This a much delayed new captains log for which I apologise and promise that more reports will follow with more frequent regularity.
Following the very well attended AGM and a colourfully related Drive in by our roving Website manager, come Photographer, come Reporter Greg Harper, I have experienced great support in my new role from everyone in the club. From the members on the committee including the two Pauls to various ex Captains like Alan Charlton, Don Johnson and Jonathon.
The combination of sound advice and tongue in cheek sarcasm reminds me of why have remained a member since 1997.
Muddy Medals
Various Muddy Medals, Bogeys and Turkeys have been fought over since that Drive in. However it is getting less muddy and less cold as we approach Springy March when proper Cutworthy Competitions will abound. So look out you winter ‘free rollover’ bandits, 45 points may not be so easily found!
On the topic of bandits, a group of them were encountered from Cheshunt and despite valiant efforts from our men one of our teams was beaten in the Gordon Forster. However we still have a shout as the other team, Lovers, Paul Wilson, Steve Durman and Dickie managed to get the better of Huntswood and will be facing the might of Haste Hill this Sunday. Best wishes to them.
Dark December
Dark dreary December was lit up by another fantastic quiz hosted magnificently yet again by our quiz masters Andy, Eileen, Sinders and the very patient Stef! The atmosphere was welcoming and warm, the questions were tough but the food was hearty and comforting, especially when washed down by a nice drink. A great time was had by all but a last place prize should be included so I have a chance to win something!
The less said about Flu and Mud ridden January the better, however Big Paul Wilson and the lovely Tanya (I think she’s quite patient as well) were beavering away planning what was a great New Years party in February. Sadly I was unable to attend due to a family commitment. Hopefully it will ensure a good Sundhu presence on Captains day which is on Sunday July 19th.
A big well done and thanks to the Vice and Tanya; the club needs these events.
Dates for your diary
Captains Day at Chingford Sunday July 19th Captains Away day at Abridge Golf Club Friday August 21st Forest Cup Saturday September 12th
The new season is now
in full swing after this weekend’s April Medal, so I thought it a
good time to reflect on recent activities at the club.
We announced that there
would be no increase in the subs and the Corporation of London also
decided to keep their fees the same too. Hopefully this will
encourage all 2018 members to re-join in 2019, if they haven’t
already done so.
Our last remaining team in the Gordon Forster Bowl took on Trent Park, home and away, and in some exceptionally windy conditions managed to sneak a 2-point win thanks to some half-decent golf from Mr Knight and myself and some great scrambling from Mr Lovney and Mr Charsley. It also helped that their away team had a stinker. Next team up Haste Hill – see later in this report for news.
Prizes
We had the new golf
rules presentation and prize giving night at the club which was well
attended. After Bryan (and Terry) had finished with their rules slot
the evening was taken over my Mr Burns and his inimitable style.
What then happened was a procession of Don Johnson and Paul Wilson collecting all of the prizes for the next hour and a bit, with Dick Charsley collecting a fair few too. People commented how well he did in his Captain’s year going against the trend of previous Captains who didn’t win much in their year. Meanwhile his Vice Captain for that year won nothing for the first time since he joined the club………………., just saying.
Big thank you to June
Rymer for organising all of the food that evening, as she didn’t
get a public thank you at the time – she put on a great display which
was enjoyed by all!
Eight club members headed off to play the Ryder Cup course in Paris, via Le Touquet, and came back with wind burn from the gale forces experienced whilst out there and a tinge of disappointment that the Ryder Cup venue courses didn’t play as well as they looked on telly last year.
C’mon Chingford
We had our pre-season
opener Greensomes competition, taking over the old Shelton Trophy,
which by design introduced new players to this format ahead of the
Clapham Common. After an outstanding performance by John Hall and
Kevin Wright they took the spoils with 44 points – we could do with
that from a pairing this weekend against The Epping!
Speaking of which the
Team Members for this comp have been selected and pairings chosen –
an email will follow. The first 3 pairs will play the Epping
scorecard and the next 3 the Chingford scorecard. Come on Chingford!
Sadly, at the weekend just gone our adventure in the Gordon Forster came to an end with a disappointing away performance seeing the team go out against Haste Hill. Both their home players shot 36 points which makes it very hard to keep up with them anyway but unfortunately, we didn’t match that at home and our away performance was disappointing (me having a shocker around the greens!). Never mind, we go again next year!
Bingo!
