Irish Night

on Saturday 12th March at 7.00 pm

Quiz Night with 200 Club Draw

on Saturday 26th March at 7.30 pm

Freddie Mercury Tribute Night

on Saturday 23rd April at 7.30 pm

Jazz Night and Supper

on Saturday 11th June at 7.30 pm

Barbeque and Summer Quiz

on Saturday 16th July at 5.30 pm

Club Newsletter

Spring 2016

It is now just over three months since the AGM when the new committee structure was put in place resulting in a “more compact” General Committee of five, being all direc-tors of the new company, each with very well laid out and specific areas of responsibility. I’m pleased to report this new structure is working extremely well with excellent lines of communication established between the five of us result-ing in a very good working relationship. The new company, Wollaton Park Golf Club Limited, has been formed and will assume total financial responsibility for the running of the Club from 1st April 2016. I’m also excited to report that we are literally on the very brink of finally signing the 50-year lease, which will obviously give us a far better security of tenure than ever previously experienced before, allowing us the luxury to look at longer-term strategies for the course and the clubhouse. The future therefore looks exceedingly healthy for the Club, particu-larly highlighted by the continuing stream of applications for membership, which are usually down to the reputation of our fine course.

I was really pleased with the first Members Open Forum (see Page 5) on Wednesday 4th February, a new initiative although staged with a bit of trepidation, when nearly 70 mem-bers came along to discuss many aspects of the Club. We will stage another one this year, probably in September, but there is no need to wait until then if you want to get in touch with one of the five chairs of the committees, whose club email addresses can be found on the “Contacts” page of the Club website and the back page of this newsletter.

Finally, may I, on behalf of the Club, with all the winter weather soon to be behind us and spring soon to be upon us, wish all members a great season of golf here at Wollaton Park Golf Club.

Tim Bowler (committee@wollatonparkgolfclub.com)

The changes to the CONGU system for handicapping took effect from 1st January 2016. As part of those changes the handicap year will now run from 1st January to 31st December (it was previously April to March). In order to tie in with this change the annual review of handicaps took place in December. In all adjustments were made to the handicaps of around 40 players who should all have been notified through “HowDidiDo”, however, before you play in any competitive events in 2016 you should check the handicap list in the locker rooms in case you have missed a notification. The change in the handicap allowance for four-ball better-ball competitions from ¾ to 90% also came into effect on 1st January for competitions starting in 2016.

Dave Parnham (comps@wollatonparkgolfclub.com)

Handicaps

Foreword by the Chair of Committee Key Dates

for your

2016 Diary

P A G E 2

Meet the Ladies Captain - Val Semmens

Michael’s Captain’s Drive-In

I am Val Semmens and Lady Captain for this year. I have lived in Nottingham since 1964 when I married and have been a member of Wollaton Park Golf Club since the early 80’s. I noticed on the Honours Board that I won the Harper Cup in 1985 and then again in 2015 - thirty years later! I have always enjoyed my golf, particularly the Wednesday competitions at Wollaton.

We have two sons, one lives in Switzerland and the other in Kent. They, and my five grand-daughters, have taken much of my time in recent years but I hope to give more of my time this year to golf and Wollaton Park. My husband, Vic, is also a member and we hope to enjoy more mixed golf this year.

The Ladies section has reduced in number in recent years, as with many clubs. I believe Wollaton is a great course and we have an enthusiastic, friendly and welcoming Ladies Section. We are attracting new members, with the help of John Lower’s taster sessions, and are together committed to encourage more lady members. If anyone knows of someone who might consider joining, please introduce them to me and I will make them most welcome.

Caroline Hart is a most supportive Lady Vice Captain. Caroline has been a member since 2008, joining with her hus-band and two sons. Over the past few years she has learned a lot about the Ladies Section as a member of the Ladies Competition Committee and more recently as Match Secretary.

We jointly offer our support to Tim Bowler and the Directors in establishing the new structure for the Club.

Editors Note: The General Committee is very pleased that Val and Caroline have taken on their new roles and wish them a very enjoyable and successful year.

Update from the Gentlemen’s Captain - Michael Rush I wish you all a happy golfing year. I was delighted to hear the news that Val has become Ladies Captain and Caroline her Vice Captain. I wish them an enjoyable year and look for-ward to working with them. Three months has passed since I received my green jacket and my “drive-in” filmed by my family. My dream continues as I look forward to the playing season. The future of the course is secured with the new lease and the running of the club in the capable hands of the “five just men”.

