The Competition Secretary (tries to) issue a monthly update with news on golf related activity and any new developments re the administration of competitions, The Captain, Secretary and Treasurer will also periodically wish to contact the members. These bulletins will be circulated to everyone on the Seniors mailing list and a copy placed below (Most recent issues first).
May 2021 Bulletin
The season had got off to a good start until today when the course had to close. The Summer programme has been updated on the website and the Auld Yins Trophy has provisionally been re-arranged to 11th Aug. Here’s hoping we do not have any more course closures.
The WHS handicap system has presented a few questions so I will try to explain how your competition playing handicap is calculated. In HDID or V1 App you will see your Handicap Index . Note the club handicap list in HDID lists all members’ Handicap indexes not their course or playing handicap.
With our WHS handicap index we need to look up the White or Yellow course slope rating to see what our course handicap is for whichever tee the competition is being played off. In singles strokeplay competitions, which includes stableford format, WHS stipulates all players only get 95% of their course handicap which is your playing handicap. This is the handicap used for the competition.
There is no need for you to do the calculations as the computer system does it all and shows your WHS Index, Course handicap and Playing handicap when you sign in to a competition. The course and playing handicaps may vary between White and Yellow tees as they have different slope ratings. I know it goes against the grain for some but in this matter we need to trust the computer.
Your WHS index is determined from the best 8 scores out of your last 20 scores and the counting scores can be seen on the My England Golf app using your CDH number as member ID on the login page, after you have created an account. Having an account with England Golf, by having a CDH number and being a member of a golf club, has the benefit of personal liability insurance for England Golf affiliated club members.
The Seniors Open and Invitation Days are taking place in June 9th and 30th respectively. To qualify for any prizes your guests must have a current handicap which is verifiable via their CDH number and home club details. Any donations for Raffle prizes will be gratefully received by any committee member. The Open can only be booked via the Club website. Invitation day tee time can be booked in your name via the V1 App/HDID and you will need to let me have your guest’s details so that I can add them to the booking.
The Order of Merit and Eclectic scores, after 2 rounds , are available to download, on the website. It is all there to play for given that it is so early in the season.
From 1st June we will be reverting to paying out 80% of the competition entry fees.
Friendly matches will be resuming so keep an eye out for communications asking for names for these matches which are a relaxed social game at different courses with a meal afterwards, all for £10. It is not solely for low handicappers as everyone is welcome to put their name down for these matches.
Finally can I ask that competition scores are entered on to the system either via the terminal in the foyer or via the app by 4.p.m. Any scores not in by then will be treated as no returns and could result in either your best round or worst round being entered for that competition by the handicap committee. If you are having difficulties entering the score then contact me ASAP via compsec@burghamparkseniors.co.uk.
Covid rules still apply on the course until England golf advise clubs otherwise, so flags stay in, no rakes in bunkers, no ball washers, balls can be moved 6″ no nearer the hole in bunkers no card swapping just agree scores after each hole and at the end of the round.
Stay safe and enjoy the golf. and remember even a bad round is better than being at work.
New Year Bulletin 2nd January 2021
I had hoped we would be wishing each other a Happy New Year at this point and looking forward to something more like a normal golfing year ahead – but alas this doesn’t look likely in the next few months. But Happy New Year anyway. And to keep you up to date…..
You will have received Kevin’s email about the new Covid restrictions – to be clear all Seniors Competitions are abandoned until future notice. If you wish to play golf you will need to make individual arrangements and book on BRS. The Seniors’ section will not be arranging any more competitions until the current circumstances change.
The Autumn Eclectic was not completed (we only played three rounds) so although the prizes for the individual rounds stand there will be no prize for the eclectic overall in line with our normal practice.
The Treasurer (Doug Lyons) has asked me to let you know that we have made donations to the Greenkeepers and to the Alzheimer’s Society of £150 each – this was made up of the extra fees from the Greenkeepers Cup and the Charity Day Pairs with a top up from the section’s funds. Well done to all those who took part – your efforts are much appreciated.
We remain optimistic that by the summer we will be able run an Open and an Invitation as well as our friendlies and league matches – in view of the current circumstances I will not publish the dates yet as obviously we may need to make some changes.
AGM
We are due to hold an AGM sometime between now and March (usually late January) obviously a live meeting is not possible. Kevin has asked that the various section committees stay in place for a further year as the Captains have not had a normal year and for the most part your committee has agreed to do this.
