Notice Board

Information is everywhere nowadays and news spreads fast - we have social media, noticeboards for each golfing section, a Forrester Park website that details the activities of the whole club, golfing section websites and a noticeboard adjacent the 1st tee.

Problematic as it is, every endeavour is made to ensure the information appearing on this site is comprehensive, current and accurate, so please refer here regularly to keep up-to-date!

If you spot an error, omission or inconsistency, please let a member of the Committee know, so it can be corrected.

Likewise, let us know if you feel there's something missing that might be added to benefit others!

​Thank You, and Happy Golfing!

The Course Committee, comprising representatives from each golfing section together with FP management, meets regularly to discuss issues relating to course maintenance and development. It also serves as a conduit for members to give and receive feedback and specifically to receive members' suggestions.

At this time, suggestions can be submitted using a paper form, downloadable here or on the LINKS tab (main Menu) or obtainable from behind the bar. Suggestions must be accompanied by the member's name - anonymous submissions will be disregarded. Completed forms should be posted in the Committee Box - this is situated in the corridor on the wall opposite the rear entrance door.

A commentary on current suggestions/projects will also be posted on the Noticeboard in the rear corridor from time to time and Minutes of meetings held can be viewed on the MINUTES tab (Main Menu). The latest update to suggestions/projects can also be viewed here (May 2025).

Please re-visit the references to CCAs - via the COMPS tab or the CCA tab. Members with insufficiently funded CCAs will not be eligible to compete in Competitions i.e. will not be eligible to win a prize, including entitlement to Birdie Vouchers and Hole-in-One benefits.

Competition Entry Fees
The entry fee for standard Sunday competitions is £5.00. The entry fee for the Winter League competition is £15 per player (£30 per pair).
Please check your CCA Status to ensure your account is sufficiently funded. Please also see the CCA tab for clarity about when your account may or may not be debited.

Winter Rules ("Pick 'n Place") This relief has ended, 20th April. The date for re-commencement in the Autumn will again be shown here in due course.

Relief available under Preferred Lies is covered by the R&A's Model Rule E3:
When a player's ball lies in a part of the general area cut to fairway height or less,
the player may take free relief once by placing the original ball or another ball at a
spot not more than 6”, and not nearer the hole, from where it lay, and playing it
from that spot. In proceeding under this Local Rule, the player must choose a spot
to place the ball and use the procedures for replacing a ball under Rules
14.2b(2) and 14.2e. Penalty for Playing Ball from a Wrong Place in breach of
Local Rule: General Penalty Under Rule 14.7a

Note: Inevitably (and sometimes frustratingly!) one rule makes cross reference to others - one suggestion is to download the handy R&A App (IOS & Android), which can be searched quickly for fuller information on all the current rules!

Please Note: The Rule applies to the General Area i.e. not Hazards and therefore not Bunkers! Unless there is specific provision to the contrary, one may drop out of water, not nearer the hole, but still within the bunker. If this is not possible (e.g. bunker totally flooded...) then it must be deemed unplayable, under the normal rule for an unplayable lie and under the usual penalty.

Yes, it's unfortunate, but 'rub of the green' and 'same for everyone'. Them's the rules, shouldn't have hit it there in the first place..!

Whilst you're reading this, please refresh your memory about previously published prompts concerning winter golf. Thank you for your cooperation!

Safety in Fog: see here
18th Green: see here
Immovable Obstructions: see here
Do Ropes Apply to Me​?: see here
Greens Etiquette: see here

Update April 2024

Further to the general notes below, WHS has been updated and below are the new Forrester Park Course Handicaps for white and yellow tees. 

Please note, however, that the Course Handicaps shown on the board, and in the MyEG app, are for General Play. For Competition play, where a handicap allowance (e.g. 95%) is applied, an exact calculation is required to get a competition playing handicap. The MyEG app will not show an exact competition playing handicap.

Please see here for a detailed explanation.

If the competition has been pre-loaded into HowDidIDo, then sign-in and you should see your Playing Handicap ready calculated.

Across the world, golfing powers-that-be have come together to devise a World Handicap System (WHS). This will enable golfers all over the globe to use a single, unified system to determine their handicap, adjusted for the degree of difficulty for the course they are playing, wherever that is. In the UK, WHS became live on 2nd November, 2020.
 

First, head over to How Did I Do and navigate to your Handicap Certificate from the menu. In the top left corner, you’ll find your unique “CDH ID” – make a note of this ten digit number. Then, you’ll need to register for an account with England Golf – go here to follow the prompts and activate your profile including entering your CDH ID. When you next log-in, you will obtain your Handicap Index.
 

