GolferApril 2012

www.ghyllgolfclub.co.uk

G H Y L L

Ghyll are 9-hole champions

Ghyll’s Dream Team Page 3

Clubhouse is ‘in place’ Page 4

Action packed seniors Page 5

Burns Night is hot ticket Page 6

Charity success Page 7

Emma’s trophy joy Page 8

Ghyll’s Dream Team Page 3

Clubhouse is ‘in place’ Page 4

Action packed seniors Page 5

Burns Night is hot ticket Page 6

Charity success Page 7

Emma’s trophy joy Page 8

Treasurer, Terry Hunt, told members atthe AGM that he was pleased to reportthat the club was in a very soundfinancial position.

“We have sufficient bank balances tofinance the three or four wintermonths without any subscription in-come. In addition our level of reserveswill allow us to meet the cost ofplanned projects without the need toraise a levy on the membership.

Changes “Changes made between 2008 and

2011 to the green-keeping andbar/catering arrangements haveallowed us to build up our reserves.

“We have used these reserves tosubsidise subscriptions, while we putevery effort into increasing our mem-bership to levels sufficient to supportour on-going golfing expenditure.

“Hopefully by the time we come topresenting the budget for 2014 wewill be able to do so without any sub-sidy being necessary.

Budget“The budget shows our efforts to

control costs in a number or areas,no-tably electricity and insurance costs.

“However we have included in thebudget costs to reward the greensstaff for their superb efforts, and coststo replace ageing machinery

so as to maintain the improvementsto our course.

“In the current economic climate wewill continue to have problems withmembership levels. We must all doeverything we can to bring in newmembers, but also to retain existingmembers.

“However, it is encouraging that thecurrent climate at the club is very up-beat, with members appreciating thechanges and improvements that havebeen made.

This year you will be able tofind your start times forweekend competitions onthe website.

Go to www.ghyllgolf club.co.ukfor full details.

A new website is being de-veloped which will give mem-bers much more information.This will be linked automati-

cally to current membershipprogrammes and to the sitewww.howdidido.com whichpublicises competition re-sults and handicaps.

Watch the notice boards forfurther details.

Our thanks go to JamieMorgan for his work in devel-oping the website.

On December 3rd 2011 theclub’s Lady President Emeritus,Marion Bateson, died at theage of 103.

Marion had been a memberfor over 50 years in that timehad served as Lady Captaintwice, Ladies’ Secretary, LadyPresident for many years andlatterly as Lady President Emer-itus.

The Club, and in particularthe Ladies’ section, are most

grateful for all that Marion hascontributed during all theseyears.

Marion was one year youngerthan Ghyll Golf Club and, whenasked to write a contributionfor the Centenary book, shewrote: “One of the best things Ihave done in my life was to joinGhyll Golf Club. I have had hun-dreds of hours of enjoymenton our lovely course.”

May she rest in peace.

Marion Bateson: 1908 - 2011

Click to keep in touch

A healthy trendfor memberships

In the first two months of 2012the signs are good that we are

continuing to reverse the fall inmembership levels.

With these points in mind we willbe promoting our subscription lev-els in the press, on the website andin other areas.

■ The Full Membership sub-scription of £465 is the lowestin the area.■ The Intermediate Member-ship subscription of £233 formembers aged 18 to 30 inclu-sive is a very attractive offer.

The club is continuing to offer a£50 voucher off next year’s sub-scription for any member success-fully introducing a new member tothe club.

We will also continue to commu-nicate with members by monthlyreports of what is happening atthe club, informing everyone ofthe projects that are in hand andwhat developments are planned.

It is also aimed to further de-velop the club’s website ,www.ghyllgolfclub.co.uk, as amethod of promoting the club andcommunicating the latest infor-mation to members and prospec-tive members.

We also aim to promote and ad-vertise the club to make it appeal-ing to prospective members. Wewill aim to get our message acrossin the press, on the website and byattracting entries to our Opencompetitions.

2

Building a sound financialfoundation

Ghyll’s dream greens team

Sixty years separate the GreensChairman and the Greens staff

but what a team they make.With Eric’s traditional knowledge

and David’s technical skills of greenkeeping you have the making ofthe ideal team to look after ourcourse.

An indication of how things havechanged in the last 50 years is anentry in the Minutes of a GreensMeeting held in the early sixtieswhich states: “Once more it had tobe pointed out to the police thatthe gypsies were back on the sec-ond fairway, and the smoke fromtheir fires tended to obscure the di-rection post. Martin Wilkinson re-ported that he had to pitch over atethered pony’’.

