NFRC hits the fairway at the Nottinghamshire
After what has appeared to be a never-ending monsoon since October 2023, NFRC Regional Manager Paul Harper arranged its first Midland Golf Day after what can only be described as a prolonged absence.
In the past the venue has been traditionally held in the West Midlands, but given the recent weather conditions it was played at the premier venue in the East Midlands, the Nottinghamshire Golf and Country Club.
National Federation of Roofing Contractors from all across the Midlands gathered to form teams of 4 in a Stableford Format with 2 scores to count on each hole and battle it out for prizes to play for, including nearest the pin and longest drive.
“It’s been a long time since Makers attended a golf event and after an initial approach from the NFRC we thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up with some familiar faces and discuss old times”.
Simon Lamb MD Makers
The Nottinghamshire has two challenging 18 holes courses, The Masters and The Championship. Paul went full gas and subjected us to The Championship, a 6400-yard par 71, technical and strategic, playing incredibly long given the very soft conditions. Renowned for its strategic play the front 9 has many challenging holes with water hazards abound and then continues to demand good golf with a parkland back 9 with treelined fairways and mature planting.
The prolonged wet weather has seen many golf courses shut and many of the teams had played little golf since November. Although the weather had been really poor prior to the day of play the Nottinghamshire Green staff managed to turn out a course in very playable condition with fast greens and manicured fairways. The rough was incredibly penalising given it hadn’t been cut for a long time due to the wet ground conditions.
On what turned out to be a glorious day it certainly marked the start of summer. 18 teams took part and Makers were paired with Classic Roofing of Cannock and after initial introductions the golf got off to a promising start but the momentum finally dropped off no doubt as a reflection of the lack of playing golf.
The day was thoroughly enjoyable with a cascade of great comments to Paul and his team for organising such a great day and with sponsorship from SIG. The prizes were presented after a enjoyable meal in the fantastic facilities of the Nottinghamshire Golf & Country Club.
“We should have got a prize for the longest walk…, our starting hole was the furthest from the clubhouse to start and get back, luckily by the time we got back there was no queue at the bar and the beer was most welcome…”
Simon Hollier Makers Roofing Surveyor
Outright winners with an incredible score of 95 points was Roofstyle Limited who took first place followed by Swift Roofing Services with 88 points, Makers & Classic roofing grabbed a nearest the pin just missing out on the longest drive by 10 yards to team Roofstyle and NRA Roofing & Flooring taking the last nearest the pin.
“When I initially checked in I was offered a handicap of 24, had I realised how tough the course was playing I perhaps wouldn’t have suggested 8!… it was fantastic to be out playing again in the sun and both me and Simon are very grateful to Paul Harper of the NFRC for organising and arranging the day making sure everyone had a great time even if he did forget to call us in for dinner!!!”
Simon Lamb MD Makers
The day was a complete success with players praising the venue and organisation and offered full support to have a repeat meeting next year.
Team Makers would like to offer our thanks to Paul & his team and appreciation to SIG for their sponsorship. Next year we are going for top 3 but we need a fair amount of practice!!