O a k m

Oakmere Park
Golf Club
Club Newsletter
Daryl St John-Jones Director of Golf
As another summer season comes to an end , as always we have in store a lot of
things happening at The Club over the Autumn and winter period. It feels like this
year we have had more social days or weekends away than ever before. If you haven’t
taken part, you should do , it’s a great vehicle to meet new people and there ‘s
always good banter between the players and many new friendships forged. The next
one is at Buxton Golf Club on 23rd October. Its only £20 which includes food, 18
holes and competition prizes.
Joe has mentioned below the success of our annual Ryder Cup weekend, next year its
Celtic Manor.
We have recently had Mckenzie & Ebert, Course consultants visit Oakmere to assess
both courses and provide recommendations to ensure we maintain our standing in the
County and grow it over the next 10 years. Once we receive the report we will be
letting our members know which parts we will be adopting and over what time
period. Our principle objectives will be to ensure there is as little disruption to our
members as possible.
In the mean –time, this winter, we will be building a short 9 hole academy par 3
course between the 1st & 9th hole of the Commanders Course. This course will be
designed primarily for beginners, children or anyone wishing to work on their short
game. The holes will be made larger, 20”, to make the game easier and presumably
more enjoyable for them and hopefully this will prove an ideal stepping stone to
playing on either of our courses.
If the weather continues to hold out we’ll hope to have an enjoyable Autumns golf
and continued low scores.
OCTOBER 2014
involved with making it a success. Colin Walkden has his blazer ready for the
takeover in December and I wish him luck. I’m sure he’ll get all the support needed
from the members to succeed.
In the meantime there is still plenty of golf left to play this year.
.
Christine Muse Admirals Club Lady Captain
There has been a lot of lovely days spent on the golf course the weather has on the
whole has been superb. However, the only day it rained was Bank holiday Monday,
so instead of 16 people playing only 8 of us braved 9 holes Joe and Tracy Aslam
pipped Steven and I to win the Ashley Muse!
(When am I going to get my name on this trophy!!!)
The Mixed Acorn Greensome was held on 16 th September, it was a disappointing
field with only 8 people, however it was a great win for Diane Hofton and Neil
Goodwin who played with the ladies for the first time. It was also his first trophy win!
Hope to see you again Neil.
Regards
Daryl St John Jones.
Director of Golf
Joe Aslam Admirals Club Captain
I hope you are all enjoying this years golf, as the temperatures
slowly begin to slide we are still being blessed with some
beautiful weather and the course is holding up very well to a
long hot Indian summer.
The Captain’s Weekend Away at the Mere was a real treat.
Everyone who went enjoyed the golf and all the first class facilities.
Congratulations to Dall Biant on winning the last day. Pity He didn’t
go in the fiddle though as he would have won £70.00! Next years
event is already booked and the committee will be producing
information soon, so watch this space.
Away from the course Oakmere Park has had a great season, topping
off with an emphatic victory in the Southwell Auto’s League, well done to all 25
squad members that took part, it really was a massive win. It was really difficult to
pick the teams each week as every one wanted to play, I even dropped Daryl one
week!
The Ryder Cup Weekend at The Belfry was
another fantastic weekend with great golf and
great weather. The hotels refit has made this
venue another first class resort, with prices to
match. Alas, Daryl’s £15.00 side bet got me 3
pints with £1.20 change! Also congratulations
to Anthony “Dicko” Dickens for winning the
Order of Merit, I hope he’s
enjoying his Ipad!
Roll on next year.
As Captain I couldn’t have wished for a better season and would
like to say a big thank you to all my compatriots that have been
The Ladies Championship was very popular with 13 players, Laura Abbott our young
junior won the Gross and the Nett Trophy. Well done Laura!
Finally the Golden Oaks which took place on September 25 th was most successful,
Pat Ramsell and Pat Wilcox worked hard all day to raise funds. They had encouraged
all of us to make cakes, jam etc. The spread was wonderful, thanks to everyone who
brought in produce, then bought it back !!!! £130 was raised. The raffle raised £40.
This was much more successful than our usual bric a brac stall which we have held in
the past. We have some wonderful bakers!
Bob Ward Admirals Sectretary
Since my last newsletter the Seniors Open has taken place and was won by our
pairing of Derrick Farthing and Alan Hall.
