Captain's Newsletter - 16 December 2019

Wow! What a week it has been for the Ladies Section of Chesfield Downs! The weather was certainly not going to deter us from enjoying some golf and a great deal of fun!! After playing our Christmas Greensomes on Thursday, in what can only be described as horrid weather, the ladies came together to enjoy mince pies and nibbles, but more importantly to provide our two visitors with a cheque each for their Charities. Sue Barnes from Tilehouse Counselling and Sharn Tomlinson from MIND in Mid Herts were thrilled to collect the amazing sum of £3,000 each for their great charities, and shared with us the support this money will help to deliver locally. The Ladies Section had throughout the year, emptied their cupboards and provided almost another £3,000 worth of clothing and goods for the local MIND shop. These are two very worthwhile charities providing vital support to adults, young and old, struggling with emotional difficulties and we have all been very proud to support them.

On Friday evening, many of us got out our sparkly tops and dresses to come back to the Club and enjoy a great night of eating and dancing as we joined in the fun of one of the many successful Christmas Parties. It was a really good night so do join us next year if you missed out this time around!

The last full week of golf before Christmas acknowledges how busy everyone is and provides a relaxed calendar for the ladies as far as the course is concerned. A practice round on Tuesday and a fun team event (Coloured Balls) on Thursday, weather permitting, are all that is planned. However, the club is running its annual Christmas Jumper event on Monday 23rd, details below, for all those not rushing around for the final shop or visiting relatives! Enjoy the fun, if you can, that is!!

A final reminder about the Club EGM on Wednesday 18th at 7pm, please do support the Club Committee if you possibly can.

As many of you will be aware, two of our dear friends will be tying the knot over the Christmas and New Year period. One, far away in New Zealand in mid January and the other in Kimpton just before New Year. We, of course, hope Nikki and Tina have a great day on 29th and that in New Zealand the sun shines on Pauline and Kereyn for their special day(s) in January. We will be thinking of you all.

More formally and thinking of the year ahead, a poster will be up on the board in the next few days regarding payment for the Away Weekend at Staverton Park. If I could ask you to send payment to Pat W as soon as possible please. Thank you.

So, this is my final newsletter! 😢😢😢 I have (somewhat weirdly) enjoyed sitting down on a Sunday morning to put these together, almost every week, and hope you have enjoyed reading them. Thank you once again for being such great group of ladies. Whilst I am looking forward to my role next year, I will certainly miss being your captain, but know that Rogie will be a Great Ladies Captain for 2020!

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to you and your loved ones.

Margaret Gentle
A very proud Ladies Captain for 2019

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Captain's Newsletter - 9 December 2019

Competing in a club v club competition can sometimes be daunting and especially when it is your first time out in the raspberry colours of the Pearson Squad. Matchplay is great fun but when you are out there on your own, it can sometimes feel a very different matter! Karen M wasn't going to be deterred though! In her first time out, in the Chesfield Pearson colours, Karen was to come in with a great win against Dyrham Park last Wednesday. Julie P used all her experience to win her match too and with dogged determination, Marica took her opponent to the 20th hole before finally losing her game. The final result of losing 5:2, doesn't portray the closeness of many of the other matches. A great effort ladies, well done! Katrina Douglas' talk on Sunday 16th February at Chesfield Downs, on the mental aspect of the game of golf, will be interesting and useful to hear, so please do check out the sheet on the noticeboard to reserve your place.

Last Thursday saw the annual team challenge of the Captain v Vice Captain Matchplay game. It was really nice that Bev Hattersley was able to present her trophy and also brought a huge amount of satisfaction, that as Captain, I was able to receive the cup on behalf of all the ladies in my team! This is the first time in six years that the Captain's Team have won, so well done everyone and thank you! This year's game had to be moved to the Par 3 course, at the last minute, as the main course was covered in a blanket of early morning fog! The fog was finally to lift and a fine morning of golf was enjoyed by everyone. The two rounds were finished off with a much needed tea, coffee or hot chocolate and cake in the conservatory. Thank you everyone who supported the match.

