It's been a tough end to 2009, with very little golf played at Parklands. 
We say farewell this weekend to one of our Parklands PGA professionals, Anthony Miley who is leaving for pastures new. Anthony has been our 'Junior Coach' as part of the Junior Academy helping to deliver the Passport to Golf to many youngsters across the area. Apparently Anthony has secured a role as a PGA professional in Qatar ... slightly warmer than Parklands at the moment. Nikki Hunter will now take on many of his teaching responsibilities. Good luck on your travels Anthony and good luck.
So after the rain earlier in the week ... now its the snow that's closed the golf course. Today, Saturday, was the Ladies Bring and Win competition where the players bring their own prizes, they get swapped and Santa hands them out .... all in an atmosphere of festive cheer accompanied by a touch of alcohol with the occasional mince pie. There was no golf competition, the course being closed, but Santa (in the guise of Colin Davison) managed to land his sleigh in the car park (luckily it had not been salted and it was nice and snowy and slippy). Happy Christmas Ladies.
Today our Tuesday/Thursday group had planned to play 18 holes and then sit down for a Christmas lunch. However with the rain continuing in torrents, the course was closed, so it gave me the opportunity to catch up will some paperwork and have a chat with David King, fresh back from his holiday in the Canaries. The lunch was not cancelled as you can see from the photograph. I'm not sure if we have an exemption which allows us to wear hats in the Clubhouse, even paper ones. A great lunch, well done Lynn and Cheryl and thanks for feeding us throughout the year. A short afternoon break and it was back to the Clubhouse for the December meeting of the Club Committee. It was a good meeting, quick and decisive and it was home to watch the last 10 minutes of the footie on TV. Now I have to write the minutes, but they can wait for another day.
And then down came the rain. And how it has come down ... its a wash out. I went up to the club to do some paperwork and all I could see was water .... So I left after an hour or so and went shopping for next weeks Bird and Bottle prizes, though if this rain doesn't stop we'll be running next year!! I did notice whilst I was in the Clubhouse that the course record set by Ronnie Dixon is missing (picture frame on the fireplace). Theft? An inappropriate prank or wanton vandalism? All totally unacceptable. Any information re the culprit will be treated in confidence.
I always think the weeks leading up to Christmas should be a quiet period at the golf club, but far from it, it seems busier than ever. Short wet days, long dark nights ... but lots to do. On Sunday we managed to play the first of the Men's Bird and Bottle competitions. We suddenly had a relatively fine day, the course was wet but playable with 18 holes open and 84 men turned up to play in the competition. I seemed to be at the Club all day, certainly all of the daylight hours. Having completed the round, it was back to the Clubhouse to sort out the prizes, mainly bottles of spirit which I had been buying when the offers were on at the supermarkets, and meat vouchers. There were over £300 prizes awarded to the first 8 pairs and the winners were Malcolm Cook and Kevin Pinkney with an impressive 50 points. Well done guys. I marked the card for Daniel Deakin and Darren Rushtom. Daniel had a great round with 7 birdies, but 43 points did not get in the prizes! With so many people playing, it was nearly dark when Kenny Shepherd and I did the presentation, and it was certainly dark by the time I typed up the results and got home. I spent the evening doing the accounts and putting the results on the Internet. A long day, but nice to get 18 holes in. (The photo shows the 8th tee, currently being rebuilt. Nice to see the divot repair box strategically positioned?)
I thought the following statistics may be of interest to those members who attended the Presentation on Friday evening, and also to those members who failed to attend or maybe were not due to collect awards.
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men or so the quotation goes ..... and with lots of players and prizes arranged for the Men's first Bird and Bottle Competition the result was .... no play ... the course was water logged and the course was closed and we must all wait and come back another day .... see you next week with a bit of luck.
Friday evening was the Club Presentation Evening, when the winners of the Men's, Ladies and Junior Trophies and medals are recognised with a formal presentation from the Club. The evening was well attended and the trophies were presented by Maureen Jenkins, Lady Captain 2009, Andy Hope the Junior Manager and moi .... The announcements were made by Pat Mattinson and Kenny Shepherd. Barrie Guy took photographs of the winners and their trophies in the foyer. A few 'snaps' ie less formal photographs are available on the website and these can be accessed by logging onto the Parklands website and following the link. 