Graeme Crompton is to become the new Head Professional at West Hove GC
Club Chairman, Richard Simmons, writes as follows:
"Following interviews carried out last week, I am delighted to announce that Graeme Crompton will be our new Head Professional. Graeme was one of many candidates who applied for the vacancy.
Graeme has been the Head Professional at Hollingbury Park Golf Club for 13 years and he is well known in Sussex as a top golf coach, particularly for coaching ladies and juniors. He has worked in the Brighton area as a golf pro' for nearly 25 years.
The Directors are confident that Graeme will operate and stock our pro' shop to the highest standards and will help us to drive our Club forward in our centenary year and beyond.
Graeme is looking forward to working with Ronnie, Russell and Graham, re-fitting and changing the layout of the shop and introducing a Mizuno custom-fitting centre and computerised tee-booking system.
I am sure that you will join the Directors in congratulating Graeme on his appointment and in wishing him a successful future with our Club".

Ladies Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday team results - you win some and you lose some
A team of five West Hove Ladies made the short trip to The Dyke GC yesterday to play in the second round of the Mail on Sunday team matchplay event. Playing in their new raspberry and white team colours, partly sponsored by Tony Seabrook and Globalnet telecom, they won by 3½ to 1½ to reach the third round.
Today, in the Daily Mail pairs' competition at a cold and blustery Hill Barn GC, our team of Rita Hedderman and Angie Whitty lost narrowly 2 & 3.  please click here for photos

West Hove's Juniors donate £300 to 'Rockinghorse'
In keeping with the theme set by Club Captain Gordon Eaton and Ladies' Captain Jan Seabrook, our Juniors have chosen to support a children's charity by donating their Dockerill's Junior Brighton League winner's prize of £300 to Rockinghorse. This charity, that makes life better for sick children in Sussex, is best known for its work with the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton.
In a letter to Ken Stafford, West Hove's Junior Organiser, the Rockinghorse's Community Fundraiser, Analiese Doctrove wrote "I would like to say a special thank you to Jonny Ingram who chose to donate the money to Rockinghorse, and also Malcolm Dockerill who kindly provides a fund for the top three teams in the Brighton Junior Golf League".

The Latest Centenary Year News

• Booking forms for the Club's spectacular Centenary Gala Ball, to be held on Saturday 3 July 2010, are now available from the General Office or the Bar. Members are advised to book early to avoid disappointment.

• The draw for the team to represent the Club in the inaugural centenary year match against Golf du Sart has been made. The16-man squad, led by Club Captain Gordon Eaton, will travel to France on 9 April. Our hosts will then be visiting us during our Gala Weekend in August.

• Plans for the Club's South Downs Way Charity Walk are well advanced. Members will be receiving full details with their AGM Notice papers later this month. In the meantime, sponsorship forms will shortly be available on the table beneath the Centenary Notice-Board and the on-line JustGiving pages have already been set up.
  please click here for details

• Now that the threat of snow has disappeared (?), Members might like to consider booking a free round of golf on another golf course. During our Centenary Year, the Club has organised reciprocal arrangements with no less than 23 different Clubs!
  please click here for details

This year's Mixed Easter competition on Easter Monday becomes even more mixed!
The Club is conscious that there is a growing number of members who have left the Club, or lost their partners, who very much miss the fabulous social side of 'Mixed Golf'. It has therefore been agreed that at this year's Easter Monday competition, past members will be invited to play but subject, of course, to the payment of a green-fee. If you would like to be involved in this year's Texas Scramble event please get in touch with the office, Maurice Grange or Jeanie Bailey. Don't be shy.

Brian Holmes was unanimously elected as the new Seniors' Captain today
Following the sudden sad death of John Lane on Boxing Day 2009, the Senior's today held an Extraordinary General Meeting where Brian Holmes was unanimously elected as the new Centenary Year Seniors' Captain. Brian, who was the Seniors' Captain in 2006/7 takes up his responsibilities immediately and joins the Golf Committee. Andy Page continues in his role as Seniors' Vice-Captain.
The meeting also agreed that the recently purchased silver salver, to be competed for as an 18-hole Par (or Bogey) competition, should be renamed. In memory of John, it is now known as the John Lane Seniors' Centenary Salver.

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A message for all Members - Come and play a round of golf with the Captain!
Having returned bronzed from his winter holiday, Centenary Club Captain Gordon Eaton writes:
"During my captaincy year, I would like to play with, and get to know, as many members as possible. Some of you may have noticed that my captain’s tee times (9.30) on the Saturday and Sunday start sheets are now marked as just “Captain” with three blank spaces after. If you are looking for a game, please feel free to fill in your name if there is a space available - all welcome, particularly new members. I look forward to seeing you."

The Club has today issued the following statement about Darren Cook:
"Darren has given notice that he will be resigning as our Golf Professional when his contract expires on 26 April 2010 as he has accepted a job opportunity at Gatwick Airport, completely unrelated to golf.
Darren has been associated with West Hove Golf Club for 17 years and has brought great credit to the Club, particularly with his work developing junior golfers that was a major contribution to our successful achievement of the Golfmark Award.
Everyone at the Club thanks Darren for his help and commitment during that time and wishes him great success in his new role.
The Board will be instigating a formal process for a new Golf Professional during the next few weeks."

