Club News

From Luke Welham, General Manager: It is safe to say that July’s weather has been incredibly inconsistent, unlike the impressive consistency we have seen in the golf course conditioning.  

The month has seen a lot of competitions and charity days, but the greens remain as smooth as ever. The conditions were so enticing that I even got the sticks out for a couple of holes — they would have, however, been better left under the stairs.  

A special note should be made of the amount of money raised through the golf days over the past few weeks for charity. The Natta Charity Day raised more than £10,000, Trevor Edward’s Drywall Golf Day generated more than £4,000 and more money will flow into the Captain’s charity during August to ensure 2021 is a year of charitable work. 

We are extremely keen to keep improving the social side of membership at Sherfield Oaks through our programme of What’s On events. The next event that we would like you to put in your diary is the family friendly quiz night on Thursday, August 19th. The quiz is open for bookings, so please email [email protected] to reserve a table. The snowball question is still rolling over from the first quiz so there is quite a bit of money to be won.  

While we are on the subject of social events, could I say that we are all very grateful to all the members who have adhered to the COVID policies throughout the last few months. It is much appreciated. 

Sherfield Showcase Day with past members/guests and visitors: The team at Sherfield Oaks has set itself the target of increasing the number of adult members from the current 790 to more than 900 by the end of the year.  

As the club has experienced a huge transformation over the last year, we thought it would be fantastic to celebrate the improvements by welcoming visitors and guests for a fun competition that will show off the work that has been done.  

Bring a friend or invite a past member to play in the competition and, if they decide to join on Sherfield Showcase Day, we will give you a bonus of 15% of their annual subscription on your Club Card. The 15% offer is for one day only and means that you could receive more than £200 should your guest decide to become a 7-day member. 

The event will be held on Friday, August 6th and details are as follows:  

• Breakfast: Tea/coffee with bacon rolls.  
• Golf: A fun, 18-hole Stableford competition on our Waterloo golf course with prizes available for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. 
• Lunch: A two-course meal will be served in our newly renovated clubhouse where visitors will be able to experience the huge journey that the golf club has been on over the past year.  
• We will also use the day as a fundraiser for the Captain’s Charity so please bring some cash for the Beat the Pro and other charitable incentives. 

Please click the link for more information and to book your team.  

Course Maintenance: The major course work done while the club was closed at the start of the year means we only have some light maintenance work to complete in the second week of August to ensure the course is prepared for the winter.  

It will be carried out on the Waterloo on Monday and Tuesday before moving onto the Wellington. The nature of the work means it will probably take just a few days to recover with some heat and sunshine. 

Course News

From Ross Cook, Course Manager: July carried on where June left off. We had a very unsettled first two weeks that brought 41mm of rainfall (our monthly average for July). Since the middle of the month, however, we have had some lovely summer temperatures with the thermometer consistently reaching over 30 degrees. Unfortunately, heavy thunderstorms were forecast for the end of the month, and it was fingers crossed that we avoided the worst of them. 

Last month I talked about spraying selective herbicide on fairways and approaches and this has now been done, along with a follow-up spray of iron and growth regulator. This is the main reason the courses held onto their colour through the heatwave.  

In the past we didn’t have the resources to complete this task but as you can see its well worth the investment. The greens have firmed up nicely and were playing very well in time for the club championship at the end of July.  

We have had another two pieces of machinery through the door in the form of a tee mower and a fairway mower. These have helped greatly in improving surface quality and allowed us to be more productive.  

All the “in play” long rough was cut over a two-week period at the end of June and a lot of people have commented on the clippings left behind. These will be removed but we have had multiple machinery failures this month, so that process has been delayed but, I can assure you, not forgotten.  

Ditch digging has begun with the main ditch that carries water from the 12th green on Waterloo all the way to the back of the 6th green on Waterloo being done as a priority. We have so far completed clearance in front of the 14th green, 9th green, and 7th tee on Waterloo. We will move onto the rear of 6th green and the road crossing at the 10th tee on Waterloo next. The plan is for all ditches to be cleared out before the winter so we can keep water moving and add drainage where necessary.   

The golf course will benefit from new flags, pins and cups that will go out on club championship morning. They are all yellow, which all the other clubs within the group have. This means we will be dropping the front-middle-back system and moving on with an ABC system. This means the greens will be divided into sections which you will be given as a pin chart on a daily basis, with the letter of the day communicated by the clubhouse staff and on the first tee. I also have new tee yardage discs that will be going out in the coming weeks.  

