Good Afternoon,

Welcome to this week's newsletter with all the latest news from Hornsea Golf Club.

Enjoy the read.

Stretton's news

Hello and welcome again to the newsletter after a couple of weeks off due to the Christmas break etc. I hope you have all had a great Christmas and New Year and all the very best for 2018 to you all. It has been quiet though in the shop and clubhouse with the course having to be closed due to all the wet weather. Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about the weather and we find it as frustrating as all you golfers.

If you have struggled with your golf in 2017 why not take a lesson from Paul Gibson? Not only will your golf improve, you might start enjoying the game much more. He has a number of offers on at the moment so why not pop in and have a chat with him.

New Year’s Draw

Can I thank everyone that bought tickets and attended my draw on New Year's Day. Yet again it was fantastic to see the clubhouse so full. It really is a great way to start the New Year.

Please click here for the list of the prize winners.

Congratulations to all the prize winners and a big thanks to all who supported it. The prize fund was slightly down this year due to missing out on ticket sales after the New Year’s Am Am, that due to the weather had to be cancelled.

Proud Dad Moment

Between Christmas and the New Year, Emma Hanson holds a bit of a get together for her golfing friends with many ladies and gents playing in a fun competition over 18 holes. Despite for years me trying to encourage my daughter Natasha to play, it has been like pulling teeth. She used to come to junior lessons with me many years ago, but was never really that interested despite me telling her and showing her how good she could be.

Well during the summer Nathan encouraged her and Claire from behind the bar to go practicing on the odd evening. Now I couldn’t quite believe it when Emma asked them to play in her competition, but with Nathan and Jonny Fisher off they went to play 18 holes. This was something I wished for but never ever thought I would see. Well done Natasha, you made your mum and dad very proud as you teed off on the 1st. Here are a couple of sneaky pictures that were taken of her and Claire teeing off!

Captains’ Changeover

New Year’s Day also saw the changeover of Gents Captain with Allan Scarlett handing the reigns over to Rees Brown. Rees in his acceptance speech sounds like he has some fantastic ideas and it would be great if all the members fully supported him. Well done Allan and good luck Rees. Here are a few pictures from his Drive-In. He was dressed in full military kit which was in recognition of his time spent serving in the Army. Trust me he did well to swing the club at all with the weight of the hat! He was also joined by the Ladies Captain; Sue Howell and Junior Captain; Will Marshall.

During the Drive-In there is always a prize ball for whoever manages to get it from the dozen or so drives that are hit. This year it looked like they all had great fun with a few serious rugby tackles going on! Alan Hood though was the one that found the marked ball and this was the first presentation Rees had to make in his year.

Yearly Weigh In

After the draw and drive in we held what is now becoming a bit of a tradition each year with 18 people taking part in trying to lose as much weight as possible. The next weigh in to find out who has won will take place after the Masters shotgun on Sunday 8th April.

Good luck to all and remember the winner is who loses the most percentage weight overall.

European Tour Fantasy Race To Dubai

It’s back and I’m running a Hornsea league again. If you want to enter please follow the link below. To join the Hornsea Golf Club league and enter the £5 sweep with prizes for the top 3 final positions you need this code.

Code: KsAYRxOSE9

Link: https://fantasyrace.europeantour.com/

Mid Week Stableford 21/12/2017

Christopher Stephenson won with 1 birdie and 11 pars, beating Alan Beaumont by 9 points.

1st £25 Christopher Stephenson 46pts
2nd £15 Alan Beaumont 37pts
3rd £10 Darren Reeve 35pts

2s Comp – Only one 2 today worth £16. Well done Mike Brooke.

Pro's Christmas Stableford 23/12/2017

35 entries: prize fund £105.

Ross Meggison won with 1 birdie and 9 pars, beating Stephen Fawcett in a card play-off.

1st £31 Ross Meggison 40pts
2nd £27 Stephen Fawcett 40pts
3rd £20 Tom Walker 39pts
4th £15 Jim Clubley 38pts
5th £7 Tony Barron 38pts
6th £5 Tom Elder 37pts

Stewart Shaw also had 37pts, but just missed out on the last 9.

Mid Week Stableford 28/12/2017

Mark Barrass won with 1 birdie and 5 pars, beating Adam Watts by 1 point.

1st £25 Mark Barrass 32pts
2nd £15 Adam Watts 31pts
3rd £10 William Marshall 31pts

No 2s today. Conditions were a little difficult!