Next Thursday will see our Christmas Greensomes being played. There is still room on the tee sheet, if you are free so please do sign up. Sharn from MIND and Sue from Tilehouse Counselling will be joining us to receive their cheques. It would be lovely for as many of you as possible to meet the two ladies from the charities that you have all supported so generously throughout the year, so please do join us.

Friday 13th is party night, so please make sure you have sent your money through to Pat and have brushed off your dancing shoes!!

You should have all now seen the notice for the EGM on Wednesday 18th December at 7pm. The Club Committee have carried out a thorough review of the Club Constitution which we would like to formally adopt with your approval. Please do come along and support your committee. Thank you.

As we start to adorn our homes with Christmas Trees, lights and decorations, the cards start to fall through our letter boxes too. As in previous years, can I suggest that, like many of you do already, instead of exchanging cards with one another, we support a charity that is close to our own hearts.

Enjoy the last few rounds of golf before the Christmas break!

Yours
Margaret Gentle
Ladies Captain 2019

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Captain's Newsletter - 4 December 2019

Golf isn't always about winning, of course, it's also about having fun! Here are the 'smiley' ladies who played against the Men on Sunday, in our annual competition. Their smiles cover the disappointment felt by us all over the very convincing win the men had! We really do need to find a way of levelling things up after seven years of losing to them! (Apologies to Wendy M, who had to run off before this photo was taken to see to her domestic heating problems!!)

Last week the weather got the better of most of the golf with both Tuesday and Thursday being largely washed out through the rain! Well done to those few ladies who, nevertheless, battled through it and got in some good practice holes. Better weather is forecast this coming week so we should be ok for the Hattersley Cup on Thursday. If you have forgotten your tee time, the start sheet is now on Intelligent Golf.

Lin has done some very valuable work for us on Ig around pairs and team games and how we sign up. See below....

Pair and Team Competitions will be displayed on start sheet as single slots in the tee times. Therefore ensuring solo ladies are able to book in, as well as those who have partners. Once sign up is closed, conversion takes place to create the Pairs and Teams as displayed on the start sheet. Hopefully this has resolved the issue with Christmas Greensomes, which now reflects those changes. Your patience is appreciated as we all come to grips with migrating to IG.'

As you can imagine the whole process of getting us organised onto Intelligent Golf has been a huge job for Lin and on behalf of us all, I thank her for her efforts. The initial set up has opened up issues that were not necessarily evident at the beginning. Having said that, once this first year has been worked through, the system will simply replicate this, year on year, thus saving a lot of work going forward.

On Intelligent Golf, you will see the sign up for the Christmas Greensomes, along with the rules of the game and a mention of the after game gathering in the conservatory. I have ordered mince pies and tea/coffee and I am aware many ladies bring along a few nibbles too! Don't forget it is a time to dress-up if you wish, so brush down that Santa outfit and get ready for the fun! The two CEOs from MIND in Mid Herts and Tilehouse Counselling are planning on attending to receive our cheques too. Hopefully a photo opportunity for the local paper - might be in order!!

Good luck to the Pearson Squad playing on Wednesday against Dyrham Park at home. Let's hope we can beat them on home soil!

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

FINALLY, THE CLUB COMMITTEE WILL BE CALLING AN EGM ON WEDNESDAY 18TH DECEMBER AT 7PM., TO PUT BEFORE YOU ALL, THE NECESSARY REVISIONS TO THE CLUB CONSTITUTION, FOR YOUR APPROVAL. I know this will not necessarily be high on your agenda, particularly at this time of year, when other pressures on your time take over. However, if I can ask you to spare a few minutes of your time to attend, it would be much appreciated. We promise to keep it as short as possible. A further notice about the EGM along with the revised Club Constitution will be sent out to you all via Ig.

As the year comes to a close, I propose to write one more newsletter before the Christmas break and then will be handing over to Rogie for 2020!!

Thank you,
Margaret
Ladies Captain 2019

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