The
next event at the club is going to be a BINGO Night on Friday 19th
April – hosted by Max and Jessica Lawrence (thank you Guys!) –
with a chance to win some cash prizes, Easter Treats and put some
money behind the bar and in my Charity pot! So far, we have had over
25 people express an interest in attending – it would be nice to
get as many of you as possible so we can give out more prizes so
please let me, or Kevin know if you will be coming. We will open up
from 7:00’ish and the BINGO will start at 8:00. I will provide a
few nibbles here and there but please either bring your own food (we
can order a big take-out if people want to) or eat before coming.
Watch out for a follow-up email from me/Max after we have finalised
everything!
That’s it for now
Happy Golfing, let’s beat the Epping and House!
Apologies all for the
late report, Xmas and January have gone past in a blur and before we
know it we are now in mid-February and the main season is not far
away!
Before I report on the club and Captain’s activities I would firstly like to express my sadness for those whom the club has lost this last year.
Richard McKenna
Tony Capocci
We are a small club now
and any loss is felt deeply by those that have lost former fellow
members and friends.
In addition to those
that we have lost there are other current and ex-Members going
through their own private battles with health presently and on behalf
of the club I send them our best wishes.
December
December was another
difficult month for Captain and Vice in our pursuit to claim
victories with only one achieved in the month versus Johnson and
Alvey. We haven’t played together much since due to circumstances
of availability so I am sure we will come back strong for when the
main season starts!
We had our Xmas Texas
scramble on the 15th of the month which was a well turned
out event in what was bone chilling weather! Thank you to everybody
that stuck with it – there was a pause after 9 holes but we saw it
through. Three teams were evenly matched and my team had Simon and
Bruce who hadn’t played for months, lol. We came last but Dickie’s
winning team graciously gave the day’s winnings to the Captain’s
Charity so all was good in the world!
That very same evening
we had a very well attended Xmas quiz night (including some welcome
new faces) with the famous fish and chips supper. A great evening
was had by all and Jim’s team of 24 won by a landslide. Only
kidding, the team had 12 members.
January
Xmas came and went and
it was nice to see some new shiny equipment on the tee when we got
back out there playing again! For once that didn’t include me!
Well the brand new stuff doesn’t come out until February so I will
wait until then, lol.
Weather, illness and
alcohol play a large part in January being a difficult month to get
regular fourballs together and an experiment with changing the tee
times due to lack of early daylight sees mixed reviews.
A new local rule for dropping the ball caused controversy on its first day when Don drops from behind a bush and promptly holes out his next shot – you cannot make this stuff up! The February committee meeting will sort this out!
Chingford put in two
teams for the Gordon Forster Bowl – a Public Courses winter event –
and 2 pairs take on Basildon home and away whilst another 2 pairs
take on Cheshunt Park home and away.
A disappointing away
performance at Basildon meant that one team sadly bowed out but the
team of Knight, Margrave, Wilson and Lovney prevailed over Cheshunt
and go into the next round to face Trent Park.
Our traditional New
Year Party was held in January with the theme of 80’s music and
fancy dress for those who were up for it. Unfortunately the numbers
on the night were not as high as hoped but those who did attend
(thank you!) had a great time. Can those who attended that took
photos please send them in to Greg so he can put them on the website?
Despite this custard pie I am determined to get as many events going this year as possible and will be announcing a Friday night Bingo event soon – watch this space (thank you Max and Jessica for volunteering to get involved!). Also (with assistance from Gary Knight) there will be a wine tasting and food tasting event to come also. Please get in touch if anybody else would like to get involved in helping with any other events.
As your club Captain
whilst I am doing many things this year on behalf of the club and its
members as is the tradition of the role I am also doing a number of
events to raise as much money for my chosen charity as possible.
This weekend just gone I, with a work colleague, ran the London Half-Marathon around the Olympic Park in Stratford in not very pleasant conditions in a time I was very proud of.
With a number of you graciously donating to my charity I managed to raise over £500 for this event alone – thank you! Not moving quite so well today it has to be said though!
I have emailed you all
to let you know of the change of date for this year’s annual
Dinner/Dance – 19th October. It will be held at West
Essex Golf club and further details will follow. I want to plan for
this as best as possible so please get in contact with Major or
myself to confirm your attendance or not.
The next club event
will be Prize Giving night and this will be on Friday 8th
March from 7pm onwards. I deliberately didn’t win anything in 2018
to make sure I was fully focused on handing out the prizes!
Next report will follow
at the end of March after we have played our new Club Greensomes
Trophy event.
So fresh from the drive-in Captain and Vice are up for their next challenge – bring on Wilson and Lovney. After a really tight match on the front 9 (not) Captain and Vice only lost 6&5 and to their credit Lovney and Wilson barely mentioned it at all throughout the round or afterwards! Whilst the hammering was justified Captain and Vice managed to win the back 9 and the birdie count to end up not losing any money! We might have mentioned that!
