HLSGC CHRISTMAS NEWS LETTER 2019
HLSGC CHRISTMAS NEWS LETTER 2019
The Chairman.
Yet another year with a lot of hard work along the way. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the membership for their continued loyalty and support of Houghton Le Spring Golf Club. Wayne and his green staff for keeping the course in great condition. Judith and her staff for the quality beer supplied to us. Dave and his staff for the good food provided from the kitchen. The Professional for the running of the shop and last but far from least my committee members for the hard and unseen work they do behind the scenes. As most of you will know this is my final year as Chairman of this great club. I have held the post for the last 15 years and prior to that committee member for 11 years. All together a memorable 26 years and something I am proud of. It’s time to hand over the to the next Chairman and i wish him the best of luck in the position, I am sure it is in good hands.
On Behalf of the Club, may I wish all our members a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Jack Ellison / Chairman
The Captain.
Well what a year. Never a dull moment!
The introduction of BRS. The 6 Page club feature in Golf Club International, the Pro-Am, the LWC Corporate Day, the hosting of the County Clark Cup Final, the outstanding men’s team results, winning the League and Cup and the completion of 101 men’s and Senior’s competitions, including 8 Opens.
In addition, the progress being made in communication with the members through facebook and the club website, the consultation with the members through the club survey and the sterling work being done by the greens team in some very challenging conditions
All of the above could not have been achieved without the support provided by and outstanding group of volunteers. They are the ones who bring the added value to a member’s club such as ours and long may their contributions continue.
I thank you all for the support you have given me over the course of my captains year and I wish you all the merriest of Christmases and a very Happy New Year.
Dave Bryson
Club Captain 2019
The Secretary.
It has been a great honour to help steer the club through a very difficult time in the past year. I took over the position of Honorary Secretary at the beginning of 2019 from Mr. D. Freeman. I am pleased to see Dave back on his feet and looking to play golf again next year.
As with all golf clubs in the region and also nationally, we are going through a very difficult time financially. Rising costs are very problematic. We had to raise fees slightly higher this year against all our principals to help counter this. Thank you all for understanding this. The weather is also playing its part in making the running of outdoor sport clubs very troublesome.
However, here we are at the end of another year. The club is still thriving and will continue to go on from strength to strength. In order to start to put the club on a more sound financial footing we have started to look at all of the club contracts and are asking questions of suppliers to negotiate more cost effective deals. We have had success in Cleaning, Gas Supply, Telephone, and are starting a new contract with LWC which we will see the benefit of next year. This will continue next year in order to make us really competitive in our market.
Unfortunately, along with these changes we have had to look at staff contracts. This has led to us having to part with our Professional. The club could not sustain the level of finance for this area. Please bear with the Committee, as this will be actioned as priority to put in place a more cost-effective alternative. Thank you to Bradley and Josh for your efforts. All the best for the future. The Greens Staff are now working a new rota through the winter to help with costs. Thank you to all of them for this massive help.
The course has been recognised again this year as one of the best mid-range courses in the North East. We have had plaudits from Durham County Golf and societies. Indeed, LWC are not only bringing their Durham area golf day here next year but are now bringing the Northumberland area golf day as well. Thanks again to Wayne, the Greens Committee and the staff for having the course in such good condition. The Committee are committed to providing the investment in the course to keep us at the top. The clubhouse staff of Judith, Rio and Katy have given the club great service this year. They have provided a pleasant, friendly atmosphere around the clubhouse. Dave, the Caterer has provided great food and helped bring us some good custom this year. Thank you all.
The Committee themselves have been brilliant this year in the way they have worked tirelessly to reorganise the club. I also must thank the volunteers who help the Committee.
Last, but not least our loyal members. Thank you for responding again in numbers to the call to pay membership fees early. We do really appreciate your loyalty and help. Membership numbers at this moment are very steady for next year. This is great news for the club and is going against national trends of a reduction of golf club membership.
Thank you to Valda, the Treasurer. It has been a very difficult year and it has been a pleasure to work as a team with you.
Unfortunately, I am not applying for re-election to the post this year. But, thank you one and all for your support this past year. The very best of luck to the new Secretary.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.
Eddie Ridley
Secretary
The Treasurer.
