Captain’s Report 2013

Mr President Bill, Past Captains and Lady Captains, Chairman Andrew, Captain Elect Chris, Lady Captain Mary, Junior Captain Daniel, Members of Kedleston Park Golf Club

I promised at last year’s AGM that my longest speech would be delivered on that day and for that reason, rather than taking hours at the meeting, I am taking a departure from the usual formalities and writing a detailed report that you may choose to read or ignore. My actual speech at the AGM will be short and to the point.

I have enjoyed a wonderful year as the Captain of Kedleston Park Golf Club and I want to acknowledge the people who have helped and supported me, as well as to recognise the huge slices of good fortune that I have benefited from.

The people and in no particular order

General Manager, Rob Simpson is quite simply a gem. A hard working well connected professional who has a vast knowledge of all things ‘golf’. He brings to Kedleston Park an extra dimension, and valuable experience whether we are dealing with the PGA, the R&A, the DUGC, England Golf, other clubs or just a visiting golfer. He has been a massive help to me and I very much hope that he will be remaining in his position for many years to come. May I also thank Gail for her diligent work in the office and Roger Mason for his skilful accountancy work.

The professional Ian Walley is a great golfer, a good businessman, an intelligent, experienced and effective coach and I think of him now as a friend. He was, in my opinion, the perfect choice when we recruited a new Pro and the positive effect that he has had on the service that members now receive is remarkable. All of this is even more amazing when you consider that within a couple of weeks of starting work in March, he and Nicola had a new baby and discovered that their lovely daughter has diabetes. More of Ian later.

The other professional staff, Phil Richards and Nick Taylor contributed greatly to the friendly atmosphere in the shop and around the club. Phil is a “Pied Piper” with the juniors and their coaching has gone from strength to strength since his arrival. Nick is a warm, hard working and sociable man who has fitted in brilliantly and we all wish him well at the Forest of Arden and with his playing career, which starts in earnest next year. I wish recent addition Andy all the best and every success at Kedleston.

The greens staff, led by HGK Dave Leatherland , have received much praise this year and I hope that they will continue to be enthusiastic in keeping our course in the fantastic condition it has been in this year. Enormous thanks to Dave, Paul, Adrian, Frasier, Robert, Christian and Ben.

I have done my very best to maintain high levels of beer and wine consumption and whilst I do not claim to be solely responsible for the improved bar takings – I have certainly helped. Enormous thanks go to the wonderful Emma who has been hugely supportive and innovative during my year. In cahoots with the lovely Michelle, they have contributed massively to the social functions during the year, from the wonderful atmosphere of the Valentines Dinner, through the fantastic table and room decorations at the Summer Ball and in the great food and bar service at every occasion in the year.

May I thank each and every one of the bar and catering staff who have provided such smiling helpful attentive service during the year.  Here’s to Sarafina, Chazz, Billy, Jasmine, Lissy, Becky and Rebecca, Marta, Bella, Tott, Phil, Michelle, Nick, Finn, Martyn, Ed, Drey, Freddie, Laura, Lauren, Jo, and of course Emma. You have all done a great job and I thank you sincerely for your contribution.

We were very lucky when we found Neil our handyman who is hardworking and helpful and more recently, ably supported by Kam.

Working with the committee has been a real eye opener into just how much hard work goes on behind the scenes, all provided voluntarily and most of it in harmony. My special thanks go to our retiring Chairman Andy Kay, who has been my number one supporter, but also to Jan Cunningham, Robbie McGregor, Guy Oates and Garry McBride. Jeff Thomas doesn’t seem to enjoy being on committee but I hope that he will become a more positive contributor to the club in the next year.

It’s probably wrong to pick out individual members but a number have been extra supportive and should be thanked. Kan Ishikawa, Mike O’Neill, Bob Kirkland, Brian Penny for his help with the teams, Don Robb for organising the scratch team, Billy Crick, Roy Battelle, Roy Osborne, Rod Thomas, Peter Woodhouse, Jake Beardsley, Dave Ball, Simon Pearson, Kenny Burns, Mark Fall, Jim Harris, John Blount, Paul Clarke, Billy Hughes, Gerry Daly, George McCool, Nigel Cleaver, Jimmy Feeney, Steve Pinchbeck, Pete Ramsden, Paul Prime and not forgetting my good friend Nick Goodwin. There will be others and I apologise if I’ve missed you out. I would also like to thank Kevin Feeney for his help and guidance and support throughout the year. He’s a top bloke and can’t help being a Red. Thank you also to the ever smiling 2013 Junior Captain Jordan Barker.

