Secretary's announcements
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Renewal subscriptions
Renewal subscriptions - reminder
Hello all members,
To those who have paid their renewal fees, or are about to, we salute you!
To those who haven't (and are not on Direct Debit), I haven't abandoned hope, so may I remind you that fees were due on 1st January, and that a specific reminder letter will be sent from the Club Finance & Admin system early next week to you.
Please save the Club the cost and trouble and renew asap so that I can take your name off the - er - naughty list.
This email is issued from my usual website mailshot system, and so is going to all 500 or so members for whom I have an email address. If you haven't received a renewal invoice around November 22nd 2011, then either your emailed version went to your email junk folder, or we have the wrong street address for you...
...so please let me know, and I can personally inform you of the fee situation, and/or send you a repeat invoice.
May I take this opportunity to remind you of the great Social programme David Kirkwood, Janice Hughes and Mick Irvine have already begun for 2012 - the Valentine Dance (Feb 11th), the Night Golf (Feb 17th) and shortly to be announced, the Spring Dance on the evening of Friday March 30th.
This is all in addition to the events towards the end of 2011 - Fireworks, the CurryOki etc - and so apart from your golf, what more good reasons could you have to renew your subscription and enjoy what the Club has to offer.
Over to you!
Best regards,
Brian
Valentine Dance
Valentine Dance Saturday 11th February
Our Social Committee has great pleasure in announcing our 2012 Valentine Dance, to be held on Saturday 11th February, at 6.30 for 7pm.
The evening goes on until late, with entertainment from Sammy Lowrie!
Tickets are £50 per couple, including a bottle of wine, so please put this important date in your diaries for you and your loved one.
Please put you name(s) on the list at the clubhouse, and make sure your payment reaches us by Friday 27th January; as usual for recent events, you can pay through the till at the bar.
I'll be putting out a reminder nearer the time, but please get your booking in quickly for this very popular annual event.
Best regards,
Brian
PS watch this space for news of other forthcoming events - dates for our Night Golf and our usual Spring Dance are being planned as you read this. All of these events have been very popular over the years, so please get your booking in quickly - starting with the Valentine Dance!
BRS
Night Golf and Quiz Night
Night Golf & Quiz Night, February 17th!
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE!
Please get your names in ASAP for this year's Night Golf on the evening of 17th February, starting at 6.30.
This year we also have a quiz night; last year the event was over-subscribed, so this year it will be even more popular.
The limit of 36 players on the original poster has now been extended to 44; with a shotgun start and balls at a premium, this is really the absolute limit to the number of players, so please be quick! There will be a ballot to select teams.
At only £7.50, inlcuding a buffet, it's great value, and as usual you can pay through the bar till.
Last year we had nearly 100 members - both players and spectators (otherwise known as innocent by-drinkers) - in and around the Clubhouse, and it was a great night. Just take a look at the event report by clicking here to get the Social Home Page.
So please come along even if you are not playing, for all the fun and games.
Best regards,
Brian
Winter mats and Trolleys
Winter mats and Golf trolleys
Now that winter is approaching, it's time to let you know of a few winter rules / suggestions at Bearsden.
Winter Greens?
First up, of course, is that you might be expecting us to be using winter greens. For the time being, however, we are using our usual greens wherever possible, and if a winter green is in use, it will be clearly marked with the flag in that hole position.
Winter Mats
We will be using winter mats, on the fairways only, from Monday 31st October. This year, if you prefer for any shot, you may move your ball into the semi-rough, within approximately two club lengths of the fairway.
Mats are now available over the bar at £4 each.
Trolleys
We would prefer whenever possible for you NOT to use your trolleys on the course duting the winter. We recognise, of course, that some folks find it hard to carry their bag for a full 18 holes, but if you can, please carry a bag rather than pull a trolley to help protect the course in the higher traffic areas. Smaller pencil bags can be purchased quite cheaply nowadays at your local golf shop, to ease your load!
While on the subject of trolleys, we are starting a trolley handle amnesty to encourage anyone who has a yellow hired trolley handle in their locker or at home to please return them top the bar, where they should reside when not in use. A number seem to have gone missing, and we should not need to have to purchase yet more. For only £3 a hire, it hardly seems worth people holding onto them, and you can be assured that all trolley handle hire revenue goes straight to the greens budget. So please help the Club by returning them!
