Well where has this year gone. I can't believe we are in December already. Don't forget we do gift vouchers for any amount if you are struggling to find something for Christmas. Other than being a little damp we have got away with the weather this winter so far too. Let's hope it continues.

Have any of you ever looked on the Hornsea Golf Club website at the 'Member's Privilege' page. There are some quite good deals on there for being members of Hornsea Golf Club and maybe not a bad place to advertise on too.

The Club has been without a junior organiser for quite some time now and Paul Gibson has some great ideas on how we can take the juniors here forward. His blog this week will be about the juniors. They really are the future of the club and at the moment we have some fantastic youngsters coming through. They are an important part of our club. If anyone would like to help with the juniors could you please have a word with myself, Yvonne or Paul.

    
Click to watch Albert, Alfie and Harry Anderson teeing off

Course update

This week the work on the 7th, and 8th has started. Fineturf are with us again and as in the previous years I am amazed at what the digger driver can do. He can do in half a day what would take the rest of us weeks. He really is very talented. I shall try and take plenty of pictures. A few that will go on here but most will be on the club website under news then gallery or keep your eyes on the Twitter feed.

Have your say

Can I please ask that if any section of the club or member has anything of interest that could go into this newsletter to please contact me. I need the information on the Tuesday morning before it is published on the Thursday.

Guess who?

Always nice to see a members photo in the paper. This picture is from a while ago though. I just wonder if any of you can name the person back left??

A piece of history

This week I managed to look at an old Hornsea Golf Club hand book. Brian Coates brought it into the club. I am trying to get a few copies reproduced as it is very delicate and Brian wants to keep it. It is from 1949 and has some really interesting photos and old plans of the golf course. If I manage to get some copies made I shall let you all know.

On a serious note

Quite a few people have been reported to me this week for ignoring the ropes. They are put down for a reason. If you can't carry your clubs please do not take your trollies over the ropes. If you see anyone doing this please have a word with them. We don't want a full trolley ban but if this keeps happening it might have to be the case. Let's not let a few spoil it for the rest. There are a lot of people using trollies also that I'm sure could carry. Please think about your course.

We are still waiting for quite a few of you to get back to us regarding the presentation event on the 14th December. If you have received an invite as a prize winner please contact us as soon as possible.

Saturday 6th December 2014 - December Stableford
Sunday 7th November 2014 - Individual Stableford inc Mark Hurn Trophy Qualifier
Thursday 11th December 2014 - Mid Week Stableford

Hull & District Golfing Association
Next event is at Withernsea 22nd January. Hornsea lead the Victor Hurdle Cup by 2 shots after the first part of the season. There is now a new website to keep everyone up to date with what's going on. www.hullanddistrictgolf.co.uk  

East Riding Golf Alliance 
This week see's the last event before the Christmas break. I shall report on how our team of Steve Uzzell, Sam Middleton, Andy Fox and Mark Cooke got on at Hainsworth Park next week. All results and information can be found by looking at www.eryga.co.uk

Thursday 27th 2014 - Mid Week Stableford
1st John Thackray 36pts £25, 2nd Darren Reeve 35pts £15, 3rd Tom Walker 34pts £10.
2's Club - No 2's
Can everyone please remember to return their cards even if it's a no return.

Saturday 29th November 2014 - Club Stableford
1st Lee Guest 40pts £25, 2nd Adam Fell 40pts £15, 3rd Leigh Gawley 37pts £10
2's Club - Pete Frith, Garry Murdoch and Jiggy Giles £22.30 each

Sunday 30th November 2014 - Individual Stableford inc. Mark Hurn
1st Alan Scarlett 39pts £25, 2nd Nathan Wright 37pts £15, 3rd Darren Stead 35pts £10
2's Club - No 2's
Terrible entry for this competition again this week. Can those that play on a Sunday please support the competition. It was changed from a better ball to an individual as that was the request from the members.

No Captains challenge this week but with it been so nice I decided to have a game. I soon got made up and partnered Willem from behind the bar against John Barnes and Jiggy Giles. What a laugh we had and a great game too. Myself and Willem where always up against it as both John and Jiggy played very well. In the end we lost 3 and 2. John and Jiggy at the time where about 10 under better ball!! I must mention though that I could not believe how many pitch marks I had to repair. I found myself doing at least 6 on every green. If everyone that played did just one we shouldn't have any.

Captaincy

Keith Marshall's year as Captain is coming to an end, and he has done a super job representing the Club and its members throughout the past twelve months. It is a great honour to be the Captain of our Golf Club and Alan Barker is now preparing to take the reins on New Year's Day.

We are now putting together a list of prospective candidates for Captaincy for the next few years. So what does Captaincy mean?

