Forest Pines Hotel & Golf Resort
Captain's Log

Report by Captain Vince Mc Afee and Lady Captain Sue Harvey

Following our last report back in April, the golfing season seems to be flying by with only eight weeks to go before we hand over the reins to our Vice Captains.

The year has been a busy one with various events to organise. The Team AM AM in April and Invitation Day in May were both well attended and everything ran smoothly – thanks go to the members for taking part and the committee their help on the day.

The Ladies took to the course as Cowboys and Indians, adorned in glittery cowboy hats, feathers and war paint to play in the Lady Captain versus Lady Vice Captain Competition. Unusual rules made for a fun filled day.

The Indians won three arrows to one bullet.

Our Captains Weekend in July was extremely well supported and with good golf played, good company, as well as the added bonus of fabulous weather, the weekend flew by. The Widows Putter took place on the evening of Friday, 9th which was won by Brian Wilson & Elaine Brown with a nett 37, Best Putter went to Sue Shearwood with 15 putts and Best Junior Prize for putting went to Tilly Marris with 18 putts.

On Saturday 10th, couples played for the Mixed Captains Trophy, which was won by John & Kay Clark with 42 points and Sunday 11th saw a full day of golf with a 9 hole Texas Scramble early in the morning with the winners, Lydia Harriman, Nick Over, Sue Over and Lizzi Over, posting a fantastic score of Nett 26.7. In the afternoon the members played an individual stableford competition for the coveted Captains Cups. The Lady Captains Trophy Winner was Jenny Swain with 39 points on a count back from Jean Cook. The Mens Captain Trophy Winner was Chris Graham with 40 points.

The Summer Ball in July was attended by over 100 members and their guests. On arrival at the venue, a Hollywood style walk along the red carpet brought them face-to-face with the paparazzi and after posing for the cameras, glamorous show girls served glasses of Bucks Fizz to start the evening off with a sparkle. After an excellent three course meal the entertainment by duo Lewis & Kirk completed the evening making the whole event a glittering success.

We would like to congratulate Keith and Lynne Sutton on their fabulous win in the Regional Final of the Bader Cup which took place at Market Rasen on 16 August. Keith and Lynne will go on to represent Forest Pines at the Grand Final being played in Portugal in November of this year. I'm sure we all wish them the very best of luck.

Talking of mixed competitions, the men played against the ladies in the annual battle for the Cooks Cup, currently held by the men. The day was extremely competitive and all matches were very closely fought with the outcome being three games all. Therefore the men retain the trophy for another year.

Another achievement for Forest Pines is the ladies progress in the 'Mail on Sunday' competition. Having defeated Ashby Decoy, Holme Hall, Hull, Immingham, Ganton and Lightcliffe Golf Clubs, they are now due to do battle in the 8th round against Stocksbridge & District Golf Club, away on Monday 30th August. Success here would qualify the ladies for the quarter finals at Worsley Park in Manchester.

Details will be up on the notice boards soon for the Prize Winners Competition being held on Sunday 17th October (open to all), which is being held prior to the Golf Clubs Presentation of Trophies for golfing achievements by the members during 2010. Please keep this date available in your diary and come along to support your fellow golfers in celebrating their success.

Finally, we'd like to thank you all for your support during the year and hope that you've had a successful and enjoyable golfing season.

Vince Mc Afee - Captain
Sue Harvey - Lady Captain

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Greenkeeper's Update

After the driest first half of a year since 1929, which has particularly impacted the East Coast, in addition to Forest Pines being a tree-lined, sand-based course there have also been extra challenges. The result being some bare or thin areas that will need some overseeding in the autumn.

During this Summer we sand banded the left hand side of the 3rd fairway which used to get wet and this appears to have worked well, the winter will be the final test.

The hollow tining of the greens went very well and the feedback on the greens is great just two weeks after the work. We are now starting to cut the long grass as we always do at this time of year.

The WPGA event gave us good feedback and we now look forward to the PGA "Skins" Fourball Championship in October.