My wife Bea and I enjoyed the incoming Captains Evening as we were treated a bit like royalty. The men’s Christmas Dinner and the Prize Draw with carol singing led by The Sal-vation Army. My contribution was a verse of Silent Night. Thankfully I remembered the words as I did not have my glasses and I could read using Bea’s. After Christmas I had the pleasure of receiving the Third Division Championship Trophy on behalf of the Club at the Notts. Union of Golf Clubs Annual Dinner at The Park Plaza Hotel in Nottingham.

Being Captain you rely on many people and I would like to thank Neil Highfield for his support and donation to my charity the Lymphoma Association and also to Liam White, our former Walker Cup play-er, who donated £200 to use my car park space for two months. We shall have a draws for use of the space for two month periods from March onwards, £1 per ticket.

It has been a very wet period recently but Martin and his team have done a great job keeping the course playable. Spring is on the way and as I always say “the thurd week of May the greens come good”. Enjoy your golf.

Editors Comment: Michael is a lovely singer as you will hear at the forthcoming Irish Night and you can view him singing on “YouTube” if you search for “Michael Rush Immigrant Song” – the song is not about himself but a fellow Irishman.

He also has a fine wit. After the AGM a long-standing member said to him “That is the best acceptance speech I have heard in 33 years. I think you will be the most down to earth Captain we have had.” “Probably” replied Michael “I am only 5 foot 3.”

P A G E 7

Representing Wollaton Park in Inter-Club Matches We have been finalizing the list of inter club fixtures for men. These are friendly matches played against other golf clubs in the surrounding area followed by a meal during which players can enjoy a drink, good food and good compa-ny. The matches are a mixture of home and away so over the course of a season players can get to play some great courses all for the price of a meal. The matches are open to players of all levels and usually take place on Thursdays teeing off around 3.30 pm. It is not a league and match results are for bragging rights only. What matters more is that you enjoy your golf and the company of the people you play with. In particular, it is a wonderful opportunity for new members to meet other members and get involved with the life of Wollaton Park Golf Club.

The list of fixtures is likely to be shorter than in previous years which reflects, sadly, the difficulty of our club and oth-ers to field teams on too regular a basis. Nonetheless there will still be a good range of games to choose from. Players do not have to commit to play in all games. It all depends on your availability, although we do like to see players who play in away matches volunteering for some home matches too. As far as is practically possible we like to give every-one who signs up a fair share of games. The completed list will be displayed on the “Matches” notice board in the gents’ locker room. There will be copies to take away with you and a sheet for you to fill in to indicate your availabil-ity for each match.

It would be good to see some new faces this year as well as of course the players who loyally supported us in previous seasons. So give it a go, you won’t be disappointed. For further details, contact David Parnham via the email address

Editorial Note: I would to say a big thank you to Steve Ackling who resurrected the newsletter after several years of not being published. I now have the job of editing it however if anyone would like to volunteer to assist me then I will be most grateful. I encourage members to send to me articles they think will be of interest to mem-bers and any snippets of information that I could include.

At Christmas the Club received a card from BIGGA, the greenkeepers association and on the front was a lovely photo of Wollaton Hall taken from our course with snow on the ground. The photographer was our member, Iain Robertson.

Club’s New Tractor You may have seen the Club’s new tractor around the course while playing a round which was acquired towards the end of 2015. It’s a John Deere 4066R Compact Utility Tractor with a 66 BHP diesel en-gine, automatic transmission with 4-wheel drive and has the ability to have all sorts of attachments connected to it. It’s also one of the clean-est tractors around with a diesel particulate filter which reduces harm-ful emissions by 80%.

Martin, our Head Greenkeeper, says the extra power the new tractor has over the old one it replaced, which was 30 years old, makes life a lot easier and it does jobs quicker around the course, like verti-draining, pulling trailers and boring holes. He says detaching the front loader is only a one-man job whereas with the old tractor it took three men.

