Dear Member,
I am honoured to be your Senior Captain for 2026 at Crondon Park.
I joined Crondon Park in Aug 2018 after hearing from the Professional how well the Senior section is run with Awaydays, Matches and Social events.
Having not been a golf club member before, I was keen to put in three cards to obtain a handicap. A majority of my golf prior to joining Crondon was at Hainault Lower course, where I played to around an 18 handicap. I quickly discovered that Crondon Park was a whole new ball game.
I recall my initial handicap was around 28! A shock.
What I have learned over the years is keep the ball in play, that will keep your score down, and now seven years later and older I play off around a 23 handicap which I am relatively pleased with.
Going back to my initial discussion with the Pro in 2018 where he stated ‘The senior section is well run’, he was not wrong.
Trophy Days, Awaydays, Matches, Social events. I threw myself into all these events from the off and joined the committee
in 2019 as a “Floor Walker”, now a defunct role. Then in 2020 I became the Fixtures Secretary and 2021 the Social Secretary as an addition.
I thoroughly enjoyed both those roles and organised many social events for the captains with some great acts.
I am delighted to highlight the amazing contribution of the committee. Their commitment is incredible and the level at which they perform their roles is first class. I know you all appreciate and understand the work they do. That said, these guys can’t go on forever, so if you feel you would like to join the committee, just speak to one of us.
I am looking forward to working alongside all the captains this coming year, Paul Hedges our Club Captain, Lorna Parsons the Ladies Captain and Luis Carrion the Junior Captain and hopefully we can all have some fun along the way while supporting our club, our members and our chosen charities.
This brings me to the outgoing Captain Mr Tyrell.
I would like to thank Nigel for giving me this opportunity to be the Senior Captain of this great club. Nigel has been very easy to work alongside -calm, well-spoken, pretty much unflappable and what he brought to the table was astonishing. He has set a level of fundraising, which will be difficult to match. He also brought us Sponsorship, a first for the Senior Section, this has been invaluable in providing some great entertainment and subsidies for us all. I hope our sponsors continue to support us and attend our events.
So, all in all a great year Nigel, you can now relax and concentrate on your golf. I wish you well.
This golf club is going from strength to strength; with the commitment and vast improvements we have already seen.
I genuinely believe in years to come we will have an elite golf course.
We have the Crondon Park Management Team and Staff to thank for that and especially Marlon Fox for the investment in this great club.
I have some ideas on the social side and Captain’s Day which I will share with you in due course, nothing too drastic just a slight change in the way we run these events, but the important thing for me is that we have fun.
I would like to thank Mark Thomas for agreeing to be my Vice Captain.
Choosing Mark as my Vice Captain was easy. I have partnered Mark many times in our inter club matches and trophies.
Mark says it as it is and has an opinion, you need those skills to be part of a successful committee.
Mark joined Crondon in 2013 after spending 28 years at 3 Rivers. He has been on the Main committee for the past 2 years but is now solely on the Seniors committee. I look forward to working alongside Mark and the rest of the committee this coming year.
My chosen charity is the “Sick Children’s Trust”
This charity gives families with a sick child in hospital one less thing to worry about by giving them a place to stay and someone to talk to, free of charge, just minutes from their child's bedside. The charity is working towards a future in which every family with a seriously ill child in hospital can stay together close to their sick child's bedside.
The Sick Children's Trust was founded in 1982 by Dr Jon Pritchard, working at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and Professor James Malpas, from St Bart's Hospital. They saw first-hand the families who could not stay near their sick children. Some were sleeping on mattresses on the floor or in chairs, as there was nowhere for them to stay.
In 1984, The Sick Children's Trust opened its first "Home from Home", Rainbow House, in London. It has since opened another nine houses in Leeds, Cambridge, Sheffield and Newcastle upon Tyne.
The President of The Sick Children's Trust is Michael Crawford CBE. And one of the many patrons is Anton Du Beke.
I look forward to raising money for this worthwhile cause.
And, last but by no means least, what makes this club so special for me is you, the members. You’ve welcomed me into the club, and the support, camaraderie and humour both on and off the course is the heartbeat of this club.
So that’s me done, but I leave you with a Quote from PG Wodehouse
“To find a man’s true character, play golf with him”.
Bill Welch
Seniors Captain 2026
Website System - Golf Club CMS