2024 Letter from our President

Dear HGS members,

It has been another enjoyable golfing year, albeit slightly marred by the weather at Garforth where we had our best turnout of the year (28), but in the end had to abandon the day. We will revisit in 2024 (see below).

Congratulations to our Trophy and Cup winners. Mark Wray lifted the President's Cup, and Ken Mackay won both the John Pollock Cup for most birdies and also came in as a worthy champion of the Summer Knockout competition.

I would also like to say a personal 'thank you' to our Committee and all those who have assisted in the organisation of golf days or in any other way throughout the past golfing season.

Golf Days 2024

In 2024 we have slightly changed our schedule. The annual challenge vs Hull Exchange GS has been dropped allowing the second round of the President's Cup to be brought forward to May. We have also arranged for a season ending Sunday Driver in early October at Worsley Park (near Manchester), which will hopefully be as popular as the event at Belton Woods earlier this year.

The cost of playing golf have continued to rise and we have again seen the impact on the prices for our Golf Days in 2024. The Committee has therefore been forced to raise the base cost for all five President's Cup days to £47.50. There will also need to be some premium pricing for a couple of venues but there is a reduction at Romanby where we have secured an excellent deal for the day. For clarity, the prices will include a bacon roll and coffee on arrival, 18 holes of golf, a 1-course meal afterwards together with prize-giving and a £1 tip per person for the catering staff. Please be aware that even with the increased prices this year the Society continues to subsidise the cost of most Golf Days from its capital reserves.

The courses booked for 2024 are:

Golf Club	Date and Cost	First tee time

Bridlington	Mon 22 April - £47.50	10.36am
Hickleton	Fri 24 May - £47.50	10.30am
Garforth	Mon 5 August - £52.50	10.36am
Romanby	Fri 6 September - £42.50	10.07am
Crosland Heath	Tue 24 September - £52.50	10.00am

Please put these dates in your diary!

Competitions

We will be running competitions as in previous years:

The Knockout Trophy will run throughout the summer. The singles draw will be made in late March so that the first round can be completed by the end of May. I will be asking for entries nearer the time. (The knockout is played off the member's Handicap Index adjusted for the Slope Rating of the particular course played - i.e. off the player's Course Handicap unaffected by any HGS handicap adjustment).
The President's Cup will be awarded to the golfer accumulating the highest number of Stableford points over a maximum of 3 out of the 5 golf days in the table above.
The John Pollock Cup (in memory of one of our founding members) will be awarded to the golfer who makes the most gross birdies over the above 5 golf days (Eagles to count as 2 birdies etc).
There will be a team competition and individual competitions at both the UK Trip to Hawkstone Park and the Sunday Driver at Worsley Park.

UK Weekend Away - 23rd to 25th June 2024

Next year's event has again been kindly organised by Nigel Cooper.

The trip is already fully subscribed with 24 golfers off for a two night/3 round break at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire.

Fox Challenge - 11th July 2024

The annual challenge match will be held at a course chosen by the Fox Golf Society (to be confirmed). After last year's narrow loss at Scarthingwell we hope to regain the Trophy in 2024. Martin Gaunt will return as Captain.

Sunday Driver at Worsley Park Country Club - 6th/7th October 2024

You should have already received an email inviting you to participate in this event. Please ensure that you respond as soon as possible as space is limited to 28 golfers.

Annual Christmas Dinner

We are very much looking forward to returning in early December to The Victoria at Cattal for our Christmas Dinner and prize giving, kindly hosted by Keith & Carol Nicholson. There are 40 booked in for this year and we hope to repeat the event in 2024.

Casual Golf Days

Our festive Golf day at Sandburn Hall GC is being held on Friday 29th December 2023. An Invitation email will be sent out in late November for this event. (Next year's event has also been booked at Sandburn Hall for Monday 30th December 2024).

Website and Communications

Thank you again to Peter Bollands for maintaining and also further improving the website. Details of next year's events are already posted at www.hgsgolf.org.uk.

As the web is our primary method of communication with members please advise either Peter (pbollands@ntlworld.com) or myself (mark.wray247@gmail.com) of any changes to email, phone number, home golf club or anything else pertinent to HGS.

It would also be very helpful, going forward, to have details of all members' MOBILE phone numbers. This will allow some communications, where appropriate, to be made via Whatsapp. Please check the Members section of the HGS website (see below for updated UserID and Password) and if your home telephone (or incorrect mobile) number is listed, let Peter Bollands know your currect MOBILE number.

Please note that a new UserID and Password have been set up for 2024 for access to the 'Members' area of the website. Contact Peter Bollands if you need reminding of these (details are also in the email version of this President's Letter). The 2023 UserID/Password will continue to work until January 2024.

Instagram

There is a great selection of photos from our 2023 events on a new Instagram account. To view them you can either go to www.instagram.com/hillcrestgolfsociety/ or download the Instagram app to your phone or tablet. You will need to set up an account with a user id and password, search for 'Hillcrest Golf Society' and then click on 'Follow'. It's a great way to remind you of some of the memories from this year.

Membership and Subscriptions

If anyone is intending not to renew their membership perhaps they could let me know at the earliest opportunity.

I am pleased to announce that a prospective new Member will be joining us as a 'Guest' in 2024. Phil Morton has recently retired, lives in Strensall and whilst not a member of a club will initially play off a Handicap Index of 26.0. He found HGS through our website and contacted me asking to join, so welcome Phil. We look forward to meeting you in the near future.

After many years of holding subscriptions at the same level, the HGS Committee has decided to increase the amount payable to £30 for 2024. A number of golf days and the annual Christmas dinner are subsidised by the Society and the small increase will allow us to continue to offer this benefit to members whilst keeping financial reserves at an acceptable level.

Many of you will pay electronically in the normal way (details from 'jones.maurice53@gmail.com'). Otherwise you could send a cheque made payable to ‘Hillcrest Golf Society’ to our Treasurer, Maurice Jones, whose home address is: 1 Newton Farm Court, Sutton on the Forest, York YO61 1EZ.

And finally.......

Thank you to all members of HGS for another 'memorable' year and, on behalf of the Committee, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and good golfing in 2024.

MARK WRAY, President – Hillcrest Golf Society (mark.wray247@gmail.com)