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Club News

From Andy Brett, Golf Operations Manager: It’s now been a month since I took over from Luke as Golf Operations Manager, and we wish him all the very best & I’m sure we will see him at the club from time to time.  

I have to say what a tremendous team & members we have at the club. We welcome new members of staff to the team – Golf Operations: Akash & Ella. We have a brand-new deli counter, serving fresh salads, homemade cakes & pastries. I’m sure you will be happy with the changes. Keep an eye on our What’s On page via www.sherfieldoaksgolf.co.uk for all upcoming social events. 

The course is looking fantastic, with longstanding members saying it’s the best they’ve seen it in a very long time. It’s great to hear but we still have a way to go to, with the planned works in place for the Autumn/Winter.  

Course News

From Ross Cook, Course Manager: I always find August can be a hard month to predict weather-wise. Some years we get blistering heat, without much rainfall, and others are a bit of a washout. This year, it really can’t make its mind up! Within the first two weeks, we have already seen 80% of the month’s average rainfall, which — combined with low temperatures — feels like autumn has come early. The good news is the back end of August sees high pressure take charge, which will bring a more settled and warmer end to the summer. Fingers crossed that this carries on well into September and beyond.  

Lots of maintenance has been carried out to the golf course this month, the biggest procedure happening on the greens. We aerated with a 12mm solid tine at a depth of eight inches to break through the compaction pan, so water can flow more easily, and to provide the roots with air space to grow.  

The green was then rolled and scarified at 10mm depth to remove thatch. This was followed by wa -2mm verticut to clean out the crown of all the dead leaf tissue. Finally, the greens were cut and top-dressed with 20 tons of sand to dilute the thatch and level the surface. There will be another mini maintenance performed at the end of August, this will comprise of a sarrel roll and light top-dressing just to dilute the thatch further and help firm up the playing surface before winter. 

Some of you may have noticed that the stripes on the approaches have gone since Club Championships. This is due to a machinery breakdown and problem sourcing parts. It has meant we’ve been cutting the approaches with the fairway mower, which is wider and can’t follow the stripes of our other mower, so we have been continuing the fairway lines up to the green. The required parts are now on their way, so hopefully it won’t be too much longer before we can get those stripes cut in again.  

The fairways have had another spray, this time with soluble feed and growth regulator. This operation was outsourced but we completed another spray on the approaches in-house to keep everything looking healthy.  

A lot of you have asked me about the clover in the rough, the reason we are so infested this year is because of the drought last year. The grass cover in the rough was quite thin, which was made worse by the lack of a proper spring this year. So, when the clover started to grow, it had lots of spaces to fill within the soil. With the relatively wet summer, it has been able to spread. We can spray for clover, but it is a bit late in the year now as it will be starting to die off soon. If we encounter the same issue next year, we will look to spray but it is a massive area to cover (around 50 hectares) so it will be at a large cost. 

Elsewhere we have been flat out on the digger. The main ditch out on the course at the rear of the Waterloo 6th green has been exposed and dug out, along with the ditch crossing the Waterloo’s 11th fairway, and all the way to the pond on the Waterloo’s 12th hole. This has now lowered the pond level by around a foot, which will in turn help lower the water table at the end of the course. 

The only unfinished spots on the main ditch route are the area next to road on the 9th/10th crossing, and a small area in the woods on the right-hand side of Waterloo’s 15th. These locations will be completed by the end of August.  

The next phase of the ditch work has been started, which includes both courses’ 17th holes. Firstly, the ditch connecting Wellington 17th‘s pond to the road has been cleared and we are now moving onto the woodland to the right of 17th of the Waterloo. The ditch is so overgrown and blocked it was hard to tell there was even a ditch present, but it is a vitally important network to manage the water table on that part of the course. Once all the above has been completed we will be moving onto the more in-play ditches, where we’ll be removing the sleeper bridges and replacing them with piped crossings.  

 

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Competitions News

Congratulations to Emma Clayton who has won the Ladies 2021 Club Championship by two shots with a combined score of 177. 
 
Another Congratulations to Elizabeth Cooling for winning The Ladies Plate 2021 with a score of 32 points. 
 
A special thank you must go to our Ladies Captain Nora McPhail for organising such a great event. 

