Gareth Roberts, Club President, hosted a successful President’s Day on Saturday, 24^th August which comprised a shotgun start competition and prize giving. Congratulations to all of the prize winners, who are listed below in the “Results” section. Gareth is also delighted to report that the excellent sum of £126 was raised on the day for the Captains’ charity.

The Club Council have produced a New Members Welcome Pack which will be incorporated into the information that is given by management to any new members of Clays. If you would like a copy of the document, which contains information about the various sections of our club, obtaining/reinstating handicaps, club levies etc, then please let me know and I’ll email you a copy.

Over the next few weeks, members will be made aware of quite a number of changes that will be happening regarding the course. These will include new official course measurements from the various tees and alterations to some of the Stroke Indices, based on the difficulty of each hole as evidenced over the last two years using the HowDidIDo data. In addition, there will be revised wording of the local rules; e.g. the Red Penalty Areas that can be found on some holes. The Red Penalty Areas to the right of the 3^rd and to the right of the 4^th will be removed and we will look to mark more clearly with red posts and lines the remaining Red Penalty Areas to the left of the 4^th, 5^th , 13^th and 15^th. The Drop Zones on the 5^th and 17^th will be maintained and a Drop Zone on the 2^nd will be introduced. The recent members’ survey also formed part of the discussion regarding the course – many thanks to those members who responded. Course maintenance is provisionally scheduled in for w/b Monday 23^rd September. Please note that the Greenkeeping Staff will have full priority whilst they carry out this essential work on our course.

Before moving on to other items, could I please ask that members ensure that player safety is taken into account at all times? For example, signs are to be placed on the 13^th regarding dangerous play when people are driving off from the 13^th tee and possibly endangering either players who are still on the green or are on the 12^th fairway. Also, care must be taken when playing in a mixed group when white/yellow and red tees are being used. Thank you.

The Council have also decided, based on the number of entrants in each division, to change the Handicap Divisions for Club/WG Medal competitions. The new divisions will be :

Division 1 :      up to and including 12 Handicap

Division 2 :      13 to 18 inclusive

Division 3 :      18+

I would like to give an update regarding the forthcoming Charity Day on Sunday, 13^th October : We have almost completed raising sponsorship for all 18 tees and the £900 total prize money and we would now like to maximise the number of teams to play on the day. If you would like to put a team together, tee times can be booked in Reception. Payment can either be made by cheque or via bank transfer. Please contact me if you would like more details. Just a reminder that all of the money raised on the day will go towards the purchase of a new Cryotherapy machine for invasive prostate cancer treatment at the Maelor Hospital.

Finally, best wishes to all of the participants in the Honours Board Finals on the 7^th and 8^th September.

Have a good month’s golf.

Nigel Davies                                                                                       [email protected]

Club Captain

Club News :

Further congratulations to the Clays Ping Mixed Team (Don Wraight, Christine Evans, Dawn Thompson Byrne, Dave Riley, Jane Evans and Graham Davidson Clarke) on a great achievement to have reached the Finals Day of the Ping Wales Knockout Competition after beating Dinas Powis GC from Cardiff in the quarterfinal at Builth Wells recently. The semifinals and final will both be played at Cotterill Park, Cardiff on 30^th September. I am sure that you will join me in offering them our best wishes for the day.

Clays hosted the DGU County Captains Day recently and it was again gratifying to hear so many positive comments regarding the course and club overall from visiting players.

Many congratulations to the following Clays members on their brilliant success on the day :

Richard Collier:           County Captains Day 2^nd overall

Iqbal Shergill:              County Captains Day 3^rd overall

Mike Jones:                 County Champion (H’Cap 6-16)

Patrick Whelan:           County Champion (H’Cap 17+)

Dave Riley:                 County Senior Scratch Champion

Dave Palferman, our Vice Captain, reports that the Clays DGU League Team made it three out of three wins with a convincing 6:2 win against Llangollen at home. If Clays can avoid defeat away at Old Colwyn on 1st September then we will be Division 1 Champions once again.  Fingers crossed for the team!

Clays now have one remaining pair in the DGU Jubilee Plate Knockout Competition,  Martin Povey & Tom Peirce, who now have a home draw against a pair from Denbigh GC to be played before 9th September.  Best wishes to Martin and Tom for the next round.

The Social Events calendar has been revised and we now have just three events before the end of the year :

19^th October               Cheese & Wine evening with Quiz     Ticket price = £12

23^rd November            Curry & Quiz Night :  Ticket price = £8 pp

6^th December               Christmas Party (Buffet and Disco)   Ticket price = £12 pp

All of the above are payable in advance in order to help Hayley’s catering arrangements with tickets available from Reception. It would be very much appreciated if as many members as possible supported the above events.

Don Wraight, Seniors Captain, reports that a very successful Seniors Open was held at Clays on 8^th August.

Some 112 players took part, 53 Clays members and 59 visitors from a range of other clubs including Malkins Bank, Shrewsbury, Henlle, Old Padeswood, Padeswood and Buckley, Moss Valley, Wallasey, Warren, Hoylake and 4 visitors from Southerness in Scotland, their 2nd visit to our club.

