The Woodpecker
Chesham & Ley Hill Golf Club
May 2006
 
Editor
Paul Bruton
 
 
YOUR COMMITTEE
Finance    Bob Roe, Tony Renwick, Mike King-Jones
Course    Mike King-Jones, Tony Renwick, Marilyn Carter, Roger Greenland, Barbara Saunders.
House / Bar / Social  Roger Greenland, Judy Fuller, Marilyn Carter, Bob Roe, Ian Bevis, Carl Chaffin,Annette Roe, Dave Farndon
Handicaps    Ian Smith, Roger Perry, Ian Francis, Ian Bevis
Development   Roger Perry, Brian Puddephatt, Carl Chaffin, Liz Davies
Membership/ Publicity  Brian Puddephatt, Judy Fuller, Ian Smith, Liz Davies,
Juniors    Ian Francis, Barbara Saunders
 
Phone: 01494 784541
Announcements/Fax: 01494 785506

 
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
DEVELOPMENT
MEETING

FRIDAY THE 7th JULY 
 

 
           
 
Secretary and Professional
I have been at the club over a year now, the up take on the biomechanical golf lessons has been a surprising success. Over the past year I have assessed 57 clients, including 5 - pros, 1 - plus one handicap and even a member of the R&A. Out of the 57, 31 are members and the rest have all come from outside the club, some have even joined as a member. The good news is that at least some of them must be improving as this year there has been 11 competitions so far and pupils have won 5 of those 11.
I have also had great success in running away days, the latest was at Littlehampton GC a links course on the south coast. We had a great day out and it was really windy (as it should be at a links course), Mr Ian Smith who put in a great performance in the tough conditions won the day. Look out for more away days later this year, they are popular and the list will fill up quickly.
If anyone wishes to improve their golf but is not quite sure how, please feel free to contact me and we can discuss improvement plans to suit.

James Short P.G.A.

DEVELOPMENT
MEETING
THERE WILL BE A MEETING IN THE CLUBHOUSE ON FRIDAY THE 7th JULY TO PRESENT SOME OF THESE IDEAS AND COSTS TO THE MEMBERS. AND ALSO THE FIRST OF THE MONTHLY LEVY DRAWS WHEN ONE MEMBER COULD WIN UP TO £100.00 

Juniors Section
I have started to receive a few e-mail addresses from some of the Juniors members. This is a very effective way of communicating information to them so the more e-mail addresses we have the better.
A new notice board for all Junior events will be available shortly in the Stud Bar as well as the one in the Gents Changing Room. This makes the notice board available to both the boys and girls.
I am seeking sponsorship for the Juniors to help with the purchase of shirts and perhaps buy some sweat shirts for when Club matches are played.
James and myself will be conducting Indoor Golf Lessons for the Brownies at the Guide Hut in Lowndes Park on 26 May at 6.30pm to 8pm. This obviously is to encourage girls to play golf.
James will be starting his Golf Clinics for Juniors 8-14 years of age on Sunday 28 May for six weeks. Six lessons for £20. This is exceptional value
The monthly medal will take place on the Wednesday 31st May at 2pm and thereafter a medal will be arranged every month until September. Dates have been posted and sent to the Juniors via e-mail. If you would like to receive e-mails please let Ian Francis have your e-mail address. His is bigchiefredbelly@yahoo.co.uk
Chiltern League
The match with Stoke Park had to be postponed for a few weeks but a new date will be arranged. The next match will be held on Sunday ll June at 2 pm at Harewood Downs. A jacket and tie will be needed for the meal afterwards.
At the present time we are not quite sure how many Juniors have re-joined but we have two new members, one girl and one boy.
Ian Francis

