Golf Manager's update Dear Member, Head of Golf F&B...
Most of you will have noted that Tony Coleta has moved on from his Supervisor role with us, we wish him well in his future ventures. Going forward Marc Godfrey will be heading up F&B as our new Golf Club Food & Beverage Manager, we will be recruiting a strong supervisor to work under Marc during the New Year, all in all a much more robust structure. Mark has vast operational knowledge of bars, hotel events, service, cellars, standards, managing staff etc and represents the most qualified and senior person appointed to this position with us. His back of house organisation and structure will impact the service seen by the members with time. A strong appointment in line with the other key recruits of Liam, Tom, Billy in the last year across sales, golf and greens.
Sensible changes…
The other major change is that the food & beverage budget that was previously overseen for the golf club, by the hotel, is now being moved completely to the golf club… along with all previous supply lines that we had to obtain from the hotel. This is long overdue and something I’ve pushed for over a long period. This effectively gives us a lot more control and saves a lot of time and frustration! These changes sound obvious and common sense, but highlight the most likely reason why the golf club food and bar service has never been consistently good during Hallmark’s or Menzies’ time. With change comes a period of consolidation. Systems and processes are gradually moving across from hotel to golf club. With this in mind, I’ve hired in very capable agency staff for weekends to supplement our new team members…ensuring a good basic standard of product and service is seen in this area by our golf members through Winter weekends. With time you will gradually see Marc and I add team members that we feel are right for the business, the club and our customers, primarily you, our members. At present we have a good team of people to see us through the winter months, by March a strong team for the summer season will be taking shape.
Halfway Hut…
You will have noted one or two changes to the Halfway Hut offering and we are looking to keep nudging the product and service forward each week. I’ve had one or two members query prices. Please bear with us…some prices have been £1.00 for about 100 years, at some stage I need to add 0.50p, there is never a good time for any price increase, but I have to be realistic. We have had some great ideas come back from the first round of winter league, bar stools/seating inside and out, pre-ordering from the 9th tee etc... all in good time guys…thanks for your input. We are on baby steps at present and the mantra is getting the simple things right, but more will follow. We trust the panini and hot beverage offering at £5.00 appears a good addition and good value. I will ensure a particular favourite ‘Sausage & Onion’ are well stocked going forward! Forthcoming festive period... Quick note for your golfing diary here at The Welcombe Golf Club. We are currently producing team rotas for golf operations, food & beverage and management staff to ensure we have full cover operationally, across what is likely to be a busy time. We anticipate the tee-sheet will be busy Friday, 22nd December to Sunday, 24th December, but also the following week, Tuesday, 26th December to Monday, 1st January. I’m preparing for weekend type days across most of these days. Please book your tee-times early to avoid disappointment – from next weekend you will have the option via BRS online (21 days out) to get in early and book or call/email the golf team and do the same. All members will be able to book any times that are available, however in addition to the usual allocated weekend member times, I’ve asked Golf Ops to block out 8am-10am on certain weekdays (more information to follow), essentially as an extension of the Mon/Weds/Fri roll up times. We will keep you updated on the festive tee-sheet over the coming 2-3 weeks of newsletter. Course/Clubhouse Opening Times, will be published in the pro-shop and in next week’s newsletter. Have a great end to your week, thank you for your support and patience we look forward to seeing you at the weekend, Friday night should be a belter and the weekend forecast looks good (if a little chilly!). Very best regards John Prior
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