Club News

From Kevin Evans, Golf Operations Manager: A lot has happened in the last few weeks and is still going on. The Pro Shop will be closed by Saturday, July 31st and Reception will be in the bar area. Any golfing necessities you need — such as balls, tees and gloves — will be available there. Get Golfing has its own online Pro Shop, which offers a range of discounted prices depending on your category of membership. It is also prepared to price match, so give it a try! 

I would like to thank all the members who have supported the shop over the years, it has been very much appreciated. We now move to the next stage in Arkley’s development, and my position is now Golf Operations Manager. I will be based in the clubhouse, with access to the office, but most of my time will be out front. Do not worry, I will still have some time for golf tuition! If you have any queries or issues, I will do my very best to help you.  

The Club is being restructured and your patience during this period would be much appreciated so we can give you an all-round better golfing experience on and off the course. 

We have the Q&A meeting with Get Golfing CEO Ed Richardson on Wednesday, August 11th at 6.30pm. If you have any questions you would like to raise, then please send them ahead to guarantee your query being answered. 

Course News

From Jason Hatton, Course Manager: The summer has been kind to the golf course so far this season, with sunshine and more importantly rain being a reoccurring feature. 

This, along with our renovation programme of over-seeding and feeding, has helped the fairways recover from the last three summer burnouts. There are still a few patches still to address and we will be doing those in due course. 

All ropes and stakes have been brought in bar the ones on the bunkers on the 1st and 2nd holes where we are still waiting for the seed to germinate. 

The drain across the 8th fairway is causing an issue with water movement off the course, especially after a large downpour. We are in the process of getting quotes to remedy the situation, which will consist of relaying a new drainage pipe and backfilling and landscaping the pond on the left-hand side of the hole. 

To improve the surfaces at Arkley, our annual greens maintenance will begin on Monday, August 9th and will consist of a 13mm hollow tine, followed by a heavy topdressing of Leighton Buzzard sand and over-seeding. There will then be another top up of sand to get the levels right.  

Although invasive, this process is the best remedy to reduce thatch that has built up over the year and create a better performing green. By replacing the soil with sand, we are also creating more drainage channels that will help keep the greens playable and the course open in the coming winter months when it’s wet. 

Work is also ongoing to lift the canopies on the trees around the course. 

Now that all bunker rakes and divot bins are back in play, please do use them as this will help in the upkeep of the golf course. 

Finally, now that buggies have been introduced to the golf course, could I ask all members who use them to be mindful of where they drive. Please avoid driving them on the greens’ collars between bunkers and greens. 

Captains’ Update

From Kaz Donald, Club Captain: This month we welcome our new F&B team to the Club – exciting times ahead. — and there has also been an important change in the office. Congratulations to Kevin! We wish him the very best in his new role as Golf Operations Manager. 

The John Bickel Stableford, which was played at the end of June, was a great competition with 46 men ready to fight it out. The battle finished with a three-way tie at the top between David Saint, Jim Connolly and Dave Wallace, who all posted scores of 40 points. Jim Connolly took the trophy on count back. Well done Jim! 

Our Claret Jug is always a popular event – especially if you’re paired with someone posting a brilliant final round in The Open. Emiliano Grillo posted 68 and he was thrilled to be paired with our own Eddie Chen, who out did him by scoring a very fine nett 67. Congratulations again to Eddie on some great golf. It was also good to see David Oates as runner-up. Unfortunately, Tommy Fleetwood’s score of 70 did not help David retain his second spot! 

Some of you already know that our very own James Noble-Brown competed in the Hertfordshire Colts County Championship at Hadley Wood. James was up against many County players, who have come through the junior ranks, and he finished T32 in a field of 60. Congrats to James – it’s great to have an Arkley player competing in these events. 

Well done Peter Davey and Ian Blinder, who won the Aspley Guise Men’s Senior 4BBB with 43 points in a field of 50 pairs competing. Terry Wakeman and Ron Nicholls came seventh with a very respectable 40 points. 

Not to be outdone, the Arkley Ladies are also fighting the good fight and Lady Captain Mary will tell us more about the antics of Max Bourn and Pam Parsons later in this newsletter… 

The Foxes return match v The Hertfordshire resulted in a 2.5–1.5 Arkley victory, as predicted by me in the April newsletter! South Herts were also beaten in the July sunshine. The second round of the Cup saw the Foxes drawn against The Hertfordshire (again), who were intent on winning. They sent out their big guns and, sadly, our boys were not able to keep their winning streak intact. 

