MEMBER NEWS
FEBRUARY - MARCH 2024 In this Edition | Club, Golf, Shop and F&B Update
GOLF SALES & MARKETING TEAM Henry Willett Sales & Marketing Manager Hello everyone! Welcome to 2024! Christmas 2023 was a huge success with over 1,000 visitors and members attending our Christmas events – a huge thank you to our F&B and Kitchen teams for hosting those events – that’s a lot of sprouts & roast potatoes!
Next, we see the return of our Mother’s Day lunch, so mark the date in your calendar: Sunday 10th March. Mother’s Day was a great success pre-COVID with over 90 covers and two sittings, so this is an event we are excited to bring back. Bring Mum along to Wycombe Heights for a two-course set menu and a gift!
First in our 2024 offering is at the Driving Range for Valentine’s Day. Bring your loved one to the ultimate Wycombe Heights date night with 1 hour at the driving range, a drink each, and a huge bowl of nachos to share romantically while you try to beat your Bullseye score. With only two weeks left until the big night, this is a great way to share an evening of golf with your other half!
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Later in the Spring, our focus turns to Easter and the Masters. First, we have our Short Course Easter event! Running all Easter weekend, enjoy golf & an Easter Egg hunt on the Short Course followed by a burger & chips in the Clubhouse. Your kids and grandkids won’t want to miss this! Later in April, we will be running a Masters-themed event at the Driving Range to coincide with the live Masters Golf tournament coverage on the TV – more information on that to follow! As a reminder all events can be booked with the Sales team or directly here: https://www. ibookedonline.com/wycombe-heights-golfcentre/events Outside of Functions & Events, we see positive signs in recruiting golfers to our membership, as word of our great course conditions and bunker renovations starts to spread. As a reminder to you all – you receive a £50 bar levy top-up if you refer any new member to a five-day, seven-day or Intermediate membership, so please encourage your friends and family to reach out to us if they would like any more information.
A lot of credit must go to Head Greenkeeper Stuart Giddings and his team. While the golf slows down a bit in January, the greens staff are kept busy with many projects that we as golfers take for granted.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Golf & Retail team for their efforts in 2023. Matt Hudson has entered the PGA program and has completed his certification with Diamond Golf as a qualified club fitter. Michael Breith has joined the team as a retail assistant. Michael is a very good golfer in his own right and has the potential to also join the professional ranks should he so wish later in 2024. Finally, Tom Millward, who was our Assistant Pro last year, has left the centre to take up a new role in Oxfordshire - we wish him the very best in his new role!
AN UPDATE FROM... Duncan Purcell Head Professional Happy New Year everyone! We’ve had a very strange start to the year with some warm but very wet weather, and some extremely cold weather too! Despite the weather disruptions, I have to say the courses are in the best shape at this time of year since I joined six years ago.
Like most people, I have a New Year’s resolution: to play more golf. If I look back last year, I played less than 20 rounds, albeit at some of the finest courses in the UK, as well as a round at Vietnam’s top-rated course whilst on holiday in October.
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Being a PGA Professional opens many doors to play some of the finest courses around the world, however, it is hard to beat your home course. Over my 6 years here I have seen many changes and improvements at the Centre. Irrigation projects, bunker renovations, a reservoir, new grass tees, the clubhouse renovation project, and a stateof-the-art Trackman Driving Range to name a few. Wycombe Heights truly offers a lot to both our membership as well as our guests.
simplest form – forgiveness on off-centre hits. Both these brands have now surpassed the 10,000 MOI figure, meaning straighter drives on off-centre strikes. Another aspect of the fitting services we offer are iron, wedge, and putter fittings. These can all be booked with us in the Professional Shop. We offer fittings with our Trackman 4 launch monitor – the most accurate launch monitor in golf.
Professional shop Update:
We still have our post-Christmas sale running at present. This will most likely be until midFebruary and there are plenty of bargains to be had, especially with golf shoes and clothing.
