Redbourn GC Newsletter - Feb 2024

MEMBER NEWS

FEBRUARY - MARCH 2024 MONTH 2023

In this Edition:

• Club News

• Golf Update • Course Update • Club Captains Updates

GM UPDATE team members joining us as well as the investment into new machinery. We spent just shy of £80,000 on the renovation of 12 bunkers on the course, the first few in the attempt to completely rid our bunkers of the stones and debris that have entered from underneath for so long.

We also invested in a disabled toilet, something that was long overdue, as well as the refurbishment of the men’s toilets and the ladies changing rooms.

Robin Cheng General Manager

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As well as the already mentioned birth of my daughter, Hannah Morris, our Sales Manager celebrated the birth of a daughter of her own, as well as Charlie Turner, our Operations Manager becoming a father for the first time.

Talking of water, Paul Geary has continued the fantastic work from 2022 and has made leaps and bounds with the restoration of the River Ver, even reporting the occasional Kingfisher sighted on the perch created close to the 8th.

With further plans in progress, I look forward to seeing some beautiful water features throughout the course. Thank you, Paul.

It would be remiss of me not to mention one of my favourite additions to the club in 2023, and that would be our movable planters located on the patio by the 18th green. I am looking forward to making a few more of those this year!

Sustainability With sustainability as one of the primary focuses going forward for the club, and indeed BGL as a group, we have embarked on numerous projects and internal processes to help us become a much more environmentally friendly place. Some of the larger projects we have started looking into are: •

The River Ver restoration with Affinity Water.

my daughter to my family in March.

•

Mature tree planting scheme around the driving range to add to the safety of golfers.

I think last year we saw tremendous course improvements both on the main and short course, with my

•

The MoreWoods initiative with the Woodlands trust to plant around 2 hectares of samplings around the course.

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•

Upgrade of our electricity supply from UK Power Network to go all electric and get rid of gas.

•

Better segregation of our waste here at the club to increase our % of recyclable materials.

•

Many other smaller internal changes to help offset carbon emissions.

BGL as a group are now committed to multiple sustainability promises which can all be read below by clicking on the link: Sustainability BGL Company

Prostate Screening Evening – Thursday 7th March

While this is typically not a title you would see in a member’s newsletter from a golf club, it has been decided this year to host a Prostate Cancer Screening evening here at the club on Thursday 7th March between 16:30-20:00.

Facts about Prostate Cancer •

1:8 men will get prostate cancer.

•

It kills a man in the UK every 45 minutes.

•

Early detection results in a 90% survival rate or cure.

•

Late detection results in a 90% chance of death.

CLUB UPDATE The evening is appointment by booking only and costs £25.

The tests themselves are PSA tests which only require a blood sample to be taken from the forearm and the results are emailed back to you between 24 and 36 hours after the test.

While the tests themselves are initially open to all males of the age of 40 or over, anyone who wishes to book an appointment who is younger may do so by emailing me and I can ask them to add your name to the list. I would only recommend doing this if below 40 if you have a family history of breast or prostate cancer.

Appointments will be limited and focusing on higher-risk ages would be more beneficial to those taking the test.

A statistic from Burhill Golf Club, which recently ran a screening day. Out of 120 men, 13 of those were deemed amber risk, which meant they were recommended to follow up with further testing and monitoring, and seven red, which meant to immediately seek an appointment with their GP. Please consider booking an appointment as even if there is only one positive result, it could be a life saved.

Bunkers The 6 bunkers renovated in December are settling in with the turf taking nicely around the edges.

We are hoping by the end of February to put the sand in. I look forward to seeing them in play and feel the revetting on the edges makes a really smart addition that will help the bunkers keep their shape for years to come.

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CLUB UPDATE Juniors

The end of 2023 marked the stepping down of Pip Lawrenson as Redbourn Junior organiser, who had taken over from Kate Farmer in the previous year. Both had done a fantastic job looking after the junior section, and it is an area of the club I am keen to help progress. With a lot of time and effort put in on both of their behalfs, it was a struggle to find anyone willing to fully take over their responsibility, so the decision was made to take it in-house. Luke Camilleri, part of our golf operations team, has now been made Junior Organiser, and with experience of coaching multisport activity to juniors, he will help carry on the expansion of the junior section.

