Newsletter December 2024

December 5, 2024
14 minutes

Welcome to the December/January newsletter. Christmas is just over 3 weeks away at the time of writing. December sadly brings shorter days, longer darker nights and colder weather. The festive decorations are up, the log burners are on and Christmas Carols are playing in the Clubhouse. We have added fresh warm homemade soup to our menu in the half way house and all of our bays on Trackman continue to be heated.

Captain and Vice-Captain

I must start by welcoming our new Club Captain, Mark Highfield and his Vice Captain, Shane Turner. Over the last couple of years (under my ownership) Mark has evidenced that he is a committed and passionate member of Bondhay Golf Club by his involvement in the Club’s teams, and the prominent role he has played as secretary on the club committee. He has performed the role as Vice-Captain for the last 12 months, stepping in and assisting Roy where necessary. I am confident that Mark will have an extremely successful year as Club Captain from 2024-2025. I hope you will all support Mark throughout the coming months and assist in raising money for his two chosen charities which are Thornberry Animal Sanctuary and Rain Rescue.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Roy Cullis who has being our Club Captain for the year 2023/2024. The last 12 months have been challenging for Roy and his lovely wife Linda, however throughout this time they have continued to support the club in every way possible. I have enjoyed getting to know you both and hope that you will continue to visit the club over the coming months.

Christmas Party

Our members Christmas Party is on the 6th December. The member’s party is £13 each which includes a Christmas Dinner, disco and late bar. You are welcome to bring along any of your friends or family. It would be great if more of our members supported/attended the events at the club, particularly events such as this, which have been heavily discounted to attract more ticket sales. Tickets can be purchased through the Pro Shop, online or from the Office.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Inclusivity is at the heart of England Golf’s core strategy. Their intention is to widen golf’s appeal, highlighting our sport as more inclusive and accessible than ever. Golf clubs play a vital role in making this vision a reality, through inspiring people to play and enjoy the benefits our great game provides. I have touched on this in my previous newsletter updates.

In 2023, we took the decision to nominate a single Club Captain rather than have a separate Captain for men and women. We are now looking to take the next step by introducing genderless competitions and sections. This is not something that is unique to Bondhay, but undertstand it’s a big change. It will take time but we hope that the transition will be seamless. We will update you on any changes that are due to take place via our social media pages and via email.

Course & Greens Team

The Greens team are working hard to keep the course playable with greens and bunkers in play. The course is assessed every morning by the team, who continue to assess the status throughout the day, removing any temp greens where possible. Regular updates are posted on our Facebook page and other social media channels, as well as more significant updates (such as closure) on the website. We hope to install a blackboard outside of the Pro Shop which will provide you with an overview of the weekly/monthly/daily work that will be conducted by the Greens team. These are subject to change due to the weather and more pressing work.

Please continue to report to the Pro Shop before going out to play so that you can receive a daily course update. This is particularly important for the users of private buggies. Please can I remind you all to repair your divots, repair your pitch marks and rake your bunkers. This rule applies to all of our members, young and old, as well as visitors. Repeatedly repairing the greens/fairways and raking the bunkers, takes the team away from other pressing jobs on the course, which has a knock-on effect to other areas.

Staff Updates

This month we lose Joel from our Bar team. Joel has been an integral member of the Bondhay team since he was a teenager and is now leaving us to pursue a career as an estate agent. We will miss him but want to wish him luck and success in his new role. He will always be welcome at Bondhay.
I would just like to welcome back Paige to our bar team. Paige left us several months ago to visit family and travel around Australia but is now back at Bondhay and working in the bar once more.

Finally, my family and I would just like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2025. Thank you for your support throughout 2024.

Lisa Hardisty - Managing Director

Club Captain's Update

I would like to start by thanking our immediate past Captain Roy Cullis for his year in office. It’s been a tough year personally for him and his family and I wish him all the best of luck with his health.