Well we seem to have had a good year up to now but the last few weeks have been very trying. So much rain and yet again this has obviously caused a loss of revenue and it is only the start of December, we still have the whole winter to get through! We were as you are aware, expecting a trying year. We have with great regret had to increase the fees. We are also doing many things in the background to save money. We have taken the cleaners inhouse rather than paying the extortionate fees of a cleaning company, we have renegotiated the green staffs contract and they are now working at weekends without any overtime pay but taking time off through the week. We have just renegotiated our contract with LWC after looking at other suppliers. We have managed to get a much cheaper contract with LWC.|
The biggest step taken, is to give our Professional notice, again reluctantly, but in this economic climate we simply cannot afford this luxury. We are now considering our options as to the new arrangement of the position in general.
We have had a good response to our early payment incentive, so thank you to everyone who did this. Well done to the Development Group team for the excellent work they have done with sponsorship and many thanks to our sponsors who support our club.
My biggest thanks however go to the members and our Committee all of whom have been a tremendous support to me and without whom we would not exist. Sorry to see Eddie going and would like to thank him for all his help and support.
Have a wonderful Xmas and a very Happy New Year.
Valda P Grant /Treasurer
Club Development.
Firstly, I would like to thank all of the team for their great work in maintaining the level of sponsorship for the club. This was not an easy task, given the current austerity measures, that a lot of businesses have taken in way of advertising and sponsorship. We extend our thanks and season greetings to all our current sponsors who are continuing their relationship with the club and long may it continue.
The feedback from the survey (“ Players First”) that we ran early in the year , has enabled the club in general to try and adapt our planning both on and off the course, in the way the members would like to see it develop. You can rest assured that the Club is committed to having members that are proud to be a member of the club.
We hope that by early next year that the club will have a 2/3 year plan in place, which will enable to move the club forward on a sound financial business basis. This will be based on the feedback from the members survey we received, along with a strategy to maintain and improve all the aspects of the club. There will have to be priorities from time to time, namely the course upkeep, which is the lifeblood of the club. We as a club are committed to a transparency policy, which allows our members a say in the running of the club
Best wishes and good health to all.
Chair of the Club Development Team
Lady Captain.
It has been an honour and a privilege to have served as Lady Captain this year and I would like to thank everyone for their support and help throughout the year.
There has been many highs for me throughout the season, too many to mention individually. However, I must mention my Captains day, a fantastic day which I will never forget, many thanks to all my helpers and those who donated prizes for my charity raffle.
My Charity this year was for The Mesothelioma Research Fund and with your kind donations we manged to raise £350.00, once again thanks for your generosity.
Finally, I would like to wish Pauline Baxter the very best of luck and every success in her year as Lady Captain 2020.
A very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.
Sandra Gilmour – Lady Captain 2019
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JLO / Junior Section
What another great year we have had in 2019.
Our younger sections are becoming really popular, great news for the future of Houghton Golf Club and our junior Section.
Our Wee Wonders meet regularly and will continue to do so over the winter months. Our Academy section has really taken off with regular competitions as well as a blue tee league in which five youngsters represented the club very well indeed. Our junior team also had another good season, in the running for both league and cup until the very late stages.
Some stand out moments include Oliver, Ryan and Jack qualifying for the Mizuno Order of Merit Finals., Dan & Jack representing Durham County, Emily being selected to represent Durham in Ladies County week. A fantastic round of 66 from Rio on Captains Day, Dan becoming Club Champion and finally Dan and Ryan becoming Durham County Junior Foursomes Champions. Quite a list of achievements.
Well done to Oliver Norden on being captain of the section so well this year and good luck to next year’s captain, Emily Baxter who will be joining her Mother and Father as Captains of the club for 2020, with James Howell deferring his captaincy to 2021.
On behalf of the Junior section can I wish you all a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.
Joanna Ellison / JLO
The Greens Chairman.
It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride this year with highs and lows throughout. The early and mid-season weather was kind and the Greens Team had the course in great condition. The start of a monsoon season in late July led to some unwanted disease in the greens. The team worked hard to recover the greens after the maintenance period and they returned to their usual great standards by early September. Heavy rain in the Autumn has tested the resolve of everyone. We will continue the policy of opening the course whenever possible and avoiding the dreaded trolley ban when we can.
The year ahead will focus on developing a course layout that will have the club fully prepared for the introduction of the World Handicap System. Definition of fairways will remain a priority and hopefully a winter course will be developed during 2020. The war on thatch will continue throughout the year with first assault happening in March. Hopefully the aggressive treatments planned for the most affected greens like the 13th will see even better surfaces this time next year.
Seasons Greetings to All.
John Ellison / Greens Chairman