All of the above gave great feedback on the day and commented on what a fantastic course Clays has become. Clubs that participated have been emailed and thanked for their support and invited to the 2020 event, when it’s published.

Winners           Stewart Poole/ Damien Atkin (Clays)            46pts

2^nd                    Terry Dodd / Gary Owen (Henlle)                 41pts

3^rd                    Nigel Harris / Bob Jarvis (Clays)                    41pts

Nearest the Pin on 5^th              Peter Watkins ( Shrewsbury)

Nearest the line on 10^th           Alan Barnsdale (Clays )

Nearest the Pin in 2 on 18^th     Duncan Lowndes ( Shrewsbury)

A big thanks to Russ Adamson who was on the 1st tee seeing players off and to the Seniors committee for their administration for the day.

Josh reports that there are 3 lockers still available for hire and also that trolleys can now be stored securely in the locker room for an additional charge.

The Seniors played a home match v Aldersey Green but unfortunately lost 2 ½ – 4 ½

Congratulations to the Clays Ladies Team recently had a Home win against St. Deiniol GC, Bangor.

From now on, a competition will be made available for entry on each Wednesday, either the existing Mid Week Club Medal, other current qualifying competitions (including Ladies Honours Board events) or a Shop Stableford competition.

The complete rebuilding of the 11^th green, planned for the Autumn, is still due to go ahead as arranged.

Dave Palferman, Vice Captain, is organising a Team Day for Sunday, 15^th September whereby members of the Men’s, Ladies and Seniors sections can take part in a mixed competition with members of the Scratch Team. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know other members of our club who you may not have played with before. If you are able to play, please put your name down on the sign up sheet on the noticeboard in the foyer. 

Club Results :

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

Club Championship

Day 1

1^st        Paul Lloyd                  2^nd        Keith Jones

Day 2

1^st        Paul Lloyd                  2^nd        Neil Owen

(Great performance Paul!) 

Seniors August Medal :

Division 1 :

1^st           Malcolm Williams                2^nd       Martin Povey

Division 2 :

1^st            Harold Hughes                    2^nd        Keith Hawthorn

Thursday 1^st August : Seniors 9 Hole Qualifier:

1^st            Irwin Elkin                          2^nd        Michael Parks      

Club August Medal :

Division  1 :

1^st        Josh Green                  2^nd        Craig Yarwood

Division 2 :

1^st        Eddie Tudor                2^nd       Gareth Roberts

Division 3 :

1^st        Richard Key                2^nd        Harold Hughes 

Midweek Medal 14^th August :

1^st        Iwan Bonds                2^nd        Josh Green

Ladies Fan Jones Trophy

1^st        Christine Evans           2^nd        Marian Williams 

Neil Harden Memorial Trophy

1^st        Mike Jones                  2^nd        Alex Darlington 

Mixed Jubilee Plate

1^st        R. Peacock / P. Peacock          2^nd        S. Powell / A. Thomas-Williams

Seniors Two Day Stableford Challenge

Day 1 :

Division 1

1^st        Alan Bottomley  33 points      2^nd        Martin Povey  31 points

Division 2

1^st        Dilly Jones  34 points              2^nd        Fred Court 32 points

Day 2 :

Division 1

1^st        Colin Brown  33 points           2^nd        Reg Peacock  32 points

Division 2

1^st        Dilly Jones  35 points              2^nd        Stewart Poole  34 points 

Overall Result :

Division 1

1^st        Alan Bottomley 64 pts            2^nd        Martin Povey  63 pts

Division 2

1^st        Dilly Jones  69 pts                   2^nd        Stewart Poole 65 pts

Seniors DJ Bogie

1^st        Damian Atkin                         2^nd        George Hughes

Welsh Dragon Brooch

1^st        Julie Hanmer Price                  2^nd        Shan Stapley

President’s Day

Men :

1^st        Mike Jones                              2^nd        Mike Hollings

Ladies :

1^st        Christine Evans                       2^nd        Gaynor Gee 

Dates for Your Diary : 

1^st September                    DGU League Team v Old Colwyn (Away) 

3^rd September                    Seniors v Holywell (Home) 

4^th September                    Ladies Midweek Stableford Qualifier 

5^th September                    Seniors Medal

 7^th/8^th September            Honours Board Finals Day(s) 

11^th September                 Ladies Allington Hughes Salver                                               

                                                Club/WG Midweek Medal 

15^th September                 Team Day (sign up sheet on noticeboard in foyer) 

17^th September                 Seniors v Hawarden (Home) 

21^st September                  Club/WG Monthly Medal 

                                                Quarterly Medal 

22^nd September                 DGU Autumn Meeting @ Llangollen GC 

24^th September                 Seniors Stableford Qualifier 

26^th September                 Seniors v Mold (Away) 

2^nd October                         Ladies Midweek Stableford Qualifier 

3^rd October                         Seniors Medal 

5^th October                         Club/WG Monthly Medal 

13^th October    Charity Day for Prostate Cancer