Welcome to the Bondhay Newsletter for August and September. It has been an exceptionally busy couple of months since our last update, with both courses and the Trackman Range seeing good member and visitor numbers. It has also been a busy summer season of competitions and matches, with the teams going at it across the county and plenty of club and private events taking place. Thank you to everyone who has joined us over the summer, and to each an every member that has either renewed or decided to join us.
Following the ALFRA Trophy at the very end of May, attention turned to the first of our Opens which saw C Bowler and R Smith take the top spot, before the Alan Hardisty Trophy the week after. This trophy means a lot to the Bondhay team, so it was fantastic to have such a well-attended event and a notably vibrant atmosphere. Congratulations to Stuart Sanderson on 1st place, winning a VIP experience to the Catterall vs. Eubank boxing match courtesy of Matchroom Boxing. Congratulations also to our All Sections Open winning team of W Tidy, C Fletcher, K Thompson and J Hayward. See the full results for all on the news page of our website.
This year's Captain's Charity Day was a roaring success as Mark Highfield hosted another well-attended day in aid of Rain Rescue and Thornberry Animal Sanctuary, this year's club charities. In an unusual move for shotgun starts, a Friday 1pm tee off was chosen to allow for an 'early weekend' competition – something that worked brilliantly. It was a brilliant day which was kind with equally brilliant weather. A big thank you to the 104 golfers and even more guests that contributed to raising over £2400 for these two charities.
The first of two shout outs goes to the US Kids Golf Tour who held one of their events with us recently. We're incredibly passionate about making golf fun and inclusive for everyone, so it was a great honour to see so many enjoying the course using the longleaf tee system. The kids very kindly signed and presented the Club with a commemorative flag. The second shout is to Luke and Joe who held a private charity event with us in aid of Alzheimer's Society. They did an amazing job of organising their first golf day, which unsurprisingly was well-attended and raised plenty of money for another good cause.
Coaching
It is fantastic to see the growth of Junior Coaching over recent weeks and months, with many new faces starting to join the fun. Hats off to Barry and Tom who put on varied sessions each week for the next generation of golfers. For those who aren't aware, Junior Coaching takes places every Saturday from 11:30 to 12:30 on the Trackman Range, and sometimes out on the Academy Course. It's just £5 per person for 4 to 16 year olds, with all abilities welcome.
Open Coaching — our adult sessions — are also proving popular with those who are looking to work on their game or get into golf. Much like the Junior sessions this is open to all abilities, whether picking up a club for the first time or mastering a particular area of your existing technique.
Trackman Range
The driving range is proving very popular recently, which is great to see. The Pro Shop team adds monthly challenges for you to take part in for an extra bit of fun, alongside the standard Trackman features such as Course of the Month.
Sadly we're not blessed with the longest driving range, so suffer from a lot of lost balls from big hitters clearing the netting and fencing. We have to take this on the chin, but we're now asking that woods, including drivers, are not used on the uncovered grass bays. The nature of them clearing the fence means that they pose an increased risk to people playing on the Academy Course because of the direction in which those bays face. Wood clubs can continue to be used on the covered bays.
We have seen an increase in people going on the range to collect baskets of balls to avoid paying. Under no circumstances should anyone go out on to the range to do so. Not only is it wrong to not pay for your range balls, it's a massive safety risk when others are hitting balls.
Academy Course
The Academy Course has been a hit over the spring and summer months and looks to continue in that vein with it now being the school summer holidays. It's always nice to see families taking each other on, or it provides people with a platform to test the water with the sport.
An increase in popularity comes with a few people trying to circumvent the rules – primarily in the form of not paying to play. A reminder that the Academy Course is not free to use and you must have a valid membership or pay the applicable green fee. In both instances, you should check in at the Pro Shop before play so we know who is on the course in the event of an emergency (the same should be said for the Devonshire Course).
We will be increasing random checks on the Academy Course to ensure memberships are valid or green fees have been paid. Please be polite with the team when they do – they're just doing their job.
Signage
We had intended for the new course signage to be in place by the time that this edition of the newsletter is published, but ground conditions have not been ideal during the last couple of months, having been incredibly dry. Now that we've had some rain to soften up the land, our intention is to start installation in the coming week at the time of writing.
In a positive move for signage, the new entrance signs have been erected at the end of the drive. They're a huge step up compared to what was there before and feature the revised club branding. Once the old posts have been cut out, we'll look to landscape the rockery that was underneath.
Renovations
Renovations and upgrades of the clubhouse continue to edge forward as-and-when it's possible to do so. You will have likely seen or sat on/at the new bar furniture which is miles above the previous cafeteria-looking furniture of before. Alongside that, the bar has had a full run of new panelling on the front and around the fireplace which adds modern contrast and texture. The old side unit has been removed (that housed the bin, sugars etc) and replaced with a standalone modern bin. We have the painting and flooring to finish and touch up, but that'll be done very soon.
The intention is to have the rear of the bar rebuilt to provide a better working space for the bar team, but also to be a better display and storage area in general. We're hopeful this may be done this year, but it depends on course budget requirements for the winter months. The Devonshire Suite (function room) bar is another one to look at when we can.
