The spring rains in the last couple of weeks have been very welcome, but a lot more is needed to lift the general water restrictions in place for the foreseeable future. The course has certainly benefited with the tee boxes and fairways showing the most improvement as the greens continue to be in excellent condition.
Men’s Interclub matches have been held against La Cala (team of only 8) where we won 3 & 1 at home and tied 2 & 2 away so an overall win. We’ve only played the home match against Cerrado del Aguila at the time of writing and lost that 3 ½ to 2 ½, so we’ll see how we fare in the away match. Next year (2025) we’ve agreed to play in the Senior Men’s League with about 10 other clubs all along the coast so that will certainly provide a lot more variety.
We still have the ongoing issue of slow play where rounds can take 5 hours or more. This is just UNACCEPTABLE and everyone is responsible to ensure you keep up with the group in front. The marshals have been asked to help in this regard so, if you’ve lost a hole or more, you may be asked to pick up and move on to the next hole to speed play up with the resulting loss of score on that/those holes so be warned.
To ensure you keep pace PLEASE:
1) Mark/enter your score at the next tee not by the green.
2) Under the rules of golf, you’re only allowed 3 minutes to search for a ball so move quickly and play a provisional if you think it might be lost.
3) Also, under the rules of golf, you MUST play ready golf and not wait around for a player if they’re not ready to play. Have your club in your hand ready to play while another player is taking their shot.
You’re expected to complete the course in 4 ½ hours or less and we don’t want to have to impose penalties for not doing so.
Spring has certainly arrived with warmer temperatures and flowers in bloom. Unfortunately, that also means many of our members who winter in Marbella have now returned or are returning home and we look forward to seeing them back in the Autumn. On the other hand, several members come for the spring, so the numbers playing seems to remain constant especially with new members joining almost every week.
In conclusion I have the sad duty to report the passing of Walter Lauk suddenly a few weeks ago in Germany. I sent a message of condolence to Petra from all of us and that we were thinking of her.
I look forward to seeing you soon!
Roger Kemp
Marbella Golf Captain
