Golf Meets

[Deleted member 15344]

Yessir.

the fact you can remember is impressive

It was one of the last times Rick was at a meet and Mentmore shut the next day , course wasn’t in great nick- there was only about 16 of us but with Fish and Rick there it’s always going to be loud with those two

 

[Pin-seeker]

Never been to a “meet” but played with a few forumers over the years.

 

[clubchamp98]

No I havnt .

Long car journeys are not much fun here anymore.
Cost is also a consideration.

I would love to anywhere within an hour of Liverpool.
any longer I would consider it depending on the course.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Yes it is clear that the forum has changed over the years, from a handful of peeps at the start to a membership of several thousand with around 400 active members now.

This brings its own issues, once it took off, GM became aware of its online image and introduced rules and mods to protect that image.

The forum is a totally different animal people leave, new people join, and it evolves, The OB section is definitely the cause of much contention, but if you took it out, the forum would turn into a very 1 dimensional being and I’m not sure if that would be a good thing.

I’ve been to loads of meets over the years, Irish Craic Classic,Auld Pharts, Sunningdale plus all the H4H meets for the last 10 years , Scotland in 2020, played some fabulous courses very badly, but had a fantastic time doing so. Also had numerous invites from other forummers. So I feel well qualified to muse on why there aren’t more meets.

1 cost, green fees have risen sharply in the last few years, especially at the better courses. If travelling more than a few hours you need to factor in petrol, accommodation, food etc and it soon builds up
2 Weekends, are difficult to get a large group onto, small groups, not so much of a problem. Many are still at work and with family dominating holiday days, weekends are often the only time available
3 location, A quick look at the forum members map shows the spread of members, loads within a couple of hours drive of london, loads in central Scotland and plenty in the midlands and the area around Leeds Manchester, Liverpool. So no reason why local / regional meets can’t happen.
4 yes some of the original guys who used to organise meets have moved on, for whatever reason, but there are still loads who could

What we need are a few peeps to stand up, have a word with their clubs and set up some meets, doesn’t have to be big, start at 12 ,16 or 20 max, cost it out, agree a date and publish it, money up front, if you can’t make it then you lose your dosh unless you can find a sub.

This takes a lot of the pressure off the organiser who can enjoy the day without having to chase up the late payers.

Just my thoughts

 

[Wabinez]

It was one of the last times Rick was at a meet and Mentmore shut the next day , course wasn’t in great nick- there was only about 16 of us but with Fish and Rick there it’s always going to be loud with those two

has there been multiple Mentmore meets? I remember Fish being there…but also recall more than 16. Was a good number of years ago now though

 

[Deleted member 15344]

has there been multiple Mentmore meets? I remember Fish being there…but also recall more than 16. Was a good number of years ago now though

Yeah was just 16 of us - it was the regional qualifier for the King of Kings that was run , Fundy organised it

 

[Voyager EMH]

I think my limit for there and back in a day would be under 2 hours driving time.

East/West would be from Kings Lynn or Bury St Edmunds to Portal or Ross on Wye.
North/South would be anywhere between Pannal and Grims Dyke.
Fairly large area.

If I can leave before 6:30pm and be home by 8:30pm it would seem reasonable to me.
No problem at all with an early start to the day. Could make a 10am tee off at any of the 4 above places - then home in time for tea.

I would, of course, promise not to talk about the lofts of irons over the years.

"Lofts" is not an issue for me anyway.
The lofts of irons have never changed.
A 34° iron from 1973 is pretty much the same as a 34° iron in 2023. (There will be some differences in design)

But for those two clubs, it is the number on the sole that has changed. Used to be a 6 - now it is an 8 or even a 9. But it is essentially still the same club.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

If I may add, picking up from @PhilTheFragger thoughts above, and given I organised the DayB4 H4H this year at my club.

It actually wasn’t very difficult to do TBH as richart helped out with gathering the money in advance, and I wasn’t doing all the added bits and pieces that are part of the full H4H day.

