Only once a fortnight!
The present economic climate has forced all businesses to take a very hard look at their charges. The main reason golfers express for paying green fees and not joining a club, has been that they don't think they play enough to justify membership fees.
This is no longer the case. 7 Day Membership has now been drastically reduced to only £399 per year. You now only need to play once every 2 weeks for membership to become cheaper than paying green fees.
Ask now for the really low amount to upgrade from today – part way through the season.
Everybody wins - We will not forget those 7 Day members who paid £487 in March. We will discount their subscription next year.
If you have left the club and now want to rejoin – remember, there is no rejoining fee and you will retain any loyalty discounts you may have accrued in the past.

Staff profile
Alan Johnston, you will have noticed, is from Belfast Ireland ! His last job was in Devon , where he was the Head Professional at Holsworthy for 5 years. He came to Tickenham because he really wanted to teach a lot more – we have certainly made that possible for him. Already, he has filled his diary. He and his wife Estelle have a 2 year old son called Aydan and another one on the way. Alan said “my wife is unhappy because I told her she must have the baby on Christmas Day because that is the only planned day off!”
Sadly after 8 months, Kirsten and her Greenkeeper partner Dean are moving to work at the same club, Tain, which is north of Inverness . Her enthusiastic teaching, especially the junior groups will be missed.
Simon Lloyd will be joining us in August. He is from Suffolk but is moving from his last post in Ireland . More news in the next Divot.

Junior Scholarships 2009
At the ceremony on Sunday 5 July, Hugo Miles was presented with a Full Junior Membership, and Zoe Hawkes and Tom Henley Standard Memberships. 
This is the 9^th year of these prestigious awards giving the most promising young golfers from the “Tickenham Tigers” programme the reward of free club membership for a year.

Excerpts from Newsletter Jan/Feb/Mar 2009

2009 Season
Thank you, to all who called in to our ‘Open House’ on Christmas Eve. It was good to see so many of you and share a festive drink!
We welcome you to a new season with our customary subscription request. Again, Standard, Mid Week and Full members with a minimum of 3 full uninterrupted years standing will be rewarded with a loyalty bonus, provided we receive your completed forms by 1st March.
We really do try to offer value for money. The annual cost of your golf is very much less than at other courses. Full membership was £385 in 1995 - now it is only £486!
Juniors paying the greatly reduced fee are no longer charged half a green fee to play on Sunday mornings. This now represents even greater value and shows yet again how we support and encourage junior golf at Tickenham.
This may be one reason why junior membership has thrived in 2008.

Turf Doctor
A very big thank you for understanding the trolley ban during the Winter.
The use of trolleys concentrates foot traffic, wearing pathways on important areas. Banning them makes a difference when the ground is not growing and cannot recover. It has enabled play at times when other courses have been closed.
We do not use winter greens because we lack space and therefore must keep off when the dew or the ground is frozen.
Bowling greens are closed from October to April. It is difficult to keep a golf course open in winter. Golf is trying to defy nature.
It is though, our priority, to have the course open as much as possible and this is usually more often than other local courses - I write this after the greens have been frozen and closed for a week!
We have all the Spring work planned and are waiting for the thaw!

Tickenham Tigers
Again, in March, for the 8th year, we will be doing our bit to encourage young golfers and award up to two Junior Scholarship Memberships. We said this last year and ended up awarding 4. We take selection seriously. Contenders are from the Tigers taking regular tuition, who complete the application forms.
We look for keen learners who through our help are ready to gain a handicap, enter competitions and take their golf to the next level.

Excerpts from Newsletter Oct/Nov/Dec 2008

The County choice
We have over the years been successful in producing County level junior golfers. We have now been asked to join the team of coaches responsible for developing the Counties juniors. This is an honour and we look forward to helping our juniors and many from other clubs in Somerset.

New Open Days
On the 28, 29 & 30 October during the half term week, we are holding Junior Try Golf Free days between 10 and 4pm. On the Saturday and Sunday 1 and 2 of November from 11 to 5pm we are holding Adult Try Golf Free Days. Please bear with us! These times will be very busy on the range - not the course. However, this is not a free for all. Specific times have been planned and allocated to each school. More new golfers will again experience golf for free, try some new equipment and receive help from our professional team.