AGM – Tuesday 13th February

As mentioned in previous emails, we have our Annual General Meeting taking place on Tuesday 13th February, with a 19:00 arrival time for a 19:30 start. Please see below the agenda: 1. Captains’ Reports - Presentation of cheque to Essex & Herts Air Ambulance 2. Management report 3. Matters arising 4. Introduction of 2024/25 Captains 5. Announcement of the new Captains’ Charity 2024/25 6. Introduction of Vice Captains 7. Close meeting. Set date for next year’s AGM No need to sign up for it, just turn up! It would be great to see as many faces there as possible to go over club business.

For anyone who has questions or queries regarding juniors, please contact Luke at the below email: Juniororganiser6@gmail.com

Renovations Week

Just a reminder that this year’s renovations will take place during the following weeks: Monday 18th March Monday 2nd September In both weeks there will be coring of the greens as well as topdressing. The aim of the renovations is to aerate and firm up the greens to improve playing surfaces and help reduce disease.

Sunday Carvery’s

Back by popular demand, we are putting on a carvery the first Sunday of every month throughout the year. Booking is required so please come see the events team in the office or Paula behind the bar to book your table. Two courses for £19.95, children £11.95 and 5 and under complimentary.

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Work Happening Soon

With all being well, our bar will see a backof-house cellar upgrade and the installation of some walk-in fridges and freezers, with work starting mid-February.

The work is planned to last 6-8 weeks with minimal disruption to the front-of-house service.

Our range extension, including 6 bays and bar facilities is likely to start at the end of March with a three to four-month build time.

In this period there will be a lot of work going on around that area with disruption to range services.

In preparation for this, we will unfortunately have to fell two of the closest poplar trees to the range, but as mentioned in the sustainability section we are looking at multiple ways to make up for this.

Poplar trees aren’t great for natural habitats anyway, and we will hopefully be recycling the wood and making things out of it.

GOLF UPDATE An Update From ...

Charlie Turner Golf Operations Manager The new year means new golf products!

Within the next couple of months, we are getting the new PING, Taylor Made and Cobra range in. This means we will be putting all demo stock in the shop to sell, so this is the perfect time to get a new, high-quality product for a fraction of the price.

As you have all seen, the Pro shop is on a big clearance winter sale - with up to 40% off some items, so don’t miss out on a bargain. We have also had a big delivery of waterproof FootJoy E-Comforts, selling for only £69.99, the perfect shoe for these wet and muddy conditions we are facing.

On the subject of wet and muddy conditions, please don’t forget to repair all pitch marks and divots. It’s great to see everyone using the shoe and trolley air hoses, but please don’t forget to sweep up after yourself, it’s very easy for it to build up, as you have all experienced before.

With the golf season nearly upon us, I am on a quest to find a PGA pro and a Golf Operations assistant, I have had some promising interviews, so I hope to have a pro in the shop soon!

If I can be of any assistance don’t hesitate to reach out, happy golfing!

Charlie

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Course Manager Update

COURSE UPDATE

Haydn Drinkwater Course Manager Hello everyone, The new bunkers have settled in well, and the turf is starting to establish on the edges with the sand looking to be added once the ground has dried and the turf has established more.

All main course and short course greens been verti-drained, which will help with drainage and firming up the putting surfaces. Fairways and approaches will be verti-drained during the week commencing 12th Feb - this will help with drainage and root development.

Over the winter months, the fairways have also been slit tined which will help with root development and will help during the summer with drought conditions by improving the roots.

Some disease scarring on the greens is evident and once the weather and temperatures improve the troublesome greens will be overseeded and top dressed.

Spring renovations will commence on the week of 18th March. Hollow-coring removes thatch which will be replaced by the sand - this will aid drainage and improve the trueness and firmness of the greens.

Tree work has taken place over the winter, with work being carried out from a tree survey identifying dangerous and diseased trees.

Haydn

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Captain’s Farewell Message Ian Rice Club Captain

over the year.

My time as Captain is almost at an end, so I wanted to say it has been a privilege to be the Men’s Captain and thank you all for your support

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE he will do a great job this year. Please support him as much as you can in the year ahead.

My last note is to thank all the staff at Redbourn for all their help throughout the year, I do appreciate it.

Thank you again, all the best for the year ahead, and I look forward to seeing some of you at my leaving dinner on the 10th February.

Ian

Thank you to all of you who played in our men’s inter-club matches this year, 26 of you in total. This did make selection tricky at times! We played some good matches, and it was great to play against players from clubs in the surrounding area. Out of the five matches played, we won two and lost three.