The biggest issue that I had was the fact that the DayB4 was a Tuesday, and Tuesday isn‘t one of my club’s society days. But given I am pretty long standing in the club, I was able to sell the H4H cause to the golf and general managers, they were able to take my request to committee and get approval for me. Plus of course I was estimating 30-40 (we got 35, inc maybe just over 20 forummers) and that’s good income on a quiet afternoon. But I had to sell it to the golf and business managers without whose support it wouldn’t have happened - at the county card rate into the bargain.

As a result of my experience I’m not averse to arranging another meet at my place next year if there is interest - though I strongly suspect I won’t get it at such a good rate, and it’ll have to be one of our society days (Wed and Fri).

Meanwhile I’m always open to requests to host wandering forummers who might find themselves kicking their heels in the Surrey/Hants borders area (though if there are three wanderers I might not be able to pay the green fees though the guest rate is great vfm )

 

[ADB]

I dip in and dip out - but thinking back I have been to quite a few meets over the years, both small and large. There is, understandably, groups who are closer and it can be a little intimidating if you dont know who is who when you turn up on your own.

I’ve always enjoyed the company of those I’ve played with, sadly many aren’t on here anymore.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I dip in and dip out - but thinking back I have been to quite a few meets over the years, both small and large. There is, understandably, groups who are closer and it can be a little intimidating if you dont know who is who when you turn up on your own.

I’ve always enjoyed the company of those I’ve played with, sadly many aren’t on here anymore.

A stranger is just a friend you haven’t yet met

 

[ADB]

A stranger is just a friend you haven’t yet met

Chinese fortune cookie?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Chinese fortune cookie?

No, but I can’t pretend I just made it up myself… must have heard it or something like it before. But it is true.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

No, but I can’t pretend I just made it up myself… must have heard it or something like it before. But it is true.

Apparently taken from an Irish poet, or a Jim Reeves song in a western film, or ...............a Chinese fortune cookie

 

[Oddsocks]

Yes it is clear that the forum has changed over the years, from a handful of peeps at the start to a membership of several thousand with around 400 active members now.

This brings its own issues, once it took off, GM became aware of its online image and introduced rules and mods to protect that image.

The forum is a totally different animal people leave, new people join, and it evolves, The OB section is definitely the cause of much contention, but if you took it out, the forum would turn into a very 1 dimensional being and I’m not sure if that would be a good thing.

I’ve been to loads of meets over the years, Irish Craic Classic,Auld Pharts, Sunningdale plus all the H4H meets for the last 10 years , Scotland in 2020, played some fabulous courses very badly, but had a fantastic time doing so. Also had numerous invites from other forummers. So I feel well qualified to muse on why there aren’t more meets.

1 cost, green fees have risen sharply in the last few years, especially at the better courses. If travelling more than a few hours you need to factor in petrol, accommodation, food etc and it soon builds up
2 Weekends, are difficult to get a large group onto, small groups, not so much of a problem. Many are still at work and with family dominating holiday days, weekends are often the only time available
3 location, A quick look at the forum members map shows the spread of members, loads within a couple of hours drive of london, loads in central Scotland and plenty in the midlands and the area around Leeds Manchester, Liverpool. So no reason why local / regional meets can’t happen.
4 yes some of the original guys who used to organise meets have moved on, for whatever reason, but there are still loads who could

What we need are a few peeps to stand up, have a word with their clubs and set up some meets, doesn’t have to be big, start at 12 ,16 or 20 max, cost it out, agree a date and publish it, money up front, if you can’t make it then you lose your dosh unless you can find a sub.

This takes a lot of the pressure off the organiser who can enjoy the day without having to chase up the late payers.

Just my thoughts

Most constructive post you had in years

I definitely think the cost of increased fees for an half decent course coupled with COL increases is having an effect.

 

[Orikoru]

If I may add, picking up from @PhilTheFragger thoughts above, and given I organised the DayB4 H4H this year at my club.

It actually wasn’t very difficult to do TBH as richart helped out with gathering the money in advance, and I wasn’t doing all the added bits and pieces that are part of the full H4H day.

