Hello golfer,
And so it has arrived. The time for me to say my farewell to Teign Valley and its brilliant members. It's the end of five and a half fantastic years and I am sorely going to miss both the club and all the people involved. I have lots of wonderful memories to leave with and I will always be looking out to see that you are all behaving yourselves.
I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you for the whole-hearted support you have shown me in my time serving you as your Head Professional. It's been an honour and a privilege to have worked at such a great golf club. I have been blown away by the good will messages received since I announced my move and I hope to see many of you in the future.
For the future I hope that you all stay healthy and continue to enjoy your golf whilst keeping Teign Valley the friendly and vibrant club it has always been. Once again thank you very much and see you all again soon.
Best wishes
Darren, James and Chris
You have to laugh
As a Club Professional there is not much we haven't been asked or listened to. I thought I would just share a couple of classic moments I have had on the phone with people in my time here.
One member was obviously not keen to play in a Medal. He rang to confirm his tee-time and declared what a lovely day it was for playing. Then he asked the format to which I replied that it was medal, his response was classic:
"Oh well I've just remembered I have a funeral to go to so can you take me off the start sheet?"
Then you have the old favourite over booking a tee-time. A gentleman rang up to ask for a tee-time at 9am. When I replied that he could have the 9:08 slot he said:
"Oh no that's too early for us, haven't you got a time around 10am?"
These situations make you laugh or cry but are a major part of why I love my job. There is never a dull day in the life of a Club Professional.
One of my favourite days recently was to see a really good friend and loyal member win his first trophy! Shaun Truscott paired up with his friend Steve Allen to win the Winter Foursomes competition (pictured below). They beat their close friends Chris Pugh and Mark Harris in the final. Well done Shaun, I will miss our banter.
Every golf club needs a character and one of the best at the Valley is our Swedish friend Bjorn Lonngren. Bjorn (pictured above) is brilliant fun and a real genuine nice bloke. I asked Bjorn to partake in my meet the member feature and he agreed but wanted to pose his own questions and answers so I felt it was fitting to wait until my last Teign Valley newsletter to introduce you to Bjorn, my friend:
How long have you been a novice member of Teign Valley?
19 years and still a novice!
Numerous new equipment has not helped so it definitely must be the novice in me
What is your favourite hole at Teign Valley?
The shower at the 19th, and lovely showers they are too
What is your favourite club in the bag?
Exeter Falcons and Teign Valley (in the bag misunderstood - sorry, all the custom fitted clubs)
What is your favourite snack during a round?
Pickled herring (as even I don't like fermented herring)
What is your biggest golfing weakness?
Having a novice golfing brain, and supporting Exeter Falcons (speedway), AIK (Stockholm, football/icehocke/golf) and Aston Villa!
If you could change anything about golf what would it be?
All the holes should be designed in an anti-clock wise direction with a steel fence to resemble Exeter Falcon's County Ground
What do you love the most about golf?
The scenery at Teign Valley, admired at every round to cope with my rubbish scoring