Welcome to the June and July edition of the Bondhay Newsletter. Firstly, a warm welcome to all of our new members and thank you to all who have chosen to renew over the past couple of months. It’s a given in this industry that some people move on or give up their membership for whatever reason, but our retention is strong and we’ve had a good number of of new or returning faces which is great for all aspects of Bondhay. A further thank you to all of our visitors, societies and general customers who have paid us a visit so far this year. Thank you to the team across all of our departments who are doing an excellent job.
Staff Changes
The Club has once again had a couple of changes to the team, with Ben leaving the Greens and Mark leaving his role as chef. Thank you both and best of luck with what’s next. We’re extremely excited to have welcomed Rebecca as our new Greenkeeper, who holds the honour of being the first female greenkeeper at Bondhay. Connor has joined the greens team on a temporary basis to carry out some general maintenance and updates to the immediate areas around the clubhouse. He’ll be with us for a couple of months while on an international placement with Whitwell CC. Laura has joined the kitchen team as our new cook alongside Amanda. You may have also seen a familiar face in Joel around the place over the past few weeks, who is slotting in across various departments as a helping had and to provide some cover. Welcome all!
Branding
For the last two or three years, we’ve been gradually updating our corporate identity from the patchy one of the last thirty. One thing we’ve hung on to was the logo, however the time has come for it to have a refresh. Keeping the character of the old one was important, so the Bondhay Bird has had a touch up, paired with some clean typography. The new logomark has had a soft launch over the past couple of weeks, but will start to replace the legacy logo on various collateral as things are updated.
Signage
The new hole signage has now been finalised and will start to appear on the course in mid to late June. We have gone for a contemporary style, with an aluminium sign plates on a timber sleeper on each hole, which will allow the easy updating of them when and if required in the future. Each sign will also have space for a sponsor or other information plate which can be updates as-and-when required. All existing current sponsors will be honoured. Other course signage is also gradually being rolled out, such as the new welcome sign on the walk down to the first tee.
Hand-in-hand with the course signage, new entrance signage has been ordered at the time of writing. The 30+ year old hand-written signs that currently overlook the entrance will be removed and replaced with two totem-style signs set into the grass area on the banking as you turn in. Both will be in the Bondhay corporate style and provide a much more professional welcome to the club.
Renovations, Repairs & Upgrades
It’s an exciting time as we’re finally making some progress on some long-promised upgrades around the course and clubhouse. Delivery has been taken of an entirely new suite of furniture for the bar and restaurant, including dining tables and chairs, and a refreshing of the area previously occupied with sofas with coffee tables and comfy chairs. This is long overdue and should drastically increase the look and feel of the area when drinking and dining. It’s a major investment, so please respect and look after the furniture. There is still work to do in the bar, with new frontage to put on, new light fittings to install and hopefully a rebuild of the back of the bar.
Steps are continuing to be made around the general aesthetic of the premises, with significant investment being made in areas such as the car park, beer garden and building frontage. Connor has been working on painting the various fences and is, at the time of writing, removing the overgrown shrubbery that were covering the front of the clubhouse building.
The tree surgeon was here for a couple of days in may conducting some work out on the course, as well as trimming up the growth around the car park, down near the halfway house and up the driveway.
We’ve also had to make some upgrades to protect external pipework in the non-public areas of the building, with boxing being constructed up the side of the bar area of the clubhouse. Further to this, the front entrance doors are in serious need of replacement, so we have commissioned the making and installation of new wooden doors there.
You may recall a significant burst pipe event back in January when we had a cold weather spell that caused significant damage to the function room and corridor. This resulted in an insurance claim which is still ongoing, but we are hopeful of a conclusion to this in the near future. This will likely see remedial and replacement work to the Devonshire Suite floor, some of the roofing and flooring in the corridor, among other things.
The kitchen floor will be going through a full rip-up and replacement to repair some damage that caused us to be marked down on our recent visit by the council. As soon as this is done, we’ll be applying for a reassessment to regain our 5 star hygiene rating. The team were commended for their hygiene and general food prep.
Coffee
Nothing quite beats a good coffee (unless you’re a tea drinker of course). That’s why we’re incredibly excited to have brought ‘proper coffee’ to Bondhay for this first time in 30 years. A barista machine is now in situ in the clubhouse bar, serving up fresh lattes, flat whites, hot chocolates and everything in between, plus a new range of different teas. Proper milk in your drink will make quite the change from the UHT pots that have been around for some time. All coffees come ‘double shot’ as standard and we have a range of syrups and alternative milks available. Takeaway available. The Lavazza coffee machine that once stood in the bar has now made its way up to the Pro Shop for an easy hot drink before your round, too.
Entrance Barrier
The height barrier at the driveway entrance has finally been repaired after being hit by a popular delivery company, and months of delay. The height is set at 2.3m, so please contact the Pro Shop for entry/exit or come in a low-height vehicle on the day of play. A CCTV camera is also in place to ensure any future incidents are visible to us.
Member Booking
As you are likely aware, we offer ten day booking rights to members and seven day rights to visitors. Many members in fiddles are booking multiple tee-times for busy days such as Saturdays and Sundays in advance – with no other players attributed — and then cancelling spare ones the day before or on the day of play. This simply isn’t fair to other members trying to book for a prime day, and loses the possibility of selling the times to visitors if not filled by members. With immediate effect, tee-times without suffient players names attached will be cancelled ahead of play and those repeatedly cancelling at short notice may be denied the same booking rights as others.
Events
There’s still a packed summer of events ahead of us. Here’s some key dates for your diary:
Thank you to Ian Smith for another fantastic ALFRA Trophy day, one that continues to be a highlight in the calendar. Well done to Richard Riley for his top-spot finish and to all others who placed on the day.