The biggest issue that I had was the fact that the DayB4 was a Tuesday, and Tuesday isn‘t one of my club’s society days. But given I am pretty long standing in the club, I was able to sell the H4H cause to the golf and general managers, they were able to take my request to committee and get approval for me. Plus of course I was estimating 30-40 (we got 35, inc maybe just over 20 forummers) and that’s good income on a quiet afternoon. But I had to sell it to the golf and business managers without whose support it wouldn’t have happened - at the county card rate into the bargain.

As a result of my experience I’m not averse to arranging another meet at my place next year if there is interest - though I strongly suspect I won’t get it at such a good rate, and it’ll have to be one of our society days (Wed and Fri).

I'd go back - nice course, good greens, I played well and it was only just over an hour's drive. It meets all my criteria. You'd definitely have to let someone else win this time though...

 

[Oxfordcomma]

It was one of the last times Rick was at a meet and Mentmore shut the next day , course wasn’t in great nick- there was only about 16 of us but with Fish and Rick there it’s always going to be loud with those two

I was at that one, think I played with you @Wabinez didn't I?

That original KoK that @virtuocity set up was wonderful, if you want to try and do that again Phil I'd be very tempted. I played Mentmore (@fundy) , Burnham & Berrow (@pokerjoke), Ealing (jimbob.someroo) and I think a Midlands qualifier the location of which I can't recall (most likely Fish). The key thing is that all of them were great little local meets with 12-20 people. Plus the Hillside final (not as a qualifying contestant!), and a round the day before with Rick, Fish and Val at Wallasey.

In general, I used to go to a lot of meets but my ability to take 7 or 8 days a year off work for golf days went away. Plus I moved clubs and found a good crowd of friends to do away days with. Then had a lengthy hiatus from this forum, still only dip in occasionally. I'd consider a mega-meet again, Aberdeen was great, but more likely to attend local stuff.

Some wonderful times though over those years at meets small and large. My first ever meet was one that Fish did at Tadmarton Heath (the winter one where the greens were impersonating skating rinks), I walked in very new to the forum and knowing no-one but there were no cliques, just a bunch of friendly hackers willing to have a knock together.

 

[Albo]

Absolutely no problem with this at all, but anything that might change your mind could be interesting...

Hmmm, that’s an interesting question.
For me, it’s more that I’m in the fortunate position that this year I have (well will have come the end of the month), been on 5 different away golf tours with various groups of friends, those 5 tours are likely to happen on a repeat basis. Given I’m married (though I’m not sure why she puts up with me) and have 2 kids (12 and 9), and I play in some capacity on average 5 times a week (that could be range, 18, 9 hole par 3, few holes after work, etc), I’m not in the position to ask for another away trip, especially one to meet up with people I’ve never met.
Now if any of the above were ever to change, I doubt again that I’d make the effort to come along, I’m not hugely social with people I don’t know, I’d rather play 18 on my own listening to music or an audio book than play with a stranger at my home course, so the idea of meeting up with people I don’t know to play one or more rounds and potentially stay over in a hotel and socialise/ eat with, that’s all so very far from my own comfort zone that I don’t see it ever happening.
Please don’t get me wrong, I understand how good these meets are for the people who like to meet different people, I have nothing but admiration for those people and I’m sure these events are well run and enjoyed by all who attend. It’s also nothing at all to do with any of the forum community, I value the difference in opinions here and have learned a whole bunch from the friendly knowledgeable people here.
It’s not you, it’s me!

 

[bernix]

yes & yes
much enjoyed the mega meets and i'd attend future ones under the conditions that i don't need a visa to enter UK and the meeting spans over a couple of days and rounds

 

[Voyager EMH]

yes & yes
much enjoyed the mega meets and i'd attend future ones under the conditions that i don't need a visa to enter UK and the meeting spans over a couple of days and rounds

Grüss Gott.

Just get on one of those very small ferries. No visa required. Plenty of nice accommodation available and golf courses along the south coast where forum members play regularly.

(Or so I've been told)

 

[clubchamp98]

Grüss Gott.

Just get on one of those very small ferries. No visa required. Plenty of nice accommodation available and golf courses along the south coast where forum members play regularly.

(Or so I've been told)

Those smaller cruise ships are a bit expensive I’ve heard!