End of the Summer - it's Official

It's official - summer is over. The long awaited and delayed completion of the summer golf programme has been completed. The Ladies section completed their programme on Saturday, 8th November some 4 weeks late and the Men's programme completed on the Sunday, 6 weeks late. The competitions were played in very wet, almost marsh type conditions, with the water and mud soaking up trouser legs to mid calf height. Coupled with some freezing rain on the Sunday morning, it was no surprise that there were 21 no returns as players failed to find lost balls and declined the option of returning to the tee.


The Men's results included a win for Mac Murphy with a nett 69, but the Handicap Trophy was won by Jon Christie with a 73. The Junior trophies went to Thomas Brooks (nett) and Daniel Deacon (gross). The points awarded for the placings also settled the winner of the Sid Hall Trophy which is awarded to the most consistent player across the season. The winner was Ian Davidson who will get his name engraved on the cigarette box (not very PC) and also the honours board in the Club House ... well done Ian.

Children's Christmas Party

With all this wet weather, you may not have noticed the begging letter in the entrance way asking for donations of bottles, biscuits and other Christmas items to make up a hamper, which we will then raffle to raise money towards the Children's Christmas party.

So please have a rummage round and bring an item with you on your next visit to the Club.

The notice for the sale of tickets for the party is on the end of the bar and these are priced at £7.50 per child.

Rain Rain Go Away

And on it pours .... when will it ever end? Talk about weather for the ducks ...

Spoke too soon

What a difference a day makes .... especially when that day brings rain by the bucket load Friday was wet wet wet ... and the effect is that the course was closed Friday and Saturday resulting in the cancellation of the Ladies competition on Saturday and the Men's competition on Sunday ... when will this already extended competition season ever end?

Winter is in the air

The Men's competition on Sunday 26th Oct 08 saw us playing greensomes format, an unusual event for many of the men. A bright day with the odd heavy shower resulted in some good scores. The winners of the Ralph Hopper Trophies were Russell Simpson and Ryan Simpson with a net score of 63.5. Well done to you both. My only bright spot of the round was sinking my partners drive on the 14th from just off the green for a 2 and a share of the 2's sweep.

It's been half term this week and the course and the complex has been busier than usual Monday to Friday. Despite the cold weather, the course is drying out well and the fairways are looking good for the winter. The only black spot is the inability of players to bend their backs and pick up and replace their divots.

With early morning frosts, this week has brought the winter greens into effect for a few days. Greens in regulation are a little more difficult to achieve when aiming at a circle less than 10yards in diameter and then putting very firmly to achieve a straight put .... or at least that's my excuse!

The first (I hope) of our synthetic tee boxes has been completed on the 8th. This will provide us with an all season alternative to the conventional tee boxes whilst keeping the hole at its full length. It will be interesting to have the opinion of the members when it is put into play.

Au Revoir Ladies

It's been a relatively quiet week at the Golf Club. The Men's Competition on Sunday was played on a course that is slowly drying out, but there are still many flooded bunkers and a number of persistent wet patches on the fairways and more worryingly on a couple of the greens. The competition favoured the entrants playing later in the morning with the first four places going to players in the back half of the field. The winner was G Weir who won the Turney Wylde Trophy with J Watson winning the junior Maddison Trophy. Well done to you both.


Monday brought the Ladies Committee Meeting and the it was the last committee meeting for the Immediate Past Captain, Ciaran Hannon. Thanks for the all the sterling work Ciaran, you'll be missed.

Tuesday saw the Club Committee Meeting and the committee welcomed the Northern Racing Executive Director, Mark Spincer to the meeting. Here's to a long and productive working relationship.
This meeting was also the last for the Lady Captain, Denise Swindlehurst, who hands over the reins at the Ladies AGM next month. The Men's Captain, Paul Fairley recorded his sincere thanks for Denise's cooperation and friendship during their year as Captains together.


Thursday/Friday brought us a new air compressor/shoe and trolley cleaner ... paid for with Club funds and installed courtesy of Kenny Shepherd, the Men's Chairman and Brian Rutherford. Well done to you both and I hope the membership appreciates your efforts.




Keep your fingers crossed for dry weather and lots of drying winds ......

Hadrian League Dinner

3 months to go to D Day ... but in the meanwhile ....

A number of Committee representatives and guests plus a solitary team player attended the Hadrian Golf League Annual Dinner and Presentation Evening at the Assembly Rooms Newcastle upon Tyne on Friday 17th October 2008. Parklands GC had one trophy to collect - The Trolhdahl Cup - for best gross won by Graeme Hewitt with a gross score of 70. Well done!

Relaxing during the speeches !!!!!!

We received a few mentions in the published League Highlights .... 'Hexham could not take advantage however, losing 8 - 4 away to Parklands, the league's most unpredictable team.'

Something to work on for next season ... consistent at winning I trust!!