Mougins, January 2016
Dear member,
The Royal Mougins Team wishes you a very healthy
2016. It was great to see so many of you celebrate the year’s end at Royal
Mougins on December the 31st and to toast to the New Year with again
many of you during out New Year’s Cocktail on January the 3rd.
Every time you tear a leaf off a
calendar,
you present a new place for new ideas
and progress.
The year 2015 was fascinating for
the golf club industry. It started with a wake-up call – Rory McIlroy’s failure
to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year prize, despite a sensational
2014, gave a jolt to the industry that showed the sport was not as popular as
it once was, and this, in turn, gave more authority to some golf club managers
and industry associations to deliver a raft of initiatives throughout the year
that were intended to boost participation in the sport, and membership at
clubs.
But what were the biggest trends of
2015? Have a look:
Now for the year 2016:
4 changes to the rules
of golf.
The R&A and USGA
released the 2016 edition to the Rules of Golf with four significant
changes.
The most significant
change may have been to Rule 18-2b. A player is no longer deemed to have caused
a golf ball to move after address, and rules officials will take a more nuanced
look at possible violations to consider other factors, such as the amount of
time taken after a golf club is grounded and the ball moves.
The rule was adjusted in
2012 to consider the possibility of wind moving a golf ball, and a one-stroke
penalty will be applied only when the facts show that the player caused the
ball to move.
“No one is going to admit it to you,
but we're all miracles out there on the course, every
last one of us.”
The USGA and R&A also
added a “limited” exception to Rule 6-6d and the penalty for signing an
incorrect scorecard.
A player will no longer be
disqualified for returning a lower score for a hole than actually taken as a
result of failing to include penalty strokes that the player was not aware of
when he signed his scorecard.
Under an edition to Rule
14-3, the violation for a first use of an “artificial device or equipment” will
now be a two-stroke penalty. The penalty for a second breach of the rule will
continue to be disqualification.
Among the litany of
changes, however, next year’s ban on anchoring will continue to dominate the
conversation in rule circles in the immediate future. Although most PGA
Tour players have already made the transition to a non-anchored putter,
like Adam Scott who arrived at this month’s Presidents
Cup with a standard-length model, there are still a few holdouts –
like Tim Clark – who will have to make the change after Jan. 1.
R&A and USGA officials
said they anticipate some players will keep using longer putters without
anchoring, and that the new rule is “intent based” and there would be no
violation if the club inadvertently brushes against a player’s body.
Golf etiquette is an extremely
important part of the game of golf.
The etiquette golfer’s show to one another out on
the course
is one of the things that distinguishes golf from all other
sports!
10 rules for good golf etiquette
·
Don’t be the slowest
player
·
Keep your temper under
control
·
Respect other people’s
time
·
Repair the ground you play
on
·
Be a silent partner
·
Make your golf cart
‘invisible’
·
Always look your best
·
Turn off your cell phone
·
Lend a hand when you can
·
Learn the little things
There are a hundred bits
of etiquette like laying the flagstick down carefully, tamping down spike marks
when you're walking off a green, letting faster groups play through, and so on.
All of these things are learned by observing, with a sharp eye and a
considerate heart. Just know that golf has a way of returning favors, and every
piece of etiquette you practice will be repaid tenfold.
Golf at Royal Mougins (by
John Clarkin & undersigned).
We have been lucky at the end of 2015 with the
weather. Last year we had 600mm of rain in November alone. This year we have
had only had a handful of wet days and the temperatures have been relatively
mild. This has meant a reduction in disease pressure especially on the greens.
We have not had the invasion of Dollar Spot as we did last year and this should
bode well for the upcoming season. As a result, the greens are in better
condition coming into spring and are rolling well. The crows continue to pick at
a few of the greens but they have been treated for the larval activity.
Pitch marks remain the biggest single problem on
the greens. Due to the better weather this
Holiday season, Royal Mougins had more members playing over the break. This has
resulted in massive numbers of badly repaired and non-repaired pitch marks on
all of the greens. To give an example of this Mikael has placed a yellow ball
on each pitch mark on the 10th green. This is astonishing and the
absolute majority of play has been the members.
There were so many that he ran out of golf balls
and the front right of the green could not be covered. We need to tackle this
problem once and for all as the greens condition will deteriorate due to wear
alone from the golfers. At the moment the greens look like they have a disease
where in fact it is the pitch marks creating the only blemish. In order to
educate the members we shall run demonstrations again before shot guns and hand
out pitch mark repairers to those who do not carry one.
