Club news 

From Paul Fileman, Golf Manager: Finally, we are back and let us hope this time it is for good, with no further lockdowns. A big welcome to all our new Members, who joined on the run up to reopening and I hope that you will all enjoy the benefits of being a Member here at Warley Park. 

Dom and his team have been working incredibly getting the course back up to standard and their arduous work over the lockdown period means that the course is looking stunning, an amazing feat considering the winter that we have just experienced.  

It is great to see that the competitions are back up and running and we will be holding the first of our Race to Le Touquet events on Sunday, April 25th with the Bobby Locke Stableford. All future competition information can be found here. 

New Members: For all our new Members, if you wish to obtain your handicap index you will need to complete a minimum of three cards.  

Each card must be declared before playing, by registering a social round in the register that is held in the golf office. On completion of your round, simply return the card back to the golf office. The same goes for all existing Members, who wish to enter what was formerly known as a supplemental score for handicap purposes.  

If you need any help or advice on handicap indexes and the WHS please feel free to ask any of the staff in the golf office or have a chat to our truly knowledgeable handicap and competition secretary Keith Regan. 

The Only Way is Warley: For all fans of the hit TV series The Only Way Is Essex! T.O.W.I.E. have once again returned to Warley Park to film another episode on the course. Pete, Diags and Gatsby completed filming and the piece will be aired in the not too distant future (I will keep you posted so you don’t miss out). 

It is great to see the Clubhouse reopen even if initially it is only for outdoors service from April 12th, I know that Jayne and her team are excited to welcome you all back. 

Lockers: as you are all aware I made a request in the last newsletter, that everybody who currently has use of a locker to please come forward and inform myself of which locker is yours. Thank you to everybody that has emailed or called to let me know which number locker is in use. For anybody that has not yet come forward may I ask that you do so before April 14th as I will at this time be emptying any lockers that have not been claimed and making these available to anybody who has requested one.  

On a personal note, I am incredibly optimistic that 2021 is going to be a superb year for golf and Warley Park in general and as always myself and my team are here to help, happy golfing everybody. 

Captain’s update 

From David Datson, Men’s Captain: Hello to you all. I know from personal experience just how difficult this virus has been and how tedious lockdown has become. Hopefully now with the vacaccine rollout there is light at the end of the tunnel and just like me I am sure you are looking forward to the reopening of our lovely golf course on March 29th. 

Paul, Dominic and the team have been working very hard preparing the course, please be sure to show your appreciation whenever you see them. 

I would like to say a huge thank you to Immediate Past Captain Nick Pulham for his great work during the most difficult year in memory. Congratulations to the Lady Captain Liz Brown and to the Senior’s Captain Dave Abbot, who have both “stepped up to the plate” for a second year and to my Vice Captain for 2021 Dave Handley. Please say hello to us if you see us around and if you want to buy me a drink any time it’s a large Zinfandel Rosé Wine, please! 

Liz and I will be having our Drive Ins on Sunday, May 23rd. Unfortunately, under current Covid regulations attendance is restricted to invite only, which is a great shame but unavoidable.   

Despite the recent difficulties I am incredibly pleased to say there is a full competition diary already arranged, thanks to the sterling work of Keith Regan and a full calendar of events that starts very soon after our Drive In. I would urge you to play in the competitions, join in the fun events and help make the rest of this year as enjoyable as possible as we, at last, “come out of the dark ages”! 

Course news 

From Dominic Rodgers, Course Manager: Since the announcement of golf’s return, we have been extremely busy on the course in readiness for your enjoyment.  

At the beginning of March, whilst the course was still wet, we finished the last of the grinding of the blades on all the mowers to a nice, sharp, crisp cut. Thankfully, while we were busy in the workshop, we had a few drying days that allowed us to make plans to complete all our greens renovations before your return. 

The greens have been Verti-drained, Verti–cut, sarrell rolled, fertilised and had approximately 50 tons of a sand topdressing applied to them. While this is a little earlier than we would normally do some of this work, it does mean we now won’t have to disrupt your golf, with the bonus that the greens will be in mint condition. 

The tees have been Verti–drained, sarrell rolled, topdressed and fertilised at the same time. The bunkers have been replenished, raked and weed killed and those pathways that were washed out during the winter have been repaired. The irrigation system has been fired up with all the leaks and electrical issues being fixed in readiness for what we hope is a warm and sunny golfing season.  

While this has all being going on, we have also managed to start cutting the fairways, aprons and tees. By the time you return we hope to have everything cut and striped.  

Over the coming months we will be continuing to improve the presentation of the course and we look forward to seeing you enjoying the fruits of all our work.  

Competition news 

From Keith Regan, Handicap and Competition Secretary: Having sent you details of Competition Account Top Up, Entry Instructions and what you can see under Comments, Notes and Rules, there is only one thing left and that is what to do on a competition day regarding check in before you play and score entry on your return.  

So here they are: 

• “It is a requirement of the WHS that players must register their attendance before play on the day of a Competition, even if they have entered a Competition in advance, if they wish their scores to be used for handicapping purposes.”
  In the Intelligent Golf system, this is called “Check In” and this can only be done via the terminal in the Booking Office. Please note this is separate to confirming to Get Golfing that you are present for your tee time. 

