Club news

From Albert Sinfield, Golf Operations Manager: At long last we have had some great news and we can begin to focus on opening on March 29th. 

Booking will be available to all Members within their current booking times meaning 7-day and Corporate Members on GG membership can book from March 8th. 

Flexible and 5-day Members can book from March 15th; 25-34 year-old Intermediate Members can book from March 19th and 18-24 year-old Intermediates can book from March 22nd.

If you would like to change your category to receive longer lead booking times please contact me in the office ([email protected]).

The steps and dates as set out by the government are as follows:

• March 29: The golf club reopens for four-balls and takeaway food and drink;
• April 12th: Outdoor hospitality opens for groups up to six people on the patio and outdoor area;
• May 17th: The clubhouse opens for indoor hospitality for up to six people, 30-person outdoor hospitality and events can start to take place (with limited numbers);
• June 21st: All areas open without restrictions and large events can take place with no limitations.

Please note that these dates are based on the government guidelines and may change.

Unfortunately, there is also some bad news to report. The extreme weather conditions earlier in the year caused a mains water pipe feeding the clubhouse to burst. The pipe was located in the roof of the building and flooded the clubhouse bar / restaurant and the men’s locker room. The damage to the clubhouse is extensive but we are working with our insurers to start work on the repairs to the club. As a result, I am afraid the clubhouse is going to be closed for a significant amount of time while refurbishment works are undertaken.

Locker room audit: I want to thank everyone who responded to my email regarding a locker audit across all locker rooms. Many of you sent me your locker numbers, which has given me a good idea of the lockers that are occupied. If you are yet to respond with your information, can I ask you to reach out to me via email with your locker numbers.

As I said recently via email, our plans for the metal locker storage area mean that we will not be able to offer these lockers to Members. I plan on setting some dates in the coming weeks for the metal storeroom to be open, allowing Members to collect their belongings. I hope to have all items removed from the area by Sunday, March 14th. Any belongings that have not been collected by this date will be removed by the Redlibbets team.

The Race to Le Touquet

This year we will be running our first “The Race to Le Touquet” where the winners of each section (Men’s and Ladies) receive an invite to Le Touquet at the end of September to play in the Singha Champion of Champions Finals. This is for the winners of each club’s order of merit. The format of each club’s qualifying events is:

• Both Men’s and Ladies’ events are played on the same day.
• Winners of each event at the Club receive prizes supplied by Singha.
• Points are allocated based on where each Member finishes in each event. 
• The number of points rises for each event as the season progresses.
• There are six events between April and September.
• The trip to Le Touquet includes travel, hotels (The 5-star Westminster Hotel), three rounds of golf (Le Touquet and Hardelot), an opening cocktail party, and closing presentation banquet.
• The finalists receive not only the trip but clothing and finalist prizes. The winners of the champions of champions wins an invite to Thailand courtesy of Singha to play golf and entry into an Asia Pro Tour Pro-Am.
• Both trips include, travel, golf and accommodation courtesy of Get Golfing and Singha.  

Historically, Club competitions take place on weekends so that all the different sections — Mens, Ladies and Seniors as well as our 7-day Members who are still working — can join in the fun. Five-day Members are also welcome to play but will have to pay the price of a Member guest green fee.  

Both the Men’s and Ladies competitions take place on the same day with the tee sheet interwoven. This will be followed by a fun prize giving and some special offerings from the kitchen and bar to help bring the day to a close. We would also  encourage Members to invite their partners, who perhaps don’t play, to come along and join in the post-golf fun.

The events are as follows:

• Saturday, April 24th: St George’s Day Cup
• Saturday, May 22nd: The WIG Trophy
• Saturday, June 12th: The OCO Spring Cup
• Saturday, June 26th: The Footsie
• Saturday, August 14th: The Foundation Cup
• Saturday, August 28th: Club Championship Day 1/Sunday, August 29th: Club Championship Day 2

Members will also have the opportunity to travel as a team to play at Le Touquet against the other Get Golfing Clubs. We will provide further details of this in due course. 