I have been rewarded by the integration of a number of fairly new members and hope that they continue to increase their involvement in the club. Wayne Hart, Ian Page, Neil Hudson, Pete Buckley, Bill Heap, Edward Marshall, Stewart McCabe, Steve Capenerhurst, Steve Wright spring to mind but there will be others.

There have been two very special ladies in my life this last year. Firstly I have been SO lucky to have the bubbly, caring, hard-working Eileen Strafford as my Lady Captain.  Eileen has made it all seem like fun, and we’ve got to know each other very well over the year and Bryan has always been around to help and to play golf with KC. Eileen and Bryan will always be our friends. I have enjoyed some success with Eileen in mixed golf, winning two ‘honours board’ competitions in the year and narrowly missing a third [perhaps just as well].

My wonderful wife  KC  has never questioned the commitment required by me and has herself been fully involved in almost everything – I loved that she could be part of the Lombard win and again at Wollaton in the Spondon Trophy final as my caddy and thank her for sharing those moments with me. I look forward to playing my mixed golf with KC in the coming years – and to spending a little more time with her away from the golf club as well.

On a sad note I have attended more funerals this year than I care to mention and it was especially sad to say farewell to Past Captain and larger than life character John Webster, to Geoff Lambert a dear family friend, to past Captain Dr Mike Liver, to past Lady Captain Margaret Richardson, to Jon Tizard, the son of our own dear Chris Tizard but also the husband of one of KC’s close friends Dawn and of course Sam Verdon who tragically died so young. Tony and Julie Verdon were both a shining example to us all of strength in the face of adversity and the golf club showed it’s true character raising over £2000 to help Sam get to Augusta.

The weeks and months have sped by [as everyone warns you] but almost every moment has been a joyful one, and I hope that because I have enjoyed myself, a little part of that fun has rubbed off on the club and the members.

I’ve enjoyed some Good luck

• Three years of great work by Nigel Cleaver and Andy Kay which put the club on the road towards a better future including the appointment of a top class General Manager and the change of brewery supplier.
• More modern course equipment and motivation of the greens staff which has resulted in a better course and greens.
• Completion of the new locker rooms
• The appointment of a new Head Professional and his staff which has turned the Pro Shop into the focal point of the club.
• The new web site and tee booking system
• A proper summer of decent sunny weather
• Emma and her work behind the bar and with visiting societies
• Phil and Michelle and their team who have worked tirelessly to produce excellent food throughout the year
• A  Lady Captain who backed me in everything I did
• The goodwill and support of the members of the club

On top of all of this I had the backing of my business partners Glyn Evans, Wayne Thomas and Richard Smith to allow me the time to do the job [I hope] properly – as well as the team who work directly for me, to look after clients when I was away.

One of the high points of the year for the club and for me was hosting the England Golf County Boys Finals which brought the focus of Amateur Golf on Derbyshire for a week in August. Kedleston and its members can be assured that we were not found wanting. The compliments about the course and the facilities came from all directions and were serious and sincere. We are a club that will be taken seriously when opportunities arise for high profile competition and that reflects well on the members and the staff.

Kedleston will always be a members club where the requirements of the members are top priority and being a top competition venue will help us to keep this club exclusive, in the same way that clubs like Hollinwell and Lindrick retain their status. The club is ‘bucking the trend’ with golf clubs locally and nationally and we must maintain this positive momentum.

My golfing year

Along the way I managed to play better golf which lead to some success during the year.

In simple numbers a year as Captain has meant

• Over 180 rounds of golf
• 3276 holes, most of them in competitive formats
• Walking over 1100 miles following and hitting a little white ball
• 37 qualifying competitions in the season
• 37 Presentations
• 76 Speeches
• 122 official meals
• 22 men’s matches
• 4 mixed matches
• 36 committee meetings
• £10560 raised for TREATS

And endless amounts of conversations with warm friendly people, getting to know most, if not all, of the members and SO many kisses from lovely ladies.

