Burton Joyce Football club

We have sponsored Burton Joyce FC this season - here's a short update on how they've been doing. Sounds like a great season so far, with the chance of honours at the end of it:

Burton Joyce Football Club play in the Nottinghamshire Amateur Alliance (NAA) Premier Division and with just four league games to play sit in third place with games in hand on those above them. A remarkable undefeated run at the end of last season saw Burton Joyce promoted to the Premier Division and the continuation of that has led to them being amongst three sides able to claim the title. That unbeaten run began in January 2009 and it took over a year for “BJ” to come up against a side with the capabilities to defeat them. As well as being a good bet to take the league title, the Green Army, led by Darron Ward, have made their way to two cup finals and hopes are high of achieving a very impressive treble come mid-May. The first of those cup finals is the NAA Senior League Trophy at Dunkirk FC on Thursday 29th April, where BJ will face one of the other sides challenging them for the title, Santos. The second cup final, again at Dunkirk FC, is on May 11th and sees Darron Ward's men take on Nottinghamshire Senior League side Awsworth Villa Reserves for the Nottinghamshire Junior County Cup. Whether or not Burton Joyce win all three of the trophies that they find themselves chasing one thing is for certain this has certainly been a great debut season in the NAA Premier Division.

Inactive Handicaps

We had one of those 'law of unintended consequences' moments last week. In the am/am on Saturday, one of the teams put in a fantastic 96 points, only to be docked 14 of them as one of the team had an inactive handicap. It's a shame, especially in a team game, because of course all the team members suffer because of the one 'inactive' one. This instance was a particular shame because the guy in question only joined late last year and so didn't play in enough qualifiers last season, then played all winter in the non-qualifiers and was caught out very early in this season because he didn't realise his situation. It's a good rule in general, it makes sure that everyone is playing off a genuine handicap.

Just to clarify: It is a condition of entry for all Mapperley Golf Club competitions that members should have an active handicap. Members without an active handicap (at least three cards from qualifiers during the previous season) can play in qualifiers, but they won't be charged a competition entry fee and they won't be eligible to win prizes until they have put in three cards. Also, you can't carry over a card from the previous season - putting in one from last year and two from this, you have to put three cards in within a single playing season.

We have more than 100 members with inactive handicaps. If you are one or know one - lets get three in!

Result of Membership Course Change Ballot

The votes have now been counted and the results were:

In favour - 77 votes
Against - 267 votes

The official communication from the General Committee will be posted on the club noticeboards and on the website. Thanks to Messrs John Haywood and Bill Wile for organising and scrutineering the count.

Ladies Charity Day raises £750

The Ladies Charity day on Tuesday 13th April was a Texas scramble, with upwards of 80 ladies playing and taking part in the raffle to raise money for this year's Lady Captain's charity, Sutherland House school for autistic children. At the end of the day, Jane Davis, Lady Captain, presented a cheque for £750 to Darren Worthy, fundraising and communication manager for NORSACA, the charity that runs Sutherland House School.

Members Ballot on new course layout

We are at the end of the ‘original layout’ trial period, during which we hope all members have had the opportunity to play Mapperley Golf Course in the way in which the Course Architect originally envisaged. A ballot will now be held on the proposed changes.

NB: The ‘old’ cards we have been using have ‘old’ stroke indexing on them. While we have been making use of these cards for convenience’ sake during the trial, we are not looking to change the indexing of the course as a direct result of this change, if adopted, and indexing should be ignored when casting your vote.

There has been feedback from members, some formal but the majority informal, the main points of opinion summarised below:

In favour of the change: The flow of play is improved, with a more efficient movement from second to third, ninth to tenth; the front nine will end within easy and safe reach of the clubhouse; a safety risk is removed as people no longer need to walk along the path behind the conifer hedge, and they no longer need to wait for people to putt out on what was the second hole or wait for the third tee to clear before leaving the ninth; a view down the third means that it is easy to see when it is safe to play; the conifer hedge alongside the ‘previous’ second can be removed and more attractive planting introduced, and it is felt that having a ‘tough’ ninth hole puts it at a better position within the round than as the second. It should also spread play out to reduce the queuing on the 11th tee during summer competitions.

Against the change: We are introducing a further climb to what is already a hilly course; we are introducing an area of heavy traffic around the half way house, worse than under the original course layout because the halfway house has moved from the 11th tee area; there are additional areas where players have to wait as they move from the first to the second tee and from the eighth to ninth; teeing off on the second while people are on the halfway house patio affects their ability to enjoy a conversation; playing a ‘tough’ ninth immediately after a break can make it harder; there are no ‘long iron’ or ‘fairway wood’ holes until the fourth, affecting rhythm; the criss-crossing could make it confusing for visitors. There will be a cost, however small, and some members wonder whether money could be better spent elsewhere; There is also a sense that the course was changed away from this layout some years ago to deal with problems perceived at that time, so why change back?

There has been lively debate both within and outside committee meetings. On the basis of the feedback, and of experience of playing the layout, it is the strong recommendation of the General Committee that the trial is deemed a success and the ‘original layout’ (shorter second hole) be adopted (votes were 11 in favour, four against). Paths will be introduced for walking, trolleys and buggies to make sure that the routes between holes are safe and clearly marked, and all work can be undertaken by our own greens staff and within our own physical and financial resources.

Ballots will be held after the Easter holiday weekend on the following dates:

Wednesday 7th, Saturday 10th, Sunday 11th and Tuesday 13th April. Members may vote on any day that is convenient to them.

Reverting to the old layout (temporarily?)

Because of the rain we have had over the last couple of days and the consequent condition of the temporary path, we are immediately reverting to the 'usual' course layout (long second hole), for safety's sake.

This doesn't affect the balloting dates or balloting mechanism.