Harborne Golf Club
Your Weekly HGC Round Up
Hi everyone
I want to kick off this week by saying a huge congratulations to the one and only, Peter Clifford, who as far as I can tell from our records has been a member this month for sixty years and is, in fact, the longest standing member! During this time, Peter has put his golf to good use and as a result has been our Club Champ six times as well as having won oodles of gold leaf trophies and still maintains a handicap of six to this day. Now I know for a fact Peter doesn’t do technology so I’m relying on everyone reading this to go and shake his hand when you next see him!
Even sixty years ago Peter will tell you HGC was a very select Club with hardly anyone actually playing the course but going back even further to November 1915 there was an actual census taken over two weeks and it transpired that during the week there was an average of ten players per day which increased to thirty on a Saturday and twenty on Sunday. Can you only imagine! This was during WW1 to be fair when a lot of members were also resigning which meant tough times for everyone, including the Club. Should this get your historical juices going a bit, then you can read the full hi-lighted minutes in the News Section every month as I follow the Club one hundred years ago and fifty years ago.
From our oldest member to our newest member and on behalf of HGC I would like to welcome Matthew Payne who joined during October as a social member and at some point we hope you take the full leap to join us out on the course.
Jack South took a huge leap a month ago and left for Spain to take part in the Gecko Pro Tour. Every week there is a tournament of two rounds and if you make the cut, you play a final round from which you get recognition as well as financial gain. Jack’s first tournament didn’t go too badly and he finished 23rd out of 71 players. Jack felt he was heading in the right direction and was proved right when he went on to shoot a +2 followed by -2 in his second tournament. This meant he’d qualified for the third day wherein he shot -1 putting him in eleventh place, making him the top English player in the field and perhaps more importantly at this crucial stage, gave him his first pay cheque! Asked if it was all very intimidating, Jack replied no. A lot of the players who made the top ten positions have also been on the European Tour so he feels he’s on the right track by being in contention with them. What’s really lovely is the support already shown by members following his progress and messaging him and I know he’s really appreciative of the interest so I’ll make sure there are regular updates in the round up too. Live tracking of the tour can be found at http://thegeckotour.com and this week’s tournament starts Wednesday.
Golf last week at HGC was a little on the slow side but then the weather of fog, fog and more fog didn’t help matters but at least it wasn’t too cold. The Ladies were out on Tuesday with the low handicappers taking on the high and as you’ve probably guessed the low handicappers won despite Margaret Slater’s valiant attempt of the only win for the high. Don’t get too complacent though ladies we’ll be back bigger and stronger next year!
The weekly nine hole competition last week was won Edward Wells for Div 1 with 21 points and A Jones won for Div 2 with 22 points. Both members have won £15 each.
Sadly, the Nearest the Pin at the 14th hole at Birkdale was a little too quiet Thursday evening so the decision has been made to keep this running until Wednesday so if you fancy a go, £2 will give you three balls and the chance of winning a prize. Alternatively for £5 you can have ten balls and the chance to prove if you’re biggest hitter in the Club, the top five winners will be announced this Thursday night. My money is on Paul Cross straight away but do you know better? Best of luck!
Also out this week were lots of new offers for the simulator and with the weather changing you can now still get your fix, whilst staying dry and warm and if you talk nicely to Stu and Lewis they might even get you a coffee!
Club Night was a little busier and it was lovely to see two octogenarians in the big prizes. Frank Shelley, a regular diner on a Thursday except, can you believe it, last week, was called as the winner of £225 but as he wasn’t there we are now looking at £250 this week. More people in attendance meant a bigger raffle prize which meant Geoff Welsh is now £208 better off.
The menu for this week is
STARTERS
Soup of the Day
Prawn Cocktail
Deep Fried Brie with Cranberry Sauce
MAINS
Shepherd’s Pie with Seasonal Veg
Chicken Stroganoff with Rice
Cajun Salmon with Roasted Baby Potatoes & Veg
DESSERTS
A choice of lip smacking desserts
£10 for two courses, £12 for three. Please book by Wednesday
Saturday saw the Div 1 Medal in what was really horrible weather for some members. Seventeen members played and Simon Griffiths came out on top having shot a 68, followed by James Wright with a 70.
The Seniors Summer Eclectic Competition has been drawn to a close and I’m happy to share with everyone the winners, Graham Bradshaw and Paul Millard.
Congratulations to all our winners this week.
Some more new dates for the diary, on Friday 27 November, Pat and her team are holding a Christmas Quiz Night with prizes to also include a basket meal, all for the great price of £6.50 each. Teams of 6-8 are welcome and the attire is smart casual.
Finally, after the success of the Friday Steak Night there will now be a Steak Sunday Lunch on the 27th December, just in case you feel a little peckish after all the xmas festivities. Three courses for £15 and there will also be a children’s menu available and bookings are being taken from 12.30pm onwards.
For both events please book with Pat over the bar. Many thanks.
Looking forward, this week at HGC is showing the following
Tuesday 08.45 – 10.45 Ladies November Stableford
10.40 – 10.48 Ladies November Nine Hole Stableford
Friday 09.00 – 09.30 Mark Brown Golf Society
Saturday 08.34 – 12.10 Div 2 & 3 Medal
Sunday 12.30 - Carvery Lunch
I think that’s everything from me, the weather looks fairly dry this week apart from a few showers Friday, sorry Mark Brown. Whatever you doing have a great one and keep swinging!
Best wishes
Jennie x
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