Forrester Park
Vets Member Area
Forrester Park
Thankyou to everyone who played in today's friendly, against Maldon golf club on the 15th April.
Forrester Park 5.5 - Maldon 2.5
2 matches played 2 wins.
If you have never played in a friendly before, it is a relaxed atmosphere, good place to meet new people, have some food and play some golf. Sign up now.
Please note :- All home friendlies this year will be subsidised to £12.50. We are also trialing for all home friendlies, pre match bacon roll, after match one course meal.
Away cost determined by home team.
13th May - Away friendly against Harwich , sign up sheet on vets board now.
27th May - Away friendly against Maldon , sign up sheet on vets board now.
The entry sheet for the summer pairs and singles is on the Vets notice board now. Please sign up ASAP.
The Vets Committee and Peter W
Please see below, which shows an example on how to fill out the scorecard for the next competition.
NOTE :- On the new scorecard, column A is to be used to record the MARKER score.
For single player games, column D is to be used to record the players score, players points should be put in the points column. For pairs competition that require two scores recorded, columns C&D should be used. For pairs competitions that have one recorded score (eg Foursomes) the points column should be used.
Information from the competition secretary Ron Stovell.
Starters:- Please remember to complete the reconciliation sheet before you finish. Thank you.
Note to all members:- Please check that the scores on your card are correct and both the marker / player signatures are completed, before you hand in the card to the card collectors.
Please note :- when playing in a pairs competition, if you cannot play for any reason, it is your responsibility to notify your playing partner.
Reminder :- Cut off time for entry into Vets weekly competitions is the Sunday evening before the Wednesday competition.
Wednesday competition late entry or cancelling entry:-
Cancelling :- if entry sheet is still on Vets’ notice board. Do not cross out your name on entry sheet. Just write No next to your name.
Late entry / cancellation :- If the entry sheet has changed to a start sheet on web / Vets’ notice board, either:-
1 - fill in the late entry / cancellation sheet at the bottom of the start sheet on the Vets' notice board.
or
2 - contact Ron via one of the three methods below.
[1] Telephone landline, [do not text] :- 01621 853555 and leave a message on the answer-machine.
[2]Text to mobile :- 07788 635002
[3] Email :- stovelr@btinternet.com
Upcoming Wednesday Competitions:-
13th May - Florida Scramble, Yellow tees.
20th May - Charity Fun Day, Yellow Tees
27th May - Divisional Stableford, Yellow Tees (Q)
Wednesday results:-
The compitition results are usually shown on either the Howdidido app or on masterscorecard. To login into masterscorecard goto www.masterscoreboard.co.uk Click list of golf societies, select Forrester Park Veterans’ Golf Society, enter password ‘green’. These results are generally available immediately after a Wednesday competition.
Please note :- You can check your handicaps in howdidido.com or England golf. If your handicap has changed then it will automatically update on the Vets’ computer for use in competitions.
The Forrester Park Veterans have entered the John Day Trophy this year. This is a Essex Golf Ltd (Union) annual event.
To qualify for selection your handicap needs to be between 11 and 24 and you must have at least 7 competition cards (general round cards do not count) recorded with England golf in the year up to March 2026.
Round 1
Forrester Park v Thorpe Hall
Forrester win 6.5 to 2.5
Well done team
Next round Brentwood.
Cheers guys, Steve Smith
The Vets Committee have decided that to enter this years Winter league, starting in October 2026, each player must have submitted a minimum of 10 scorecards. The 10 cards are to be submitted to England golf between March and end of September 2026, (these can be from general play or competitions). This will ensure that players will have the correct handicap.
Please check your latest balance and top up if required. Accounts shown in Red are overdrawn. So please update ASAP.
Revised 1st March 2026.
Contact Details:
Telephone: 01621 891443
Email address: iansmith_home@yahoo.co.uk
Latest Information.
At the appropriate times up to date information and results for the following are contained within individual pages here:
Vets Committee minutes
Course Committee minutes
Current results of Winter League competition
Current results of Golfer of the Year competition
Current results Dennis Morley Trophy competition
Making payments using Bank Transfer
Our Treasurer, Colin Coates, advises that our online banking details are:
Forrester Park Golf Club Veterans as the name of recipient.
Sort code 20 - 97- 40 and account number 10382655.
This is designated a “business account”, if you are asked.
Please indicate the reason for the payment e.g. balance top up, Christmas 3 club or Guest Day.
Telephone Lists.
Lists of members’ telephone numbers are available to individual members.
If anyone requires a copy then please contact me.
Club ties, caps, shirts etc.
Although there is less demand for them these days we do have caps and ties available to buy. Please contact a committee member if you would like one.
