Captain's Blog #4

So, after a great April, where has the lovely weather gone. I may be Scottish and used to the wind and the rain, but that does not mean I enjoy playing in it. Hopefully, the sun will start to shine again soon.

The latest lifting of the lockdown came into place today and we can now have a drink and a meal inside. We can all enjoy a good hug according to Boris so I expect to see a lot of hugs on the 18th green.

Can I also say a quick word on the course conditions. I played my knockout singles on 6th May when I think we experienced every type of weather possible that afternoon. As I drove into the Club, the greens were white with hailstones.

Despite that, we played on and the conditions underfoot were not bad, and the greens putter true throughout. Great credit must be given to the green staff for the way they are maintaining the course. Please help them where you can by replacing divots and repairing pitch marks on the green.

Unfortunately, I did not last too long in the Singles again this year. I never get an easy draw and this year was no different as I was paired with Phil Alley. It was a close call though with Phil holing a 15-foot putt on 18 to close out the match 1 up.

As usual, it was a pleasure playing Phil and the match was played with great sportsmanship. I still have the Men’s Pairs and the Mixed Pairs to come, but I can’t say we have an easy draw in these competitions either. Still, it is still enjoyable to get out and meet as many people as possible.

This Sunday saw the second of the Men’s team events in the West Cheshire League, hosted by Heyrose. The results were as follows:

Pryors Hayes lost to Heyrose 2.5-0.5

Pryors Hayes beat Antrobus 3-0

Heyrose beat Antrobus 2.5-0.5

This currently leaves Pryors Hayes in second place. Well done again to those who represented the Club. Next set of matches are at Antrobus in 3 weeks’ time. This is always a difficult place to get any points, but I am sure Mike O’Mara can give us a few tips about how to skim a golf ball across the pond on 18 to land next to the pin.

Watching the golf on TV over the weekend, it was great to see Richard Bland win his first tournament after nearly 20 years of trying. At Pryors Hayes, we also had a first time Major winner in the form of Sharon Shorthouse. Well done Sharon – hope there are many more to follow.

I am still on course to do my 72-hole challenge on 20th June. I will start being a bit more visible at the club on Saturday mornings looking for sponsors. I will also be looking to sell some sweepstake tickets for the Euros that start in 3 weeks’ time.

Remember, for £10, you have a chance to win a 4-ball at The Mere Golf Resort. Email me if you want to enter.

Until next time, PLAY WELL, STAY SAFE, SUPPORT THE CLUB AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER

Lady Captain's Blog #1

Welcome to my 1st blog,

Despite not being allowed due to Covid restrictions, to hold our yearly AGM, We managed to hold (Thank god for technology☺) a somewhat unusual to say the least Zoom AGM, it was at the meeting I officially had the privilege and honour to become Lady Captain of Pryors Hayes G.C. and would like to thank the committee for entrusting me the position.

Ladies AGM 2021

Attended by a good few of us it went well to say the least, many thanks for those who attended, plus a special thank you to Karen Green and Liz McLure for setting it up.

March 29th seen us back out playing golf again after the latest lockdown, which for me, not sure about you, seemed to go on longer than it seemed, but we are back playing and in that.

1st week it was fantastic to see so many smiling faces on the golf course and yet again we could all see that the Pryors Hayes team had again been working tirelessly on the course during the lockdown. Well done to all at team Pryors.

April 3rd was our 1st competition of the 2021 season although a fun comp, I would really like to thank the committee for letting me run the Bunny Run as a charity event for my chosen charity Zoë’s Place Liverpool. For information about Zoë's Place, please visit their website.

Ready for the off!

The day was blessed with the nice weather and a great turn out with some of the ladies wearing Easter hats and bunny ears, you all looked fantastic ladies.

Thank you all

I have to give special thanks to my Vice Pam Oatley for her hard work wrapping and setting up the prizes table and Karen Jones for selling the raffle tickets, thank you so much Pam and Karen. Donations on the day raised a fantastic £260.20 a huge thank you to all members who donated, it always amazes me the kind generosity of all members, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

The past month April has seen us underway with our competitions, Congratulations must go to Pam Taylor on winning the 1st Major of the season “The Past Captains Trophy” well done Pam.

