Greetings from Tim, Mark, Adam, Ben & John.
Jack Humphries
The Jack Humphries Trophy was presented to the club in 1995 in memory of Jack who liked the course as it was originally laid out in 1909. Each year this trophy is played in his memory and for all the members to experience the course lay out as it was first played.
Last year's winners
David Goodram and
David Green defended their title well but it was the winner from 2012
Lee Ault and
Antony Elderton who again will add their names to the trophy.
Click here to view the full table of results.
This week's work is weather dependant but the Greenstaff will look to :
- Top-dress the greens at the start of the week.
- Spray wetting agent on fairways.
- Finish topping sand in 17th bunkers.
- There is lots of mowing to catch up with.
- Start strimming bunkers towards the end of the week.
Bob's STRI Report is now available for members.
General Observations, Comments & Specific Recommendations
Initial CommentA massive number of trees have been allowed to establish since the course was originally constructed back in 1910. The club are looking to an overall structural review of both the Club and the course, and if and where possible, the heathland characteristics to be brought back. This is something the club are really interested in considering. Several historic pictures were made available to me during the visit, illustrating the changes that have occurred.
Heathland is not necessarily defined by the extent of heather, it is however a landscape dominated by characteristic grasses with occasional gorse and possibly heather. Good indications of heathland still remain through areas, such as left of 18th hole for example, and pines to the left of the fairway grow alongside the gorse, whic his very typical of the Surrey heathland.
The Seniors have now played their first two fixtures and having won at Kettering(as previously reported)they visited Luffenham Heath on Monday, 18 April. The result was a defeat 5 to 3.
The situation did not look good as after the first 5 matches were completed, we had only accumulated a solitary point! However the last two matches improved the position with wins for
David Alston and
Neil Hufton, followed by
John Cordner and
Peter Darby.
Having said that as there were no defeats heavier than 2and,1so things were actually pretty close. The Brampton Buck has a good chance of coming back to us after the return match in September!!
The day was enjoyed by the team despite a biting cold wind and the course was in good nick with the greens true but slow following recent top dressing.
Moving on;
The availability sheets have been posted for the May fixtures and by the time you read this report, will have been taken down for selection.
It is great to see that we have an increased interest in the matches. This is what we called for and will surely help us avoid the occasional struggle to get a team, as sometimes has happened later in the season in the past.
Of course it does mean there will be disappointment in respect of some individual matches but we assure you all will get matches to play in. Please do not lose interest if you miss out early on.
Please note for future reference these reports are now being posted on both Tim' s weekly issue and the Seniors Section on the club web site.
Dennis Walker
Ladies
Well done to
Val Kay,
Anita Smith and
Hennie Cordner who combined well to win Northampton's Ladies 3 ball alliance last Friday.
All smiles for
Valerie and
Anita as they collected their prizes!
Atlantic Cup Cancelled
It has been well publicised that it was an Atlantic Cup Match year. An away match in September for our club members to take on the Americans in the USA.
The match had a long tradition between the 2 clubs, a great event and wonderful friendships have been forged over the years.
I am sad to report that our club has not been able to muster a team to travel to America and the match has been
cancelled.
Handicap League
Two matches were played by our Handicap team this week. Firstly, on
Sunday, 17 April against Staverton, winning 6-12, followed by another victory agaisnt Northampton GC 12-0 on Thursday, 21 April!
Great back to back victories for our Handicap team!
For the full set of results for both matches, please
click here.
Dress Code
Following the recent dress code change to allow short white sports socks with tailored golf shorts, we now have in stock a selection of shorts.
The Pro Shop joins Twitter!
We have just joined twitter, so make sure you give us a follow to keep up with the latest happenings here in the Pro Shop! Including a brand new campaign which could benefit you greatly!
Follow us here;
@proshopcountygc 
