Proshop News

A message from Warley Park’s Luke Welham on the Proshop:

Here are this month’s amazing Proshop offers:

Club News

From Paul Fileman, Golf Manager: Yet another busy month at the club with some incredible comps and fun days having taken place and we finally had some good weather towards the end of the month! 

We can now announce the winner of the Race to Le Touquet who romped home with an overall total of 39 points across the 8 events, congratulations to Luke Robinson who had a steady season with some great results throughout the summer. His results in the competitions went: 

Bobby Locke Stableford – Comp 1 – Sunday 25th April 2021, 9, 2nd 

Vize Cup Stableford – Comp 2 – Saturday 8th May 2021, 10, 1st 

B 51 Stableford – Comp 3 – Sunday 30th May 2021, 7, 4th 

David Moore Stableford – Comp 4 – Saturday 19th June 2021, 1, 11th 

Ford Laidlaw Stableford – Comp 5 – Sunday 18th July 2021, 1, 10th 

Raynor Cup Stableford – Comp 6 – Saturday 31st July 2021, 10, 1st 

Freddie Sunderland Stableford – Comp 7 – Sunday 22nd August 2021, 1, 10th 

Unfortunately, due to Covid travel restrictions, the trip to Le Touquet will has had to be cancelled. However, the finals have been rescheduled to take place at the stunning Pyrford Lakes. Luke will still be competing for the grand prize of a trip to Thailand to play in an Asian Tour Pro-Am event. However, we are happy to announce that the Race to Le Touquet will return next year. The dates have been confirmed for the 26th-29th October 2022, and good luck to all of you that will compete in this amazing competition next year!

We have had some great fun events including our Ladies v Seniors fun day on the 22nd of Sept, which was very well attended, and the weather was incredible. 

The Ryder Cup 

The Ryder Cup has returned for the first time since 2018 with the hosts the United States going in as the favourites to reclaim golf’s biggest team matchplay competition. 

Europe secured a dominant victory over the USA last time out at Le Golf National, with the biennial tournament then delayed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. 

USA captain Steve Stricker has a stacked 12-man team featuring eight of the world’s top 10 and a number of players who are fresh from big wins at majors or on the PGA Tour. 

Europe under Padraig Harrington have the experience of a decade of dominance at the tournament, however, with Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter all key to the team’s last win on American soil in 2012. 

Sadly, this was not to be our year and after a long wait of 3 years we suffered a crushing defeat of 19-9. Europe did their best playing away from home without the usual crowds to help raise their game and spirits and playing against a hostile home crowd. Fingers crossed this will be a different story when the Ryder cup returns to home ground at Marco Simone in Italy. 

Night Golf 

We have planned a night golf event on the 28th October. 

18:00 registration 

19:00 First tee 

Chicken curry on completion. 

Teams of 4, £10p.p. Spaces are limited, and this will be on a first come first served basis. Booking via the golf reception only! Fancy dress is encouraged but not compulsory with a prize for the best team fancy dress outfits. Halloween theme is most definitely encouraged, so we look forward to seeing you all at your ghoulish best. 

To help raise some money for the captain’s charity we are requesting that everybody that takes part please bring a prize to donate to the raffle on the evening. 

Demo Day 

There is a TaylorMade Demo Day at Mill Green on October 13th between 14:00-18:00 if you would like to attend and get a chance to try out the P790’s, drop an email over to [email protected] 

The Cateran Yomp 

Congratulations to Wayne Griffiths for completing the Cateran Yomp, his story is below and if you would like to find out more about the charity and how to help raise money for the please drop me a line. 

From Wayne Griffiths: This year being my 50th year, I decided to do something out of the ordinary, I came across an advert for the Cateran Yomp, A 54mile walk across the Cairngorm Mountains in Perthshire in aid of the ABF the soldiers charity. With nothing to do during lockdown my stepson and I decided we would accept the challenge. We started a bit of training in March only to receive notification the Yomp had been delayed until September. Training stopped for a time (I didn’t want to peak too early). Well lockdown ended and everything reopened, and training was completely forgotten. Come mid August we realise we have three weeks to go!! 

After a bit of soul searching and we both decide we can do it. So, after many shopping trips and loads of Amazon parcels, we had our bags packed with all the survival equipment required before we could start. 

After an early start on the Friday and a 10hr drive we arrived in Blairgowrie 15 miles north of Perth, and after pitching our tent we were off to the safety brief and the pasta party to fill up on carbs, before getting our heads down for the night. 

5:00 am we were awoken by a lone bugler playing reveille. A quick wash and breakfast and we were at the start line, Jamie Coombes who had volunteered as our support team loaded the van with a pile of clean socks and chocolate bars to replenish us at the various checkpoints.    