Subscription news

From Edward Richardson, CEO, Get Golfing: As promised in our email back in January, anyone who has continued to stay with us and pay their membership will receive a credit on their subscription for the period of March 1st to March 28th. 

For a full Member, for example, the way this will work is as follows: When your membership comes up for renewal, you will receive a credit equal to the number of days that we are closed in March. This will be calculated by dividing the annual subscription by 365 days and then multiplying it by the number of days we were closed from March 1st. 

This credit will then be placed on your account when you renew and will be used to reduce your monthly direct debits over the next 12 months.

To help us manage this process, it would be greatly appreciated if Members did not pay their subscription all in advance.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to support the Club, we are doing all we can to ensure you have a wonderful Club and course to come back to and one that continues to improve over the coming years. 

PowaKaddy offer

If you are tired of carrying your golf bag around the course, it could be time to invest in a motorised trolley to do the hard work for you! We have two of our ex-rental Powakaddy trolleys for sale for only £350. They have been recently cleaned and are in good working order. These will be sold on a first come first serve basis, so get in quick. Contact me on [email protected] if you wish to purchase one.

Pro shop

Late last year we said that Get Golfing was developing an online replacement to the traditional, club-based pro shop to give Members access to a truly comprehensive range of golf equipment at very keen prices.

From early April, the Get Golfing Pro Shop will be open for business. As you will see from the spread of logos below, we have secured deals with a terrific range of suppliers. 

We will still sell the day-to-day consumables — such as balls, tees and gloves — on site but, in addition, we will now be able to offer you a wider range of products: from golf clubs, bags, shoes and clothing to lasers, logoed apparel and electric trolleys. 

Practically anything you can buy online will be available from our shop.  

The shop is connected to your Club Card, ensuring you receive the appropriate discounts in line with your membership, which are as follows:

The prices shown on the website for each item include your relevant discount. Practically all products offered receive a discount but there are some items where margins are so tight that we may not be able to give the full discount. Do not despair, however, as we are also committed to offering a price-match guarantee — so if the product is not shown or is shown at a price higher than you have seen elsewhere, call us and we will do our best to match or better it. 

One of the significant benefits, apart from pricing, of our website is that we do not charge shipping on any product. Orders received by midnight on a Sunday will be at the Club ready for collection by the following Thursday. 

All items purchased are paid for through your Club Card, so all you have to do is make sure you have sufficient credit on your card via our simple online top-up facility (which can be done at the time of purchase).    

As we know, your Club has had a challenging time with Covid and lockdowns, so please try to support us by using this service and we will use the profits from your purchases to invest in the Club.

Course news

From Damon Kirk, Course Manager: Spring is almost here and a feeling of optimism has replaced the long-felt pessimism of lockdown and we are all looking forward to March 29th when we see you all return to the golf course.

While we have been under lockdown — and, for a some time, three inches of snow at Redlibbets — course maintenance and other projects have not been completely halted. By the time you return, the traditional spring work that all golfers fear (i.e. the disturbance to the playing surfaces) will have been completed and the quality conditions you expect will be there to see!

The greens have all been verti-cut, hollow-cored and top-dressed, this operation complete, the plan is to further solid tine the surfaces and add another application of sand. Our aim is to reduce the amount of thatch that has accumulated and introduce fresh material (sand) into the profile. This will improve the playing surfaces by removing organic matter, aerating and promoting better plant growth.

The teeing surfaces will follow the greens and receive the same procedures and, where possible, we are enlarging some surface areas to increase the playing area, which will improve wear issues. 

Our plan for the coming season is to improve the quality and aesthetic of the course. As previously mentioned, the renovations will be complete by golf’s return at the end of March but we aim to bring more shape and uniformity to the landscape. By incorporating more shape to the fairways and reducing the tall rough in certain areas, we believe that we can improve your enjoyment of your round.