While Royal Mougins
is not alone with this problem
it would be nice for the club to be the first to
rectify the issue.
The loss of turf on the tees due to irrigation
issues this summer has been fixed. The tees now have full coverage except for
some of the tees in heavy shade like the 15th tees and some of the
back tees. During the winter we have employed Tree Surgeons who have removed
large amounts of excessive coverage which now allows light back to these tees.
The Greenkeeping team have cut all of the branches around the course on the pathways
making access much easier and throughout the course for air movement especially
on shaded holes like the 2nd, 7th, 10th, 12th
and 15th. This will continue for the rest of the winter.
Fairways are in as good a condition as we have
seen in Royal Mougins during the winter. Density has improved vastly. There
have been only a few worm casts and the 12th and 13th
fairways have caught back up with the rest on the course. The fairways will be
shaped a little more coming into the spring and widened on the landing zones
for the average golfer to make the course a bit more playable. There have been
questions with regard to driving on the fairways during the winter and
unfortunately we have to be careful with wear and tear as there is no real
recovery for 4 months of the year from traffic. We ask the members to respect
the rules when buggies are required to stay on the paths on certain days.
Bunkers continue to be the main area of concern
due to the lack of consistency. The new bunkers that we constructed last year
are working well. It is our intention to carry out Phase 2 of the works in the
coming weeks. This will include a further 15 bunkers around the course which
will make it easier to maintain in the future. The bunker on the 3rd
and 18th fairway shall have sand put back in for the moment as it
will form part of Phase 3 as it is a complex job to reconstruct this zone.
These works will take approximately 8 weeks and we ask for consideration,
understanding and patience for the contractors and the course during this time.
These works will have massive benefits for the members as we continue to
improve not only the condition of the course but also the aesthetics and
playability. Similar works as seen on the 17th shall take place on
about 8 holes around the course including the 10th hole with the
reduction of the bunker sizes.
In addition to the bunkers we shall be working on
the entrances to the fairways to improve some of the worn zones like the
entrance to the fairway on the 7th from the tees. Mounding will also
be reduced in certain areas to make them more manageable and easier to play
from.
We are expecting another hot summer if we are to
believe the long range forecast and this will put pressure on the irrigation.
We have engaged with an irrigation specialist to develop a new design which
will be implemented over the next couple of years during the winter as not to
affect the playability of course.
Golf is game of respect and
sportsmanship;
we have to respect its traditions and
its rules.
One issue that has arisen from the mild weather is
the invasion of weeds in the rough and outer areas of the course. Normally we
would not see this until March but during Christmas, perennial weeds developed
rapidly around the course. These are being cut and sprayed at the moment and
will be tackled once again in March. We will be creating more hard-line edges
to the course and perimeter in order to find golf balls quicker and make life
easier for maintenance of the turf areas.
It is also intended to build a new artificial tee
on the driving range this winter. This will allow for more use during high
traffic.
We would like to thank the members who have been
very encouraging about the course over the past couple of months. The
greenkeepers take serious pride in the work and they very much appreciate the
kind words.
La Terrasse du 18.
A major renovation of our kitchen is foreseen to
be taken on just after valentine. This means that we will be obliged to close
our kitchen for a period of about 3-4 weeks just after our Saint Valentine
Dinner on the 13th. A food truck will be present every day (from February 14th
on ‘till the evening of March 11th) near the ProShop for refreshments (though
the bar will stay open) and sandwiches, hotdogs, street food, etc.
"We all eat, and it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat
badly."
Obviously we are looking forward to presenting you
menus with new and different dishes right after the restart of our culinary
team in their renewed kitchen. We will also brighten up the terrace and the
gardens around it to add some more romance to our already magnificent terrace.
Julie Bellaiche guarantees us many special evenings
with live entertainment this year. We have booked some weddings as well. We
will however try to avoid inconvenience as much as possible. However as 2016 is
in many ways a very important year for us we need a bit of external help to
reach our goals. You, as members, have been very understanding about this and
we are very grateful for this.
Security.
An all member committee consisting of Mr. Schoen,
Mr. Struyk, Mr. Zwaans, Mr. Rieter and Mr. de Waal Malefijt have worked hard to
come up with an overall security plan which is currently being studied by the
owner. We will report at a later stage more in detail but rest assured that
everybody’s security at RMGC is of upmost importance to management and the
team.
New members.
RMGC is focussed on attracting more members to
assure its future for at least another 20 years. There are various membership
programs (that already exist between RM’s opening). Rest assured that we apply
these programs to the letter contrary to rumours going around (check our
website for details). We have but a few odd and rare cases out of the ancient
past which are currently being reviewed by us in order to align all annual dues
soonest.
Also remember that if through your efforts we sell
a full RM membership we will also in 2016 award you with a discount on your
2017 annual dues. Please contact our Membership Director Elisabeth Boisson if
you know someone to recommend to become member. In order to qualify for this
Member Referral Program we request the following:
-
The new membership needs to be
purchased directly from the Club (not applicable for members reselling their
memberships) as the goal is to actually increase the number of members.
-
New members need to purchase and
pay in full their membership (the leasing option does not count)
-
Potential members need to be
referred to Elisabeth Boisson before a first meeting at the Club. Members
cannot claim the benefits of this program once negotiations are already
underway.
-
The 50% reduction on your yearly
dues are valid for the sale of a non-residential and corporate contract. If
there are more than 1 person under a membership than this does not count as a
sale of more memberships (members versus memberships).
-
This program is valid for any
member in good standing.
We thank those members who have successfully
recommended now new members!
“As you walk down the fairway of life,
you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.”
Obviously you're always better off if
you quit smoking; it's never too late.
But that’s completely up to you.
What I do wish for though is
cigarette & cigar (butt) free greens & fairways!
Further Golf.
Le Royal Mougins Golf Club and the Golf de
Joyenval in Chambourcy,
east of Paris, have decided to become partners in order to offer you, as
member, the following:
They offer you free use of their golf facilities
with a maximum of 3 green fees per member per year and only during weekdays.
You will need to reserve your T-times thru the staff at our ProShop. The green
fees are limited to one team per week with a maximum of a flight of 4.
Enjoy the Golf de Joyenvan!
Rattan Chadha Cup.
Please note that the annual RC Cup will not be
organized during the Easter weekend this year but will take place on April 23rd and 24th.
Be sure to participate for some great golf and a culinary evening with some
surprises.
Please note that the Annual Assembly of your AS
will be held on Friday April 22nd,
just before the Rattan Chadha Cup!
Spa.
So far nothing but great reviews since Christelle
Tortorici and her team took over. Please check the website for more information
on the latest offers. Make sure you do receive her newsletters. The Spa is
currently being repainted. Again our apologies for the inconvenience. But our
aim is to work on the Royal in Royal Mougins.
Hotel.
Additional lightening will be installed near all
staircases and in the passage behind rooms 212 – 204. Security is obviously of
importance at the hotel as at the entire Club.
Ann-Sophie Failly-Guedet has been appointed Sales
Manager for the hotel and I am sure that she will do a fine job. We are all
very optimistic about the upcoming season.
We have many more plans but will report to you on
those at later dates. Know that the team is preparing for another great golfing
year at Royal Mougins. Do not hesitate to contact me with ideas, remarks, etc.
We are here for you! And we are in the happiness business! It is our business
to make you happy!
2016: Our motto:
We are ladies and Gentleman serving Ladies and gentlemen!
Our slogan:
I am proud to be Royal Mougins!
Our credo :
- Royal Mougins is a place of genuine care, and
comfort of our members and guests is our highest mission.
- We pledge to provide the finest personal service
and facilities for our members and guests, who will always enjoy a warm,
relaxed, yet refined ambiance.
- The Royal Mougins experience enlivens the senses,
instils well-being, and fulfils even the unexpressed, the wishes and the
needs of our members and guests.
Let’s leave all the problems the world currently
faces outside Royal Mougins!
Thank you for being a member of our great RM
family. And a big thank you to the AS Board under enthusiastic guidance of Club
captain Hans-Peter Franklin. They have done a great job in helping to develop
the sporty part of our Club Life and then some.
On behalf of the RMGC-team, Turfgrass, Celtic and
Groupe Thalassotel I wish all the members a Happy New Year and best to you all
for the upcoming Golfing Season.
Jurgen Wondergem
Proud to be Royal Mougins!
“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity.
The Optimist Sees The Opportunity In Every
Difficulty.”
