This is the first of a series of monthly Captain’s newsletters which I hope you will find both useful and informative. I am proud and privileged to be Captain of our club and I would like to thank everyone for their recent best wishes and encouragement. I know that I will be calling upon past Captains, Presidents and long standing members for advice and guidance throughout the next 12 months.

I would like to thank Dawn for agreeing to continue as Lady Captain. The Ladies Section is going from strength to strength and I know that Christine Evans will be a great support to Dawn as Lady Vice Captain.

Dawn and I would like to thank everyone who supported our Drive In on 6^th April. There was a great atmosphere around the club on that day and it’s something that we are keen to replicate throughout the year.

We have an excellent Club Council with officers who have a great deal of experience as members of the club over many years. Our key focus will be to work for the benefit of all members of our club.

I must acknowledge the huge contribution Bob Brown has made to the club during his Presidency over the past two years. His experience, guidance and wisdom will be sorely missed by all on the Club Council. I know that Gareth Roberts, who is a very highly regarded member of our club, will also have an extremely successful term as our Club President.

I was delighted when Dave Palferman was appointed as my Vice Captain for this year. He is a greatly respected member of the club and I have no doubt that he will go on to make an excellent Captain next year. I wish him great success this year and look forward to working closely with him.

Dawn and I have decided to support two charities this year. The first £104 raised will go to train a Guide Dog for the Blind. Our second charity will be Prostate Cancer UK, or more specifically, the Wrexham Support Group, with which a number of our members are involved. Please support our fund raising events through the year to help provide them with the much needed finance they require to continue their excellent work. We will also be organising a number of social and golfing events in order to benefit our club. I am very keen to maximise members’ involvement in these and if you have any ideas regarding the type of event which members would be interested in please contact me. Our Social Sub-Committee will be meeting on 30^th April in order to plan out the year. I am delighted to report that, as a result of members’ generosity in the recent auction and during the Drive In, we have already raised £540 for our charities. Thank you very much for this great start to the year.

18 months ago we all know how serious the situation was at Clays and to see how everything about the club has developed in the intervening time is fantastic. We will continue to place great emphasis on maintaining the excellent relationship that has been built between our members, the Club Council, Mr & Mrs Lewis and the Management Team.

Our club benefits greatly from having Hayley, Phil & Gaynor, who continue to provide the members, visitors and all our guests with fantastic food, drink and great hospitality. As I have mentioned earlier, during the year the club will be running various functions and I urge everyone to come along and support them. A great deal of praise must also go to Mark and his greenkeeping staff for all of the work that they have put in and I know that they will produce a course that we can all be proud of and enjoy playing.

We have excellent teaching professionals in Gareth & Steve and it was great to see Ben taking over the shop after American Golf left. There are so many exciting things happening at Clays Golf Club.

Sometimes it is easy for us to always play within our own little bubbles, always within the same groups and with the same partners. I am very keen to get the different sections of the club together and we will be planning specific events to bring this about and build upon the great camaraderie that exists at our club.

Thank you to all our members for your anticipated continued support of our Golf Club. Please pass any suggestions on to me if you have any ideas which would make being a member of our club even more enjoyable. I will endeavour to play with any new members & different groups throughout the year and look forward to hearing other people’s perspective of our club.

Each month, this newsletter will contain results, key dates, a rules quiz question and general club news. I am also keen to include any important events that are happening in our members’ lives so please let me know of any items such as sponsored events that members are taking part in, important birthdays/anniversaries etc.

I would also like to include any other sections that members feel would be worth including each month so please let me or Dawn have any suggestions.

I and the others on the Club Council will do our very best to ensure that Clays Golf Club continues to progress and thrive. If we make mistakes, or make decisions that some members disagree with, we will have done so with the very best of intentions.

Finally, to all our members, good luck with your golf over the next 12 months, enjoy the course and facilities, and more than anything, enjoy being part of Clays!

Nigel Davies – [email protected]

Club Captain

Results:

Congratulations to those members listed below on their recent golfing success.

2^nd March Club/Wales Golf Monthly Medal

Division 1 :

1^st        Paul Lloyd      64 (Net)                       2^nd        Paul Williams              67

Division 2 :

1^st        Keith Hawthorn          62                    2^nd        Gareth Whitley           66

Division 3 :

1^st        Barry Dare      68                                2^nd        Angela Thomas-Williams        71

7^th March Seniors Stableford Medal :

Division 1 :

1^st        Don Wraight   38 pts                          2^nd        Michael Ryan  35 pts

Division 2 :

1^st        Damian Atkin 38 pts                          2^nd        Dilwyn Jones  34 pts

6^th April Captains’ Drive In :

Best Men’s Score :                  Vic Mohun      39 pts

Best Ladies’ Score :                Jane Evans      40 pts

Best Seniors’ Score :               Jon Falcus       38 pts

Seniors have started to play their inter-club matches with results as follows :

19^th March :     Away v Hawarden ended in a loss 7½ – 2½.

28^th March :     Home match with Mold resulted in a win 7-3.

3^rd April :         Away v Henlle ended in a loss 7½ – 2½

Test Your Knowledge of the Rules of Golf : (Answer in next newsletter)

In a stroke-play competition, A, B and C were drawn to play together starting at 9.00 am.

A and B were present at the appointed time. C arrived at 9.02 am, after A and B had teed off, but just in time to play in the correct order. What is the ruling?

1. a) C is disqualified.
2. b) C gets a penalty of two strokes.
3. c) There is no penalty.

Club News :

The draw for this year’s DGU Jubilee Plate has been completed and is on the noticeboard. Those pairs who have entered should consult the list and, if playing at Home, ensure that the date to play the match is arranged with the opposition.

26 players from Clays took part in the DGU Spring meeting at Wrexham GC on 7th April.

The DGU County Captain’s Day event is due to take place at Clays on Sunday, 7th July.

A number of players have expressed an interest in taking part in the 2019 DGU League matches. The first match is Away v Moss Valley on Sunday, 26th May.  The Vice-Captain will select the team and inform players.  The Vice Captain is also arranging for members of the Clays DGU Squad to buy new shirts with the Clays logo and a commemoration of Clays GC winning the DGU Division 1 title in 2018.