Our intention is to publish Officers Reports on the Seniors Website later this month and give a reasonable time for members to send written questions. These Q & A’s will also be made available to members on the Seniors website. To be able to take a full part in this you will need to access the website and subscribe to the Newsletter (accessed through the front page of the Website top right hand corner)
At least while the weather is so foul we aren’t missing great golfing opportunities
CompSecs Bulletin 7/12/20
Its good to be back playing golf and in view of the fact its already December the course was in great shape on Wednesday and has stood up to the rain since then remarkably well, Congratulations to Terry on last week’s victory and Alan on today’s .
Handicaps
The Lockdown arriving hard on the heels of the WHS gave us all little chance to become familiar with the new system. I have had several enquiries this week from people questioning the handicap the computer system has used. In each case the system was right! Doug Lyons (Chair of the Handicap Committee) and myself have revisited the “You and Your Handicap” page on the Seniors Website to try to make things as clear as possible and it is worth a read if you have a query (specifically the later paragraphs on Competitions at Burgham. It has been a bit of a challenge to trawl through the very lengthy documents from England Golf to try and distil what each player needs to know – we would really appreciate your comments on what should and shouldn’t be in there, and any areas where you think the information needs to be clearer.
Booking and Signing In
Some of the delay to finalising Wednesday’s result was caused by not having a clear picture of who had played :–
- If you have Booked in to a competition and decide not to play it is obviously best if you remove your name from the system and let your playing partners know. If this is not possible an email or a text to me is next best.
- If you have signed in and decided not to play (more likely now we can sign in before we leave home) it would be very helpful to let me know before I start wondering where your scorecard is
- If you don’t complete your round you must return the scores for the holes you did play.
- If there is some technical reason for not putting your scores in (e.g. on Wednesday the terminal froze) you should let me know that your score may be delayed and if there is no alternative send me the scores
Scorecards
The Page on the Seniors Website “Booking a place, Signing In, keeping your score and the results” has also been updated – in particular the advice on completing your card. This is to try to achieve some consistency as we meander towards our digital future (If I was Garmin – I would be developing a luxury device that adds a stopwatch and score return facility to the course mapping).
Players not contacting me or recording a score will be given a No Return – and will not accrue Order of Merit points.
Order of Merit
Under the guise of implementing the WHS there have been some minor changes to the software which I have had a bit of difficulty getting my head around (For some reason the two rounds before lockdown aren’t available to the Order of Merit and Eclectic Options and most people had a 0.1 handicap change in early November). After much head scratching and consideration as the rains have poured down over the weekend I have decided to go back to scoring every player (except no returns) as the computer will now do this – except for the first two competitions, I have allocated point manually for the first ten places in the missing competitions. The Current standings will go on the Senior’s Website tonight.
Additionally I have set the system to allocate Order of Merit points this year equally to ties – so if there is a single winner and then two people separated on countback in second and third the winner will receive 10pts and the second and third will each receive 8.5pts (rather than the previous 9pts & 8pts). So when I put the details of the leaders on the website scores will be to two decimal points.
I know this tinkering is outrageous but I have to do something to amuse myself!
Eclectic
This is truly a nightmare – not being able to include the first round into the eclectic option is a similar problem to that for the Order of Merit but I can’t overcome it by manual input. The settings for Eclectics have also changed – and the user manual is no longer available on line – I am involved in an exchange of emails with V1 about this but so far with no helpful result!
I have resorted to my spreadsheet (last used when the clubhouse and computer were closed to us) to ensure we get a result for the Autumn Eclectic. As this has involved transcribing the scores from V1 to the spreadsheet I have been unable to get this on to the Website before this evening.
Hopefully before our next eclectic in the new year I will have got some sense out of V1 and this will all be much easier.
Seniors Website
Lots of useful information (see above) available on the site, if you go on to the site
please make sure that you sign in as a subscriber as that is how we hope to communicate in the future.
Captains Bulletin (Issued 30th Oct 2020)
Gents
The formal season closure for the Seniors took place on Wednesday with the Victor Ludorum. Congratulations to the victor, Tony Clarkson with an excellent score in the conditions. Congratulations also go the other trophy winners who competed but a special mention for those brave hearts who played either side of the main event; in most cases only for the love of the sport rather than for any special recognition or financial gain.
The last remaining trophy on offer for the year is “The Bird & Bottle” scheduled for 30th November. It might be a rum old bird, but it’s the first qualifier for the 2021 Victor Ludorum!
I’m now in the process of gathering up the trophies for engraving, although two, tricky little devils seem to be evading capture. There may have to be a reward for their recapture and safe return! As has been our practice over the last few years, we are also reviewing the condition and appropriateness of our trophies with a programme of either refurbishment or replacement. This year three trophies are being replaced.
