Club News

From Paul Fileman, Golf Manager:

Happy New Year everybody, I hope that you have all had a great Christmas and got to spend some time with all your loved ones. 

Work will be starting on the clubhouse very shortly and I for one am extremely excited to see the fresh look function areas and the new balcony. I know there will be some disruption, but we will do our best to keep providing the best service we can during the renovations.  

The course is really starting to take shape now and knowing that we have already got the 1st and 9th tee boxes open it should not be too long before we get the 4th, 7th green and the 8th hole back into play ready for the new season. 

I would like to say a big thank you to last year’s Captains Dave, Liz, Steve and Luke and once again thank you for being such great supporters of the club. I would also like to wish this year’s incoming Captains: David Handly Club Captain, Carol Mumford Ladies Captain, Dave Skinner Seniors Captain, and Charlie Wiles Colts Captain all the best for 2022 and I am sure it will be an incredible year, I look forward to working with you all this year. 

Sadly, after several years of volunteering as our Junior organiser Michael Cursons will be stepping down this year, I would like to thank Mike for all of his support and hard work working with the Juniors and organising all their competitions and events. If you would like to volunteer as our Junior organiser please pop in for a chat or drop me a quick email. 

Please stay positive whilst testing negative and lets all have a wonderful 2022! 

Course News

From Dominic Rodgers, Course Manager:

Wow! That was certainly a year unlike any other at Warley Park. Unprecedented weather conditions leading to Warley Park becoming a grass factory right up to December. New greens, tees, bunkers and a new lake constructed.   

During the early part of the new year all of the changes will come into play providing you with some new and exciting challenges.  

There are many more projects planned for the coming year that will enhance the course, which only leaves me hoping you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year on behalf of the Greenstaff. 

Cheers Dom 

Captains’ Update

From Dave Datson, outgoing Club Captain:

What a wonderful year I have had as Captain at Warley Park! 

I would like to thank each and every one of you for helping me have such an enjoyable time. Particular thanks go to my Co-Captains Liz, Steve and Mike who have done such a splendid job with the Ladies, Senior and Juniors. Also, to my Vice Captain Dave Handley for his unwavering support and I wish him as enjoyable year as I have had. I must of course also mention our Mr Warley Park, Keith Regan who devotes so much time and energy for the benefit of us Members! 

I won’t pretend there have not been any challenges for us at Warley Park. There have been difficulties with Covid of course. There have also been challenges for us Members following the change of ownership. BUT, I have played many other courses this year both locally, elsewhere in the UK and abroad and I can tell you categorically that these challenges are by no means unique to Warley Park, AND I do honestly believe the new owners Get Golfing have a progressive approach to the game of golf and I want to thank Paul Fileman, Sarah and all the GG team for their help to me personally throughout my year as Captain. During the entire year quite literally any request I made was considered and wherever possible fully supported!  

I played on Tuesday 28th November. It was cold, wet, and muddy underfoot. It was carry only so I appreciate that restricts some members from playing but there were several other members braving the elements. During the round I wondered if the course should have been shut. But we got round and enjoyed it. We had a drink in the warm and inviting Clubhouse afterwards. The kitchen was open so we had some food. The incoming Captains Dave and Carol were there with Sarah and incoming Vice Wayne, planning arrangements for the Drive In on Sunday 2nd January and all other events next year! There was a stream of young couples planning their weddings. There was also a large number of members from Boyce Hill drinking and eating in our Clubhouse after playing at Warley Park because their course is shut. So, the tills were ringing when they might otherwise have been quiet. I really don’t think any lasting damage was done to the course, and to end my ramble, my point is Warley Park was vibrant and I believe that the investment already made in our course together with the future plans from GG and continued revenues from the bar, kitchen and weddings mean Warley Park has a very bright future! I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year! 

From Liz Brown, outgoing Ladies Captain:

Just wanted to say I thank you to everyone at Warley Park for making my two years as ladies captain extremely memorable. I’ve had a wonderful time and know that Carol will take over and keep the section running impeccably. 

The course has been in wonderful condition right up until Christmas Day when the rain started and has hardly stopped since so our last Wednesday we aborted the golf and some of us went for a lovely walk around Thorndon. I hope everyone has a wonderful 2022 here at Warley Park. 

From Dave Handley, incoming Club Captain:

My best wishes to all at Warley Park for an enjoyable and prosperous new year ahead. I want to say a big thank you to David Datson, the immediate past captain for his magnificent work over the year and for showing me the ropes. Also thank you to Lady Captain Liz Brown and Seniors Captain Steve Abbott, who have both had very successful years. Liz and Steve will be handing over to Carol Mumford and Dave Skinner. Wayne Griffiths has agreed to be my Vice Captain for the next twelve months and I am looking forward to all of us working together throughout 2022 with Paul and other members of the Get Golfing team. Assuming there are no further covid restrictions on public gatherings, Carol and I will have had our drive ins on the 2nd January. Thank you all for coming to see us, and please say hello next time we meet in the clubhouse. 
 
We have a full competitions diary arranged thanks to Keith Regan and a full calendar of events that starts soon after the drive ins. I would urge you all to join in the events and play in the competitions in order to make the year as enjoyable as possible. 

From David Skinner, incoming Senior’s Captain:

A quick introduction of myself to the members, I’m Dave Skinner and as many of you are aware I’m going to be Seniors’ Captain next year. I’m looking forward to this role although with some trepidation! I will endeavour to give the position the respect it deserves and if any members would like more information about our section, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll be happy to assist. Wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

From Carol Mumford, incoming Ladies Captain:

Another New Year and I am going to be your Lady Captain for 2022. I am Carol Mumford, a past Lady Captain and a Warley member for 25 years. I am looking forward to my year, meeting new and old members and hopefully playing lots of golf, and drinking lots of coffee. 

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and lots of good golfing. 

Proshop News

From Nick Darby, Golf Retail Sales & Operations Manager: A huge congratulations to all of the winners from our 2021 Christmas raffle! You should now be able to collect your prizes from golf check in next time you are at the club. Thanks also to everyone else who took part – I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Pro News

From Russell Killington, PGA Professional:

Hello everyone, 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  

With January now upon us, it is the month well renowned for people trying to start the year with new resolutions and better lifestyle choices and unfortunately usually failing or giving up before the end of the month! 

It is however, a great month to start making any of those much-needed changes to your golf game, especially as some of you will be lucky enough to have acquired new equipment that you will need to now get used to.  

Also, with distance and good scoring generally much harder to come by in the winter months, it places more of a premium than ever on set up and technique and is therefore a great time to work on some of those skills and get them fully in tune for the summer months ahead.  

Please contact myself on 07919186499 or Wayne on 077813822842 and we will be glad to help you out. 

Community Outreach

From Faydra Mitchell, Community Development Officer: Over the last month the team have been finalising our Partner Charities and Schools for 2022. 

We will be launching the partnerships in January but would like to thank all the Captain’s, of all the sections at each site for their time on this process. They will be working together to raise funds, awareness, share the workload and increase the local impact of their chosen charity. 

We will have 8 local charities to support and are making a commitment for the next three years. We hope this will bring the membership together for a common cause, create some great social interactions throughout the year, and embed the chosen group within the club. 

Get Golfing hopes to enhance the great work our members do in raising valuable funds for local charities by offering support to both the charities and the amazing members and volunteers at our sites. 

Along with Anthony Nolan as our Group Charity we look forward to having a great impact on our local communities and becoming hubs for a wide variety of activities and community groups. 

What’s Coming?

We have a lot of exciting plans for 2022 and we will keep you updated with ‘What is new for 22’ as we advance into the new year.