Wycombe Heights Member News - February

AN UPDATE FROM...

Chris Young General Manager

Dear Member, Happy New Year Everyone!

I can’t believe we’re now into February -

Christmas seems a long time ago!

It’s nearly time to get excited about the weather improving and the start of another golf season. As you know from Chris Sharp’s updates, the end of last year was one of the wettest on record. In fact in December, we had 12 days where we had to close due to the conditions.

January has continued in the same vein, seeing more than the monthly average rainfall in the first two weeks. I’ve just completed a full course walk with Chris Sharp today and we now look to be in a much better shape coming into the new season. Of course, we can’t predict what the weather is going to throw at us over the next couple of months, but we have a great platform to build from.

I’m delighted to let you know about two new Team members Joining us over the next few weeks.

Henry Willett

Henry Joins us a Head of Sales and Marketing. Henry has spent the last 8 years working for the Fairmont group based at the Banff Springs Golf Resort as Golf Sales and Marketing Manager.

Ryan Pittiglio

Ryan joins us in his third and final year of his PGA Professional degree. Ryan’s passion is

teaching, and he started his training at Close House and more recently at Ryton Golf Club. He actively plays within local and regional professional tournaments and is looking forward to utilising his passion for teaching at Wycombe Heights.

Upcoming Events

There are two events coming up in February and March. Whether you’re into your murder mysteries or a secret ABBA fan there will be something for you here. If you’re interested in tickets for one of these events, please contact Ryan Hopkinson in the sales office.

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AND QUARTER

Its so well deserved and it gives me great pleasure in letting you know our employee of the Year and Quarter.

Firstly, Employee of the Year goes to Mark Henley. Mark does an amazing job on the range, showing incredible passion to ensure that everything is working as smoothly as possible. If there’s a problem, he’ll make sure it’s fixed and his customer service is second to none.

Employee of the Quarter goes to Antony Gough (Course marshal). Antony has made a huge impact in managing the tee sheet and general place of play on both courses. I receive so much positive feedback about Antony, and we are very lucky to have him here.

Finally, it is renewal time in April for members on an annual membership and also for those flexi memberships taken out in this month. Like last year, the main renewals will be completed online. For those of you paying by direct debit, your membership will automatically renew with your Union fees being paid together with your April direct debit payment.

For those renewing on this date, you will be receiving an email shortly with all the details on how to renew. If you haven’t received any information and believe your membership needs to be renewed, then please let me know.

Thank you

Chris

FOOD & BEVERAGE BITESIZE

With Spring arriving soon, we look forward to serving you and all your golfing endeavours in 2023!

Opening hours will start to change in the coming months, please keep an eye out on our website for daily updates but here are some dates to keep in mind. From the 5th of February we are open from 7:30am to 6:00pm. Hours will extend on the 20th of February, opening at 7:00 am to 6:00 pm during the week, and 6:30am to 6:00pm on the weekends.

You asked, we listened!

We have taken your suggestions seriously and have brought back some of your favourite items from the menu.

Look out around the café for the Wycombe Heights classics menu containing the Wycombe Heights burger, loaded chips, or the classic chicken goujons and other delicious favourites. Pinot Grigio is also now offered by the glass and a tasty takeaway sandwich menu has been created as one of the recent changes to the menu. So, if you fancy grabbing a coffee and Sandwich before heading out on the course then ask for the takeaway menu at the bar.

As requested, we will be open for large sporting events, if you are interested in coming out for a pint and to watch the game let us know in advance and we can plan accordingly. Join us!

Here are some events we have coming up; in February we have an ABBA Tribute night, or if you’re more into murder mysteries we have our Body in the Bunker event in early March. Tickets are available to purchase through our sales team, but they are selling fast, so get them while you can. We encourage you to please let us know if there were any events that you would like us to host or if there are any members events you want to hold with us here at Wycombe Heights.

Please don’t forget to use the ESP platform to help us improve our facilities and services regarding Food and Beverage to help make you feel more at home.

Sophie Owen F&B Manager

COURSE UPDATE

Chris Sharp Head Greenkeeper

As we move towards spring, I am excited to see what lies ahead for Wycombe Heights in 2023. Project work that has been completed and that is nearing completion has moved the course forward dramatically over winter, and the development of the Greenkeeping Team through further training and the addition of a new team member, also places us in a strong position.

Weather

Unfortunately, weather conditions continue to be unfavourable and despite extensive traffic control measures, we are still experiencing high wear in certain areas. Please continue to avoid the roped off areas and help spread the wear patterns. I encourage anyone who can, to carry their clubs. I am a big advocate for half sets during the wintertime, alternating between carrying odd and even clubs provide variety, as well as resting your back!