We have also had a recent attack of Chafer Grubs. These grubs eat the grass roots and the 'crows' then come and eat the grubs, ripping up the turf in the process. Until the discolouration of the turf occurs you do not know they are there. The grubs are then treated which hopefully kills them before the crows do the damage. The grubs tend to prefer lightly sand soil that is not compacted. In the autumn they turn into brown beetles but first lay eggs and we have been busy treating all impacted areas to prevent this for next year. Renovation works on the damaged areas has started in earnest.

This winter we plan to verti-drain everything as normal and once the annual job of clearing leaves has finished we will be continuing our intensive winter programme which includes a re-turfing programme for bunkers, and re-building the 11th and 21st tees.

One of our team that cannot be missed is Richard Marsh, who at 6'8" definitely stands out from the crowd and below is a little more information:

Greenkeeper Profile

Name: Richard Marsh (Big Rich)
Time at Forest Pines: 13 years with a six break
Interests: Basketball (turned pro for six months), Golf
Golf Course most like to play: Augusta National
Handicap: Just play for fun (or money)
Persons most like to meet: Michael Jordan
Best part of the job: Working outdoors, operating machinery
Pet hate: Impatient golfers

Kind regards,

David Norton
Head Greenkeeper

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Q Quest Challenge

Myself and Wayne have been members at Aldwark Manor for 24years and it was a great bonus this year to be offered the chance to play at any of the Q Hotels during the week free of charge. I mentioned to a couple of people that it would be a good idea to use the May bank holiday week to tour all of the courses, it didn't take them long to decide that "Yes, it would be a great idea!" So that was the beginning of sorting out what proved to be a great week. The 8 people who signed up for the full week were myself Gwen Palmer, My husband Wayne, Clare and Derek Charlwood (our captains) Alan Derbyshire and his daughter Michelle and Simon and Sharon Windle.

All the comps were stableford and Wayne had his own handicapping system, which is worked from 34 points, either gain or loose shots either side of 34. There was a max of 44 shots for ladies and 36 for men. The system worked quite well over the whole week and gave even the newer and less experienced golfer the chance to take away a prize.

Mon 31st May:
We played a friendly club game at Aldwark that Mr Captain and Lady Captain, Derek and Clare Charlwood had organised along with other club members, we had an enjoyable game as the weather was fine. We were wished well from other members after the game as the 8 Aldwark members set off on our quest. We drove to Dumfries where we stayed overnight to break the journey up. Our biggest shock when we went to eat was that Dumfries centre was like a ghost town! We were told that all the locals had probably overdone it all weekend drinking and were probably recovering! It certainly didn't stop us from having a dram or two!

Tues 1st June:
We woke to a very misty looking morning and that awful wet stuff called rain! It didn't deter us, we all ate a hearty breakfast then set off to Westerwood. The staff there were very friendly. After a coffee and quick briefing we were all ready to tee off. On the first tee was Derek, Mechelle, Alan and myself. It was quite apt that Mr Captain took the first shot of the Q Quest Challenge. Obviously the other 4 followed. It was strange weather, we had misty rain, heavy rain, steamy interludes, a smidgen of sunshine and then it did it all again! Coat on, coat off, brolly up, brolly down etc, felt like something from Karate Kid movie! Mr Captain was lucky to survive the round as he was very nearly hit by a stray ball from Michelle on the very first hole! The winner was Wayne with 35 points playing of a 10 handicap. Wayne also won nearest the pin in 2 and I won Nearest pin. We had a great evening re-living our shots (ha!) and what I am sure will be the norm, several drinks (to help us to sleep of course!).

Wed 2nd June:
After a good nights sleep in a B&B in Chorley we set off for Telford Golf club, where we were met by another couple from Aldwark who were unable to join us for the whole week, (Gary and Denise). Once again the staff were very accommodating and friendly. First on the tee today was Derek, Michelle and Clare followed by Simon, Denise and Wayne and last Sharon, Alan, Gwen and Gary. The weather was very much improved and no need for brollies!
Nearest the pin was on the eleventh and was won by Clare, nearest the pin in two was on the fifteenth won by Gary and longest drive was won by Derek and the overall winner for the day was Alan with 39 points and playing off a 27 handicap. Oh and yes we did cut his handicap by 5 shots! Gary and Denise very kindly put us all up for the night at their beautiful home. We had a lovely evening, and of course there was a little bit of drinking going on!

Thurs 3rd June:
Woke to beautiful weather again and everybody was in good spirits and looking forward to playing at Hellidon Lakes. Once again the staff were very helpful. First on the tee was Clare, Michelle, Alan and Sharon, followed by Wayne, Derek, Simon and Gwen. We had two nearest the pin holes and a longest drive comp. Simon and Alan won the nearest the pin and Derek the longest drive but the overall winner once again was Wayne with 39 points playing off a 13 handicap. Our overnight stay was in Rotherham, where yes once again we had to participate in a little drink!

Fri 4th June:
The weather is unbelievable! We can not believe our luck! Shortest journey today to get to Forest Pines golf course. We were met there by Mike (Aldwark's Pro), Tony and Andy. Today's comps were nearest the pin and nearest pin in two both won by Clare and the overall winner was myself, (about time) with 40 points playing off a 34 handicap. Have a feeling Wayne will be cutting my handicap tomorrow to 28. After the round of golf today it was a mad dash back to Aldwark where our annual wine scramble was being held. We didn't want to miss that. It is a great social event, It is a shot gun start over 9 holes, teams of three of four (depending how many enter) everybody takes a bottle of wine and the bottles are opened before play commences and a glass is consumed before tee off the bottles are then left at the tee and at the next hole there are 3 or 4 more bottles of wine and you do it all over again! As the evening progresses the noise on the course increases! After the comp we have a lovely barbecue. This year was the first time in several years that it hasn't rained.

Sat 5th June:
Thank goodness we planned on having a later start today for the last round of the Q Quest challenge, too much wine and a late night do not bode well for a good game of golf! Once again the weather has done us proud we could hardly believe that we have managed to play so many rounds of golf without getting wet every day. We were joined once again by Gary and Denise and their son Ryan, also Steve and Lynne Mamby. The Longest drive for the men was won by Steve and for the Ladies by Clare. The nearest the pin on the 18th was won by Steve and the overall winner was Alan with a massive 46 points playing off a 28 handicap. Although Ryan didn't win the competition today because he hadn't played with us all week and did not benefit from Wayne's handicapping system I feel I must mention that he played the course in a gross 68, matching the course record. Well done Ryan! (Ryan plays off a 3 handicap).

During the week a record of all the scores had been kept to give an overall winner of the Q Quest challenge, which is Alan Derbyshire with a total of 174 points closely followed by Clare with 173 points and Wayne with 171. The winner of the Par 3 comp was once again Alan with a total of 46 points closely followed by myself Gwen and Sharon with 45 points. The Birdie prize went to Simon Windle closely followed by Derek and then Sharon. The most bunkered prize I have to sadly say was won by myself! And finally we had a secret vote for the best dressed person of the week. It was very close and everybody made a real effort to look their best but the prize was awarded to Sharon.

Well done Alan and everybody else who won a prize, we were all winners really because we had such a great week, lovely weather, good company, and fantastic golf courses at our disposal.

I would like to thank Andrew Cook for arranging for each of the golf courses to provide a golf towel for each daily winner. I would also like to thank all of the courses for their hospitality and for keeping their courses in such good condition it was a pleasure to be able to play them all.

We tried to decide which was our favourite course but everyone had different thoughts, probably to do with how well they played on the day. The least favourite was Westerwood, but think that was probably to do with the fact that they are in the middle of changing some of their holes and the weather was not as favourable. I would like to return to Westerwood in the near future and hope that the weather is better so that I can enjoy the scenery and look forward to playing the new holes.

Would we like to do it again? You bet!