The Morning After The Day Before

Well, the parking space works!  Spent time this morning writing up the events of yesterday for the Members' website. Not sure how many will actually read it, but it's good to have a record of events. Wanted to go to the Club to thank all those without whose help, yesterday wouldn't have been so successful. 

Also took the opportunity to go over the results from Saturday's Stableford competition. A few No Shows were recorded, which need following up as there is so much demand for spaces. 

No golf for me today but there were plenty of hardy souls getting their daily fix out there!

The Day Itself

Slept badly...kept on waking up and checking the alarm, but eventually arose at 0630 to get ready for an 0715 departure to be at the Club for half past seven.  The first thing on the agenda was to the Grimditch Trophy, for which members signed up and were then randomly allocated to play for either the Captain or Vice Captain in a matchplay foursomes format.  There was a shotgun start at 0830 and I was to play with the incoming Vice Captain against the Director of Golf and the outgoing Captain, Colin.  Suffice it to say that by 1100 we were back in the Clubhouse having been given a proper drubbing by our opponents who could do no wrong...whilst I could!  No thanks to me, the remainder of those representing the Vice Captain performed much better and the result of the competition rested on the scores from the final pair in.  They halved their match which also meant that the overall match was also a draw and honours were shared...  The first time for a while and a great start to the day!

New Ladies' and Men's Captains

After a lengthy bar/lunch break, the next item on the agenda was the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Men's Section.  This is where I was to be formally inducted as Men's Captain, after which there was no going back!  The meeting passed off smoothly, with the new committee being elected nem con and there I was the new Captain of Burhill Golf Club.


I had no time to let this sink in as very shortly thereafter, we had the AGM for Burhill Golf Club.  This was a bigger affair with a very good turnout of members.  The year gone by was reviewed, the new Club Committee elected and plans for the future discussed. the amazing successes of the Club's junior section were lauded and Diana, the Lady captain, shared our decision to select the Princess Alice Hospice as our Captains' charity for the year ahead.

Rolley in action...

The formal stuff over, now was the time for the Captains' Drive In.  Tradition has it that one is supposed to arrive at the tee in style, or at least in a manner that will amuse the onlookers.  This I think we achieved, by the use of Rolleys. As you can see from the photos, these are an upright motorised golf trolley which, on flat ground, actually can travel at quite a lick!  Diana and I managed to navigate our way successfully to the tee of the Par 3 18th Hole of the New Course.

At least it went forwards...

Clearly the pressure of the day, or the gentle barracking from the balcony, was too much and in the end none of the three of us succeeded in landing the ball on the green but, more importantly, we all managed to tee off successfully and hit over the river in the general direction of the flag.  Honours just about intact....


Thence back to the bar and a weight of our collective shoulders: we don't have to do that again!  Time for a drink and a relaxing chat with the many friends who stayed on to make it such a special day.

D-Day minus 1

Had an early start this morning to drive to collect my wife from the airport, which meant that it was not possible for me to play in the morning's Stableford competition at the Club.  I did though have to make a trip to Burhill to complete two important actions:

1) to help Pip, Burhill's Director of Golf, to carry out the draw for the next day's Captain v. Vice captain's competition; this was a relatively simple process with the new on-line booking system, with just some minor tweaking required to ensure that the pairs' handicaps are relatively well matched.  Battle commences tomorrow at 0830 am!


and

2) to make the selection of the Captain's photo that will be framed and take its place in the Captain's Bar for the year ahead.  Not a difficult selection as it was in fact a choice from two photos, both of which looked identical to me...

Either way, this is the mug shot that I shall have to live with for the next 12 months. He chose one with a smile, I see...

D-Day minus 5

The official part of the job starts tonight: as current Vice Captain, I am to host the Men's Committee Dinner to say thank you to the outgoing Captain.  There is, as ever in a Golf Club, a bit of tradition around proceedings... That is to say, the Captain gets to not only invite some guests but also to choose the menu whilst the drinks are paid for by the Committee members.

After dinner, I made a speech to Colin and also presented him with an engraved silver salver to commemorate the year almost finished. I also gave Colin a copy of my brother Tony's book about golf: Hacked Off (available at all good booksellers....).  This should give him some reading material for his trip to Bermuda later in the month

We then moved down to the bar and I had my first glass of Kümmel of the year - and not, I suspect, the last!

D-Day minus 6

Was requested to present myself, wearing jacket and Club tie, at the Club for the official photograph this morning. Diana beat me to it and was sitting in the chair looking very smart as I arrived. I had a few photos taken and was clearly smiling too much for the photographer, Richard, as when he snapped me in a more serious pose, he smiled and said, "much more like a golf club captain"!

I am now slightly nervous as to which photo the Club will choose and which I shall have to look at every day for the next 12 months on the wall in the Captains' bar...

D-Day minus 10

We are getting closer to the off now and some serious matters need attending to: who sits at the top tables at the AGM, when are canapés to be served and how shall we raise some money for the captains' Charity (Princess Alice Hospice).

I have even spent some of my own money (£20.69 and counting - I really should keep a log of this! - plus the £1,000 I have put onto my card at Burhill in anticipation...) on buying some large card to do a Closest to the Pin competition on the Drive In.

Now off to Burhill to chat with the General manager about plans for the Men's Invitational which we are going to resuscitate this year after it fell into abeyance.  The costs were becoming too high but I am sure that we can find a sensible compromise...

D-Day minus 13

Rolley golf trolley

One of the challenges for a new Captain is to decide what to do for their "Drive In".  Like so many things in this world (see Weddings...), what started off as a simple ceremony has gradually inflated into something of a much more competitive nature: "we must do better than last year" etc.   So what to do on February 15th?

The first decision was to revert to Driving In over the river up to the 18th of the New (see background of this Blog!) rather than what happened last year, when the more traditional drive off the first tee of the Old was used.  Going back to the New is higher risk (the shot is a lot more challenging and In Your face), but is a much better spectacle and more member-friendly.

Back In September, I was at a corporate golf day at the Buckinghamshire when we hade demonstrated a new type of golf trolley: a Rolley.  Roughly speaking, a mix of a trolley and a Segway, this is a newly designed attempt to capture the upmarket end of the golf cart market.  I have agreed with the designer that we shall use them at the Drive In: killing two birds with one stone.  We get an exciting and different way of arriving at the tee and they get a chance to showcase their product.

Diana was supportive of the idea, but nervous about its execution. As a result, we scheduled a dry run for today, up in Town.  This is why, had you been in Lambeth Palace Gardens, you would have seen two future captains of a golf club cautiously navigating their way around the park.  By the end of it, we were much more proficient and the hope is that we manage not to embarrass ourselves too much in a couple of weeks time....