With a piper playing we were off! Starting off at a good steady pace, after 1/2 mile we encounter the first hill which seemed to go on and on forever, we eventually reached the top and had a level-ish walk for the next 3 1/2 miles to the first water stop, we then realised training would have helped (surprise surprise…) as by now our legs were beginning to ache and we were only 2 1/2 miles in. We reached the first water stop in no time for a welcome cup of tea and some Jamaican ginger cake to put a spring in our step for the next 6 miles to the first check point. 

The next 6 miles flew, undulating ground but no big hills. after 4hrs 12mins we were at Checkpoint 1 and 13.4 miles in. A quick sandwich, a few cups of tea and a change of socks, then we were off again. The terrain had now changed in dramatic fashion and the hills were getting steeper and longer and after walking through a wood we came out to see Glenshee, the mountain we would have to walk over before the next checkpoint. Then, out of nowhere, we came across one of the many surprises laid on by the organisers and a lovely lady handed me an ice cream, which put a massive smile on our faces and we picked up the pace and went on to conquer Glenshee. We reached the summit and were greeted with stunning views and the sight of the Bronze 22 mile checkpoint at the bottom of Glennsee only 1 1/2 miles downhill. We were elated and confident we could complete the challenge and with a good time.  

10 meters downhill and catastrophe. Tony had a niggle in his knee which was now giving way every two steps, he tried everything: shuffling down on his bum, being supported by me and a kind lady who helped us down some of the way until a kind walker gave tony his hiking poles which then allowed us to descend Glenshee in twice the time it took us to get up. 

After a hot meal and a visit to the medic’s tent, Tony was told by the doctor he had an inflamed MCL and any further walking before he was recovered could prove disastrous and he would require an operation to repair the tendon.  

So now fully deflated, we made our way back to the campsite and the hot showers. Not long after we arrived back the winner arrived, he had run the 54 miles in 9hrs and 52 mins.  

This sparked something inside us as there and then we said we shall return to complete the 54 miles.  

We are booked up and fully committed to training properly this time!  

Sponsorship is still open so if you would like to donate the link is below. Thank you so much to those who have sponsored me the money will help lots of people. 

Using the EG app for Social Scores. 

The following rules have been issued by England Golf. 

1. Open your ‘My EG’ app by tapping the icon 
2. Click on the ‘Enter Score’ function at the foot of the dashboard screen 
3. Follow the step-by-step instructions 

In order to protect the integrity of the handicap system, please note the following: 

• Geo-location technology will ensure pre-registering the intent to post a score can only be done in close proximity to the course where the round will take place. 
• A time lag will be in operation from the point where intent to play a round is registered to the stage when a score can be accepted. 
• A golfer’s final score must be verified by a playing partner who has witnessed the round and who holds a World Handicap System handicap index. 
• To verify a score, a playing partner can be selected by searching for the club and last name and sending the request. The playing partner will receive a message in the app and have the option to approve or reject the score. Note: both players will need the latest version of the MyEG app. 

 We receive a report from the WHS if any part of the above is not adhered to. 

1. ‘Linked to a scorecard – pending score submission’ means the scorecard has been created via theMyEGapp and has not yet been submitted.  
2. ‘Linked to a scorecard – awaiting score verification’ means the scorecard has been submitted via theMyEGapp and has not yet been verified/attested. 

These scores do not appear on your record but in a “holding” list. Under 5 above it is advised that the time lag should be simply at end of day the score intent was registered to avoid any manipulation and should then be deleted from the WHS by the club.  

Course News

From Dominic Rodgers, Course Manager: At long last the weather has been kind to us in September, with consistent day and night temperatures. We have taken advantage of this by focusing a lot of attention to bringing the new greens and tees on. This has involved several foliar feeds, watering and the introduction of regular mowing and rolling. 

We are currently cutting the greens at 12mm and will gradually reduce the height of cut over the coming weeks to get them in play as quickly as possible.  

The dry conditions also made it the perfect time to commence and complete the annual cutting of the long rough. We cut the long rough each year to remove the weeds and allow the grasses to flourish and in doing so create a hopefully aesthetically pleasing look of the grass blowing gently in the wind.  

This month has seen us construct the new tees at the 8th and the 9th holes. At the time of writing the irrigation to these tees is being installed, and upon completion of the irrigation installation we will be turfing these tees in early October. 

Whilst all this work has taken place the greenstaff have also taken great pride in maintaining and presenting the course to its fullest glory. 

On a final note, I would like to ask for your help. Over the last month we have suffered with our flags being pinched on the Childerditch course. We now take them out every night but would ask you to keep an eye out for anyone on the course that shouldn’t be and report to us ASAP should you see anyone. 

Cheers Dom 

Clubhouse News

Members will be delighted to hear that the food and beverage team have been very busy over the last month due to the continued backlog of wedding bookings post COVID.  