 
From the Captain’s Table
I can hardly believe that 6 weeks have gone by since the AGM, as I said on my election as Captain I would endeavour to feed back to the members as much information as possible. The Club is a members club, which in simple terms means by the members for the members and, we as your elected officers do try to work on this principle.
At the AGM when the levy was voted on, the committee made a commitment to report back to the members within 3 months with a selection of proposals and developments that could improve the course and clubhouse. I can now confirm that several projects and ideas have been looked at, and actively considered by the development and main committee. We are now in a position to give you some outline costing on these, how ever we do realise that the list we have may not meet the expectations of the membership. To this end we are happy to receive constructive comments, and solutions, to make the golf club a better and more attractive club for the members and future members of the club, and to agree the best way forward,.
MONTHLY DEVELOPMENT DRAW
THE  RULES OF THE  DRAW
The Draw will take place in the clubhouse on the last Friday of the month, or as near to that day as is practical.
Prize fund guaranteed  £25.00 per month. How ever if the member whose number is drawn is present in the clubhouse at the draw, an additional bonus of £75.00 will be paid.(making a total of £100.00)
Should the recipient not be present a roll up £25.00 will be added to each months draw until a winning number is drawn (Maximum roll over will be 12 months) 
All members who have paid the levy (currently £50.00) are entitled to be entered in the draw and to be a winning recipient of the draw.
One number only to be drawn each month. 
In cases of any dispute the decision of the committee is final.
Please Note that as no levy money has been collected, all monies won by the recipients until October will be credited to their levy account, should that amount exceed the £50.00 levy when the levy is due the surplus will be paid in cash at the end of November 2006.
Club Matches
So far we have played 3 matches halved 2 and lost 1, it has been great that we have had a selection of new faces putting their names forward, and you don’t have to be a low handicapper to represent the club (lets face it I am
an 18 handicapper), and in the Hillman Trophy played 2 won two fantastic
Captains Challenge
As I write the Vice Captain and I have won 3 and lost 3, the biggest win now equals the biggest loss (by how many I am not telling.) However you Saturday guys if you fancy a prize for the biggest win put your names down on the sheet in the men’s locker room (but we only play this on a Sunday) and when you play you get the Captains special digger win or lose.
Course
Nice to see some growth, and the course is now starting to look so much better with the hard work over the winter beginning to show some dividends. By the time you read this some 10 ton of sand and seed will have been filling the divot marks on most of the fairways, many thanks to Ian Smith and his many volunteers both men and ladies.
Many of you have been asking about the steps leading from the 12th hole. The Committee have after much debate decided to shut this route to the dell until improvement work can be re-scheduled, but it is regretted that with the limited resources available this will not be in the immediate near future. We will naturally keep you all aware of the situation as soon as possible.
Mixed Challenge  
The Lady captain and I to date have not lost a match on the Friday evening 9-hole roll up, but then we have only played one game, can you beat us? put your names down on the sheet and try your luck, it’s a fun 9 holes and a buffet meal afterwards the whole lot for £6.00.
Social
If you did not make the St George’s Day social you missed a great night, don’t miss the Quiz on the 8th July, get your name down don’t be disappointed it could be a sell out
Dave Farndon
Captain

 
GREENS COMMITTEE
This winter has not been kind to our course, with the lack of water at the end of the season, everything drying up late into the winter and the heavy use age. Fortunately the growth started in late April and since then the conditions have been good for growing and we have been able to start serious work on the course and it has started to look better, within a few weeks it should be in very good condition
We have had our yearly inspection from the S.T.R.I.  Who seem to think we are doing all the right things, which is not surprising as we  are doing the things they suggested last year. This report will be displayed on the Club Notice Board once it has been read by those concerned. They have advised us on how and what we should treat the course with during the season to achieve proper growth on greens and fairways. However this year  they spotted we had a serious problem on the 7th Fairway and parts of the 6th that had been caused by LEATHER JACKETS eating the rootsof the grass and causing bare patches, fortunately we have caught it early enough and they have given us a spaying programme  to cure the problem.
We  also asked them to recommend some local contractors for the potential work on the 7th green and they have given us 2 names. The problem we have is that the job itself is too small for the larger contractors and the smaller ones in this field are so busy they don’t really want the work, resulting in the high prices we are receiving.
The next  major job is the rebuilding of the 8th men’s tee, we plan to level the whole tee and build the back to the same width  as the front, this is currently planned for next winter and will be carried out by our own staff in time for the 2007 season.
We also have to complete the work on the steps to the Dell from the 12th tee. This has been roped off at present because of Health and Safety concerns. We are currently looking at what modifications we need to carry out  in order to ensure the current concerns are addressed, we expect this work to be carried out within the next few months, subject to main committee approval.
The Green keepers have taken on board some of the comments made at the AGM and I trust by the time you read this the course will be looking at its best, should you have any complaints please address them to the Greens Committee or Secretary and not the Greens Staff direct.
All that remains is to wish you a good seasons golf.
Mike King Jones
 

