News and Information

  • Pit Farm Tournament Results.  

     
    Thank you to Laura for arranging the Tournament once again, and for all the competitors in each of our events.  Our 2008 Winners are as follows:
     
     
    Girl's Doubles:            Grace Hamer and Emily Dally
    Girl's Singles:              Martha Whiteman
    Boy's Doubles:           Stefan Heasman and Jack Roche
    Boy's Singles:             Alex McWilliam
     
    Ladies Doubles:         Tracey Manasseh and Jaqueline Thomas
    Ladies Singles:           Jaqueline Thomas
    Men's Doubles:           Juan Coto and Aram Friedrich
    Men's Singles:            Juan Coto 
     
    Mixed Doubles:           Tracey Manasseh and Peter Gissel
    Family Doubles:          Peter Gissel and Alex Gissel
    Veteran Mixed:            Rosemary Spence and Andrew Mundell
     
    Congratulations to all

 

  • Davis cup.  

        Tickets are on sale now for the Davis cup match against Austria.  The matches are held at Wimbledon, in September.  

          Click here for details.  Davis Cup.

 

  • Summer Party  
Thank you to everyone that came to the summer party last month.  95 members, family and friends came and contributed to an exceptional evening of food, drink and crooning from our entertainer!  Three gazebos made sure that we were weather-proofed, particularly Rosemary Spence's super gazebo - for which we were very thankful. In the end, the weather was pretty kind with only one short shower.  The food was a huge success with the star of the show being the hog roast pig, supplemented by a number of side dishes provided by club members.  The event was masterminded by Keith Walker who not only organised all volunteers but had a hand in buying/making the side food, arranging the entertainment and the hog roast, buying the wine, drawing up the fly sheets, and putting up the gazebos.  Thanks Keith for a tremendous amount of work and congratulations on making this event a success.   Keith had a number of willing volunteers who also deserve our gratitude.  Laura Anderson and Ian Anderson unselfishly served us behind the bar all evening and made sure that the bar was stocked for the event.  Gillian Blackburn collected the money at the gate.  Nicki Seys, Jackie Shaw, Gillian Blackburn and Barbara Nott helped provide the side salads, other dishes and puddings.  Mike Collings helped to source the vegetables and salad ingredients.  Jeremy Stuart, Derek Wakeling, Phil Sullivan, Richard Clarke and David Gould (who also carved the hog roast) helped in providing/assembling tables, chairs, decoration and bunting etc.   Thank you to all.  We look forward to doing it all again next year. 
 
  • Handicap Tournament
 
Laura Anderson will shortly be putting up the entry sheets for the Handicap Tournament for singles and doubles.  The competition will take place during September and up to finals day on October 19th 2008.  These entry sheets will be found in the club house on the board adjacent to the bar.  For doubles (ladies, men's and mixed), partners will be drawn at random, so you don't need to organise a partner.  All entries welcome.

 

  • Junior Tournament
 
Blessed with excellent weather this year, Pit Farm's annual junior tournament was run from Monday 21st July up to and including finals day on Saturday 26th July.  For those of you that came up to watch this year, you will have been impressed yet again by the excellent and highly entertaining standard of play in all age groups starting at under 12 up to under 18.  For those of you that haven't ever come up to watch - you really are missing something special.  Great tennis, a great setting plus hot and cold food, tea and cakes are on offer with the bar open throughout.  You never know - we could just have seen the next Laura Robson!!  Thank you to Guildford High School and the Royal Grammar School for the use of their excellent courts, supplementing our own, and for their support throughout. 
 
Congratulations to Pit Farm's own Alex McWilliam and Martha Whiteman who came away with the Under 18 Mixed Doubles Title.  Alex also made it to the semi-final of the Boys Under 18 competition.  Well done to all of our Pit Farm junior competitors.
 
A tournament such as this doesn't just happen by chance.  A tremendous amount of work goes in to planning and running it and in doing so in working with over 150 entrants and their parents.   We owe a huge amount of thanks to Alan Miles (Tournament Secretary), Peter Sales,(Chairman), Nicki Seys (Master of Ceremonies!!), Carole Pullen, Gillian Blackburn, John Burgess (Treasurer) and Jean Sexton (Tournament Referee) who form the Junior Tournament Sub-Committee.  The time and effort that each of them put into the tournament through the week and for the many weeks in the lead up to this event should not be taken for granted.  Once again, thank you to Derek Wakeling for his work behind the scenes in making the courts and grounds such a fantastic setting, not just for the junior tournament, but year round.  That sentiment can furthermore be echoed for Richard Clarke for his organisation of the club house for the tournament.
 
