During the golfing year between April and October we have fifteen County matches, the Spring and Autumn meetings, Captain’s Day, a mixed invitation, a Past Captains match and the Captain’s Tour. Twenty one events in total that need to be organised and managed and we have one hundred members of which less than two thirds are regularly playing in the matches.
This year has been very successful in getting members to play with some members having played in seven or more matches. We have only had one match where we could not field the full sixteen player team and only managed to get fifteen players. The email list I use for all of you who have said they don’t mind being contacted at the last minute has really helped us in achieving this and I would encourage everyone who is willing to be asked to tick the box on the 2026 Subscription form. Ticking the box does not create a commitment to play but means that you will be notified when we have need. With every match this year we have needed at least one last minute replacement and in one case, four.
I would also like to extend my thanks to the nine members who have taken on the Match Manager role this year. This means that some have managed more than one match and I am hoping to extend the number of match managers next year so that everyone does just one match. Being a Match Manager is not onerous, can be enjoyable and involves around two/three hours work over the six weeks prior to the match and a bit of computer/tablet usage. It is a great way to get involved in the Association, get to know other Association members and get familiar with the County teams we are playing against. Also, if you are match manager it means that you are also a playing member of the team. At all times I am around to help if needed and I’ve put together a short step by step guide to the job. If you are interested in taking on a match manager role next year please let me know and I will let you have a copy of the guide.
With every home match we need to produce score cards showing the strokes given/received in each team. This is a problem faced by all of the Counties and this year one of the Counties has shared some Excell software that does all of the handicap calculations and then prints labels to go on the cards. We used this for the last home meeting of the year against Essex and it worked very well.
Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has played this year and supported me in my role.
Rod Jones
Match Secretary