During this time, there have been a few amendments to the clubhouse team and we are happy to announce the hiring of Sarah Maher who will be the new main contact for members within the clubhouse. Sarah has a lot of experience within the industry and a bubbly personality so please make yourself known! Sarah will be working hard to continue improving the service levels at the golf club.  

Coffee Morning 

We will be hosting a coffee morning in aide of St Francis Hospice on Wednesday 6th October from 10:30 through to 14:30. A £5 raffle ticket includes a coffee and cake. If you would like to volunteer to cook a cake, please drop an email to [email protected] 

Quiz Night 

Whilst being inundated, it has been hard to impress a fun, engaging environment to the members. However, we look forward to hosting some non-golfing events to bring everybody together. In this vain, the team at Warley Park will be hosting their first ever QUIZ NIGHT on Thursday 14th October.  

Tickets will cost just £10 a team and the quiz will include a variety of rounds including a picture round, word association and even an optional Snowball question where raffle tickets are sold at £1 a ticket. The money will be split for teams finishing first, second and third so make sure you have your thinking caps on! 

The bar and catering team will remain open the whole night so that members can enjoy food and refreshments throughout.  

The quiz night is open to guests so please feel free to bring your family and friends along to a fun evening.  

When you would like to enter a team, please email [email protected] to register  

Best of luck to all of Warley’s budding quizmasters! 

Captains’ Update

From Dave Datson, Club Captain:  

Captains Charity Day 

My Charity Day was held Friday 20th August. The weather was very kind and with 14 teams participating we managed to raise the fantastic sum of £1,300 for Rotary Charity. This was only possible due to the generosity of those participating, sponsorship of the prizes by Andy Jackson of A J Scaffolding Ltd and Get Golfing who very kindly waived the green fees for non-members. The winning team on the day was Team Jesse Roast, the Lady winner was Delray Bussey and the Individual winner was Richard Bond with a very credible 40 points. Nearest the pin was a guest and great friend of mine, Steve Upton, with Longest Drive on the 10th hole going to my wonderful Vice Captain Dave Handley who also helped me very much on the day, as he has the whole of my Captain’s Year! Huge thanks also to our pro Wayne who gave up his time for a “beat-the-pro” on the 18th . 

Junior Captains Day 

I was privileged to be able to present the prizes on Junior Captain Luke’s Day on Sunday 5th September. It is always a great honour to meet our Juniors. They are great golfers and very very good ambassadors for Warley Park. The scratch winner was Charlie Wiles and the handicap winner was Tom ……   Very well done boys. 

Seniors Match v Upminster 

I participated in the home match against Upminster. I am pleased to say Warley Park triumphed and even more pleased that we won our match. If you haven’t already been involved with the Seniors then I can strongly recommend that you do. Their Captain Steve Abbott has been doing a great job! 

New Course Record 

The Freddie Sunderland Race to Le Touquet competition on Sunday 22nd  September 2021 was won by young Ed Brown, son of our wonderful Lady Captain, Liz Brown. Ed won the competition with a magnificent 43 points playing off a handicap of 1. Now ladies and gentlemen that means he went round the Childerditch and then the back nine with a fantastic score of gross 6 under par. A new Course Record!  Very well done Ed! 

Free Golf Lesson with Russell Killington 

I was also lucky enough to join Russell for one of his free golf lessons that he offers to all members on a regular basis. I cannot recommend Russell highly enough. A fantastic teaching professional and another great asset to Warley Park! 

Seniors  

From Steve Abbott, Seniors’ Captain: The Senior’s golfer of the year competitions were completed, with Greg Burnham ending up a worthy winner, despite strong performances in the last competition from runners up , Graham Robson and Brian Wilkins. Greg also won the singles knockout, beating Ray Wells on the last and will represent the Seniors section in the Race to Pyrford Lakes on 14 and 15th October. 

The Seniors Championship took place on Monday 27th September in appalling weather. In a field of 23, only 20 brave souls survived until the end. The gross competition was won by Paul Jackson with a score of 80, one better than David Handley. The nett competition was won by Rex Argent with a score of 70, one better than John Powell. No treble for Greg, who was one of the three who failed to complete the round. 

Our matches have continued and since the last report we have won 3 matches at home, against Stableford Abbotts, Upminster and Maylands and achieved a creditable draw away again against Maylands.  Just one match to go at home to Cannons Brook. 

We had a most enjoyable Ladies and Seniors event playing a Chapman competition in perfect weather. Three pairs scored 44 points and the winners were Angie Long and Dave Cormack. Runners up were Lorna Cooke and Ray Wells with Carol Mumford and Graham Robson third. 