Please note that if you wish to take part in the friendly matches against other clubs, you are expected to wear a club shirt and top for the match. Jackets and ties are sometimes worn for the meal afterwards. This is becoming less common and smart casual is most often adopted, so please check, in particular for away matches.
New Members
Anyone wishing to join the Vet's Section should contact me. (Details above).
The present joining fee is £10.00 per annum or part thereof and there is a separate entry fee of £3.00 per weekly competition.
As a general rule approximately half of all entry fees is spent on prizes for the day and the balance saved towards competition day lunches and other expenses.
Special competitions, such as the Winter League and Summer Knockouts, are subject to additional entry fees.
Details of how to pay will be given to new members.
Handicapping.
Item 1. All new members must have an official club handicap before they can win prizes or trophies in the Vets' competitions.
If a new member does not have an official club handicap, he is very welcome to play on competition days for free (but not be actually in the competition) in order to obtain the three signed cards necessary to gain an official club handicap via Howdidido.com or Englandgolf.org.
Item 2. Up to date handicaps can be seen on the England Golf App, “MyEG” and Howdidido who advise changes by email.
NB. Handicaps shown on the masterscoreboard.co.uk website are not official and should not be used in competitions.
Item 3. Members are asked to regularly enter scores on days that they play other than in Wednesday Competitions. This is to ensure handicaps are accurate, fair and up to date. Consistently entering scores in particular from “General Play” rounds ensures handicaps reflect our true paying ability.
If members have any queries concerning their handicap they should contact Kevin Royan the Handicap Secretary.
Members Queries.
If members have any queries that they want answered, on any subject concerning the Vets' Section, please let me have them and I will do my best to provide a satisfactory answer. If I can't, I will seek an answer from the Committee or the Club.
Incapacitated Members.
As a section we are particularly proud that we do our best to keep in contact with members who are unable to play for any reason. If you become aware of others in the section who are unable to play due to injury or illness, please let Bob Ward know. His contact details are: 01245 467508 or sue.rob57@gmail.com
Bob will be keeping a check on their progress on behalf of us all and let them know they are not forgotten and that we all hope to see them return to playing.
Ian Smith - General Secretary January 2026
Round 4 updated - 1st April 2026
1st Place - Jeff Chilver
2nd Place - David Gillespie
Golfer of the Year - Round 4 updated 4th April 2026
Joint 1st Place - David Gillespie / Jim Davis
3rd Place -Gary Radley
The link below will show the winter league table standings.
The winter league competition is now complete. Positions 1 to 4 are :-
1 - Steve Eales & Michael Hinton
2 - Mick Erdbeer & Gary Radley
3 - David Ayres & Neil Pickering
4 - David Gillespie & David Ratchford
Many thanks to Peter W for running the competition and Ron S for the work on winter league Wednesday competition sheets.
We have several classic Forrester park Vets caps and ties available to purchase.
Caps = £7
Ties = £10
See Mike Donovan if you would like one or both.
Message for the Vets’ Committee
Can we please ask members to be aware of very slow play and act to speed up play. Below are a few tips on what you can do to speed up play.
1. Arrive at the nominated tee, at least 10 minutes before your allotted tee time and be ready to play.
2. If you cannot score on a hole, pick up your ball and move on. (Stableford games only)
3. Be aware of the time you should have completed 9 holes. (Guideline time for 9 holes is 2 hrs 10 mins)
4. Be aware of where you are going next; leave your clubs at the side of the green at the nearest point to the next tee.
5. Play ready golf whenever possible.
6. Be ready to play your shot. While you’re playing partner is hitting their shot, use your time wisely and decide how to play yours. Be respectful, of course, but get your yardage, make your club selection and pick out your target line. You should be ready to go when it's your turn to play.
7. Limit your practice swings. Taking practice swing after practice swing is a sure fire way to slow the overall pace of play down - and alienate your fellow golfers in the process.
8. Watch every shot. Yours and you’re playing partners; this will help locate the ball quickly. Get a good line on any ball hit into the rough and walk down that line; you will find the ball more quickly.
9. Play a provisional. If you are not completely confident you will locate your golf ball, play a provisional.
10. You only have 3 minutes to look for your ball. if the ball is not found in this time period, move on.
11. Mark your scorecard on the next tee.
12. Try to keep up with the group ahead. Do not lose a hole between groups. (If you cannot see the group ahead, you are too far behind and should strive to catch up)
13. Let faster groups play through. If you are struggling to keep up with the group ahead and the group behind are continually having to wait for your group, wave them through.
14. Hit your shot first and then chat – don’t delay play to finish an anecdote.
15. Remember golf should be fun; try to enjoy yourself out there. The more relaxed you are the better you will play.