Next up was the match of the season so far – Charlton and Risby. Throughout last year Dickie and me could not beat them so I was determined to do so this time. What an extraordinary match it was with 3 out of the 4 players featuring in the top 3 of the medal competition overall – net scores of 67, 69 and 70. Eagles and birdies galore, great banter – the scores went backwards and forwards throughout but Captain and Vice prevailed with a whopping £9 going into the Captain’s charity as a result.
The following week Captain and Vice had a trial separation so Major could attend a 6 day wedding event!
Welcome Event
Next up was the Captain’s welcome event at East Herts golf club – thank you all for coming along to the event and a big thanks to my PA Gary Knight for organising it. With just one unfortunate drop out on the day 23 players went out into the misty lands of Buntingford to try and claim the day’s glory. After hitting the first tree off the first tee I did not have high hopes for my round but thankfully I ended up scoring a birdie out of the bunker on the last to ensure my golfing day ended well. Well done to Lovney and Knight for the best scores on the day and to Hall and Charsley for the NTP awards – all of you kindly donated your winnings to the Captain’s charity to the tune of £95 – thank you! The food and drink provided was excellent and I look forward to going back there at some point in the spring/summer for a cheeky round if anybody fancies it with me.
Stags
On that very same day – already full of cottage pie and apple crumble Captain and Vice crowbar’d themselves into their best dinner suits to attend the Gentlemen’s Stag Dinner at REFGC to support their new captain Gareth Davis. 5 courses later (and a few glasses of something nice) and we were fit to burst! The magical entertainment provided was excellent and gives us an option for our Dinner Dance next year – to be discussed at next committee. Thank you Gareth for your invite and company and to your Vice Ron too.
Something Different
The weekend golf was something a bit different for us all in that we ran a team competition based upon best 2 stableford scores on each hole, aggregate scores on the par 3’s. With a little bit of re-jigging to accommodate the 3-balls we managed to get the rules clear and this well attended friendly competition was thoroughly enjoyed and by pure coincidence the Captain’s team of Rymer, Risby and Parnell came out victorious with a cracking score of 98 points. 3 other teams (2 3-balls) came in second with 92 points. We will be running new comps like these in the New Year instead of Dev Stablefords until the full season starts again in April.
Last up for the month for Captain and Vice was Bandit Parnell and Ralgex Smith. Having got off to a winning start everything looked comfortable for Captain and Vice with some good scoring and the front 9 was taken. Unfortunately Captain and Vice forgot that Bandit Parnell gets 300 shots and he used every one of them to steal the last 2 holes and take the overall match. Ralgex Smith came alive on the back 9 too, particularly after the sun came over the yardarm….. well played Gents.
So Captain and Vice have 1 win and 3 defeats to their name so far – work to be done to restore some pride in December starting this weekend!
Other news and Events Update
I have sent out an email regarding needing more names for the Texas Scramble on December 15th so please can anybody else who can play let me know ASAP. For the quiz on that same day please make sure that Bryan knows that you are coming and what your food order is please.
The next key event is our New Years Party on January 26th – Major will be reaching out to everybody to get provisional numbers – tickets will follow. We will be having an 80’s theme so a chance to dress like you used to – or still do in some cases!
After the AGM on Friday evening attended by Gary Knight and a few others only (;-0) I was sworn in as the new Captain of Chingford Golf Club for the years 2018/2019. Major was also sworn in as Vice-Captain and thus Chingford became a club run by Northerners probably for the first time in its history! Ha, beware! Continue reading Captain’s Drive In 2018→
New captain Dickie Charsley got his year off to a great start. He hit a fine drive with the ancient club out of dubious lie. His friends and fellow members arrived in large numbers to join in the celebrations. And the speeches, prizes and bangers and mash went down a treat.
Just a quick thank you to everyone who supported me on my Captains away day at Brookmans Park yesterday.
From the kind emails I’ve have received since, coupled with the many positive comments throughout yesterday, I think we can say the venue choice was a resounding success. Continue reading Captain’s Away Day→
My year as Club Captain is now in full swing and already we are entering its second quarter, time does go fast in this role but I’m really enjoying it.
Happy New Year and here’s to a great season in 2016.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who attended last weekends New Year Party at the Club. The feedback has been extremely positive and personally I was chuffed with how it turned out.
We had over ninety people enjoying themselves with still over fifty of them not wanting to leave by the finish time of 1.00 am. Continue reading Captain’s New Year Blog→