Secondly I would like to introduce our various section and team Captains for 2025:

  • Club Vice Capt Shane Turner
  • Seniors Capt - Steve Redhall
  • 6-18 Capt - Greg Masters
  • Taskers Capt - Mick Yeend
  • Scratch Capt - Andrew Hunt

Having served on the gents committee for the last 4 years as Secretary and Treasury it’s now an honour and privilege of being made Club Captain of Bondhay Golf Club.

I look forward to working with everyone at our club and promise I will give 100% commitment and do my very best representing the membership. I, like many of you, care passionately about this golf club and just want to help it develop and prosper and be a fantastic place for all the members to play.

Captain’s Charity

My wife Diane and I are big animal lovers so this year my charities will be all about animal rescue and rehoming. Thornberry Animal Sanctuary and Rain Rescue will be at the forefront of my efforts to raise money. Both charitable organisations save the lives of animals in and around the South Yorkshire / Worksop area and rehome vulnerable animals into loving families. I hope you will all support and perhaps we may even get an adoption or two?

At the Captains handover the club raised £295 for charity so thank you to all who provided prizes and bought tickets.

AGM

Thank you to all who attended and contributed. The minutes are now on the Bondhay website and on the notice board for all to read.

Fixture Calendar

This is now just about completed for 2025. England Golf are working towards gender neutral golf at all golf courses across the UK and 2025 will see many more mix competitions across the season at Bondhay to reflect and lead in this activity.

Christmas Members’ Bash

Tickets are still available for Friday 6th December. The price of £13 includes a Christmas meal and disco. If you fancy a great night with your family and friends please contact the Bondhay office.
Finally, please bear with me as I develop and grow into the role. If I can’t answer any of your queries or problems, I will find out, and get back to you either in person or e-mail.

Mark Highfield - Club Captain

Course Manager's Update

Roots and stumps can prove an annoyance to golfers of all abilities, not to mention the risk of injury if having to play shots close to these obstructions. Stumps have generally been treated as Ground Under Repair (GUR) and roots have sat without a firm ruling until now.

Following general agreement within the Bondhay Committee and with approval from England Golf, the following rules are now in play on the Devonshire Course with immediate effect:

New Local Rule

  • All tree stumps are now classed as Abnormal Course Conditions / No Play Zone. Players must:
  • Find the nearest point where you no longer have interference from the condition
  • Drop within one club-length of that point, no nearer the hole
  • Drop the ball straight down from knee height
  • The ball must remain within the relief area

Relief From Tree Roots In Or Close To Fairway

Model Local Rule F-9

“If a player’s ball lies in the general area and there is interference from exposed tree roots that are in a part of the general area cut to fairway height or less or in the rough within 4 club-lengths from the edge of the area cut to fairway height or less, the tree roots are treated as ground under repair (GUR).”

The player may take free relief under Rule 16.1b. Relief is NOT allowed if the tree roots only interfere with the player’s stance.

Winter Mats are now in use across all eighteen holes of the Devonshire Course. Due to the positioning of the mats, and the fact that we wish to be able to move them, the course is classed as non-qualifying whilst mats are in use. The means that general play scores cannot be submitted for handicapping purposes.

Training and investment of the team continues as John and Ben have completed their chainsaw course. This will allow us to fell trees ourselves and better manage the schedule for doing so. Any timber extracted from the course is retained and can be used for mulch on wet areas, or be chopped into logs suitable for the indoor burners. I have previously explained the importance of extracting some of the trees around the course so please refer to a previous update for more But briefly, our current tree set-up created microclimates on each hole, block sunlight and take a lot of moisture. It’s important that we manage the course for the future whilst being considerate of the nature that surrounds us.

Please make sure that you are sticking to the rules of the day in regards to the course. Buggy tyre tracks on the fairways cause damage that may not repair in the winter months. Repair your pitch marks, rake the bunkers and replace divots. Proper repairing could be all the difference ready for the spring/summer season kicking in.

Ellis Wilson - Course Manager

Head Pro's Update

As the calendar year is drawing close, I would like to take this opportunity in congratulating all winners throughout 2024 and wish every member a successful golfing 2025.

