Somerset Golf Captains – Newsletter
Dear Captain,
As we emerge from the incredibly sunny and warm month that was May 2025, I’m sure that you are hoping, like me, that our summer hasn’t already been and gone!
Our opening County matches are featured in the Match Reports on the website but as a summary, we have had a win, a couple of halved matches and three losses. Not the best start but all the games were very enjoyable and played in the unique spirit that is Past Captains golf. If you noticed that the reports were a little slow making their way to the web site, I can only apologise for the delays. Both Ian Gover and I were far away from our laptops for a couple of weeks and the camera has done a full tour of the Southwest and proved difficult to track down! We will endeavour to report on each match and competition as promptly as we can moving forward.
Our team in the Six Counties in Dorset in early May struggled with the course a little and eventually came fifth overall behind some counties with very high scores, particularly from the home county who romped to a clear victory. We are setting out to retain the Four Counties in 2025 and our team is looking forward to the event on Wednesday 18th June at Knighton Heath. We have lots of matches coming up, including the 2025 Tour on 11th and 12th June, in which we hope to record some more wins.
Our Captains Day (Invitation Day) will be at Oake Manor Golf Club on Tuesday 22nd July 2025 – a little later than normal due to the availability of free days at the golf club. At the May SGC Committee meeting we agreed to tweak the format a little to encourage you all to mix in with other SGC Captains and their guests. The team event will continue to be based on two Captains and their guests but there will be a drawn element which we will explain fully in the calling notice which you should look out for in early June. The price remains at £45, which we think represents excellent value for what is always a brilliant day including the legendary catering at Oake Manor.
Please do not send in your entry before the calling notice comes out but, in the meantime, you might want to think about who you could invite. We would encourage you all to consider saying “thank you” to someone by inviting them to the day or even bring along someone you may have met in a SGC match who you would like to play with rather than against!
We have a couple of points that we would like to make, not complaints, but reminders of what SGC matches are all about. First, each match consists of golf and friendship, and we do expect all those Captains who have been selected to play to take part in the after-match dinner. Please don’t accept the invitation to play if you cannot fulfil the whole day’s duties. Second, a polite request that you pay promptly when you are asked to and BACS the fee with the reference of the County – no need to add your name as the payment information already tells us that. Whilst we receive most payments on time the few that leave it late cause the admin team additional work which can be avoided.
Our selections for 2025 proved to be as difficult as they are every year. But we have done the best that we can, especially as a few Captains were unsuccessful in submitting their availability on-line as they did not press the “submit” button. All our Match Managers now have access to a prioritised reserve list based on matches allocated and requested so that anyone who might have missed out gets the first call unless it is a last-minute dropout in which case the Match Manager has limited choice!
Finally, we thank you all for your continued support of SGC and of the volunteers who do their best to keep you all happy and informed.
Clive Stilwell
Secretary – Somerset Golf Captains