We are brand fitters for both Taylor Made and PING here at the Centre. Both Matt and I have seen the new Taylor Made Qi10 range as well as the new PING G430 Max 10K driver, all new for 2024. It always amazes me what manufacturers can achieve in 12 months, and having tested the new products, I have to say that this year the market is loaded with products that go further and straighter. I am not one to change my equipment very often, however, a new driver will be added into the mix. Taylor Made has three outstanding drivers on the market, along with the new PING G430 Max 10K. You will notice that both these models have the number 10 in them. 10 represents the moment of inertia (MOI) number – in its
We have two fitting events pencilled in already this year. On Monday, February 26th we welcome Taylor Made and on Thursday, April 4th we host PING. Both these days are by appointment only so please book with us at the Professional Shop. How often do you change your grips? Well, according to Today’s Golfer, if you play once a week then you should look to replace your grips at least once per year. A good grip on a club is essential. As a coach, when I see clients, most of them have grips that are either overworn or are the wrong size for their hand. Think, when was the last time you changed your grips? It’s a cheaper alternative to purchasing new clubs, but also maintaining performance. We not only sell grips here in the Professional Shop, but we fit them for free if you purchase them from us, with a guaranteed 48-hour turnaround time. Duncan
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COURSE UPDATE Stuart Giddings Course Manager Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well - I would like to give you an update on what we have been up to here at Wycombe Heights. As we move ever closer towards spring, I am excited about what lies ahead for Wycombe Heights in 2024. The project work that has been completed and that is nearing completion has moved the course forward. The work that was carried out on our new bunkers has been a great addition to the course development here at Wycombe. As you may have noticed the bunkers have no sand in them. The reason behind this is that we wanted to let the surrounding areas around the bunkers settle for as long as possible. We aim to backfill all the new bunkers within the next four weeks. Also, with other further project work out on the course you may have noticed that we have done some path work: •
3rd path: To save wear around the lefthand side of the 3rd green we have extended the path to ensure a safer route to the 4th tee.
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5th to 6th tee: As you know this has always been a wet area, so we have created an extension from the existing path to ensure a dryer and more comfortable route to the tee.
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7th tee: We have made a new sit-down area on the 7th tee with a new wildflower patch.
Unfortunately, weather conditions continue to work against us, and despite extensive traffic control measures, we are still experiencing high wear in certain areas. Please continue to avoid the roped-off areas and help spread the wear patterns around the greens we have roped off. In the first week of January, we had over 100mm of rainfall, which didn’t help course conditions and resulted in course closures. I apologise for these, but they were for safety reasons and to protect the golf course. Due to the wet conditions out on the course, we have been struggling to get any mowers out there to do regular maintenance. however, we have been able to get the hand mowers out on the course to cut tees, approaches, and greens to ensure the definition remains visible out on the course.
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Maintenance Week 19th – 23rd February Save the date for everyone’s favourite time of the year! As always, we will ensure all works are completed on time. Please remain patient as we carry out vital maintenance to our greens. The schedule will involve different aspects of aeration, Verti-cutting and sand dressing. Work will take place on the Main Course Monday-Tuesday and Short Course Wednesday-Thursday. Friday we will be topping up any areas on all greens where needed. This maintenance window will allow for good recovery before the season kicks off in April. We understand that it is an inconvenience, but this is something that needs to be done to continue to improve the greens at Wycombe Heights Golf Club.
F&B UPDATE Sophie Owen Food and Beverage Manager I hope you’ve all had a fantastic start to 2024. The whole team cannot wait to welcome you to the Clubhouse! We have some exciting Member’s Specials coming your way and we are continuing to develop our offerings and service with all our members in mind! Our opening hours will start to increase in the coming months; we will be open 7:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Thursday, and 7:00 am to 7:30 pm Friday to Sunday starting from the 1st of February. We will also be open for all England’s Six Nations games, and we can’t wait to see you there! If there is enough interest in any of the other games, we would be more than happy to extend our opening hours.
Have a great new year everyone and enjoy the season. Stuart
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From the 1st of February through to the end of March all members ordering a Clubhouse breakfast will get any hot beverage of their choice included in the price when purchasing through their members card!
Our decking is currently undergoing a renovation. We apologize for the inconvenience but please watch this space for updates! I can’t wait for it to be ready for our members to use in Spring/Summer 2024.
Over the new week, we are moving away from Pipers crisps to ‘The British Crisp’ selection. These new crisps can’t be bought in supermarkets, so be sure to check them out! We are proud to continue our partnership with Rebellion beer, and welcomed Roasted Nuts to our selection a couple of weeks ago - please do let me know your suggestions on what to select next!
Mark your calendars! Upcoming events you won’t want to miss! We welcome your feedback and encourage you to share your thoughts. Please do stop by and say hello if you see me in the Clubhouse. Here’s to a fantastic year with lots of birdies, culinary delights, and exceptional experiences here at Wycombe Heights Golf Centre! Best wishes, Sophie
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Thank you for reading the latest Members News. Please feel free to contact us on 01494 816686
WYCOMBE HEIGHTS GOLF CENTRE RaynersAve, Ave, Rayners Loudwater, High Wycombe HP10 9SZ