June Greenkeeping

I would like to firstly start off this newsletter with a big thank you to the entire Greenkeeping department for their hard work carried out while I was away on paternity leave. Coming back to the course looking great and hearing positive comments about how they all got on is brilliant to hear. I always knew before I left that the team would step up to the challenge and impractically my deputy Kevin, who did a fantastic job managing the running of the course and overseeing the early stages of driving range construction work.

On the course we have had a few early season challenges on the greens. This was due to the dry April conditions, followed up with damp and milder early May temperatures. What was happening in this period was the three dominating grass species on the greens were competing against one another while waking from a winter and spring dormancy. Typically, earlier on in the season, the Poa Annua (Annual Meadow Grass) grasses will emerge first and flower, turning the greens a white/ silvery colour ,and help thicken out the sward. Then as we progress from spring to summer the Agrostis Capillaris and Agrostis Stolonifera (Browntop & Creeping Bent) become more dominant as they favour the hot and dry conditions.

What we found this year was that due to the lack of temperatures and moisture levels the Pao seed heads never really started moving until the first few weeks of May, and then at the same time the Bent grasses were waking due to the rise in temperature. So at the same time all three grass species were competing for the same space. This led to a bobble effect on the greens.

Alongside these works, we also are carrying out an Irrigation audit report and improvement plan for the next few years to help us be more cost effective with our water usage and potential storage of water from bore hole. As you may remember, back in September 2020 the site was struck with a localised lightning strike and it blew our irrigation controller and decoders around the course to pieces. We had installed a new electrical controller system and decoders across the whole site, but were advised that the extent of the damages to the underground wiring looms may not become apparent for a few years as there is no way of tracing any potential surge spikes and earths in the cable. As the time has progressed, we are seeing more and more failures in the wiring loom around the site, and have had two visits in six months to mole plough in lines of cable to get the system back operational.

Unfortunately though, as you repair when length of cable, it only sends the high amperage levels to the next weakest spot in the cable. We still await the report and finding on this and we start to plan how to address this in the near future.

Bunker works have been carrying out the last few weeks, with the reintroduction of the 7^th fairways bunkers, along with new sand top up on the 5^th, 12th, 13th and 15^th. We still aim to carry out further works in a few bunkers as we go through the year. This is typically work that is carried out in the winter months but due to other works we simply didn’t find the time to work on them.

In May , we took further delivery of new machinery in the form of two John Deere 6×4 Gator utility vehicles to replace our very old Toro workman’s that were at the end of their days. These two brand new machines are diesel run, as opposed to petrol from their predecessors, which give them much more power and weight holding capabilities to move larger amounts of materials around the site. This will drastically improve productivity and reduce the costly downtime on repairs and parts, which were getting to non-economical stage with the Toros.

Ladies Newsletter June 2022

I can’t believe that we are in June already – I’m sure it was January just 5 minutes ago! It’s not all about me but…it’s great to be fit and playing golf again! Thank you for all of your support and assistance over the past few months – I promise to buck up and get on with the job from now on. Can I also take this opportunity to say welcome to our all of our new lady members, if I haven’t had a chance to chat to you personally then please accept my apologies and feel free to contact me any time – I’m here to make your golf as enjoyable as possible.

The weather has been changeable over May but in the main it has been very dry and this has in turn increased the amount of golf played across the board. There has been a lot of work at the club, including a massive update to the driving range that gives an additional 8 bays and adds ‘Top Tracer’ to every bay. The ‘Top Tracer’ range is currently holding a demo weekend on and the first ‘Club Night’ of 2022 was held at the new range on 1st June. There has also been a lot of work on the greens to help with the effects of the dry and changeable weather on the grass growth. The area by the front of the club has been tidied up and now looks neat and tidy and some bistro-style chairs and tables have been added outside the front door and portico. New patio furniture has also been purchased for both of the rear patio areas and this has been universally well received by every member of the Ladies Section.

Over the whole of May we played 12 ladies competitions, including one board competition, The Founders Cup (a net medal competition), going to Cathy Baker with a score of net 75. We also played the Chick of the South competition with Tracey Turri and Corina Best coming out on top with 42 points; well done to all of our competition winners during May. Amongst our twice-weekly medal and stableford competitions, the standout score was Steph Root who carded an amazing 44 points for our Tuesday Stableford on 10th May – well done Steph. At the time of writing, we have a Saturday stableford, the Captain vs Vice Captain and a Jubilee fun competition yet to play in May.

Alliance, Mid Handicap and Friendly fixtures have all taken place in May. The Bristol played it’s first friendly match of the year against Isle of Wedmore at home on Monday 16th May. In an excellent performance, the Bristol ladies won all of their matches in beautiful sunshine. The Mid-Handicap team also played its first fixture on Thursday 12th May at home against Thornbury. With another great performance that even the terrible weather couldn’t spoil, the Bristol ladies won all 5 matches to take 10 points from their first match. This leaves The Bristol at the top of the Mid-Handicap League after their first match. The Alliance team has played 2 fixtures in May; away to Clevedon on Friday 13th (yes really) and away to Lansdown on Monday 23rd. In hard fought matches, at courses where home advantage really matters, the Bristol ladies took 4 points (out of 14) on each of the fixtures. This leaves the Bristol in 4th place (out of 7) in the BDLGA Alliance Division 2, having played 4 out of 12 matches this season. Finally, we played our first Annodata knockout match at home against Filton on Tuesday 10th. The Bristol ladies played very well to take 4 of the 6 matches and progress to the next round.

