Bear Golf Society Newsletter  2021                                             

 

THIS NEWSLETTER IS SPONSORED JOINTLY BY

SUNSHADES & DECKING and RCF WINDOWS / AYLESBURY GLASS

 

The year 2020 will live in everyone’s memory as the year the world changed forever  !!!

 

Never in the history of the Bears, and it’s been 20 years, have we had such a sad year as 2020.

 

The Coronavirus came in so fast it didn’t give anyone a chance to prepare for it and it just devastated the whole world!!

 

We will always remember, and be grateful to, the key workers and certainly the NHS, who dedicated their lives to getting us through it.

They put the GREAT back into Great Britain.

We must also remember the poor souls who lost their lives to this terrible pandemic.

 

CORONAVIRUS / COVID 19

Due to the pandemic we were sadly forced to cancel all meetings after our March meeting at Temple GC when the 1^st lockdown came in to operation.

Once the Government ruling on large crowd gatherings came into play we knew that the Bears would struggle to hold a meeting in 2020 due to the average attendance of Bears meetings being 30 players.

Luckily in August the easing of Government restrictions enabled golf clubs to open up again and we restarted our season at Oxford GC but with the restriction of 30 players in attendance. 

We then managed to hold meetings right through until October albeit with restrictions and even changing venues and one date.

Sadly November saw the 2^nd lockdown which meant we had to cancel our ‘end of season’ bash at Whipsnade GC.

Despite all these interruptions we still managed to donate £600 to several charities including our own chosen charity.

 

ORDER OF MERIT 2020

This obviously didn’t happen so the lucky members who won it in 2019 happily carried it through 2020 !!

Well done to Pete Smees, runner-up Mike Sparkes.

Congratulations also go to our very own WEBMEISTER Graham Ecob for winning the Absent Friends Trophy, runner-up Phil Clack.

You lucky people keeping it for 2 years !!

 

SUSPENSION OF NEW MEMBERSHIP FOR 2021

With the present outlook looking bleak, golf clubs with advice from England Golf, are restricting societies to a maximum of 30 players (this is not for the course but for the clubhouse if catering is required)

Graham and I have therefore decided to suspend the new membership register for 2021.

With over 60 members at present this will give established members the chance to get a few games in should the limit be extended through 2021.

This will also be extended to members guests while the limit on numbers is in place. 

Once the situation changes we will of course review the restrictions but we feel it is important to support the members who have supported us so well in the past.

 

We want to thank each & every one of you for helping us raise the following funds & you will see how that money was distributed to each charity :-

 

Donations for 2020                                                                                                                

Cancer Care Unit (our chosen charity)

(to help towards the wages of the Macmillan Cancer Support Nurses)                         £320

NHS Fund                                                                                                                                £100                        

Florence Nightingale Hospice (Aylesbury)                                                                        £100

Batchworth GC Captains Charity

(Educating & Empowering children in Third World countries)                                           £80

 

                                                                                               

Grand total raised & donated by the Bears: -  £600

 

Bears Chosen Charity for 2021 is:-

Cancer Care & Haematology Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital

 

 

This newsletter is shorter than the usual long winded one you normally receive at the start of each season, see, the pandemic has even affected the newsletter !!

 

The following sections are for the new members who joined us through 2020 and will hopefully answer any questions they might have out the Bears.

 

LAST MINUTE CANCELLATIONS

When we give the golf club final numbers (usually a couple of days prior to our visit) this is the number that has to be paid for. If by any chance a player has to cancel at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances they will have to pay for their already booked place. A few years ago most clubs would only charge for the food that had to be bought in, but now most clubs specify that we have bought ‘the package’ which means the whole amount has to be paid for. This is due to the fact I think they were losing too much money on the cancelled green fees as well as the food and as most catering is franchised the golf clubs were receiving nothing towards the upkeep of the course. Please remember that if you do have to pay for a last minute cancellation it’s not the society that is demanding the money but the golf club. 

   

SPONSORS

We can’t operate without them so a big thanks must go to all of them for all their help.

You are all very important to us and I don’t think it’s fair to pick out just a few of you because you have bigger adverts in our event diary. We have been lucky enough to welcome several new sponsors for 2021 enabling us to carry on the great work the Bears do donating to several charities as we go about our golf. 

We can’t thank the regular small sponsors enough, we can’t operate without your help and collectively you help us so much.

d.