The Club Championship has also taken place and I would like to congratulate
Michael White on winning the main prize for the 7 th year running. The Club Nett
Champion is Nigel Birch and Chris Cooper won the Eclectic Championship.
The Knockout competitions have concluded. Congratulations go to Jason Davies
who won the Scratch Final, Matt Pinnick who won the Singles, Jason Davies and
Alan Roberts the Pairs, Steve Lee the Seniors and last, but not least, I won the
Rabbits!
Our Scratch team have now completed their fixtures and finished mid-table in
Division 2. Our Juniors finished runners-up to Worksop in the newly formed North
Division.
I’ll leave the Club Captain, Joe Aslam to gloat over our success in winning the
Southwell Auto’s Summer League and the Gedling Borough Challenge.
Membership renewal reminders are going out this month and with them will be
nomination forms for committee posts. We urge members to consider joining the
team next year as serving members retire. An elected committee is essential for the
maintenance of handicaps and the running of competitions.
The Clubs Annual General meeting takes place on Monday the 15 th of December and
nominations need to be in by 17 th November. Colin Walkden will be taking over as
Club Captain and he has proposed Gary Oscroft as his Vice. Tracy Aslam is to be the
Lady Captain and has proposed Adrienne Kelly to be her Vice.
The Clubs Annual Dinner Dance takes place on Saturday 15 th November and I hope
to see many of you there.
The Men’s & Junior Presentation Evening is on the 5 th December.
When I acted as referee for the Scratch Knockout final Alan Roberts managed to hit
the driving range fence with his tee shot from the 17 th. Where Out of Bounds is
defined by a fence the Out of Bounds line is determined by the nearest inside points
at ground level of the fence posts. Not all of his ball was over this line so it was in
play. However his ball was unplayable due to the wire fencing. As the wire fence
itself was out of bounds it is not an obstruction so he could not get “free” relief so
finished up taking a penalty drop. I’ve included this topic with this newsletter.
Roger Allen Admirals Seniors Organizer
Since our last newsletter we have enjoyed the most terrific spell of golfing weather
allowing us to run our Veterans Medal, Seniors Open & Annual Away Day event in
the best possible circumstances.
August proved to be a busy period for the Admirals Seniors starting with the Annual
Veterans Medal competition which was held on 4 th August. This year’s winner was
Chris Wilson who scored a nett 71. This was quickly followed by our annual away
day fixture, which was held at Kirby Muxloe G.C. in Leicester on Wednesday 13 th
August.
The day was well orchestrated by Frank Harris who in his own inimitable style made
sure all aspects of the day were well under control. The course itself is a mature,
tranquil, parkland course offering a serious but fair challenge to all levels of golfer
with greens that are recognized as among the best in the county. The individual
competition winner this year was Alan Hall with a score of 42 points, just edging out
the previous holder of the trophy Terry Craggs who also returned a score of 42 points
but lost out on count-back. The team prize for the day was won by the combination
of Roger Allen, Terry Craggs, John Kenton and Bob Arberry, so providing some
consolation for Terry in being so close to the individual prize. Prizes were presented
to the winners by Past Captain David Hallam who had kindly joined us for the day.
David Hallam presents the Seniors Away Day trophy to winner Alan Hall
On 1st September we held Oakmere’s Seniors Open competition with players from a
spectrum of clubs taking part. In the early part of the day the weather for once failed
us and gave some difficult conditions for the early starters. The day however
improved as we moved forward and by mid- morning the sun and blue skies had
returned and provided a splendid backdrop to the competition All the participants
who were complimentary about both the condition of the course and the professional
way the day had been organised. A special thanks also has to go to all the volunteers
who helped with the organisation on the day to make this possible. The day was
made even more memorable when the Oakmere Pairing of Alan Hall and Derrick
Farthing returned the winning score from one of the final matches of the competition.
Our match season has continued to be busy August and into September with matches
against Norwood Park both home and away and Shirland, Springwater and The
Commanders at home.
Weekly Competitions have continued across the period in various formats and
members should check the Senior’s Noticeboard for details of some minor changes
which have been made to the scheduled competitions shown in the diary in the next
period.
Our thoughts now move towards the end of the season and arrangements for our
Christmas competitions which this year will be held on Monday 15 th December. We
expect to have notices regarding plans for this event displayed in early October and
will have more to say about this in future newsletters.
