Shoe cleaner repair

The compressor which feeds the shoe cleaner has been repaired and is now in full working order. We have also replaced one of the air guns which had been damaged. Please ensure that you hang the gun back on the hooks when you have finished using it. Thanks.

Junior Team vs Bedlingtonshire - Match Result

(Text and photo courtesy of Robert Hope). This was a new era for the Parklands Junior golf team as for most of those playing, this was their inaugural match. In addition Andy and Judith Hope took the reins as team supervisors for the first time.
To be honest, the day started badly with the bus arriving and departing without the team. Thankfully our lady members rose to the occasion with Pat Mattinson, Candy Paige-Brown and Alyssa Balding’s father all pitching in to get the team to Bedlington on time – many thanks to all.
The weather played kind to the team with only a slight breeze and the course was in excellent condition, enabling both teams to play great golf.
The first pairing of Alyssa Balding and Josh Laverick was evenly matched and went to the sixteenth, where Josh emerged victorious putting Parklands 2 down.
The second match of Ben Goldie and Ross O'Connor ended on the 14th green, putting Parklands 4 down. Ben tried hard and played well, but the seven shots difference proved difficult for our number two.
In the third match Oliver Hogg overcame a shoulder injury to play the first 14 before defeat arrived. Congratulations must go to Olly, as despite the ten shot difference, he put in a great effort until the very end.
Robert Hope played Elliot Smart in the fourth group. Robert, who had previously been beaten by Elliot at the Parklands home game, had his revenge with the match ending 4 and 2 and Parklands picking up their first points of the day.
Tom Brooks made his first team appearance playing against 13 handicapper Ryan Priest at number five. Tom's hard working performance during the match resulted in a 4 and 2 victory.
With the overall result riding on the final match of Wayne McCulloch versus Michael Dunn, the tension was rising as they approached the 17th hole with Wayne one hole in the lead. The 17th is a long par 3 and both players were feeling the heat. A long drive from Wayne found the charity bunker and Michael ended in the rough. With all the members from both teams watching, Wayne stepped up and made a great shot from the bunker and went on to win the hole and his match
Another first time appearance was made from Samantha Malone playing reserve. Her morning training session paying off as she successfully halved her match with Harrison - well done Sam.
The overall result was a 6 - 6 draw. Well done to all concerned.

Men's Captain's Day - Sunday, 19th July 2009

My Captain's day is on Sunday, the 19th July. The competition will be stableford format, full handicap for the Captain's Trophy. There's lots of prizes to be won, including best nett and best gross, best nett by category, longest drives by category and 4 x nearest the pin. There are also prizes for best senior, best junior, best visitor and best dressed player. With refreshments offered on the 1st and food and drink on the 10th, .... all that's missing is you ... so get your name down and enjoy the day. The entry sheet will be available as normal at this Sunday morning's competition. (poster courtesy of Neil Watson).

The Lady Captain's Day - Saturday, 18th July 2009

It's the date for every lady member to note, Saturday, the 18th July and Maureen's Captain's Day. There's lots of prizes to be won, including best nett and best gross by category, longest drives and nearest the pin and a pitching competition. With goodies offered on the 1st and nibbles on the 10th, along with afternoon tea on completion .... all that's missing is you ... so get your name down and enjoy the day. (poster courtesy of Neil Watson)

Back to Winning Ways

On a very warm and humid evening, the Men's team had a Tuesday fixture at Westerhope GC in their 8th Hadrian League match of the season. The team was Graeme Hewitt, Chris Bowman, Craig Wilson, Ian Davidson, Ronnie Dixon and Paul Shanks. The course was in superb condition and the wet weather of the previous night had left the odd puddle, but softened the greens to make them quite receptive. Brain King had dragged himself from his sick bed to support the team and John Best, John Bainbride and Chris Wappat were in attendance to caddy. At the end of the 9th we were up in 2 matches, all square in one and down in the other 3. By the end of the 13th it was down in 2, all square in 2 and up in 2 .... and the stage was set for an exciting last 5 holes. Ian Davidson was first to finish with a 2/1 win. Next was Craig Wilson who clawed his way back from being 3 down at the 14th to secure a half on the 18th. Then Paul Shanks secured a win 2/1 with a strong finishing run. Ronnie Dixon who had also been 3 down at the 14th secured another half on the final hole in a nail biting finish. Chris Bowman had a loss 3/2 and finally Graeme Hewitt had a great 4/2 win to finish the night. We won 8-4 and I witnessed a great determined performance from the team. Well done guys. Westerhope provided excellent hospitality throughout the evening and finished by serving us the biggest and best fish and chips I've had in a long time.

Permanent Distance Markers

For the observant amongst us, you may have noticed that we have new permanent distance markers on both the white and the yellow tee boxes. These consist of a square steel plate, painted the appropriate colour with a welded steel spike. The 36 markers were made courtesy of Brian Rutherford. The plates were put in position by Kevin Hall and Kenny Shepherd. You may wonder what advantages these steel plates have over the old concrete ones and the answer is simple. When they become covered over with soil and grass, they can be detected and uncovered. It's easy to find a steel plate, but very difficult to find a concrete disc as we have found over the last few months as we have failed to find many of the original markers. Thanks guys.

A busy weekend

Well that was a busy weekend for the golf club, the bar staff and the caterers. It was the Northumberland Plate weekend with all the glamour, buzz and disruption it brings to the golf club. It's the principal race meeting of the year for Northern Racing and therefore the biggest source of revenue and Saturday is the day the golf club has to play second fiddle ... we lose the car park, suffer access and egress problems, a busy and noisy clubhouse .... but all for the best possible reasons ... so that the Company can make some revenue and hopefully be financially sound during these testing times for the leisure industry. But our golfing life must go on ... and the Ladies Section held their Bronze Championship quarter and semi finals on Saturday. Congratulations to Amanda Pattison and Yvonne Welch who will now contest the final on Club Championship day on Sunday, 12th July.

Sunday was a busy day, with the Men's Section holding their Invitation Day. It was a warm but misty start to the day and under the watchful eye of the organiser, Graham Bell, 72 pairs of members and visitors enjoyed a well organised day of golf with a meal on their return to the clubhouse. The result was very close and the winning pairing of D Flynn and D Tallon finished with 46 points and were rewarded with £87 of vouchers each. Well done to all concerned. The results are on the website.

I ran a raffle on the day for the Captain's Charity, Alzheimer, and we raised £183 ... so many thanks for all those who bought tickets and thanks to Graham Bell who donated a trolley as one of the raffle prizes.