Captains’ Update

Seniors

From Lewis Fost, Senior’s Captain: The Seniors have played in two more friendly matches since the last newsletter, i’m extremely happy to report that we had: 

  • A win against Hennerton at home
  • A win against Blacknest away 

We also had the prestigious Seniors Championship played over two days on the 2nd and 5th Aug with 50 players taking part, a big congratulations to the winners below: 

  • The Seniors Champion this year is John Taylor
  • The winner of the Vase was Allan Paice
  • The winner of the net competition was Ed Berridge  

There is an important charity fundraising event for your diaries on 13th September – The Memorial Shield – please try to enter as soon as you can. You can contact the Seniors Captain – Lewis Fost to book or ask any questions at: 

EMAIL: [email protected] or MOB: 07786 334420 

Q&A Summary

We hosted our Q&A sessions with Get Golfing CEO ed Richardson on the 31st July 2021, and thought it would be a good idea to give a brief summary in this newsletter for those who weren’t able to attend. Ed gave us the backstory on how Get Golfing began 3 years ago with the purchase of Redlibbets in Kent and how they have expanded to now run 8 clubs, of which Sherfield is of course one. Get golfing have recently sold the Bristol Golf Club and could not agree terms on the lease at Oak Park. Whilst Sherfield has been owned by GG for 13 months, Covid constraints meant they have only been trading for 8 of those. As the largest Get Golfing site, Sherfield consummately has the biggest development plans as Ed explained.

Below is a brief summary of some of the issues raised by the members and responses from Ed:

1 – Future Plans for the Course – Ed confirmed there are big plans to improve the course, the landscaping including re figuring some holes and introducing trees etc plus the drainage. GG have engaged with the environment agency to drill a bore hole at the top of the site, allowing us to move water around the site easier. Ross Cook and his team are clearing ditches and we will lose some of the dry ditches. Ed is aware that our course gets very wet over the winter, and work has already started in addressing this, it is not going to be a quick fix, but members will hopefully start to see improvements this winter. 

Bunkers are on the schedule, but Ed cannot give a start date as the team are working on other GG sites. We can expect them to all be re-designed with changes to size and location and it remains, along with drainage, a priority. 

It was suggested to Ed that GG give members a draft roadmap of when we can expect these changes to take place. Ed confirmed that these changes are based on income coming into to all the GG sites. Money is generated by pay and play golfers, golf societies and increasing membership subscriptions (and subsequent spending), all income is put back into the club so Ed is reluctant to give exact timescales but members can expect big improvements in the course when the funds allow works to start. Ed made a point of stressing that there are no shareholders or fat cats, so all support for the club will benefit the club and those who use it. 

2 – The Patio, Driving Range and Changing Rooms – The works for the patio are due to start in October and should be completed early 2022. The driving range is an issue and Ed is possibly looking at a third party to partner GG, but no definite news yet. It is recognised that the mats are looking in poor condition and Ed will consider if anything can be done in the short term. The changing rooms are on the list and Ed appreciated they need updating. It is not on GG priority list as they believe the money is currently better spent on the course. 

3 – Boards – A lot of discussions on this issue, Ed’s view is the golf course is for golfers and the clubhouse is for everybody, so he does not want the boards in the bar area. With 30+ years of experience, Ed explained that the inclusion of Members boards of the current nature would have a detrimental impact on non golf related revenues. This point has been proven to Ed many times and various sites. Members disagreed with Ed on this point but in summary I am going to look at other board options, possibly smaller clear boards that are more in keeping with the refurbishment and put a proposal with costs to Ed to discuss this point further. He was very open to discuss this issue further and explained that he does understand why this is an important point to the membership. 

4 – Course Etiquette – This is an area of concern for members, slow play, guest’s behaviour and dress code. Ed’s view is the issue of slow play and behaviour on the course needs to be addressed by the starters and marshals on the course and members pointed out this is not the case and people are walking off the course due to slow play. Ed is going to discuss this with Luke and Andy our new general manager. Ed is quite relaxed about dress code both on the course so long as it is respectful and appropriate, but challenges anyone to draft a dress code that clearly delivers on its objectivesGet Golfing’s benchmark is respect to the property, staff and fellow members and visitors and on site management should focus more on the actual behaviour of patrons than what they are wearing.   

5 – Sky Sports – Ed hopeful to have Sky in the clubhouse, but ideally would like sponsorship or contribution from a brewery. Sky at Sherfield would cost £8,000 a year and in order to break even on that investment, we would have to sell an additional 4,000 pints, so it comes with a commercial risk of losses before it becomes a profitable addition. Ed will keep us posted on progress. 

6 – Matches – Again a big discussion point especially around complimentary practice rounds for visiting teams. Ed explained that he is flexible, but there is a balance and GG need to fully understand what they are agreeing to. It was eventually agreed to discuss and agree a way forward at the committee meeting in September. 