Christmas Am Am

What a fantastic turn out there was for the Christmas Am Am this year with 27 teams taking part. It was fantastic to see so many people getting in to the Christmas spirit by dressing up in all sorts of fantastic Christmas outfits. We had everything from great Christmas jumpers, brussel sprout trousers, elves etc. I must give a special mention though to Chris Grubb as he really did make a great effort in his attire and gave everyone a great laugh. Exactly what he was dressed is hard to explain!

1st £70 each, Rich Tucker, Andy Fox, Sam Middleton, Luke Robinson
2nd £50 each, Andy Giles, Alan Hood, Paul Sharpe, Jim Jeffries
3rd £40 each, Harry Woolfall, Joe Allenby, Phil Wright, Nathan Wright
4th £30 each, Paul Lockwood Jnr, Andy Lockwood, Ian Lockwood, Sharon Cane
5th £20 each, Josh Neve, Ian Neve, Will Jordan, Neil Jordan
6th £15 each, Leigh Gawley, Rees Brown, Joe Palmer, Rob Osborne

Ladies £40 each, Barbara Teal, Tracey Worsnop, Emma Hanson, Ginette Evans.

Boxing Day Bring & Win Results

We had the usual fun on Boxing Day with 30 golfers bringing a wrapped-up prize and hoping to take something home better than they brought. This worked for some, but definitely not all! It is quite funny what some people bring. Alan Hood was this year’s winner with a great score of 30pts over the 13 holes that was played.

As he stepped forward with all 30 wrapped prizes to choose from, after much deliberation he reached for a really nice wrapped one. A nice bottle and a pair of Christmas salt and pepper pots which I have a feeling might be coming back next year as his prize!

Thanks again to all that played. It is always a great event.

New Year’s Eve Am Am

Due to the terrible weather for pretty much the whole week before, this event had to be cancelled. Such a shame as the time sheet was full and it is always a great event.

Greens Report

Click here to read Gareth's report for November & December.

Booking Times

Can I just ask that if you have a time booked and you decide not to play can you please either cancel it online or let us know well before that you no longer want the time. We have had a few occasions recently when the time sheet is full and members have not turned up for their time. This is frustrating when we have to turn others that want to play.

Use Of Trollies In The Winter

I know at Hornsea we do not have a trolley ban but it does surprise me how many are still taking trollies with big bags on when the course is so wet. I’m sure some if not most of you at this time of year whilst just playing friendly golf can carry half a set of clubs in a small bag. You would stay much warmer and not walk anywhere near as far if you gave it a go. It would also help your golf to try and experiment playing different shots with different clubs. In fact I’m sure some of you would probably score better.

We have a few members in their 80’s that are doing just this and carrying it puts a lot of younger members to shame. For those that do take trollies and blatantly ignore the ropes you are spoiling it for the rest. A full trolley ban is not something we want to introduce but if you do not abide by the ropes this might well have to happen. Remember the idea for the ropes is to protect the sensitive areas for the summer. Nobody likes to have to play delicate shots from muddy bare lies.

Ride-On Buggies

Can I just make it very clear that the reason for us not allowing ride-on buggies at times is due to the fact that over the last two months the course has been so wet due to the weather that you would probably get stuck. On a couple of occasions when there has been a hard frost first thing maybe they would have been ok, but who can tell when the frost would give and the course become boggy again making it again far too soft, slippery and dangerous for the ride-on buggies.

It isn’t just here that ride on buggies are not being allowed to go, but it is most courses all over the country. In the end it is the weather that is causing the problem and the problem will go away when it stops raining and everything dries up. This winter so far has been the wettest we have had for a long time.

Upcoming Competitions 

Saturday 6th January – January Stableford
Sunday 7th January – Individual Stableford including Mark Hurn Qualifier
Thursday 11th January – Mid Week Stableford

New Year’s Eve

For those that attended the New Years Eve function at the Golf Club I’m sure you will all agree that it was one of the best functions ever held at the Golf Club. A massive congratulations to Sam and all his team. Everything from how the room was set up, the entertainment and the fantastic food was first class. It was a great way to celebrate the New Year. Here are a few pictures from the night of which the ones of the food don’t really do it justice.

Burns Night

Now I know Sam has some plans for other functions in the coming year, but the next one will be Burns Night on Friday 26th January.

More details are to follow.

Paul Gibson Blog

Please click here to see Paul's blog.