11th December 2023 Newsletter

BROCTON HALL GOLF CLUB

THREE OFF THE TEE 11 DECEMBER '23 NEWSLETTER

Hello there 

Firstly, congratulations to Maria-Tiffany Thompson for reaching the finals of the England Golf Young Volunteer of the Year. Maria-Tiffany is a Girls Golf Rocks Ambassador at Brocton Hall, helping young girls to enjoy the game of golf. For the last three years, Maria-Tiffany has also organised a Christmas-themed charity competition in support of Birmingham Children's Hospital and Charity in memory of her friend Charlie Mears who passed away at the age of 15. She is a great ambassador for junior golf and Brocton Hall Golf Club. 

The Fur and Feather was supposed to be played on the 3rd December and then the 10th. In the end it turned out to be a fun afternoon in the clubhouse (over 70 members) with winners not having to get frustrated with wayward golf balls 🙂 Well done to Richard Gee for making a plan and giving everyone a fun afternoon in the warmth of the clubhouse. With those trolleys full of prizes there would have been some happy members! 

A reminder to all members:

1. If your ball does go out of bounds on the 1st or 2nd, do not go retrieve your golf ball from someone's garden! 
2. Any balls that are hit out of the grounds must be reported to the office. 

Brocton does have a special beauty at this time of year. Thank you to our members that captured this to share with others. The photos below (and the main photo above) were taken on last Friday morning by Ian Whiston.  

Steve Burgin took these beautiful photos of frost covered trees on Saturday morning. 

And Ian Callaghan also captured some stunning shots during his round on Saturday. 

PAR FOR THE COURSE

We are all very well aware of the awful weather we have endured this past week. With the endless rain falling on frozen ground, the greens and fairways were flooded. A reminder to please carry your clubs if possible and be careful out there. 

COMPETITIONS 

No competitions were played last week so just a reminder of the Junior and Adult Charity Christmas Comp on Saturday,16th December. All proceeds will go to the Birmingham Children's Hospital. The winner will be presented with 'The Charley Mears Trophy'.

• Tee times between 09.30-11.30
• Format is 9 holes
• Individual Stableford
• Everyone playing from the Blue Tees.
• Play will be in 4 balls
• There must be a minimum of 1 Adult per 4 Ball.
• Open to Members, Non Members with or without a WHS Handicap.
• Mulligans will be available to purchase on the day £2 each or 3 x £5

If you wish to play please contact our Junior Organiser Nicki Bowen - junior.organiser@broctonhall.com

CLUBHOUSE

Another reminder to please show your bar card with all your purchases at the bar. 

From a delicious warming Hungarian Goulash to 5 Bean Chilli Nachos, the new winter menu is all temptation. View it here

Join us for our Members & Guests Christmas Party Night this Friday! Enjoy a wonderful Christmas three course meal followed by a DJ and Disco to party the night away. A perfect way to enjoy the festive season with family and friends. Limited space available to please let me know if you would like some seats reserved - generalmanager@broctonhall.com . You can view the menu options by clicking here

The talented pupils of Stafford Grammar School entertained some of our guests this afternoon. It was wonderful to hear the music drift through the clubhouse to the enjoyment of everyone, including a Robin. Thank you Fran for the photos and video (click here)

MEMBERS QUESTION

You are invited to send any questions in that you would like one of the Management Committee members to answer. Often a committee member is approached on the putting green with a question that might not relate to their area of knowledge. This is a way for you to ask those questions.

Q.  What action would we take if our ball is deflected off temporary fencing into a hazard or out of bounds?

A. The normal rules would apply, so Rule 17 for a ball ending up in a Penalty Area (previously known as hazards), or Rule 18 for a ball going Out-Of-Bounds.

Q.  What action should we take if our ball lies under a tractor or a tractor impedes our shot?

A. This is covered in the local rules for Brocton Hall under Abnormal Course Conditions, Rule 4 (viii) which states:

“Parked vehicles are to be treated as Temporary Immovable Obstructions (TIO’s).”

The rule is quite long on the R&A website, but essentially a TIO allows the golfer to get ‘line of sight’ relief (so in line with their intended shot) instead of just relief if the obstruction is in the way of their swing.  The link to the R&A is below - Model Local Rule 8-F23

https://www.randa.org/rog/committee-procedures/8#8f_f-23

Q. Moving the free play time has reduced the tee times available to members who book a tee time and who also wish to finish prior to darkness. Can the freeplay be left as it was and if regular players of free time want to finish before darkness book a tee time like the majority of members voted for. I have to do the school run in the morning and I am limited to what tee times I can play this has now been limited further by moving free play.

A. M&C during their last sub-committee meeting discussed a request from regular daily members groups that use the free time slot, to allow starting from another tee. Obviously as a one tee start club we could not allow this change, so we discussed the options that would allow these members to complete their rounds in daylight hours. After discussion it was agreed that we would move the free play slot back 1/2 an hour to 11:30am - 12:30pm. This still allows plenty of tee times prior to free play and after 09:30am/10:00am, for those members that want to book a slot via the IG app the usual 8 days prior to the date.