This year, for the first time, we ran a Plate Competition.  This was organised by Carole Pullen  assisted by David Coyte from Surrey LTA and
Bernice Miles.
 
Thank you to all the following for their work behind the bar (organised/ overseen by Laura Anderson) & providing the refreshments (organised/ overseen by Gillian Blackburn): 
 
Laura Anderson, Janet McWilliam, Barbara Nott, Liz Rendell, Jean Bowles, Andrew Mundell, Gillian Blackburn, Bryon Blackwell, Patricia Coleman, Margaret Searle, Richard Clarke, Derek Wakeling, Judy Farr, Sally Deung, Keith Walker, Dawn Davies, Beverley Hanrott, Sue Jordan, Anne Collings, Sally Brown, Shirley Alexander, Shelagh Harridine, Heather Pitkin, Ginny Cobb.
 
In addition, thank you to the following for their help in supervising the courts at Pit Farm, as well as those at Guildford High School and the Royal Grammar School (rota organised by Iain Brown): 
 
Brian Benton, Jim Dean, David Savage, Derek Tonkin, Martin Barker, Tony Montgomery, Terry Mullaney, Bernard Eyre, Colin Mealor, Richard Clarke, Frank Marley, Brian Blackwell, Nicki Seys, Carole Pullen, Adrian Francis, Peter Sales plus others who agreed to be on standby. 

Lastly an acknowledgement to our primary sponsors for the event Knight Frank and Legal and General.  All of the work from the people listed above in entirely voluntary, but there are significant expenses associated with running the event.  Knight Frank and Legal and General's kind contributions (including Knight Frank's printing of tournament entry forms and fly sheets) enable us to keep running this event.  Thank you to both.

 
  • Parking.  Whilst there are plenty of parking spaces available to members and guests, despite the new parking regulations, please do have a look at the attached document to avoid any confusion. Parking restrictions  
  • Map

 

  • Court re-surfacing.  

    As you will know, the committee has decided to replace the courts in 2009. Since the last communication on this subject (19 May), we have had the courts and bases tested by an independent sports surface consultant. The results of these tests show that the porosity of the carpets is unusually and unexpectedly poor – with water being drained at a very slow rate. This results in the puddling which now occurs whenever we have some rain, and this will get worse with time. Let’s hope we have a relatively dry Autumn and Winter !  The good news from the report is that the bases are in good condition generally – and will not need to be replaced. They can be pressure-washed and vacuumed to clean them, and this will further improve drainage for the future. This work on the bases will be done when the new surface is laid.  Also, it will save the Club a considerable sum of money, as well as reducing the time it takes to complete the work. From September 2008 we shall be researching for the best surface to choose as a replacement, and we still plan to put a firm proposal to  members at the next AGM in February 2009.
  • Club Rules and Regulations.  A précis version of the Club Rules and Regulations is available here.  Please click to view.  Rules and Regs. The full Club Rules and Regulations can be made available to members on request.
  • Mark Trundle Member of the Year Award.  

    In Commemoration of Mark Trundle, the committee has instigated a new award, awarded to a member of the club to recognised either:

     

     - contribution to the club throughout the previous 12 months 

     - notable achievement throughout the previous 12 months

     

    The winner of the award will be rewarded with free membership for the following year and have their name inscribed on a new notice board to be displayed in the club house.  Nominations for the reward must be received by Sarah Williams by Monday 1st September.  The winner of the award will be announced at the Team's Dinner on Tuesday 7th October 2008.  All nominees will be invited to this event.

     

    For more information on how to nominate a worthy recipient of the award, please consult the notice board or click on the following attachment.  Member of the Year Award
  • Newsletter.  2008's newsletter can be accessed here.  Please click to gain access. Newsletter 2008.                                                               
  •  Court Times 2008.   Court times can be seen by clicking on the attached document. Court Times 2008 
  • Frequently asked questions.   The attached document will be updated from time to time to provide members with answers to questions and issues raised and discussed by the committee.  Please click to view the attached.   FAQs