The West Cheshire and Business Ladies team competitions are also underway and Pryors Ladies also played the 1st round of the Percival Trophy, well done ladies on a resounding victory over Wallasey Golf Club. Good luck for the next round!

Captain's Blog #2

Well, I have now completed month 1 of my Captaincy of this great Club. Past Captains warned me that the time will fly by and they couldn’t have been more right.

I also can’t believe that we have only been back playing golf for just over a month. The course is getting better week by week and you can see players scores also improving. This especially applies to Paul Barnsley, who has just shot a net 58, playing off a 43 handicap. He won’t be playing off 48 any mote, that I can guarantee. But that is the great thing about golf and the handicap system; it allows golfers at all levels to compete.

Even my own game is showing signs of improvement. Over Easter, I decided to pay a visit to the Custom Fitting Centre at Hartford, where I had a session with Adrian Hill. I can thoroughly recommend a visit to members.

First of all, Adrian had me hitting shots with my own clubs, where the results were fed into the Launch monitor. The results showed that my swing speed was too slow for Regular flex shafts, so we knew I would be better with Senior shafts.

Then we tried a selection of clubs, from Ping, Taylormade, Callaway and Srixon. After each session, we reviewed the stats on the launch monitor and compared the results with those obtained for the other Clubs. Finally, we then checked what lie adjustment was needed.

At the end of the day, I ended up buying a set of Taylormade SIM 2 irons, a 5 Hybrid and a 7 Wood. I will be back for more Clubs later.

What was good about the session was that they were not on a mission to sell you the most expensive clubs; they were looking to work out with yourself what were the best clubs for you.

One thing to note though is to keep an open mind. Taylormade was not a brand I considered but they were the ones I was hitting the most consistently.

The Clubs were delivered in just over a week and I am now trying to get used to the new distances that I am hitting.

I am continuing my quest to obtain some good auction and raffle prizes for my next Charity Day in September. I am actually enjoying sending out the ‘begging’ letters in the hope that I get a response. Even though you get a lot of rejections or no responses, it makes you feel really good when someone responds back with an offer.

So far, I have a pair of trousers from Royal & Awesome, 2 shirts and some hats from Island Green and a Golf Bag from Macgregor Golf.

I am also trying to get some signed memorabilia to auction. This is proving difficult as a lot of the pro’s are in America playing at the moment. However, I am getting a few nibbles. This week, I received a signed ball and a signed glove from Graeme McDowall and a signed ball from Thomas Bjorn.

I am hopeful that I will receive something from Tommy Fleetwood and I have had offers for signed hats from Gemma Dryburgh and Leona Maguire.

I will always support those companies who have donated to my Charity, but I now also find myself checking the results of the players who are supporting me – and it isn’t wasn’t easy trying to find out how Gemma Dryburgh is doing in the Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes as part of the Symetra Tour.

Talking of my Charity, the total raised after my first event was £1,668, which is an incredible effort. That will pay for approximately 5 golf club staff to be trained up as Mental Health First Aiders to support their club members. Our efforts to spread the benefits that golf has on mental health are being recognised.

Remember, it is not just about donating money, it is about supporting each other out on the course and encouraging members to open up through the banter that Pryors Hayes is famous for. You, the members are one of the biggest assets that the Club has.

Please note, I have created an account on Twitter to help spread the word. You can follow me on @2021phgc

And in terms of enjoying good banter, isn’t it great to have the bar open again and being able to enjoy a refreshment or 2 at the end of the round. I have always believed that it is good etiquette to be able to enjoy a drink with your playing partners at the end of a round, regardless of how well you have played.

It has been great seeing so many of you staying behind once again. I am also looking forward to when you can shake hands with your partners on the 18th again

I am still planning to do my 72 hole challenge on 20th June. I still need to work on my fitness but I am getting there. Hopefully, a few members will join me for a few holes as well as donate to a good cause.

I plan to run a sweepstake for Euro 21, offering a 4-ball at The Mere Golf Resort for the winner. The entry fee will be £10. The teams will be drawn once all tickets have been sold – otherwise, once Scotland are drawn out, no one will buy any more tickets.

If you are interested in taking part, please email your interest to gordonjwallace@sky.com.

Until next time, PLAY WELL, STAY SAFE, SUPPORT THE CLUB AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER.

Captain's Blog #1

Isn’t it great to be back out playing golf again? In the 2 weeks since we have been back, I have fitted in 4 rounds of golf and already decided I need a new set of clubs.

