NEW BRIDGE OPENED

A new bridge over the water feature on the picturesque third hole was opened at the North Oxford Golf Club Pro-Am.

The bridge was donated by a member of the club who does not wish publicity outside the club.

General manager Bob Harris said: “Because of the water feature the third is a very attractive approach to the third green and the new bridge has enhanced that environment tremendously.

“Apart from having a practical use of getting to the fourth tee the shape of the bridge has given a new perspective to the water feature when viewed from the third green.

“The club is indebted to the member who donated the bridge.  It was a tremendous act of generosity.”

Opening the bridge: Front l to r – Ladies Captain Liz Lawrence, Centenary Ladies Captain Sally Stewart; back – Men’s Captain Ian Booth, Junior Captain Jake East, Men’s President Tom Nicoll.

NOGC COURSE IS A WINNER

Sixty-eight golfers from Oxfordshire clubs took up a challenge to play North Oxford Golf Club course to their handicap – and only four managed to beat the course.

Manager Bob Harris said: “We launched a special challenge day on Friday 20 March 2009 because we got fed up with people who had never actually played the course saying that it was too easy. We challenged them to play the course to their handicap or better and offered green fees back to those who achieved that target.

“Only four managed it. I think we have proved the point that our course is a real test of golf, and hopefully we have put an end to the myth that the course is easy.”

M

Members celebrate clubhouse success

More than 150 members attended the opening of the revamped clubhouse, the new social hub of the club.

The opening ceremony was performed by Colin Dexter, creator of the Inspector Morse detective stories, and marked the successful completion of a £150,000 make-over of the lounge, bar and locker rooms.

Club chairman David Young praised the working party under the chairmanship of former men’s captain Mick Walton for the painstaking work involved in turning the 1970s-style clubhouse into a more modern and comfortable facility.

Mick Walton thanked members of his working party and other club members who had helped to deliver a new-style clubhouse on time and said: “We now have a clubhouse of which we can be proud.”

After the event manager Bob Harris said: “Other improvements to the course are continuing and we are looking forward to a good year, having put together a special deal for members and new members during the current credit crunch.  We are now the best value golf club in the area.”

Picture caption: Left to right: Men’s Captain Ian Booth, Ladies Captain Liz Lawrence, Junior Captain Jake East, Colin Dexter, General Manager Bob Harris, Dr Roland Newman and Mr Nicholas Newman.

NORTH OXFORD GETS GOLFMARK ACCREDITATION

North Oxford Golf Club has been awarded the prestigious GolfMark
Accreditation, giving a boost to the club’s junior section and to the club’s coaching activity in the community.

NOGC Professional Lee Jackson, who is the current Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire professional championship holder and who coaches the club’s junior section, said: “The accreditation will mean additional free coaching becoming available within the club and in the community.  It will increase our level of activity in introducing young people to golf and to coaching them to a high standard.

“GolfMark also assures parents that the club looks after the welfare of junior members in a safe environment.”

NOGC manager Bob Harris said: “This is another feather in the cap of the best value members’ club in the area.  Winning the GolfMark should also help to expand our growing family membership category as well as introducing more young people to the game and into a healthier lifestyle.”

GolfMark finance is provided by the English Golf Union, the Women’s Golf Association and England Golf.

Details of junior membership and coaching are available from Lee Jackson and Bob Harris on 01865 554924.

Golfers raise over £5000 for children's charity

Members of North Oxford Golf Club rallied round their Men’s Captain Ian Booth to raise £5,273 for the Footsteps Foundation, the Oxfordshire charity that pays for intensive physiotherapy for children with neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy.

After presenting the cheque to Pip Hoyer Millar, the Warborough founder of the Footsteps Foundation, Mr Booth said: “I adopted the charity for my captain’s year after seeing how childrens’ lives were transformed by this new form of treatment that is not available on the NHS.”

The money was raised through members taking part in competitions, supporting a sportsman’s dinner with England soccer stars Martin Keown and Garry Parker, and backing club professional Lee Jackson in becoming the Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire professional champion for the second year running.

Pip Hoyer Millar said:” We are delighted and overwhelmed by the generosity of the North Oxford Golf Club.  Every single penny is going towards helping children whose families cannot get the physiotherapy they need without going privately for it.”