During the two years that Davidand Jonathon have been workingon the course we have seen the im-provements that have been madeand the course shows the care andeffort put into it.

To quote David when he firstcame to Ghyll: “The basis of goodgreens are there and they will soonbe back on top form again.”

He has been true to his word.New work being carried out this

winter includes, draining the newtee bed on the Mast Hole, drainingof the new bunker at the side of thePinhaw green and the extension ofthe Pinhaw tee bed will be com-pleted.

These are just part of the on-going winter programme that is al-

ways dependent on the weatherconditions.

However one thing we can besure of is that David and Jonathonwill be out on the course in allweathers working hard to ensurewe have a well maintained courseto play.

Who can remember playing ongreens as good as ours at this timeof year?

Our congratulations to all theteam.

Jonathon will complete his NVQLevel 2 this year and goes on toLevel 3, the team goes on fromstrength to strength.

■ Best wishes to David and hiswife Phillippa who are expectingtheir second child in August.

3

The Ingleborough Green is currently undergo-ing complete renovation and work will continuethroughout the next few months.

The green has been stripped of its turf, newdrains installed and the whole green levelledwith new turf laid. The original turf will be usedon the practice green and on the extension ofthe Pinhaw tee bed.

Work on the green is always dependent onweather conditions and the green will not be

back in play until well into the new season. Untilthe green is back in place, the hole will beplayed as a dog-leg to the old ninth green.

The decision to carry out this work was takenby Council to resolve the drainage problem inthe long term so as not to waste time andmoney on a temporary fix.

Council would like to thank all members fortheir patience and understanding whilst thiswork is being completed.

Ingleborough green gets a makeover

Competitions Chairman, JimWarner, congratulated all the

2011 winners, especially MartinRobinson who won the ClubChampionship for the secondyear running.

He said: “Competitions areopen to all members with prizesin three categories.

“Members are reminded that itis important to keep their handi-caps active and to do so theyneed to play in three qualifying

competitions in the calendaryear. Active handicaps areneeded when playing away inOpen competitions.

“Ghyll’s Opens are also a goodway of introducing your golfingfriends to the club, so bring themalong and fill the field. “

■ Pictured above are 2011 Cap-tain Steve Mortimer with Cap-tain’s Day winner Pete Ashtonand Captain’s Junior Prize winnerBrandon Cocker.

In 2011 Eileen Chapple becamethe first lady member to chairone of the club’s committees.

She took on the formidablechallenge of the House Commit-tee with responsibility for main-tenance of the clubhouse andits surroundings.

Eileen said: “The House Com-mittee wants to provide an at-tractive, well maintained,facility for members to enjoy adrink and chat before and aftergolf’’.

She said: ‘’ The lounge hasbeen given a pre-seasonfacelift, the shoe and trolleycleaning area will be sorted outto make the facility neater witheasier access and the patioareas will be made as welcom-ing as possible.

Steve Mortimer, 2011 Captain,said: “Eileen and her committeehave brought everything up todate in a very short time. Allour thanks must go to them forall their hard work.”

Competitions are there forthe winning – by everyone

Clubhouse ispopular spot

BOB BUGLER is cap-tain for 2012 – Bobstarted his golf atTaunton Golf Club be-fore moving to thearea and joining Ghyll,a move he has neverregretted.

Bob became an ac-tive member of Coun-cil in 2005 and workedwith Clifford Hillaryand Bob Presland inrunning the JuniorSection.

‘’I am looking for-ward to my year as

Captain – it is atremendous honour tobe Captain of this thefriendliest golf club Ihave ever played at,’’he said.

4

TONY LODGE is a longstanding member ofthe club having joinedin 1992, he has servedon Council for 12 yearsand with the supportof his wife Eileen hasbeen Chair of Bar,House and Greens.

In 2004 he was Cap-tain of the club and islooking forward toworking with and sup-porting Bob Bugler inhis year of office.

‘’ We are fortunate tohave such a happy and

friendly club, togetherwith an ever improv-ing course on which toenjoy our golf, weshould all strive tomaintain and improvethis environment’’.

Captain President

The scratch team enjoyed abumper year in 2011, winning

the Bradford Union Nine HoleClubs Championship and gainingpromotion to the second divisionof the Scratch League.

Captain Martin Robinson said:“The team played with dedicationand some outstanding golf wasplayed.”

His thanks go to the membersDavid Cockell, Darren Berry, TonyStocker, Ian Graham, Trevor Dickin-son, Bill Aitken and Scott Board-man.

