Chairman's Christmas Blog 2018
CHAIRMAN’S CHRISTMAS BLOG – 2018
As we come to the end of 2018 I thought it was time for another Blog to wish you all the very best for the upcoming holiday season. I’d also like to congratulate all the individual winners from 2018 and the respective teams who had a successful season in their league and cup competitions.
For those who were lucky (or skilful) enough to win prizes in the October/November turkey trots the bottles are now available for collection from the bar and the turkeys can be picked up from the club car park on Saturday morning between 10:00am and 11:30am. Please make sure you arrange for your prizes to be collected promptly!
While we have Christmas still to celebrate it won’t be long until New Year’s Eve and it is great to note that we have a sold out evening of food, music and good company to round off the year. I hope those who attended the recent Candlelit Dinner enjoyed their evening and I know that the Children’s Christmas Party was a success (well done Father Christmas). Let’s maintain and build on this momentum as we move into 2019; the social committee work extremely hard to provide an interesting programme of entertainment at competitive prices throughout the year.
Thanks to all those members who have already made arrangements to pay their 2019 fees by standing order, split payments or the whole amount. For those who have yet to pay anything, the full amount is due by 31st January 2019. Club diaries are on order and it is hoped will be available to those who have paid before the New Year (an e-mail will be issued when they’re ready).
Those of you who are linked to the club through BRS will have been inundated with updates on the revised Rules of Golf which come into effect from 1st January 2019. While this may seem like overkill, there are many changes and new rules to come to terms with, so it is better to have too much information than too little. There is information posted on all competitions notice boards and we are planning to organise a ‘Rules Night’ just before the start of the competitive season for those who are interested or prefer to receive this information verbally (we will make it fun too!).
The course has recently been re-measured and also given a new ‘Slope’ rating and a renewed Standard Scratch Score. While there are no significant changes these will be included in the new scorecards which will be ready for the 2019 competitive season. These will also incorporate the new rules (which have actually removed the need for some local rules) and will include a couple of tweaks to the Stroke Indices from the White and Yellow tees.
We raised the issue of CASC membership at the Open Forum and have subsequently been looking at our ‘Articles’ to see what needs to change in order to qualify for CASC. This work has now been completed, so we will be taking the steps necessary to arrange an EGM in the New Year and will give members more information on the recommendation and EGM process in due course.
While we were all disappointed to hear of the closure of Fishwick Hall Golf Club last month, we are really pleased to welcome a significant number of their former members to Penwortham. It has been great to see so many of them on the course already and they have quickly integrated themselves into the club (and bar). We hope they have as many happy years as members at PGC and look forward to them joining the competitions, social events, teams etc. in 2019.
As the winter weather firmly takes hold it is very pleasing to note that all 18 holes have remained open throughout and the course is bearing up remarkably well. Thanks go to Matt and his team as we reap the rewards of their endeavours. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the weather doesn’t deteriorate further and we can keep the course open throughout most (if not all) of the winter.
Finally, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2019.
Dave Brookes.
