Captain's Newsletter - 28 Jan 2019

Well, we have seen some pretty cold mornings over the last week or so and indeed the course was closed last Wednesday due to a good covering of snow! Fortunately this did not affect any of the Ladies games!

The ladies were out in force on Tuesday competing for the Aussie Pairs Competition. Multiplying your scores together can always lead to lots of laughs amongst good friends. Two pairs came in with the same score of 29, but on count back from Diane and Vicky, the winners were Julie R and Mandy. Well done to them.

Thursday saw a full field venture out to cut their Eclectic score down a bit further. Three more rounds to go and some very good scores already posted. Follow the link to see the results so far!

Last Saturday was the Ken Bird Winter League Round 9 with an Individual Bogey game against the course. Well done to Jackie Reid who brought the Ladies home with a great 1 under Par. Hopefully a handicap cut will not be too far away for Jackie!

For those Ladies interested in competitive golf outside of Chesfield Downs, the De Paula Cup details are now on the Hertfordshire Golf Union website. This is an individual Scratch tournament for those with handicaps between 12.5 and 20.4. Closing date for applications is Monday 18th March.

The final decision by the Club Committee on the New Rules of Golf as they relate to the ditch running between the 3rd and 16th holes. Stones and loose impediments may be moved without penalty, however, should the ball move in this process then it must be replaced for the penalty of one extra stroke. The change over to Red stakes appears to be almost complete. Please ensure you are aware of the ruling regarding Relief from Penalty Areas. The new paper version of the Rules of Golf are still available in the clubhouse and the R&A have a very useable Smartphone App for those of you who like to work that way.

Finishing off the January Newsletters, keep your eye out for the sign-up sheet for the Megan Bonner Par 3 Competition, which will go up on the board this week. This takes place on Thursday 21st February and is great fun! Soup and a baguette to follow in the conservatory, with the presentation of the prizes for the Winter Eclectic winners afterwards.

Take care and keep golfing!!

Margaret
Ladies Captain 2019

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Captain's Newsletter - 20 Jan 2019

Gosh what a cold but beautiful morning we all woke up to Sunday, very very cold indeed but gorgeous!! The brave weekend ladies were out there competing in their Individual Stableford Competition. Hopefully, the early morning mist didn't delay your start too much!!

Looking back on the week, we saw Tuesday's competition of 'Double off the Odds' being strongly competed for by playing partners the 'KC's!! Katy Cook that is, coming 2nd on count back from the second KC.... Kathy Carroll both on 28 points, with Lesley Bonsor, also on 28 points, who this time lost out on the prizes! Well done ladies.

Thursday was the latest round of the Winter Eclectic and on a day when my playing partner and I were tearing our hair out in frustration at not being able to achieve very much at all, I am sincerely hoping that others were more successful, I know the third of our trio seemed pretty pleased with her round!!

Over 30 ladies attended the Rules Meeting last Wednesday. For those of you who couldn't make it, the rules were delved into deeper and there we reached the issue of the rule which affects Chesfield's Ditch. Specific options were provided that we might adopt and to date we have no definitive answer to our concerns. It is a big decision and the club do not want to make any knee-jerk decisions. Having had time to reflect, I am personally in favour of abiding by the new rules of golf with regard to our ditch. Any advantage gained by playing out of the stones is minimal in reality, especially when you consider how few people prefer to do that, rather than take a penalty drop where you have more control over where the ball lands. I will, of course, keep you informed of the final decision.

An important request from Lin Goodey, our Competition Secretary. If you have, for any reason, a need to pull out of a HowDidIDo match, can you please let Lin know first before doing anything else. She will then adjust the bookings accordingly and remove your name herself. Equally, if you are looking for a game but there appears to be no spaces, once again contact Lin who will hold a reserve list and slot you in, if she is able. This should help to run things smoothly.

Finally, as generally happens this time of year, several of our ladies are flying off to warm climate for a wonderful holiday of winter sun. Enjoy every minute of your time away and we look forward to seeing you all when you get back.

WOW!! the cold certainly didn't affect Clare Breen's game who scored an amazing 43 pts, winning the day and as a result she sees a 5 point cut to her handicap!! Brilliant Clare keep it up.

