The Craigavad 2020 Review

| Convenor’s Reports |

| Convenor’s Reports |

House

by Jimmy Courtney

T he season started with Championship at Royal Portrush last year and an influx of visitors who were most complimentary both of our course and Clubhouse. We were able to make a few improvements within the Clubhouse including a display of Pat Sawey’s putter which was kindly given to us and received by Richard Jordan on behalf of the Club. Pat was a former professional at Royal Belfast and a great teacher. He also made and repaired golf clubs. It is particularly fitting to have his putter and to be able to display this for Members and visitors to see. Sadly the positivity at the start of the year was short lived as we began to absorb the implications of a new infection causing respiratory illness and pneumonia from Wuhan in China. The virus now named Covid-19 spread rapidly through Europe and the British Isles resulting in the need to introduce a 'lockdown' in late March. This continued on and off into the summer months and, while thankfully playing socially distanced golf was restored, the Clubhouse remained closed for a large part of the season. The need to keep this infection under control brought the cancellation of many of the events in the golfing calendar and of our social events. Members had to come to terms with face masks and hand some momentum provided by the hosting of the Open

sanitiser while social gatherings were curtailed due to the need to maintain social distancing. The consequence has been that life in the Clubhouse has been severely restricted this year. Catering was due to be taken in-house from April but the lockdown delayed the start of this until we were able to reopen in June. The catering staff have coped remarkably well given the stop - start nature of the season and long periods on the government furlough scheme, however they managed to provide a very high standard of fare when in a position to do so. We start 2021 with the good news that both the BioNTec and Oxford vaccines are now approved for use and potentially these provide the hope that things may be able to return to a semblance of normality by Easter. I think we are all looking forward to a more normal year after the difficulties of 2020. I would like to thank Members for their forbearance this year and for their consideration in following the restrictions. I would also like to thank our House staff - catering, bar, cleaning and office - who have endured a difficult time with remarkable cheerfulness. A special thanks is due to the House Manager, Tracey Preshaw, and to our Chief Executive, Stuart Thom, who have been magnificent through a most difficult year.

Claire Clark, Denis Green and Lorna Adair

St Valentine's Day Spanish Wine Dinner

Above: Kevin and Jenny Lowry and Hilary and Dr Peter Ellis

Right: Rosemary and Dr Denis Todd and John and Janet Wilson

Below: Maurice and Barbara Neeson and Jonathan and Gillian Hool

Food for Thought

Wheaten Bread Recipe

After the first lockdown in March we were only able to open up bar and catering for a period of 19 weeks in total. However, during that time Members were extremely supportive and enjoyed a range of delicious dishes cooked by our in-house team. A favourite accompaniment to many dishes on the menu is our homemade wheaten bread.

Method:

Ingredients: (makes 1 x 2lb loaf)

85g dark brown sugar 85g plain flour 10½g fine sea salt 10½g bicarbonate of soda 375g wholemeal flour

• Preheat the oven to 170°C • Mix together the buttermilk, oil and treacle in a jug • Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir in the contents of the jug • Bake for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean

¾ pint buttermilk 125g vegetable oil 1 tbsp black treacle

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