Free play was introduced following the adoption of tee bookings to allow for those members that just want to turn up and play social golf with their mates. Like the daily swindle golfers, whom turn up, draw their balls for their groups and go out and play before enjoying a few beverages. Something they have done for many many years.

Q. How can a member who has not entered or submitted any score cards in over 16 months playing off an alleged handicap of 22 White Winter Tees, who scores 3 Gross Birdies on the Front nine alone be allowed to win a competition ! This needs to be discussed in my opinion as it doesn’t sit well with many BHGC Members

A. Currently within the Men’s competition rules (which can be located on our website) we have no competition entry requirements. So it is plausible that a member can enter a competition and win having only submitted one scorecard!!! We do not expect a member to challenge another members handicap record without at least knowing the circumstances!

Some of our members are long distant members, some overseas members, and others are restricted members, and as such have certain entitlements depending on their membership status. For example a long distant member has an entitlement that allows them to play 12 rounds per annum.

The M&H team have discussed with the member concerned and are satisfied that this member has played social golf, and not been entering any scorecards, such is his entitlement. We have also encouraged him to enter scorecards when possible to have a more active handicap. That said we also acknowledge that he had a great round of golf as we all can from time to time, and should enjoy his moment, and in no way has he done anything wrong.

We have at the recent M&C meeting discussed competition entry requirements moving forward from 1st April 2024. As a result we agreed that from this date there will be an entry requirement for all competitions of 6 qualifiers (general play or competitions) in the 12 months prior to any competition date. 

Q.  Earlier this year I read several communications on the subject of how the club was proposing to implement better governance and club management processes and structures, all of which made sense and to my mind seemed long overdue. The question I have is when are members going to be presented with a final set of proposals and be asked to vote on them? 

Also will digital and postal voting be allowed as it seems the best way to ensure as many eligible members as possible participate in voting on important issues, now and in the future?

A. The Governance Working Group has continued to work on a set of proposals that can be put to all full members in the new year. The current position is as follows:-

• A draft structure has been finalised and populated with Terms of Reference and Role Specifications etc. These documents are available to view on the clubs website in the Governance section..
• As communicated to members work is being carried out on a new draft Articles of Association and Club Rules/By-Laws to reflect the proposed changes and changes made to the rules at previous AGMs.
• When these are completed they will be discussed at a  future Management Committee meeting. This is likely to be in the new year. Possibly February/March 2024.
• If agreed by the Management Committee all the documents will then be made available to members as part of a four week communication/consultation process
• Following the member consultation process any revisions will be made to the proposals, if required.
• Should the Management Committee agree to proceed with the proposals then they will need to formally seek members approval of the changes. To do so an EGM would need to be called, possibly in the Summer of 2024, to allow the membership to vote on any proposals put forward. This may or may not include a proposal to allow digital/postal voting in the future. Until the current club rules are changed the current rules on voting at AGMs/EGMs apply.

NOTICES

All of us at Brocton Hall wish our many members with a birthday this week a very Happy Birthday!  Happy Birthday to Peggy Spibey, Nigel Lunn, Paul Davis, Charlotte Andrews, Merv Richards, Cyril Horsley, Christopher Horobin, Ken Skelton, Paul Slater, Nick Locke, Darrel Poole, Bridget Locke, James Greer and Ian Callaghan. 

PRO SHOP

Adam is offering December coaching - 30 minutes taster session only £25 (one session per person).

If you haven't discovered the ideal Christmas gift in the Pro Shop, browse the wide selection of categories available through our Click & Collect - click here. Experience the ease and convenience of placing your order online to pick up at Brocton Hall Golf Club.

HOLE IN ONE

Did you know that 'Birdie' comes from the early 20th century American slang term "bird", meaning anything excellent. The September 1911 edition of Maclean Magazine described a golf shot as - '"bird" straight down the course, about two hundred and fifteen yards.'  

The Country Club in Atlantic City lay claim to the first use of the word 'birdie' itself, as mentioned on the USGA website. In 1962 the US greenkeepers' magazine reported a conversation with A B Smith. He recounted that, in 1898/9, he and his brother, William P Smith, and their friend, George A Crump, who later built Pine Valley, were playing the par-four second hole at Atlantic City, when Ab Smith's second shot went within inches of the hole. Smith said "That was a bird of shot" and claimed he should get double money if he won with one under par, which was agreed. He duly holed his putt to win with one under par and the three of them thereafter referred to such a score as a "birdie". The Atlantic City Club date the event to 1903.

This will be the last newsletter of the year so I would like to take this opportunity to wish every member of Brocton and your families a very Merry Christmas and a safe, bright and prosperous New Year.  In 2024 may your scorecards be memorable, your friendships be multiplied and may your three-putts be extremely rare.

Happy golfing everyone,

Karen

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