A Special note goes to those of you who took part for the first time. Everyone always has a great time at these events, so if you’re interested make sure you sign up on the noticeboard next season.

6 players represented the club in the Redbourn Team Shield and were successful in retaining the Shield. This was the 5th time in a row Redbourn had won it. Each player averaged just over 36 Stableford points.

In November we played 6 4BBB matches against the Women’s Pearson Team for the Florin Salver. I was glad to report that the men’s team was successful.

The AGM is scheduled for the 13th of February, and this is the point where Neil will become Men’s Captain for the following year. I wish him all the best and I am sure

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Lady Captain’s Update Sheryl Tye Ladies Captain Welcome to my final newsletter, as I then hand over to Linda Hill who will be Captain from February 13th.

December saw the final of the Turkey Trots and the Christmas special. We also held the last two draws for our Charity Draw. In January we have our Presentation afternoon and inaugural Ladies AGM.

Turkey Trots The Sunday Ladies were hampered by weather and only managed four of the series, so we gave out prizes for the best three of four. Congratulations to Linda Hill, in 3rd place, Paula Craddock in 2nd place and Di Ritson-Hall who was way out in front!

The Wednesday ladies received prizes too.

Out of 34 ladies, Anne Williams was 3rd, Di Ritson-Hall (again!) was 2nd, and the overall winner was Tracy Carr. Well done to all who took part.

Wednesday December 13th – Christmas Cracker Thank you to all those who embraced the Christmas spirit with their Christmas jumpers/earrings/hats.

We played the 9-hole Christmas Cracker, where each player received 3 Christmas presents to start their game – a wish, a gift, and a joker. The weather was not bad, but it did become bitterly cold by the end.

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE In 3rd place was Bev Walters, in 2nd place was Sue HickmanJameson, and the winner, with a birdie on the 9th, was Shirley Deudon.

Congratulations to all.

We then thanked and congratulated Viv Gardener (from the shop) on 30 years service with Redbourn, with a card and plant. We wished her well for many more years

at Redbourn.

We also said a sad farewell to Marie (and David) Jacques who have now left the club to move to Norfolk.

Marie has promised to stay in touch, and of course all those going on the Friars Away Stay in May will see them there.

We then drew our charity raffle.

The first prize was a Christmas hamper, containing bottles of port, prosecco, wine, lager and much more.

We were delighted that this was won by Kev in the Kitchen.

Our second Christmas hamper went to Peter C. A purple hamper containing wine, ale, and many other purple-packaged items was won by Jackie Hunter.

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Lots of other prizes were won by members and guests at the event. Thank you to everyone that took part in the raffle, which raised over £730.

We also held an auction for vouchers for fourballs around the local area: Gerrards Cross was won by Pip Lawrenson Bishops Stortford by me (oops!)

Aldenham and Chesfield Downs, were both won by Linda Hill A total of £430 was raised for charity in the auction.

20th December – Trouble Another fun game called Trouble, in which we could ONLY play shots from the Tee, the Fairway, the Fringe or Green. If the ball landed anywhere else (in the rough, in a bunker, out of bounds or is lost) then the ball was put onto the fairway nearest to where it landed, but trouble points were scored!

CAPTAIN’S UPDATE Monthly Charity Draw, supporting the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance The ninth and tenth of ten draws for 2023 took place in November and December.

The winners for November were: 1st prize - £40 to David Jacques 2nd prize - £25 to Nigel Thomas 3rd prize - £15 to Daniel Zammit The winners for December were: 1st prize - £40 to Sarah Hogben 2nd prize - £25 to Lorraine Hull 3rd prize - £15 to AC Bull Congratulations to the winners and thank you for taking part in the draw!

The winners were: Sue Hickman- Jameson (3rd), Anne Williams (2nd) and Pauline Byrne 1st Congratulations to all.

January 2024 The 31st of January saw our trophy winners presentation. Trophy winners can now take home their newly engraved trophies for a couple of months if they wish. Following this will be our first Ladies AGM where the ladies can hold the Committee to account.

We will vote on the new constitution, the Annual accounts, and new members.

The Club AGM will be on February 13th which will focus more on Club matters, and Men’s and Ladies’ Captains will then hand on to their successors.

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Thank you for reading the latest Members News.

Please feel free to contact us on

01582 7934393

REDBOURN GOLF CLUB Kinsbourne Green Lane Redbourn Hertfordshire AL3 7QA