Hello golfers, 

In this week’s newsletter we have news that our Callaway demo clubs have arrived, Under Armour shoe prices slashed, and ground hog day for the men.

Enjoy the read.

A word from the pro

I am pleased to say the golf courses have been open this week, which is a welcome sight after the doom and gloom we have had recently. After speaking to Ben, our course manager, I found out the amount of rainfall we have had and, although I knew we had excessive amounts of rain, I didn’t expect the figures he gave me. The average rainfall for January is 54mm. Cottesmore received 78 mm between just the 15th and 28th January.

No wonder we had course closures.

One course that I suspect do not have many days that are closed, is the amazing Torrey pines in La Jolla, California, which I was lucky enough to visit a few years ago.

This was the location of the last event on the PGA Tour. And what an event it was.
We had Tiger making his first cut in two years, a Monday playoff and a former world number one Jason Day becoming the winner.

But one of the most impressive things of the week was how well Alex Noren played.

He is relatively new to the PGA Tour scene and he did not look out of place whatsoever. He is great off the tee, a brilliant wedge player and a superb on the greens.

I can see a big future in America for the Swedish star.

Sport relief!

Remember to keep your eye out for our England V Rest of the World challenge posters situated around the clubhouse and health club. Just a reminder of the format, it is 18 hole betterball stableford on the griffin course open to all members including 5 day and golf lite members. There will also be a walk/run around the grounds which will coincide with the golf followed by a BBQ in the courtyard. Don’t worry you do not have to do both.

The day will be good fun and full of laughs.

The Rogue has landed...

In the last few days we have received our Callaway Rogue demo pack, which contains the new 2018 Rogue irons and the awesome Rogue driver.

This is a new chapter for the Pro Shop as we haven’t stocked Callaway hardware for quite some years.

A date for the diary

The date you need to put in your diary is April 26th, 2018.

We have Callaway coming for a fitting day which will give you the chance to try all the latest clubs in their extensive range. If you would like to get fitted for anything Callaway have to offer, let the Proshop know and we will book you an appointment.

Book an appointment. 

Exciting times ahead

It is an exciting time for not only our customers but for the staff too. We are all looking forward to the rest of this season’s new arrivals to hit the shop, including the very smart Calvin Klein range and the innovative Galvin Green collection and the ever present FootJoy, Titliest and PING offerings.

New year, new pair of shoes

We only have a few pairs of Under Armour shoes left, so we have slashed the prices to 50% OFF.

But once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Groundhog Day

I do hope the year isn't going to continue in this vein. The Winter Scramble (formerly the AGM Scramble) is my second competition and second cancellation.

It's obviously disappointing to cancel an event, but much more important to make sure the course is looked after well and in good condition for the season proper.

The Winter Scramble has been re-scheduled to Saturday 10th February. We do have a few extra tee slots still available to fill, so please feel free to e-mail me at cottesmore.captain@gmail.com if you would like to play. It's a three-man scramble, but I'm happy to receive requests from single players, or pairs, and I will do my best to match you up. I currently have space for ten players only!

Join our Facebook group

We have a Facebook group. In fact, we've had it for a while, we've just not advertised it much.

It may well be that you're already acquainted on Facebook with a number of your fellow members, but the group allows everyone to communicate without the need to be 'friends'. The group is closed and private, which means posts made in the group can't be seen by anyone who is not a member of the group.

It's not a group for spamming memes, nor will there be posts allowed of questionable content. It is a place for quick and effective communications. Links to the newsletters are posted there, for example, as was the announcement that the handicap review had been done.

Obviously not everyone has Facebook, or wants to use it, so it will never be a primary method for our communications, that will remain the website, the noticeboard, and newsletters. It would be nice to see a few more members join the group and we can see where it takes us.

We can be found here.

Quiz Nights

Mrs Young was most put out that I got two pointless answers on last night's Pointless Celebrities; thanks Ernest Hemingway and Ulysses S Grant, I always liked you guys.

Similarly testing questions and also far easier ones can be answered at the Cottesmore Quiz Nights. There are five planned for this year and they will be run and hosted by Christine Knight with Nick alongside acting as a Suzy Dent to Christine's Nick Hewer.

Food is available, but entirely optional, and maximum team size is four.

Dates and entry form can be downloaded here.

These are actually great fun and monies raised on the evenings go towards the men's or ladies' charity. The nights were well attended last year and I'm sure they will be this year too.

Men's AGM

The AGM will be held at CGCC on 6th February at 19:00. This is a great forum for you to 'have a say' about the men's competitions, the committee, and the club in general. There will be briefings around last year's events, the men's accounts, Johnny's annual report, and my incoming captain’s welcome. We will also be electing the committee for 2018.

Please do try to come along.

The latest news from the Vets

On Tuesday we had this year’s AGM and although many things were discussed, two of the main taking points were to change the minimum age of membership to the vets to 55 and to change the name from society to section. Once the serious stuff was out of the way it was time for lunch.

The Captains lunch was enjoyed by around 40 members and was an opportunity for me to introduce my nominated charity for 2018 0- Chestnut Tree House. Caroline (in the yellow top) from Chestnut Tree House was my guest and gave a thought provoking presentation as we enjoyed our coffee. She was astounded at your generosity in raising over £130 for the charity today. Chestnut Tree provides specialist palliative care to children in East and west Sussex and South East Hampshire. These children will all have life-shortening or life-threatening illnesses meaning they are unlikely to reach adulthood. Needing £3.5m to run its services every year only 7% of that comes from central government. Every penny counts, and I hope that all of you will get behind this year’s activities to ensure that both Chestnut Tree House and St Catherines Hospice benefit hugely.