Individual performances sawDavid Cockell win the best grossand best net in the Nine Hole ClubsChampionship and Trevor Dickin-son became the Seniors Championat Cleckheaton Golf Club.

Steve Mortimer 2011 Club Cap-tain said : “It was a great honour tobe Captain of the club during ourpromotion year and I was veryproud that the team won the NineHole Club Championship’’.

He would also like to thank all

members who gave up their Fridaynights to support the Scratch team.

He said: “We really appreciatethe support given to the team andI am sure this contributed to theteam scores.”

“All members are welcome towatch the matches. They tee off at5.30pm on Friday nights and yoursupport will be more than wel-come for what should be a superbyear in the second division.”

Any members interest in playingin the Scratch Team should contactMartin Robinson.

Senior golfers at the club are be-coming the envy of all members

as they enjoy unlimited golf bothat Ghyll and travelling to manyother courses in the area.

The Senior Section organised bythat ‘’teller of tall stories’’, Jack Har-greaves play matches at GreenHowarth, Great Harwood, Bran-shaw, Marsden Park and Settle.Travel to Open competitions atSouthport and Leyland and havetwo away days planned, at Caster-ton and Oak Royal.

All these courses and their cater-ing have been carefully vetted bythe Hargreaves Tours managementteam Jack and Elvin.

That old saying ‘How did I findtime to work’ certainly rings true.

Add to this all the fun competi-

tions that are arranged and youhave a full golfing calendar.

The Senior Winter league wascompleted in March with RayDuckworth and Geoff Pickles com-ing out on top by one point from

John Connoly and Ronnie Allen.

Did you Know?Eric Hepworth has completed

48 successive years playing in theSunday Winter League.

Seniors enjoy a packed programme

5

FixturesApril 27 Away v Manor GCMay 4 Home v Bradford GCMay 11 Away v Northcliffe GCMay 25 Home v Silsden GCJune 1 Away v Keighley GCJune 8 Home v Woodhall HillsJune 15 Home v Manor GCJune 22 Away v Bradford GCJune 29 Home v Northcliffe GCJuly 13 Away v Silsden GCJuly 20 Home v Keighley GCJuly 27 Away v Woodhall Hills

Scratch team’s bumper year

Pictured (above) Ray and Geoff are congratulated by 2012 Captain BobBugler along with other competitors.

The social committee is in theprocess of organising a number

of events for the coming year.Already penciled in are the social

putt which will be held in July andsocial chairman Bill Lee is alreadyplanning a music quiz for August.

Members and friends enjoyedthe Burns night supper and Ceilidhwith the traditional addressing ofthe haggis by Brian Strickland anddancing to the Rob Thorne Band .

Such was the popularity of thisevent that both the band and piperhave been booked for next year.

Details of all social events will beposted on the main notice boardand also on the web site.

Bill said: “Please come along withyour family and friends to supportour social events as they providean important source of income forthe club.

“We are always looking for newideas for events so if any membercan think of something then pleaseget in touch with myself or one ofthe social committee members.”

6

Social scene’s flying start

Captain . . . . . . .Bob Bugler

President . . . . .Tony Lodge

Lady Captain: Margaret Taylforth

Lady President: Dorothy Tattersall

Vice-Captain: Stephen Mortimer

Capt Elect . . . . .David Taylforth

Vice-President: Anthony Fisher

Lady Vice Captain: Eva Brown

Secretary . . . . .Bob Pre sland

Treasurer . . . . .Terry Hunt

Junior Captain .Sam Bugler

Jnr Vice-Captain: Jack Cheetham

GREENS COMMITTEE

Eric Hepworth (Chair)

Dereck Hartley

Clifford Hillary

Jim Warner

Martin Robinson

Stephen R Mortimer

SOCIAL COMMITTEE

Bill Lee (Chair)

Jean Mayor

Stephanie Robinson

Rachel Strickland

Ken Inman

John Blackmore

COMPETITIONS COMMITTEE

Jim Warner (Chair)

Dereck Hartley

Stephen R Mortimer

Barbara Chapman

John Blackmore

Jack Farnhill

JUNIORS COMMITTEE

Bob Presland (Chair)

Sue Taylforth

Eileen Chapple

Martin Robinson

Cliford Hillary

Stephen R Mortimer

HOUSE COMMITTEE

Eileen Chapple (Chair)

Stephanie Robinson

Dereck Hartley

Ken Inman

Bill Lee

Jean Mayor

Club Officials and Committees

The President, Captain Elect, Vice President, and Lady Captain are also invited to attend all committee meetings.

