As we head into the golfing season, the team will increase their focus on producing firmer, faster and truer putting surfaces. To do this on a nutritional level, the greens are fertilised every 14 days on a 'little and often' approach. This gives the grass plant just enough food to produce a lean, tight and healthy surface, without being over fertilized and lush.  

Typical green sprays can include:  

Iron, Manganese and Sulphur which are involved in the photosynthesis and respiration systems of the plant. They are a source of nutrient and produce a deeper green colour plant.

Ammonium Polyphosphates make the soil bound micro nutrients more available to the plant as well as stimulating rooting.

Polyphosphites stimulate the plants natural defence against disease.

Amino and Salicylic Acids will increase the levels of potassium and calcium as well as reducing the stress on the grass plant. They also improve the plants ability to take up nutrients.

Complex Tea add more beneficial bacteria and fungi to the soils to improve the plants natural immune system.

Pre Growth Regulators shorten the plant cell walls, to produce a shorter, tighter grass plant, which will reduce the amount of top growth and keep the green speeds consistent and true throughout the day.

Surfactants increase the speed at which water can penetrate the surface allowing much needed irrigation water, to reach the roots faster and more effectively.

The tank mixes will change throughout the year based on the weather and the plants requirements. The only thing which is included in every tank is natural cold pressed seaweed . Being cold pressed, it retains the bio-active molecules found in seaweed ensuring all of the natural goodness is still available to the grass. The seaweed is hand collected off the west coast of Ireland ahead of processing into a liquid form, packaging and distributed ready for application in under a week.

(Click on the image to view in full screen)

Stuart Langhorn

Course Director

We hope you are well and enjoying your golf.

With the weather getting better (We hope!), we have started to take delivery of our new mens and ladies Spring/Summer Clothing range from Footjoy, Under Armour and Swing Out Sister. There are some brilliant colours that we in the shop think will really look good in the summer. Take a look at it next time you are at the club!  

This is a great time to get your game in shape for the summer, we have availability for lessons with the 3 of us on the link below: 

Lesson Booking | The Golf Team | Welcome to Beaconsfield Pro Shop (foremostgolf.com)  

As some of you may have seen, Tom has been leading some training for the Bucks Shield ladies team. The sessions were great as it offers a difference to normal coaching on technique. Practicing under pressure is the best form of practice as it makes it as relatable as possible to performing on the course.  

The Qi10 woods and irons are now available for custom fitting. We are holding a pop up fitting event with Taylormade on the 20th May from 12pm-4:30pm, slots are 45 minutes, email us to get booked in and confirm your slot. Please note that the slots are first come first serve.

Chris, Adam and Tom

Future events scheduled for your diary are:

Saturday 13 July 2024 - Summer Sizzler – this will be a 12pm Shotgun start followed by a hog roast and steel band for all the family to join in the festivities from 5pm so even if you aren’t planning on playing, please consider joining us afterwards.  Entry will open shortly!

25 October 2024 - A gourmet tasting menu with a flight of wines and tasting notes

16 November 2024 - Night Golf – 6 hole Texas Scramble competition followed by Supper

30 November 2024 – Turkey Trot

Social Committee

I hope most people have now seen the new menu and have had a chance to try some of the new dishes…. Early feedback seems to be positive and as for popularity,  ‘The Birdie’ (Chicken burger or sandwich) seems to be one of the most popular so far.

I’d like to thank all the team for their hard work in getting this initiative launched on-time and to such a high standard. Moving forward and to continue building on the initial launch, we have also asked our Catering Consultant to carry on working with the team over the next 6-12 months with a particular focus on choice, costs and overall value.

Richard Cottrell

Chairman of the House Committee

A couple of ‘nudges’ to everyone this month…

Knock Out Etiquette

Just a quick reminder to everyone this month that when playing knock-out matches, both sides have an obligation to quickly contact their opponents and offer 2 weekends and one weekday date.  

Please don’t leave it till the last minute and then expect your opponents to fit in with your schedule.  Please also do not rely on Katie giving you an extension as these should only be for extenuating circumstances such as frequent course closures, injuries and so on and not because you were away on holiday!     

Rules

If we are honest, I am sure we would all admit that a little ‘boning up’ on the rules would benefit us all.   We are looking at organising an event around this but in the meantime why not download a rules app on your phone or invest in one of the many rules guides available online.

David Booker

Chairman of the Golf & Competitions Committee

4BBB is one of the most popular formats for both strokeplay and matchplay.  With the updates to WHS introduced on 1st April, there are some changes to how handicaps are calculated and also how 4BBB results can affect your handicap.

4BBB Strokeplay

The playing handicap remains at 85%, but is now calculated using your unrounded Course Handicap, so please use the 85% handicap charts that are posted on the noticeboards, or the playing handicaps that are shown on IG.

Please DO NOT use the rounded Course Handicap boards outside the locker rooms or shown in IG and then calculate 85% as this may not be the correct value.

4BBB Scores for Handicap

Please remember that you are NOT ALLOWED to submit a General Play score when playing in a 4BBB competition.

However, scores from 4BBB competitions are now sent to WHS so that the scores MAY be used to adjust your handicap.  This change has been introduced to try and make sure that people who have very good scores in 4BBB competitions (often opens) have their handicaps adjusted to reflect their ability.

The system will only consider the BETTER stableford score on each hole.  Any scores on the card that are NOT the better score for the hole are ignored by WHS, so please remember that there is no point in putting out and/or submitting a score that is not the better score for your pair.

For those of you who are interested, the following rules apply when deciding if a player’s score in 4BBB will be used for handicap:

• A pair has scored 42 points or more
• A player’s individual score counts on 9 or more holes
• A player’s individual 18 hole score is 36 points or more, calculated as below:

4BBB Matchplay

The method of calculating shots given in 4BBB matchplay has changed and has now reverted to the method used before WHS was introduced in November 2020.

Unlike strokeplay, the calculation of shots given in matchplay uses the rounded course handicap, so you can use the charts outside the locker rooms and do the rest of the calculation manually.

1.      Look up the ROUNDED Course Handicap for each player

2.      For mixed or multi tee matchplay, add the difference in PAR to the player(s) with the higher par

3.       Calculate the full difference between the lowest handicap and the other 3 players

4.      Shots allowed is 90% of the difference

Janet Beal

Click here to see all the Winners for the Trophy Competitions