From John Lower: I’d like inform the members that Shaun Smith is moving on to pastures new to take up the Head Professional’s position at Mansfield Golf Club and Driving Range, where he commences duties at the beginning of March. I feel sure that everyone would like to join me in giving him our best wishes for his future venture and in thanking him for the help and support he has given me over the last few years. On a happy note, I am pleased to announce that Glyn Krause will be joining my team. For those of you who don’t know Glyn he was a member of Wollaton Park Golf Club during the 80’s. achieving a handicap of +1. He had an impressive amateur record winning the Wollaton Stag on more than one occasion, The Leicestershire Fox, and the Sher-wood Forester plus many more titles. He turned Professional and gained a European Tour card in 1989 and achieved a top 10 finish on the tour during 1990. He later became Head Professional at Elton Furze Golf Club in Peterborough for many years before returning to Nottingham. He will be starting with us in the middle of March and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Ewan & Robert Jubilee Trophies Winners

Clive Chambers

P A G E 6

House & Social The House & Social Sub Committee are now up and running with myself as Chair, Rosemary Bow, Neil Highfield, Lee Wheeler and Paul Williams forming the group. There is the possibility of one further person joining but the group has deliberately been kept “tight” on the basis that when needed, we will seek help on specific projects or work/social areas from club members that are able to do so.

2016 promises to be a busy year. In addition to the work carried over from 2015, there are some major and urgent works that need to be driven forward in or around the clubhouse. These include replacing our antiquated heating sys-tem (target date for completion summer 2016) and the provision of disabled access and toilet facilities which, as prior-ity projects, will run with the more general maintenance duties and forward planning activity.

Needless to say, social activities are also high on our agenda. In addition to the golf, these are considered key to members getting to know each other and fully utilising the facilities the Club has to offer. No one underestimates the challenges faced but we will push hard to make sure we have a good and fun year. We have two major events planned for spring 2016, first is the “Irish Night” on Saturday 12th March, with an excellent musician, some sprightly dancers, hearty food and quality drink on offer it promises to be an excellent evening. Next up will be the “Freddie Mercury Tribute Extravaganza” on Saturday 23rd April that should be superb. Look out for posters and ticket availability on the usual clubhouse notice boards and website. We aim to have our full social programme published in February – so watch this space!!

Everyone using the clubhouse recently will have seen that the new till and billing system for the bar and restaurant is now up and running. The system offers greater accountability and security and to be honest, brings us into the 21st century and is long overdue. That said, it is different and has been tricky to implement, so please be patient if there are any teething problems and offer your support to staff.

As said, 2016 will be a busy year with a fair bit of change and challenge thrown in. Please feel free to speak to any of the H&S Sub-Committee members who will welcome positive suggestions and ideas that can contribute to our planning for a successful future at WPGC. Ken Johnston (house@wollatonparkgolfclub.com)

Finance Matters It was reported at the AGM that the Club’s financial position was in a pretty healthy state following the build-up of a decent reserve over the last two financial years. On the signing of the new 50-year lease, which is imminent, the annu-al rent we pay to the city council will fall from £100k per annum to £72.5k per annum and this new rent level will be backdated to November 2014, creating an additional reserve, however a good part of that will be taken up by having to pay Stamp Duty of around £15.5k. One of the immediate benefits to members of the new rent is that the General Committee have been able to decide that annual subscriptions should remain the same as last year for the forthcoming season with Full Social annual membership being reduced to £60 and Retired Players Social annual membership being reduced to £30 pa.

One of the terms of the new lease is that we must provide disabled toilet facilities in the Clubhouse within a year of signing which will be budgeted for in the coming financial year at around £15k. We will also be budgeting for an additional spend on the greens staff in the form of an additional assistant greenkeeper to ensure the course is main-tained to the highest level possible within the Club’s overall financial constraints.

The heating system, including the boiler which has been supposedly on it’s “last legs” for the last fifteen years, will have to be replaced sooner rather than later, and I would anticipate that we will be looking at around £30k as a reason-able budget figure for this work which will be tendered out for quotations soon.

I’ve mentioned in the past that the main “thrust” of the General Committee is always going to be to provide the best member’s club we possibly can with the resources available to us but with a constant eye on the business side of things, particularly with regard to continuing to attract new “customers”, especially in the shape of members from oth-er clubs wishing to join us. That’s definitely been the case of late with a stream of new applications for membership which really helps to give us a fair degree of certainty with regard to our income levels in the near future. The best advert we currently seem to have for the Club is the growing reputation of our course in coping with all the wet weather experienced over the last few months!

Tim Bowler (committee@wollatonparkgolfclub.com)

P A G E 3

‘The wettest winter since records began’ was reported in December in most of the media outlets! Certainly, the weather has set some real challenges for both the players and for the playability of the golf course. The situation was discussed at the recent meeting of the Course Committee and it was agreed that a number of actions would be necessary if next winter is as wet! One idea mooted was the use of small playing mats, particularly on holes 4/5/6, In addition, greater restrictions on the use of buggies and trolleys when conditions are particularly bad was also discussed.