7 – Car Park – GG are putting a planning application for housing on the site of the greenkeeper’s current location and that compound will move to the rear of the car park. Part of this application includes discussions with the landlord and the plan is to increase the size of the car park. More details to follow. 

8 – Upstairs offices – Ed is looking to maximise revenue from the upstairs offices, and is flexible regarding how this is managed. It could be a gym or other fitness classes, and more details will follow. Should this occur, Get Golfing recognise that the refurbishment and allocation of space in the changing rooms will need doing at the same time.  

9 – IG – GG are looking at new software system called Golfmanager and this is currently being trialed at their two new sites. If successful this could be integrated into all sites. More details to follow. 

In summary a very productive meeting. Ed is honest and upfront about his plans for SOGC and the vision is to create a superb facility for all members and visitors alike. He came across as incredibly genuine and focused on our future and explained that as they don’t borrow money, they have to have the revenue available to enable them to progress through each stage of development. His closing comment was that members must understand that all the profits go back into the site, so if members could buy their golf equipment, apparel and consumables from the club’s Proshop website, they not only get their exclusive member’s discount, but they are furthering the progression of their club. He is looking forward to spending more time at our club when the next phase of development begins. 

Proshop News

From Nicholas DarbyGolf Retail Sales & Operations Manager: This month the Pro Shop is excited to debut two new brands — golf shoe supplier Payntr and apparel maker ProQuip. 

Our monthly promotions detailed below:

Sherfield Oaks Golf Club

The all new ProQuip Barstripe Polo at £19.99. Available in a range of colours, get yours today!

Sherfield Oaks Golf Club

Bridgestone Lady Precept Golf Balls (available in white and pink!) at a sale price of £19.95 per dozen. Get yours here!

We also have a member buyback scheme in aid of the charity Mumba Children’s ProjectGet Golfing sites are running a member buyback scheme on all branded golf clothes  and not just your specific clubfrom anywhereWe are also accepting clubs, balls and bags. These can then be partexchanged for new logoed apparel with our new club logos. You will shortly receive an email detailing the work this charity does and how you can help us help them. Check out the poster below to see when we are at Sherfield Oaks:

Mumba @ Sherfield Oaks

Community Outreach

From Stuart Williams, Community Development Officer (Education, SEND and Communities), Get Golfing: Hola from a busy Community Events coordinator. 

Work on our Community HUB programme starts this month, which will see us aim to offer a variety of activities at our sites for our local communities and non-traditional visitors.  

We will be using art, music, sport, drama, walking, running, film nights and a host of activities to offer more for both members and visitors and so create some great social interactions in this disconnected age. 

Our NHS Blood & Transplant awareness and recruitment campaign is growing with every visit (see more below from Hampton court). Next stop is Arkley Golf Club on October 3rd when we will also run a great pairs scramble competition that is open to members, guests and visitors. After that it is the turn of Ansty in Coventry on October 30th 

The NHS desperately needs more donors. Please don’t be put off if you offer and they give you an appointment in a few months. They have to manage demand peaks, blood types and are still under-strength themselves as they return from Covid. You really will be doing something amazing and thanks to those members who already donate. 

 

 

Hampton Court gives blood: Our national partners NHS Blood & Transplant had a great recruitment day at our stunning Hampton Court site. They recruited more than 45 new donors, enlightened lots of people as to their blood type and spoke to a host of amazing people who already donate to help people they will never meet. Thanks to David and the team at Hampton Court for their support of this event. 

 

Community Partners: We are now taking nominations for local community groups that could do with help and we are also selecting our partner primary and special schools. Please do get in touch if you would like to suggest a small local charity or community group or school that we could help in 2022. 

Memory walks: We are hosting a series of Memory Walks for the Alzheimer’s Society around our beautiful sites and it would be great if you are free to join us at The Club at Mill Green, near Welwyn Garden City, on September 18th at 4pm, or at Redlibbets in Kent on September 19th at 3pm. 

You can find your nearest event at alzheimers.org.uk/memory-walk or you can set up your own. We are looking to raise funds to beat this horrible disease but also to create a lovely social event for people to chat and enjoy our sites. Everyone is welcome and we ask for a £5 donation for adults but nothing from children and dogs. We will have a 5km and 2.5 km route that will start and finish at the clubhouses. 

 

 

Exemplar local partnership: The Club at Mill Green is supporting Music 24, which does amazing work through music to bring smiles to dementia sufferers plus their carers, and creates amazing social interactions for those of us who are lonely. To find our more visit https://www.music24.org.uk. 

All this amazing group needed was a space to meet on a Monday afternoon every two weeks to bring sunshine and smiles to those suffering from dementia. We are happy to give them it free of charge. 

