enter teams as follows: Saturday: each team to provide 2 players for Foursomes match & 2 further players for the Fourball match. Fourballs & Foursomes matches will go out at 8.00am. Fourballs from 1st tee & Foursomes from 10th tee.
5 Sunday: each team to provide 6 players for singles matches. Therefore, each team will play 8 matches. Teams will earn 1point for a win and ½ point for a halved match. In the event of a tie in total points after Sundays singles, teams must nominate one player for a play-off. As always, a running League Table will be shown on the TV in the club lounge throughout the competition. As previously, handicaps are restricted to Playing Handicaps of 28 for men and 36 for Ladies. This is to ensure a competitive standard and acceptable speed of play. Entry fee £50 per team all of which goes to the Captains Charity. Entry fee to be paid to Members Committee Account before date of the event. Teams can be entered from all membership categories & groups - Ladies, 5day, 7 day, Seniors & Juniors. To enter a team, there must be an organiser. The organiser must notify Bob Taylor by email before Saturday 28th May, to retayl@hotmail.com - giving the teams name. The names of players for Foursomes & Fourballs and the playing order for singles to be submitted by Saturday 11th June. The draw will be advised to organisers and posted on the Notice Board by Saturday 18th June. Thank you and happy golfing, Matt Perry Club Captain
What else is happening?
Planting As you probably have all seen, the back of the 18th is currently being redeveloped to include a nice, turfed bank which wraps around the green as well as re-modelling of the flower bed. Once the work gets complete, we will be irrigating and re-planting to create a nice vista for all to sit out on and enjoys the views down 18; or watch your friends 3 putt. We will also be including on the slightly lower tier, a herb garden for our chefs to use in the kitchen. Hopefully this will create a nice aroma as well and make what we do here just that little bit more sustainable. A note once it is in though; please no picking and you will annoy the chefs, and that is never a good idea!
Dresscode Always a hot topic within golf considering we have the best in the world playing the Ryder Cup in hoodies and Nike releasing in recent years collarless shirts for Tiger to play in. While I myself do love the traditional look of the golfer and would always adhere to ‘golfing attire’, I do understand that golf as a game in changing and so are the clothes that golfing brands are bringing out now. I do agree that a balance must be struck.
6 While the par 3 course is very much more casual dress code, as long as you are dressed, the main course we still want as many people dressed in golfing attire as possible. We have to be open to all people to try golf but understand that if somebody is wearing unconventional clothing that they probably aren’t as familiar with the rules and etiquette as they should and potentially issues such as slow play was arise. We would then focus on finding out whether they would be more comfortable playing golf on the shorter course, for their own enjoyment as much as anyone else’s, and then softly make them aware that on the main course we ask golfing attire is worn. We will never kick someone off the course for this, but remind them next time, please come better prepared. A big part of helping with this is the introduction of Marshals that we are currently trying to recruit.
Divoting & Pitch mark evening with Free BBQ Wednesday 22nd June is a date for everyone’s diary, and I invite all members to come and join us with a divoting and pitch mark repairing evening starting at 18:00 followed by a complimentary BBQ afterwards at approximately 20:00. We will be providing all the sand and seed to help with the divots, all we ask if you bring your own pitch mark repairers. We will close off the course from earlier that afternoon for everyone safety and hopefully with enough of us, get round the majority of the course. With course conditions being on everyone’s radar over the last few months, myself and the whole Redbourn team are keen to bring it back to the standard we know it can be, and I know Haydn, our course manager is doing an excellent job bringing in more staff and reviving the course from what was a very challenging start of the year. With our focus turned on the course, we will also be relying heavily on the members to repair, replace and overall take pride in the course. If everyone plays their part, then I know it won’t be long before the course is where it needs to be. Please see below a link to a video on how to properly repair a pitch mark, as it’s surprising how many people don’t know this: The Best Way To Repair A Pitch Mark - YouTube Relieving oneself in front of the neighbours… Talking about standards and taking pride in the course, I would like to gently/firmly make people aware that when playing the course in various areas, you do walk past/play very close to some residents of the cottages down on the track. While we can’t stop nature and sometimes are far from the clubhouse when we need to go, but please don’t relieve yourselves in our neighbours’ hedges, especially when they are out in their garden trying to enjoy the sun!!! I won’t include a picture in this part.
7 Also be mindful of bad language, as I have had feedback that while sitting in their garden, lots of profanities can be heard from golfers. Thank you for your understanding. New members of staff You’ve probably seen a lot of new members of staff around the clubhouse and on course recently, myself I suppose including in that. We were severely short staffed not so long ago, but we are almost there. Since the start of March, we have 9 new starters. In the bar we have Callum, Ben, Olivia and Claire. In the shop we have James and Alfie (Alfie pictured to the right). Ellie who will be a dedicated range host as well as Peter and Richard joining the greenskeeping team. Interview are also lined up for another maintenance person to help Martin keep on top of all the jobs and maintenance that Redbourn deserves as well as getting closer to solving our Marshal problem.
Refurbs on Changing rooms & toilets Toilets and changing rooms seem to have been neglected for a while, so in the short term we currently getting in quotes for re-carpeting and a fresh coat of paint in both changing rooms. Longer term we will be looking into the feasibility of moving the layout of both men’s and ladies toilet to make them more useable and accessible as well as create a dedicated disabled toilet with it’s own door in the hall way. These are longer term projects that require planning feasibility, but it is agreed that they present an issue that needs solving. Longer term plans Re-modelling the 11th & 16th bunker complex will also be on our list of things to do back end of this season. While it would be nice to sort out now, I appreciate more major works going into the season would cause more disruptions to everyone’s golf. We will be also looking at the back end of the year to start re-levelling some of the tree boxes, in particular the 11th and 15th complexes as well as a couple of others. Getting all tees into shape is a longer-term plan and will have to be done gradually over the coming few years.