The Head Greenkeeper has reported that the Winter Work Programme is progressing well and a large number of bunkers have been renovated. He has also reported that the re-laying of the men’s 13th tee and the additional sprin-kler’s to both the men’s tee and ladies’ tee is almost completed. A number of leaks on the watering system have also been repaired. The demands that are placed on our watering system have increased substantially! There is a need to start upgrading and installing larger diameter pipework to at least two large areas of the golf course. If such work is undertaken, members will be informed prior to the work taking place.

The condition of certain bunkers continue to be a source of real concern for many members. A list of bunkers that have been particularly problematic in 2015 has been discussed. Some of these bunkers, where drainage is a prob-lem, have since been deep tined and these appear to have improved. There are however, a few bunkers that still cre-ate particularly challenges. This matter will be pursued further and if problematic bunkers are identified after the refurbishment programme has been completed, we will seek outside quotations to potentially rebuild these bunkers.

Members may have noticed that much of the course seating has been removed. This bench seating is undergoing refurbishment and will be re-installed in the next two months when there will also be a few additional benches as well!

The Course committee has also agreed to an audit of the golf course via an agronomist report. This report and other additions over recent years will help us to fully revise the Course Policy Document.

At this early stage a number of possible developments are under consideration and further details of these proposals will be made available to all members. The areas currently being considered are the refurbishment of the nine-hole pitch and putt course and the installation of a watering system and the provision and location of three new practice nets.

Jim Glazzard (course@wollatonparkgolfclub.com)

Louis Willey

Course Report

Editors Note: Jim was walking through the lounge recently when a member said “Jim, since you took charge of the course…...” Jim smiled waiting for the obvious compliment that was coming his way “….the weather has been absolutely awful.”

More Equipment for the Course?

The Club is currently considering the acquisition of a Campey Air 2G2 self-propelled, hydrostatic drive, three-probe air injection machine, injecting compressed air to either 7” or 12” deep. This causes a fracturing effect of the compacted root-zone, with no surface disruption. Air is injected verti-cally and horizontally over an area of 5ft to 12” deep. This “one-of-a-kind” machine immediately relieves compaction, aides in surface water drainage by creating larger pore space in the soil sub-surface, balances the water to air ratio within the soil and encourages positive microbial activity. The increase in air space within the soil means there’s more room for roots to grow and the deeper the roots grow, the more resistant the turf is to drought conditions. Most problems concerning turf on golf courses can generally be attributed to compaction in one way or another. The Club will soon receive a demonstration of this machine, which costs around £25k.

Editors Note: Phil “Lefty” Mickelson, who plays left-handed, is actually right handed. He learned to play golf by mirroring his father's golf swing, and he has used left handed golf clubs ever since.

P A G E 6

Winners Neil & Lesley

Men’s Scratch Team Success

P A G E 4 6

Editors Comment: The Club is honoured that Joan Underwood enters her third and final year as President of the Nottinghamshire County Ladies Golf Association and that Alan Watson has become President of the Nottinghamshire Golf Captains Society for 2016.

The photo shows members of our Men’s Scratch Team at the Nottinghamshire Union of Golf Clubs’ Annual Dinner at the Park Plaza Hotel in Nottingham on Friday 8th January. From left to right: Ian Newlove, Dominic Tinsley, behind the Captain, Michael Rush, and Marc Walters.

Our Scratch Team, captained by Gary Shepherd, were the NUGC Scratch Inter-Club League Division 3 Champions for 2015 and have therefore been promoted to Division 2 for 2016.

Bunker Systems for Better Drainage As you know we have some really problematical bunkers (see page 3) on the course that don’t drain very well. This is usually down to the original method utilised to construct these bunkers way back in the 1920’s where a brick base was often used. There are several new systems available for renovating bunkers which usually revolve around the laying of a base of gravel or concrete pellets and then binding it together using a binding polymer. It is essential that the drain-age system under the base of gravel or concrete pellets has to be assessed as fully adequate before work commences.

One of these systems was originally called the “Enhanced Bunker Drainage Method”, the primary features of this bun-ker specification are a two-inch gravel layer applied over the bunker floor and herringbone tile system capped with a geo-textile liner. The gravel serves as a conduit for water to transfer down the bunker floor slopes into the drainage system, thus greatly reducing and/or eliminating sand movement. The liner secures the gravel blanket and pre-vents native soils underneath from contaminating the pre-ferred bunker sand that was installed overtop the liner.