The paths project is still ongoing and has only been slightly delayed due to pandemic restrictions. We are already receiving welcoming comments with regards to the construction of the new paths and hope to have them completed as soon as possible.

On behalf of Redlibbets Golf & Country Club Maintenance Department, I look forwarding to seeing everyone return to the course at the end of March and hope that you are all well and excited to be coming back.

Staff news

Get Golfing Apprenticeships: Despite the day-to-day challenges thrown up by Covid and the lockdowns over the past 12 months, you may be interested to learn that Get Golfing has been working to put together a personal development programme for staff. 

This includes engaging with the government’s Kickstart programme to help individuals aged between 18 and 25 to get a foot on the career ladder. 

We will be looking to hire between three to five staff on a six-month contract through this programme to help us on the course and in the clubhouse. 

The goal is to help some of these individuals find long-term jobs and careers within the golf and food and beverage industry and to that end we will also be introducing apprenticeships towards the end of the year. Hopefully some of the Kickstart candidates from earlier in the year will progress onto these apprenticeships.

Get Golfing Internships: Finally, the condition of our golf courses is paramount to benchmarking Get Golfing’s progress and critical to our delivery of that goal is the motivation, education and professionalism of our green staff. 

To encourage their career development, we have launched an internship programme with Pelican’s Nest Golf Club, near Tampa in Florida. Four staff from across our group will benefit from a three-month training and life experience programme with the highly experienced management of this 36-hole, Fazio-designed private Members’ club. Get Golfing will pay all their travel, accommodation and wages during their internship. Applications from staff will be assessed during the third quarter of this year and we will let you know who the lucky beneficiaries are in due course.

Pro news

From George Lings, PGA Professional: I have three areas that will be of interest for Members this coming month:

New driver or improving your game?

What would you rather have: a new driver with potential… or a long-lasting change to your game to improve your handicap? 

My three-month plan has been proven to improve my clients’ golf game, is it time to improve yours? The programme is 12 x 60 minute lessons (£33 per lesson!!!) covering all areas of the game including distance, consistency, course management and scoring. if all that isn’t good enough for you… if your scoring isn’t three shots better by the end of the programme you get £100 back!*

So, if you’re serious about improving your golf this year, get in touch. Email me via [email protected].

*£100 refund subject to practice and playing terms and conditions*

Junior Academy

Get your kids into golf! Fun and friendly group coaching including: fundamental movement skills, all areas of playing golf, rules and etiquette. Running every Saturday 11am-12pm for the small monthly price of £40.00 (£8-10 per session). This is a great introduction to golf, teaching your kids the fundamentals of golf, which they can then take on the course.

Get in touch with me via email [email protected] to be a part of the Academy.

Dusting off the cobwebs special

Are you ready to return to the course? Probably not… well let’s help you! This 30-minute session will help you get back into golf via a fundamentals check up to make sure they haven’t changed while you’ve been locked down, a little speed training to improve distance and a general check up on the swing to help your scores improve.

Book your check up via email: [email protected]

From Olivia Cooke, PGA Professional:

Win a Golfbreaks.com break!

Get Golfing partner Golfbreaks.com has teamed up with Mizuno Pairs Tour to provide the chance to win some truly unbelievable prizes when you enter a Golfbreaks UK Pairs Tour event or the Golfbreaks Match Play this summer. 

European Tour, Solheim Cup, Open Qualifier and PGA venues across the UK feature in the schedule at great value prices. 

You and your playing partner are guaranteed a very warm welcome from the Golfbreaks team, a fun day out on the fairways and the opportunity to win a trip at one of the world’s finest golf destinations should you finish top of the leaderboard!

Every winning prize destination across the schedule is of the highest quality. Trips to Dubai, Dominican Republic, Portugal, France & Spain are all up for grabs with PGA TOUR, European Tour and Ryder Cup host courses part of the experience. Golfbreaks says it has gone all out with more than £30,000 worth of prizes to play for across the year and the top five pairs at every event taking home a prize!

Take your pick at Golf Breaks’ great value events below and enter here: