North Oxford Golf Club

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.”

Last year the club bucked the local trend by increasing membership and green fee players and this year has come up with a special credit crunch package to become the best value members club in the city, The club has also recently improved the course and spent £150,000 in refurbishing its clubhouse . For details ring Bob Harris on 01865 554924 (Option 2).

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.

LEE JACKSON IS TOP
OXON PRO

NOGC Professional Lee Jackson was Oxfordshire’s best finisher in the final qualifying round for the Open at Turnberry.

Although he missed coming in the first four to qualify for the Open, he was only four shots off the leader when he finished joint 19th at Western Gailes, Scotland, on two over par after rounds of 73 and 71.

The only two other Oxfordshire club pros to make the final qualifying round finished were David Boyce from The Springs, who came joint 79th at Gailes and Neil Rowlands from Chipping Norton, who finished joint 85th on the Kilmarnock course.

Lee was the first North Oxford pro to reach the Open final qualifying round.

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.”