My year as Lady Captain of Brighton and Hove Golf Club

It’s all over. We had our AGM last Wednesday and I am no longer Lady Captain. I thought I’d reflect on my year. To my great shock, I’m asked to be Lady Captain It was a Wednesday after a competition, two and a half years ago. I was having a coffee and chatting in the conservatory when Judy arrived with Delia, who was to be our new Captain a few months later. They sat down and Judy...

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My Lady Captain’s Day

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I had my charity day on 30 June, then the committee away day on 2 July, closely followed by my Lady Captain’s Day on 4 July. The day after, I played in the Crowborough Open. At the same time, work started misbehaving with clients sending me projects I couldn’t easily fit in in between all the golf. So it’s been very busy, but I thought I should record my Lady...

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My charity day raises over £2,200

Praying the golf goddess will send good weather All week I’d been obsessing about the weather, checking the forecast every 20 minutes of so. I knew that it would make a huge difference to my enjoyment of my golfing charity day and, more importantly, to the success of the day and the amount we raised. Would people pull out of the 9 hole competition if the weather was truly awful? Surely people...

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Dawn to dusk golfing fundraiser

Me: “I’ve had this brilliant idea for a fundraiser for my charity, Sussex NightStop. How about I ask people to sponsor me to play golf from dawn to dusk on one of the longest days of the year? I could invite people to join me! I could organise a 9 hole competition! We could sell cakes and tea and make a day of it! And then have a big curry and beers in the evening!” Tom: “Playing from dawn to...

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Helping beginner golfers: information on pace of play

We have a lot of new members, some of which are discovering golf in all its beautiful intricacy. There are so many things to learn when you join a golf club. During our last committee meeting, we tried to work out what we could do to help them get the most out of joining the club and playing golf. We came up with the idea of a welcome pack with the information they’ll need to find their way...

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A golf taster session to grow the women’s section at Brighton & Hove Golf Club

As I’ve stated in an earlier post on improving communications within the ladies’ section, one of my goals as Captain is to grow the women’s section at Brighton & Hove. We’re very small and this season, we’ve struggled to field teams in the two divisions we’ve entered. We started working on this around a year ago, when Lindsay, our club Secretary, was contacted by England Golf to...

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My amazing eclectic competition workbook

An eclectic competition to encourage people to play over the winter   One of my goals as Captain is to encourage our members to play more. Of course, for most people, winter is a time when a round of golf slips down the list of priorities at the weekend. Who would want to go out on a windy, freezing hill wearing so many layers to avoid hypothermia that they can barely move their arms? A pub...

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Other tools to improve communication in the ladies’ section

Newsletter and improved website for better communication I’ve already touched on the subject of improving communication within the ladies’ section at Brighton & Hove Golf Club, particularly through my email newsletter. It’s proved very efficient to disseminate information. Members who spend weeks away from the club have also told me that they appreciate being able to keep in touch with...

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A newsletter to improve communications within the ladies’ section

My goals as Captain I gave myself three goals to achieve during my year as Captain: Improve communications within the section Encourage members to play more golf Grow the section A newsletter to communicate more efficiently I’ve made progress in all three, but the one I’ve enjoyed the most is the first: improve communications. The way we used to exchange information within the section was very...

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Past Captain: Heather Hilder-Darling of Worthing Golf Club

In my quest to be a decent Lady Captain, I thought I’d seek the advice and experience of friends who have already taken the mantle. Heather was Lady Captain at Worthing Golf Club last year. Our two clubs couldn’t be more different: we have 9 holes and they have an outrageous 36 holes over two wonderful downland courses. The Ladies’ section, as well as the whole club, also boast...

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