Club news 

From David Harris, General Manager: We are very excited to be open at long last and fingers crossed that will be the last lockdown we have now the vaccine is out.  

It will be great to see so many people enjoying their first rounds in a long time and, as the warm weather starts to arrive, the growing season will help the course and see the playing conditions continue to improve.  

As far as the clubhouse is concerned, we plan to open the new patio and outdoor bar by the middle of April ready for outdoor hospitality. The remaining work inside is set to be completed by early May, ready for opening on the 17th. Please have a look at the pictures below for a taste of what is being done. If you have a special occasion coming up and would like to book an event with us, please contact Clare Twyford on the main line email [email protected] 

Course news 

From Richard Hill, Course Manager: The single biggest project that we were able to carry out during lockdown was the installation of fairway irrigation on the 1st and 18th holes. This is part of trial to see how the installation of fairway irrigation impacts the course, after which there are plans to expand fairway irrigation to the whole course.  

Installing irrigation means there has been a level of disruption to the playing surface but it will settle down over time and the warmer temperatures of April and May will help it to recover, with some added help from the greenkeeping team.  

Range and turf nursery: Also achieved during lockdown was turfing the last part of the driving range and we will now focus on getting the range ready for use. We have a pathway to build, irrigation to move and add, along with a turf nursery to construct at the top of the driving range.  

The latter is an important area for us heading into the future as we will be able to farm our own turf for repairs to the greens, tees, approaches and fairways. Once the turf nursery is established, we will no longer have to take turf from the putting green to repair the greens.  

Sand: Historically we have always carried out our scheduled greens’ maintenance in March and this year was no different. Due to the lockdown, we decided to tackle this in a slightly different way. We carried out a double solid tine and dress in order to get as much sand into the greens as possible.  

Because of lockdown, we were able to heavily dress with impunity and take more time working the sand into the surface. We then carried out the entire process again. In total we were able to work approximately 70 tons of sand into the greens. The greater goal is to get 160 tons, and hopefully more, out there before the middle of October. This will be achieved with a little–and–often strategy, outside of the big maintenance windows, with some additional work being carried out along the way.  

Deer: Unfortunately, lockdown also saw significant deer damage across the greens, especially on the 5th, 7th & 10th. All of this has been repaired and, as the temperatures start to increase, the patch repairs will soon heal and tie in nicely to the surfaces.  

We also made the putting green slightly bigger effectively returning it to its original shape. The deer damage patch repairs had, over the years, reduced the size of the lower level. This year’s repair patches were taken from the chipping green, which we then re-turfed with turf cut from the grass area being used in the patio extension. The aim being to increase and improve the area of the chipping green, while not losing parts of the putting green. 

Trees: Over the years we have seen several limb and large branch failures to oak trees on the 6th hole. Oak trees like to hang on to dead wood, a lot of this has now been removed and the large oak on the carry to the 6th green has had a sizeable reduction, the tree on the right has not. As you may know any significant tree work we carry out is decided on in conjunction with the Palace staff, this time we were also allowed to reposition the dead tree trunk that for years has laid at right angles to the 6th fairway. This has now been spun 90 degrees so is now not such an obstacle when playing from the right rough.  

Paths: We also finished the pathway behind the 9th tee and repaired the potholes on the 1st and 11th pathways. We do have some pathway repairs to carry out especially over the soak–aways, notably on the 4th, 8th,9th and 13th and on the way to the driving range.  

Machinery: In March we took delivery of a new fairway mower, which will most certainly help with the presentation of the fairways in the future.  

We will start to divot the fairways soon and, as the temperatures start to rise, we will start to see them fill in and recover. We have lots of deer damage across the golf course to repair as well especially on the fairways. 

Finally, there is a lot of hard work that goes into maintaining a golf course and it would be very much appreciated if golfers would repair their pitch marks, replace any divots and put any broken tees and litter into the bins provided. And if anyone speaks deer, please have a word!

Competition news

This year we will be running our first “The Race to Le Touquet” where the winners of each section (Men’s and Ladies) receive an invite to Le Touquet at the end of September to play in the Singha Champion of Champions Finals. This is for the winners of each club’s order of merit. The format of each club’s qualifying events is:

• Men’s events will be played at the weekend; Ladies will be played on Tuesdays.
• Winners of each event at the Club receive prizes supplied by Singha.
• Points are allocated based on where each Member finishes in each event.
• The number of points rises for each event as the season progresses.
• There are five events from May to August with a trip away in September.
• The trip to Le Touquet includes travel, hotels (The 5-star Westminster Hotel), three rounds of golf (Le Touquet and Hardelot), an opening cocktail party, and closing presentation banquet.
• The finalists receive not only the trip but clothing and finalist prizes. The winners of the champions of champions wins an invite to Thailand courtesy of Singha to play golf and entry into an Asia Pro Tour Pro-Am.
• Both trips include, travel, golf and accommodation courtesy of Get Golfing and Singha.

