Newburgh Links Monthly Tern - Issue 6

MONTHLY TERN

Green is the word! P2

Course Manager, Matty Smith updates us on the course conditions

Results and Fixtures P4

All the latest scores and forthcoming Fixtures.

Exciting Times

Exciting times at the golf club as we see the new pro shop taking shape. The transformation of the room upstairs has been quite remarkable with OGV’s workmen carrying out a full refit to an extremely high standard.

Club News P6

Kenny keeps you up to date with what OGV are doing behind the scenes

Over the next few weeks we will see new stock arriving almost daily and will soon have a pro shop that club members can be proud of.

The success of the shop obviously depends on members’ support and we would encourage you to pop in at any time to discover the range of products and services that we are now able to offer.

Our main clothing ranges for both men and women are Under Armour, Glenmuir, Sunderland and Footjoy and their ranges will mainly include the new Newburgh Links logo.

Our main hardware suppliers are Ping, Srixon, Cleveland and Titleist and we will be carrying demo/trial equipment from these suppliers which will allow us to offer a full custom fit experience. The fittings can be done using the indoor simulator and will available by appointment once all the fitting equipment has been delivered. In addition, we will host custom fit days from these suppliers, hosted by their expert fitting technicians, which will allow golfers to try out their complete range of equipment. Keep your eye on our social media channels as we confirm dates for the fitting days soon. A price match guarantee will be in place so that we can provide the best possible equipment at the best possible prices.

The simulator will also come in very handy for carrying out golf instruction, especially in inclement weather. Details of our golf lessons can be found on the club’s website and once again, are available by appointment and can be booked in the pro shop at any time.

So, young Robbie and not so young Robbie look forward to seeing you in our new shop soon and will be happy to answer any queries you may have about your game.

First Signs of Summer!

As we finally begin to look forward to the summer with longer days, Newburgh Golf Club is excited to report that we are seeing the first signs of growth and rejuvenation across the course.

It has been a long and challenging winter for everyone, but the recent changes and ongoing maintenance work show that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.

New Cutting Program

With the change in weather, we have officially started our cutting program across all areas of the course. Consistent mowing is key to maintaining healthy turf and enhancing playability, and we are glad to see the fairways, greens, and tees becoming greener with each passing day. Alongside our cutting program, we continue to apply essential nutrients across the course, ensuring that the turf has the support it needs to thrive.

Bunker Maintenance and Improvements

We have also begun tidying up the bunkers, a task which has always been high on our priority list. In the coming weeks, we plan to clear the faces of weeds and top up the sand in the bunkers to ensure consistent playing conditions. This effort should improve the overall experience for players while also enhancing the aesthetics of the course.

Construction Work at the 18th Greenside

Allan Scott, our trusted construction expert, has completed his final project at Newburgh Golf Club, and we’re thrilled with the results. The work at the 18th greenside is now finished, and once the turf has had time to knit in, it will be open for play. This is a significant improvement to the area, and we’re excited to see how it enhances the overall experience for players on the final hole.

Top Dressing and Soil Mix

Looking ahead, we have around 600 tonnes of sand ready for use in top dressing the greens, approaches, and tees. This will greatly improve turf health and consistency, leading to better playing surfaces. Top dressing is a critical component of golf course maintenance, and having this sand readily available is a big step toward achieving our goals. Additionally, we have secured a screened soil mix that will be perfect for patching up divots and other minor course repairs.

Machinery Maintenance and Greens Work

We’re grateful to have George Ross, a local mechanic, helping us with our machinery maintenance. His expertise has been a big costsaving compared to our usual bills, and we’re glad to have him on board. We have a few more machines to service, but once that’s complete, we should be set for another year. Keeping our machinery in top condition is vital, especially as we head into the busy summer months.

In the coming month, we plan to perform some greens maintenance to further enhance our putting surfaces and address issues in the top 15mm of the turf. We will do our best to keep disruption to a minimum during this process. While greens maintenance can cause some temporary inconvenience, it’s a necessary step toward ensuring that our greens are among the best in the area. Once the greens have recovered, we will carry out similar work on our tees.

Welcome to our New Members

Finally, the green staff would like to extend a warm welcome to our new members and corporate members. We are delighted to have you as part of the Newburgh Golf Club family and hope that you enjoy your experience here.

At Newburgh Golf Club, we’re committed to creating an exceptional experience for our members and guests. We recognise that the quality of our course is central to this experience, and we pledge to continue our work toward making it better every day. Our ongoing maintenance programs and upgrades reflect our dedication to constant improvement, not just during the summer, but all year round

In the coming months, you can expect further enhancements as we complete our seasonal projects and embark on new initiatives. We value your feedback and are always open to suggestions for how we can make Newburgh Golf Club an even better place to play and socialise.