You may recall a severe burst pipe caused quite a lot of damage to the function room and corridor back in January. After much negotiation, the insurance company has finally allowed us to instruct repairs. If all goes to plan, a new function room floor, corridor carpet, plastering and electrics should be underway late August and into September. This may see some last minute access restrictions through certain external doors or mean that toilets have to become unisex whilst certain works are conducted.
A specialist joinery company has been instructed to create some new main entrance doors. Despite being long overdue for an upgrade anyway, the doors have suffered some damage of late and are hanging on by a thread, so it turned into a job that we couldn't put off any longer. Internal doors will be replaced in the future.
Bunkers
Despite spending more time and money than ever on the bunkers, we're getting a few comments about their condition. We can assure you that they are meticulously attended to, particularly going into a weekend, but observations have shown that players are not keeping the condition in many places. Please ensure you are adhering to course etiquette with bunkers, in particular raking them after use – moving the sand from back to front, rather than front to back.
Litter
The amount of litter being dropped and left around both courses is growing exponentially. And despite some opinions, our team spends quite a lot of time collecting rubbish. Please put your litter in the bins around the course and clubhouse or take it home with you.
Trespassing & Non-Payers
Thanks to some new cameras installed in remote players, it has come to our attention that quite a number of people are trespassing on the course, regularly late into the evening, presumably to either not pay for a green fee or to go hunting for golf balls on the course. We also grow concerned about the swift depletion of balls on the range, which may also be down to theft – the cameras have been repositioned to keep an eye on this.
We ask our members and regular customers to notify us if you notice anyone intentionally avoiding the Pro Shop and paying a green fee. Every non-payer reduces the opportunity for reinvestment into the Club for your benefit.
Autumn & Winter Society Special
As is customary for Bondhay, our Autumn seasonal special is out and available to book now for societies and other golfing groups. For as little as £35 per person, get breakfast, 18 holes of golf and a meal of homemade pie. The offer is available 7 days a week from 1st September until 31st October 2025. For those looking for a package between November and March, details of our Winter Special will be published very soon. Get in touch by
Sponsorship & Corporate Memberships
As our new signage rolls out, it's the perfect time to remind you that hole sponsorship is available – a great outlet to reach thousands of golfers for local businesses and organisations. Prices start from just £500 for the year and include full design and print of the sponsor board, listing on the sponsors page of our website, and two complimentary four balls (worth up to £320). Discounts are available to anyone taking out a corporate membership and to existing corporate members. We also have placements available on the next print run of scorecards, the website (seen by over 5,000 new visitors every month), the Trackman Range and more.
Corporate Memberships are making a return to popularity as businesses realise the pros of taking one out, including offsetting against your tax bill (the best one), entertaining clients and socialising with your team. Each business is different, so we work with our corporate partners to build a bespoke membership package that works for you. They can be made up of a number of rounds per month/year, much like our Associate Membership, or on an uncapped basis like a standard membership.
To find out more about Sponsorship or Corporate Memberships, get in touch.
And finally, we have the sad news to share of the passing of Mick Regester on Thursday 7th August following an illness. Mick was a well-loved member at the Club and leading figure of the Senior Section. He will be sorely missed by many. We will issue any further information in accordance with the family in due course.
I wish you a very pleasant remainder of summer and hope you enjoy your golf as much as possible. As always, if you have any questions, comments or feedback, our door is always open to everyone.
Bondhay Management Team
The last few months have been hectic with some great Board Event competitions, Bondhay Team games and my Captains Charity day! At the moment we have Board events taking place most weekends so please enter the comps and take your chance, your name could be immortalised forever! We have benefitted from some super greens over the last few months even with the lack of rain so well done to all the green keepers throughout this dry period.
Taskers Over 50s
The team moved into the inter-county tournament 3rd round away at Chatsworth Golf Course but unfortunately after drawing the match we went into a play off and lost. Well done to all and looking forward to next year.
6-18 League
The team is currently sitting third in Division 2 with our latest result a superb win 7-1 at home against Wortley. Only two teams can get promoted to Division 1 so the chance is still there.
Scratch Team
A great effort by all who have been involved in the Scratch Team this year. Although we struggled in Division 5 the spirit and endeavour of the players was excellent.
Nottinghamshire Golf Alliance
Our defence of the Alliance Shield begins in late August after holding onto the Shield for the fourth year on the trot! Hopefully we can play well throughout the winter and compete again for this prestigious award.
Captains Charity
It was an absolute honour to host the day with my wife Diane. The weather couldn’t have been any hotter and we had 103 golfers who took part. The generosity by all was overwhelming with the day raising £2400, split between my two charities Rain Rescue and Thornberry Animal Sanctuary. The representatives from both Charities couldn’t believe how we pulled together as a golf club and made the day a fantastic success. Well done to our very own superstar Clive Ardron taking first prize and the smart TV.
Last but not least is the Captains Away Day at Spring water on Friday 26th September. The cost is £45, this includes breakfast, golf and a two course meal followed by presentation/ prizes. I hope you can have a look at your diaries and squeeze this event in. Please put your name down in the Pro shop if you can make it you will not be disappointed.
Mark Highfield | Club Captain
