COURSE UPDATE

Dear Redbourn Member, Paul

Geary River Ver

Hi Folks

The river is in good condition in terms of flow and depth, and at this time I believe we will see continuous flow into next year which is excellent news!

I’m sure you have seen that the 16th hole stretch has widened considerably and submerged the original banks and rye Grass, leading to a few aesthetic issues in terms of rye grass projecting out of the water and the appearance of ugly brown Algae on the submerged grass.

By the time this appears in the June newsletter I will have commenced and hopefully cleared most of the Rye grass clumps so you can all see the rather beautiful gravel bottom again. The Algae will have to be regularly raked with a Micro Net to scoop it up and away.

The 7th hole will need to have rye grass cut back or pulled from the bank sides to a width of approximately 2 feet to ensure you can see the Spring fed stream - this will allow Aquatic plants like the watercress to move in which are much easier to manage! With regard to the Ponds - there is a desire to remove the Green Algae but, as you can appreciate, this would need a minimum of 2 people buddying up as there are health and safety issues here with deep water. Stay tuned on that front!

I do hope you all like the beauty of the wild banks and the variety of plants showing. It’s a great environment for our chalk stream species so we need to be conservative in our actions when cutting - we are certainly being good eco warriors at Redbourn at the moment, although I can only apologise for the lost golf balls!!

Men’s Captain’s Update

Ian Rice Club Captain

After England’s wettest March since 1981 and the third wettest on record, Dr Mark McCarthy concluded:

“March 2023 will be remembered for being a dull and wet month, especially for those in the south of the UK”. However, the weather has been improving and the greenkeepers have been able to cut the fairways and the greens making the course look splendid. Thank you, Hayden and team!

Redbourn Men had their first inter-club match of the season on 25th March against Batchwood Hall GC. The Redbourn team, comprising of Neil Marcus (VC), Peter Emery,Jim Manning & Matt McNamara,Piero Monastero & Carl Ingram, Matt Perry & Graham Tomlin, Lee Kavanagh & Rob Davies and Ian Rice (C) & Ben Warne had a resounding win at home 5½ - ½:

In our next match away against Abbey Hill, the team, consisting of Ian Rice (C) & Spencer Green, Jari Worsley & Peter Emery, Rob Davies & Steven Tuhey, Brett Richards & Graham Tomlin, Barry Cole & Gen Wilkes and Neil Marcus & Sean Smith, were not as successful losing ½: - 5½.

Saturday 15th April saw the Captain’s team take the spoils with a play-off chipping contest in the annual “grudge match” between the Captain’s team and the Vice Captain’s team.

It was a closely fought 4BBB match play contest with the Captain’s team winning two matches, the Vice Captain’s team winning