PR GC Captains End of May 2024 Message.

Fellow Members;

I hope you are all enjoying the better, warmer weather that is now with us, and let us hope it continues into the Summer.

Most regular players are well aware of the Competition "cut off" dates, but if you have not already made arrangements to play your adversaries, you only have six days left for the first/preliminary rounds.

The Course is looking in sparkling form, and the majority of people I talk to, are pleased with how it is playing. The management have purchased several new items of machinery including a fairway mower, and this has massively improved the time scale for keeping the fairways short. Many of the greens have been "verticut" and this will pay dividends very shortly. The new apprentice, Tom, began work on the 8th May and I would ask you to say "hello" and make him feel welcome, when the opportunity arises.

As usual, my reminder that we all need to protect our course, by doing the regular things "rake bunkers, replace divots, and repair pitch marks" and of course courtesy to all our greenkeeping team, who are working hard to make our golf as enjoyable as possible.

Results.

April 15th saw a Texas Scramble played between mixed teams from both PRGC and eleven service veterans from my On Course Foundation Charity. The weather held off reasonably well and a really enjoyable day was had by all concerned. We will try and arrange a further date for the vets to come to us again later in the year, and it should be noted that two had travelled from Herefordshire.

April 23rd, St. George's Day, was a great success and Al will be putting it as a regular event on future calendars. We had more than thirty players including several from our Ladies Section who all played a simple stableford, but with only three clubs and a putter! The overall winner was our Pro Shop Manager Luke Viney with 40 points, closely followed by Melinda Pooley with 39 points. Everyone enjoyed the Roast Beef lunch and it was great to see some former players and members join us for that. And of course a St. George's Flag was flown for the whole day, on the new flag pole.

Mens Away Trip 7th/8th/9th May to Staverton Park Hotel & Golf Club. This away trip had not been held for a number of years, but again turned out to be a great success. Twenty-three male players took part, including four guests from Ayrshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. This large hotel with over 240 bedrooms was a great venue and guests were able to avail themselves of the spa and swimming pool, as well as the golf. All players were put in mixed teams each day with the results as follows:- Away Week Champion - Pete Smith with 97 points, Runner Up & Guest winner, Simon Stinchcombe with 96 points, Third on count back Mark Stinchcombe with 92 points and fourth on count back Neil Terry with 92 points. There were also daily prize winners and team prize winners and nearest the pin and nearest the pin in two winners. The golf, food and cameraderie were all superb.

Other Results:-

Men's April Stableford - Graham Blackwell with 40 points. Seniors April Monthly Club Stableford - Mike Smith with 39 points.

May Men's Club Stableford - Robert James Curness-Blane with 42 points.

Grandads' Cup - Pete Smith (again!) with 41 points, & the Rocking Horse!

Mike Jefferson Memorial Trophy - bogey competition - Neil Martin with plus 5.

Well done to all our winners.

Future Events.

Friday June 7th - Captains Charity Quiz Night, with questions organised by our very own Al Bowyer. Tickets are now available from Sarah and staff at the bar, Sue Pomeroy and myself. All welcome. Teams of 4, 5 or 6 and ticket cost £17.00 each.

Saturday June 8th - The Club Monthly Stableford.

Tuesday June 11th - Seniors Monthly Club Medal.

Tuesday June 25th - Septugenerians And Octogenerians trophy match. (more details to follow.) Including Lunch.

And both Seniors Friendly matches (Dave Orford) and CBL matches (Steve Sargeant) continue almost every week. With CBL matches in particular Steve has asked me to put out an urgent call for players with an 18 HCP or less to come forward and offer to play; we need twelve players for each match, so please contact Steve directly {svsargeant@aol.com} or through myself.

Please also look on the notice boards in the Men's changing room for further events and up to date details of our board competitions.

Finally a gentle reminder that all your Committee members and organisers are fulfilling these rolls on a voluntary basis and need to be treated with respect and courtesy. A smile and polite chat go a long way!

Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy your golf.

Kind regards

Dick Pooley, Club Captain.

mob. 07785 996511, land 01494 269615, email "richardpooley5@gmail.com"

Al’s June Calendar! Lots and lots of great golf!!

Jack (and the course)… loving the new investments…

The club have also invested in a premium Toro ProCore aerator with huge capability to help transform the health of greens, tees - even fairways. This amazing machine can aerate up to 10 inches deep and that can make all the difference.

Stuart Green, BIGGA’s head of member learning, explains why aeration is a vital tool for maintaining the health of golf greens.

To understand why aeration is critical to healthy turf, it is essential that the golfer understands that the roots of grass don’t grow in soil. They actually grow in the air spaces between the soil particles.

On putting greens, the aim is to move water away from the surface as quickly as possible. On soil greens, that can be quite difficult but the requirement is to keep the surface in contact with the sub surface.

That means aerating at all different depths. The more that can be done, the more effectively water can be moved away from the surface.

Keeping the surface dry has the benefits of better quality grass, reduction in disease and disorders, such as moss, and increased all year round playability.

What are the benefits of aeration?

Compaction relief and improved surface performance
Better penetration of water and air
Fertiliser/nutrients delivered into the root zone
Improves soil structure
Improves rooting capacity
Longer use of the surface – increased playability all year round
Releases toxic gases from the soil
Increases shoot growth

Short term the new machine will play a key role in Jack's expert plans to verti cut, solid tine (to 10 inches), top dress, feed and over seed.

For the winter, his process will combine with our chalk base to allow our greens to increase playability all year round.

Happy days and well done Jack and team!

Sarah perfecting the new healthy air fryer snacks!

WAGS – Nat adds large cod and chips to menu!!

Bruce Coaching – June Groups Sold Out – Book now for individual lessons

Bruce's group lessons have proven as popular as ever and June's sold out at Glastonbury pace! Watch this space for the next batch of group lessons in August and please register for interest if you wish to reserve a spot. Please book individual lessons as normal and please remember...

'Backward Chaining' as a coaching process, from a Class A Pro, is proven to be more effective than the old styles of coaching
The more you understand your swing, the better you get, the better you get, the more you enjoy it!
As members you pay £25 vs £35 for non members (plus 6 for 5 offer - £125 for 6 x 30 minute lessons)
These lessons are great value - Bruce can achieve this price because the club take zero commission on his fees