Competitions
We list major winners and points of interest.
In July, we were pleased to see that the Generation Game was very well supported. After a card play off winners were Mike Donovan & Byron Marriott. 2nd place, Dave Hicks & Damian Govier, 3rd, Mark Webber & Dan Peace.
The Fourball Championship winners were Byron Marriott & Tom Seager after another card play off with 2nd place Steve Moseley & Jules Cole.
On the 2 Aug before the pork roast, the Anniversary Stableford overall winner was Terry Ross, with Mike Donovan & Mark Webber taking the other groups.
Don Roper does not win often, and found the lack of choice to his advantage in claiming the One Club Challenge.
Captain’s Day was the usual challenge of "36 holes", 18 of which are "around the clubhouse" Paul Wise, Charlie McWilliam & Mavis Day won the groups.
Our new event, the Power Play, created great excitement. All competitors watched the leaders who had made "the cut" complete the last hole to decide the winners. Under the creative format there was inevitably a swing in the points, to result in winner Mark Webber, 2nd Reece Johnson & 3rd Steven Wise. Maurice White and Mike Tolhurst also went through to play in the next round at The Bristol GC.
In September, Mark Webber won the Hillcrest Trophy. He was also (he’s had a good Summer) in the Texas Scramble winning team with John Greaves & Steven Wise!

Excerpts from Newsletter Jul/Aug/Sep 2008

ST SAENS WINNER 2008 DI WHITE

Shop and Second Hand
Please note that we will be developing a Shop page to show selected items we sell.
You will be able to advertise your second hand equipment on the Second Hand page. Ditto the Holiday Page.



Excerpts from Newsletter Apr/May/Jun 2008

FOX MEETS TIGERS!
This is the 8th year of Junior Scholarship Awards.  At our ceremony on Sunday 27th April, Dr Liam Fox MP presented Jamie Peacock with a full Junior Membership and Joe Painter, Daniel Bunton and Ruby Harvey with Standard Memberships.  We hope to see them gain handicaps and play in competitions very soon.

Excerpts from Newsletter Jan/Feb/Mar 2008

Restriction Lifted
Juniors paying the greatly reduced fee will no longer be charged half a green fee to play on Sunday mornings. This now represents even greater value and shows yet again how we support and encourage junior golf at Tickenham.
New - 13 Counties Card
Play most courses in 13 Counties for up to ½ price with a County Card. This has increased incredibly from 6 to 13 Counties in 2008.
Remember, this is your benefit, you cannot have a County Card unless you are a member of an affiliated golf club.
Free - New Rule Book
Please ask us for your free new rule book.
The most important change from 1 Jan 08 concerns hundreds of Drivers which are banned from use because the ‘spring effect’ of the face exceeds the limits of the new rule. This applies to all golfers of all ability and in all forms of competition play.
There are lists of conforming and non conforming clubs at www.randa.org or you may view ours in reception! Please check your driver is legal. If you bought a Ping driver from us, you have nothing to worry about.
The R & A have also clarified some rules and reduced the applicable penalties in certain circumstances.

Tickenham Tigers
Again, in March, for the 7th year, we will be doing our bit to encourage young golfers and award up to two Junior Scholarship Memberships. We take selection seriously. Contenders are from the Tigers taking regular tuition, who complete the application forms.
We look for keen learners who through our help are ready to gain a handicap, enter competitions and really improve their golf.

Excerpts from Newsletter Oct/Nov/Dec 2007

Excerpts from Member's Newsletter Jan/Feb/Mar 2007

Excerpts from Member's News  Apr/May/Jun 2004

Welcome back!
It is not wholly appropriate that I should liken myself to Richard the Lionheart or Alexander the Great, but I am going to nonetheless.
I have made it a personal crusade to convince you the time is right to come back to Tickenham. From my position, here in the ramparts of Nailsea, I have been advised to give up and leave you to scavenge for golf among the savage competitors. As a man of principal I just cannot do that.
It is a personal kick in the teeth that I may have lost you as a customer. It just doesn’t seem right. If we let you down on service then we should be bending over backwards to put it right. If we let you down on quality then we should be investigating every blade of grass. If we have done nothing wrong then we should be keeping you on our database.
We announce an improved membership structure to enable you to compare our fees directly with other clubs. Subscriptions have been reduced by £40 across the board.
Making direct comparisons, golf at Tickenham really is tremendous value.
Give us another chance to welcome you back to Tickenham.
Maurice