As we move into the summer season, we look forward to hosting more tournaments and events, creating new memories, and forging stronger connections within our community.

Thank you for your continued support, and we can’t wait to see you enjoying the improved course conditions in the weeks to come. Let’s make this season at Newburgh Golf Club one of the best yet!

Matty Smith Course Manager

1st

The Alford Open Abercromby Cup

Results from the Alford Open on 1st May

1st

89 pts Sleeve each

3rd Dave Burness, John Finnie & Alan Murray 83 pts bih Sleeve each Nearest the Pin

2nd Hole Dave Burness bottle prize

8th Hole Nick Bannister bottle prize

12th Hole Peter Scott bottle prize

16th Hole John Finnie bottle prize

First Round Results from 9th May at Meldrum House

The gents team played the first leg of their first round Abercromby Cup tie last night (9/5/24) away at Meldrum House. The score was 6-2 to Meldrum House with the home leg still to come.

Special mention to 15 year old Kyle Marshall who was the only person to win his match outright on his debut playing for the men’s team. Well done Kyle!

The North Of Scotland Golf League

The North of Scotland Golf League is proud to present its inaugural season.

Our aim is to provide a high-level competitive format aimed at the top players male and female, professional or amateur. Details as follows:

• This will be a Scratch Event open to Pro and Amateur golfer’s male and female

• Tees for male and female players will be decided based on Course Rating / Slope Rating similarities.

• Entry Fees League - £50 Each Event - £40

• Play any day within calendar month as per league schedule.

• Must play with at least 1 other entrant. Nonleague players can accompany but pay full green fee.

• Scores submitted via the Golf Genius app.

• Course tees will be specified in correspondence for each event.

• Entry to events direct to host club: Quote: North of Scotland Golf League and Name.

• Points system to determine Finals qualifiers and Overall Winners.

Please note Newburgh is on the Schedule for September

interested should visit www.facebook.com/North-of-Scotland-Golf-League

Seniors Open Fixture List Update

Thursday 24th April - Prizewinners List

Handicap Div 1: 1-12

1 st £60 Steve Merrilees (Oldmeldrum)

2nd £40 David Bonner (Aberfoyle)

3rd £30 Kenny Lyon (NoYGC)

4th £20 David Bererton (NoYGC)

Handicap Div 2: 13-18

1st £60 Malcolm McKay (Nigg Bay)

2nd £40 Ken Johnstone (NoYGC)

3rd £30 George Manson (NoYGC)

4th £20 Calum Knowles (Aboyne)

Handicap Div 3: 19-28

1st £60 James Halliday (Deeside)

2nd £40 William Watt (NoYGC)

3rd £30 Dave Blackwood (Deeside)

4th £20 John Stewart (NoYGC)

Nearest the Pin

5th Hole £20 Wullie Dyker (NoYGC)

16th Hole £20 Ian Watt (Ellon

Membership

Good news on membership uptake!

The good news is that the number of full and senior members has now overtaken the number we had at the end of last season. Considering everything the club has gone through and the fears regarding the members we would lose I think this is an extremely encouraging achievement.

In addition to this you will be aware that the corporate membership is being added to all the time. The even better news is that several of our new members are nowhere near to collecting their pension and will hopefully be members for many years to come.

A number of our new members have asked for assistance in gaining their handicap and/ or meeting up with other members to show them around the course. In the past it has proved to be fairly straightforward for new women and senior members to be integrated to the club but our track record with younger male members has not been so successful and a number have commented that they found it difficult to make contacts.

Whilst I am happy to accompany anyone around the course and mark a card etc, I don’t think trailing around after an auld wifie is quite the start to their golfing career they are looking for!

With this in mind, I think it would be useful to have a list of names and contact details of men who would be happy to assist in welcoming our new members. If you are willing to be involved in this and agree to your contact details being shared, please send an email to clubmanager@newburghgolfclub.co.uk or give your details to the pro shop. Any other ideas/suggestions would be welcome.

Lynda Carnie

Alterations to make to the scheduled fixture list.

Following the postponement of our Gents Spring open last Saturday due to fog, we have chosen Saturday 1st June as the most suitable date to reschedule this event. The same tee times will be carried forward from 4th May and hopefully most players will be able to take part on the rescheduled day. However, players who are unable to play on 1st June will be given a full refund of their entry fee. The Dunn Challenge 2nd Round which was

originally planned for the 1st June will now be played on 8th June.