Looking forward to June we have a packed programme of competitions and team fixtures to keep everyone enjoying the ‘summer’. First though js a reminder ladies that if you enter a board or roll of honour competition (anything other than a weekly stableford and medal) then you need to make the payment for that competition before the day of the event; failure to pay means that you will not be allowed to compete.

Upcoming competitions are as follows:

The Rose Bowl –                  Saturday 4th June – board competition, individual Stableford.

Tuesday Stableford –          Tuesday 7th June

Captain’s Charity Day –       Saturday 11th June – Pairs Better-ball

Tuesday June Medal –        Tuesday 14th June

Saturday June Medal –       Saturday 18th June

Tuesday Kit-Kat qualifier –  Tuesday 21st June

Saturday Kit-Kat qualifier –  Saturday 25th June

Tracey Park –                      Thursday 28th June – Stableford in replacement tee times at Tracey Park as the Bristol main course is booked out for a visiting group – speak to Nicky Edwards to sign up.

We also have:

– 2 Alliance matches – both at home – against Worlebury and Farrington.

– 2 Friendly matches – both away – against Henbury and B&C.

– 2 mid Handicap League matches – also both away- against Chipping Sudbury and Thornbury.

– Our second Annodata Challenge match – at home – against Creigiau Golf Club.

Don’t forget to sign up or volunteer early for any or all of these competitions and/or fixtures and please remember that you have to pay for any Board and Roll of Honour competitions before the day of play.

Finally, a word about the next Captain’s Charity Day on 11th June, with proceeds going to the Springboard Opportunity Group, our chosen charity for 2022. If you haven’t taken the opportunity to look at some of the amazing work that they do then you can visit their website at the following link:

Home

The 11th June will be a Pairs Better Ball competition off 85% course handicap. There should also be some fun events on the day with ‘Beat the Pro’ planned on 6th hole and the conveniently named ‘see if you can hit a golf ball into the rubber dinghy’ planned on hole 14. There will be the usual raffle, please dig deep, and of course James and I have booked excellent weather for the day so the patio will be the order of the day afterwards. The first event raised £1150; last event raised £1280; let’s see if we can top that this time around. Thanks in advance to everyone for their generosity.

Finally (honestly) you’ll note from James Adcock’s men’s newsletter, that he and Mike West (Men’s Vice Captain) will be mounting a 72 hole challenge on 20th June – please support this in any way you can – every penny we can make for charity will make a real difference.

That’s enough from me, apologies if I’ve missed something but there is just so much going on – enjoy the weather and play some great golf.

Sue

From the Seniors Captain

Another busy month for us seniors so I’ll first start with our friendly matches.

We lost away at Naunton Downs by 4.5 to 1.5 but the following week had a really good victory at Clevedon by 6.5 to 1.5. Later that week we narrowly lost at home to St Pierre by 4.5 to 3.5 though a couple of our groups couldn’t play the 17^th -due to an injured visitor-which could have affected the halved match. Debuts in this one were made by Alan Baker-Green , Rob Matthews and Jim Rollin-all of whom performed admirably. This week we lost at Brickhampton by 4-2. We visit Mendip Spring next week followed by fixtures in June away at Farrington Park, Bowood and Knowle with home fixtures against Knowle and Brickhampton. Talking of Mendip Spring 8 of our Seniors played the annual Mendip Spring Invitational-surprisingly won by Mendip Spring for about the 10^th year running. A very enjoyable day I’m told with Peter Searle-Barnes and Norman Bishop putting in an excellent 42 points. This came on the same day as 16 players for St Pierre so thank you to everyone who made themselves available. Rather than a Spring Break the seniors and some of our ladies had an away day at Cottrell Park playing a Bowmaker. This was won by a team of Nick Saunders, Helen Bradley, Ken Hardman and Martin Daley. The ladies event was won by Helen as well. Well done all and hope everyone enjoyed it. Some excellent performances by Seniors in Saturday competitions. Mike Smith hit a marvellous net 61 in the Founders Cup , Richard Panes won a stableford with 41 points followed by Mike Smith with 39 and John Ratajczak won division 2 of the County Medal with a net 69.