Finally, you'll be aware of winter programme work going on at the course. The 7th tee improvement is going on at present, and we have started the modifications to the 9th/18th tee to help with the course perimeter issues we have with our neighbours. As part of this work, we will be tidying and repairing where necessary the paths and steps which tend to become slippery in wet and winter weather. Please take care at all times.
Enjoy the winter season, and do let us know via the contact page of any feedback or suggestions you might have,
Best regards,
Brian
Important security notice
Please take time to read the Crime Prevention Notice handed to me by police yesterday.
You can click here to view/download the notice. There is one on the Clubhouse noticeboard.
Some may be aware of the Windyhill break-in last week, and although that is the only such break-in in our local area, apparently many golf clubs across Scotland have been targeted in the same way - i.e. by criminals disabling an alarm sensor during the day, causing staff potentially to leave the alarm unset the following evening, and then visiting the premises at night to steal all available cash and/or the safe.
It would be helpful if all members can be vigilant to spot any unusual interest shown by visitors in our alarm system and its door/IR sensors. Bar staff have been asked to call me if they have any difficulty setting the alarm at night. In any case we should call the police in such circumstances, and I shall be seeking Chubb's advice to confirm the zoning controls we have so that we may at least part set the system in such circumstances.
Naturally I am minimising the holding of cash on the premises, so please refrain from the usual requests for foreign exchange, holiday pocket money and all the rest! 
May I also take this opportunity to mention that sometime soon Scottish Gas will be renewing the gas mains and individual supply pipes at this end of Thorn Rd and potentially in our own access road. This would result in access issues and some short period without gas supply, of which we will get a few days notice. You might already have noticed their trucks on the corner of Chesters Rd, so it will be soon.
Amazingly, although EDC are promising resurfacing of Thorn Rd from the Thorn Drive junction up to our access road, this Scottish Gas work is preceding that. At last a pair of left and right hands seem to have got their act together - or maybe its just a random fluke. Yes, that must be it! I recommend all readers to find a recording of the Flanders and Swann ditty "The gasman cometh", well worth a listen and almost too near the truth to be funny. If you have Flash installed, you can use the player on the left sidebar to listen to it now. Am I showing my age?
That's all for now, but no doubt I shall be in touch soon!
Best regards,
Brian
Black tees, green trees and colourful shrubs
A note to highlight some course improvements we are making.
Firstly, Jim O'Brien, our Greens Convener has asked me to let you know that that the new Black tees are now available to all adult players, and to single figure handicap Juniors.
Jim's appeal to Club members for contributions to the Course planting fund has borne fruit - well, it's borne trees and shrubs, and no doubt they will bear fruit eventually!
Through our initial appeal, and also following donations from the Club's Race Night a couple of weeks ago, we have raised over £600 so far from, I would guess, about 50 members.
You will recall the storm of 23rd May when we lost several trees on the course, such as the one on the right here, and of course we have been conducting a programme of tree management on the course, especially for the poplar trees. This means that we need to invest in more course shrubbery and trees.
It's not too late to give either shrubs, trees or cash to help the appeal to provide more colour on our course; hopefully we can collect a lot more, since our membership currently stands around the 600 mark. Any contribution, however small or large is very welcome.
If you would like to give, just drop an envelope (or shoebox) full of cash to the Secretary's office, or bring your tree or shrub(s) to the Club and we'll get them planted on the course.
On your instructions, I can also deduct from your club card account to send to the fund - this might be an almost painless way of giving! The credit/debit machine can also lighten the load of giving!
Thank you to everyone who has given already, and thank you in advance to those who are about to give.
Or, to coin a phrase - to those who are about to give, we salute you!
Best regards,
Brian
Bank Holiday Mondays
Just to remind members that the Committee decided at a recent meeting that on Bank Holiday Mondays, the usual restriction on Junior and Associate play after 6pm would be removed - just for the Bank Holiday Mondays - to allow, for example, family play on those evenings.
Best regards,
Brian