This method has consistently reduced manpower require-ments, and therefore costs, in bunkers following rainstorms by 80 percent or more. This method currently replaces the liner with a manufactured polymer binder to hold the gravel blanket in place, altogether eliminating the need for liners, which often can get damaged by rakes and golf clubs,

becoming exposed around the edges and aesthetically unpleasing.. The polymer binder allows water to pass through the gravel or concrete pellets at more than 1500”+ inches per hour. This method has been tested on hundreds of cours-es throughout the world and while these courses are located in varying climate conditions, one factor remains the same; excellent playing bunkers without big puddles of water. It is possible the Club may test one of these systems on two or three of our worst performing bunkers in the not-too-distant future. It is estimated that an average sized bunker would cost in the region of £1,500 to £2,000 to renovate but would give a lifetime expectancy of enhanced use between 20 –25 years.

Jim Glazzard (course@wollatonparkgolfclub.com)

T O S T A Y U P T O D A T E ! C H E C K O U T : w w w . w o l l a t o n p a r k g o l f c l u b . c o m

Tim Bowler & Jim Glazzard met with Nottingham City Councillors Steve Battlemuch & Alan Clark recently at Loxley House to discuss issues affecting the Club the City could potentially help us with. Apart from the lease many other items were discussed including the repair to the personnel gate by the cattle grid (now fixed), the state of Lime Tree Avenue with regard to the potholes and speed bumps needing repair and the provision of “brown direction signs” . It was hoped that the Club could get involved with “Sport Nottingham” to promote the game of golf to youngsters during the summer holidays and also attend “Friends of Wollaton Park” meetings.

P A G E 5

Membership & Marketing Last year the general committee introduced restrictions on visitors (apart from member’s guests) at weekends and bank holidays to leave the course free for members. At the same time green fees were increased so that they were consistent with those at courses of similar quality. We need to generate about £95,000 pa from societies and visitors and with the new arrangements we will still achieve this target. We have reviewed the impact of these changes, they have worked well and we have decided to maintain these restrictions.

Each year about 8% of members cease to be playing members for a variety of reasons. So every year we need about 50 new applicants to join the club and that target has been passed this year. I have been interviewing new applicants and the over riding reason given for wanting to join the club is the recommendation of current members and the quality of the course. Even those applicants moving into the area have generally initially played several local courses to test them before choosing Wollaton Park. Most of the male applicants have a handicap of 12 or less and want to be 7-day members which puts additional pressure on tee times for Saturday competitions. The number of lady members, although lower than in recent years, is around the average for clubs in England but we need to attract more lady members with handicaps that will enable us to continue to compete in the county leagues.

The number of junior and cadet members has decreased and we will not have a club team this year. We are looking at initiatives to encourage youngsters to take an interest in golf and will publicise them when we have firm proposals.

The number of members at the end of December was 483 male and 67 lady playing members, plus 17 county members and 19 intermediate members, of which nearly 400 are eligible to play on Saturdays, hence the pressure on tee times. A restriction on the pre-booking of tee times by past captains and committee members was introduced last year, it has worked relatively well but will continue to be monitored.

We have also looked at how we “market” the Club to societies who are looking for a venue in this area. Tom Muir is managing our web site and I will be working with him on continual enhancements and linking-in with social media with which, I have to admit, I am not all that familiar!

John Todd (membership@wollatonparkgolfclub.com)

Members’ Open Forum The Members’ Open Forum held on Thursday 4th February was well attended by about 70 members and covered a wide range of topics that will appear on the agendas of the General Committee and it’s various sub-committees over the next few months. The following is a summary of the key topics discussed:

1. Now we have a agreed a long lease the committee was asked to develop a long term for course maintenance and development. 2. Care of the course in winter – should it have been closed more often, use of mats or similar plastic material (an example was displayed by a member) to protect fairways. 3. Proper buggy paths close to tees to reduce damage. 4. Best way for staff to rake bunkers – by hand or machine. 5. Should the shoe and trolley cleaner be re-sited. 6. Our approach to staff training and development. 7. The balance between singles competitions, better balls, greensomes etc and social golf particularly on Saturdays. 8. Re-establish 9 hole evening competitions. 10. General request for better information for members, particularly about proposed changes to the course, and to receive feedback when matters are raised by members. 11. There was discussion about social events and their format and also about a relaxation of dress code to encourage members and guests, especially young families, to use the clubhouse when walking in the park. 12. Information was provided about current membership numbers followed by thoughts on encouraging young people to take up golf in this club.

