As many of you know, it is always our intention to provide incremental upgrades and improvements to the course and ancillary facilities as our budget and cash flow allows.
With the arrival of our new Greenkeeper Gareth (and now he is pretty much up to speed with our standards and expectations for the course) we are able to concentrate a bit more on our never-ending ‘to do’ list of things we want to improve and/or replace. If you visit us during the coming weeks, you should see work progressing on the following:
Range baskets – With the increase in the large basket from 70-75 balls, Fran has done nothing but drop balls as we squeeze those extra 5 in, so we have invested in some new 100 ball baskets for you (and Fran!). Should we make any further basket size increases, we now have the option to do so.
Reinstating Bay 1 – Many of you who were with us through Covid may remember that we took Bay 1 out of operation to introduce a one-way system for social distancing purposes. We also had our bag ban where we utilised Bay 1 as a bag drop area too. With the relaxing of the bag ban rule (for the time being depending on how many balls we ‘lose’), and a need at busy times for an additional bay, we have reinstated Bay 1 as a range bay using the mat from Bay 11, with Bay 11 getting a surprise new ‘teaching mat’. Bay 11 said ‘I was overwhelmed to receive the new mat this morning. I know I am used as the primary coaching bay, so to receive a smart new mat that will help those learning with our PGA Pro’s really made my day’. I think Bay 11 is looking forward to hosting lessons!
Grass Teeing Area – We have started to cut out a grass teeing area in front of the Reception/coaching cabin so we can offer you a grass practice option. This will only be used in Summer. We will be netting this area off to ensure the safety of those using it. We are also finalising the surface for the level/flat putting green, alongside finishing off the practice bunker, both located outside the coaching cabin.
Additional Practice Green – This one may take us a little while – we are reinstating the lower putting/chipping green as an additional free facility for you to use. The green has been cut and is in the process of being nurtured back to putting green standard, so please bear with us on this one. You will need to be especially careful when this re-opens if there are members fishing down there.
And last but not least:
Pond Clearing – For those of you that enjoy fishing here, we have had some kind offers of voluntary help to clear the pond of weeds and reeds as it has become a little overgrown down there since we reinstated fishing back in 2018. Debbie from our Reception, alongside her son Brad, accompanied by fishing members Mark and Tony and their amazing assistant, Kai made headway on Wednesday night as they commenced the clearout. They got a few pegs trimmed and cleared, plus one of the platforms. They are returning soon to continue this work to make sure our fishermen can enjoy their time here moving forwards – it was a bit out of control! Huge thanks to them all for this hard work and particularly for volunteering. Debbie even made Brad go in the pond as you will see below!
