Captain's Corner


At the AGM on November 24th I was honoured and felt very privileged to be elected Club Captain and I should like to thank everyone for all the kind words of support.

The course has managed to soak up the rain from a very wet December and unlike many other courses in the UK members are still able to enjoy playing golf on proper tees and normal greens. Sometimes it is easy to forget how lucky we are to be members of Weston super Mare golf club!

 Our New Years Eve Party was a fantastic success and I should particularly like to thank Steve and his team of caterers for a first class buffet and Amanda and Josh for providing the bar facilities. Jacqui Hall-Scott, who has volunteered to be our Events Co-ordinator this year, booked Jason King to perform and he was brilliant!  Thanks Jacqui for all your help and thanks also to Alison Whitewood for providing the table decorations and organising the very amusing 'New Year Resolution' game!!


Seniors Snapshot

As we go to press the Seniors section activities are well underway, our annual changeover being the 1st November. A superb Christmas Lunch attended by over ninety with Captain Trevor and Professional Mike as our guests, started the year with fun and style.
Monday competitions are now in full swing with the first of many coveted trophy events coming up soon and matches against the Juniors and the Ladies are already arranged. Incidentally, we haven't been challenged by the Men's section – some excuse about having to work to pay our pensions – but I think they are more worried about our tactical experience and downright cunning and can't face losing!
When the spring newsletter is published we will have begun the first of forty plus inter-club matches that will take us through the remainder of the year interspersed with major events of which more later.
Add to the above regular friendly roll-ups and social activity and you can see what a busy and lively section we are. If you are 55 or over and get £2 - yes £2 - per year pocket money you can join us. We don't mind if you are working blokes - just don't talk about it!
Enjoy your golf and the Club
Frank Burns
Seniors Captain

From the Lady Captain




We are looking forward to a full and exciting year of golf in the Ladies' section. Our two Alliance teams are ready for action and we shall be entering teams in the scratch foursomes, the handicap foursomes, the Centenary Plate, The Mail on Sunday and the Rogers Cup. There is a fair amount of social and mixed golf on the calendar and we hope that these competitions will bring all sections of the Club together, and will be well-supported by the ladies.





WESTON'S TOUR TO SPAIN

 Weston super Mare Golf Club's inaugural mixed pairs tour to Spain took place last weekend with 32 golfers travelling to play in the competition.  Antequera, thirty miles north of Malaga, was a very challenging golf course featuring both narrow fairways and very fast greens.  Individual winners were Dave Garrett and Tilly Ferrari. The daily pair's winners were Carol Harris and Dave Garrett, Alysia Rees and Freddie Ferrari and Carol Harris and Freddie Ferrari.  John Whitewood, Club Captain, said ' The tour was a fantastic success and much of the credit is due to the hard work of tour co-ordinator Bobby Ferrari.

 A wonderful weekend was capped by David Dodgson who scored a hole in one on the notoriously difficult 18th hole.

 The weather was great and Antequera is as difficult a golf course as I have ever played................. but I cannot wait to play it again!'

John Whitewood
Captain

June Newsletter

Weston Golf Club hosted its annual Captain's Charity Day on May 14th and there were a record number of team entries with over 200 players taking part in the event. The total sum raised for Brainwave was in excess of £6k, which was an absolutely fantastic achievement, and I should like to thank everybody who supported the day.

Many congratulations to Freddie Ferrari who won the Richardson Trophy with an impressive 65 (gross 70). Freddie, who was last year's Junior Captain, won on count back from Chris Evans and Nick Cook who are also both past members of our successful junior academy. Paul Turner won the Pentagon Trophy with a very credible 65 (gross 82). Sue and Dave Radcliffe, who have been the Club's Junior Organisers for the last 3 years, won the Mixed Greensomes Open with 42 points and have qualified for the Claude Lalonde quarter finals along with Pam and Ian Hudson, and two visiting pairs from Came Down and West Wilts.

Another junior in the news is Nathan Bateman who recorded a record breaking gross 63 in last week's junior competition. Congratulations Nathan!

All our teams have been involved in club matches. The First team have played 2 matches and remain unbeaten. The Second team have won two matches including a 5-0 win over Bristol and Clifton and lost two matches. The Avalon team have won 3 matches and are currently lying in second place in the league table.