Historically, Club competitions take place on weekends so that all the different sections — Mens, Ladies and Seniors as well as our 7-day Members who are still working — can join in the fun. Five-day Members are also welcome to play but will have to pay the price of a Member guest green fee.

Both the Men’s and Ladies competitions take place on the same day with the tee sheet interwoven. This will be followed by a fun prize giving and some special offerings from the kitchen and bar to help bring the day to a close. We would also  encourage Members to invite their partners, who perhaps don’t play, to come along and join in the post-golf fun.

The dates of these competitions and more details will be sent out shortly once finalised.

Members will also have the opportunity to travel as a team to play at Le Touquet against the other Get Golfing Clubs. We will provide further details of this in due course.

Charity news 

Every Monday from April 12th, we will be hosting coffee mornings between 9.30am and 11.30am in aid of a variety of charities to help raise awareness of their work and allow people to socialise and get support if needed.  

There will be £1 donated to the charity for each hot drink purchased from us during this time and at each event there the charity will be available to give any advice and support you might need. 

The charities we will be working with are: 

Macmillan: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/ 

Park Lane Stables RDA: https://www.parklanestables.co.uk/ 

Ronald McDonald House Charities: https://rmhc.org.uk/ 

Shooting Star Children’s Hospice: https://www.shootingstar.org.uk/ 

Please stop by during this time and feel free to pass on to anyone who wants to join us as they don’t need to be golfers 

Please keep a close eye on our What’s On page on the website as there will be a variety of social events added as restrictions ease. 

Staff news 

We are growing the team as restrictions start to ease both on and off the course. If you or anyone you know would be interested in being a part of the team here please get in touch with David and either all us or email [email protected] 

REAL GOLF

We are all excited about the return to golf and we would like to officially welcome and introduce REAL GOLF to you.  

Richard Ellis and the team at REAL GOLF will be running their focused schools at Hampton Court Palace from April. You can find out more about their sessions and schedules via the links below.  

Richard, who has also filmed a useful putting tip to help get your golf off to a good start, says: “We are excited to be at Hampton Court Palace and look forward to welcoming you to the REAL GOLF experience: Our Putting School & Chipping Masterclass is a great way to take charge of your game and lower your scores.” 

For more details about REAL GOLF, click the link: https://www.hamptoncourtgolf.co.uk/golf/professionals/

Pro news 

From Dale Brooks, PGA Professional: I will be running some free lessons in April as follows:

• April 9th: No more slice (hit a straighter, more controlled ball flight)
• April 16th: Short putts (never miss a putt inside 3ft again)
• April 23rd: Course management (save shots from decision making)
• April 30th: Gain yards off the tee (working on increasing swing speed resulting in distance)

From Pete Lockett, PGA Professional: My series of free lessons will be as follows:

• March 30th: Putting things right — Putting drills / games to get you scoring better. Dust the cobwebs off the putter.
• April 9th: Par 18. Learn to get up and down, the key to lowering your scores
• April 18th: Bryson Bombing — Learn to bomb the driver… find extra yards and outdrive your playing partners.

From Alex Vezey, PGA Professional: I will be running free classes for the Ladies on Thursday, April 8th — 11am-12pm and Thursday, April 29th — 10am-11am. 

Full Swing Class: Fault fixing: Learn about your golf swing, understand your faults and why they affect your ball flight. Alex will give you drills to use on your own to help fix your golf swing. Class limited to five pupils.  

I will also run classes open to all Members on Saturday, April 17th and Saturday April 24th — 10.00am-11.00am. 

Full Swing Help: Come along with your golf swing problems and leave understanding how you can fix your golf swing problems. Fully understand why you hit certain poor shots and how you can improve them, leave with a clear process on how to improve! Class limited to five pupils. 

To book on to a class please email Alex @ [email protected] 

Developed exclusively for our members, the Get Golfing Pro Shop has a comprehensive range of golf equipment to cater to all your golfing equipment needs – whether you are a scratch golfer or a beginner, we have the right products for your game.

In addition, as a member of a Get Golfing club, you can pay with your Member Club Card to get the best discount. We will then deliver your purchases to your club for free, so there is no waiting around for deliveries at home and a good excuse for a few holes!

Finally, best of all… every penny of profit the shop makes will be invested back into your club!