Roy Griffin Commanders Club Captain
What a terrific Ryder cup victory for Europe with a resounding 16.5 to 11.5 its such
a good feeling to watch the togetherness of the Europeans whilst the USA fall out and
slate the captain now defeated. (don't you just feel sorry for them) On to some club
news and results the Trip to Kenwick Park was a huge success and was enjoyed by all
that went playing at Louth GC then the beautiful Kenwick Park.
Thank you for all your support. Onto August's busy schedule and results; this was
started by the Bilsthorpe Trophy, Richard Hardy topping the 1st Division with a net
70, with Jim Hanbury with a net 72 taking the 2nd division, the lowest Gross was
Ray Bothma. The Hardy Trophy on the 24th was won by Stuart Mathews 36pts in the
1st Division and Carl Rawson topping the 2nd with 37pts, The charity Texas
Scramble was well presented with 17 teams taking part, and with a few tricky pin
positions I'm sure you will all agree it was a fun day and the weather was on our side,
the winning team with a photo finish with a net 60 was Roy Griffin Jason Davies
Troy Anderson and Alan Thompson, with the Admirals Captains team being
piped on the back 9.
Thank you to Rachel and Kim for help on the raffle which raised well over £300 and
the kind donations made by the members in supporting the event.
Septembers 1st weekend medal was a net 71 by Terry Johnson in the 1st Division
and George Farrell topping the 2nd Division with a 76 beating Jim Taylor on the
back 9. On to some important news regarding the Club Championships which have
been held over two weekends the 14th and 21st September this year so from next year
this will be played on a Saturday and Sunday. The Club Championship this year
threw up some close games with several players looking in the running, and a few
unfortunate DQ's for failing to sign the cards. The overall Gross Club Champion was
won by Ray Bothma and winning the Shield was Richard Beadling who seems to be
one of the inform players, coming in with some good scores. The Club knock Outs
have been played The singles Match play was won by Mark Shaw beating Roy
Griffin, the pairs match final also played where Mark and Ben Hanbury was beaten
by Andy Wheeler and Neil Dallman Congratulations to all the winners. I'm very
disappointed that the SGB shield isn't being taken seriously and that the number of
matches that have not been played yet is concerning. Please be aware that it is the
first name out to contact the other player.
Onto the the Hardy Trophy the last competition of September with Ray Bothma
winning the 1st Division with 38pts and Tony Medley winning the 2nd division with
44pts and Richard Beadling again putting a good score in with 41pts and thought he
had pipped me in the Staythorpe ashes (unlucky) Which was won with net 33.
The Winter eclectic will be starting soon, and if you wish to enter this please see
Gordon Taylor.
Gordon Taylor Seniors Commanders Club
Captain
Just a few items to mention this month.
First of all a big thank you to all the players in the Senior’s Knock Out competitions.
These have been completed on time with very few (4) default passes.
The winner of the singles was Allan Dallman who beat Graham Jarvis in the final.
The pairs was won by Steve Friend and Gordon Taylor who beat Rob Horridge and
Colin Handley in the final.
In our inter club matches we have played Edwalton home and away and we have
fulfilled our fixture with Nottingham City although the least said about the state of
their course the better. The condition however is no fault of their members and we
wish them all the best in getting back on track now that the council are having an
input.
I can only support the comments made by Roy Griffin about the away days at Louth
and Kenwick and the seniors who went enjoyed it (with one exception.)
In day to day competitions I am proud to say that I myself won the Seniors Captain’s
cup and Peter Hayes won the Joshua Trophy. It would also be remiss of me not to
mention the amazing round of Geoff Pepper on 15 th August when he got a 7 pointer
(a 2 on 5th) and a 5 pointer (a 2 on 8 th) in the same round. Well done Geoff although I
understand he may have taken a few more shots on the 15 th as the photos explain.
We have played the third round of the Tri Match series at Carholme. Despite as
strong team and a good performance we came in second to a very good Pottergate
team.
We look forward to next year and regaining the trophy under the guidance of Raph
Richards who will get his taste of the leading the seniors competitive matches
Our match against the Admirals took place on their patch next Wednesday 17th
September when our sixteen players were defeated 5 ½ to 2 ½ . We still
have the home match to play on our course on a date to be arranged
It was sad that Peter Hill and Rob Clark had to cancel the away day at Shirland on
24th July due to lack of support but I am delighted that a date of Thursday 7
November has been arranged for Norwood. There is a notice on the notice board so
please get your names up and support them.
