Good afternoon and welcome to my weekly newsletter.I hope you all had a good Easter weekend.
It was great last Friday to see so many golfers playing and enjoying the first really nice day of the year. Shame it didn't last!! It was also great to see so many gents attending Paul's group session. They all looked to be having a great time. Such a fantastic way to pick up a few tips and help you improve your game and only costs £5 for a session. You do not need to be a member to attend.
Gents sessions are on Friday morning's 9am start. Ladies sessions are also on Friday morning's 10:30am start. Finally the after work up club is back up and running Wednesday night's 6:00pm start.
I hear a lot of people talking about custom fitting of golf clubs these days. I know at Hornsea we do not have a monitor or screen but I for one would much rather hit a ball from grass and see with my own eyes what the ball has done. Hitting off a matt into a screen and relying on what the numbers say is not for me. It is also very easy for the operator of such equipment to manipulate the results so you end up buying a club which makes them the most profit. You have been warned. We have everything here at Hornsea to do fittings for every club. Putters, wedges, irons and woods can all be done here. If you would like a fitting please book in the shop and we will be happy to find you the best clubs for your game.
What a great job Andy Reed has done again over the Easter weekend removing the stumps from around the 7th tee. It has left quite a bit of work for the green staff to do but I'm sure it will look great when it is finished.The plan is to extend the path and put a turning circle for trollies and buggies at the end a little like the gents back tee on the 3rd.
We didn't have a Captains challenge last Sunday with it being Easter but I did have a game. What a great game is was too. Richard Pace and I took on Jonnie Fisher and Rees Brown.
Yet again I lost on the 18th!! That is 3 weeks in a row now!! We all played some great golf though with never more than a hole in it. Highlight of the round for me was knocking my 2nd shot on the 8th to within inches of making an albatross. Oh and Rees playing his 2nd shot on the 11th from near the ditch on the 14th!
PREFERED LIES
I know it says on some of the notices around the clubhouse that preferred lies/winter rules finishes today. Well due to the weather conditions this will be extended until April 30th. This is something that I think we shall do every year from now as it is a recommendation from the England Golf.
PICTURES FROM THE COURSE
Can I thank David Blanchard for sending me these fantastic pictures that were taken at about 7.30am on Sunday morning. As I have said before I would love to receive more.
ROPES AND HOOPS
By the time you all receive this hopefully the ropes and hoops will have been removed. Can all members that use trollies or ride on buggies please make sure you don't take them between bunkers and the green. This really is just general etiquette but it is amazing how many people do this. If as members you see anyone doing this over the summer months can you please tell them.
PING FITTING DAY
There is only 1 time left now for the PING fitting day for anyone wanting a fitting for new clubs. I shall also be there with Paul if anyone just wants to come and have a try to see if the clubs perform better than your own or just want a bit of advice. Please note the practice ground will be closed whilst the fitting day is going ahead but members wishing to practice may use the area between the 1st and 18th.
LONDON MARATHON
It is another week nearer and Caroline has been very good and not eaten any Easter eggs as she now only 3 weeks until the marathon starts. Please support her by clicking here.
Thursday 24th March - Midweek Stableford
1st £25 Lee Guest 37pts, 2nd £15 Ron Newey 36pts, 3rd £10 Allan Scarlett 36pts.
2's Comp - Tom Walker, Dave Blanchard, Mark Edgar, Alan Barker all with 2s winning £6.25 each.
Saturday 26th March - Pros Stableford 65 entries. Prize fund £195
1st £41 Danny Norton 42pts, 2nd £35 Ron Wainman 39pts, 3rd £30 Dave Hill 39pts, 4th £25 Mark Tunstall 38pts, 5th £20 Will Marshall 38pts, 6th £17 John Thackray Snr 38pts, 7th £16 Darren Jefferson 37pts, 8th £14 Ian Sizer 37pts.
2's Comp - No 2's Comp today.
Saturday 26th March - Ladies Saturday Medal
1st Wendy Lockwood 88/13/75, 2nd Caroline Barker 91/13/78, 3rd Dianne Cross 114/34/80.
Sunday 20th March - Individual Stableford inc Mark Hurn Qualifier
1st £25 Dave Blanchard Snr 34pts, 2nd £15 Andrew 'Jiggy' Giles 34pts, 3rd £10 Martin Champs 33pts
2's Comp - Brian Clark only person winning £18.
Sunday 20th March - Junior March Stableford
1st Sam Clubley 32pts, 2nd Will Marshall 31pts, 3rd Matt McDonnell 28pts.
Tuesday 22nd March - Lady Captains Charity Vase
1st Wendy Lockwood 88/13/75, 2nd Patsy Yeates 101/25/76, 3rd Angela Clappison 87/10/87.
Saturday 2nd April - ERUGC Millennium Stableford
Saturday 2nd April - Ladies Saturday Medal
Sunday 3rd April - NPFA Shield
Sunday 3rd April - Junior April Medal
Tuesday 5th April - Ladies Medal and Medal Winners
Wednesday 6th April - East Riding Alliance Championship
Thursday 7th April - Hull and District Association Presidents Day
TUESDAY CLUB
For those that want to play in the Tuesday Club the first week starts on Tuesday.
Please click here for more details.
HORNSEA PAR 3 COMP
We still have some tee's available for this event. 9am shotgun start on Sunday 10th April. Let's see who can become the Par 3 Hornsea Champion and walk away in the Jacket. The sheet is available outside the shop.
GREENS NEWS - MARCH 2016
Like many other courses in the area Hornsea fell foul of the bad weather. With over 75mm (3") recorded during early March with periods of heavy rain and snow. Consequently the course reached saturation point and ultimately course closures were essential.
The poor weather also influenced maintenance week. Low ground temperatures and cold winds would not aid recovery of an aggressive aeration plan that we had in place. However we began with a verti cut of the greens to thin the surface to allow the sand dressing to filter any thatch build up. The approaches were hollow cored with 20mm tines to a depth of 75mm, with the intention of improving the soil profile. Once completed the cores were removed and used to cover the stumps around the third competition tee. The greens (10 tonnes) and approaches (20 tonnes) were top dressed with straight sand and brushed into the surface. The greens were then solid tined with 8mm tines to a depth of 150mm aerating the root zone. Another brush and roll finished the process. A granular feed called Coldstart was applied to kick-start spring growth. It also has a high iron content (8%) to enhance colour and desiccate any moss on the greens.
The tees have also been aerated with 12mm (175mm depth) tines to alleviate any compaction and top dressed with approximately 45 tonnes of medium coarse sand to improve drainage. Once brushed in they were then fertilised with a granular feed called Sierrablen 28:5:5. It is a controlled release product lasting 5-6 months.
More recently many thanks to Andy Reed for his time and effort around the 7th tee in removing the stumps and landscaping the area. This was completed with little or no cost to the club.
Rainfall March 2016 89.5mm
Gareth Williams,
Course Director
Paul Gibson's Blog
This week's blog consists of the following: A wonderful birthday, a sad loss to local golf and a matter of days until The Masters.
Please click here to read.
