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Men’s Golf Captain’s Blog

Captain and Pro 4BBB Challenge Matches

In very windy conditions, the first of this year’s series of challenge matches took place on 6th February when Ricky Pharo and I took on Richard Lurcott (a past Captain) and Colum Murray.

 

A cracking first match, with all of us playing well, ended in a half; a very fair result. Colum certainly brought his A Game – according to Colum, it was his best round at Roehampton Club since 1996!  And Ricky had six   birdies … an impressive performance.

 

These challenge matches will raise money for Regenerate, my chosen charity for my year of captaincy.  My next match is on 20th February.

Club Competitions

Congratulations to Luke Templer for winning the Men’s Stableford competition, held on 29th January.  Luke (13 handicap) scored 40 points, beating Lou Tricarico (22) on countback, with Bob Mitchell (11) in third.  We had a very good entry of 66 players.

We have these competitions over the next fortnight:

◊ Club Roll-up (mixed): 12th February
◊ Alan Scott Trophy (mixed): 19th February – fully subscribed. Please contact Louis if you would like to be added to the Reserve List.

The Alan Scott Trophy – an individual qualifying stableford – is open to Men and Lady Full-Playing Members with full weekend playing privileges. It’s a shotgun start at 9am. Playing partners and starting holes will be drawn at random and emailed to competitors.  Alan Scott was the Head Professional at Roehampton Club between 1980-2008.

Looking a little further ahead, and coinciding with the Six Nations Rugby, a Rest of the World vs Ireland match will be held Saturday 12th March, as we did in 2020, it will be open to Men and Ladies. Details will be shared very soon.

Details for the season’s knockouts, including the Scratch Knockout, FourballBetter Ball knockout and Lockwood Foster (singles), will also be published very soon.

We now have the semi-finalists for the Winter Foursomes:

◊ Miles Otway and Alex Fernandes vs Scott and Oliver Stanley
◊ Roy Martin and Richard Spalding vs Ben Angood and Niels Verbeek

Surrey 5’s golf competition

Sign up for the Surrey 5 squad (via IG) is now officially closed. We are entering two teams, with each five-man team consisting of two players with a handicap index of between 5.0 and 12.0 and three players with a handicap index between 12.1 and 18.0.  Simon Butler, my vice-captain, will lead one of our teams, and Peter McGovern (a member of the Men’s Golf Committee) is leading the other; they will make the team selections and confirm their teams and match dates as soon as they know their first-round opponents.

Surrey Kelso Hamilton 4BBB

We will be entering two pairs (handicaps 13.0 to 18.0) for this county competition. I have selected Richard Lurcott, Malcolm Turner, Jonathan Perkins and Richard R Williams.

 Course Maintenance

Many Members have commented on the improved quality of the course, in particular the greens, over the past couple of weeks. Thank you to everyone for making an extra special effort on pitch marks but please don’t let up as we need our greens to be in first order at all times. Repairing pitch marks on the greens and the aprons is part and parcel of golf, as is replacing divots and raking the bunkers.  PS please avoid crossing the roped-off areas.

You will have seen the 10th tee works proceeding; this should be completed by April. The realignment of the tee is to avoid stray golf balls leaving the Club grounds onto Priory Lane. Planning permission is still awaiting approval for the installation of ball stop netting. On Monday, Members of the Club’s Golf Committee, chaired by Niels Verbeek, discussed the work with Marc Newey, Peter Bradburn and Tristan, and the Club’s professional advisers (course design and Club Health and Safety).

New Members

Since October, 30 Members have completed the induction to join the Men’s Section, and we expect more new Members as it’s the start of the year. On behalf of the section, I’d like to welcome you. You will have received an email from Russell Gooding, who leads on new Member liaison on behalf of the Men’s Committee, but if you have any questions, please contact Russell or I, or Tristan and Louis at the Club.  Please enter the Club Roll-Ups (the next one is 12th February) as they are a good way to meet Members and to secure your handicap.

Men’s Golf Committee

We met on 31st January.  Among the issues we discussed were membership numbers (given the recent intake), course etiquette (pace of play is a concern), current tee-time arrangements, course maintenance and major works (current or planned). The Committee is keen for the proposed Indoor Golf Centre to proceed on schedule; it will require local planning permission and Board approval but the Club’s target date is 2023.

Happy golfing everyone …

 Paul Taylor, Men’s Golf Captain