The End is Nigh!

It's been a strange week at the Club this week. We have had all 4 seasons of weather, an all day power cut, and a host of electricians led by Joe White hooking up our new electricity supply. Joe took delivery of a 1.5 tonne electric cable, which was then laid into a huge trench that contractors had dug. A great job, well done to Joe & his team.

Please be careful over the weekend as the groundworks are still going on. You will not be able to use the overflow car park, and when walking to the chipping green and practice nets, please be careful of trenches, ditches, cables etc.

The weather looks to be OK for tomorrow, and the last event of the "Race to Piltdown", which was our new Order of Merit for weekend men's competitions. It feels like it has been a great success, and participation has definitely been up this year. Good luck to those of you playing. There are still 3 possible winners - Ryan Wills, Derek Elphick & Steve Walker - and they are all playing together in the final group.

After the golf there will be a prize giving, and some of the annual trophies that weren't given out at the Men's Dinner will be distributed.

Ladies' Past Captains' Lunch - Wednesday 22 October

It was an excellent turnout for this annual event founded 30 years ago by Rose Fox, who was Piltdown's 1995 Ladies' Captain. It was the custom at Chislehurst, where her mother was a member, and Rose thought it would be a good idea to adopt it. This year, it provided an opportunity for the current Lady Captain, Annie Dixon to outline her plans for the coming year and afterwards, the ladies assembled outside in the sunshine for Pro George to take the picture below. A new vocation?

	Turkey Trot We had a group of 8 Piltdowners in Turkey for a golf break last week. Here they are pictured before teeing off at the Carya Golf Club which has hosted the Turkish Open a few times. Assistant Pro James Doswell came out top in their week-long competition. It sounds like they all had a super time. It's a great place for a golf holiday. Give it a go if you've never tried it.

	Juniors: County season wrap-up Piltdown’s juniors have enjoyed another excellent season across the Sussex Golf Union’s Order of Merit events. Leading the way, Sophie Jones and Oscar Tollit came first and second in the U14s Gross Order of Merit. Lucas Butler also had a strong season, finishing in the top 10 in both the Gross and Nett in that age group. Amongst the older age groups, Toby Cannon led the Piltdown U18s with a 6th place finish, supported by steady performances from Jack Wills, Tristan Campbell-Lloyd, and Evie Lewis. James Cockburn and Madeleine Cockburn also delivered consistently, showing great promise for the seasons ahead. Altogether, it’s been a fantastic showing for Piltdown’s young golfers: a credit to their hard work, the coaching setup, and the continued encouragement of our members.		We also have a budding superstar at the club, who had a remarkable season in the Sussex Junior Development Tour, aimed at children in Sussex who have not got a handicap yet and those with handicap indices above 28.0. Sofia came first in the girls U11 Order of Merit after consistently placing highly in all the events she played in. One to watch! If your child would like to participate next season, it's a great way for very young golfers to start competing in a friendly, supportive format. Click here for more information

Fairway maintenance

As mentioned a few days ago, I can now confirm that we will be carrying out fairway sanding, starting on Wednesday next week. So on Wednesday 29th October to Friday 31st, the "Outer 9" will be closed, and golf will be over the Inner 9 only (1st to 3rd then 13th to 18th).

This means the ladies greensomes and men's stableford scheduled for Thursday and Friday will now be played over 9 holes.

The following week, from Monday 3rd to Wednesday 5th, this will be reversed and play will be available on the "Outer 9" (12th, 4th, then 5th to 11th)

Sorry for any inconvenience, but we really feel that this extra fairway work has had a beneficial effect since we started doing it. Not only does it aid drainage in the winter, but this season it certainly helped us provide you with good fairways when other local clubs were struggling.

We will be providing fairway mats in a box near the shoe cleaner for members and visitors to use. This will be put out next week. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can you make sure you return your mat after use, even if you are playing again the next day. We can't afford to have them all disappearing home in people's bags. THANK YOU.

Playing the course before we are open

The golf course officially opens at 8am in the morning. This means the entire course, and not just the first tee. In recent times there have been a good number of incidents with members teeing off early, some from the 1st, and others from the 6th or 9th. This makes the green staff's job very tricky as they are trying to stay ahead of play to get the course ready for the day. Bumping into golfers, and having to wait etc. means they get caught by those players who have started on time.

It also creates problems if we have a multi-tee start planned for a competition, and there are people out on the course getting stuck in the middle of it.

If you ever intend to go out before 8am, please can you let me know in advance so that a) We avoid people getting stuck in the middle of competitions, and b) I can give the greenkeepers fair warning that you might be out there.

If you are out on the course at any time, but especially early morning - please can I remind you that greenkeepers have priority. You must not hit shots if they are in range. We have had one or two incidents recently with members hitting towards greens whilst they are being cut. This is completely unacceptable, and if there was an accident the member hitting the shot would be liable, so please make sure it doesn't happen again.

Course update

All good things have to come to an end, and this week our dry October weather certainly did. We had a total of 50mm in the end. The course has seemed to survive this fairly well, with only limited areas really affected by it.

This week was largely spent keeping up with the mowing between the downpours and working hard to keep the course clear of leaves, with the team out on the tractor-mounted and backpack blowers. We also focused our heather maintenance on the mounds behind the 1st green and the mound in front of the 7th green.

You may also notice a new addition to the 13th hole with Callum and Will planting a new pine tree. Phil tells me this was donated by Rose Fox in memory of husband James. It has been strategically planted so that as it grows it will take away all thoughts of the longer hitters trying to hit driver down the 14th whilst playing the 13th.

Going forward, the forecast does seem to be a bit kinder, so let’s all pray that it stays that way and you can all continue enjoying the course and your golf.

Thanks
Chris Ahier

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24th October 2025 Newsletter

The End is Nigh!

Ladies' Past Captains' Lunch - Wednesday 22 October

Turkey Trot

Juniors: County season wrap-up

Click here for more information

Fairway maintenance

Playing the course before we are open

Course update