The first thing I need to do is pay tribute to last year’s Captain, Dave Hughes. As Dave says, we didn’t know each other that well when he appointed me as his Vice Captain.

However, once we were allowed to start playing golf again, we got to know each other pretty well and formed a good rapport both on and off the course. We gelled pretty well as a pair and had a good record playing together in the team.

Dave had so many plans for the year, which unfortunately had to be curtailed – I was looking forward to seeing Elvis. 

On the course, Dave managed to get all his charity events in and hosted some wonderful Away Days for the Men, the Seniors and a mixed event. This shows how popular Dave was with all Sections of the Club.

I look forward to continue working with Dave and hope that I can carry forward the good work that Dave did representing the Club as Captain.

The Competitions are now up and running across all sections.

In the Men’s section, congratulations to the following winners:

Tom Butterworth Stableford Division 1 03/04/21

Simon Powell Stableford Division 2 03/04/21

Carlos Park Midweek Stableford 07/04/21

Martin Major April Medal Division 1 10/04/21

Matthew Bayliss April Medal Division 2 10/04/21

In the Seniors section, congratulations go out to the following winners:

Tom Hughes Seniors Stableford Division 1 06/04/21

Gary Brown Seniors Stableford Division 2 06/04/21

Richard Smith Seniors Stableford Division 3 06/04/21

And last, but not least, congratulations go out to the following winners in the Ladies Section:

Teresa Girdham 9-hole Stableford 08/04/21

Erica Cowley Thursday Stableford Division 1 08/04/21

Bertile Newton Thursday Stableford Division 2 08/04/21

Lesley Hadfield Thursday Stableford Division 1 08/04/21

Pam Taylor Past Captains Trophy 10/04/21

Sunday saw the first of the Men’s team events in the West Cheshire League. Since Sutton Hall closed and due to the start of last season being delayed due to Covid, instead of the teams playing each other home and away, each team would host an event where all 3 teams played each other on the day.

It was an excellent idea as it brought all clubs together on the same day and the banter among the teams was excellent.

As we haven’t found a replacement for Sutton Hall, we decided to keep the same format. So yesterday, Pryors Hayes hosted the first event of the season, where:

Pryors Hayes beat Heyrose 2-1

Pryors Hayes lost to Antrobus 2-1

Heyrose beat Antrobus 2-1

Close games, but Antrobus grabbed a bonus point for beating us on our home ground.

It was great to see so many friends again, and the club excelled themselves with the bacon sandwiches after the 9th.

This Saturday sees my first charity event of the year in aid of ‘The Club Talks’ (this year’s Captains Charity).

This will be a four ball Texas Scramble, played off 1/10th of the team’s combined handicap (where there are only 3 in a team, the team handicap will be 1/7th of the team’s combined handicap.) The format will be Stroke play (medal).

There is no entry fee for this event. Players are requested to make a donation to the Captain’s Charity via:

1. My Just Giving Page (preferred method)

2. My Bank Account via BACS - Sort Code: 09-01-28 / Account Number: 69144315

3. I am trying to avoid cash, but if there is no alternative, please discuss with me on the 9th tee

The response has been amazing with around 140 entries so far.

There are separate competitions for Ladies and Gents, with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd for Gents and a prize for best Ladies Team. 

There are separate prizes for nearest the pin for Ladies and Gents on the 9th and a memento will be given to Nearest the Pin (combined Ladies and Gents) on all other Par 3’s. 

That’s not all, there will be a Captain’s Challenge on the 9th hole. I will tee off before each group. Beat my drive and you will go in a draw to win a 4-ball voucher. Remember I play off 18.5 so I expect it to be a big draw.

I would like a Group photo with each team on the 9th Tee so please dress up for the event. Our dear friend Gerry Couturier will also be joining us to take photos on the 9th. Remember it is a fun event so let us get the famous Pryors banter going.

While on the subject of my Charity, I was going to select the bunker on the 4th for a change, but instead, my Captains Charity bunker is going to be the big bunker in front of the 18th green. Please save your £1 coins for when the bar opens and you can start filling the big bottle on the bar.

I am going to close there before I give you an ornithology lecture, but I am really looking forward to meeting you all on Saturday.

Play Safe, Stay Safe

Gordon