MARCH 2023 - CAPTAINS COMMUNICATION NUMBER 3

GENERALLY

I’m pleased to say that the promised weather improvement did materialise, and we have been able to get back to some competitive golf on the full greens. Let’s hope this continues throughout the remainder of the winter months and we can also get on to the main tees soon.

CLUB CALENDAR – MARCH 2023

I attach the current MARCH 2023 Club Calendar. As you will see March is a very busy month with the re-start of Senior CBL matches and the start of the Seniors friendly matches together with the main club CBL matches starting on 25^th March, as well as of course all the ongoing men’s club competitions, and the ladies events.

If you wish to play in any of the competitions, then please simply follow the normal process for entry. Specifically, if you wish to be considered for Seniors CBL matches, please contact Steve Sargeant and for general Seniors friendly matches please contact Dick Pooley.

Also, we are proposing to hold the delayed Seniors Champion of Champions Trophy on Tuesday 28^th March, depending on course conditions, for which a separate invite will be issued. There will still be a seniors roll up on the same day for those players who are not in the trophy event.

CHARITY QUIZ – 17^th MARCH 2023

If you have not already done so and you wish to attend, please apply for your tickets for the Charity Quiz Night being held on 17^th March. I attach a further copy of the poster.

SUMMER PAIRS AND SINGLES TOURNAMENTS

The entry lists for the Club and Seniors summer pairs and singles tournaments are posted in the changing room. If you wish to enter and have not already signed up, you need to do so on or before Sunday 26^th March.

FEBRUARY MENS RESULTS

Congratulations to Mark Richards for his excellent win in the February Stableford with 39 points and to Sunil Soni for his great win with an incredible 46 points, in the Seniors Monthly Stableford.

COURSE UPDATE

The course overall is coming out of the winter months in pretty good condition, and I have been advised by Mark Tubb that he will be producing a greenkeepers update soon, highlighting the ongoing work particularly for the early spring period.

In this connection a number of us have offered our assistance in repairing/filling divots and helping to repair some of the badger damage. If you are interested in helping with these tasks, please let me know using my contact details.

COURSE ETIQUETTE

One of our targets this year is to continue to improve general course awareness and course etiquette. In this connection there is a small box of credit card sized handy cards on the bar at the club entitled PRGC ‘The 10 most important golf etiquette issues’ You may not agree these are the 10 most important but hopefully it is a good starter for 10! Please take your copy and hand them to your guests and always maintain personal good etiquette. Please spread the word that etiquette is important and hopefully this will help to keep our course in good condition and our play at an enjoyable and consistent level.

MIXED PAIRS SUMMER ‘ECLECTIC’ 2023

I will be separately issuing the details of the Mixed Pairs Summer Eclectic very soon. This will be the second year of this competition which proved successful last year when the winners were Liz France and Mike Smith. Please look out for communications relating to this.

COMMITTEE ASSISTANCE

I am pleased to advise that we have one new volunteering member who is potentially going to assist the Committee. However, we are still looking for further assistance and so if you are able to volunteer some of your time to help, please contact either Steve Sargeant or me for further information.

BRUCE LOOME – PGA PROFESSIONAL

We all want (and need!) to improve our golf and we are lucky to have the services of Bruce available. If you wish to use him, please use his contact details displayed in and around the club house or contact him via the clubhouse team.

I did say it was going to be longer, but I do hope you found it useful. Of course, if you should have any related comments and/or queries please feel free to contact me or any of the Committee Members, and we will do our best to assist you.

Al Bowyer

26^th February 2023

We have started to receive some lovely messages about our Stan.  Please send any thoughts about Stan or messages of condolence to Contact Us and we will compile them for Joan and for a new section of the website we are creating to remember our members.

"Stan Ramsey; part of the bedrock on which our Club was formed. His sense of responsibility, and his strength of character is unlikely to be matched. Without the energy and integrity of people like Stan we might have been a golf course - but we wouldn't have become a Club. We owe him a great deal."

Brian Fowler

It is with great sadness that we must announce the passing of Stan Ramsey.  Stan was PRGC to the core; an absolute gentleman, funny and always generous with his time.  We loved Stan and offer our deepest condolences to Joan and the family.  What an innings though! and on his 90th birthday, cool as a cucumber, he smashed the ball, straight as a dye, down the middle of the first - that's our Stan - absolute legend!
And its not that easy to avoid the hedges when everyone is watching - as ex-Captain Craig, pictured with Stan, will testify 🙂

RIP Stan

Funeral details to follow

For those unable to come in person to the funeral, the webcast details are below:

Webcast details for the service for Nigel Kenny at 10:00 on Friday 10th February, at Chilterns Crematorium Milton, run by Wright Funeral Service are as below.

Watching webcast live

Webcast details for the service for Nigel Kenny at 10:00 on Friday 10th February, at Chilterns Crematorium Milton, run by Wright Funeral Service are as below.

Watching webcast live

Dear members,

Clubhouse Internal Winter Improvement Plan

Just a quick heads up; we are close to completing the refurbishment of the Princes Suite.  Feedback from members and visitors has been incredibly positive and a big thank you for all of your comments!

Room hire charges for events are per hour and very competitive for non-members:
Princes Suite - £30 + vat daytime and £50 + vat for the evening...
Banqueting Suite - £60 + vat daytime and £100 +vat for the evening
Orangery - £20 + vat daytime and £40 + vat for the evening

And FREE if you are a member!
... if you a member at PRGC and getting married or celebrating a big birthday event you can hire one of our function rooms for free - this is a huge benefit versus other clubs.  We are a very social club and also offer discounts on events for family and friends, so please don't hesitate to ask 🙂

Clubhouse External Winter Improvement Plan

Again, just a quick heads up; we are mid way through tidying up the area as you exit the course, including providing a new location to clean your trollies and shoes.

In short there are 3 stages:

1. A tidy new bin area capable of housing all of the bins (Bay 2)
2. A new, spacious shoe and trolley cleaning area (Bay 1)
3. A newly paved and tidied area where the old shoe cleaning area used to be

These areas have been prone to untidiness over the years and we are determined to put that right this year.

Dear PRGC Members,
I am striving to improve communications from your Committee and this is the first of my intended monthly updates to you all.

In this communication I have firstly attached the details of this years’ Members Committee which includes a number of important changes as Barry Woledge, Neil Martin and Doug Taylor all stood down after many years of sterling service.

These changes mean that we have 2 vacant positions, namely Competitions Secretary and Treasurer. If any of you are at all interested in helping the Committee and/or assisting with either of these roles, would you please make contact with me or Steve Sargeant so that we can discuss the options with you. In the meantime, Steve and I will do our utmost to cover these important roles.

The second attachment is the current January 2023 Club Diary. If you wish to play in any of the competitions then please simply follow the normal process for entry.

Should you have any related comments and/or queries please feel free to contact me or any of the Committee Members, and we will do our best to assist you. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

And finally, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and healthy 2023 together of course with some great golf!

Best wishes
Al Bowyer

Congratulations to the winning teams!!  Love Texas Scrambles – always the most fun event of the year, where a mixture of talents can all make their difference!!