Chief Executive’s Message
Dear Member,
Christmas is here
With the impressive Christmas tree now standing proudly in the Piazza, Christmas has formally arrived at the Club. We have a number of festive activities at the Health Club with a charity swim on Saturday 17th December, the Family Christmas Golf Event on Sunday 11th December, a Christmas racquets kids camp coming up and more … click here for all the information.
The racquets and golf teams have also launched their spring term Junior golf and tennis coaching programmes – click here for Junior golf spring term coaching and here for Junior tennis spring term coaching.
2023 Club Diary
The 2023 Club diaries are also available at Reception on a first-come, first-serve basis – always a handy stocking filler for some.
World Cup Football
We have the big TV screen in place to watch England play Senegal on Sunday at 7pm and, hopefully if they win, for all the future matches in the knockout stages. Treat yourself to one of our of wicked Winter Warmers while watching the game or maybe have a think about some Christmas gifts while you’re there – Roehampton Club Gin or bottles of wine can be purchased with your Annual Levy if you need to use that up before the end of this month – click here for more information
Outdoor Pool – winter opening times
The new Health Club Committee met last week and agreed upon revised opening times for the Outdoor Pool over the winter. The Board approved these revisions and the timetables can be found here.
The Committee wanted Members to be able to swim in the Outdoor Pool between Christmas and New Year but acknowledged that the operating hours should be reduced to minimise costs in keeping the pool open. The outdoor pool temperature was reduced by one degree in October to reduce energy costs also. A new indoor pool cover is also being purchased to reduce evaporation and heat loss and this cover will pay for itself with twelve months.
It was recognised that the programmes for both pools working in tandem provide the best health and wellness timetable for Members all year round.
Project Updates
Indoor Pool
In the Health Club the new doors to the outdoor pool will be open this Friday for the winter months. We need to fine tune the sensors to provide a more effective air lock which will be in place ready for the spring but we didn’t want to wait any longer for the doors to be operational. The new changing room for families who require assistance will also be open tomorrow as the new safety rail around part of the deep end will be fitted this evening. Apologies for the delay in the opening of both of these facilities.
Bicycle racks
The doubling up of bicycle racks for Members is progressing on schedule to be open before Christmas. We will also be blocking of part of the car parks over the next two weeks for a deep clean of the asphalt. Silt has accumulated in the surface over many years reducing its porosity and with ever increasing heavy rainfall forecasted in the winter months we want to ensure our car parks drain well. Apologies if this causes any inconvenience.
Drainage works are being completed next to the golf putting green following the completion of Airhall 2 and fencing works around its air plant will also be finished before Christmas.
Course Protective Fencing
Work will begin next week to paint the fencing on the 11th tee and to re-install the protective fencing around the 12th green. The Golf Committee has asked for the out of bounds delineation around the rear of the 12th green to change with drop zones to be put in without a penalty reflecting the proximity of the new netting necessary for safety reasons. White and blue posts will mark the areas accordingly.
New Projects
Solar Panels
The Club has invested in solar panels on all the roofs of our buildings with a payback calculated within four years. These panels will be fitted over the next few months aiming to be completed by the end of February ready for the sun to start shining again in March. Members will notice scaffolding being erected in certain areas to facilitate this starting with the Sports Hall and Health Club areas in December. The plan is that the Grounds areas will be completed in January and the Clubhouse in February.
Golf Practice Group
The GPG met last night to work through the latest scheme to provide state of the art indoor golf practice bays, a new Golf retail shop as well as an outdoor Short Game Practice Area ( SGPA) on the existing practice ground. This combined project will take the Roehampton Club golf provision to the next level. There are a number of planning and safety hurdles to jump over and the Board is very mindful of the Club’s financial position over the next few years but monies have been allocated as part of the Club’s Masterplan 2035 to try to build and open this exciting new facility in 2024.
Art Group Lectures and Classes
The Art Group Committee has asked me to remind Members that now is a great time to join the Art Group to take advantage of their full programme of lectures – free to Art Group members – coming up next year, plus a variety of classes for all levels of ability.
Lastly can I and all the staff wish Members a very Happy Christmas and thank everyone for your support during 2022
Best wishes,
Marc