Wiltshire Golf Captains Spring Meeting

Held at Erlestoke Golf Club on April 19th 2017

The morning of our first internal event dawned sunny but cold. Players arrived from across the county along with guests from Dorset and Somerset for a light lunch and for some, drinks pre-loading prior to play. The Erlestoke Captain Chris Keen gave the welcome and offered entry to all into nearest the pins on each of the par three holes in return for a donation to the club charity, Julia House hospice for children in Devizes. I am pleased to announce that your support was generous.

On a sombre note, many of us missed the presence of Brian Watts who for many years had organised internal meetings with such quiet and unassuming efficiency prior to his passing earlier this year.  Mike Bowes and Geoff Titt provided the necessary support for this meeting and we are very pleased that Geoff is now back in post as internal meetings secretary, his previous knowledge of this position will be invaluable.

Play commenced at 11.50 on a wonderful sunny Spring day with a light breeze. Drinks and homemade cakes at the 14th tee provided a brief rest plus energy to tackle the steep climb back up the 17th. Nice banter here I am informed, stories of clubs going onto E-Bay because they do not work and applause for hitting the 14th fairway.

Scoring proved difficult with only 20 scores of 30 points or more. The parkland style course requires accurate driving and has relatively small greens which still showed signs of winter and disease despite being spiked, over-seeded and fertilised in the prior weeks. The dry cold weather in April had been a mixed blessing, allowing the course in general to dry out and play shorter but had not promoted the required new growth for complete recovery of the greens. Golfing frustrations however are offset by the rural environment, cherry blossom and the view from the 7th tee.

Results;

Winner of the Bob Stacey Memorial Trophy, Neil Black, Erlestoke, 39 pts

Finally, I am grateful for the great support for this meeting both from Erlestoke GC past and Lady Captains who provided receptionists, starters, on course refreshments and much more, and also from those Wiltshire Golf Captains who attended. The intention was to make all players particularly guests and new club captains feel welcome and have a good social start to our golfing year. Matches begin next week and we look forward to a successful 2017 season.

David Ruffett Captain WGC.

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