Your Handicap Index is calculated from the best 8 of your last 20 rounds of qualifying golf. Each time you play and submit a qualifying score, your index will be adjusted – your index can be used throughout the world! Each golf course has a Course Rating (similar to SSS, compiled from averaging scores from scratch golfers) and has also been given a Slope Rating (broadly, a measure of difficulty arising from the difference in the number of strokes taken by a bogey golfer relative to a scratch golfer – these terms are defined in more detail elsewhere). A course of average difficulty has a Slope of 113, but the range is 55 to 155, the higher the number, the ‘harder’ the course. Slope Ratings can be specific to the tees being used*.
 

(There are some fine-tuning details, such as scores being adjusted as for CSS, and Soft and Hard Caps that prevent overly large swings in handicaps from round to round, but these can be read on the EG site. As now, some types of competitions have handicap allowances e.g. match-play, texas, etc., so your Course Handicap may be further adjusted to your Playing Handicap – i.e. the number of strokes you actually receive for that specific course, off the specific tees for that specific competition.) See here for a list of Mandatory Handicap Allowances according to the competition format being played.
 

This may sound complicated, but in essence it is logical and relatively simple – it will become second nature to use! And you will be able to play against anyone, anywhere in the world on any course, and be confident your handicaps will ensure the most level playing field on which to compete, and the most potentially evenly balanced game  – which after all, is what the handicap system is all about!

​In an effort to ensure that Sunday competitions run smoothly and are enjoyed by all the Committee asks that all members adhere to the following 4 guidelines:-

1.  Please book in with the starter at least 15 minutes before your tee time 
2.  Please arrive on the Tee and be ready to play 5 minutes before your start time 
3.  On the course when it is your turn to play please be ready to take your shot
4.  When at the green please leave your bag at the side of the green where you will exit to the next Tee 

Thank you for your co-operation

Click here to read the rules by which the Club operates 

Through your membership at FP and affiliation with Essex Golf Union [EGU], there are opportunities to play other clubs and courses across all the national counties, at reduced rates, via the Inter County Card. Details are here. 

Local Rules are printed on the reverse of the Score Card. See here to view the current version. Temporary Local Rules, or amendments prior to the card being reprinted, may appear on Section Noticeboards in the Clubhouse, and/or on the noticeboard adjacent the 1st tee.

Commentary:
4(c) Immovable Obstructions
Ropes and hoops are variously employed around the course by the greens-staff - these are not to be removed! In the event they interfere with stance or swing, relief may be taken without penalty. If merely interfering with line of sight, no relief to be taken, however, if a ball should strike such an obstruction, the player shall have the option to replay the shot from the original position without penalty.

(We have found that if players remove or seek to re-position hoops and ropes, invariably this proves unsuccessful and chaotic, undoing much of the greens-staff's endeavour...) 

At the time of writing, the following are areas of the course designated Ground Under Repair:
1. Greenside 'bunker' on left approach to 2nd green - now re-modelled with sand removed

In the interests of preserving the course and the hard work done by the greens-staff, please take relief and do not play from the newly seeded areas. Otherwise balls must be played as they lie e.g. a poor lie in one of the other areas now being cleared (e.g. on the right approach to 12th green) must be regarded as 'rub of the green'. 

From time to time, as conditions dictate, GUR or 'blue-staked' bunkers may be re-introduced but unless specifically advised, the paragraphs above apply.

The previous practice of the section funding celebratory drinks for all competitors following a hole-in-one in an official Sunday competition has had to be revised.   Until further notice a member who returns a card in a men’s 'official' competition which includes a “hole in one” will be entitled to open up a bar tab up to the value of £100 which will then be paid by the section to the club directly. If you are in any doubt whether your hole in one qualifies please speak to a member of the committee. The amount of the award will be reviewed by the committee on a regular basis.

IT IS THE PLAYER WHO HAS THE HOLE IN ONE WHO WILL AGREE WITH THE BAR THE OPENING OF A BAR TAB (AND NOT A COMMITTEE MEMBER) AS THE PLAYER HAS THE OPTION TO APPROVE EXPENDITURE ABOVE £100 FOR WHICH HE WILL PAY.

For the avoidance of any doubt competitions organised by the Vets committee are excluded.

Please Note! As stated elsewhere on this site, be aware that if your CCA is inadequately funded, you will not be eligible to win competition prizes, and this includes the £100 Hole-in-One benefit described above.

Would members please note that vouchers issued as prizes do not have an unlimited validity. Although they can be saved and redeemed en-bloc  to a member's card, over the bar or against a subscription, each voucher has an expiry date on the reverse. Please be aware!