Dear Members,

I have now been in the hot seat for 6 months and I have to say that it has gone very quickly, there seems to have been so much going on in that time. First there was the Palairet at Thurlestone. Unfortunately - although our lads played well against Churston - it was not our day. I would like to thank Dave Wright and Nick Davis for their hard work in organising the South Hams Radio League team, where we had some success, and have built a sound basis for the future. Then in the 1st week of June we entertained the E.G.U. Seniors’ Championships, with Tavistock. The final was played at Yelverton on the Friday, which turned out to be just a little too difficult for most of the competitors, because of the extreme winds on that day. But there is always one golfer who rises above the rest to take the trophy, and that was Douglas Arnold, from Copthorne GC. Overall Yelverton received nothing but praise. Most of the competitors thought that the course, with our now watered greens, was in superb condition. I really do not know how we would have managed without the new irrigation system, because it was very dry, and poor Steve would have been pulling what hair he has out.

The catering and bar takings were the best we have seen for many a year. This was due in no small part to the new decking area, which we only just managed to finish in time; our secretary, Stewart Barnes, assembling the decking furniture at 7 o’clock in the morning, just as the competitors were arriving for the 1st day of practice. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve Evans and all his green staff, Carol and all her catering staff, Keith Parriss and his helpers, and of course Stewart Barnes our secretary, for all their hard work and enthusiasm throughout the week. Of course it would not have been as successful without the help of all the members who gave up their time to help to keep the competition running as smoothly as it did. The decking area has proved to be very popular with members and visitors throughout the summer, and is a real asset to our golf club. At our Summer Ball I think that there were more people outside than there was in, because it was such a lovely evening in more ways than one. I would like to thank our Lady Captain, Chris Longden for all her input, and helping me to greet all our guest as they arrived, I hope that it made their evening a little bit different.

Our new Shot Gun start competitions, incorporating our new large screen to watch the World Cup and Ryder Cup - and what a great win for the Europeans - also proved to be a great hit with the members. Both events being over subscribed, with plenty of money being taken behind the bar. We are now looking forward to the Six Nations Rugby Tournament to see what we can arrange for our rugby fans.

The time has also come around to start negotiating, with Maristow Estate, our new rent review for the next six years. With the help of Nick Holman in our discussions with the Maristow Estate agent, we have managed to reduce the rent for 2007 from 32k to 29k; it will then be linked to the R.P.I until 2013, when we will have to re-negotiate our new lease. This is good news for Yelverton Golf Club, as we can now budget for the next six years with some comfort on the rent anyway.

As many of you may now be aware, Maristow Estate has made Yelverton Golf Club an offer to purchase TWO acres of land, freehold, for the sum of One Pound, on the east side of the main road. This is likely to be in the area of the ninth tee, with the idea of the club building a new clubhouse, green keepers’ facilities and car parking etc. They would also make available land to build a new hole and practice facilities to compensate for the loss of our first hole and practice area. When we first received this offer it sounded too good to be true, but we have to consider all factors before a decision can be made.

At the moment Yelverton Members own the land on which the club house and car park etc is situated, which is 1.6 acres approximately. This has been, and always will be, our collateral for any further development we would wish to consider in the future. However, if we should take up this offer, and sell the land, in order to build a new club house on the other side of the road, I have been informed that the Dartmoor National Park may put some sort of covenant on the new area of land, to stop any future sale of the land for building of houses. Therefore we would lose all our capability to raise any money we may need in the future. On the plus side, we would not have to spend money on new Ladies’ changing rooms, green keepers’ facilities, large maintenance bills for our old club house, the danger of golf balls flying into the road at the first, and of course the most important thing, the danger of crossing the main road. [How much would we have to borrow to build a tunnel, is this more than building a new clubhouse?]

Taking all this into account I have decided to form a working committee; it will consist of myself, Danny Normile, Graham Plumb and Nick Holman [as an adviser only, no voting rights]. When we have looked into all aspects of this proposal, and we have enough information for the Club we will call an EGM, FOR ALL THE MEMBERS TO HAVE THEIR SAY.

The Committee is very conscious that some of our bunkers are in poor shape and difficult to drain, therefore we have commissioned an architect to prepare a report with recommendations for improving the 13^th, 16^th and 18^th holes. His recommendations are displayed in the entrance hall; the Committee would welcome any feedback on his recommendations, and will take these into account at the next Greens meeting.

On the lighter side of things our Vets have managed to win the Emerton Court Trophy again, for the second time in two years. I was there to watch, with Tim our Professional; the games were all hard fought, some going to the eighteenth, so well done to our senior team. Also our scratch players Adam Bridgewater, Colin Nolan and Wesley Dawkins won the Devon Team Championships at Thurlestone, and went on to represent Devon at Stoke Park in the English County Championships, finishing twentieth out of thirty four teams. Adam Bridgewater had the equal best score on the first day, beating English international Gary Wolstenholme, and eventually finished with the third best score overall; well done too you all.

Our Juniors have also done very well, with Isacc Bate winning the National Final of the Wee Wonders competition at St. Andrews. The Club also did well in the National Skills Challenge at Woodhall Spa, with Joe Yorke winning the under 14 category and James Holt winning the over 14 category. This is a tribute to the work of our Professional team, and the Club’s Junior policy, and bodes well for the future of the Club.

We are sorry to lose Laura Eastwood from our Ladies’ Section. Laura has had major achievements over the last few years, winning virtually all there is to win in the amateur game. She has decided to move over to the Professional ranks, and is currently serving her apprenticeship at Tavistock with Dominic Rehag. She started well, with the second best score in our Pro-Am recently, and we wish her all the best for the future.

Well I think I have now got you up to date on most of the issues that have happened in the last 6 months, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my Committee and golf members who have supported me in all the activities that we have done together so far, and I am now looking forward to the next 6 months.