 A wet and windy Wednesday at Clevedon was the setting for a convincing victory by the Ladies Rogers Cup team against Lansdown and this took our Ladies team into the 3rd round of the competition.  The team were well supported by the Lady Captain and caddies and cruised to victory with a convincing 6-1 score line.  Good luck in the next round Ladies!

The Seniors have returned from another successful tour to France where the overall winner was Nigel Long. Well done Nigel!

Tim Rees, Vice Captain, and Alysia Rees, Lady Vice Captain, hosted another very successful Club night, which was followed by supper in the clubhouse and they plan to hold further club nights – see the notice board for details.

 

June and July Golfing Events

June and July are very busy golfing months and please find listed below the major events –

07/06/2008 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
08/06/2008 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
09/06/2008 Seniors Championships
10/06/2008 Ladies Championships
14/06/2008 Excelsior Cup
15/06/2008 Dawn Shotgun Start
21/06/2008 Captain's Day
29/06/2008 GRAND ATLANTIC TROPHY
05/07/2008 Medal
06/07/2008 Bader Cup
08/07/2008 Lady Captain's Day
12/07/2008 4BBB Open
26/07/2008 Stableford

Social Events

19/06/2008 Quiz Night
21/06/2008 Captain's Day, which includes Paul Barrington's golf show, barbecue and music from Dave Radcliffe and band – please add names to the list on the notice board and buy tickets from the bar.
05/07/2008 Summer Ball – tickets are available from the Secretary's Office.
17/07/2008 Quiz Night

 

With every good wish

John Whitewood
Club Captain

Closing thought-'What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive" – Arnold Palmer

 








Award for Junior success

5th June 2007

NATIONAL GOLF FOUNDATION AWARD FOR JOHN POOLE AT WENTWORTHJohn Poole

Junior organisers, volunteers, teachers and PGA professionals all gathered at Wentworth during the BMW PGA Championship for the annual Golf Foundation Presidents Awards for the heroes of grass roots Junior golf.

As Justin Rose – who played in events run by the Golf Foundation as a boy – geared up for his title challenge outside, Wentworth's Ballroom provided a fitting backdrop for the Foundation's annual ceremony. A packed crowd of VIP guests heard eight remarkable stories of commitment to grass roots golf as Golf Foundation President Ken Schofield CBE presented the eight awards.

Mike Round, Chief Executive of the Golf Foundation, said: "These are the people who put in all the really hard work. We try to provide the tools they will need, but without their efforts, nothing would happen. All of the progress we have made through 2006 would not have been possible had it not been for the commitment and enthusiasm of the teachers, Club volunteers and PGA professionals running junior development programmes at the local level."

The Gallacher Award for the volunteer of the year was presented to Mr John Poole, a member at Weston-Super-Mare Golf Club, who made an outstanding contribution to junior Golf development in his local area. John created a regular coaching programme that sees over 60 children given weekly coaching, he encouraged the Club to reduce Junior membership fees significantly and organised the training of more than 20 junior golf leaders who now support the PGA professional.

The citation delivered by Mike Round, prior to the presentation of the Trophy by Ken Schofield CBE, was as follows:

"John, has made an outstanding change in Junior golf development at his Club and local area. Using his past experience in the development of Badminton in his local area, John has driven a project that has given 100's of young people the opportunity to play golf and has re-engaged the Club in the local community through outreach work and positive promotion. Changing perceptions of the Club and of the game itself in the locality.

His key successes:

*         Submitted a successful 'Awards for All' application in 2002 that gained support of £4,212
*         Established links with the local sports college, school sport partnership and partner schools and the
          local technical college
*         Helped deliver Tri-Golf Outreach sessions in 12 primary schools
*         Helped the club become the first in Somerset to obtain EGU/ELGA GolfMark standards and implemented               the Local Authority"Child Safe" programme
*         Created a regular coaching programme that sees 60+ children coached every week
*         Encouraged the Club to reduce junior membership fees significantly
*         Introduced a Junior Player pathway mapped to Junior Golf Passport criteria to stimulate retention and 
          make clear the pathway into golf  for young people
*         Introduced codes of conducts for Juniors / Parents and Coaches
*         Created a volunteer base of 20 trained junior golf Leaders to support the coaching of the PGA Professional  
          as well as a mentoring programme for adults / older juniors
*         Adapted the practice ground to 4 short holes to ensure younger children could access playing opportunities
*         Helped grow junior membership from 40 to 100 in 3 years.