Three late news items:
1.    The winner of the raffle which helped fund last year's Children's Christmas Party was
       Tony Tilbury. His prize? A large cuddly toy.
2.    The winner of December's prize draw for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf (worth £50)
       is Owen Voice - congratulations.
3.    The entry in the Club's diary for 11 December should read "Children's Christmas Party".

The dates for the September 2010 Course Maintenance work have changed
Would Members please note their diaries that the Course Maintenance scheduled for 20-24 September inclusive has now been postponed by one week and will now take place between Monday 27 September and Friday 1 October 2010.

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Today's Centenary Welcome Lunch was attended by over 100 Members and guests
This was the Club's first formal event in our Centenary Year and the first large function for our new Catering Manager Clay Morris. It proved to be a resounding success with everyone enjoying the full waiter/waitress service and some excellent food. Brief presentations were made by the Club Captain, Gordon Eaton, the Ladies' Captain Jan Seabrook and the Centenary Committee Chairman, Brian Hazelgrove, before the postponed 2009 Christmas Raffle draw was made. A full list of the winners is now displayed in the Clubhouse. Thanks go to Brian Murphy and Lynn Stoner, and everyone else involved, in making this event a success.

How is my annual fee to the English Golf Union used?
The English Golf Union (EGU) is the governing body of men's amateur golf in England. Every male Club Member pays the sum of £5.00 (as of January 2010) to the EGU as part of his annual Club subscription. So, if you want to know how your 'fiver' is used, please click on the image of the EGU's recently published 'e-brochure' (on the left) which outlines their role and future plans.
Note: Lady Members subscribe a different amount to the English Women's Golf Association (EWGA).

Our new Catering Manager (and old friend), Clayton Morris, takes over from today
As announced on 20 November 2009, the Club's catering franchise has been awarded to Clay Morris. He will be known to many of the longer serving Members as he had worked at the Club in the past as an assistant professional, but his background was not well known.

Clay's parents became the steward and stewardess of Enmore Park GC in Somerset when he was 11 years old. This is where he had his first golf lesson and when he decided that he would like to be a Golf Professional. His parents went on to run bars and restaurants at another 5 golf clubs over the next 25 years, the last of which was locally at Pyecombe GC. In those early days Clay gained a lot of experience by working in the kitchens, dining rooms and bars(!) before leaving for the USA (California) in 1980 to pursue his golfing ambitions.

Whilst there, he would play golf every day and work in as many as 3 different restaurants to make ends meet. This went on until 1988 when he returned to England, joining Pyecombe GC, where he achieved a low enough handicap to join the PGA in order to become a qualified Professional Golfer.

He trained under Chris White, who at that time was the Professional at both Pyecombe and West Hove, and he worked for him at our old clubhouse in Old Shoreham Road. When the Club moved to its new location in Badgers Way, David Mills became the Head Pro' and Clay joined him. Clay went on to pass his final exams with flying colours and received the 'Titleist Trainee of the Year' award and a (small) cheque to go with it.

He left West Hove shortly after to pursue his ambitions, eventually becoming the Head Pro' at West Chiltington GC. From there, he went to Seaford (Blatchington) GC to work alongside David Mills again, taking over the day-to-day role of Head Professional whilst David pursued his playing career 'on the circuit'.

After 7 years Clay felt that the Golf Pro' business was on a downward trend, so decided to make a big change before it was too late. He found a small catering business for sale and, having regard to his past experiences, decided to buy it. The business, 'The Upper Crust' in Richardson Road, Hove has grown from strength to strength and continues to prosper.

Now, almost 3 years later to the day, he is delighted to have been awarded the catering contract at West Hove and says that he is looking forward to being back at the Club. He hopes to be able to offer the Members, and visitors, some good food, good service and a clean environment in which to enjoy it.

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Catering Service Notice 
The Catering Service Transfer has now been completed. Clay Morris looks forward to offering you a warm welcome from mid-morning tomorrow, Tuesday 19th January. There will be no catering service until then and we apologise for any inconvenience.
Gary Salt, General Manager

After recent heavy snowfalls the course re-opens tomorrow, Sunday 17 January 2010
Notwithstanding today's heavy rain, the Club's Head Greenkeeper, Duncan Haste, has authorised the re-opening of the course on Sunday 17 January. Play will be from a mix of normal and winter tees and our normal greens will be in play (except possibly at the 8th and12th holes where there are still large snow-drifts). Members will be allowed the use of trolleys but NOT buggies.

Match & Handicap announce changes to this weekend's Monthly Medal -  and the Four-Ball KO
As it is not known whether the course will be open for play on Sunday 17 January, the postponed December Monthly Medal rearranged for that day has been further postponed. The new date is Sunday 14 February 2010.
In addition, Andrew Macgregor-Boyle, Chairman of M&H, has extended the deadlines for playing the first two rounds of the Winter Four-Ball KO competition – the closing dates are now 14 February for the 1^st round and 7 March for the 2^nd round.

