A very warm welcome to Lingdale Golf Club.
Dear Members
Heather and I would like to welcome you all to another year at Lingdale Golf Club. It is a great honour to be able to represent the club and you, the members in 2023. Kev and Paula enjoyed a very successful 2022, both on and off the course, and will be a hard act for us to follow; many congratulations and thanks to them both. Hopefully, the events we have planned will ensure you have an equally enjoyable year in 2023.
The condition of the course last year was the best I can remember in the 17 years I have been a member. Nevertheless, we will continue to improve and develop our course. This will help support a full golfing calendar for the year ahead, We hope that you will take part in our club competitions and opens, bringing along your friends to enjoy our wonderful course. Some key golfing dates for your diaries include: Captains v Vice Captains Match Sunday April 2nd, Captains Day June 10th, Lady Captain’s Day 30th July and Captain’s Away Day at Nuneaton Golf Club on September 8th. It seems that although not far away, it is a course unfamiliar to many of you, so I hope you will be able to join me for challenging but fair test of golf and a convivial meal afterwards.
Lingdale had an outstanding year in County and national Competitions last year, both individually and as teams. Special mention must go to Barbara Suffolk and Sue Holwell, who won the Covid-delayed Daily Mail National Foursomes competition, but we had many other successes at County level as well; more details on our Honours Boards. These successes were witnessed by groups of Lingdale supporters, even at away fixtures. Heather and I will be supporting them again this year and welcome as many of you as possible to join us; I know the players involved feel the warmth and enjoy exhibiting their skills around the course. We wish the best of luck to all those representing Lingdale in different competitions this year.
As lives return to normal after the pandemic, we are expanding our social programme in 2023. We will be trialling new events and formats and look forward to welcoming old and new friends to them. In particular, look out for a Valentine’s ball on 11th February, an al fresco Lingstock on August 12th and a Captains’ dinner on 28th October for all team captains and those who have played in a team match, as well as our traditional New Year’s Eve dinner dance. The popular “In it to win it” events will also return, beginning on 12th January.
Our chosen charity for 2023 is the East Midlands Air Ambulance. This life-saving service receives no government funding, relying entirely on charitable donations. In the East Midlands, two helicopters cover over 3850 square miles containing 3.2 million people. They fly almost 2000 missions each year, using an average £1700 of fuel. It has been estimated that 5 % of these missions are to attend incidents on a golf course. Both Rothley and Kirby Muxloe (twice) have used this service in the past year. To raise funds, we have a number of activities planned for the year, including a silent auction for fourball vouchers in February and four “fun” club competitions, the first being 24th -26th February. We are also excited to announce that our main fund-raising event will be an attempt on a Guinness World Record for the most individuals to hit a golf shot 100 yards or more in an hour. We will probably need around 300 of you to take part so please be around the club on Friday 30th June if you can. More details will be available elsewhere on how to participate.
Of course, none of this will be possible without the great support we receive from the Office, Catering ang Greens teams, as well as our Vice-Captains, Richard Bowler and Sharon Scott. Many thanks to them all.
Heather and I look forward to seeing you all on the course or in the clubhouse, supporting teams and enjoying events throughout the year. Wishing you and your families, a happy, healthy and successful 2023.
John Pritchard - Club Captain
Heather Barnes - Ladies Captain