Ross Jones Update

An update to all the front nine works from Get Golfing’s Head of Course Maintenance, Ross Jones:

Community Outreach

From Stuart Williams, Community Development Officer (Education, SEND and Communities), Get Golfing: For this month’s newsletter I thought I would introduce the fantastic team we have here at Get Golfing managing the community events at your sites:  Faydra Mitchell – Community Events Coordinator East Faydra has a passion for all things charity and community, from volunteering with local groups to running music festivals. She is a mum to 2 amazing children, and her life is never quiet, but always fun! I love to be involved in all things to do with the elderly or children, especially those with SEN or disabilities, and my real passion is providing activities and entertainment for the community. I’m lucky to be involved in some great music festivals like Local and Live and Tonbridge Calling, and to me there is nothing better than seeing people having a good time at an event you have provided.  Yvonne Brooke – Community Events Coordinator West An experienced golf and leisure operator I am really passionate about encouraging more women and girls to play sport. I have created the Ladies Golf Lounge, a Facebook Group for female golfers, which now has nearly 6,500 members. The group has given me a platform to support and promote a number of sport related charities, give a voice to women’s golf and allowed me to work with a diverse community which has been amazing and something I’m really proud of. My husband and I have 2 children, a 7 year old boy and 9 year old girl, so most of our life is spent as a taxi service (I’m sure many of you reading can relate!) ferrying them around to various clubs, birthday parties and playdates. Hence, I regularly escape to the golf course for some peace and quiet and to recharge my batteries!  Stuart Williams – Group Community Development  Having worked in education and community sport for over 25 years I have a passion for creating safe, enjoyable and engaging events and opportunities. I enjoy building programs that make humans feel better about themselves and am passionate that we at Get Golfing have an amazing impact on our local communities. I want to create great environments where people (visitors and staff) can help each other, enjoy our sites and contribute to building a better society.  Looking ahead to 2022 Adopt a school We will be announcing the primary and special schools that each site will be adopting as partners for 2022 where we will be offering a wide variety of activities for both students and staff. Golf of course will be included but there will also be music, art, drama, a venue for staff training and our great TAP program that targets FSM & PP children. Group Charity Adoption Our group charity has now been selected for 2022 with the Anthony Nolan Trust partnering with us. More information with both an education, awareness, and recruitment campaign to roll out next year and an exciting pro-am series planned. 

Local Community Groups 

The team will be working closely with site teams to identify a local group or charity to support for 2022 and whilst we can assist with fundraising, we would prefer groups that can utilise our beautiful spaces (for free) to enhance or expand their provision to local residents 

NHS Blood Donation Partnership 

Over the last 6 months we have hosted Recruitment and Awareness campaigns for blood donation. This month Arkley GC host the team where anyone can come along, find out how they can become a donor and find out their blood type. The event is on Sunday 3rd October and there is also a fun pairs scramble competition if you would like to play this hidden gem. 

WHAT’S ON – ARKLEY GOLF CLUB ARKLEY GOLF CLUB 

Pro News

From Russell Killington, PGA Professional: A reminder that the sheets for the free members group lessons are in the golf office for you to sign up for should you wish.  

With just one more month officially left of British Summer Time, don’t forget that winter is often a great time to make some of those much-needed changes to your game and it can be a good opportunity to perhaps practise a little bit more than normal.  

Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you require any help or guidance on any part of your game.  

Happy golfing!  

To contact Russell, please email: [email protected]; or phone: 07813822842. 

From Wayne Selley, PGA Professional: Hi everyone hope you are all well and enjoying your golf, congratulations go out to the American Ryder Cup Team after they outplayed the Europeans in every department and recording the highest winning score of 19-9 since the tournament began. 

The Americans piled on the pressure with their fantastic putting display which is deadly in an event like the Ryder Cup which normally swings from team to team but in this instance, there was no let up from team USA. 

If you are struggling with your putting try these couple of tips below: 

LEAD WITH YOUR LEFT HAND 

1. If you shoot a basketball free throw with your right hand only, you’d realise you need your left hand as a guide. The same is true on the greens the left hand is the direction hand and it’s just as important as the right. Practice putting purely left handed or have someone hold a club in front of your hands on the target line. Bump the grip with the back of your hand not your fingers. 

1. Grip the putter any way you like, as long as it doesn’t hinder your left hand’s role in the stroke. Make sure to grip the club in your fingers. The shaft should run up the lifeline of your left hand for club-face control, but the fingers must contact the grip. You can drop the right forefinger down the shaft, but don’t steer with it. Forget about what your palms are doing. Fingers equal feel. 

I will be offering 25% discount on putting lessons booked in the month of October these can be booked by calling the pro shop on 01277 224891 or by contacting me on 07813822842  

Enjoy your golf and hope to see you all very soon! 

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