They would normally be all engraved and polished in advance of our Annual Presentation and Christmas Lunch. Unfortunately, as many have already guessed, this is another occasion falling foul of Covid. I would like to say the event is just postponed, but in reality, I can’t see it being able to be rescheduled in the near future; so, let’s hope we can all sit down at the end of next season.
We will be arranging for a day, during early December where trophy winners may collect their trophy for a short period of home leave before being returned to general view in the trophy cabinet. We will also arrange for a suitably qualified paparazzo be on hand for a kodak moment of the winner with their trophy – trophies in some cases – with the print being ready to keep the kids and Santa away from the goodies at home.
As a Committee we have yet to make a decision about the Annual General Meeting, but I think you can guess which way that one is leaning! As soon as the decision is taken we’ll let you know as well as how we will address the key issues required of us and respond to any issues raised.
What is certain is that we’ll be communicating more and more through the website so please, if you haven’t already done so – contact David Parkin who’ll issue with login details. This is a much more effective way of communicating although we will continue with emails in the short term. We also need to know who has no internet access to ensure that you are kept in the loop and in the short-term posting information on the noticeboard.
As David has previously informed everyone the new handicapping system goes live on Monday, 2nd of November which means reserving a slot on the competition for that day is problematic. The time sheet is up on the seniors website if you want to check which times are left and anyone wanting to book a place in Monday’s event should contact David before 5pm Sunday . https://burghamparkseniors.co.uk under the “Current Competitions Menu”
October (issued 1/10/20)
The end of this years summer season beckons, an unusual one to be sure! Still we have all survived, welcomed new members to the gang and are playing in good sized fields with oodles of prize money (but don’t spread the word as I am still hoping to win my share).
We are still providing Covid Free Golf as far as we are able, sadly this has meant Kevin having to tighten up the arrangements in the clubhouse! Lets hope its all under control soon – what would winter golf be without a bacon sandwich to follow.
Charity Pairs
I haven’t announced the Winter Programme yet (see below) and I have already had to amend it! The Charity Pairs which should have taken place this week has been re-scheduled for the 26th October. You will need to enter again when it comes up on V1 on Tuesday (I assume that one or two people’s plans will have changed by then) and I will do another draw on the 19th. Don’t be put off – we had a large field scheduled and it would be good if we could have just as many at the end of the month, enabling us to keep up our level of generosity.
Order of Merit
With just three point scoring competitions to go Brian Johnson has a clear but not unassailable lead, The Autumn Trophy, The Bogey Trophy and one last Stableford before the curtain comes down means he can still be caught! Thrilling updates appear on this website after each competition is closed (see Posts on the front page and click through for the detail).
Victor Ludorum
Once we know the results for the Order of Merit, the Autumn Trophy, the Bogey Trophy and the Matchplay Pairs the Roll of Honour for this Season will be complete. The Roll of Honour is on the “Current Competitions and Bulletins” menu.
Everyone who has won a singles Trophy this season plus the winners of the Order of Merit , last Winter’s Order of Merit and last year’s Bird and Bottle Trophy (remember that full breasted delight) is entitled to a place in the Victor Ludorum on the 21st October.
Can’t remember if you have won a Trophy? There are so many! Check the Roll of Honour as described above You might want to check it out in any case – to make sure some careless soul hasn’t made a clerical error and awarded you a trophy by mistake (not too bad) or awarded your trophy to someone else (pretty awful).
For those of us who have not won a Trophy (and like myself fear they never will) there will be a Stableford Competition on the same day – entry through V1.
Reminder about Prize Money
Remember that 100% of the entry fees are being returned in Prize Money until further notice – play on into the Winter and make yourself rich! In response to your wishes we will also have another 10-12 Twos’s sweeps through the winter.
Survey Responses
On the subject of your wishes – thanks to everyone who returned answers to this years survey about your golfing desires and all those who have sidled up to me in the Car Park because they are too lazy to write. I have taken full account of everything that has been written and said, and agreed with my colleagues on the Committee a winter programme to titivate your golfing taste buds. See the item at the bottom of this email for details and the Winter Programme will be available on the “Playing in Our Competitions” menu by the time you read this.
World Handicap System
This goes live in November and you will have received an email from the club reminding you to check that they have your up to date details. We will give you more information as we get it but please take every opportunity you can to educate yourself on this major change
Christmas Lunch and Prizegiving
The prize giving lunch is cancelled in view of the Covid restrictions. There is no practical way to replace it which is very hard lines for those of you who would have a trophy to collect, you will miss your moment in the sun. However for those of who only have to applaud this might mean a year without wobbling home having eaten too well, slightly over imbibed and with sore hands.