Finally we all mourn the passing of our good friend Chris Hooley. Those who knew
him well had nothing but admiration for his fortitude and strength of character over
the last year or so. He will be sadly missed. Thank you to those colleagues who
attended his funeral service.
Jean McKee Commanders Lady Club Captain
After the excitement of last month August and September have been relatively quiet.
A lot of ladies have been away on holiday and numbers have been reduced.
We won our Bronze League match against Rufford at home 6.1. Well done ladies.
Unfortunately we lost 5.2 to Wollaton. Thats the last of our matches as the Admirals
have unfortunately dropped out of the Bronze League.
The Past Captain Decanter – an 18 hole competition – was won by Lena Sowter with
runner up Marie Campbell. We only have a few 18 hole competitions and it would be
good to see more ladies taking part.
We also played a Las Vegas fun game which everyone enjoyed.
The Vice Captains Trophy – a Greensome pairs – was won, to her great delight by
Ann Gee with a little support from her partner Jean McKee. Runners up were Angie
Burton and Liz Henstock.
We were made welcome by the Springwater ladies in early September and played a
friendly mixed team game followed by sandwiches and cakes. We hope to reciprocate
on our course next year.
We have been exceedingly lucky with weather throughout this year. The sun shone
on us once again for our overnight stay at the Belfry. The course was good – easier
than the Commanders course!- the food excellent and the hotel staff friendly. We all
enjoyed it especially Amanda Hambling who excelled herself and came in with 41
points.
Unfortunately the Morley Hayes stay was cancelled again due to poor weather and
has been rescheduled.
I have suggested that all ladies might take part individually in the MacMillan Tea
Party during September. It would be good if each lady could host a small social
event. Helen Beeby and I started this off with a very successful lunch on the 10 th
September which was attended by 20 ladies. More sunshine and excellent food. Well
done to ladies who have already done this and raised a considerable amount of
money.
Richard Bond Head GreenKeeper
Alan Thompson Admirals Social Secretary
and Bar & Catering
Do try to attend our popular ‘Poker Night’ our next one is on Friday 10 th October at
7.30pm they are great fun for beginners to experienced players, everyone can join in
.We hosted a charity day for Cerebral Palsy Sport in September, 22 teams played and
enjoyed a meal and presentation afterward, raising money for a worthwhile cause.
We will be hosting a firework extravaganza again
on Bonfire Night, Wednesday 5th November , with a
barbecue and bonfire. Tickets available from the
bar .
The Annual dinner Dance will be held on 25 th
November, The Food Doctors – a fantastic
local band – will be performing. We will also
have a raffle and auction and hot buffet. Tickets
are £15 per person available from the bar.
Tables can be reserved.
Work on the courses throughout the following month’s shifts from intensive cutting,
to preparation for the winter months to come
The aeration programme which began in early September has involved the coring
(decompaction) of all the greens and approach walkways. We have started on the tees
and should be completed before the end of the month. In conjunction with this, all
these areas will be top dressed with sand. A further aeration programme will
commence if we purchase the verti draining machine that we trialled in May. This
will be used for specific areas of deep compaction.
Oversowing has been carried out on the greens already. A 100% Pure Bentgrass Christmas Fayre menu is now available for bookings in December. Please ask at the
Blend has been used for its tolerance to close mowing, all year round colour, disease bar for details.
tolerance, high shoot density and hard wearing characteristics. This extremely fine
seed (smaller than pin head) is applied after coring but prior to top dressing. The top
dressing will then cover the seed keeping it in contact with the root zone. It will also
prevent pickup by mowers and other machinery. The tees and approaches will be
oversown with a very fine perennial ryegrass. This has a similar appearance to fescue
grasses but is far quicker to establish at much lower temperatures, very hard wearing,
disease tolerant and its drought tolerance is high. All these grasses used encompass
the latest technology with coatings around the seeds to aid germination and root
establishment.
Further work will also be carried out on a number of the pathways to prevent wash
out and build them back up where they have been eroded away.
Oakmere Park Proshop
With Autumn now here and Winter just around the corner it is time to look at some
new clothing to keep you warm and dry.
New in store Nike, Ping and Galvin Green autumn and winter ranges and 10% off
clothing with the below voucher