Seniors Golf

We all know there is a pandemic and no group within the County has felt it harder than the Seniors section. We with a diminishing number of competitive years left, we have had a year stolen from us by this virus. Despite that feeling of loss there are many who have lost so much more than us.  Individuals, families and friends have all felt this much more than those so far untouched.  On the positive side only one of our Senior group caught and suffered with Covid 19 early on and he has made a good recovery, despite ending up in hospital.  I would like to think my “mother hen” emails and What’s App messages have had some effect and to my knowledge we are all safe and well.

What do I miss about the matches and tournaments? I miss getting up early to get to a course through the traffic.  Yes really.  I miss discussions about the course the team and the opposition.  I miss meeting old friends, hopeful that we can beat them, and always enjoying their company after the match. In this era of strange handicaps, I miss competitive golf “off scratch” full stop.  

So, what has been happening in this long “off-season”.  The South Wales Senior League will continue when we are able to do so with Dyfed and Brecon & Radnor involved home and away.  The Senior Channel League will change for just this season and will mean there are two divisions with the winner of each playing off in a final to decide the Senior Channel League Champions.  The divisions are Glamorgan, Gwent, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and the other being Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.  The revised fixture list will be soon but there will be similar dates to those already published and matches will be home and away.  The British Seniors was announced and will be played at Ganton from 5th to the 9thJuly 2021 which has caused us to move the South Wales Seniors Open to the 18th and 19th of July 2021 but still at Ashburnham.  The Gwent SCL fixture of the 19th of July is being re arranged.  The Senior Team Championships will also be held at Ashburnham this year and further information will be forthcoming. 

In other developments County Golf bags, we made available to all Seniors players who played in the 2019 season.  There were a limited number available and a decision had to me made on who could be offered one.  At present, however, these are mostly tied up at the suppliers because of Covid restrictions.  The Senior coaching budget will be used a little differently this year.  The money will be spent on Trackman time with John McDonald in Llantrisant to give squad members some useful data to work on.  John has agreed a particularly good hourly rate for this which will be continued should players wish to add extra time at their own expense. We are working on some interesting options for this Trackman time.  More later.

Other options being looked at are a North South Ryder Cup style competition over two days and organised by the Senior Team Championships Committee, which is now separate to any County and self-funded.  It will be separate to other competitions and should be an enjoyable and fun “Welsh Ryder Cup”! Four balls and singles in prospect. It will hopefully pull North and South Wales together in friendly competition.  I will keep you informed of progress.

As you can see not everything has stood still over these past awful 12 months and hopefully when the time comes that golf can operate safely, we will see a renewed spirit in the Senior section.  In the meantime, I encourage you to continue to stay safe even after your vaccinations and we will renew our squad friendships soon.