Wycombe Heights Newsletter April-May 2023

AN UPDATE FROM...

Chris Young General Manager

So, as I write this document, the sleet is coming down outside and we are all hoping for improved weather to set off the growth and golf season. I’m hoping by the time you read this in April, the weather has made a turn for the better! I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Interestingly, February was the driest one we’ve had in England since 1993. The beginning of March remained dry yielding to sleet and snow, which as I’m sure you know isn’t conducive to perfect golf weather!

The one thing we are very grateful and lucky to have is the reservoir. Hopefully this year won’t be such a dry and hot summer but with most water authorities still reporting low stocks of water throughout the country the reservoir may become one of our most important assets.

Some more exciting news is that we have now had the project to extend course irrigation approved. Just to remind you, currently our greenside irrigation heads can only throw water inwards towards the green. This then means that all the bunkers and grass areas around the green receive no water at all. Ultimately, they then burn out as they did last year leaving bare patches around the green that become occupied by weeds and moss in the winter.

The new irrigation will double the number of heads on the green to provide us with full 360 degree coverage. This will then give coverage to all greenside bunkers and turf surrounding the green which is great news in maintaining the playability.

We will also be extending the irrigation to the approaches to the greens. Two heads will be placed roughly 30-40 yards short of the green. This will give good water cover to the approach and improve the looks and playability of the course throughout the summer. We’re coming out of winter in a much better place than last year and I’m really looking forward to seeing the course coming back to life this spring.

The new tees are completed, and we just need a few weeks of warmer weather to get them bedded in properly. Many people have asked but I’m afraid I can’t put an exact date on the grand opening. We want to make sure that the grass has fully taken before any heavy footfall walks on it.

This year over the Easter weekend we are holding our very own Masters competition on the Par 3 course. We have some great prizes plus a BBQ. There will be an American themed BBQ afterwards and we will be opening the bar late so that everyone can watch the golf to the end. Henry goes into more detail in his update but it would be great to see as many people as possible there. Its open to everyone (5-day, 7-day or flexi members) and should be good fun. I may dust off my clubs and have a go!

I am very pleased to announce that this year Wycombe Heights Golf club are proud sponsors of Downley Dynamo’s JFC. The team very kindly presented us with a framed shirt which we will hang with pride in the clubhouse. Its great to be able to support the local youth team and we look forward to seeing how they do in 2023.

As a trial, starting April 1st, we are going to open the range at 7am at the weekend and 8am during the week. On competition days, and to allow members to warm up properly before the game, we are going to offer members a half price deal on 25 balls. Ball tokens will only be available from the Pro Shop and can only be used between 8am10am during the week and 7am-9am at the weekends.

I hope all of you have a great golf season this year, and good luck to all the sections in their inter club competitions. As always, please feel free to give me any feedback or suggestions.

Finally, I just want to say a huge thank you to all of you who have renewed your memberships with us this year and if you renewed on or before April 1st, please collect your guest course vouchers from the office.

GOLF SALES & MARKETING TEAM

For those who I’ve not met yet, I’m Henry, the new Sales & Marketing Manager. I joined Wycombe Heights at the end of January after nine years living and working in Canada. I was previously working at the Banff Springs Golf Course in the summer and Lake Louise Ski Resort in the winter - anyone who is planning a golfing trip to Canada; I can help!

Since the last newsletter we have hosted our ABBA and Murder Mystery nights. Thank you to everyone who supported those events – lots of fun was had by all!

Thank you

Chris

Coming up we have our Masters Par 3 event on Sunday 9th April! This event involves 18 Holes on the Short Course, great prizes, Americanstyle BBQ in the clubhouse after the golf and the final round of the Masters live on all screens until the close of play. As the next day is a Bank Holiday we are hoping everyone can stay with us (and stay awake!) until the final groups finish.

Handicaps (calculated at 50%) are required to win the scoring prizes but not to win hole contests or draw prizes. EVERYONE is welcome to play! All membership categories can play for the £10.00 ticket price and no flexi points or additional fees will be taken.

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Feel free to sign up with family, friends or members from elsewhere. Tickets are £20.00 for visitors and £10.00 for members (to cover the cost of the food and prizes).

DRIVING RANGE UPDATE

Jack McDonagh Driving Range Manager

Registration is still open! Please call us, visit the Pro Shop or email h.willett@ wycombeheightsgc.co.uk to get your name in the draw.

In May we have our Casino Night party! Dress to impress while playing Texas Hold’Em Poker, Roulette & Blackjack and enjoying our hot food buffet. Tickets are on sale now on our website for £34.95 for visitors and £29.95 for members.

At the back end of 2022 we began running a members night on the driving range, each Thursday night. It has become increasingly popular since we began running it three months ago, so I am now committed to continue running member’s night, each Thursday from 7pm – 10pm, but I want to hear from you! Let me know what you would like to get out of members night, whether it be competitions, specials to go on our range menu just for members night, themed nights or absolutely anything else. I want to personally offer an open challenge to all our members which will run through until the end of August! In my quest to be the best golfer at Wycombe Heights, I currently sit 4th on the all-time leader board for the bullseye game on the TrackMan range systems! Any member who beats my score of 5,100 points, will win a free 1-hour session in our VIP bays with unlimited golf balls, and a leather TrackMan glove! The leader board will be on outside of the range kiosk each day if you’d like to see how many people beat me. Good luck!

We are currently looking to create an event schedule for the summer and autumn months. If there are events you would like us to put on, please come and chat to me or Ryan in the sales office as we want to create fun, good value and well-attended events for you as we move into the second half of 2023. As a reminder, all members receive 25% off room hire and 10% off food and beverage; if you have big birthdays, christenings or other celebrations coming up then contact us today for a package.