Myself, Tom, Clive and Tony would also like to thank every member that has supported the Pro Shop throughout 2024 and long may it continue.

This year saw some changes in the Shop as we stocked both TaylorMade and Ping hardware such a Drivers, Fairway Woods and Putters, as well as the new addition of Druids Clothing, being one of the few Shops with the rights to sell their ranges in person. Plenty of mid- and outer layers are in stock, plus some bonus extras such as thermal golf trousers.

We still have fully stocked ranges in the Shop, so pop in and see one of us for a fitting or just general enquiry. Unfortunately we couldn’t stock all golfing brands due to so many on the market but don’t let this discard you from making an enquiry as we might be able to accommodate you.

December will be our sale month so look out for those last minute Christmas bargains for your loved ones or even a little treat for yourself.

The Christmas Raffle is now underway at £5 a Square with lots of prizes to be won.

Myself and Tom are available for lessons throughout the winter on our Trackman Range with lots of special offers to cater for every golfer’s needs, so feel free to get in touch with us.

Trackman has been a great addition to your golf club so don’t be afraid to ask one of the Pro Shop team to advise and help with all the data on there. We all have a good knowledge on how it works, also look out for weekly and monthly competitions we are running and see if you can beat the scores set by one of the pro-shop team for bragging rights and a special prize. I’ve also set up a 9 hole Stableford competition to play the back 9 at Bondhay so lets see if you can top the leaderboard.

Next year’s fixtures are finalised with a packed 2025 season ahead and some new format changes to our Opens. Bookings will be taken in January so don’t delay get your tee time booked.

From Myself, Tom, Clive and Tony we wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Barry Hurt - Head PGA Pro

Marketing Director's Update

I start with saying thank you to Roy Cullis for his time as Captain over the last year. It certainly wasn’t the year he would have hoped for following a stroke in the first portion of 2024, but I can say on behalf of everyone that we’re pleased his recovery is going so well and that he got to join us for more events over the last few months. I wish Roy the best with his ongoing recovery and hope so see him around the Club more in the future.

November as always is the time for a change of the guard as we welcomed Mark Highfield to the role of Club Captain for 2025 and Shane Turner to the role of Vice Captain. The management team are excited to be working alongside them and the rest of the Committee over the next 12 months as we look to continue making improvements to the Club – I can safely say that we all share the same goals and want to ensure we’re one of the finest courses in the region for our members and wider customer base.

Christmas Booking

Turning our attention to the Christmas period, you will have likely seen or remember from my last update that booking is open to members and visitors for golf between 21st December and New Year’s Day. Following some comments, I wanted to clarify the position around deposits. A deposit of £10 per person is required for members for Boxing Day and New Year’s Day only. You can book the other days mentioned as normal. The deposit is fully refundable in the event of cancellation up until Sunday 15th December 2024. This is to ensure a fair chance for everyone to play on these key dates, avoid unnecessary over-booking and reduce last minute cancellations, as we have seen in previous years. Visitors pay the full green fee for Boxing Day and NYD, or a deposit for other days.

Course Care

I’m sure you’re as fed up reading about pitch marks, divots and bunkers as I am writing about them, but I must again stress that you please take the time to ensure that you’re taking action. The softer and wetter ground of the off-season means that pitch marks and divots in particular become more prevalent – and they won’t repair on their own for some time. Please rake the bunkers if you find yourself playing from them. Further to this, I must stress that rules around buggies are there for a reason. If you are instructed that the 90 degree rule is in play or buggies should stick to the paths, you MUST adhere to it. The Pro Shop staff have been instructed to remind people of the daily rules and check that people have pitch repairers, and will be looking to introduce boards to display daily updates on course conditions, buggies etc.

Events

At the time of writing, we’re heading into a busy December of events at Bondhay and have already hosted our first private Christmas Party of the season. Some events of interest may include:

  • Wednesday 4th December - Clairvoyant Joanne Gregory
  • Friday 6th December - Members’ Christmas Party
  • Saturday 7th December - Dancing Through The Decades
  • Tuesday 10th December - Ladies Coaching with Natalie Haywood
  • Saturday 21st December - Dancing Through The Decades
  • Boxing Day - Boxing Day Lunch 12pm-5pm

Tickets and bookings for all the aforementioned events are available at www.bondhaygolfclub.com/events. I’m looking forward to announcing 2025’s calendar, some alongside our event partners, in the coming weeks and months. I hope you’ll find some events worth attending.

Halfway House

Thank you to everyone that has supported the Halfway House since its introduction in July. As we’ve now come into the quieter and colder months, visitor numbers have decreased and thus the takings with it. This has led to me having to assess the viability of its opening at certain times of year as it shouldn’t be costing us more to run that it takes each weekend. Just to give you an example, I took an average over the course of the last 7 weeks (excluding when closed for snow), and the daily average of the two days a week it opens was £104.01. Assuming staffing at NMW of £11.44 for the 6 open hours, that leaves £35.57 which does not take into account the cost of sale with stock, electricity, equipment, or insurance. It goes without saying that the Halfway House operates at a loss more often than not. In the future, I hope to offset some of this by hiring out and taking the trailer to a number of local events.

The Halfway House stocks a range of hot and cold drinks, chocolate and crisps, and hot food such as bacon sandwiches, hot dogs and the newly introduced homemade soup. It’s only a small affair so I understand the earning potential is limited, but I ask that you support the Halfway House in any way that you can to avoid us having to limit a resource that so many people asked for.

Trackman Opening Times

From 2nd December 2024, there has been a slight change to the opening hours for the Trackman Range. Previously, it was open all weekdays from 7am until 9am and then from 7am to 7pm on weekends. Mondays and Tuesdays will now close at the slightly earlier time of 7pm.

  • Saturday to Tuesday - 7am to 7pm
  • Wednesday to Friday - 7am to 9pm

As always, this will be kept under review and may change again in the future. Once the nights are lighter for longer again in the new year, the Range will likely revert to the original opening times alongside the course opening.

Fixtures

As Barry touched on in his update, the Fixture schedule for 2025 is now in place and will be publicised on the website and in and around the Clubhouse. My aim is to get as many events as possible, particularly the Opens, available for online booking directly onto the tee-sheet. This is another step in our modernisation and should hopefully encourage more participation by making it easier to book on in less steps.

Winter Mats

Most of you will now know or have discovered that winter tee mats are in play across all of the course. And as with most elements of change, I’ve had plenty of feedback with dissatisfaction – mainly about the placement and stability. I’ve also had plenty of feedback with praise and understanding. I can assure you that this taken under consideration and we will look to make improvements if possible and necessary, but any major works will to be made in the summer season. The late nature that we received the mats this year left us with no time for any proper landscaping. It’s worth remembering that these mats have been introduced due to the ‘trashing’ of the main tees last winter with the wet weather and we do not want a repeat of this (the 2nd tee for example is still recovering), as it cost us thousands in additional hours and treatments to get the course back up to scratch following complaints. Tools such as the mats will allow us to head into the new season with a better resource for the finer days.

As always, our door is open for you to come and chat with your comments. Alternatively you can email us, speak to a member of the Committee, or use the suggestions box that is situated outside the Pro Shop.

And finally, for those celebrating, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for your support during 2024!

Josh Clarke - Marketing Director

Clubhouse Manager's Update

Thank you to all of our members, visitors and hospitality customers who have supported the Club this year by coming to events and using our facilities. I’m particularly thankful to our fantastic team for their hard work throughout the year.

I hope that you all have a lovely Christmas and ask that you be kind and considerate to the team over the festive period as they’ll be putting in some long hours around the clubhouse bar and the various events that we are hosting.

I’m very pleased to announce that locals can now find us on JustEat with a selection of breakfast and lunch items available for collection and delivery. You can also keep an eye on TooGoodToGo for daily surprise bags of sweet and savoury items.

Mackenzie Clarke - Clubhouse Manager

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