New Members Newsletter
New Members
A warm welcome to all our New Members from 2025 and 2026. I hope you have appreciated the quality of our course to date and are looking forward to the new Season.
The following note is intended to share as much background as possible to help you get off to the best possible start to the season. Please let me know if there is anything else you wish to clarify or need help with or any suggestions you may have.
I appreciate that there will be some people, as in previous years, who have joined Harburn with friends and are therefore all set for playing while others have joined on their own, may not have a handicap, etc. This second scenario is the group we are aiming to support to improve their experience and help them settle at the Club.
While New Members are probably familiar with the online booking system this is also the way that you book a tee time to enter competitions once these begin. You will need to maintain a competition balance on ClubV1 to cover your entry fee for competitions, typically £3 per event.
We also have two New Member specific events to enable you to meet each other and some of the more established Members.
Around May & September each year we will contact all New Members over the preceding 6-9 months to invite them to a one-off social gathering called a Play, Meet & Greet. On the day New Members meet in the clubhouse with some existing Members/Committee Members where there will typically be some brief introductions, a hot roll/coffee before heading out for a round of golf in 3 or 4 balls. After the game there will be a bowl of soup and a small prizegiving.
For the past 2 seasons we have also run the New Members Challenge Cup, a monthly stableford over 6 months each summer, with the winner registering the highest combined points from any 3 months. This is open to all New Members normally from 1st June the previous year (under review) playing off the yellow/red tees as appropriate and with full handicap allowance.
Dates have been booked for the Challenge Cup as follows:
Saturday 25th April Saturday 30th May Sunday 28th June
Sunday 12th July Sunday 30th August Sunday 27th September
Yet to confirm date for final social event in October but probably play bottom 12 holes shotgun start then presentation of medals/sandwiches.
Some tweaks are under consideration:
1. Making each month a standalone event with a medal for the winner at an end of season catch up;
2. Mixing up the format – stableford, stroke play, pairs, etc
3. Change name to New Members Summer Medal (The trophy unfortunately got taken in the robbery)
Further details will follow for the events mentioned above. In the meantime if you need any help settling in or have any questions/suggestions please let me know as we want you to enjoy your membership as much as possible.
Housekeeping
Communication Options What’s App - it is up to each Member to decide their preferences. The options are a) join the NM What’s App b) you can also join the Gent’s Members What’s App giving you greater access to contact the wider group for instance to organise ties, etc c) there is no requirement to join either Group.
Many New Members will drop out from the NM app after perhaps a year or so once they feel established and move over to the Gents App but they are welcome to stay longer if they wish. (https://chat.whatsapp.com/LfDEZT9FITl7MKvHbTBYty?mode=gi_t)
Useful Links
Gents Members What’s App, (https://chat.whatsapp.com/FNoBjWrJlRrAAe0hgBUOF9?mode=gi_t)
Open Competitions, https://harburngolfclub.co.uk/open-competitions/
Member Benefit Page including a list of reciprocal courses https://harburngolfclub.co.uk/member-benefits/
As a Harburn member, you can invite guests in advance for £18 each for golf and a visiting party menu for a meal via Sharon at the office or purchase a Visitor Book in the Pro Shop which covers 5 rounds for £75.
Insurance – there is a poster on the notice board just inside the front door that details the cover we have in place for members and guests. It is entirely up to you whether you rely on this arrangement or take out personal cover which for instance may insure all of your golf equipment.
Etiquette it would be fair to say that many of our members care passionately about slow play, especially when the course is busy such as medals/competitions. Please bear this in mind and invite the group behind you to play through if you are struggling and have lost ground on the party in front of you.
Wishing you all an enjoyable and successful season at Harburn.
Donald Caskie
New Members Committee Member
While I am here to support the New Members in the Gents Section, Annie Leitch has recently taken on a similar role for our Ladies Section.
The following note is intended to share as much background as possible to help you get off to the best possible start to the season. Please let me know if there is anything else you wish to clarify or need help with or any suggestions you may have.
I appreciate that there will be some people, as in previous years, who have joined Harburn with friends and are therefore all set for playing while others have joined on their own, may not have a handicap, etc. This second scenario is the group we are aiming to support to improve their experience and help them settle at the Club.
While New Members are probably familiar with the online booking system this is also the way that you book a tee time to enter competitions once these begin. You will need to maintain a competition balance on ClubV1 to cover your entry fee for competitions, typically £3 per event.
We also have two New Member specific events to enable you to meet each other and some of the more established Members.
Around May & September each year we will contact all New Members over the preceding 6-9 months to invite them to a one-off social gathering called a Play, Meet & Greet. On the day New Members meet in the clubhouse with some existing Members/Committee Members where there will typically be some brief introductions, a hot roll/coffee before heading out for a round of golf in 3 or 4 balls. After the game there will be a bowl of soup and a small prizegiving.
For the past 2 seasons we have also run the New Members Challenge Cup, a monthly stableford over 6 months each summer, with the winner registering the highest combined points from any 3 months. This is open to all New Members normally from 1st June the previous year (under review) playing off the yellow/red tees as appropriate and with full handicap allowance.
Dates have been booked for the Challenge Cup as follows:
Saturday 25th April Saturday 30th May Sunday 28th June
Sunday 12th July Sunday 30th August Sunday 27th September
Yet to confirm date for final social event in October but probably play bottom 12 holes shotgun start then presentation of medals/sandwiches.
Some tweaks are under consideration:
1. Making each month a standalone event with a medal for the winner at an end of season catch up;
2. Mixing up the format – stableford, stroke play, pairs, etc
3. Change name to New Members Summer Medal (The trophy unfortunately got taken in the robbery)
Further details will follow for the events mentioned above. In the meantime if you need any help settling in or have any questions/suggestions please let me know as we want you to enjoy your membership as much as possible.
Housekeeping
Communication Options What’s App - it is up to each Member to decide their preferences. The options are a) join the NM What’s App b) you can also join the Gent’s Members What’s App giving you greater access to contact the wider group for instance to organise ties, etc c) there is no requirement to join either Group.
Many New Members will drop out from the NM app after perhaps a year or so once they feel established and move over to the Gents App but they are welcome to stay longer if they wish. (https://chat.whatsapp.com/LfDEZT9FITl7MKvHbTBYty?mode=gi_t)
Useful Links
Gents Members What’s App, (https://chat.whatsapp.com/FNoBjWrJlRrAAe0hgBUOF9?mode=gi_t)
Open Competitions, https://harburngolfclub.co.uk/open-competitions/
Member Benefit Page including a list of reciprocal courses https://harburngolfclub.co.uk/member-benefits/
As a Harburn member, you can invite guests in advance for £18 each for golf and a visiting party menu for a meal via Sharon at the office or purchase a Visitor Book in the Pro Shop which covers 5 rounds for £75.
Insurance – there is a poster on the notice board just inside the front door that details the cover we have in place for members and guests. It is entirely up to you whether you rely on this arrangement or take out personal cover which for instance may insure all of your golf equipment.
Etiquette it would be fair to say that many of our members care passionately about slow play, especially when the course is busy such as medals/competitions. Please bear this in mind and invite the group behind you to play through if you are struggling and have lost ground on the party in front of you.
Wishing you all an enjoyable and successful season at Harburn.
Donald Caskie
New Members Committee Member
While I am here to support the New Members in the Gents Section, Annie Leitch has recently taken on a similar role for our Ladies Section.