If you know of any local groups that need a free space to use, help expanding their provision or raising awareness of their work, we would be happy to help. Please contact [email protected]. 

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

Walking the Dog: Hopefully by now you are aware that all our venues are dog friendly and that you are keeping an eye out for when a great social walk around our sites is taking place at your club. 

Our dog of the month is Ted from Mill Green. Ted likes sitting down, sniffing, and listening to loud music. If you email me a picture of your dog at the golf course or on one of our walks, they could be famous. We look forward to next month’s nominations. 

Ideas please: Finally, I would love to hear from you, so please do contact me with any ideas you have for using our sites to do some good. Our venues and staff are our greatest assets, and we want to use them to have a positive impact on our local communities. Please do remember to say “thank you” to your clubhouse team, chefs, green keepers and golf ops as they are doing an amazing job in tricky conditions.  

I look forward to meeting more and more of you on my visits and please do come up and say hello if you see me in your clubhouse. Contact me at [email protected].

Pro News

From Dan Kean, PGA Professional: Here are my FREE lessons for September: 

2nd September 2021- 12pm-1pm Full Swing – We will be looking at the full swing and how you can improve your consistency and lower scores. 

9th September 2021 – 12pm-1pm Putting – Putting will be the order of the day and how to read greens and judge the pace!  

23rd September 2021 – 12pm-1pm Chipping – The famous chip! The highs and lows of how we should play the short game. 

30th Septembr 2021 – 12pm-1pm Bunker Play – How to tackle that sandy place, bunkers and what not to do to achieve success. 

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

Lastly the 3 for 2 is in its last month so jump on board if you want to take advantage of the amazing deal even for a gift for a friend or loved on. The very successful subscription service is also still up for grabs so please email me for details – [email protected] 

 

From Paul Tedders PGA Professional: Here are my FREE lessons for September: 

7th Sept – 11am-12pm – Back to basics (setup and swing check) 

14th Sept – 11am-12pm – Basic Fundamentals of Putting 

21st Sept – 11am-12pm – Sharpen up your short game (Chipping) 

28th Sept – 11am-12pm – Sharpen up your short game (Pitching) 

To Contact Paul, please email: [email protected] 

 

From Adam Glass PGA Professional: Here are my FREE lessons for September:

  • Tuesday 7th September at 11am 
  • Thursday 16th September at 11am 

Set your intentions. Any physical action is preceded with a thought and
an intention creating the bridge or link between the two. I see so many
Golfers unclear on the 3 basic principles that all skilled players do
well and all poorer players have variation. I would like you to rate
yourselves out of 10 (10 being good) on how well you do these 3 things
as a reflection exercise.

  1. Hit the ground in the same spot in front of the ball
  2. Hit a reasonable distance to score well (this doesn’t mean you are
    competing on long drive)
  3. Hit the ball with a predictable start line and curve

Landing the club in the same spot at the base of the swing is what
differentiates skilled players from poor players so next time you are on
the range focus on where you land the club, a tee peg or a leaf that you
can hit 20-25 times in a row would be a great start.

Online content for swing content is a tremendous resource but try to
make sure you build the links back to these fundamentals and don’t just
do something because someone told you too or it’s the in thing in Golf
Instruction. The first of those key fundamentals should be your
intention every time you play or practice.

Feel free to reach out on [email protected] if you need any help.

 

From Barney Wytchard, PGA Professional: Here are my FREE lessons for MONTH 

Free sessions will be Every Monday @ 6pm and Every Saturday @ 11 am  

To contact Barney, please email [email protected] 

 

Reviews

“Very friendly staff. Enjoyable game of golf. Will certainly play here again. ”
Rated 5 out of 5 by Cognition Training & Consultancy
“This is my course, having been a member less than a year, when I started there the greens were a bit so so but now fantastic you just want to take your shoes off to walk on them, and they are still working there to make it even better. Very nice clubhouse too. ”
Rated 5 out of 5 by Peter North
“Great GC, both courses have been in superb condition all spring and summer. Greens are fast true and challenging for me. Club house looks great. Staff are friendly and enthusiastic. Online booking easy to use. Afternoon golf really good value for money. Definitely my preferred choice for golf local to me. ”
Rated 5 out of 5 by Damian Carbonaro
“Tried Sherfield Oaks for our reunion 4 ball, and we are very impressed with the course, facilities, and the great staff at the club. Already planning our next visit and can’t wait. The course is in excellent condition and the staff were so friendly and helpful. Great job guys! ”
Rated 5 out of 5 by Gary Peacock