Congratulations to the Bondhay Team on their success with the Nottinghamshire Alliance and best of luck to our other teams for the rest of the season!
Coaching
A reminder that our Pros Barry and Tom host Junior Coaching every Saturday from 11:30am until 12:30pm out on the Trackman Range. This is for kids aged 4 to 16 of all abilities and provides a great platform for anyone who wants to either get into golf or to progress their game. At only £5 per person with balls included, it’s great value.
Having identified that we lack some general adult golf coaching, ‘Open Coaching’ was launched recently with sessions taking place on bi-weekly Tuesdays. After having to postpone a couple of sessions due to Barry and Tom taking part in golf comps, coaching is back on Tuesday 10th June. Things get underway at 7pm for an hour’s coaching with balls included for £7.50 per person. Take the opportunity to work on any aspect of your game out on the Range.
Sponsorship
Sponsorships are still available around the Club, including on our new signage, the Trackman bay monitors and other key placements. If you have your own business, no matter how big or small, contact us to discuss the exclusive discounts currently on offer. A sponsorship pairs perfectly with a corporate membership!
As always, if you have any comments, feedback, or need any assistance with anything, our door is always open or you can get in touch through the usual channels.
We hope you have a fantastic summer and look forward to touching base with many more of your over the coming months.
Lisa, Josh and Mackenzie | Senior Management Team
The season is now in full swing with member competitions plus an abundance of external competitions and leagues. As many of you will be aware navy blue is now our Bondhay Golf Club brand colour and to this end we have purchased new polo shirts in this colour on behalf of all squad players in our many teams.
Alfra Trophy
The end of May witnessed one of our biggest events at Bondhay for our members, the Alfra Trophy. A field of 70+ golfers took part, with Richard Riley taking first prize and a place on the Honours Board. Huge thank you to Ian Smith who has hosted and sponsored this event for many years.
Taskers Over 50s
The team moved into the inter-county tournament third round after a convincing win 5.5 to 1.5 at home against Matlock. The team now have a tricky draw away at Chatsworth Golf Course which believe or not has no bunkers! This will be an interesting match.
6-18 League
A good start to the season with the latest victory at home against Birley Wood. The team is sitting second in Division 2 and we are looking to retain this form and perhaps dreaming of promotion to the heady heights of division 1.
Scratch Team
A draw against The Grange away and an unlucky loss at home to Lees Hall has seen the campaign tee off in Division 5. The opportunity is certainly here this year to have a bash at reaching division 4 and I’m sure the players will give it their best.
Nottinghamshire Golf Alliance
Congratulations to Bondhay Golf Club clinching victory in the 24/25 season at Beeston Fields Golf Club in the Nottinghamshire Golf Alliance . We have now incredibly won the shield four years in a row!. This week marked the conclusive final round of 12 matches against formidable Nottinghamshire golf clubs including Coxmoor, Beeston Fields, Worksop, Wollaton Park and twenty more prestigious clubs.
All the Bondhay players who took part in the team this year should be extremely proud of their achievements. What a fantastic club Bondhay really is.
And finally we have lots of great competitions and events in the calendar throughout the summer. If I may highlight a couple…
Firstly the Alan Hardisty Trophy on Saturday 21st June. 8am shotgun start. Please support this one, it will be a great day and this is Alan’s day which makes it special to us all.
And finally my Captains Charity Day is a shotgun start at 1pm Friday 11th July.
I realise we all live busy lives but hopefully we can get a great turnout from members and guests alike supporting my two charities Rain Rescue and Thornberry Animal Sanctuary. Animals play a massive part in many of our lives and hopefully on the afternoon we can pull together helping raise money for extra food, medical help or costs towards rehoming these vulnerable lovable pets. The price is £20 for members and £30 for visitors including a meal.
We will have an abundance of great prizes on the day.
I hope you can have a look at your diaries and squeeze these event in. We are taking bookings now through the Pro Shop for both.
Mark Highfield | Club Captain
Our golf season is well under way with a full calendar of competitions this year, as well as our regular board events. We have now integrated all board events under one section so even more chance to get your name in lights. Keep an eye out for all of your fixtures via our website bondhaygolfclub.com.
Our Pro Shop sees the launch of a new brand of clothing called Tribal Golf with golf shirts starting from a competitive price of just £30. There is also Tribal Golf towels featuring different vibrant patterns.
We also have various new Under Armour 2025 golf shirts in stock. We have a full range of Ping G440 and Taylor-made QI35 Drivers, Fairway Woods and Rescue Clubs as well.
Your Pro Shop is fully stocked with all your accessories from gloves to tees to golf balls with brands such as Titleist, Taylormade, Srixon and Under Armour.
On Friday the 6th of June, we held a Ping demo day that was well attend by our members, I’m in the process of booking a Taylormade Demo Day and hopefully another Ping Day too so keep an eye out for those dates.
Open Coaching is still running every other Tuesday at 7 o’clock with myself and Tom and the cost is just £7.50, so come join us on the range for your tips.
If you’ve not visited our Trackman range recently, we have just added another 6,000 yellow balls which seem to be a hit with our range users. Large baskets are also now cheaper at just £7 for 70 balls.
Our workshop is fully stocked with the latest grips so if yours feel worn and shiny drop them in for us to give them a MOT at a competitive price.
We are currently changing handicap software from HandicapMaster to Golf Genius and there may be some teething problems, so please bear with us. Golf Genius should give us a number of other added benefits with its functionalities.
From all the Pro Shop team have a great rest of your golfing season and we all hope to see you soon.
Barry Hurt | Head PGA Pro
