Captain's Comments

Captain John Stubbs

I must firstly put right an omission on my part when, at the AGM due to the emotion of the moment, I did not thank the outgoing Captain, Peter Sykes, for his sterling efforts during his captaincy. Peter worked diligently and tirelessly on behalf of the club and was confronted by many problems which he dealt with in his inimitable style whilst at all times seeking to ensure that Council were in tune with the members.

His love of the club and commitment to its traditions were always to the fore. Peter’s knowledge of all aspects of the club was invaluable to Council. Belatedly, thank you Peter, you can be rightly proud of your year as Captain!

We again have a very difficult year ahead and I believe we must continue the efforts, begun last year under the direction of the Captain, Treasurer and committee chairman, to vigorously attack, by all means possible, our financial deficit.

We must attract new members, in every category, and retain existing members by creating an environment that makes everyone welcome and satisfied. Every society that attends we want back and to that end I am seeking volunteers to meet and greet wherever possible so that we really know what visitors think and council can be provided with accurate feedback and information.

Now that the car parking and club environs work is almost complete, we have first class changing rooms, a fine traditional clubhouse and quality catering, we must complete the jigsaw by making our priority the delivering of the best course and golfing experience in this area.

In short we need visitors who want to come back, who will relate to others what a fabulous day they had and above all would choose to join Sale Golf Club in preference to our rivals. We want members to finish a round with no complaints other than they had no excuse for not playing well. Council and committee chairmen must be responsive to comments from members, able to provide answers when required and reasoned argument in support of proposals where appropriate. Only by delivering the complete package will Sale survive as the club we love.

Finally I have asked all the committee chairmen to ensure that their committees are representative of the membership, able to keep “their finger on the pulse of the club”. It is essential that committees are constituted to ensure the long term success of the club and provide continuity wherever possible. We have plenty of expertise within the membership and we must seek to make the best use of it.

Thank you to all those members who sent cards or offered their congratulations and good wishes.

The “Drive In” was nerve racking to say the least, however your support was fantastic and I enjoyed the day immensely. It was terrific to see so many people playing in the shotgun and dining on Brian’s sumptuous buffet afterwards.
Congratulations to the winners of the shotgun - Hilary Tarleton, Julie Matthews, Michael Sallabank and Rory Jones; the winner of the longest drive guess Vic Drew and the winner of the Lady Captain’s raffle, Jack Bishop.

I hope the year continues in this fashion for only with your continuing support will the club flourish.

John Stubbs
Captain