She set up the foundation four years ago after she was told that her daughter, Minty, would never walk, would have limited speech and would not develop beyond the level of a four year old. But after she discovered a new treatment in Poland her daughter walks, talks non-stop and has developed in every way.

NEW CAPTAINS DRIVE IN AT NORTH OXFORD

World Cup soccer fever took over briefly on the 1st tee at North Oxford Golf Club when the new Captain, Mick French, drove a 190yd  2ft shot down the first fairway.

In the North Oxford tradition of dressing up for the drive-in Mick French, a 14 handicapper who has been a member for 15 years, appeared on the tee dressed in goalkeeping gear of the 1960s era.  He was ambushed by nine fellow club members and put into makeshift goalposts to face a barrage of shots before picking up his club for the drive in.

During his year of office he will be raising money for Sobell House, the palliative care centre in Oxford.

The new Ladies Captain, Miss Jenifer Lindsay, a club member for seven years with a 26 handicap, drove 141 yds to mark her captaincy.  She will be supporting Maggies Oxford, a cancer support centre supported by last year’s Ladies Captain Liz Lawrence, who raised just over £1900.

Junior Captain Joel McCluskey, in cotemporary golfing gear, executed a perfect 202yd 2 ft drive down the middle of the fairway.

NOGC HONOUR FOR RUMMINGS

Thirty-one-year-old Mark Rummings, who is in the top 300 golf professionals in America, has been given life membership of North Oxford Golf Club, where he first learned to play.

In proposing Rummings for the honour at the club’s annual meeting, last year’s captain Ian Booth said: “We should recognise his fine achievements within the golfing world at an early age.”

As a junior at North Oxford Golf Club he won the club championship on four occasions, represented the club in the Shaw League and won the major BB&O trophy – the Penfold Trophy.

Rummings, who is now business manager of IMG-David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida, turned professional in 2000.  He is a former North Florida PGA champion and has played two US PGA Tour events.

After moving to the US he excelled at college before becoming an instructor at the IMG-David Leadbetter Golf Academy.  Rummings won the North Florida Club PGA Championship at Eagle Creek in Nov 2009, which qualified him for the Club Pro PGA National Championship to be played in June 2010. His parents, Colin and Eunice Rummings, have been members of North Oxford for many years.

Former NOGC Professional and current manager, Bob Harris, who coached Rummings, said: “He is a great ambassador for the club.  We pride ourselves on nurturing young golfers.”

HINKSEY WIN NOGC LADIES OPEN

A team led by former Hinksey Heights lady captain Christine Clark won the North Oxford Golf Club Ladies 2010 Open on Friday (16 April 2010).

Eighty-four players from 16 different clubs in the region vied for the prestigious title and the Hinksey winning team of Christine Clark, Sandy Witcomb and Tricia Wiley scored 87 points to win the stapleford three ball Alliance competition, where the two combined top scores were counted.

NOGC competition organiser, former lady captain Sally Stewart, said: “Although early in the season our challenging course was in tip-top condition, with fast greens.  We are always pleased at the response to our Open, which is one of the most popular events in the county for lady golfers.”

NOGC lady captain Jenny Lindsay (second left) with the Hinksey Heights winners (l to r) Sandy Witcomb, Christine Clark and Tricia Wiley.

Ladies’ Captain charity boosts cancer support service

Members at North Oxford Golf Club boosted a new cancer support service at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, by supporting 2009 Lady Captain Liz Lawrence’s charity throughout the year.

Liz said: “As a result of making our donation to The Maggie’s Centre, Oxford on-line at ‘The Big Give’ (in partnership with the Reed Foundation) - the amount raised by the Ladies’ section during my captaincy year of £1,835 was doubled-up by matched funding to the grand total of £3,670.”

Maggie’s Oxford took over an existing cancer support service at the Churchill Hospital.  Staff at the Maggie’s Centre give advice, arrange courses and other forms of free support  to all cancer sufferers.   Maggie’s Centres are not funded by the NHS but rely totally on donations. They are housed in a temporary building at the moment and are fundraising for a new £3 million purpose-built centre next to the new Churchill Hospital state-of-the-art cancer caring centre.

