Hello golfers,

At last... a warm Bank Holiday! It was great to play at the weekend in the Triangular Event in glorious weather, continue to read the newsletter to see how Hockley faired?

Charity Bike Ride

By the time you read this Ben will be approaching Dover on his way to Amsterdam. The group have raised a staggering £9,706.64, 80% of their £12,000 target! So some last-minute sponsorship would be very much appreciated for such a fantastic cause.

You can donate here on the Just Giving page. Thank you to those who have already donated and for your good luck messages.

Alzheimers Charity Walk

This year my wife Angela has been fundraising for The Alzheimer's Society. Behind every great woman is a fairly useless bloke doing everything he can to keep up! I am that very man and so far this year I’ve been a human fruit machine, a pub quiz master’s glamorous assistant and spent most of July “Flamingo Flocking” the gardens of Colden Common villagers. In October, her fund raising efforts culminate in an eight day trek over the Great Wall of China in memory of her uncle who we sadly lost to Alzheimers last year.

As part of my continued effort to support her we’ve undertaken training whenever possible to ensure she’s ready for her trek, this reaches its peak on Sunday, 17 September when along with some close friends and supporters we’ll undertake a sponsored walk from Winchester to Salisbury Cathedral along the Clarendon way.

If you’d like to support us you could donate via my wife's Just Giving page or fill in the sponsorship form next to the collection tin on the bar which I’ll put out this week. Click here to visit her page. Anything you could do to support us would be greatly appreciated. We’ve already raised over £3,000 and people’s generosity has exceeded our expectations.

Thanks,
Glenn Kirby.

10 things you didn't know about me...

I still find members saying’ ‘I didn’t know you did that?’ so I’ve come up with 10 things you didn’t know about me and my services:

1. I offer a Custom Fit Service and will price match reputable retailers.
2. Lessons can be taken on the course, range or putting green.
3. I have a loft and lie machine to check and alter clubs.
4. I offer a repair and re-gripping service.
5. I can measure how far you hit each club ‘Gapping’ using a launch monitor.
6. I have a Click and Collect service for any online orders.
7. I always offer FREE advice.
8. I offer trade-ins, in conjunction with GolfBidder.
9. I have been a PGA member since 1981.
   
10. I am a ‘Pompey’ fan, so is Chris!
    

If you would like to take Chris or I up on any of these please pop into the pro shop and ask or click here to send us an email.

Junior Coaching

Junior lessons return this coming weekend and there are a few spaces left on Saturday and Sunday at 9:30am if you know of any juniors that maybe interested in taking up the game. Please contact any member of the pro shop team for more information or click here to send us an email.

On the course...

We had one match last week against Basingstoke away on beautiful sunny day. We had a very enjoyable match and all the games were very close, but unfortunately we lost 5.5 - 0.5 which was an exact reversal of the match against them at Hockley.

Well done to Gordon Dewis and his team for reaching the Semi-finals of the Knighton Heath Singles Matchplay against Parkstone away. We lost the match, but all the games were again very close and an away draw is always very difficult, but it was a very good effort.

Next week we host our Seniors' Open on Wednesday, 6 September and -we are still looking for raffle prizes please, all the money raised goes to our charity Naomi House. Please leave donated prizes in the club office or the pro shop.

Tony Crawford,
Seniors' Captain.

North Hants Trophy Report

Our ladies team of Chris Quinn, Helen Bailey and Jo Russell beat Basingstoke last week at Hockley in the Semi-finals of the North Hants Trophy Plate.

They will now be in the Finals at Basingstoke on Monday, 11 September, time TBC. Supporters would be much appreciated.

Ladies Stableford

An excellent entry into the Ladies Stableford on Thursday and the results were as follows:

Silver Division winner - Alison Coulter (40 points) and runner-up - Margaret Williams (39 points).
Bronze Division winner - Wendy Greenhalgh (37 points) and runner-up - Elizabeth Betts (35 points).

Ladies American KO

Congratulations to Lesley Milne on winning the Ladies American KO, runner-up was Jean White.

Hockley retain the Winchester Triangular.......lovely jubbly

On Saturday a team of 30 Hockley members retained the Winchester Triangular, extending Hockley's proud record of being the most successful club of the triumvirate.

A gloriously sunny day saw some equally glorious scores, with outstanding contributions from the ladies, gents and juniors. Although our team performed like a well-oiled machine, special mentions must go to: Tom Chalk, Jean White, June Glaspell, and Dennis Hodgetts, who all top scored in their particular divisions. The final team scores were: Hockley - 866, South Winchester - 807 and Royal Winchester - 784. Special thanks go to Adrian Nicol for spending all day at Hockley starting, issuing cards and then collating the scores.

After the golf, we were welcomed back to Royal, for a tasty meal and prize giving, where Captain Nick gratefully and graciously accepted the trophy (Pictured two). Pictured one shows Captain Nick, fondly known as "Rodney" by his playing group, Royal Bar Steward Steve Pope, aka "Delboy" (spot the likeness)
and Vice Captain Damian aka er "Damian", son of Delboy.

Mixed Friendly Match vs. Hayling Island

On Sunday, 27 August, a strong Hockley mixed team consisting of 16 players entertained a mixed team from Hayling Island Golf Club and with summer finally arriving, the day was set for some great golf. 
Hayling Island have always presented stiff opposition and Sunday was no different, mixed with a blend of low and high handicappers their greensomes strategy was well thought out and ready to put Hockley to the test. It was to be a great contest with all matches hard fought, close and played in a fantastic spirit. The end result being a tie, four points apiece resulting in Hockley continuing their unbeaten run.

The day ended with drinks and a lovely two course meal and our thanks goes to Steve and the front of house team for looking after us. A special thank you also to Carole and Tony Cullen for organising this fixture as well as all the players for playing. A great day had by all and we look forward to the away match next year.

Nick Goater,
Club Captain.

Men's Long Course Stableford Result

Division One winner - Colin Bradbury with an excellent 40 points
Division Two winner - Rob Tobin with 35 points.

Upcoming Events

We have a number of events coming up at Hockley, including:

• Saturday, 2 September - Men’s Long Course Stableford and ladies second round of the Habin Cup, enter on the day in the pro shop.
• Sunday, 3 September - Men’s Medal.
  
• Sunday, 10 September - The Sonny Sharpe Trophy is now open for entry on the psi, the closing date is Saturday, 2 September and more entries are needed for this event to take place. This is a 36 hole event, 18 holes of medal in the morning and 18 holes of stableford in the afternoon. The stableford points are deducted from the nett medal score – lowest score wins, £15 per person. This event is also open to five day members upon payment of a £10 green fee, the event is limited to 66 players and if oversubscribed the entries will be balloted by handicap. 
  

Knockout Competitions

A reminder that the Semi-finals of the Tutt Bowl are to be played by Sunday, 3 September and there will be no extensions.

If your match has been played, please ensure the result has been recorded on both the draw sheet and the psi. If the winners are not posted by the round completion date the game could be assumed not to have been played and therefore both players could be subject to elimination. Winners - Please check that the win has been posted.