• Free membership for the year
• Jacket & Tie provided
• Bursary to cover additional expenses
• A chance to meet and play golf with the Captains of the Hull & District Golf Clubs
• Courtesy of the course at most courses throughout the country
• Host Captain's Weekend
• Raise money for charity and the Club
• A chance to get involved in the 'business end' of the club
• Attendance at Board Meetings and committees
• Pre-booked courtesy tee time each week
• Chair of two members' meetings
• Play in the Pro in Captain's Challenge matches

Contrary to common belief, it is not an expensive year, but you do make many new friends for life! Do you want to put something back into your club? Or does one of your playing group tick all the boxes? If so, please let Stretton know and one of the past captains will have a chat with you or your colleague about all the positives, and allay any concerns you may have! It is a great opportunity

If you have not seen it this is Gareth's November greens news.

Green's News - November

Another very busy month for the green staff with regular maintenance and small winter projects taking place. The planned redevelopments to the 7th and 8th holes were delayed on several occasions due to wet weather. This will delay the completion (returfing) of works into January 2015.

The greens continue to be slit on a weekly basis but have also been solid tined recently. The 12mm tines punch to a depth of 200mm, the other half of the green will be tined once the existing holes have healed.

The tees have been solid tined twice this month, again to improve water movement through the soil and the exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen in the soil.

The fairways were slit tined to a depth of 275mm, and will be tined again in the New Year.

The greens have received an application of fungicide to cure a small outbreak of disease. Tees and approaches have also been sprayed but with a worm suppressant and iron to reduce the amount of castings.

At the start of the month all ditches where cleared of weed and leaf litter to aid water movement on the course. Leaf collection is ongoing with only a small number of trees left to shed their remaining leaves.

We have removed a small number of trees, some of which were stunted and hadn't developed and others before they become a problem (ie poplars). So far tree work has been carried out on the 2nd hole and around the men's 4th tee. After due consideration the Board and I felt that for the health and continued improvement of the 3rd green, the removal of the Leylandii (4th tee) was paramount.

Paths; we are currently working our way around the course weeding the path edges.

Finally, all ropes and hoops have been put out on the course. Buggies and trolleys must not be taken inside the ropes or between bunkers and greens

Please repair your pitch marks.

Gareth Williams, Course Director 25 November 2014

Rainfall 2014: November 53.5 mm
Year to date 658 mm

Please see the Chairman's notes regarding catering. Club presentation event Sunday 14th December 4pm start. Christmas Quiz 18th December. There will be a prize for the best fancy dress. This is optional.

Catering

We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused during the unscheduled changes in the catering department at the Club. Normal service will be resumed in the very near future, with improved restaurant dining menus.

Paul Gibson - PGA teaching professional

This week's blog includes tales of my trip to London, food markets, giving blood and a truly inspiring workshop on how to get juniors involved in the game of golf... read more by clicking here 

The New Year's Eve Party … is on!

Celebrate the New Year with friends and family at the Golf Club. A fabulous all-you-can-eat buffet meal with disco and dancing for only £19.95 each.

Bar open until 1.00 am. No price hike - Normal prices at the bar!

Strictly limited to 80 places.

First come first served, sign up on the sheet in the lounge ASAP.

If anyone is planning a golfing trip abroad, we can highly recommend a late Autumn visit to the Vilamoura region of the Algarve in Portugal. Four Hornsea members travelled at the start of November, playing five of the Oceanico courses in Vilamoura. All the hard planning and preparation work was done by Paul Duckworth, saving hundreds of pounds on agents costs. He booked a luxury four-bedroom villa neighbouring the Pinhal Course directly through a private owners website. This allowed direct contact with the owner who was extremely helpful.

RyanAir flights from East Midlands were 'budget' as advertised, although the cost of transporting clubs was over the top! A great alternative was to hire sets of 2014 clubs that were picked up at Faro in the arrivals lounge at only 60 Euros for the week. Less than half the price of taking your own!

The arrival at Faro was amazing, with luggage and clubs collected, and 9-seater hire-car picked up within 30 minutes of landing!

Golf tees had been arranged for 10.00 am each day, and there was absolutely no waiting! In fact on two occasions early starts were possible. Without rushing around on courses never played before, four hour rounds were played each day. The Old Course was voted as the best of the week, with the Victoria and Pinhal close behind. Laguna and Millennium had lots of water and some of the most amazing course-side villas to look at! Five excellent rounds of golf at very welcoming clubs, all within 2km of the villa.

 
Martin Rowbotham, Lindsay ward, Paul Lockwood & Paul Duckworth
on The Old Course, Vilamoura

The Marina area of Vilamoura was extremely quiet at this time of year, and therefore the nightlife was limited - so some Euros came back home. However, the pool at the villa was warm enough for a dip each evening after golf and each person had a turn at being 'chef'. A walk on the beach on the day off was a welcome change from the golf, and warm enough for shorts even in November!

The overall cost, including spends, was significantly less than an all-inclusive to Belek, Turkey. Great golf on super courses. Good tee times and no queues. Highly recommended!

Paul Lockwood.