• 60% (506mm or 20 inches) of the yearly total fell between September and December

• 171mm of rainfall makes November the wettest month

• 6.9mm of rainfall makes July the driest month

• 19th July, hottest day at 38.1 degrees

• The chart shows just how wet 2022 finished:

As you can see last year was a year full of extremes, let’s hope for a more stable year of weather in 2023!

Bunkers

Referring to the rainfall figures stated above; you can appreciate, the weather was not kind to us through September into January. Resulting in bunkers holding water and washing down.

I won’t go into too much detail of the weather, but here are some statistics from 2022:

• 844.8mm (33 ¼ inches) of rainfall

Once this happens, it takes a tremendous effort from the team to reinstate them. For some context, over a 2-day period we spent 40-man hours just getting the bunkers back in play following heavy rain. It is back-breaking work for the team for several reasons. Firstly, persistent heavy rain will wash them back down within a matter of hours and secondly the amount of people not raking them at all or not raking them correctly creates further work.

I’m continuously watching the weather forecast with these factors in the back of my mind. If I know we are going to have sustained periods of (heavy) rain, it just doesn’t make sense to reinstate the bunkers. This is when they become GUR areas. I’m sure you’ll agree, our efforts can be utilised to better effect elsewhere on the course. Rest assured - the team and I will always endeavour to get the bunkers back in play when the weather conditions allow.

Raising Standards

Focus for the greenkeepers between now and the spring time is raising our standards. We have already completed training sessions to enhance our processes when it comes to changing holes and raking bunkers. With other topics being revisited throughout the season. I feel it is important for us to acknowledge where things can be done better and ultimately improve the experience for all golfers.

To take things further, we will also be addressing the bare areas that are situated around the golf course. These areas are old bunkers that have been filled in over the years and haven’t really recovered how they should. Unfortunately, when we did excavate the bare areas on the 1st and 2nd holes, we discovered the old Astroturf liner was still in situ. This was the main reason for these areas not recovering as they should.

Regarding bunkers, we are aware of many bunkers needing additional sand. The sand has been ordered and we await delivery (expected mid-February). Unfortunately, the quarry that we order from had no stock in December or January. As soon as we take delivery, the low sand areas will be addressed accordingly.

Maintenance Week

13th – 17th March 2023

Save the date for everyone’s favourite time of the year! As always, we will ensure all works are completed in a timely manner. Please remain patient as we carry out vital maintenance to our greens. The schedule will involve different aspects of aeration, overseeding and sand dressing. Work will take place on the Main Course MondayWednesday and on the Short Course Thursday and Friday. This maintenance window will allow good recovery before the season kicks off in April.

The plan is to visit all these areas, remove any unwanted materials (Astroturf/bunker sand) and replace with new topsoil. These areas will then be seeded or turfed, depending on size, positioning, and timings.

See you on the course.

Chris Sharp

PRO NEWS

Duncan Purcell Head PGA Pro

Happy 2023 everyone. I trust you all had a lovely festive period and are looking forward to the golf season to kicking off, just as we are.

I am happy to announce that we have now received our demo stock of TaylorMade Stealth 2 and PING G430 fitting components. With this in mind, we have a few options when it comes to custom fitting experiences for 2023, namely:

3. Designated Fitting Day from a technician from either PING or TaylorMade. We have a PING Fitting Day coming up on Thursday, April 20th from 2- 6pm, by appointment only through the Professional Shop. Keep an eye out for posters and notices for more of these throughout the season.

1. A fitting with myself, with the appointment bookable through the Professional Shop. I use a Trackman Launch monitor to assist with the custom fitting experience.

2. Member-only evening fitting sessions. This is new and I will look to host one every month. For February, this will take place on Thursday 16th between 5-8pm. Again, this is by appointment only through the Professional Shop, however, please feel to ask me questions on the evening as I will be on hand in and around the Driving Range.

As you are all aware we have been looking to add a Pro to our staff here in the Professional Shop. I am pleased to announce that Ryan Pittiglio will be joining the team on February 6th. Ryan is relocating down from Ryton Golf Club in the Newcastle area. With the addition of another Professional, we will have much more availability to conduct lessons. Please contact us here in the Professional Shop for all bookings and enquiries.

As half term approaches, we will once again be conducting a Junior Camp. This is bookable through the Professional Shop. I will be running these alongside Tommy Millward, our trainee Professional. This will run from 14 - 16 February. 9am – 1pm each day. Please see our website for details, or call us in the Professional Shop.

I am pleased with the positive feedback from the membership regarding the course conditions daily update on the website. At this time of year, it is important to get the information out quickly as many of you travel a fair distance to play. I am hopeful that we can have good news in the coming few days and weeks regarding buggy usage. We want to have these back out as soon as it is safe to do so.