On Sunday 19th May we are hosting the North East District Championships. This is a 36 hole district event which was booked back in December and will showcase our golf course to a full field of the district’s elite golfers. Unfortunately, this means that the Seve Trophy has had to be cancelled and we will look at playing this event later in the season.

18 Holes Stableford off Yellow Tees Prizes

Dennis McGillvray Trophy for Best Home Player: Ken Johnstone ( 34points) c/b

Shop till you drop!

Unveiled! The ‘Two Robbies’ look forward to welcoming everyone to the brand new Pro Shop at Newburgh!

OnSaturday 4th May we opened the doors to unveil the Pro Shop here at Newburgh Links.

The new ‘Ping’ wall contains various components used when custom fitting for Ping golf equipment, woods and irons. As Robbie Stewart is a certified Ping custom fitter, Newburgh is now designated as a Ping custom fit centre. In the near future we hope to add Srixon as a custom fit partner too The simulator is up and working however at the moment the reuslts are a bit inconsistent, but we hope to have this up and running in the near future.

Some of you may have already taken advantage of our new Motocaddy Rental carts. These are available for hire at £18 per round (discounted to £13 for members) but more importantly will be available for members to purchase at the end of the golf season at the end of October. These are the Motocaddy M5 GPS model with a 36-hole lithium battery. The normal retail price is £999 but these will be for sale at only £599 with 6 months of the original warranty still in place. If interested in buying one of these members should contact me in the shop and they can reserve one with only a £100 deposit.

Book in for our Srixon fitting day

By Appointment Only

Our first Srixon fitting day will take place on Thursday 30th May 1.00pm5.30pm by appointment only.

Contact the pro shop to try out and be professionally fitted for Srixon or Cleveland golf clubs for both men and women.

Other News

Robbie Milligan, who is well known to everyone at the Club has now started as a full time employee and will be assisting the ‘other’ Robbie in the new Pro Shop with all aspects of the golf operation. I’m sure you will join me in congratulating him on his appointment

Scorecard Tablets

Both the competition and scorecard tablets are now up and running properly again, one in the pro shop and one in the downstairs foyer.

OGV Update

It’s been a tough twelve months for Newburgh golf club, it was around this time last year I was made aware of the financial issues at the club.

Atone point we were down to Wayne and Pauline, a poor course, no club shop, the bare bones of a kitchen, a ton of debt, no access to the bank and the potential loss of upwards of 70 members.

With a huge thanks to Brian, the greenkeeping team, Lynda, Heather, Grant, the two Robbies and the others in the committee supported by the OGV and Gidi Grill teams and members we have come a fair way in a short period of time.

The club’s reputation and standing has improved massively since the Press and Journal article, the course is in the best condition it’s been in a long time, our membership is growing, we have a great Director of Golf in Robbie and we are moving forward.

We are very well aware there is much still to do and we are not for a second patting ourselves on the back, however I believe this team of people working on this deserve a huge well done for the work they have completed to rebuild the club.

Thank you for all your support and remaining as members, without you none of this is possible.

Please keep sharing, promoting and reviewing the club. You have no idea how much this helps us.

Latest Reviews

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review!

Harry B

Caesar Salad left me feeling Giddyin a good way!

Went for my usual Sunday round of golf and decided to try some lunch from the new Gidi Grill in the clubhouse.

I went for the Caesar Salad with chicken. I think the salad on its on is £11.95 and it’s £4.50 if you’d like to add chicken.

Salad arrived within 10 minutes, with freshly grilled chicken on top - and I have to say a very generous portion as well. Beautifully prepared, with a very nice dressing, bacon, croutons and Parmesan shavings. So good... I would have licked the bowl clean but my fellow golfers would probably have complained!

This was value for money and I’d have it again and again.

Grant Leslie

The course is in amazing condition! The greens are fantastic .. and are only going to get faster!.. looking forward to getting out again soon!

Rosemary Dobson

f

Course looking great and what fabulous views. All your hard work is paying off. Well done to your team.

Jeff Bower

Excellent challenge for all levels of golfer,greens are great

Derek Ball

Great golf course, fantastic greens, stunning views and an amazing clubhouse

Bazza Clarke

New staff member!

From the Committee

A Message to the Members!

You will have received the communications regarding the Captain’s resignation. The committee have met to discuss the best way forward for the club at this time and are delighted to announce that Sam Boyle has been elected by the committee to the position of Vice Captain and will work closely with Director of Golf Robbie Stewart to ensure that the good work started by Past Captain Brian Thomson will be continued.

In the meantime, if any members would like to consider taking up the role of Captain, please contact any of the committee members or Robbie.

On behalf of the members the committee would like to thank Brian Thomson for the excellent work he did to take the club forward through a testing period and for the large amount of time and energy he devoted to the role.