Yours
Margaret
Ladies Captain 2019

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Captain's Newsletter - 13 Jan 2019

I apologise for not being with you last Thursday, but unforeseen circumstances meant I had to leave the day in the very capable hands of Rogie Taylor, what can I say..... winter bugs eh!! . A big thank you to her, of course!

It was another big field of competitors for the 2nd round of the Winter Eclectic and it appeared that the weather stayed acceptable for a January day! Good luck to you all this coming Thursday (3rd round) when I will join you and hopefully we can all knock a few more points off our score! Last Saturday saw the 7th round of the Ken Bird League when Linda and Ralph Brown came in with a great score of 42 and only 2 points behind the outright winners. Well done to the Browns!

I found this original photo of the ditch at the bottom of the 1st fairway and although you will agree it doesn't look much like this any more, the ditch that runs along a big part of Chesfield Downs is causing quite a stir!!  You will have read about the change in the new Rules that allows for the removal of 'Loose Impediments' within Penalty Areas. To protect the integrity of our particular course, it was decided by the Club Committee, that we would put in place a Local Rule to protect our ditch, meaning that no-one could remove the stones that sit there. However, it appears the powers that be i.e. the Referees are not in agreement with our ability to do this! For those of us attending the Rules Meeting this coming Wednesday, things could get interesting!! Be there if you can! In the meantime, can you respect it as you always have and leave the stones/pebbles as they are. Last week, there was some discussion about the future change to Red Stakes. Can I reiterate that it is very important that these Yellow/Red Penalty areas are played as they stand at the moment and the penalty options are taken as such.

I am pleased to say that the order of white club tee shirts for the Ladies is now in the ProShop and awaiting collection from those who ordered them. Their price is £29.95, thank you. Another order will go in at the end of the month, for any final requests, please see the noticeboard.

Congratulations to Jacky Swanson who achieved her playing handicap last week and will now be able to join us in the qualifiers. Well done Jacky.

Enjoy your golf,

Yours
Margaret Gentle
Ladies Captain 2019






         

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Captain's Newsletter - 6 Jan 2019

Well I guess by now, like our home, your tree has been confined to the bin and the decorations are safely stalled away for another year. Somehow the house looks comfortably empty and I seem to enjoy the sense of normality this brings!

The season has got off to a fine start for the Ladies Section. Hazel Brunnen was the first lady home at the Hangover Cup, coming in with a very fine score of 35 pts (with a hole-in-one on the 3rd!) and a very creditable 7th place. Very well done Hazel, a great start to your year!! Thursday's 1st round of the Winter Eclectic saw some good scores, but as we are all aware, there are those 'tortoises' who slowly chip away at their scores and will be there in the winning stalls at the very end. Others, and we can guess who they are, will come through in a flurry with one amazing round and sweep the winnings. There is all to play for ladies and hopefully 6 more rounds of decent weather to get you up there with the winners!

The Ken Bird Winter League Rnd 6 was played on Sunday and 9 of our ladies competed in various four-ball combinations. The weather whilst cold stayed dry so I hope they enjoyed their round and we look forward to seeing the final results.

The electronic diary has now been signed off and is available to download from our website. There have been a few adjustments since the paper copy went off to print which largely affect the weekend ladies, so please use the electronic diary as your bible or ask. If you are unclear how to download it please also ask.

The order for the white polo tee shirts is now with Glenmuir. If you have missed the January 1st deadline don't worry I have put another order form up on the notice board and this will stay there until the end of January for any late orders.

Raffle tickets will be available on Tuesday/Thursday/Next Weekend for the Hertfordshire Golf Union Annual Coffee Morning which will take place at Porters Park on Monday 28th January at 10.30 am. There will be a small group of us going and we will share lifts if you would like to join us, please contact me. Raffle Tickets are £2 each and prizes will include a 4-ball round of golf from a participating club. Your ticket(s) will go into the draw whether you attend or not so please 'Stop and Buy' either myself or Katy C. The money raised from the Coffee Morning goes to support the development of Juniors in the county. Thank you in advance.

Can I finally remind you that the £10 Ladies Section subscription is now due in the usual way please. Thank you.

Wrap up warm over the next few days and weeks, stay warm.

Yours
Margaret
Ladies Captain 2019

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