• How to Check in to Competitions.  (It is easier to use the touchscreen pen provided).
  Touch “Members” then input first three letters of your surname and touch your name. Under “Active Competitions”, touch “Check In” next to the Competition you want then touch “Log Out”. 
• How to Enter your scorecard after your game.
  Whether you are doing this via the App or Touchscreen Terminal, you need to ensure that the details on your scorecard are indentical to what you have entered on App or terminal. For instance, on a Stableford Competition you must agree your Gross Score and Stableford points on each hole, Scorecard v App or terminal entry, before you touch “Save”.
  Whether entering by either method, when you have finished you must put your scorecard in the relevant scorecard Box in the foyer before you leave the club, for administration purposes.
  On the Competition Terminal, Touch “Members” then input first three letters of surname and touch your name. Next to the Competition you want touch “Enter Result” and this will then show your Playing Handicap, off which you should have played.
  Touch “Enter Scorecard” –Enter Gross score on hole 1, and if a Stableford Competition, the points will show underneath which must be same as you have on your scorecard. Touch “Next” and it will take you to the next hole and repeat until you have entered all 18 scores. Agree totals and then touch “Save” (if you cannot see “Save” just scroll down slightly). Finally touch “Log Out”. 

 Enjoy your golf, now that we are back, and please only get a hole in one when I am at the Club!! 

Clubhouse news 

From Jayne Lewin, Clubhouse Manager: Hello everyone, hope you are all well and looking forward to getting back on the golf course. It has been a long time coming. 

It gives me pleasure to announce that the work that has been carried out in the clubhouse since lockdown has now been completed. We are extremely pleased with it and we hope you will be too.  

I have had a few queries about when the clubhouse will be open. I can confirm that we shall be open for outside drinking and dining from, no earlier than, April 12th.  We shall not be opening the clubhouse prior to this date.  A decision has been made not to open for a takeaway service from March 29th.  

Front of house staff will return to work from April 12th, and we shall be continuing to follow Covid regulations, so the clubhouse will not be accessible. All food and drink will be waitress–served on the patio only. You will be required to be seated to eat or drink. Please ensure you have your Members’ discount card, as credit and discount will not be usable without them. 

From March 29th toilets will be accessible via the rear entrance and must have a minimised flow of people entering and exiting.  All access doors into the clubhouse will remain locked. 

I shall be in the office should you have any queries, questions, or just want to say a socially distanced ‘hello’ — please feel free to come to the office and see me. 

We look forward to welcoming you back to our new clubhouse.    

Staff news 

The drinks buggy should be back in service now looking after your on-course requirements serving a mixture of soft drinks and snacks and we would like to introduce our two new drinks buggy operatives Roxanne and Mollie, please feel free to stop them out on the course and introduce yourselves and give them a warm Warley welcome. 

More staff news, we would like to introduce two new Starters/Marshals Ray Agnew and Alistair Newton. Both are keen golfers and should be a welcome addition to the golf team and many of you may already know Alistair who has been a member here at Warley for many years now. 

Pro news 

From Russell: I will be running a free Members’ group lesson every Monday at 1.00pm for one hour throughout the year. There will be a ladies’ group and a men’s group and it will alternate weekly and will be limited to 10 people. To begin with i will be giving swing checks, which I am sure many will find useful after such a long lay off! I will then be covering all other aspects of the game in the following weeks.  

This will start on Monday, April 12th for the ladies. Sign-up sheets will be in the golf office for the month ahead. I look forward to seeing you soon.  

From Wayne: Golf is back! Whoop! Whoop! We are all itching to get going and get out on those fairways, so I hope those golf clubs have been cleaned, grooves sharpened and grips scrubbed.  

The grip on a golf club is the only part of the club a golfer actually touches but is the most common part of our equipment that is overlooked in terms of its condition. Replacing grips at the beginning of every season allows the golfer to hold the club with minimal grip pressure, which then allows them to swing the club properly with acceleration. One simply cannot do this with grips that are glazed hard and slick. 

Several negative things can happen when golfers play with worn grips. Worn grips can cause slippage which in turn causes off–centre strikes and can lead to poor scoring. Obviously worn grips do not provide the proper amount of traction, so golfers squeeze the club tighter to maintain control. 

The benefits of new grips are endless. Increased traction, more tackiness, better performance in wet weather, comfort and less tension in your hands resulting in smoother swings. 

In a nutshell, new grips provide both confidence and performance. Think about them like tyres on your car — would you drive a car with smooth tyres with zero tread? No, the same can be said for golf clubs and grips.  

So, if it’s time to replace those tired or worn-out grips, we are offering 10% off any grips including putter grips in the months of April and May. 

Junior golf coaching days: We still have spaces available on Thursday, April 8th, so please phone on 07813822842 for more details. Looking forward to seeing you all very soon. 

Developed exclusively for our members, the Get Golfing Pro Shop has a comprehensive range of golf equipment to cater to all your golfing equipment needs – whether you are a scratch golfer or a beginner, we have the right products for your game.

In addition, as a member of a Get Golfing club, you can pay with your Member Club Card to get the best discount. We will then deliver your purchases to your club for free, so there is no waiting around for deliveries at home and a good excuse for a few holes!

Finally, best of all… every penny of profit the shop makes will be invested back into your club!