Dear Golfer,
From Luke Welham, Golf Manager: Over the past few months the transition to new ownership at the club has had its challenges but it was brilliant to witness the warm community that exists at Warley Park Golf Club on Captain’s Day.
Our Captain Nick Pulham hosted a wonderful competition, while also raising £3,200 for his chosen charity Little Havens Children’s Hospice. Get Golfing generously donated £500 to this fantastic cause but the kudos must go to Nick for his tremendous donation of £850! Warley Park has been very fortunate to have him as Captain this year.
With blue skies, the temperature hitting 26 degrees and a freshly cut golf course to play, everything was set for a memorable day. An impressive 161 Members turned up for the competition, which saw Marilyn McGilvray win the Women’s competition with 43 points (on countback from Susan Allen), Jack Eastgate won the Men’s competition with 41 points (with one blob!) and Charlie Wiles won the Junior Captain’s Day with a simply ridiculous score of 47 points!!
We would like to extend our gratitude to everybody who stayed for Nick’s speeches and we are excited to host similar days in the months to come.
Shockingly, it was also the first time I had been able to play the course! I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge it presents and I suspect that my driver will stay in the bag for the back 9 from now on! It was great to experience the camaraderie, friendship and enthusiasm throughout the day. I would like to say a big thank you to my playing partners and to Wayne Selley on the 18th tee for taking £5 off me. I thought he hit a very lucky shot!
I thought the course was in a great condition and I would like to thank our Course Manager Dominic and his team for working so hard over the last few weeks. I loved the undulating greens and look forward to playing it again. My favourite hole was definitely Lock Spinney and I am determined to birdie it by the end of August.
I realise also that it is critical that those of us on the golf team play the course regularly to gain a better understanding of the player’s perspective.
Competitions
As many as you know, we have been able to create an Order of Merit competition that will run until the end of 2020 and will see the crowning of some ‘COVID Champions’. As these competitions are open-day events, please book your tee time as normal and then enter on the day of the competition via your app or through the golf team in the clubhouse.
Elsewhere, David Houghton was able to claim the victory in the first Stableford of the series with 44 points and is well on the way to becoming a Covid Champion. A special mention to young Max Briggs, who was able to score 43 points playing off a handicap of 5 meaning he shot a gross 69!
Currently, Luke and the competition secretaries are organising the competition calendar for 2021. Once completed, all Members will receive an email with the updated competition list.
Good luck to anybody competing and hopefully I will see some more 47 pointers !!
If you are heading out to play, please don’t forget to pick up a pair of gloves in the unlikely event you need to use a bunker rake.
Course maintenance update
We will not be carrying out our usual course maintenance week in August this year to allow the competitions schedule to run uninterrupted. What maintenance there is will be confined to verticutting and minor coursework. Members should find that the course plays as well as it has done recently. Elsewhere, Members will be pleased to learn that we have ordered new bins for the golf course, which hopefully will reduce the amount of litter we have experienced recently. Please point them out to anyone in need of them!
Food & beverage
From Muhib Rahman: Sunday lunches are back! Our first Sunday lunch was on Captain’s Day (July 26th). It was a great success, in fact some said that it was the “best Sunday lunch they had at the clubhouse for a long time”. We have decided to extend the menu and there will be weekly variations. We hope everyone will try it.
We have also introduced afternoon tea on Wednesdays with a selection of all-time classics and favourites.
We are in the process of working on our revised bar menu and have taken into consideration what members have indicated they would like to see on the menu. We hope to launch the new menu shortly.
Junior news
It has been very exciting to witness a significant increase in the number of Junior Members at the golf club. To date, Warley Park Golf Club hosts one of the largest junior sections in Essex with 57 Junior Members.
It is incredible to see so many of them playing the Childerditch golf course and Get Golfing looks forward to working with Liz Porteous, Michael Cursons and Wayne Selley on taking the Junior section to another level. The Junior team works very hard to coordinate their competitions and Get Golfing is delighted at their commitment. Please keep up the amazing work!
While it is fantastic to have so many new Junior Members, please can parents take time to understand the health and safety procedures at the golf club. For instance, it is vital that Juniors do not step onto the grass area in front of the range bays at any time. Although the range is a practice area, Juniors must behave in an orderly fashion and stand away from anybody hitting in the golf bays. Also, please advise them of the standard etiquette on the golf course, such as shouting ‘FORE’ if any of their shots are hit in the direction of other golfers and to cover their heads if they hear a shot of FORE.
We want Juniors to have a fun, exciting time on the golf course but their safety comes first and all Members can help them to understand how to act on the course.
Ladies news
The club is to run a Get Into Golf Day for ladies new to golf. Every year, the Ladies’ section loves to build on their vibrant section with unique initiatives such as their Get into Golf Day. On Tuesday September 15th, we will be working alongside Jan Tallentire and Elizabeth Brown to host the day. It is a fun day designed to engage with ladies who have never played golf before. The day includes catering, a 2-hour coaching session and 9 holes on the Childerditch golf course with existing Lady Members. If you know any ladies, who might be interested in taking part please email Jan on [email protected]
Pro news
We are pleased to announce that we will begin our free weekly group sessions for Members in the third week of August. These will be taught by our PGA Professionals and are absolutely free to Members. They are geared to improving your game and to socialising with people you may or may not yet know at the club. Each session will consist of 10 members and the focus for the lesson will change on a weekly basis i.e. one week will focus on bunkers and the next week will work on putting. These group sessions will be in high demand and work on a first-come-first-served basis. Anybody on the reserve list will be booked into the following week’s coaching session to ensure they receive the same benefits.
This is a fantastic opportunity for new Members to meet other Members and coaches at the golf club, so please get involved. We will have sign-up sheets in the golf shop to book yourself in for the week’s group session.
Welcome new members
We are looking for Members, who would be prepared to welcome both new and potential Members at the club, playing a round with them to give them an introduction to Warley Park. If you would be interested in helping out, please contact Luke via [email protected].