MATCH SECRETARY’S NOTES
Well, that certainly was a summer, wasn’t it. Will we ever see it’s like again? Most of us remember the summer of 1976, but will we speak of the summer of 2018 in the same tones? If you believe the climate changers, then the answer is maybe not. Hot summers in the UK are expected to become a more frequent occurrence. What does that mean for golf? Certainly, greenkeepers work will become harder in making sure that the greens remain green and that fairways don’t become totally eroded of grass. Clubs can be expected to pay more for the water used in maintaining golf courses, which means fees will rise to pay for this putting further pressure on memberships.
Our Association is already under pressure and we need more former captains to join us if we are to maintain our playing strengths. There are existing Ambassadors from the golf clubs in our region, whose role it is to encourage former and current captains to join us. But it is not simply down to them. If you know of somebody at your club who is not a member of the Association of Buckinghamshire Golf Captains and who you think would enjoy the company of like-minded people, playing competitive golf on good courses for a reasonable cost, don’t wait, ask them to join. Better still invite them to be your guest at the Spring Meeting at Buckingham Golf Club on 11 April, where we celebrate our 40th anniversary.
Why do we need more members? Every club needs more members, but one pertinent reason is that for every team selected, there are reserves and last year the chances are that if you were a reserve for any game you would have ended up playing. So, we need more members to make sure that we can comfortably fill all the slots designated for players (8 pairs equals 16 players) and have enough over to name sufficient reserves.
That brings me on to the reserves. Obviously, with the teams selected in February/March for the whole summer, players will drop out for a variety of very good reasons, which is unavoidable. However, if you are nominated as a reserve, please do not withdraw on the anticipation that you will not play in that match, because the chances are that you will get a game.
We depend on having reserves available, which helps the Match Manager of each game. There is a ‘late list’ of members who are happy to be asked to play at late notice if the list of reserves has been exhausted and last year we had to use that ‘late list’ too often. Having said that, we are always looking for more members who would be prepared to be asked to play at late notice, so if this you please contact me on davidlistonong@gmail.com and I’ll add you to the list.
This year is a ‘home’ year, where we have six home county matches in the first half of the year and five away matches in the latter half. It is also the year of our 40th anniversary (see above) plus the autumn meeting is at Woburn. Accordingly, another exciting year is in prospect and I look forward to seeing you all during the coming year, which I hope will be another scorcher.
David Liston
Match Secretary