BOB AND SALLY ARE NOGC CHAMPIONS

EIGHT-handicapper Robert Jackson is the winner of the club's Tournament of Champions.

Jackson, a former assistant golf pro, who is now a solicitor, won a sudden-death play-off to pip 16-handicapper Cliff Johnson to the title.

Entry to the competition is restricted to winners of club trophies and competitions throughout 2009. The top six players on the day take part in a sudden-death play-off.

The winner of the ladies Tournament of Champions was 16-handicapper Sally Stewart, who beat the Lady Vice-Captain Liz Hardy in the play-offs.

NOGC LADIES HIT WINNING STREAK

North Oxford Golf Club ladies have hit a winning streak in bagging two Open trophies within five days – and three of the four lady members involved played in both winning teams.

A team of four chalked up the first victory in winning the Weston Turville Ladies Open. The team of Ladies’ Vice Captain Liz Hardy (20 handicap), Margaret Eynon (27), Jane Roberts (20) and Jean Simmie (18) won the Alliance stapleford with a combined total of 122 points.

Liz Hardy, who scored her first eagle on the 14th hole, said: “We were delighted with the win.  Members of our ladies section have a lot of fun taking part in competitions and matches at other clubs in the area and we enjoy hosting matches and competitions on our home course.”

Within five days  Margaret Eynon, Jane Roberts and Jean Simmie won the Ladies Open at Chipping Norton by one point, scoring 80 points in an Alliance three-ball stapleford where the two best scores counted.

PRESIDENT PAULINE SETS NEW NOGC COURSE RECORD

North Oxford Lady President Pauline Sydenham has set up a new record on her home course with a storming eight under par medal round.

In winning an English Women’s Golf Association medal competition 13 handicapper Pauline notched up a 75 gross score on the newly lengthened parkland 70 standard scratch course.

She said: “It was the best round I have ever had.

“Our course, which is in top condition, is perfect for ladies golf.  It demands accuracy and is a great challenge.”

Pauline, a former Lady Captain, joined the club in 1985, represents North Oxford in ladies and mixed matches.

TIGHT FINISHES AT CAPTAIN’S DAY

Tight finishes at this year’s successful Captain Day meant that the first four in the stapleford competition were only one point apart, with the placings being decided on countbacks. 

The winner was 13 handicapper Jon Beever, who got off to a roaring start with three birdies in the first five holes, with 40 points after a countback.  Brian England (8) came second with 40 points, hotly pursued by 17 handicapper Joe Simpson taking third place with 39 points, also after a countback. Colin Varney (14) was fourth on 39 points.

Lady President Pauline Sydenham continued to shine by winning the ladies’ competition with 38 points, five points ahead of Mrs Carolyn Sampson, to add to her recent successes in setting a new course record for ladies and winning the ladies’ championship, all within the last six weeks.

Winner Jon Beever said: “It was a very good day and was well organised, including the drinks on the tees and a splendid meal after play.”�

Other prizewinners were: Nearest the pin -  2nd: B England; 4th O Marsden; 6th D Hedges; 10th J Goodacre; 11th P Baker; 16th C Beauchamp.  Nearest pin in 2 on the 14th, P Barrow; longest drive,  J Maloney.

The sum of £540 was raised for the Captain’s Charity, bringing the current total of the fund for Sobell House to £2,600.

PROAM 2010

The annual NOGC event took a new format this year with a 12.30pm “shotgun start”. Twenty teams from all over the BB&O competed for both the individual Professional and team prizes.  The sunny day proved challenging with a stiff N/W breeze ensuring club selection was very difficult.

Last years team winners Design Online prevailed again with a fantastic score of -14 (120). Their Professional was Tom Fleming of Frilford Heath who shot a very impressive -4 (63 gross) to win the individual prize. The second team spot was won by Savona Foods -9 (125) whose team consisted of Gary Watts, Colin Varney and Steve Horn with their Professional Scott Marshall of Lambourne shooting a 66.

Gerry Pead the acting Course Manager was delighted to receive numerous plaudits concerning the condition of his course with work commencing with his team at 5am on the day. The day proved very successful for the club and concluded with a Jazz Band and Buffet for all the members to enjoy the evening celebration.