Men’s Golf Captain’s Blog
A little late but I wish you all a very happy new year. Let’s all hope that we can look forward this year to being rid of Covid restrictions and we can fully enjoy what Roehampton Club – in particular, the golf section – has to offer.
I wish to take this opportunity – as it’s my first blog of the year – to welcome a number of new Members to the Club. You will have had, or soon will have, your Golf Induction from one of the Golf Professional Team along with receiving information about the Men’s Golf section from Russell Gooding, the Men’s Golf Committee Member responsible for new Members, and from Louis Laville (Golf and Games Assistant), who works alongside Tristan McIllroy in running golf at the Club. I look forward to meeting all of you in the coming weeks.
Last week I went through the golf calendar for the coming year, and it confirmed what many of us know: a lot of golf is played by the Men’s and Ladies’ sections seven days a week, far more than most other Clubs. The amount of play, and the local ground conditions, underlines the work of our greenkeeping team to maintain the course to its high standards, and the responsibility of all Members to do our bit to look after the course when we play. Our joint efforts over the winter – especially caring for our greens – will pay dividends when the golf season gets truly underway in the spring.
4-club competition
While the major competitions are a few months away, last weekend saw the annual 4-club competition played in what was pretty miserable weather. While some of the field called it a day after nine because of the weather, a good number of Members battled through with Justin Thesiger (a Member of the Men’s Golf Committee), playing off 10, winning with 39 points. Alex Milward (15) was in second place with 37 points, and Justin Colver (8) in third with 36 points. Congratulations Justin and well done to everyone who played.
Justin’s choice of clubs was a hybrid, 7-iron, sand wedge and putter. I played with a 3-wood, 6-iron, pitching wedge and putter – and scored just 24 points.
Captain and Pro 4BBB Challenge Matches
The schedule for this year’s series of challenge matches has now been published on the Men’s golf noticeboard. In aid of Regenerate, my chosen charity for my year of captaincy, Members have the chance to take me on, playing with my Pro partner – in most instances Ricky Pharo. Should I and Ricky secure a win or a half, the challengers pay £30 to Regenerate but should we lose I pay up. I best start fine-tuning my game as the first match is scheduled for 6th February.
The series runs through to mid-September with matches being held on Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons (not every week however). Dates for matches in July and August will be confirmed in due course, once I know my holiday plans. If you would like to play, please sign-up via the Men’s golf noticeboard.
Winter Foursomes
The competition has now reached the quarter-final stage, with all matches required to be played by 13th February. Click here to see the knockout draw and who is still in the competition.
All results must be entered into IntelligentGolf. Any results not entered via IntelligentGolf could result in your team being disqualified.
Men’s Invitation Day
A few Members have asked me whether we are having an Invitation Day this year. The answer is yes, and it is scheduled for Saturday 28th May. While it’s still a few months away, please pencil in the date and we will share details in the coming weeks.
Golf Dates January and February
Our first Club Roll-up (mixed) of the year takes place on Saturday 16th January. Please sign-up via IG if you wish to play in future Roll-ups. Sign up opens one week before the date of the Roll-up. As I’ve said previously, while the weather isn’t ideal at this time of year, it would be good to see more Members enter the Roll-Ups.
And we have these other competitions scheduled over the next 6 weeks:
Men’s Stableford: 29th January
Club Roll-up (mixed): 30th January
Club Roll-up (mixed): 12th February
Alan Scott Trophy (mixed): 19th February
Happy golfing everyone …