Finally, we used a local contractor to give the hedges around the clubhouse a much-needed overhaul. All the hedges have been taken down to three feet high to allow us to maintain them more easily and to give a line of site for buggies travelling to and from the car park as well as offer a better view from the patio out onto the golf course. The hedge at the exit to the car park has also been trimmed back to its original line so cars can pass through more easily. 

Competitions News

Summer is here and the championship season is in full swing! Congratulations to Jack Clayton, for winning The Richard Lewington Trophy for the third year in succession, his winning score was 140 (-1). Jack, alas, did not repeat his 2020 double, by winning The Club Championships as well. This time around, Sean Stevenson is our Club champion for 2021 shooting 149 (+8) over a stormy weekend! Chris Ginn won the nett prize with 136 (-5), beating Patrick Callaghan and Chris Dicker on countback!  

Well played everyone that took part and a huge congratulations to our two winners! The 2021 championships conclude with The Seniors Championship and Veterans Vase (August 2nd and 5th) and The Ladies Vase (August 7th and 10th). All the sign-up details are on Intelligent Golf, don’t delay… 

Other Board Event winners recently were Dev Rana and Gitajang Gurung scoring 48 points (Texas Scramble) in The Roschild Trophy. Coming up in August for you is The Wildmoor Cup and Plate being played on August 21st and 28th, see Intelligent Golf from August 7th to enter. 

It is great to see so many new members getting a handicap and entering competitions at Sherfield Oaks. While competitive, all our competitions are enjoyable to play in and a great way of meeting fellow members. If any of you want to get a handicap and start playing in competitions, please check out this website, where you will find all the information you need to know about getting involved. Feel free to contact Luke Welham or Handicap Secretary, John Taylor, if you have any questions. 

Captains’ Update

Ladies 

From Norah McPhail, Ladies Captain: Our Stoneham team had a home win this month against Bramshott on July 4th but sadly lost in the away leg on the 19th. Unfortunately, we also had another loss at home against Blackmoor on the 16th. The individual games, however, have been very close, with some going to the 19th, so well done Stonehammers in what has been a very tough draw this year. That said, we had a win in our Ladies Friendly home match against Test Valley on the 16th. 

Lesley Brigden and Les Robertson took top spot in the qualifier for the new PING 4BBB Mixed Competition with 45 points. It’s a great score that will hopefully secure them a place in the Grand Final in September. 

Linda Newton and Deborah Lucas won the qualifier for the Ladies PING 4BBB with 47 points. If they don’t make the Grand Final with that score, I will eat my LC’s Blazer! 

A special mention to Amy and her team for the excellent match meals we have enjoyed. Without doubt Sherfield Oaks is the outright winner in this field.

Seniors 

From Lewis Fost, Seniors Captain: After a stuttering start in April, the Seniors’ Section are now playing friendly matches on a regular basis. To date, we have played nine, with seven wins, one draw and one loss. There are still 10 matches to be played this year, so feel free to express your interest and join in the fun. 

August and September are important months with some of our bigger events taking place: 

• The Seniors’ Championship and Vase on August 2nd and 5th. 
• The Memorial Trophy on September 13th. 

For more information, please contact Seniors’ Captain Lewis Fost via [email protected] or on 07786 334420. 

Ross Jones’ Update

Get Golfing takes the conditioning of all of the golf courses at our sites incredibly seriously. We want to ensure all our members and visitors have the best playing conditions possible. We are also aware that lot’s of our sites have had some large projects taking place on their golf courses, and our Head of Course Maintenance, Ross Jones, here shares a few videos explaining some of the processes the team uses to improve your course.

The work the teams all put in across all the sites to present our courses in such great condition is outstanding. Why not visit our other sites like Warley Park and check out the progress made in person?

Community Outreach

From Stuart Williams, Community Development Officer (Education, SEND and Communities), Get Golfing: 

Our focus is to utilise our beautiful site and clubhouse to host social interactions ranging from Dementia coffee mornings to school art competitions, Music performances to Memory Walks as part of our Community HUB (Helping Unlock Barriers) programme. We want our local communities to feel welcome at all our venues and just meet up with friends and family for great social interactions. 

Along with some of Get Golfing’s national partnerships and programmes, such as with This Girl Can, NHS Blood and Transplant, The Great Dog Walk Together, we are pleased to announce a partnership with The Alzheimer’s Society and its battle to beat this horrendous disease. 

Taking place in September, you can join us on the day, donate to the charity and enjoy a beautiful stroll around our lovely site that starts and finishes at the clubhouse. The Get Golfing Memory Walk is family and dog friendly, so why not gather a group together and join us for a great cause? 