In golfing terms I have been so lucky to play my golf with Ian Walley and to have him as a mentor and a coach. I have learnt so much from playing with him in matches but we have also had some success. When I won the Lombard qualifier in April 2013, just an ordinary Saturday Stableford competition, I had no idea that it would lead to a regional qualifying win with Ian and ultimately to a four day stay at Gleneagles and a win in the National Pro Am, the Lombard Trophy. Playing in the last group on the second day, we came from behind to win by two shots and I felt I played my part – we had 14 birdies [7 each] over the 36 holes and only 3 bogeys. It was consistency in the end that won. It was such a brilliant experience for me but also some good exposure for the club and a handsome reward for Ian.

Each year Kedleston enter the Pro Captain Challenge and we were lucky enough to win the regional qualifier, which just happened to be at Kedleston Park. Ian played the back nine in a sensational 30 shots, with SIX birdies, so having turned in 1 under, we walked up the 18^th 7 under. My turn had come and I holed a tricky downhill six footer to make a net birdie on the last – we had won by I shot to book our tickets to Turkey. This is fresh in the memory with us only returning from Turkey last Saturday and even though we were denied the outright victory by the weather, we have the pleasure of holding both of the major pro/amateur titles in one year, something which has never been achieved before. Ian has won the Pro Captain two years running, again something that has never been done before – a fantastic achievement.

The other major highlight for me was winning the Spondon Trophy final against New Mills at Wollaton in October. This inter club competition is played over 7 months and began in April 2013. Each club is represented by seven over 50’s, who play singles matches. I played in every round and was unbeaten, with my closest call coming against Uttoxeter in the quarter final when I took 21 holes to beat my opponent. Some great golf was played by the whole of our team and my thanks go especially to Kan Ishikawa, who captained the team and to John Day, Robbie McGregor, John Rickard, Barrie McAuliffe and Dave Lesser who all played in the final but also to Dave Wall, John Beddington, Bob Taylor, Mike Nicholass, Guy Oates and Richard Keeling who made up the team in earlier rounds.

It was also great to win the BMW Regional Final at Woburn in June and qualify for the Turnberry Final – my golf deserted me on the actual competition day on the Alisa, but the whole experience was just another brilliant episode in a packed and exciting year.

Five away trips were organised during the year :-

To Thurlestone, my club in Devon in March, where lots of KPGC members swelled the numbers to 22 and we played a match against the locals.

To Archerfield in Scotland in April, where 18 of us stayed a couple of nights and enjoyed DJ Russell’s welcome and hospitality.

To Little Aston in September ,when 52 gentlemen members played in my Away Day.

To Wychwood Park in Cheshire in October, when eight couples played on Sunday and got washed away on the Monday.

To San Roque in Spain in November, organised by Ian Walley,in perfect weather and enjoyed by a small but happy group of 10.

Kedleston has been blessed this year with unparalleled success in County, National and International golf. Bradley Moore won the McEvoy Trophy, the Midland Schools Championship, the European Young Masters and was runner up in the McGregor Trophy. He played in the Jaques Leglise, played for England and won the U18 England Order of Merit. Ryan Wesselingh won the Henriques and the County Matchplay title, as well as the Kedleston Club Championship. Will Painter was selected to play for England Schools in the Home Internationals and of course the success of our own Paul Wesselingh is legendary. He has three wins on this year’s European Senior Tour and is almost certain to clinch the John Jacobs Trophy for the Senior Tour Order of Merit at the Tour Championship in Mauritius in December.

I have very much enjoyed keeping my Captain’s Log up to date and I hope that some of you enjoyed reading it as well.

Now that the year is over, I have 52 weeks of wonderful memories, lot’s of photo’s and  I can sign off in the belief that Kedleston Park Golf Club is a well run, well managed community, proud to be members of THE BEST CLUB IN DERBYSHIRE and quite possibly the Midlands.

I look forward to 2014 when Chris Nye will be the Captain – he is, I believe, a very good choice and will, with Lady Captain Mary Coe, do a great job. He has the interests of Kedleston at heart and I hope that everyone will fully support them in their year.

I talked about evolution last year in my opening speech and I’m proud to think that Kedleston Park has moved forward in a positive and beneficial way for members, has become a more attractive destination for visitors and guests and has had plenty of excellent publicity both locally and nationally.

Thank you and goodnight!

Ian Neal