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Dear Members of Leek Golf Club,

Re: Creation of Long Term Plan Steering Group

Following the decision of the Committee to inaugurate a Steering Group to identify and evaluate all options available to the Club with regards to improving the House Facilities, the President and I have given considerable thought to the constitution of the team.

Our final decision is that the 3 members will be:-

Chairman: John Carr (President)

Buildings: Trevor Eccleston (Vice Captain)

Funding: Steve Longhorn (House Chair)

We also considered a suggestion from "(Hon Sec.)" that the scope of the Steering Group should be expanded to include requirements for land to improve facilities. The President expressed tremendous support for this amendment and we have therefore included it in the remit.

Timescales

The Steering group will target a presentation to the Management Committee at its meeting on 27th August 2014. This will hopefully allow sufficient time, should the Committee decide to proceed with any of the identified options, to put the proposals to the Membership at the A.G.M. in December 2014 if necessary.

Authority

I propose that the Steering Group is granted authority to enter discussions with all necessary individuals agencies on the understanding that no firm commitments can be made without approval at a Committee Meeting.

Expenses

I propose that any expenses must be approved, in advance of commitment, by the Hon. Treasurer. Such expense should be held as a balance sheet item until such time as a decision has been made on whether the Club will proceed with any of the identified options. If it does proceed these expense should be capitalised as part of the cost of the improvement. Otherwise they should be written off against profit. May I thank all committee members that expressed a willingness to serve on this Steering Group. We are blessed with a wealth of talent and enthusiasm which made the final selection extremely difficult. I trust that all members of the committee will offer their total support.

Dave Gallimore, Captain

Leek Golf Club wish to extend their congratulations to Leanne Nixon (pictured here with Club Professional Greg Rogula) on her recent selection for the Staffordshire County Girls Team to play at Little Aston on March 9th. "Good luck Leanne and I hope it leads to an exciting future in golf for you" was the message from the Club Captain Dave Gallimore. Leanne participated in the match against Little Aston Ladies and had a very close game against a Past County President, the experience she picked up will put her in good shape for future games. Well Done

North Staffs & District League Annual Presentation

The Club President is seen here receiving the runner up Trophy for the Scratch Knockout. Leek lost narrowly 3-2 to Wolstanton Golf Club but all players played to the best of their abilities and congratulated their opponents following their victory. "I would like to thank Phill Davies, Dunc Stott, Ross Salmon, James Cowburn & Ian Curley for representing Leek Golf Club and for acquitting themselves well in the North Staffs & District Golf League" says the President. 

A good night was had by all at this years' North staffs and District Golf league presentation evening at the North Staffs hotel. The club was represented by Dave Gallimore, the Club Captain, John Carr the President, our new Professional Greg Rogula as well as several members of the clubs team players. 

For those of you unaware, we have two teams operating in the league.the first team are in the 1st division,whilst the 2nds are in the 4th division. We also enter teams in the knockout cup competitions. This year the club has had teams in two of the three finals which took place at Wolstanton golf club. The scratch team were narrow runners up against a team that we're playing on their own course. It was a great performance but they just came up short, losing 3- 2. 

In the other final, a team including Mark Shea (captain and inspiration), Andy Tooth, Dave Alcock, Pete Cordon, Ross Martin and Zulf Khalifa managed to win the Dofsky for the first time in the Clubs history, thanks in no small part to a wonder putt from 40 foot on the first extra hole of sudden death by Zulf, something he will never forget with quite a large gallery watching on. 

If anyone is interested in representing your club in these competitions please don't hesitate to contact either myself or Ross Salmon (1st team captain) via Greg in the shop 

Mark Shea 
2nd team captain 
Winning Dofsky team captain 

A message from 1st team captain

As captain of the 1st team I have been invited to write a few words about team golf at Leek Golf Club. For a number of years the club has entered 2 teams into the North Staffs and District Golf League (www.northstaffsanddistrictgolfleague.com) with notable successes for both the 1st and 2nd teams in the league and cup competitions.

Playing team golf gives you the opportunity to play at local courses for free and gives you the chance to play against some of the best players in Staffordshire and Cheshire. The matches are always competitive. However, more importantly, playing team golf will give you an opportunity to make new friends at Leek Golf Club and at the clubs you visit.

The teams are open to all members of the club and if you wish to be involved please contact Mark or myself on the numbers below.

1st team captain - Ross Salmon 07933770392 (ross.salmon@btinternet.com) 
2nd team captain - Mark Shea 07980078324 (markshea4@aol.com) 


Crossword winner

Congratulations to Stewart Townsend who has won the inaugural crossword competition, being the first correct version opened from all those submitted. He wins a litre bottle of Bombay Gin for his efforts. Look out for other exciting competitions in the next few weeks!




PRO CAPTAIN CHALLENGE MATCH 

On Friday 7th March Messrs Brindley and Wainwright threw out a Challenge against your newly appointed Club Professional and The Captain all in aid of the Captain's Charity. Before the start of the match, which was a 4BBB format, the feelings on the ground were that the Tony Brindley & Mick Wainwright partnership could provide some surprises along the way or may even take the bragging rights with them into the 19th hole.

The 1st hole was halved and when TB holed from 10ft on the 2nd they edged in front. With the 3rd being won by the Pro / Captain team the scores were level but only temporarily. TB again sank a good put on the 4th to move ahead once again before the Captain birdied the 5th to level it. At this point Greg was showing signs of concern with particular reference to the accuracy of TB handicap. The Captain suggested that this run of form from TB may not last before witnessing 2 of TB's best ever shots to reach the 6th green in two and leaving himself a 15ft putt for an eagle!!!! The Captain was probably right with his earlier comment because Greg came away with a birdie whilst TB managed to 3 putt. Pro / Captain move 1 up.

At this point all 4 players managed to hit the 7th and with MW holing out from 20ft it was left to the Pro to hole from 10ft for the half which he confidently managed to do. With the 8th and 9th holes being halved Pro /Captain team reached the turn 1up but with lots of shots still to be given to their gutsy opponents.

The 10th hole saw a 2 putt birdie from Greg put the Pro/ Captain team regain some control of proceedings but MW got a great 3 (with a shot) to reduce the deficit again. The 12th was halved and the 13th tee was reached with the Pro/ Captain team ahead by 1 hole with shots to be given on 6 of the last 7 holes. What happened next beggared belief. TB dumped his tee shot into the bottom of the ravine under a bush. Instead of taking a penalty drop he swished at it with all of his strength to get it onto the fairway short of the putting surface. From here he managed to putt threw 20 yards of soggy, wet fairway on to a quick sloping green to 12 inches. Result 4 nett 3 and a win to the Challengers. Match all square.

The 14th and 15th were won by the Captain using his shots after holing out from 6ft making the lead now 2 up with 3 to play. Greg once again hit a great drive and the 4 iron to the green leaving himself a 2 putt birdie to win the match. He managed this and the handshakes followed. The 1st Pro / Captain Challenge match had been won by a score of 3 & 2. Greg said afterwards that "TB and MW had played very well, particularly earlier on in the round, but we managed to hole some crucial putts at the right time. We now look forward to accepting some more challenges from the members. Whoever beats us by the biggest margin will win a really good prize which will be presented at the end of the season. Just give your names to Jake and tell him when you would like to play. Do not forget Ladies, "this Challenge is open to you if you fancy taking the Pro and the Captain on".

The Captain would like to thank Greg for his time and also Tony and Mick for donating £10 each towards the "Ronald McDonald Charity" by participating in this venture.

Dave Gallimore, The Captain

Texas Scramble 09/03/2014

1st - (Score of 54.2)
Rob Taylor 
Rob Thompson 
Nick Sharratt 
Dave Twist

2nd - (Score of 55.1)
Howard Rigby
Steve Davies 
Jim Bates 
John Pennington

3rd - (Score of 55.4) 
Rob Parkes
Mark Shea 
Chris Jones 
Greg Rogula

Well done to Chris French on a hole in one on the 11th hole with a 3 rescue - this is Chris' 7th hole in one. 



Captain's Friendlies" Via the "Vice Captain" 

Gentlemen, 

On behalf of the "Captain" I would like to invite all of our gentleman golfers to participate in our longstanding "interclub" fixtures between the "Captain and Vice captain" plus "Captain v Presidents" teams where everyone's welcome to join-in on these memorable fixtures.

In addition, we also participate in "friendly" fixtures against other local clubs , and would ask that all interested members to put their names in the hat for the respective dates.

For those of us that are regular players in these fixtures I say welcome once again, and the fixture list is now put up on the notice board in the entrance to the locker room, awaiting your perusal and consideration on the fixture dates.

For the gents that have never been asked to play in these fixtures and would like to be involved, I offer a hearty welcome, and this includes any new members to the club who would like to savour the friendly atmosphere and camaraderie that is generated in these fixtures.

These fixtures are "good fun golf" for all handicaps even though none of us like losing, but once you are in the clubhouse after the match it is soon forgotten, and I feel that many of our members would relish the thought of meeting fellow club members for sociable rounds of golf with "like minded" members of our opposing teams as listed on the website under "Men's club competition overview".

The format for these fixtures are simple :--

• Consider whether the fixture dates suit your own calendar .
• It is generally preferred that you also consider the home and away dates for each fixture.
• It is expected that each member stays for the "after match meal" in the company of your playing partners.
• We pay for our own meals at each match, but It is an unwritten rule that we offer our opposition some courtesy via the bar which is normally the usual response in the return venues.
• Lastly, a dress code that you would expect, ie. Jacket and tie.

So Gentlemen, Please take the time and consider your inclusion into these fixtures and we look forward to the games ahead.

Trevor Eccleston (Vice Captain)

trevor.eccleston@hotmail.com mob. 07962 691350 


EVENTS IN THE CLUBHOUSE 

Thursday 20th March - STEAK NIGHT - booking essential 
Thursday 17th April - STEAK NIGHT - booking essential 
Saturday 26th April - 70's DISCO with 70's theme menu - tickets from the bar. 
Saturday 24th May - QUIZ NIGHT - £5 per person includes food 
Saturday 21st June - 3/6d BAND and BBQ - Please book with the bar