Having spent the previous 4 years touring Scotland and Jersey we decided to go back across the English Channel to Belgium for the 2014 Tour. We had been put off travelling overseas by a crippling exchange rate that saw us purchasing bottles of Peroni lager for £9 and Gin & T’s for about twice that figure. But the exchange rate was beginning to move back in our favour and golf clubs and hotels were keen to get The British back playing golf again. Instead of going back to France we thought we would explore new horizons and see what Belgium had to offer. Belgium truly is a fabulous golfing destination. It has many traditional parkland and links golf courses that are reasonably priced and seemed to have escaped the focus of overseas tour groups. The boutique hotel in Ghent was an inspired if not a lucky choice. Situated within a short walk of the centre of the city, it had recently been refurbished to a high specification and had just reopened. Their groups team were looking for groups just like us to help [...]

By September this year I think we are all expecting that the wider world will have returned to some sort of normality and we have based our plans this year with that expectation. On the first day, we will play Moortown Golf Club, Leeds; home of the 1929 Ryder Cup. We then travel across the A64 to the York Hilton; our home in the centre of York, for the next two nights. On Day 2, we head north to tackle Kirkbymoorside; the home course of Gus Whyte. Ganton has seen a number of improvements since we were last there, as it prepares for the Brabazon Trophy, and awaits us on Day 3. We will return to 31 Castlegate for Monday night’s dinner.  Offer Our headline price for 2 members sharing a twin room reflects the quality of golf courses that we will be playing at a subsidised member’s rate of £345 that includes all golf, bed and breakfast accommodation for 2 x nights with dinner on the Monday night and a sandwich lunch at Ganton Golf Club. Rooms have been provisionally reserved for [...]

Compared to many others, I think we did well to be able to hold some events during a year dominated by coronavirus.  The number of attendees demonstrated an eagerness to get back to playing golf and to meeting our GS chums!  We also gained some new members, including some who’d been regular guests, so we extend a warm welcome to them all.  The few names who dominate the list of winners disguises the fact that many others turned in good scores in testing conditions. Future Plans.  At a Committee Meeting in November, we discussed all aspects and will provide full reports to the AGM. a. Committee Appointments.  Recognising the shortened season for 2020, Bob Harper was invited to remain as Captain for 2021 – but he needs the support of a Vice Captain for 2021/Captain(designate) for 2022.  The committee approached several nominees and have a recommendation.  Chris Sturman expressed a wish to hand over his role as Treasurer before the end of 2021 and Peter Taylor offered to take this on.  Other committee members indicated a willingness to stay.  These proposals will [...]