House/Bar and Entertainments.
We are now just a few weeks into the new golfing year and your house/bar and entertainments sub-committee have been hard at work discussing ideas and sorting out minor issues that have arisen so far.  The ideas we’ve had to improve the bar and lounge area are still being investigated but I am hoping to have more information by the next issue of the Woodpecker.

Although it’s early in the season the club has already had a resounding success in the form of the St Georges family golf day.  The day was attended by golfers and non-golfers alike, some of whom played in the 9 hole competition and some who came later just for the food and raffle.  There were approximately 50 members and guests at the celebrations and from the feedback I’ve had, everyone had a great time.  The golf competition was a Texas scramble over nine holes and the handicap allowance was worked out by giving the non-golfers a handicap of 36 which was added to the golfers handicaps.  This figure was then divided by 10 to give the combined handicap for the team.  John Hosier, his wife Chris, myself and a young chap named Lucas who enjoyed himself so much, he is now in the process of becoming a junior member made up one of the teams.  We were given a combined handicap of 10.2 and after making four birdies came in with a winning net score of just 19.8.  The evening’s entertainments also included a ‘target golf’ competition organised and run by our secretary and golf professional James Short.  James also donated the bottle of sparkling wine as the winners’ prize that was won by our captain Dave Farndon.  A number of people commented on how they enjoyed the evening and the food supplied by our caterer Heather and I believe a good time was had by all.
The next night of entertainment will be a quiz hosted by one of our members Ian Bevis who has lots of experience running quizzes.  The evening is scheduled for the 8th July and will be great fun so I hope you will add your name to the list when it goes up.
Thanks for your support so far and I hope to see you at the forthcoming quiz and one or two of the other functions we will be organising during the year.

Roger Greenland
Chairman, House/Bar and Entertainments
 
Ladies Section
Well, I am nearly halfway through my Captaincy and the season is just starting to get busy. So far all is going smoothly and the ladies are very supportive and the atmosphere is good.
We have broken even with the results of our matches and are looking forward to the Soden Shield on the 13th May.
We are holding a Plant and Second hand Book Sale once again on May 23rd and the response last year was fantastic from both the men and women, so let’s hope it’s just as successful this year - let’s all brighten up our gardens.
We had a make over in the Ladies Locker Room and I would like to send our thanks and appreciation to Alan Whitelock and Joe Cline for all their hard work doing the painting for us. It is looking really bright and cheery and we are in the process of updating the accessories — “Changing Rooms” would be proud of us!!
Also, the Course is now looking good and fingers crossed that the sun will shine and we will have some enjoyable and successful months of golf ahead.   
Marilyn Carter
 

Ed’s Notes
I’ve taken on the Woodpecker from an expert in John Hardcastle and this edition has been prepared on the hoof, but hopefully will give you an insight into what is happening at the club.
If you have any golfing anecdotes or articles please send them to me at pbruton@birchdaleglass.com.

LATE NEWS
Captain’s Bunker has raised £55 to date.
The National Nines day  was a  success and we received a number of complementary remarks on the condition of the course and our hospitality.
A big thank you to all those who helped with the divot repairing on the 14th May.