Details of the new arrangements for enjoying your trophy will be announced as soon as possible.
AGM
Although the committee has not yet made a decision about the AGM scheduled for January it currently seems unlikely to take place in its traditional form. The Captain and Secretary will make an announcement about any revised arrangements later in the year.
Winter Programme
This is now on V1 (although it still needs proofreading) and will by now beavailable elsewhere on this website:- the edited highlights are:-
Potentially 46 competitions off the yellow tees (it’s winter). Where possible all will be contested on the Computers Winter Handicap system (this will be adjusted in a similar way to official handicaps). The exception will be the Bird and Bottle Trophy and the rescheduled Charity Pairs which will use Official Handicaps.
As last year
- 6 drawn team games (Scrambles, Rumbles, Foursomes etc)
- Autumn Eclectic – 5 Rounds in November(ish) – individual prizes as normal but with a small bonus for the eclectic overall, eclectic bonus only paid out if four rounds take place. Handicaps for each leg will be the same as the handicap used in the first round.
- New Year Eclectic – as above but January(ish)
- Bird and Bottle Trophy
- 2 Four club challenges
- 1 Par/Bogey
- 14 Yellow Stablefords, mostly scattered through the season but with a little cluster of three at the end of December
New additions
- 6 drawn singles competitions as part of a “Winter League”. These will be Stablefords with the usual distribution of prize money on the day but each player would also be awarded points for how he performs in his three ball, 3 for best net score, 2 for second and 1 for turning up, these would be calculated manually into a league position with a modest prize at the end of the winter, say the same as the eclectic. Ties for first place will be subject to a playoff.
- 5 “Jack Frost Token” Events – First Monday of the month, Strokeplay. These are like Monthly Medals but your award will have melted before you get it. Chance to check out this model before the summer
- The re-scheduled Charity Pairs
This mix means that there would only be two occasions (other than the end Dec) when we play exactly the same competition on consecutive days.
As ever please get in touch if you have any queries – although preferably not during my already delicate backswing
Good Golfing
Check the Website every Tuesday and Thursday morning for thrilling updates, they are best enjoyed if you imagine them read in an excitable New York 1950’s style (rather than my own rather melancholy Lancastrian drawl)
David
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September (issued 1/9/20)
Just a few reminders of activity taking place in the near future, these may also be helpful to new members who have joined us in recent weeks (welcome!) this has pushed our entry list on Monday reaching almost 50. You are part of a vigorous and robust section.
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit continues to be hotly contested and over the last week or so the lead held by the current pacemakers has been pegged back a little, we have a group of ten in easy striking distance and much of the rest of the field remain in contention (given that 10 competitions and a potential 90 points difference are on offer). Fluctuations in form are likely to prove significant with many of the leaders recently experiencing stumbles and one or two resurgent dark horses rushing to enter the fray (you might have spotted my last two scores?!*).
We intend to post the league table on our new website asap (see menu link to Current Competitions and Updates). See below for an update on the website.
Of particular interest to all the potential winners is the committee’s recent decision to replace this prestigious trophy with something that will actually fit in the trophy cupboard rather than acting as a Health & Safety hazard in the Competition Secretary’s under stair compartment.
Competitions in September
We have an extra crowded schedule this month because we have had to accommodate the Seniors Strokeplay Championship (postponed because of weather) now on the 21st and 23rd . Times on Day 1 are drawn and on Day 2 they are allocated on the basis of the score after Day 1 with best scores going out last.
Tomorrow (2/9/20) we have the John Coleman Memorial Trophy a 4BBB yellow stableford with FULL Allowance, pairs drawn.
The Summer Trophy on the 9th – this is a Yellow Strokeplay,
The Greenkeepers Cup on the 16th is a yellow stableford, this is the only trophy competition where playing times are not drawn NB The entry Fee is double the normal rate as the proceeds form part of the gratuity to the Greenkeepers
The month ends with the Charity Day Pairs on the 30th – this is a 4BBB yellow stableford with 90% allowance, pairs are drawn, NB The entry fee for this is also double the normal amount to enable a donation to charity. Anyone with a pet charity should feel free to mention it to the Seniors Captain (we have a preference for charities with a Northumberland focus)
In between the above we have squeezed Yellow Stablefords in all available gaps
The Victor Ludorum
The Victor Ludorum is scheduled to take place on the 21st October, everyone who has won a singles trophy competition – which includes last year’s Bird and Bottle (Charlie Errington) and this year’s Winter Order of Merit (Brian Johnson) is eligible to compete. The last eligible competition is the Autumn Trophy on the 12th October which is also the last opportunity to win points in the Summer Order of Merit (also qualifying for the Victor Ludorum). I will circulate a list of the other Trophy holders nearer the time to ensure no ghastly errors – it wouldn’t do at all if anyone who had ever beaten me in the match play was accidentally missed off the list!
The list of Trophy holders will also be up on the website.
Score Entry etc;
Most of us have coped with the frequent changes of arrangements for booking, signing in, score entry etc; the App is still being developed on what feels like a weekly basis, most of the changes have been positive but unfortunately every week a couple of people seem to have problems with the system. These are mostly sortable although I have no idea why random individuals are adversely effected by the changes. As the developers are based in Eire it may be the little people are indulging in mischief. (If all else fails blame it on someone smaller than yourself)
Key Points:-
You must “sign in” before play and no later than 11:00 hrs or report yourself to the Competition Secretary
You must get your score in by hook or by crook before 19:00 hrs – if in difficulty contact me before that time. No score entered by 19:00 gets an automatic NR, repeat offenders will be reported to the Handicap Committee as this impacts on other players.
One development that is at this stage unwelcome is the capacity to enter your score whilst in play, i.e. after each hole. I don’t think we are ready for this and I intend to discourage its use. If I am unable to turn the facility off the committee has agreed a rising tariff of penalties for people slowing play by pausing to enter their score – this begins with a prod from a sharp stick, rising through disqualification, to a very unpleasant experience involving a cauldron of boiling oil. It is bad enough waiting for colleagues to fill in their card on the green, I think waiting for them to get signal and work out how to use the current week’s version of the App would be insufferable. DON’T DO IT!
Christmas Lunch and Award Ceremony
The Annual Christmas Lunch where we normally present the Trophies is still in the diary but there is obviously a large question mark next to it. We will make a firm decision in late October, but rest assured that trophies will still be engraved and you will be allowed to take them home for long enough to impress your partner – in my case Diane is most impressed if I bring it back before it needs dusting. (anyone still covetously clinging on to last year’s trophy should treat this as a hint before enforcement methods are used)
Seniors Committee Meetings/Minutes
We agreed early in the year that minutes of the committee meetings would in addition to being placed on the notice board be available to members that want them by email. A very short list of members volunteered to receive them. Unfortunately Covid 19 then intervened – the committee was unable to meet in person until last week (therefore no minutes) and in the activity around twice making major revisions our competition programme and repeated changes to how we develop Covid free golf yours truly lost the list of those wanting the emails!!! I think I had scribbled it on the back of one of the revised programs. Many apologies for this – my only excuse is that there has been quite a bit of work involved – each time the system has changed I have had to look at each competition on the system to make sure it is still appropriately set up and if not to make amendments.
From now on the plan is to place on the noticeboard a copy of the notes printed on one side only so that they do not need to be handled. A copy of these will be forwarded to anyone who signals their desire to get them – unfortunately this will require you to remind me if you fall into this category. Mea Culpa!
Seniors Website
We have decided to experiment with a Seniors Website, This will be formally launched as soon as we are able but we have an experimental version running currently with the current scores in the Order of Merit, this years Roll of Honour so far and the latest set of Committee notes. Anyone interested in having a look please feel free to get in touch, also let me know if you have ideas about what else you would like to be available. This is likely to be our preferred method for enabling access to Committee notes in the future.
Survey
Its that time of year again. You will all receive a survey form during this month to help make sure we are aware of your views on the Seniors competition program. Because this has been a very unusual season I do not intend to include the usual questions on White v Yellow Tees or Stableford v Strokeplay Competitions. Last year we agreed to adjust the balance in the light of the survey results but because of Covid induced changes to the program we couldn’t play as planned. For example we slightly reduced the white tees and strokeplay competitions but ended up playing many fewer than planned, we also missed out on our proposed monthly team competitions (Scrambles etc). I think it best to play the program we had planned for the next year and then let people have a say on whether that feels about right.
I am happy to listen to suggestions of what else you think you or your colleagues should be consulted on – I wont be compiling the questionnaire for another week or so if anyone wishes to influence me now is the time.
Please return the survey when you get it – it has been very useful in getting an impression of what the membership prefer rather than just the opinionated ones (committee members and so on).
As ever feel free to get in touch with any queries
David