Dear Club Members,
Ray Moore, R.I.P.
It is with immense sadness that we announce that Ray Moore passed away peacefully on Saturday 19 November as communicated earlier by our President, Ralph. More information about Ray’s funeral arrangements will be communicated by Ralph soon. In the meantime, please keep Ray’s family in your thoughts. Our sincerest condolences are with them.
As 2022 rapidly draws to close, and as we look forward to 2023, it is a good opportunity to update you.
New members:
We have seen a sharp increase in membership enquiries over the last couple of months, on the back of which we are delighted to welcome several new members to the club. We wish them many years of happy golfing at our club and in our community. I would like to thank all our members for making them feel very welcome in true Little Hay spirit.
Winter Mat Tees:
SportSpace have informed us that winter mats have now come into play. We have been assured that the mats on all holes have been properly laid this year and are significantly better than they were last year. Scorecards for the mats are available at reception. The Winter course from the mat tees is officially rated. As such, scores can be submitted for handicap purposes following normal procedures for general play/social rounds.
We ask all our members to set a good example by using the mats for all general play/social rounds during the winter months. This is important to ensure that the grass tees do not sustain severe damage during the winter months so that they can be ready for use by early spring. SportSpace will consider exemptions for club competitions/matches on an event-by-event basis.
For those competing in this season’s Winter League, we will switch to the winter mats from round 2 onwards. There will be no changes to handicaps as a result, except where handicaps have been adjusted from results of round 1 under the winter league rules.
AGM – Save the date:
The club AGM is scheduled for Monday 13 March 2023 and will take place in the Par 3 Restaurant. The bar will open at 1800hrs for members and the AGM will start promptly at 1900hrs. More information about AGM agenda and proceedings will follow nearer the time. Please remember that the AGM also includes the Annual Awards Ceremony.
Fixtures for 2023:
The fixtures for January to March 2023 for all club sections have now been published on the club’s website for your information. These fixtures, where applicable, will be made available on “HowDidIDo” soon. Once listed on HDID you will be able to register for the events of interest. The fixtures for the remainder of the year are currently under review and will be published early next year. It has been very pleasing to see the high number of members competing in our events over the past couple of months. Long may this continue next year and beyond.
Revised R&A Rules for 2023:
The R&A has announced some new rule changes to come into effect in 2023. Please refer to the R&A notes for a summary and chart of key changes.
The R&A has not issued a paper-based booklet to for 2023, although still available for purchase directly from the R&A. We recommend that all members download the R&A Rules App from Apple or Google Play app stores. This can be useful on the course too where disputes may arise over rules.
Local Rules and Rules for Competitions:
The club’s local rules and rules for competitions have been updated and are available on the club’s website. There is also a copy available in the club folder kept at reception.
Competition Organisers:
We would like to thank our Competition Organisers for the work they do in the background to ensure that that all our competitions take place as scheduled and that they are efficiently run on the day. Please continue to give them your full support and offer your services when possible.
Doughty Cup:
Our final event of the year, the Doughty Cup (an all-sections Texas Scramble competition) was well attended this year with 24 participants, which is always pleasing to see. We thank Hemel Old Town Golf and Greg Galbraith for the prizes donated for this competition. A good time was had by all. The scores were quite close, with only 6 strokes (nett) separating first and last place.
This year’s winners are Greg Galbraith, Jane Gonzalez, Punit Pattni and Colin Greenshields with a nett team score of 55. Coming 2nd on a countback were Mick Milne, Carl Human, Steve Milligan and Adrian Catford with 57 nett.
In closing, we would like to thank you for your ongoing commitment to our club, and for the support enjoyed by the committee and our event organisers. We look forward to your continued support throughout next year.
Your sincerely,
Phil Gonzalez Gerald De Villiers
Captain Vice Captain
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