Club News

A chilly but fine day at Moortown welcomed 88 ladies to this year’s Ladies Open on Monday 13th June.

Prizes were awarded to the top 6 teams as follows – 1st place team – £100/player, 2nd – £60/player, 3rd – £50/player, 4th – £40/player, 5th – £30/player, 6th – £20/player. Vouchers will be forwarded by email to each team direct from our Club Professional Martin. Congratulations to all the prizes winners – Ladies Open Results

Congratulations to Isaac Smith who won the YUGC Boys Championship at Woodsome Hall earlier this week with a superb 36 hole score of +1. Further congratulations go to Josh Stephens, who came a close 2nd with a 36 hole total of +2, but managed to win the Under 16’s prize.

Notable finishes for Joe Ellis and Matthew Parlett, who both finished in the top 15.

Isaac will now represent Yorkshire in the England Golf Boys Champion of Champions event – 10th September. Full Results

Pictured left the winners (Josh Stephens U16s award) and Isaac Smith (Boys Champion) feature alongside Mark Fielding (Woodsome Hall Club Captain) and Terry Collins (YUGC President).

Apart from the runaway leaders Scowcroft, Barden, Warwick and Tyson with an incredible score of 90 points it was a close run thing with three teams all finishing on 83 points. Congratulations to all those who won prizes on the day. Seniors Spring AMAM Results 250422

A sunny and dry spring day lead to some exceptional scoring in last Thursday’s Winter Open, Adam Draper (Renishaw Park) & Samson Cagnani (Kedleston Park) took top sport with 44 points. Winter Series Results

Following the announcement by the General Committee Chairman in his AGM report, we are about to embark on a major refurbishment of the clubhouse and I would like to take this opportunity to outline our plans and probable timescales.

It is obviously a major undertaking, both from a financial and practical viewpoint and the club has to be able to function whilst we undertake the works, so we have split the project into 4 phases over the next 4 years.

Phase 1

Construct a terrace that runs across the front of the MacKenzie Bar and Snooker Room bay windows. Drawings are available to view below and copies have also been displayed on the main noticeboard.

Drawing 1 shows the first stage of the terrace which will start on the 28th March 2022. We envisage completing this element in approximately 5 weeks. This is subject to no adverse delays with materials that at the moment are readily available.

Drawing 2 shows our proposal for the removal of the bay window in the Snooker Room and the installation of bi-folding doors and further extension of the terrace area. This greatly improves the visual aspect of the terrace, provides better and more usable space and will form part of the future improvements to the Snooker Room. It may seem illogical to be doing this work in two stages but it has to coincide with whatever changes we make to the Snooker Room which will take place in Phases 3 & 4. The cost of extending the terrace upon removal of the bay window is negligible.

Also, as part of Phase 1 we will be replacing the windows facing the proshop and this will take place during the week commencing 20^th June and should be completed in a week. Following on from that will be the replacement of the bay window to the MacKenzie Room, removal of the external porch and installation of new windows and a door into the Mixed Lounge. A new lobby will then be formed inside the MacKenzie room (shown on the terrace drawings) and a new canopy spanning between the Mixed Lounge and MacKenzie bay window will be installed. Because of the disruption this will cause we are planning to carry out this element to coincide with the course maintenance period in early August when golfing activities are reduced and there are no visitor bookings. We are mindful that we are hosting the Ladies MacKenzie Gathering starting on the 22^nd August so we will commence work on 25th July for a period of 3 weeks.

The last element of Phase 1 will be the four windows to the mixed lounge and we plan to carry this out at the end of October.

Phase 2

We have engaged the services of an interior design company Fusion by Design, who are about to begin the design process starting with the mixed lounge and dining room. We aim to be in a position by early summer whereby we can place orders and secure the necessary contractors for work to commence immediately in the new year. At this moment we do not know how long this phase of work will take but think in the region of 3 months.

Phases 3 & 4

The MacKenzie room refurbishment is currently earmarked to commence in 2024 followed by the snooker room in 2025 but depending on the design concept may well be done together if finances allow.

A scheme of this size will clearly impact the day-to-day function of the club, but we will make every endeavour to minimise this and information will be forthcoming on a regular basis as we progress.

Ian Hartley – Chair of Building

Terrace Drawings

An impressive 46 points by Garry Dolan & Michael Smith of Blackley Golf Club won the first of our Winter 4BBB Opens on the 2nd December 2021. – Winter Open Results 021221

Another fine dry week has allowed the team to progress well with the work on the 5th hole.

The green surround and greenside bunker banks have now been re-turfed and focus has move to the fairway extensions where old turf has been stripped, exposing the peat. Sand has been added to the peat and the ground rotovated which helps improve the drainage of the land whilst rectifying levels readying the area for new turf to be laid.

Although a very similar styled hut can be seen positioned in the middle of the course during the 1929 Ryder Cup, the first picture we have of the starter’s hut in its present position was taken during the Captain’s drive-in of 1934.

87 years later the hut and the weather vane were in drastic need of refurbishment and so member Peter Holmes and his team along and member, Mike West set about completely restoring the structure to its original state.

The new exterior had to be matched exactly to the old and so Siberian Larch slats were machined to follow the original moulded form and then individually cut to length thus allowing new slats to replace the old.

On the South West elevation the starter’s window, through which score cards would have been handed out, had long since ceased to operate. A new sash window was made, its pulley system re-built and a huge lead weight was attached by rope to, once again, balance against the weight of the window when open.

The roof was found to be in a sound condition so only the hip flashings have been replaced and whilst the original seating has been retained, the interior has been re-lined and painted.

Mike West has superbly refurbished the weather vane. New bearings have been fitted and the four compass points, along with the golfer and his ball, have been highlighted in gold leaf. No excuse now for not knowing the wind direction when you tee off.

Our thanks must go to Peter and Mike who have most definitely given a new lease of life to one of our club’s iconic structures.

As we come to the end of week 4 of the 5th hole project, work is progressing well with the team working hard to stabilise the base of the new greenside bunker whilst also preparing the green surround ready for turf.

A full update including imagery of the work completed to date can be found by following the link – 5th Hole Project Diary Nov 2021

Congratulations to MGC members Susan and Patsy Mannion who took top spot in NLLGA 2nd round at Moortown, they were winners of the alliance with 35 points over 16 holes on Tuesday 2nd November.

Special mention to Karen Duffield and Glenys Smart for coming third.

NLLGA Full Results