Chairman's Blog - June

Comments from the Chair : Chairman's Blog - June

Can i firstly say what an honour it is to have become "Paul Whittaker Co-opted Chairman of Ryton Golf Club". I must admit the meteoric rise to this illustrious position has been as much of a surprise to me as it maybe to you. Can i simply say "I will do my best to make this club a friendly and successful club and one which we will all be proud of!"

The main changes that have occurred within the Board is due to the fact that Michael Rutter has been appointed as Secretary/Manager of the club and has therefore relinquished his position as Chair. The work he has done thus far on behalf of the club cannot be overestimated and much praise must be heaped onto him for the time and effort he has given to us. I feel sure he will continue this now in his new and very important role.

I would  like to offer our gratitude and thanks to our former chairman, Don Smithson for all of his hard work on behalf of the club over the last twenty years.  He will continue to help and support the club in his new role as president.  As I have stepped into the Chair, the vacant position on the board left behind has been filled by the very capable and enthusiastic Bev Wears who has already done a great deal for the club. I look forward very much to working with her in the future. 

I would also like to mention that Keith McLeod will be leaving us on 15th June. Our very heartfelt thanks go out to him for the work he has done for the club and we wish him all the very best with his future plans.

All of these changes could make for "unrest" at the club but it would seem that the opposite is happening! There is a buzz and feeling of positivity which is good!  Maybe its because the summer is in full swing, (despite the weather) maybe its because we have many more enthusiastic, smiling and fresh faced guests at the club (full of eagerness and anticipation), could it be the condition of our magnificent course, or perhaps because the club is heading in a tremendously positive direction. Whatever it is long may it continue!

For me, just being on the course, even with a "club foot", is a bonus. The course is wonderful, the sun is shining (occasionally), the air is fresh, and the banter is always cracking , life is good. What better than playing golf with a broad smile on your face?

What other exciting things are happening at the club? Well, if you haven't noticed we have a new greens machine. The greens whilst being superb, as usual, have been a little on the slow side. But seeing Shaun sitting on the new machine on Saturday @ 5pm in the pouring rain cutting the 12th in preparation for Invitation Day was a joy to behold. Given the right weather, I am convinced that what were magnificent greens will become yet again the best in the county by far!

The teams are really producing the goods at present. Both the men and the ladies have won their last few games and there is nothing like success for morale. Please visit the links below to follow their progress and more importantly find out when the next games are in order to come along and support!

Mens

http://www.rytongolfclub.co.uk/club-match-results

Ladies

http://www.rytongolfclub.co.uk/latest-ladies-match-results

The website is getting extremely well populated. We had over 2600 "unique" hits last month alone which is a record for one month. Over a 1000 people viewed our "Green fees" section obviously with the view of visiting the course. I hope you find the changes and updates we are making daily to be useful and interesting. of course if you have any "constructive" thoughts to improve the site i would be very grateful to hear them.

Can i just say a big thank you to you all for your smiles to our many guests. The "May Groupon" has ended now and we move forward with the 1300 email addresses we have gained from the last 5 months work. Many thanks should also go to Lucy Harris for her role in "meeting and greeting" the tremendous number of new visitors,  which was carried out with professionalism and charm, and done on an entirely voluntary basis. I would also like to mention Agnes who has carried out her sometimes difficult  role "above and beyond the call of duty" supported by Rhiannon and Lorraine . This new mailing list obviously means we are able to target our advertising to golfers who have enjoyed playing Ryton before and feel they are accessing a great course for a competitive price, cutting down on the cost of advertising in papers and magazines is a byproduct and bonus.

A big "Well Done!" should go out to the Ladies who helped to decorate the Ladies Changing rooms this week, freshening it up with some paint and a steam clean! Great effort!

No doubt i have missed many things out of this blog. I ask you all to be gentle and bear with me over the next few months, not to be too harsh with comments and , god forbid criticism , and the team will endeavour to make  "Lil ole Royal Ryton"  the wonderful club that it deserves so much to be!


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