May 2012 Newsletter

From the Pro

With the recent weather officially being ‘strange’ there have been some very busy and very quiet days up at the course of late, and hopefully it will settle down soon to being a bit more ‘summery’ – fingers crossed!

Chris and his team are looking after the course very well indeed, even in this period of sunshine & showers and with the new changes to the bunkering and upgrading of the pathways, this year is sure to a belter in terms of how the course looks – please help him and his team to keep it looking that way – again I urge all golfers to use the 3 R’s – R - eplace divots, R - ake bunkers & R - epair pitch marks, because without everyone
doing this consistently, it could be your ball that ends up in a divot in the fairway or footprint in a bunker or takes a wobble off line on the putting green – and that wouldn’t be very pleasant!

Our start of season has been positive – mainly because we have seen more golfers than skiers and most of the new stock is now in store – I hope that you have all had a chance to see it for yourselves – but please don’t miss out on seeing such things as the new FootJoy gents clothing range, the new Ping range of golf bags or the new range of Titleist golf balls – there’s something for everyone in store so please call in soon.

The junior season is underway and it is good to see so many junior members taking advantage of their memberships and I am glad to report that the Junior Open Festival day went well too despite the snow!

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Mark, Graeme and John - Pro Shop: 01796 472 792 - Email: pro@pitlochrygolf.co.uk

From the Course

The greenkeepers are at the point of the year when winter works are getting finished off and the routine of summer maintenance begins. Turfing of the new 15th tee and the section of fairway where the bunkers at the 1st were removed is now complete and these areas should be playable by the beginning of July. Works to finish paths, steps and the planting of trees should also be finished in the next couple of weeks, while work to the greens and tees including scarifying, tining and topdressing will continue into May. Hopefully this will have the course looking at its very best for the main part of the season without causing too much disruption in the meantime.

Tee mats are now removed and divot mixture boxes are back in place. Can you please remember to use the divot mix to fill in your divot mark (and maybe another one?) after playing. This really does make a huge difference to the quality of the tees.

By the time this goes out we will have had our first divot filling night of the year. Many thanks from all of the greenkeepers to all those that took part - your help is really appreciated.

From the Clubhouse

Well, we are nearly at the end of April and we have had a lot on this month in The Clubhouse. From a Diamond Wedding Celebration, Easter Funday Sunday with decorated eggs, The Junior Festival and our Greek Night, it’s been busy busy for us here.

This month we kick off our first Tribute Night on Saturday (5th) with Neil Diamond. This should be a fun night with Tom Scott as the man himself. This is one of 3 tribute nights that we have scheduled in. We have Robbie Williams and Michael Bublé on 21st July and Johnny Cash on 1st September. Tickets are £20 including Supper.

Theme night for May is Tex Mex- so dust down your Sombrero and get into the carnival spirit on Saturday 26th May.

Let me take this chance to remind you all that Steak Nights are still on Thursdays, The Curry Club is still going on a Friday and Sunday Carvery is available from 12noon – 4pm- with one course £8.95 and only £10.95 for 2.

Can I ask you all to check out our Clic Sargent Charity Golf Day on 31st of May? Please pass the word around any golfing colleagues and friends to see if they want to support this worthy cause. Last year was a great success and we are hoping for the same this year.

David and the Clubhouse Team

From the Club Captain

The season is in full swing with some excellent scores already being recorded. Good to see Andy Burrows has thrown off the '' Captain's Curse '' with an excellent gross 70 in the Saturday Medal.

The touch screen for entering scores is working well and in addition to the swipe card each member will be allocated a four digit number which they can key in to take them to their name or failing both those methods the screen will guide you to your name. The list of four digit numbers is in the locker room.
The first club match at Alyth was very close with Alyth being victors by 3 matches to 2.

Entries for the trip to Grantown , at the time of writing, are virtually full and it does look like we could easily exceed the 40 places allocated, we may have to try and obtain more places in the future.

The Gents open on the 20th May is beginning to fill up but there are still places available.

Finally Bert has congratulated Blair Stephen and Grant Stewart in qualifying for the Perthshire Junior Matchplay, may I also extend my congratulations and let us hope their success encourages others to extend their horizons beyond just playing at Pitlochry.

Yours in Golf
Jeff Carter

From the Ladies Captain

The golf season is in full swing and with March going out like a lamb - April came in like a lion! The first Buttercup Medal had to be cancelled because of snow!

I am sure you will all have noticed the new clock on the gable end of The Pro Shop! This was bought with the help of the remaining funds from PLGC. No excuse for being late on the tee now!!

By now you will all have your new CDH ID Numbers for accessing your exact playing handicap record on line. This also enables your score to automatically be transferred to your home club when playing away.

Please check the notice boards for all information regarding our medals and competitions. The first of the friendlies is at home against Dunning on Monday 7th May at 6pm – these matches are good fun so put your name down and enjoy meeting new people as well as having a game of golf!
Our first scratch league match is away to Crieff on the 6th May 4.30pm.

The Pitlochry Golf Club Bowl is on Sunday 6th May and is a fun competition and to be played as an alternative Texas Scramble. Watch the notice board for information on this competition.

Keep swinging

Jennifer Wivell
Ladies Captain