Committee also agreed to hold the AGM virtually. Margaret Russell will send out last year's minutes in the next couple of weeks and ask for any items of AOB to be sent to her. Committee will then review and discuss these at our next committee meeting on 4th November and take any action necessary to get member views on any items raised. Information about any AOB items, the accounts and the Officer reports will be sent out via email during the following week (when the AGM was due to be held).

Everyone on Committee has agreed to stay in their current posts for an additional year. We thought that this has been such a strange year with so many events being cancelled that it hadn't been possible for Sue Lowe to "learn the ropes" as planned and it would be very unfair to expect her to take over as Ladies Captain in November and therefore you will have to put up with me for another 12 months! The fact that the existing members of committee are staying on doesn't mean that if other ladies are interested in helping that they shouldn't get in touch with me (or any member of the committee) as we still have a couple of vacancies.

The Turkey Trot is booked for Sunday 13th December and although everyone on committee thought it unlikely that this would be able to go ahead, we agreed to discuss again at the November meeting (just in case things change between now and then).

It proved to be impossible to get everyone together on Wednesday to announce the winners of the Summer Mid-Week League (average of best 4 cards), so here they are:-

• 1st  Margaret Russell 20 points
• 2nd Chris Quinn         19.5 points
• 3rd  Maggie Brown    18.75 points

Well done to all concerned.

As you are probably aware the new Worldwide Handicapping System (WHS) is coming in from November 2nd. England Golf are busy behind the scenes getting ready for this and some key dates to note are:-

• From 5 October 2020: Data transfer from current club handicapping software to the England Golf WHS platform will begin.
• w/c 12 October 2020: Golf clubs will have access to the England Golf WHS platform to view and update where required member data and to view the functionality the system provides.
• w/c 19 October 2020: Golfers will have access to the England Golf WHS platform to view their predicted WHS Handicap Index ahead of launch and to view the functionality the system provides. Note that every affiliated golf club member will have one unique CDH/Member ID and will require an email address to access the system through a two-step authentication process.
• 2 November 2020: WHS launch date. Ongoing communication with affiliated golf club members will be for handicap purposes and will be fully compliant with GDPR.

Please note that Sunday Tee Times change from 25th October (when the clocks go back) to 11:00. This will remain the case until the end of March. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions/issues, there will be no Winter Eclectic this year. Liz will continue to take money for Sunday and Wednesday competitions (by cheque preferably) in blocks of 5 weeks in advance. Please let both Liz and Linda Luke know whether you wish to play in the 18 or 9 hole winter league when you are signing up or paying your entry fee.

England Golf are still on track to bring in the new Worldwide Handicapping system (WHS) at the beginning of November. In order to do so they need to store personal information about you and the golf that you have played. Their new privacy notice describes in more detail what information they will be holding and why.

Today we should have been holding our Ladies Open, but due to COVID-19 it had to be cancelled. So instead we played the 9 hole mid-week league which was followed by our monthly committee meeting (held in person for the first time since lockdown). Apparently the green-keeping staff are going to be starting work on the greens on Monday 17th August. Therefore committee agreed to bring forward the ladies club championship by a week and hold it on Sunday 16th so that the event was not played when the greens were not at their best. We also discussed the AGM/Presentation evening and the Turkey Trot. Although its a bit early to know what will be possible for these events we agreed on the dates - Friday 13th November for the AGM/Presentation Evening and Sunday 13th December for the Turkey Trot - Please keep those dates free in your diaries.

Hopefully everyone was happy with the way today's competition was organised and managed to keep to the social distancing rules even if I didn't remember not to pick up stray golf balls and give them to Flo (sorry!).

Many congratulations to Jo Carr on winning her first trophy - the Lady Secretary's Prize and to Pat on winning the Captain's Trophy. For the rest of us we can console ourselves with the thought that it turn out to be a reduction only competition so at least we didn't get 0.1 back!

Now that the lockdown arrangements have started to be eased, the Golf Section Committee met with management to agree when competitions could start. Management requested that initially we only play singles competitions in three-balls to try ensure a good pace of play. Therefore the Ladies Committee have agreed a new fixture list starting from Sunday 28th June and also new arrangements for running competitions to reduce the possibility of spreading the virus which can be found here. If you wish to take part in a Sunday competition please contact Linda Luke and if you wish to take part in a Wednesday competition contact Pat Usher (in both cases at least a week before) so that you can be included in the draw.

As it stands the Golf shop will remain closed as the Government haven't lifted the non-essential title, this may change tomorrow. The course opens on Wednesday for members only. Payment for memberships can be taken over the phone from 8am & paperwork will be sorted out at the shop with the £10 levy to be handed in at a later date.

Following a meeting with Sam, Dennis & Geoff none of the competition block bookings are in place as no competitions are allowed (social golf only). This has been replaced with individual bookings i.e. one time per person in 10 minute intervals

All members can book by phone from 8am on Wednesday with what time they would like to play.

The changing rooms will be closed but the toilets will be open (one person access at a time).

The following formats have been agreed by Government and Golfing bodies:-

• Individuals playing golf on their own.
• Two-balls comprising of individuals from different households
• At the discretion of the golf club, members of the same household playing in two, three or four-balls.

Booking is Essential

Latest Information from Management

The summer season has now started (not that you would think it when looking at the weather), and therefore we will be using the revised stroke indexes from now on. These have been calculated from the scores that everyone has returned since 2016. None of the stroke indexes have changed on the front nine, but there are 5 changes on the back nine.

We have not yet used up the stock of old score cards so Linda Knight has created some laminated cards with the new stoke indexes on them that you can use with the old score cards. Many thanks to Linda for producing these so quickly once we realised that there will still lots of old cards left.

Thank you to everyone who put forward a nomination for the position of Vice-Captain at the Turkey Trot. I spoke to the person with the most votes and I'm delighted to announce that after a bit of persuasion, Sue Lowe has agreed to take on the position. I'm sure you will all join me in thanking her, wishing her well and offering her your support in the role.

Thanks too go to Linda Knight and Linda Luke who have "volunteered" to organise the Woodham Waywards trip. We will be staying at the George Washington Hotel. The cost for dinner, bed and breakfast and two rounds of golf is £123. A deposit of £35 is required by the end of January. It would be lovely for a many people as possible to join us on what is usually a fun filled couple of days. Full details can be found here.