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Tonight, Thursday 18th sees the start of the Christmas events at the Golf Club. We start with the Christmas quiz which gets underway at 8pm.

Tomorrow, Friday 19th December is the Christmas Shotgun Am Am. It's a 10 o'clock start so let's hope the weather is good and all that play enjoy a good day. It will be nice to see a few Christmas sweaters and hats on show for those that have them.

Dave and Stretton getting in the Christmas spirit!

Sunday 21st is the Christmas draw and Carols Evening. Always an entertaining evening watching the Captains singing solo's!!

Friday 26th is the Boxing Day Bring and Win competition. Only 13 holes for a bit of fun. Entry is a wrapped prize to the value of £5 or more. The presentation will be held as soon as I have the last card in. Tee times from 9.00 till 10.30 can be booked now. Non-members are welcome to play.

Saturday 27th Pro's Christmas Stableford

Wednesday 31st New Year's Eve Shotgun Am Am 10 o'clock start.

The shop will be open every day only closing Christmas Day. We have some great offers in the shop if you are struggling to find gifts with many items reduced. Gift vouchers are also available for any value. If by chance I don't see any of you before can I wish you all a very merry and enjoyable Christmas from myself, Yvonne, Nathan and Natasha.

Thanks to Liz Wrigglesworth an article has been brought to my attention this week. It's one you all should read.

How Biodegradable is your rubbish?

While discarded chocolate wrappers, cigarette butts, crisp packets and plastic bottles are no doubt a blight on our wild spaces and golf courses, most are considerate individuals who are unlikely to be so cavalier with their trash. But even the sorts of waste that might be regarded as 'safe' to deposit are actually more of a problem than you might imagine. The figures below from Keep Britain Tidy show how long it can take for certain items of commonly discarded litter to biodegrade;

Plastic bag - 10 to 20 years
Plastic bottle - 450 years
Cigarette ends - 500 years!!!

Plastic based items can take decades or even centuries to disappear. But what about more 'natural' litter?

Paper bag - 1 month
Apple core 8 weeks
Orange and Banana peel - 2 years!!!

Yes, that banana skin you dropped in the bushes will still be there in over 18 months from now. Luckily the solution is simple. Regardless of what litter it is please dispose of it properly and use the bins that are provided. Look after your golf course.

Many of you often ask me about caring for your electric trolley battery. The following information should answer all of your questions. I'm sure when you read this it will make you think. The information can be found here www.motocaddy.com/batterycare.

Friday 19th December 2014 - Christmas Shotgun Am Am 10am start
Saturday 20th December 2014 - Pro's Stableford
Sunday 21st December 2014 - Individual Stableford inc Mark Hurn Trophy Qualifier
Thursday 25th December 2014 - Mid Week Stableford (Don't think there will be many in this!!)
Friday 26th December 2014 - Bring and Win. Tee times 9.00 to 10.30

Thursday 11th December 2014 - Pro's 15 hole Stableford
1st Peter Rotherham 31pts £27, 2nd Ron Newey 29pts £18, 3rd Ross Meggison 28pts £12.
2's Club - No 2's comp today
19 entries so £57 split between 3 best scores.

Saturday 13th December 2014 - Pro's Stableford
1st Kev Taylor 41pts £39, 2nd Tom Walker 40pts £34, 3rd David Hickson 39pts £30, 4th Ian Newton 37pts £24, 5th Lee Guest 36pts £19, 6th Will Jordan 36pts £17, 7th Darren Reeve 35pts £14, 8th Mel Marshall 35pts £12.
2's Club - No 2's comp today
63 entries so £189 split between 8 best scores. 4 players had 34pts.

Sunday 14th December 2014 - Individual Stableford inc. Mark Hurn
1st Adrian Rosindale 36pts £25, 2nd Shaun Prout 32pts £15, 3rd Craig Pickersgill 31pts £10
2's Club - Paul Duckworth and Craig Pickersgill £8 each

Tough conditions today in a gentle breeze!! CSS went to 75 and reductions only.

We didn't have a challenge this week as I was busy getting everything ready for the Club's Presentation Event. It is the first time we have done a presentation with all the clubs sections involved. Gents, Ladies, Seniors and Juniors. This led to myself and Yvonne having a lot of sorting out to do all morning to get everything in place and ready. It all looked great though and the event went well. Many thanks to all that turned up and made it successful afternoon. Once again all the Juniors in the club ties made it for me.

For more pictures click here to see the whole gallery.

As I'm sure most of you will have seen now the main work on shaping the bunkers on the 7th and 8th is now done. Also the re shaping of the 8th tee and the removal of the trees behind the 7th green. The next job is to get all the turf down. This is what the greens staff will be concentrating on for the coming weeks. I have had lots of very positive comments about the work that has been done and as usual the odd moan. I guess it is impossible to keep everyone happy though and like any change we shall all soon get used to it.

Leaves still continue to be a problem with work daily been done to remove them whilst the course set up every morning is been carried out. Weather permitting the greens will be slit this week.

As mentioned earlier; tonight, Thursday 18th is quiz night, there will be a Christmas theme.

Sunday 21st is the Christmas draw and Carols Evening. If you haven't got your tickets for the draw yet they are available from the bar.

There are still a few places left for New Year's Eve if as yet you don't have any plans. New Year's Eve at the Golf Club is always a great night.

Paul Gibson - PGA Teaching Professional 

Good evening everyone, I hope you were able to get out on the course this weekend despite the hard frost. I always think that golfers are a special breed as we will play in almost any conditions at any time of the day. This was certainly the case for me this week as I gave a lesson at 8am when the sun was barely over the horizon. It was quite a cloudy morning which meant the sky was lit up with some fantastic colours. Luckily Stret was around to capture the moment, which you can see it all and more here www.paulgibsongolf.co.uk