The General Committee will fully consider all these points which were raised and will report on any actions taken. The next forum will be in September.

Editors Note: The closing date for entry into the Club knock-out competitions is Monday 4th April by which time all entry fees should be paid.

How’s this for an unplayable lie!

USEFUL CONTACTS

Tim Bowler Chair of Committee & Finance committee@wollatonparkgolfclub.com

Jim Glazzard Chair of Course

course@wollatonparkgolfclub.com

Dave Parnham Chair of Competitions

comps@wollatonparkgolfclub.com

Ken Johnston Chair of House & Social

house@wollatonparkgolfclub.com

John Todd Chair of Membership & Marketing membership@wollatonparkgolfclub.com

Avril Jamieson Club Secretary/Manager

secretary@wollatonparkgolfclub.com

General Enquiries 0115 9787574 Professional’s Shop 0115 9784834

Steward 0115 9787585 Catering 0115 9787341

Website: www.wollatonparkgolfclub.com

Wollaton Park Golf Club Ltd. Lime Tree Avenue, Wollaton Park

Nottingham NG8 1BN

Newsletter Editor: John Todd Layout: Tim Bowler

Nottingham’s Premier Golf Club

A course for all seasons

From the Club’s Archives In 1926 the construction of the course was already underway and work started on planning the clubhouse. The first Extraordinary General meeting of the club was held in January 1946 following notice from the council’s Estates Committee of their intention to terminate the club’s tenancy as from 31st March. After much negotiation a new lease was agreed. Seventy years later we have just agreed the first long term lease. Also in 1946 lady members were allowed on the pitch and putt course for the first time. New teapots were purchased in 1966 replacing the originals from 1927. The Club has only ever had four professionals in nearly 90 years: Edmund Williamson (1927-1960), Maurice Youings (1960-1972), Roger Hastings (1972-1991 and John Lower, who celebrates 25 years at the Club in October this year. (Information taken from the history of “Wollaton Park Golf Club” by Allen Gofton, 2000)

Ladies’ Golf A busy golfing season approaches and the ladies have been swotting up the rules of golf with a quiz at the Ladies Coffee morning. Two early season friendlies have been arranged and the Taskers team will be playing at Rothley Golf Club in the first round and in the Ladies inter-club knockout first round we play Chilwell Manor Golf Club. The taster sessions for ladies thinking of taking up golf have gone well and we are always looking for ways of attracting lady golfers to the Club.

Past Captains As commented by the Chair the new General Committee is working well. One of the effects though is the change to the roles of the Immediate Past Captains. In the past they have continued for a year on the General Committee acting as “wise advi-sors”. Now they suddenly have no official role after being Captains but their experi-ence and knowledge is still very valuable. So Fran and Ian you are still needed!

Tees to go “Gender Free”! I spotted an article recently discussing the merits of making all tees available to all players. Ladies who wish to could play off the white tees and men, who are not hitting the ball so far as they once did, could play off the red tees. Maybe we should think about introducing “gender free” tees at the Club?

Seniors’ Golf Coxmoor, Kedleston Park, Beeston Fields, The Leicestershire, Rushcliffe, Ere-wash Valley, Stanton, Rufford Park, Longcliffe, Melton Mowbray, Radcliffe. These are all Clubs which the Seniors play friendly matches against. If you are aged 55 or over you could be playing one of these fantastic golf courses as a mem-ber of our Seniors Team. Enjoy 18 holes of friendly four-ball, a tasty lunch and a chat to some, nice old chaps from one of these clubs, all for the cost of the meal (usually about £12). Hopefully you will also be there to welcome them when they make the return visit to Wollaton Park. All you need to do is to put your name down on the list that goes up on the Seniors Noticeboard, a few weeks before the fixture, when you will have an 85% chance of playing. All matches start between 9.00 am and 11.30 am so you will be driving home in the daylight. Home matches are always played on a Monday morning. If you would like to be kept up to date then just send an e-mail to the Seniors Organiser, Derek Allwright (derek.allwright@ntlworld.com). 47 members played last season, some played one match, some played many. Bob Forbes is our Seniors’ Captain for 2016 and Ian Culley, his Vice-Captain.

Snippets

Scrubbers Barry Moore is this year’s President with his Chief Stirrer being Phil Caulton. The “Scrubbers” usually play on the first Sunday in the month at 7.45 am when all members are welcome to turn up and meet some new friends. Proceedings follow-ing the golf , including the Junior Ball Draw, are usually finished by 1.00 pm.