Brian Strickland addresses the haggis in traditional style on BurnsNight and (below) dancing during the popular ceilidh.

7

Ladies are going fromstrength to strength

Since achieving full member sta-tus, ladies of the club have

been eligible to stand for theCouncil.

Therefore over the last two yearsladies have been elected to theCouncil and have given their timegenerously to different aspects ofclub life. It has also enabled theladies to be more aware of all thetasks involved in successfully run-ning a golf club.

Currently Eileen Chapple, JeanMayor and Stephanie Robinsonare serving on the Council, whileMargaret Taylforth has been co-opted as 2012 Lady Captain.

Ghyll has a thriving, caring andenthusiastic Ladies Section. Overthe last two or three years we havewelcomed several new lady mem-bers. They have been keen to ob-tain and improve on theirhandicaps in order to take a fullpart in competitions. As a resultwe have been able to enter bothan ‘A’ and a ‘B’ team in the YorkshireLadies inter-club competition.

Each team of seven ladies playsthree home and three awaymatches. This year ‘A’ teammatches are against Bingley St.Ives, Wetherby and Doncaster,while the ‘B’ team play Otley, Loft-house and Lees Hall.

We have also increased our pres-ence in the Bradford Union LadiesWinter Alliance from two couples

to three couples.We have a wide variety of club

competitions throughout the year.Many thanks must go to BarbaraChapman, who spends countlesshours working as our Competi-tions Secretary.

Each year the ladies raise moneyin order to donate items to theclub. Over the last two years theyhave been able to provide thepatio furniture, and also refurbishthe chairs and coffee table in thetelevision corner.

The beautiful hanging basketsand planters, which make thefront of the clubhouse so attrac-tive, are provided by and cared forby the ladies.

We are very pleased and gratefulthat many ladies make a positiveand practical contribution to theclub by helping in so many differ-ent ways.

These include running theLadies and Mixed Opens, so ablyorganised by Stephanie Robinsonwith husband Gary’s assistance;helping to supervise the juniorson their coaching evenings; help-ing to run social events; lookingafter the garden areas and organ-ising the coffee machine.

We offer congratulations to SueTaylforth on her successful year asthe 2011 Lady Captain. Sue raisedover £1,000 for her chosen charity,MacMillan Palliative Care

Congratulations and bestwishes to Margaret Taylforthas our Lady Captain for 2012.

We know that she will workconscientiously and be a greatambassador for our club. Wehope that she thoroughly en-joys her year in office.

Lady Captain

The ladies are delighted thatDorothy Robinson-Tattersallhas agreed to stand as LadyPresident for another year.

We are grateful to her for hercommitment and support.

Lady President

Members back our juniors

The junior section goes fromstrength to strength with the

help and support from our mem-bership in many ways.

Pictured above are the winners ofan 11-hole Texas Scramble held inAugust that brought togethergolfers of all ages.

The teams of three had a Gent, aLady and a Junior. The 2011 winnerswere Trevor Towers, Leslie Nash and10-year-old Ben Hannan shown

holding the Trophy. The competition proved to be so

popular that it is to become an annual fixture .

At present we have a total of 40junior members whose ages rangefrom 7 to 15.

The Junior organiser said: “Thesupport that our juniors get fromthe membership both on thecourse and with fund raising is re-ally appreciated, as when the jun-

iors travel to other clubs it is evidentother junior sections struggle withboth playing time and funding.

Coaching for the coming seasonstarted in April and is once againtaking place on Thursday evenings.

It is also hoped to give theyounger golfers experience in com-petitive situations holding ninehole competitions on some Mon-day evenings for members playingin the 12-and-under age group.

For the first time in the club’s history we have a jun-ior captain, who is the son of the Club Captain.

Sam Bugler said he was proud to be Junior Cap-tain in the same year that his dad was captain of theclub.

Sam who became a member in 2008 will be help-ing the junior organisers in improving the golf ofthe younger members.

Hopefully Sam will also be leading our older jun-iors to honours in the Pendle Summer League andBradford Union Junior Championship.

8 Ghyll Golf Club, Ghyll Brow, Barnoldswick, BB18 6JH Tel: 01282 842466 E: secretary@ghyllgolfclub.co.uk

Emma Blades, receivesthe Hunter Trophy fromCaptain Steve Mor-timer.

Emma became thefirst girl to win thismajor trophy, playedover 36 holes.

Junior Captainleadsquest forhonours

Emma takes victory