Nefyn Golf Club
NEFYN GOLFER’S SUCCESS AT RULES’ SCHOOL
Howard Dennett, 2010 Vice captain of Nefyn and District Golf Club successfully completed the recently held 19th Annual Golf Referees School at the home of golf, St Andrews. Howard is already a qualified G.U.W golf referee, but this 3 day course which included a specially set up playing area in the conference venue and a two and a half hour exam was run to develop the referees’ knowledge and skills of the game even further. Sixty two referees from 32 countries attended the school and Howard was one of the two representatives from Wales.
The course was run by a team of R&A instructors, including Andy Mcfee, the Senior Referee on the PGA European Tour who is frequently seen on television giving rulings to some of the world’s top golf professionals.
‘The course was a fantastic opportunity really to work with the very best officials in the game and broaden one’s knowledge of its rules and learn how to apply them in so many different conditions and situations,’ said Howard who is now qualified to referee at some of the top national and international golf tournaments.
NEW PRESIDENTS FOR NEFYN AND DISTRICT GOLF CLUB
Nefyn and District Golf club has two new President for 2009/10.
Mrs Dilys Llewelyn Owen has been a member of Nefyn Golf club for over 30 years and was Ladies Captain in 2002. She has served on the Ladies Committee and on the Club’s Executive and remains one of the Club’s trustees. Apart from golf and walking, Dilys is an avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club.
Mr Gareth Gruffydd is a past Captain of the Club and served on its Executive Committee for a number of years. For part of that time, he held the post of Match and Handicap secretary. Gareth, a single figure handicapper, has a string of golfing successes to his name, including Club championships, course and County records. Apart from his passion for golf, his love of everything to do with railways remains as does his support for Liverpool Football Club.
American golf writer votes Nefyn as the prettiest golf course.
Brandon Tucker, one of America’s most travelled golf writers voted Nefyn as the prettiest golf course he’d ever visited along with Poipu Bay, Kauai. ‘Both have a wealth of coastal scenery and are perched on cliffs high above the water where your camera is as important as any club in your bag.’
Twelve top American Golf Tour operators were ‘blown away’ by Nefyn
Twelve top American Tour operators visited and played Nefyn recently on one of the windiest days so far this year. In spite of the weather, they were also ‘blown away’ by the course and its location. As well as playing 18 holes and talking to various members of the Club over lunch, they also found time for a quick (or not so quick, in some cases) pint in the Ty Coch, where the owners and the locals welcomed them like long lost relatives! A number of them expressed their appreciation in an email to the Club which also went to the VisitWales staff.
Nefyn represented in Top Golf Tour Exhibition in Ireland
Nefyn, along with Celtic Manor Golf Resort, were the only two golf clubs in Wales to be represented at a recent Golf Tour Operators Exhibition in Ireland. It was an opportunity for Nefyn to present itself as an attractive and value-for-money golfing destination. The exhibition was attended by over 60 Irish Golf tour operators along with key representatives of some of the top golf clubs in Ireland.
JOHN DEERe & Course manager Pat mcateer
Nefyn & District Golf Club is spectacularly situated on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the northern edge of the Lleyn/Llyn? peninsula in north Wales, at Morfa Nefyn in Gwynedd. This unique 26 hole hilltop course, laid out in 10 plus eight plus eight formation, offers a view of Caernarfon Bay and the Irish Sea from every tee. One stretch of eight holes is played on the narrow Point, which looks down on one side to the beachside pub where the club was founded in 1907.
For the last five years, Nefyn has been voted among the top 100 golf courses in the UK by Golf World. This is due in no small part to the efforts of course manager Pat McAteer, who is in his 26th year at the club (15 of them as course manager) and his greenkeeping team.
Pat has been replacing his previous fleet of course maintenance equipment over the last couple of years with new John Deere machines, all bought from John Deere dealer Mona Tractors of Anglesey. Their first John Deere machine was a Pro Gator utility vehicle, and the most recent acquisition is an HPX 4x4 Gator; these are run alongside a 3245C rotary roughs mower and a 4720 compact tractor equipped with ComfortGard cab and 400CX front loader.
“The Pro Gator is a true multi-task tool, we can put a top dresser, sprayer and aerators on it,” says Pat. “It was chosen as the only machine with the ground clearance to cope with the undulating banks at the back of our greens, and it was the right overall choice for our course topography.
“The 3245C roughs mower also suited our ground conditions better than other machines we tried. It handles the undulating roughs and very sharp hollows of the course with no scalping at all.
“The compact tractor is another versatile machine which is used to its full potential. It does all the aeration work including vertidraining, pencil and slit tining, as well as bucket loading, trailer work and so on, and the eHydro transmission allows you to match the engine speed easily to the job at hand.
“One main advantage for us is that the 4720 has the power of a large utility tractor but in a small package – there’s not much room in our machinery shed, so this was a major consideration. Even so, there’s ample space inside the new cab, and we can now take the tractor into areas of the course that we couldn’t before.
“The new HPX Gator is ideal for our ground conditions too, especially for getting access to confined areas around the tees. This machine is in daily use for everything from general haulage work and divot filling to emptying litter bins and pulling the hand mowers in trailers. Overall the John Deere machines are lighter with a better power to weight ratio and lower ground pressure, so we can start work earlier and get jobs done more efficiently.”
