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     President's Mid-term Report

As I alluded to in my previous report, the Coronavirus pandemic was having an ever-increasing effect on our Centenary Year. This has ultimately led to the cancellation of all of the events that we had planned for our Centenary celebrations, and it is expected that these will probably be re-scheduled for 2021, although a final decision on the Club Conferences and whether they could be held towards the end of the year, will have to be made shortly in the light of whatever restrictions are likely to be in place.
It is interesting to note that the actual 100 year anniversary of the formation of the Cheshire Union of Golf Clubs is on the 22nd of November this year, and therefore our intention to continue with our celebrations in 2021 is consistent with the year starting on that date. This important piece of information can be found on the “1920 – Genesis” page of the Centenary Book, that is now available.
The book is an enthralling read that not only details One Hundred Years of the Cheshire Union of Golf Clubs, but also of the game of golf itself. The various photographs show the evolution of golfing attire, equipment and the rules themselves. To realise that the “stymie” rule, which allowed a player in match-play, to leave his ball on the green in a position that prevented his opponent from putting directly for the hole, was only outlawed in 1952, makes one wonder what this rule did for the bonhomie amongst competitors. I am sure you can think of members of your own Club that would find this rule very difficult to deal with today.
Throughout the unprecedented cessation of golf during the Coronavirus emergency, Cheshire as a County Union has been indebted to England Golf for their regular updates on the discussions with government, and when golf was allowed to resume, on the various restrictions that we needed to follow. For our part, we have tried to ensure that our Affiliated Clubs were kept fully informed as to the actions they needed to take to safely resume playing golf, and we are grateful to all of our Clubs for the huge effort they have made to ensure that their members can resume playing golf as safely as possible.
As regards the County Championships and Tournaments, we have made a tentative start to resume our programme where possible, albeit under revised arrangements, and we will endeavour to complete as many events as possible. Inevitably however, the fast-changing restrictions necessarily imposed on a localised basis, have already started to impact on this programme. I would ask that you keep a close eye on the County Website which will update you on upcoming competitions.
It is impossible to predict how the rest of 2020 will progress and one thing we have learnt is the necessity for flexibility in this very fluid environment. Let us hope that we can return to something close to normality in the year ahead and that the Centenary events can be held as originally intended, to ensure that our Clubs can join us to celebrate this momentous event.

David Durling
County President 2020/21