One bit of feedback I have received from members is regarding opening times of the driving range.

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I have taken this feedback onboard, taken it away and tried to put in place more convenient opening hours to allow practice before members competitions. We are an extremely busy driving range, with over 4 million balls being hit since we re-opened last April.

I am happy to announce that from Monday April 3rd, the driving range will be changing it’s opening times. We will continue the 11am opening time on Monday mornings to give the team time to complete maintenance on the outfield. However, Tuesday – Friday we will be opening at 8am and on Saturday and Sunday we will be opening at 7am. I will be re-evaluating these opening times towards the end of September.

Opening Times from Monday 3rd April 2023:

• Monday: 11am – 9pm (Last balls 8pm)

• Tuesday: 8am – 9pm (Last balls 8pm)

• Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 8am –10pm (Last balls 9pm)

• Saturday & Sunday: 7am – 9pm (Last balls 8pm)

I would like to welcome Liberty to the driving range team. Liberty has moved over to the driving range from the bar to take on the role of running the food and beverage. Liberty has some great ideas for some themed members nights on the driving range which we are hoping to bring you throughout the summer months!

Finally, I would like to personally thank all of you for the kind messages of congratulations following the birth of my daughter in January. I felt extremely touched to have personal messages from some of you whilst I was on paternity leave, as well as many kind words as I have seen you all around the clubhouse, driving range and golf course.

Thanks all for your continued support.

Regards, Jack

AN UPDATE FROM...

Duncan Purcell Head Professional

Happy Easter Everyone! Golf season is finally upon us here and I am very excited for what the season brings. Over the winter months we have embarked on many course projects, with the tee projects now completed and course maintenance finished. The white tees on the 3rd and 12th have been installed as well, putting an end to all artificial tees on the Main Course. I will be listening intently on your feedback regarding the new tee box on the 2nd hole and how it will now play, coming from an elevated tee box rather than playing uphill.

We have had the course remeasured, and we will be changing all the tee markers as well as scorecards, accordingly.

In February we welcomed Ryan Pittiglio on the team as an Assistant Professional. Ryan is available for lessons so please pop in and make sure to introduce yourselves.

We are currently in the process of updating all the memberships, and this requires us taking a photo of you in the Professional Shop. This stays on your members card and is there to aid us in the Professional Shop and those in the bar when checking in or using your card and your 10% discount in the bar. If we see that there is no picture on your account, please let us update this on our system – it takes 10 seconds, and the image is never shared off site.

April = The Masters Tournament, one of my favourite events of the year. Augusta is in top condition, and the competition is always fierce. It also gets the golfing-juices going and heralds the start of the season for me. I’m sure you will come and join in the action and watch the event here, as well as participate in this years’ Par 3

Masters event on Masters Sunday.

COURSE UPDATE

Chris Sharp Head Greenkeeper

With the new season we have started to receive our new stock of clubs, clothing, shoes, and golf equipment. Don’t forget that as a member you receive 10% off full price clothing and full priced shoes (nothing further when on sale).

What better place to start this newsletter than my favourite subject, “the weather!” It has thrown quite a mixed bag at us throughout 2023 so far. A wet start in January, was quickly followed by the driest February for decades. Just 6mm of rainfall for the entire month. We have also endured high winds, temperatures dips to below average to temperature peaks to above average, snowfall and freezing fog! It seems the 2022 trend of unpredictability will be continuing throughout 2023.

We have our Ping fitting event on Thursday, April 20th from 2-6pm. This is by appointment only and bookable through the Professional Shop. Be sure to try the new G430 irons – the longest irons I have ever hit! I am a qualified fitter and I use the TrackMan 4 unit for fitting as well to offer the most accurate information to finetune the best equipment relevant to each customer. The fitting diary is always available in the Professional Shop and is free to members.

With the Easter Half-term, we have our junior golf camps running and these are bookable through the Professional Shop. These are limited to 10 juniors each day (Tuesday –Thursday each week) and encompass all aspects of the game.

Many golfers have taken full advantage (as they should) of playing golf during the drier/warmer periods, which has meant the courses have been busier than usual. We are still experiencing high wear in certain areas. Please continue to avoid the roped off areas and help spread the wear patterns. The ropes will be brought in as soon as the weather/ ground conditions allow.

Bunkers

I spoke at length about bunkers in the previous newsletter, referring to the process of GUR and reinstatement. I’m pleased to say that we’ve invested more time into the bunkers and they now have a clean edge. Please help the Greenkeeping team by always pushing sand away from you when in bunkers.

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Sand levels have also been addressed, with new sand added where required.

Maintenance Week

13th – 17th March 2023

We managed to sneak in a mini maintenance week across all Main Course tees and Short Course greens in the middle of February. We were able to hollow core and collect cores (thanks to a contractor) in one day.

The Main Course saw scarification to 5mm below the surface, 12mm diameter solid tines to a depth of 100mm, 30 tonnes of top dressing, a sarel roll to 20mm below the surface and another roll with the Turf Iron.

The Short Course received 12mm hollow core to a depth of 100mm and 10 tonnes of top dressing (February). With a scarification to 5mm below the surface and 5 tonnes of top dressing (March).

Irrigation Improvements

I am excited to announce that our Main Course irrigation system will be getting a £60k upgrade in May. Currently we have irrigation coverage on the Main Course tees and greens. With the planned improvements this will be getting extended to the approaches and greens surrounds. This is a massive step in raising the turf quality leading up to the greens and surrounding the greens, including bunker coverage.

Why do we need irrigation for bunkers? The quick answer is during dry windy conditions wet sand prefers to stay in the bunkers, as opposed to dry sand. It also helps to keep the turf around bunkers alive, an issue we have experienced after all our bunker renovations.

See you on the course.

Chris Sharp