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A further update on the condition of the course:
There is still a lot of snow on the course even though it has cleared from many urban areas, particularly near the coast. The Club's General Manager, Gary Salt, has issued this update:
"Present indications are that it is highly unlikely that the course will be fit for play this weekend unless we experience an exceptional thaw. The position will continue to be monitored daily and we hope the course will be open again for play at some stage early next week. For today (15 January) the Pro-Shop (tel. 01273 413494 ) will only be providing a limited service between 9:00am and 1:00pm for the purpose of making tee reservations for future dates, and for this Saturday & Sunday this limited service will be extended to 7.30am to 1.00pm."             see here for photos
NB - THE RE-OPENING OF THE COURSE WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THIS WEBSITE

An exciting new Men's competition has been introduced (The Palmer Order of Merit) and M&H has released the following statement:
"Match & Handicap are pleased to announce details of a new trophy being introduced from 2010 – the Palmer Order of Merit. Open to seven day male members points will be awarded to the top ten for each of the weekend qualifying competitions (except the Club Championship)  - 12 for 1^st, 10 for 2^nd, 8 for 3^rd and then  from 7 down to 1 .  Where there are separate competitions for handicap categories eg. Sir George Dance and Leigh Wainwright points will be awarded in the same way to each category.  However, for a monthly medal, which is the same competition split into two categories where there is one overall winner points will be awarded on the best 10 net scores across the two divisions. In open competitions points will be awarded to the top 10 qualifying members. The competition will run during the calendar year commencing with the January monthly medal scheduled for 30^th January. There is no entry fee and the player with the most points at the end of the year wins the trophy. Thanks go to Kevin Palmer for kindly donating the trophy."

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The Team Captains for the 2010 external club competitions have been named
The Club Captain, Gordon Eaton, has today announced the 2010 captains of our PAV it Trophy team, the Cyril Blake Cup team and the Club's Brighton & District Golfing Society's teams. They are:

Steve Nielsen for our two scratch teams - they are the Sussex Inter-Club Matchplay Championship team (the PAV i.t. Trophy) and the B&DGS Senior Cup team.
Graham Marchant, from our Pro-shop, will act as the non-playing Manager.

Damon Raikes for the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Intermediate Cup team.

Gary Chamberlain for the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Junior Cup team.

Maurice Grange for The Cyril Blake Cup team - an inter-club foursomes knockout competition, played on handicap over 18 holes by four pairs, for players who are aged 55 years or more and members of the Sussex County Golf Union.

Gordon wishes them all good luck and looks forward to assisting and supporting the teams wherever possible  throughout  the season.

Gary Salt provides an update on the condition of our course for Members and visitors
Following last week's heavy snowfalls (and there being no early signs of a thaw), the Club's General Manager, Gary Salt, states that:
"Present indications are that it is highly unlikely that the course will be fit for play for the remainder of this week, including next Saturday and Sunday. The position is being monitored daily and further information will be posted on this site as appropriate. For the remainder of this week the Pro-Shop (tel. 01273 413494 ) will only be providing a limited service between 9:00am and 1:00pm for the purpose of making tee reservations for future dates."

The Club is pleased to report two significant events today
Firstly, the Board welcomes our new General Manager, Gary Salt, who starts his tenure today. His name is rather apt as without salt (and the considerable efforts of all our green-keepers), he would not have been able to negotiate the half mile entrance drive to our Clubhouse following the recent heavy snowfalls.
Secondly, at the beginning of our Centenary Year, our new website has received its 100,000th visitor this morning. The site is becoming increasingly popular with over 20,000 visitors in the first year, over 33,000 in the second year and now over 46,000 in the third year (with over two-and-a-half months still to go!). We have also had visits from 91 different countries to date and it would be quite appropriate to achieve 'our century' in our Centenary Year - watch this space.

A New Year's Day message from our Club Captain Gordon Eaton. Gordon writes:-
"Dear Fellow Golfers,
Welcome to 2010 - our Club’s centenary year! The year ahead is packed with many additional golfing and social events, along with all the familiar ones. We are also honoured to be hosting several external events, both professional and amateur.
The exciting highlight of the social calendar will be the Centenary Gala Ball which is to be held on Saturday 3 July 2010. This promises to be a truly memorable occasion so I urge everyone to book early! I particularly look forward to seeing all members of the Golf Club participating in and enjoying our centenary year – have fun."
In fact, the fun started last night at the Club's New Year's Eve Party.
Click here for photographs

The 4 January 2010 Lynx Professional Golf Tour Event at WHGC has been postponed
Our current Club Champion Tom Coulson, who turned professional in August 2009, has been instrumental in organising a new tour event for professional golfers and category 1 amateur golfers. The inaugural event of this new  tour was to be held at West Hove in a week's time but this has now been postponed to Thursday 1 April 2010.
Further details can be found on the Lynx Tour website by clicking here.