In a month when Justin Rose achieved an Olympic Gold Medal from Rio, as well as the first hole‑in‑one, my golf was put to the test on two of the very best golf courses I have played for a long time.
Having been invited to the Fairstone Financials golf event at Nairn GC just outside of Inverness, my visit was somewhat tempered when flying into Inverness airport we were greeted with winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour. However, when the Captain announced that the winds would cause little problem to the landing, I confess to being somewhat relieved. His next statement was not quite so pleasant on the ear when he proceeded to announce that they wouldn’t be able to get the passengers off of the plane! Apparently there were fears that the exit stairways would not be able to be secured for passengers to disembark. This statement was then followed by “We will have to wait until the winds die down” – which was scheduled for some four hours later!
To bring this little story to an end, somebody came up with the idea of getting the exit stairway to one of the emergency exits that was sheltered away from the wind. At last, an hour and a quarter flight followed by an hour and a half sat on the runway; what a start to a couple of days in Nairn. Albeit the golf course and hospitality was excellent, so well worth the wait.
The second of my golfing excursions that was motivated by Justin’s Gold Medal was to attend the North West Anniversary celebration at Formby GC, where on this occasion the sun was almost too hot (almost, but not quite). Unfortunately, the Gold Medal success did not rub off on me, but again an excellent occasion on an excellent golf course – my congratulations to Howard Williams and all concerned for their efforts in putting on such an event.
Conference Planning for 2017: To those of you who attended the 2015 conference at St George’s Park, I am sure many of you would have thought that we had provided the perfect venue, thus a return visit would seem just a formality. I have to confess that for a while after the 2015 conference I was thinking exactly the same – however now having had time to reflect and listen to the comments that came back we have made a decision to move the venue for 2017. In reading the next sentence you would be right to expect to learn of where we will be going – unfortunately that is not going to happen just yet! Albeit I will confess that the venue chosen by the Conference Planning Group is sure to match the FA Centre and maybe even surpass it. The recommendation will be going to the Board within the next month and hopefully be announced next month. Watch this space!
Introductory Training Course: By the time you read this magazine the 88th Introduction to Golf Club Management training course will have just been completed. For the very first time the course will be run at Henley Golf and Country Club just outside of Henley‑in‑Arden. It never fails to surprise me how people from all over the world make the effort to come to the UK for this training course. On this occasion we will be welcoming a gentleman from Ghana to join us.
Following on from the training course, it is the time of year again when Fairway Credit host their Golf Finals Day. Once again it will be held at the extremely impressive Marriot Forest of Arden Golf & Country Club. On behalf of all at GCMA, we are sincerely grateful to Fairway Credit for all their support throughout the year.
Bob Williams
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By Bob Williams