Excerpts from Member's News  Jul/Aug/Sep

Sarah wins top award
Sarah Jarrett, Nicola Lawrenson and Katie Huffman finished first, third and fifth, respectively, in the latest crop of graduates from the Professional Golfers Association European Centre of Excellence and that even though there were only eight women all told among the 200 students.
Awards were presented at the Belfry. Sarah, who worked as a freelance computer programmer for 10 years before she turned professional back in 1997, collected the coveted Whitcombe Cox Trophy along with a £3,500 cash prize for the Titleist Trainee of the Year.
Sarah suspects that the female graduates' results owe most "to our determination to succeed in a male environment".
Teaching golf was what Sarah always longed to do during years spent staring at a computer, but she has come away from the PGA's three year course well versed in other areas such as retail business, equipment technology, repairs, rules, tournament organisation, golf psychology and sports science (as well as playing!)
She has spent the last few years at Tickenham under Andrew’s guidance and has fulfilled her ambition to teach the game.
Away from the women, the most eye-catching result on the training course belonged to Malcolm Edmunds, 58, from Cornwall, who finished sixth. In Edmunds' case, the PGA decided to drop their upper age limit in order to give this former officer in the Royal Navy the chance of the second career of his dreams.
AWARD WINNERS.- Trainee of the Year: 1, S Jarrett (Tickenham GC) £3,500; 2, R Adby (Newcastle-under-Lyme) £2,500; 3, N Lawrenson (Emirates Dubai) £1,500.



Excerpts from Member's News  Nov/Dec  2000

Staff Profiles
Who and what is Andrew Sutcliffe? Landlord to the Club? Boss to the staff? Familiar figure on the course and behind a counter? I asked him plenty of questions and made pagefuls of notes but came away with one major impression. He may be all of the above and more, but first and foremost he’s a professional golfer. Not that he plays much nowadays, since having surgery twice for a back injury, but his life revolves around Tickenham Golf and he still enjoys the occasional game. What’s more his standards are very high, for the club as well as for himself, so watch out if you fall below them! I can’t begin to imagine fitting punishments for golfing crimes – hours stuck in a bunker perhaps?

Andrew remembers watching golf on television when he was ten, being taken to play with his father and beating him (which may not have gone down too well!). He joined a club and acquired his first handicap straight away, and from then on took the game so seriously he spent all his spare time (and some of his not so spare time) practising for what was obviously going to be his future career. The winters were spent financing his golf in unusual ways like making eccles cakes, selling cars and footwear!

A long amateur career at county and national level included all the top events. He even played in the French and Irish Opens while still an amateur. By 1979, he was down to scratch and by 1980 had turned professional and gained his card at the European Tour School at the first attempt. He spent three winters on the South African circuit and three years full time on the European Tour, but back problems restricted his career.

So now he was looking for something else to do in golf. He found it in France. In Normandy, where he redesigned the beautiful and idyllic golf course at St. Säens, He then stayed on to see it built, organise contractors and market the business. He tells me his pupils included the Rouen professional Ice Hockey team, which should have been an interesting experience, given the slight difference in footwork!

Building courses for other people was all very well, but his ambition now was to own his own course and business – so back he came to the UK to look for land. And here it was, in Tickenham – which may sound simple, but wasn’t because he had an uphill struggle with the Council and Planners at every stage. Tickenham Golf graduated from a driving range and potting shed in 1992 to the course and clubhouse (opened in 1994 and 1996). Three holes were lengthened last year and the clubhouse extended this year. So the business has grown and (we are happy to say) facilities for the Members have improved year by year.

But what of Andrew himself? Over and above being a professional golfer and a member of the highly prestigious Professional Golfers Architects Association (involving designing and building courses to a particular standard). He flies airplanes, likes to drive fast cars and drove rally cars for two years, likes wine and cooking (preferably both at the same time) and once or twice a year goes salmon fishing. And he keeps bees. He told me about queens and drones and swarms, but I have to admit the image of him halted at traffic lights in his Porsche, enveloped from head to toe in Martian-style bee-keeping outfit, with a swarm in a cardboard box struck me as a little eccentric!

Although he does little teaching himself these days, his advice is always available and he aims always to provide the best. The best teaching, the best kept course, the best service and the best staff (who sometimes find it hard to live up to him). Not a bad vision for a man with an injured back who has come a long way in a short time! If progress continues at this rate Somerset’s "hidden gem" won’t be hidden any longer. Mary