Hello everyone and welcome to the first newsletter of my tenure as Captain of Beverley and East Riding Golf Club. I must start by saying how proud I am to hold this position of Captain at the oldest inland golf club in Yorkshire and one which is held in high esteem by its peers, something I feel is often overlooked by many people.
It would be remiss of me not to pay tribute to my predecessor Carl for his unstinting efforts on behalf of the club over the past year. The difficulties of the past year are well documented, and I do not intend to repeat them here but suffice to say the Club remains in a stable position due in no small part to the efforts of Carl and the rest of the Board. It goes without saying that Carl missed out on many of the pleasures associated with the role, but I know he feels no less proud of his tenure as Captain. Some of you may be aware that when the extent of the pandemic became clear, I did offer Carl to extend his captaincy into this year, something that has happened at several clubs. Carl decided that he didn’t wish to do so but I am sure if he was to have a change of heart there would be no objections to him having a second stint in the future.
My intentions for the coming year will not differ greatly from those of Carl’s captain’s year. My focus will remain on this golf club and making improvements where necessary and where finances permit. Lots of work was done behind the scenes last year which has hopefully laid the foundations for improvements to be made around the course and practice areas as well as in the clubhouse. As you will have seen from the AGM documentation, we are financially sound, but the impact of the pandemic will remain evident for some time to come, both at this club and across the whole golfing world. It is with this in mind that I thank all members for their support and loyalty over the past year and hope this continues into the new season.
I have also decided to adopt the same charitable format as Carl in that any monies raised will be split equally between the Queens Centre for Oncology and Haematology at Castle Hill Hospital and a projects fund at this golf course. I hope you will support any charitable endeavours over the coming years and recognise the fantastic work being done at Castle Hill.
I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Pat Howdle as my vice-captain for the year ahead. Pat comes with a wealth of experience from his various sporting endeavours and will, I am sure put that experience to good use on behalf of Beverley Golf Club.
Similar good wishes go to Ladies Captain Jan Dickens, her vice-captain Barbara Hawley and the continuing Eggs captain Keith Milhench. I hope you have a great year and get to play some golf!
Finally, a little bit about golf! The provisional date for Captain’s day is Saturday 17th July 2021 and it will be run along similar lines as last year. Unfortunately, the current lockdown prevents the traditional drive-in from taking place and I am exploring different options in this respect. I would welcome an invitation from any member for a game of golf and I do intend holding the Captain’s Challenge fixtures once again when golf resumes. I won’t be holding down regular weekend tee times so I invite anyone to put their name down for a game if there’s a space.
In closing, I would just like to send my best wishes to every member of the golf club and hope to see you all soon on the Westwood.
Stay safe!
Shaun