If you would like to help us run the event by marshalling or serving refreshments as we raise funds to fight this terrible disease, do please get in touch with me here.  

More information to come in the in the September newsletter. 

Our national partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant continues this month with the recruitment team heading to our Hampton Court Palace site for their awareness campaign on August 14th. They will be visiting Arkley in September and Pyrford Lakes in October. 

Please remember it is about more than just blood, with people also needing stem cells, tissue and platelets. For more information visit NHS Blood and Transplant. 

Girls just wanna have fun: Our Mums & Daughters sessions that have been piloted at our Hertfordshire site took place in beautiful sunshine in July and saw more than 130 girls attend during the week. 20 ladies and girls had a super session delivered by the coaching team at the Club as part of the mums and daughters’ session. This great program creates a great social event that sees everyone making new friends, enjoying hitting it further than mum and finding a new sport that they can enjoy together.  

This Girl Can Get Golfing will be rolled out across all sites in the next 12 months. 

 If you would like more information about Girls Golf Rocks please click on the link- Girls Golf Rocks – England Golf 

Music is Healing: As part of the Community HUB (Helping Unlock Barriers) programme, Get Golfing is partnering with Music24, which will have free use of a room in the clubhouse at its Hertfordshire club to run its monthly music therapy sessions. 

Music24 is a registered charity offering music therapy and other music-related activities as a creative outlet for people who are socially isolated and vulnerable. It works with various groups across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire who face difficulties, such as those living with dementia, neuro-disabilities, learning disabilities or mental health illnesses. 

We hope to partner with similar charities at all our sites in the future and if you know of any local groups who need a free space to operate out of, we would be happy to help. Please contact [email protected]   

Also in September we will launching our Adopt a school program where we identify a local special, primary and secondary school to help unlock their student’s potential. We will host a series of golfing, music, art and drama opportunities on our sites to allow their students to shine. 

General Play Update

From John Taylor, Handicap Secretary: All general play scores should now be submitted following the process at: 

https://sogcmembers.wordpress.com/at-sogc/ 

General Play scores MUST be registered on the myEG app before you start your round. The registration is recorded and time-stamped by the WHS system only when you have pressed “PROCEED” and then “START ROUND“. If the round is not pre-registered, it cannot be accepted under WHS rules. 

General play scores can be submitted from any round where you are playing to the rules of golf and following one of the approved singles stroke play formats. These can be “social” rounds or rounds played in non-qualifying competitions, such as the weekday roll-ups.  

Players are not required to submit a General Play score every time they play, but England Golf does encourage players to submit scores regularly to ensure that their handicap stays up to date with their current standard of play. 

Ensure that the whole process: pre-round registration, score entry and score approval by the marker (or “attester”, as myEG terms it) is completed.  

As for competition scores, this needs to be done before you both leave the club. The myEG app has “proximity control”, so that scores can only be registered and entered while in the vicinity of the course. 

Pro News

From Dan Kean, PGA Professional: Now that the summer is underway, it is time to take your golf to the next level! If you have never had a lesson with me, then you just need to book directly via [email protected] and this offer is only for single one-to-one lessons and doesn’t apply to current packages or programmes.  

Please remember I am here for any help and advice, even if it’s for a quick coffee to talk about your game. I will even treat you to a hot drink!

Please visit: https://dankeangolf.co.uk this is my brand-new link! 

To contact me, please email: [email protected]; Facebook: @Dantheprokean; web: www.dankeangolf.co.uk; Instagram: Kean4golf 

From Barney Wytchard, PGA Professional: Junior Camps! Throughout August children will be off school, and families will be struggling to keep them busy but have you considered a junior golfing camp? They will be running throughout the week, and it will be a fantastic way to develop your junior’s golf game or the get them started in the game of golf.  

If anybody is interested, then please get in touch to find out some details on [email protected] 

Proshop News

From Nicholas Darby, Golf Retail Sales & Operations Manager: We are pleased to announce that we now offer Callaway clubs and apparel in the Pro shop as well as Titleist and TaylorMade soft goods. Click here to view. 

If you can’t find a specific product from any of our brands, please contact [email protected] and he will be happy to assist you.

We have also launched our Pro Shop Sale. Grab a bargain with some discontinued merchandise on the website today! 

Remember the profits made by the Pro Shop are reinvested into your club. 

Reviews

Sherfield Oaks has received some more excellent reviews over the past month. Here are a selection of our favourites: