Newsletter November/December 2023
AN UPDATE FROM... Theresa Plimmer General Manager How fast did this year go? I can’t believe we are heading into the Christmas period with 2024 just around the corner. I have a few things to let you know about which hopefully you will find interesting! There is also a survey for you to take part in - it’s 1 question so won’t take up too much time.
President, Sachin Kanaiya – Captain and Dene Parsons – Vice Captain. These 3 have worked tirelessly in raising these funds and I have enjoyed working with them. Both of them joined me in sleeping on the patio on a very cold January evening along with Mark Northern – Chairman and Johnny Bandido Hilton. If that wasn’t enough, Sach even climbed to Mount Everest to top up the pot! Reece Jackson is the proud owner of the charity car parking space and paid an obscene amount of money for it – thanks Reece! I cannot thank you all enough for this tremendous effort. You are all simply so generous and amazing!
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all our members for your unwavering support and kindness. I really think that Ramsdale Park has one of the best communities - from the course team to the back of house team, and the best members in Nottingham. Thank you Theresa
Ramsdale Raises A RECORD-BREAKING Amount for Charity – Just Over £40K! Saturday 11th November saw the club handing over 2 cheques to Maggies Cancer and Emmanuel House for £15,000 each. This is on top of the £4,500 we raised for Emmanuel House with the sleep-out and the £6,000 from the Firewalk for Maggies raised in February. Charity Day – by far raised the most and special thanks go to Danny Harkin –
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Dates For Your Diary Annual General Meeting – ALL WELCOME Tuesday 6th February – Come and join us at the AGM on Tuesday 6th February at 7pm. This is a great opportunity to have your say. You will also have access to the committee, myself and our Course Manager Johnny. We are constantly striving to improve our members experience.
Member Feedback Ramsdale take home ‘Member Experience 2023’ award for second year running
What’s Happening on the Course…. A word from Johnny Evans! After a reasonably wet summer, the start to autumn and winter has been apocalyptic, with nearly 300mm of rain in September and October. We have smashed through the yearly average for rainfall and still have a month to go! Now that it is cold, we won’t get many drying days that will allow the greens or courses to dry out, so we must be careful this winter to prevent too much wear and tear otherwise we’ll come into spring in a bit of trouble.
Once again, we took away the award for Best Member Experience across all categories (not just Golf Clubs) which is outstanding. So that’s 2022 and 2023 in the bag!
If the back 9 is open I would urge as many people as possible to play it, this will spread the wear out instead of all the damage being on the front 9. The greens are very soft at the moment and due to machinery issues, we’ve not been able to do any work on them to prepare them for winter. We have completed works on the Par 3 Lee this week and plan to attack the Seely next week. By closing 9 holes at a time to do this work we can do it quicker and dedicate better uninterrupted time per green. I know it’s a bit off-putting to have your game shortened – but it dramatically helps!
Based on our feedback from you and compared to other clubs up and down the country (golf, health and fitness and others), Ramsdale Park won the overall Member Experience award. This isn’t a Burhill inhouse award. I was absolutely delighted! I love that we are now getting more nines and tens when you score – but I love the fact that you are also popping your ideas down. Most of our improvements have come from your ideas - so please don’t stop!
Our winter plans revolve around path improvements around tees. We have started the 2nd and will continue onto the 3rd and 7th.
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We also have some work to complete on the driving range (finally) this will begin in January. Dave Marshall has been in his element digging away!
On the upside I am getting into motion new practice nets somewhere around the first tee – so watch this space!
We also have some tree management work to carry out when it turns cold. Moving forward into next year I’m putting some plans together for next winter with regards to drainage work. We’ll be getting quotes for some contractors to carry out some drainage work and doing some small areas ourselves. However, this will depend on many factors so we will update as you we get nearer the time. Finally – I would like to say a huge thank you to the members and the committee who treated the team recently. I really appreciate the patience you all show when we are working on the course. Thank you!
The Field at the Back of the Range As you know, we had already closed off half of the field as people were hitting Drivers and there was a concern about safety for people on the course. It is with regret that I have been forced to close the field altogether. I have recently had an incident with a golf ball, a golfer and a near miss whilst walking in the woods to get to the field. I have a duty of care to protect. So, for the time being – the field is completely closed. Please do not go up there.
FREE MEMBER RANGE NIGHT! The next FREE member range night is on Tuesday 5th December. Included: • Free food (something festive!) •
Free balls
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Competitions with prizes
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7pm-9pm
It will be a £5.00 competition entry and that will ALL be paid back to you in vouchers. Places tend to go very quickly so if you want to come along – please book early. Please secure your places directly with Theresa (t.plimmer@ramsdaleparkgc.co.uk) email me with how many are in your team.
Kitchen Refurb! Our kitchen hasn’t been changed since it was built 33 years ago. In January, work will start, which will cause a wee bit of disruption. Continued on the next page
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Don’t panic – I am hiring a kitchen on wheels (more like a tanker) so we will be able to serve still. There will be limited beers on tap as the cellar needs an update – but we will still be able to serve you!
Ladies Section I am delighted that the ladies section is going from strength to strength. I am certain next year we will grow the section even further under the new Captain – Doreen, and her vice – Harriet Soar. These ladies are a lot of fun, have the best cakes and are a lovely bunch! Halloween saw the ‘crazies’ dressing up and having fun on the course. I would invite any lady members of the club to come and play with the ladies section. You don’t have to be Tiger Woods – we all started somewhere!
It’s a great way to meet other lady members and learn a thing or two from Jack which can also help you with questions and how to get your handicap. Email me if you are interested in getting involved.
Turkey Trot This competition always causes a bit of negativity when it goes live. I understand! I have spoken with the committee and we want to try and help without compromising or changing the event too much. It’s a traditional event that the members built up from nothing. We have a few ideas how we can include everyone – click the link and cast your vote! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9NF8RH9
The ladies tend to play competitions on a Tuesday and have a little knock on a Thursday. It is non-judgemental and can really help with your golf. Our PGA Professional, Jack has taken over the ladies coaching and offers a wide range. Why not pop your name down for a group session: Sundays 12 - 1pm £10.00 Thursdays 9.30am until 10.30am - £8.00 Potentially looking at another session on a Monday evening – depending on interest.
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BGL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS For the last decade, Burhill Golf and Leisure has been a sector leader in sustainable golf and climate action. These commitments frame our updated and strengthened strategy. They are aligned to the Sustainable Golf Themes, Action Areas, OnCourse® tracking, Annual Scorecards and five yearly Certification provided by GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf.
4. CONSERVING RESOURCES
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Reviewing the quantity of water consumed on site and ensure efficient use through stakeholder engagement and a regular planned maintenance programme and reviewing alternative sustainable water sources.
Seeking to reduce the amount of waste to landfill building the waste hierarchy (Avoid, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Eliminate) into standard management practices across the entire organisation.
Expert implementation support is provided by Tony Hanson, ESI.
5. FOSTERING NATURE
1. PLANNING, POLICIES AND PROCUREMENT
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Including environmental considerations as an integral element of all procurement decisions
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Engaging with our supply chain to identify and reduce the environmental impacts of our purchases through collaboration.
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Meeting or exceeding all environmental legislation applicable to your operations.
2. STAFF AND GOLFER ENGAGEMENT •
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Engaging with our staff and patrons to encourage actions and suggestions to help improve our sustainability and create a team spirit. To use facilities management to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and take decisions that include consideration to embedded carbon, sustainability impacts of projects, and the environmental commitments of contractors. Where possible, influencing our patrons to help reduce environmental impacts created.
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Manage turf responsibly and sustainability and for plant health and playing quality, not purely aesthetics, avoid pollution risks. Enhance the natural environment through sympathetic management and enhance the benefits of Carbon Sequestration and Natural Capital Value.
6. STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES •
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Continue to diversify products and services to be accessible, thereby providing health and wellbeing benefits to as wide an audience as possible. Continue to outreach into communities with education, recreation, charity and volunteering opportunities.
Increase levels of communications with golfers and communities to help drive wider behaviour change.
7. TRACKING AND REPORTING • • •
3. TAKING CLIMATE ACTION • Minimising emissions from all sources of energy by improving operational efficiency, planned maintenance, and encouraging members, staff, visitors and suppliers to help reduce consumption and reviewing renewable opportunities.
Continue to protect and enhance habitats and biodiversity across sites.
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Track and update annual sustainability performance indicators in OnCourse® programme Create annual individual facility Sustainability Scorecards and Carbon Reports
Create annual Burhill Group Sustainability Review
Feed relevant information into annual SERC reporting Creating an annual Carbon Balance sheet
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Dates For Your Diary
Membership CLOSED
• New Years Day Brunch – contact Tom for details
Our 7-day full membership has been full operating a one in one out for the last 2 years. I thought we would have lost a few (as always happens in December) and we would be able to open the category for December.
• FREE Members Quiz night February (date to be confirmed) • Main Club AGM - Tuesday 6th February – 7pm. All welcome
This hasn’t happened and we still have a waiting list! I have had a few members asking for places for friends. If a member recommends a member – they will jump to the top of the waiting list. So please let Tom know if you have anyone that wants to join. It wont be until January (minimum) – but at least they will get first refusal.
• Valentines Date night - Wednesday 14th February • Mothers day Carvery - Sunday 10th March • Soul and Motown Tribute - Friday 29th March – Different act!
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Thank you for reading the latest Members News. Please feel free to contact us on 0115 965 5600
RAMSDALE PARK GOLF CENTRE Oxton Rd, Calverton, Nottingham NG14 6NU