VDM NEWSLETTER

Don not forget to check the competition results,

Click: "October" for the Club Championships

and the October Medal

posted for your review.

Captain's Summer Notes:

"I have now finished the first part of my captaincy as were are leaving for the UK on 24th May.  I should like to thank you all for the wonderful support that you have given me to date and hope that it will continue from mid September when I will return to take up the reins once again.

In my absence Geert and Lloyd have kindly agreed to look after your interests.

Competitions in June will be as normal with the Dunvegan,Captains Trophy and White Heather

July and August will have the Summer League organised by Lloyd.

Upon my return in September the competitions will revert to the normal format of individual and team competitions.

Those who are going to Spain, and have not yet paid your balances, please arrange to let Geert have these before the end of July.

Also any other queries regarding the trip can be addressed to me,Geert or Peter Goulding.

All It leaves me now to do is to wish you all a good summer and look forward to seeing you all again in September when no doubt Dawn and Nellie will be organising social events

Graham (Your slowly speaking captain)"

VDM NEWSLETTER

NO: 03/2011

Welcome back folks, after another period of scintillating golf, mindless repartee, and above all, superb company.

Firstly, our esteemed leader wishes to address the expectant throng..........

“Time is going by so quickly, it does not seem 5 minutes since I started my captaincy.

I feel that everything is going along quite nicely despite the odd hiccup but I may be wrong and if so please tell me!

I would like to congratulate Dawn and Nellie for producing such a varied programme of social activities.

The playing programme, I hope, is suitable to you all as I am trying to make this as enjoyable as possible with both individual and team competitions.

I would welcome any feedback on the suitability and variety of the prizes so far awarded. 

Details are all but finalised for the Spanish Trip; all I have to do is “dot the Is and cross the Ts”.

On the 8^th May, Barbara and I are inviting you all to buffet lunch from 1300 hours onwards.  Details will be on the notice board nearer the time.

I cannot finish without reference to the untimely death of Marita, a personal friend of Barbara and myself and also other members of the club. She was a lovely lady and will be sadly missed.”

                                                 =============

Congratulations to Margot and Jim for their efforts in providing us with an excellent evening's entertainment on Medal Night. Aided and abetted by Donna & Andrew, the decorative atmosphere was appreciated by all. Everyone entered into the spirit with a variety of costumes, from aristocratic tea ladies, ageing deck hands, wimbledon hooray henrys and henriettas, posers both past and present and not forgetting the formally dressed amongst us! One can only assume that present day cruises are a lot more liberal than they were when the Titanic went down! Should anyone want photos of themselves or others, please let me know.

The “hen” and “stag” evenings were enjoyed by all who attended. What worries me is that no-one was prepared to expand on the evening's activities! Now that Dawn has successfully and professionally accomplished the family wedding arrangements, please keep an eye on the notice board for future social events.

Since the last Newsletter, there have been 88 trips along the Red Carpet for those lucky enough to be rewarded for their efforts on the course. Rosalind has added to her wine cellar on five occasions,  followed by Joyce, Mal and Kate with 4 visits each. Peter leads the male challenge with 4 visits followed by 10 of us on 3 trips each.

I really do feel for our leader......On 1 April, he was convinced that he & Jimmy had won the Pairs (any combination) with 44 points only to be truly whopped by Liz and Mike who quietly and smuggly returned a 49 card!  This was followed by the dubious “Dubai -with a difference -”, when entering the clubhouse with 83 points, Graham again was quite entitled to think that he, Peter, Barbara and Rosemary had it in the bag; only to be edged out by his VC, Maurice,Joyce and Kate on the back nine. However, there is always a happy ending to our clubhouse stories and Graham achieved this last week when he captained the Gents and handed out a 4-1 thrashing to the ladies, whose only win came when Barbara and Fleur beat Dave & Dave.

Other notable achievements saw........

*Pat romp away with both the Carma Quaich and the Monthly Medal

*Bill, in the March Captain's Trophy with a 36 only to be outgunned by Betty with a                                            

 brilliant 38

*Christine finish her stay with a win in the April Captain's Trophy

*Dick's return to the course with a winning partnership with Rosalind in the Pairs and leading man in the Carma Quaich  

*Jimmy's  22 winning putts in the White Heather 

Quotes:  noted by yours truly during play or in the clubhouse

Having seen his partner play an exquisite drive to within a metre of the 5^th hole...

Dave (G) “What a delicious shot”

Barbara “He's got to putt it, not eat it!”

Having observed his opponent's  hard - grafted “par” on the 9^th........

Maurice “She putts superbly, but has such creative arithmetic!”

Food for thought:

The uglier a man's legs are, the better he plays golf – its almost a law!

(H G Wells)

Fleur and her husband have kindly invited us all to their home for “Churrasco & Bebidas” after our golf on Friday 13 May. I will place a list on the board shortly. We will travel in convoy!

Finally............. Babs has asked that we all check our details in the club members contact book and notify her of any necessary amendments. Enjoy...DC/VC 17/04/11

VDM NEWSLETTER

NO: 02/2011

Firstly, I believe that if you don't have much to say, then don't say it! Having said that, herewith a few words covering the period during February and March to-date. In future, the Newsletters may not come out every month.......but I will post the results on the Web as the games are played.

Our Captain has writer's cramp but has asked me to say a few words............

Club Championship will be held over two days on 29 & 30 March.The second round to be played on the Wednesday will be seeded Ladies & Gents and comprise either those players who were within 10 shots of Tuesday's top score , or the top 8 whichever is the highest.

.

Medal Dinner will be held on Friday 25 March and will be sponsored by Jim and Margot. Music has been booked and the theme chosen is “ Come as you were when the ship went down”. The table  area will be suitably decorated. For those who don't want to “dress up or down”, don't worry as you were obviously dressed normally when it happened!! Names please on the notice board list. The Golf competion in the morning is both White Heather and Medal, which seemed to suit everyone last time.

