Club looks to future with plans for 16-hole course

David Brown, the chairman of the club management committee, told the annual meeting on Saturday that the proposed short course would provide an excellent facility for juniors starting out in golf.

"Youngsters learning to play golf can find the length of the main course daunting initially and the short course will also be useful for more elderly players who find the 18-hole course too demanding," he said.

The short course will be available to all club members and will be used for competitions in a first-year trial.

The club is also looking into new ways of sourcing energy for heating and lighting at the club. In addition, a Friends of Pyecombe, established as a venture to fund extra projects for the club, had enjoyed a highly succesful year and money raised would be used to pay for new furniture for all the course tees.

Junior players from Pyecombe had been particularly successful in the previous year, and they included some promising young county players.

The new captain for the coming year, Michael Price, was introduced by retiring captain Kevin Fairfax.

New ladies' captain, Bronwynne Morley and vice captains Jim Dossetter and Joanna Greenstreet were also introduced.

The club's annual drive-in for new captains took place on Sunday, with the traditional Texas Scramble competition for teams of six over 18 holes with a shotgun start '“ and conditions could not have been worse.

Initial snow was followed by driving rain and gale-force winds. The event was officially curtailed to just nine holes as the weather worsened, although a number of teams walked in after completing only a few holes.

New captains Michael Price (club), Bronwynne Morley (ladies), Jake Southon (juniors) and Aubrey Watson (vets) teed off outside the clubhouse later in the day after the weather had cleared.

Texas Scramble results: 1, M Coward, M Holland, J Jefferson, D Hackett, P Tilney, D Tibble. 2, P Gladding, K Burnett, J Stratton, D Lodge, S Pearce, J Chapman. 3, A Gilbert, R Claydon, P Fray, L Foot, D Glastonbury, S Southon. 4, J McGhie, P Corney, N Wood, C Openshaw, A Vermes, A McKim. 5, A Bainbridge, T Gleave, B Foster, M Dring, J Brittin, R Lawson. 6, R Plummer, T Cotton, P Bolton, M Woolgar, J Hawes, L Harris.