Club Captain’s Newsletter
April 2022
Dear Member, Owner
Thank you to everybody who supported my Drive-In, especially those who contributed their time and effort in supporting the day. The generosity of everyone was overwhelming and we have had a great start to our charity raising efforts. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and really appreciated the good wishes that I received.
Members Golf in 2022/23
Matches
I am pleased to be able to announce that a small league of three clubs, Aguilon, Valle del Este and Desert Springs has been set up – to play for the “Desert Trophy”. The format is mixed matches (with all 18 holes played) of 6 pairs on each side. There will be 4 matches for each club – 2 at home and two away. The match fee will be €40 (away) and €10 (home) to include green fees and drinks/tapas afterwards. The dates for the Desert Springs matches are:
- 18th May Aguilon v Desert Springs
- 29th June Desert Springs v Aguilon
- 28th September Valle del Este v Desert Springs
- 26th October Desert Springs v Valle del Este
Please let Sue Garrod know – scgarrod@gmail.com If you would like to play in any of these.
Handicaps
The combination of the RFEG only allowing one “Extra Day Score” per month and the number of competitions currently on the calendar means that members, especially those who only visit Desert Springs a few weeks a year can have scores counting towards their handicap (last 20) dating back a number of years. Even mine, and I consider myself a regular entrant, date back to 2019. I know of a couple of members that go back to 2016.
New Handicap Qualifying Competitions
To address this to some extent I am introducing new Midweek Competitions, which provide more handicap qualifiers, prize money, a small contribution to charity and social interaction. I would ask that that the whole membership embrace these competitions as even members who have their 20 scores in the last twelve months will benefit from other members bringing their handicap scores into recent times. Inviting returning members to play in qualifiers will assist in this.
Wednesdays : Mixed Charity Challenge
Thursdays: Ladies Charity Challenge, Men’s Charity Challenge.
These competitions will allow entrants to select the tee they play off and the tee time within the available window. On top of that, all entrants will qualify for the “Captain’s Charity Night Out” planned for October. Playing once during the period will also give you a chance to win the overall prize, but of course playing each week will give you a greater chance.
To date there has been some confusion of when these competitions will start, for which I apologise, but there have been some issues regarding setting these up as RFEG qualifying competitions. Full details of these competitions for w/c 2nd May 2022 will be posted in the clubhouse.
Tuesdays : Desert Springs Golf4Women
The original intention was for the Ladies charity competition to be played on a Tuesday. However, I realised that this would clash with the Desert Springs ‘Golf4Women’ promotion which provides a great offer for Lady Members and guests – including a guest green fee of €30 for friends who might be staying and an F&B special offer afterwards.
Please view the offer HERE.
Members Score Entry after competitions
If you have played in any of the recent competitions, you will know that scores are now being entered on a computer away from Resort Reception. This weekend we move one step further by asking entrants to enter their own scores following the instructions provided.
The benefits of this being a success are many, including being able to provide the prize presentation a lot sooner after the last golfers are off the course and being able to process more competitions. There will be help available if you get stuck, and there will be teething problems, which hopefully will be overcome quickly.
Fund Raising 2022/23
Again, many thanks to all those who supported the Drive-In’s various charity raising activities. There will be more to come throughout the year. Saturday 8th October is the Captain’s Charity Day for which I have already received some great auction donations. More details of all the charity activities will be published in due course, but of course you are always invited to make a Charity Donation to the Captain’s Charity Bank Account managed by Richard Fuller, the details are:
Account name: Richard Charles Fuller – Desert Springs Captains Charity
IBAN: ES03 0081 0597 0000 0116 0523
Golf at Desert Springs 2022/23
I would like to wish you a great year of Golf at Desert Springs over the coming months and I look forward to playing a round of golf with as many members as possible.
Paul Taylor