The period February and March to-date has seen playing numbers gradually increasing and even reaching the dizzy heights of 36 for the Better Ball on March 4^th.

Kate has again walked the Red Carpet on numerous occasions whilst Jimmy and Peter H lead the gents' procession.

Barbara and Yours Truly shot “holes in one” on 6th and 7^th respectively.

The Social Activities have really gone well and our thanks go to Dawn, Maurice, Nellie, Jimmy and Robert for organising them.

We started off with a great night at Ponto de Encontro, 24 of us expertly handled by Dawn as she marshalled the troops complete with  clip board. Good food, good company and  Jim O even managed to watch Live Rugby!

Another excellent day out at Alamos with Jimmy and Barbara winning the spoils. This was followed by a most enjoyable lunch somewhere on the road to Monchique. Certainly rowdy at times with Geert and Robert successfully managing to convince some of us to choose between the Assadura or Lamb Stew respectively.

Jimmy and Dawn organised a trip to Benamor, where 18 members enjoyed the day out, despite the threat of rain which fortunately did not materialise.  Babs and Robert  won their respective groups and everyone stayed for lunch at the clubhouse. Jimmy hopes to organise another trip to Alto next month and details will appear shortly.

The BINGO evening, masterminded by Donna, attracted 35 punters.  Hilarious might be an overstatement for some, but a tremendously funny night was enjoyed by all.

Welcome to our latest member, Christine Thomas.

It would be very remiss of me not to congratulate the ladies on their dramatic win over the Gents last week. A win which prompted our captain to quote : “I thought Dick Turpin was dead!”

Quotes noted during play or elsewhere.................

LLOYD          On hearing that the club were presenting Andrew with a “drive” at the Autodrome for his 40th birthday: “Send him on the 125, it'll be cheaper!”

4- Way Conversation at Alamos

GRAHAM      I'm not sure whether that was a Spanish Imperial Eagle or an Osprey

JIMMY           It was possibly a buzzard     

DAVE             Jim, did you see it?

JIM O             No, But I saw a dead wild boar on the 125!

GRAHAM      For goodness sake, get serious!

DAVE             Can we get on with it!

JIMMY           Do you know, last week, I counted ten planes overhead but I can only see 6 today

JIM                 Amazing!

And they say, playing golf can be boring.....................................................

Food for Thought:

“Golf is like a love affair: If you don't take it seriously, it's not fun; if you do take it seriously, it breaks your heart”

(Arnold Daly)

Finally, Our thoughts are with Peter and Marita during this most difficult time.

DC/VC

14/03/11

 VDM NEWSLETTER

Issue:                                                 JANUARY 2011

Firstly, a few words from our Captain, spoken verrrry slllllowly.........

“ Well my first month is over and I believe everything is going as well as possible considering the small numbers playing. Considering the weather in January I think we have been lucky to have only been rained off once.

I have a varied programme again for February and hope that the numbers increase to provide more competition.

I have now finalised details for the Spanish trip week commencing 9^th October and I will be putting detail on the notice board shortly. Costs are in line with last year. I am also looking at playing a 3^rd round of golf on the day we leave at Bellavista near to Huelva for anyone interested.”

                                                            ************

January has been a most enjoyable month, with playing numbers between 14 and 22 and a varied format for all to enjoy. The upward adjustment of handicaps for some of our members has certainly worked and Graham's reasoning which was to enable higher handicappers to achieve just rewards, has certainly worked.

The course has claimed its fair share of injuries:

Leslie, slipping nastily on the 3^rd and suffering a badly bruised foot

Dave, now recovered from a titleist imprint on his back, left by a vicious overpitched shot from Leslie.

Mike's nosebleed prevented him from finishing his round

Good news is that Mal is back on the course but the bad news is that Dick  was last seen hobbling to the airport.

Red Carpet Treatment:

Rosalind and Kate have each walked the red carpet on 5 occasions this month. Maurice returned with 3 prizes in 3 games and 18 other players have tasted Graham's choice of vineyards.

Congratulations to Keith and Teresa on the birth of a grand-daughter – Madeleine and to Jack & Cynthia on the birth of their grand-daughter – Freya.

Welcome to our new member Jill Craigie, whose first 9 holes carded 17 points and was subjected to the usual polite “bandit” banter. Fortunately or otherwise for her, her second 9 did not live up to the first 9!

Social activities start this week with a visit to Ponto de Encontro for an evening meal and drinks on Friday 4^th. This is followed by golf at Morgado on Sunday 6^th.

At the time of writing, Dawn has no plans to subjecting us to any of her extreme sports.

Quotes  noted by yours truly during play or afterwards in the bar...

TIM                      When told that he had won the previous hole : “ When you hear an

                               unfamiliar story, you tend to question it!”

     GRAHAM On hearing that there had been a card dispute between two of our lady                                            

                                    golfers:   “World War 3 has broken out on the 9th”                      

     KATE                    When presented with a 5 euro voucher:  “Why can't I have the wine”

     JIMMY                  Listening to two of his playing partners debating the scoring system 

                                      whilst he is on the tee:

                                    “ For goodness sake, get on with it, I can't concentrate”       

     INGA                     Having found a ball in the rough:  “ This can't be a regulation ball, it's

                                      something called SRIXON”

Food for Thought:

“ He enjoys that perfect peace, that peace beyond all understanding, which comes at its maximum only to the man who has given up golf “

(P.G.Wodehouse)

Finally, a big thank you to Tim & Babs for sponsoring their New Year Trophy and for their generous and useful prizes.

Enjoy February!

DC/VC

31/01/11