Our Rabbits team played, and beat, Muswell Hill in glorious sunshine and Enfield were also victims this month. 

Shendish Manor arrived at Arkley expecting a fair fight against our Stags… I’m sure that the matches were indeed fair, but the result proves that our Stags are not to be messed with. A whitewash ensued. 

The Mixed match v Aldwickbury was great fun and resulted in a 5-1 win! Please check out the Mixed noticeboard as there are more matches that need support. Tanya is still on the look-out for someone to take over the Mixed fixtures when she becomes Lady Captain in October. 

Ladies 

From Mary Vyse, Lady Captain: July has been a steady month, golf-wise it started with our Invitation Day and it was a great day with 22 ladies taking part. The winners on the day were Wendy and her guest Deidre from Knebworth with 38 points, closely followed by Chloe and Helen from Porters Park with 37 points. I would like to thank the committee for all their hard work in making this a great success. 

We followed this with our annual match against the Police S Division, which was a great day and fun for all. The Peace Cup was won by Tanya with a great nett 69 and second was myself with a nett 73. The Centenary Cup foursomes was won by Maggie and Wendy with a terrific 39 points, which is not easy to do in foursomes. Max and Marion were second with 32 points. Well done to all the winners in July. 

Another great success is Max and Pam, who are now in Round 7 of the Daily Mail Foursomes Competition beating their last opponents 3 & 1. Keep it up, we are all behind your and hope you continue all the way to the final! 

Several ladies are looking forward to Captain Kaz’s away day at the end of the month and also the Ladies midweek break at Hellion Lakes. 

Ross Jones’ Update

Get Golfing takes the conditioning of all of the golf courses at our sites incredibly seriously. We want to ensure all our members and visitors have the best playing conditions possible. We are also aware that lot’s of our sites have had some large projects taking place on their golf courses, and our Head of Course Maintenance, Ross Jones, here shares a few videos explaining some of the processes the team uses to improve your course.

The work the teams all put in across all the sites to present our courses in such great condition is outstanding. Why not visit our other sites like Warley Park and check out the progress made in person?

Community Outreach

From Stuart Williams, Community Development Officer (Education, SEND and Communities), Get Golfing: Our focus is to use our beautiful site and clubhouse to host social interactions ranging from Dementia coffee mornings to school art competitions, music performances to Memory Walks as part of our Community HUB (Helping Unlock Barriers) programme.  

We want our local communities to feel welcome at all our venues and feel that they can just meet up with friends and family for great social interactions. 

Along with some of Get Golfing’s national partnerships and programmes, such as with This Girl Can, NHS Blood and Transplant, The Great Dog Walk Together, we are pleased to announce a partnership with The Alzheimer’s Society and their battle to beat this horrendous disease. 

Taking place in September, you can join us on the day, donate to the charity and enjoy a beautiful stroll around our lovely site that starts and finishes at the clubhouse. The Get Golfing Memory Walk is family and dog friendly, so why not gather a group together and join us for a great cause? 

If you would like to help us run the event by marshalling or serving refreshments as we raise funds to fight this terrible disease, do please get in touch with me here.  

More information will follow in the September newsletter. 

Our national partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant continues this month with the recruitment team heading to our Hampton Court Palace site for their awareness campaign on August 14th. They will be visiting Arkley in September and Pyrford Lakes in October. 

Please remember it is about more than just blood, with people also needing stem cells, tissue and platelets. For more information visit NHS Blood and Transplant. 

Girls just wanna have fun: Our first Mums & Daughters session at Mill Green took place in beautiful sunshine in July and saw more than 20 ladies and girls having a super session delivered by the coaching team at the Club. They are great social events that see everyone making new friends, enjoying hitting it further than mum and finding a new sport that they can enjoy together. This Girl Can Get Golfing has been trialled at our Hertfordshire site and will be rolled out across all sites in the next 12 months. 

If you would like more information about Girls Golf Rocks please click on the link- Girls Golf Rocks – England Golf 

Music is Healing: As part of the Community HUB (Helping Unlock Barriers) programme, Get Golfing is partnering with Music24, who will have free use of a room in the clubhouse at our Hertfordshire site to run its monthly music therapy sessions. 

Music24 is a registered charity offering music therapy and other music-related activities as a creative outlet for people who are socially isolated and vulnerable. It works with various groups across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire who face difficulties, such as those living with dementia, neuro-disabilities, learning disabilities or mental health illnesses. 

We hope to partner with similar charities at all our sites in the future and if you know of any local groups who need a free space to operate out of, we would be happy to help. Please contact [email protected] today to find out more about what we can do for you.