Pub 2610 p20-21 roland golf 21/10/09 17:17 Page 21
www.thepublican.com thePublican Monday 26/10/09 21
Pub Golf Societies This Week
Running a golf society is a The Thatchers Arms Golf Society
great way to build a
community feel around
your pub and draw new
customers in through the
door. Roland Ellison joined
the Thatchers Arms golf
day to find out how
Mitch Adams didn’t
have much luck off
do you put on good word-of-mouth marketing? the tee on the day
From the society member’s point of view, they gain
access to clubs and tee-times that they might not
have had as an individual punter. They get the Mitchel Adams, licensee of the Thatchers Arms in Mount Bures, Essex, started getting some interest
opportunity to meet like-minded golfers who also from regulars about playing golf about a year ago.
use their local pub, and they have a great way to Mitch phoned around some of his local courses to see what sort of deal he could get for a bacon
keep a track of their handicap, as all scores can be sandwich and 18 holes of golf for a group booking. He added in the price of an excellent evening meal at
recorded for future reference. the pub and charged participants accordingly. If you ask me, £36 for a bacon sandwich, 18 holes of golf
and a two-course dinner is pretty good value.
Getting started The team from the Thatchers Arms have now played quite a few of the courses in Essex, and rated the
The great thing about a golf society is that you don’t bacon butties and course standard of each one.
have to provide any facilities in order to run one. All I was present for their last golf day of the year, played at Frinton Golf Club, about half-an-hour’s drive
you need is a phone to call your local club. from the pub. Nineteen of us set out for a midday tee-off time.
Lynne Fraser of the English Golf Union suggests On the face of it, Frinton looks like a straightforward course as it’s very flat. However, we soon found
calling your local club to ask about discounts on that its undulating fairways and fast, raised greens made play a lot more difficult than it looked.
memberships or green fees. My team, consisting of pub regulars Clive (an accountant – handy with the scorecard), Richard (the
Make sure you use any contacts you have within country’s leading tribologist – that’s a friction expert to you and me) and of course licensee Mitch, had a
your pub to see what they suggest. Anyone who is great walk, but perhaps would have been better off if we’d left the clubs at home.
an experienced golfer may be able to assume the However, by the time we got back to the pub for belly of pork, black pudding mash, bacon-stuffed
mantle of society captain. cabbage – cooked by Publican Food & Drink Awards Pub Chef of the Year finalist Mick Illingworth, no less
If you are not a golfer yourself, this appointment – a pint of Crouch Vale Brewers Gold and a cheese board, we decided that we hadn’t had such a bad day
can take a large amount of the headaches out of the after all. A bad day on the golf course is, as they say, always better than a good day at the office!
day, as a good captain can ensure that: everyone As for Mitch, he had 19 diners in the pub on a weeknight. And this was on top of the 30 or so ladies
knows which group they are playing with and what who had turned up for the Jamie Oliver ‘Jamie at Home’ party in the back-bar on the same night – don’t
handicap they are playing off; longest-drive and ask…
nearest-the-pin markers are collected; and all scores Like he says about the golf society, it’s not always about making money immediately, it’s about the
recorded for future events. regulars becoming more attached to the pub, and having a reason to come down. Plans are already afoot
Most will regard the appointment as an honour, for next year’s venues, the ones with the best bacon butties being looked on most favourably in the
and will be only too happy to fulfil the role. ■ selection process.
a bunker (camels) and/or water (frogs) can end up
having to shell out a handsome sum to his playing
partners.
Ooznams
This one makes par-three holes more interesting.
The player closest to the pin from the tee has to
make his par to win the stake from his playing
partners. If he fails to go down in three, he has to
pay all of the players in the group. Ooznams only
come into play if at least one person hits the
green. If nobody manages that they can be carried
over to the next par-three.
All of the above are optional extras. Notes of
scores should be made on the course while
playing, accounts to be settled in the pub Richard ‘The Prof’ putts out on the final hole
afterwards.
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72