I would like to start by thanking our members for their continuing support over the last couple of months. I ask that you all continue to support the Clubhouse and the Pro Shop before and/or after play. I am continuing to work with the management team at Bondhay to bring about change at the Club, change that will benefit our members in the short, medium and long term. Change comes at a cost and will take time, so I ask for your patience and understanding while I navigate through this period of transition.
I feel like it is necessary for me to update you all on the health of my Dad, Alan. I wouldn’t ordinarily share something that is so personal, however he has been a friend to many of you for several years and I feel that an update will prevent further speculation. Some of you will now know that my Dad, Alan, has been diagnosed with vascular dementia. My husband Craig and I are now caring for my Dad and will continue to do so in the coming months/years. Many of you will have noticed that there are two caravans on the land overlooking the 10th tee. My Dad will be living in one of the caravans and my husband and I will be living in the other. This will allow us to continue to offer my Dad the care and support he needs at this time, maintain some independence, and for him to live in a familiar place surrounded by his family and friends.
I understand that there has been a rumour circulating that the Club has been sold to a third party. This is not the case. I have taken over the role of the Manging Director of the club. I am proud to be following in the footsteps of my Father and want to ensure that the business continues to grow over the next few years. I will be responsible for making any decisions that relate to the Club and the course. I have surrounded myself with a management team who I consider to be experts in their own field, and I can confidently say that I have a team of managers who are all passionate, hardworking and focussed on making Bondhay successful. We will have our first management meeting in the next few days. This meeting is intended to focus each manager on developing their own area of business with my support and guidance.
I would like to finish by thanking our retiring Chairman, Stuart Squires, for his dedication and commitment to the club over the last few years. I do not intend to appoint another Chairman at this time.
Lisa Hardisty
Managing Director
I can’t believe that I am nearly a third of the way through my Lady Captain’s year. To date we have only played one trophy competition, the Lady Captain’s Inaugural and the next trophy competition is due to be played in April.
When I first drafted this I said that the weather had been kind to us, then the snow came. This meant that our friendly match at College Pines was cancelled, but they are trying to arrange a new date. Throughout the winter months the Ladies have been playing fun competitions and thank you to Rachael for organising these and for putting a fun twist on some of them, even though this meant losing our hard-earned points at the end of the round!
The course is starting to look very different with the removal of a lot of trees, the bushes on the ninth hole and the odd bunker being taken out. Hopefully this will help with our scoring!
Now that we are moving into Spring, I hope this will encourage more ladies to join us for our Sunday competitions. The posters for these, up to the end of April, are on the notice board in the Ladies Locker Room and includes a Texas Scramble on Good Friday.
Mel Clark
Lady Captain
I hope everyone had a great winter. Those of you that I have seen throughout the winter months have been working hard on their game. If you haven’t, it’s not too late to to book in for a refresher lesson with myself, Tom or Reece to perfect your technique.
Our Pro Shop is very well stocked with tees, gloves, balls, grips, clothing and much more. We now offer a custom fitting service for Ping golf clubs, as well as a large selection of demo clubs in stock to try before you buy. April brings a new summer clothing range from Under Armour, Penguin and Island Green all at competitive prices. Also in stock are the latest cart and stand bags from Motocaddy, Ping, TaylorMade and Powacaddy. We have a few 2022 shirts in stock all reduced to clear at £25.
Tom, Reece and I are happy to advise and help you in any way possible, so don’t be a stranger and feel free to pop into the Pro Shop… even if its just for a friendly chat!
We will be running the majorss sweepstake again this year so look out for more information which will be posted in the professional shop.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all members for their continued support throughout 2022 and into 2023 and hope everyone has a successful year golfing.
Barry Hurt
Head PGA Professional
The Honours Boards are now updated for all 2022 winners. The committee have now included two extra prestigious events to the Honour’s Boards, these being the Summer Singles and Doubles Knockout competition. First prize for the singles will be £100 and £50 each for the doubles winners. All past winners have been recognised on the Boards.
Our ambition for the 2023 season is to offer more varied competitions both at Bondhay and throughout Yorkshire / Sheffield Union. As a committee we will be allowing additional monies to be available to satisfy this competitive activity and will work closely with our professionals to link Bondhay competition success with external competitions.
As a gent’s section we produced many successful teams in 2022. Our accolade started with a memorable victory in the Notts Alliance Golf League team event with Reece Samson also clinching the professional trophy. The Seniors Taskers Team accomplished remarkable success across eight participating counties over 8 gruelling rounds beating Hillsborough GC in the final. The 6-18 league team narrowly missed promotion to division 1 and the Scratch Team finished third in division 5.
The committee have purchased Bondhay Team Polo Shirts which will be provided to all participating team representatives listed below. Good luck for the new season!
Gents Team Captains 2023:
Scratch Team - Mark Highfield
Taskers Team - Michael Yeend
6-18 League - Greg Masters
Notts Alliance - Carl Hough
Finally we are looking for a Temporary Handicap Secretary to take over from Roy Cullis’s in his Captains Year 2024. It would be great to get someone on board now and join our Committee. Any interested parties please drop me an e -mail: markdiane01@outlook.com
Mark Highfield
Secretary
Hopefully by the time this newsletter finds you we are back on a Qualifying course. We did try mid March, but unfortunately the weather delayed our plans.
Barry and I attended an England Golf seminar for Handicap Secretaries which covered the usual explanations and expectations from a Club Handicap Secretary / Committee, with some recommendations on terms of competition.
So the committee have adopted a number of aspects in line with England Golf recommendations. To be in the prizes of Majors or Board Events, a player will be required to have submitted a minimum of 5 competition score cards in the previous rolling 12 months (increasing to 10 starting 2024). The maximum strokes received being 28 (handicap index white tees 23.6 / yellow tees 24.7). If your handicap is higher, this does not exclude you from these competitions.
The Captain’s Greensome on Saturday 25th will now be a Pairs Scramble.
Should you have any questions around handicapping, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Roy Cullis
Handicap Secretary
I think I’m right in saying that we all thought Spring was here in February, but as dry as it was it’s definitely made up for it through March. I’m sure it’s rained every day since the snow thawed making it difficult to get the grass down to spring heights of cut. It’s normally nice to get everything cut and striped up ready for the new season, but the weather and environment dictates this. Hopefully good weather is around the corner and we can get the playing surfaces back to normal. The Greens have had their renovations done and we are now into our nutrition programme. As the temperature and daylight increases, we should see some recovery and disease scars closing in.
We will soon be into our spring and summer maintenance programme and finishing up with winter jobs. Stumps will be ground with our stump grinder and the areas seeded. Further tree removal will be planned for next autumn.
White tee markers are now back out and preferred lies is still on until further notice. Please look at the notice boards for any changes and information regarding the course. Please repair pitch marks, replace divots and rake your bunkers.
Finally, we’ve welcomed two new additions to our ranks over the last few months. Alfie and Matt have joined us on the Greens team, with Matt also taking up a few shifts in the Pro Shop to aid Barry, Reece and Tom. Be sure to say hello if you bump into them on the Course or in the Shop.
As always, if you want to know anymore regarding the course, please feel free to get in contact with me through the office.
Ellis Wilson
Head Greenkeeper
Firstly, I wanted to say thank you to each and every person that’s made me welcome on my return to Bondhay. It’s been a pleasure to catch up with some familiar faces and meet many new members across the sections. I’m very much enjoying and looking forward to continuing the hard work required to step things up across the Club for the benefit of everyone that takes advantage of the excellent courses and facilities.
Over recent months, we’ve been working hard to refresh, revive and increase the corporate image and presence for Bondhay within the Club and beyond through the use of different mediums. You may have noticed more frequent updates on our social media channels and in your inbox, plus improved communications and assets around the clubhouse. You will also see more marketing collateral around the clubhouse and grounds to promote various offerings, in addition to an upcoming refresh of signage. The aim of all this is to create a more connected community for our membership and the wider public, with an identity that is harmonious and professional.
Fixture lists for all Sections are now being sent to your inbox, published on social media and in notice boards around the clubhouse on a monthly basis.
The Mother’s Day Lunch celebrations were our first ‘big’ non-golf event since I took up since I rejoined the Club. Over 50 covers enjoyed a three course meal with a free welcome drink for all and handmade cupcakes for all the mums in attendance. Thank you to those who booked and showed their support. There was lots to learn from a team perspective, which we will review and use to make the next one even better. The aim is to keep building up to more celebrations and events over the coming year and beyond, including theme nights, celebrity talks, music and more. If you have any requests, do let me know.
If you’re reading this before Easter, we’ll be hosting Sunday Lunch with an Easter twist on 9th April. Book your table on 01909 723608 or email events@bondhaygolfclub.com.
I am conscious that the promise of a new website has been floating around for a number of months. I can confirm that this is now in pre-development, with an aim to have it live within the coming months after a thorough process which includes revamping the design, usability and copy. The old/current website is no longer fit, so it’s important that we take this opportunity to make sure a new one serves a purpose for members and visitors alike. I won’t go into the specific details of functionality in this newsletter, but if there is anything particular you would like to see within the site, suggestions are welcome.
Whilst I and the wider team have many great ideas, we can’t continue to do it without support from you, our members. With that in mind, I encourage you to support the Club in any way you can beyond turning up for your round, whether that be socialising over a coffee in the clubhouse, joining us for Sunday Lunch with the family, or attending an event. The support that you give and the extra money that we can generate from events, weddings and more will be invested into improving the fundamentals of the golf club for your enjoyment.
If you would like to discuss any of the points mentioned above, or have any ideas and feedback, you can reach me on josh@bondhaygolfclub.com or come and see me in the office on a Wednesday, Friday or Saturday.
Josh Clarke
Marketing Manager
The winter period has meant a quieter time in general for the catering team at the Club, but we’ve seen some decent off-season demand for societies and stayed busy with a number of larger events in the Function Suite.
As we enter spring and approach summer, we are giving some thought to revising the food menu in the Clubhouse bar/restaurant. We want this to be reflective of what our members would like to eat, as well as offering a good selection for visitors, so I would like to invite suggestions on dishes that you would like to see on the menu. We are looking at potentially offering afternoon teas throughout the spring and summer and also ways to further include the female golf sections.
Alongside the rest of the kitchen team, I would like to welcome Curtis to the Club as one of our new chefs. Curtis brings a strong passion for his craft which is reflective in the food he serves, so please give him a warm welcome if you see him.
Karen Smith
Head Chef