In our Wednesday senior events Steve Baker-Green continued his excellent Spring form with winning the April medal with a net 67, Peter Brown won the following week’s stableford with 40 points and Phil Nunn walked the 2^nd round of our ASDA stableford with 45 points. Equally impressive was Kev Rivers with 41 points ( gross score of 75). Sandwiched between these was a rain affected Texas Scramble though 27 of us braved it and this was won with a net score of 54.6 by Bob Lynes, Nick Saunders and Adrian Dyer. I know it feels some way off but 2 events to publicise in July. My Senior Captains Charity Day to support our chosen charity this year Springboard is on Wednesday 6^th July. I know that already I have had some very generous donations from you for our raffle and would welcome any contributions you would like to make to maximise what we can raise.

On Wednesday 27^th July we have our seniors invitation day where we invite a senior from another club to experience The Bristol in a pairs competition. It would be great to have a really good turn out for this so if you know a senior at another club who would like to play this then get them primed. If you don’t have anyone currently in mind there may be contacts we have made in our matches who may like to partner you?

Me and Sue will be out in Spain from mid June so for matches I miss Sam Graham will take charge of apart from Knowle on 27^th June where Tony Fitzhenry will be our captain. Thanks guys and good luck.

From the Men’s Captain

Hello again Guys,

Unbelievably its June!

The world professional golfing calendar has seen the Masters and the US PGA already whistle past us, with another two American winners and the search for the next English winner goes on (and South African for that matter!!!). Still the US Open and THE Open to go, where hopefully we will be able to cheer a home talent to victory. The club golf scene is obviously well and truly in full swing now with a few of the major board events already taken place, as well as league season and our annual knockouts. More on that shortly. In the last couple of months, it has been great to see the number of new members joining the club, some of which its 1^st tine at the Bristol and a few of you re-joining. Whichever it may be may I take the opportunity to personally say welcome to the Bristol Golf Club.

Now on to the months golfing highlights and achievements.It’s been a month where the 1^st two board events of the year have taken place.

Firstly, it started with the Founders Cup, with the 1^st competition winner on the board this year going to Will Thomas with a Gross 75. On the day the Division 1 Nett Winners were James Whaley (nett 68) and Division 2 where a special mention must go to Mike ‘Navy’ Smith for shooting a net 61. A week later it was onto the County Gold where Will Thomas put his name on the board again winning the Gross and Nett competitions with a 73 gross nett 68. Division 2 was won by John Ratajczak with a nett 69. May I take the opportunity to say, well done on some excellent performance’s guys, and good luck to you and the rest of the men’s section for the rest of a long golfing season. I though it appropriate to also let you all know that the Men’s Committee has also agreed that in addition to the Prize money paid out for the competitions, going forward in medal events we will also be making an additional prize for best gross in these events, which should be an added incentive especially to our lower handicappers.

Please be aware that the knockouts are under way and the 1^st rounds are due to be completed by Sunday 29^th MAY – Please be sure to complete matches in time and where possible as early as possible to keep the draw flowing.

Since writing last time the league teams have continued with the season and it’s great to confirm that the 1^st team have now got the 1^st win of the season in Division 2 under its belts with a 4 – 1 home win against Bristol and Clifton. COME ON THE BRISTOL!

So up to date performances:

1^st team: (Bristol District league Div. 2) – Played 3, with 1 win and 2 losses (both being very narrow 3 – 2 margins).

2^nd team (Bristol District league Div. 6) – Played 5, won 2 and lost 3.

3^rd Team (Bristol District League Div. 8) – Played 5, won 3 and lost 2 (Another win racked up for the 3rds at home to Clevedon and an away defeat to Cumberwell Park.

May I take the opportunity to say keep going teams and to the captains that continue to support in arranging teams, and doing the hard graft, thank you.

On the social side, our Stags still wait for its 1^st win of the season. In the last few weeks they have had a tie at Filton and losses to Tall Pines, Henbury and Weston. To our captains Paul and Phil, the board still have your backs!! As you know Paul it took the Geordies half a season to win a match and see how they ended up!!! Good luck guys and again thanks to the captains for all the organisation and support that goes into this to make it really good social golfing fun on a weekly basis.

Now to some upcoming events:

On the 11^{th of} June it will be our next Captains Charity Day to raise funds for ‘Springboard Opportunity Group’. It’s a shot gun start, beginning at 08:00 and will be a pairs better- ball stableford format. Looking at the entries today we have circa 20 more spots available so if you haven’t entered, please do so and let’s have an enjoyable day. As many of you are aware we will be selling top tees for charity at £20 a 4- ball. If you and your playing partners would like to have one, please email me on [email protected] to book a top tee. Please be aware these will be on a 1^st come 1^st serve basis.

In another charity fundraising event Mike West (Vice Captain) and I will be taking part in a 72-hole golf challenge on Monday 20^th June.

This will incorporate two 4 – balls on the course at 05H00, 09h30, 13h45, 18H00 of which we will be selling slots in these tee times at £20 per head. We have decided as well that this fundraising event will be this year’s captains v vice captains’ event. In the next week entries will become available for you to join us, and we look forward to you supporting us through a long tough slog of a day!!

We will also be opening a sweep – stake for members to enter to raise further funds for the charity. More details will follow soon.

I think that’s enough from me for now.

Take care, happy golfing and catch up soon.

James Adcock- Men’s Captain