Welcome to our June Newsletter!

2022 Berkhamsted Linksap Open

First things first, while we still have your attention.  From Thursday 7th July to Sunday 10th July we have the 2nd edition of our professional squash tournament for men and women, and tickets are on sale NOW!

23 of the 32 entrants are World top 100 players.  There will be brilliant matches right from the 1st round.  Our assistant coach Grace Gear is seeded 3 in the women’s draw.

Here’s the summary playing schedule:

Tickets are £15 for adults, £5 for U18s.  We’re doing 3 for the price of 2; and, if you want to see it all, or you want to hedge your bets on which days to commit to, we’re doing ‘season tickets’ for £50 - covering any session, any day, every day.

Ticket sale revenue is vital to help fund the event.  So, if you like watching top squash, please support us in bringing World class squash to our local club.  Contact John Shaw john.gs@btinternet.com

Celebrating our 125th anniversary

We had a fantastic birthday party on Saturday evening!

Everyone looked splendid, with black tie worn by many, and we were proud to host the President of the LTA and the President of the Herts LTA.  We even had a video message from Judy Murray to start things off!

Great work by Claire, Graham and Bobby and their team of helpers in putting it together!

If you haven’t done so already, take a chance to peruse the display of our archives next time you’re here. There are some great moments in time about the club - and about the history of Berkhamsted.  The display will be in the clubhouse until the end of the month.

Glass balustrade

It’s nearly finished.  The missing glass panels needed to be custom-measured and should arrive any day now, for installation and a few finishing touches.

I think we all agree it’s made a tremendous improvement to the terrace and watching tennis matches on our (brand new) showcourts.

Showcourts which, by the way, will soon have floodlighting.  We are expecting planning permission approval by the end of next month; so far, the application has progressed smoothly.

Tennis

The club champs are steadily progressing to the business end of the tournament, with everything on track for a brilliant Finals Day on Saturday 25th June.  

So far, the weather forecast for that day looks great, so put it in your calendar to come down.  The bar will be open and the BBQ will be on!

Other bits and bobs

The car park barrier is working again.  Wahay!  It may encourage many people to collect their fobs from the pigeon holes.  Currently there are about 30 envelopes awaiting collection.  No wonder it sometimes feels like you’re on door duty when you stand in the players lounge.

And there are at least that number of leftover (and reasonably expensive) water bottles in what is supposed to be the bag rack.  But which, once again, has become a lost property tip.  Once a month, it will be emptied and the contents put in the bin.

Something else that needs to be put in the bin is dog poo.  Twice in recent days, it’s been left for someone else to clear up.  We love dogs at the club.  But please bring a poop bag with you and use the bin by the skate park.  It’s only 20 yards away.

Lastly, a reminder that the Kiosk machine in the clubhouse will no longer be accepting coins:  we’re going cashless for court bookings and guest fees.

Mmm, this end section is becoming the longest part of the Newsletter.  Sorry about that!

Anyway, that’s it for this month!

Club Council

(John Shaw, Phil Trimmer, Michael Beavis, Tracey Mackey, Mark Shattock, Bobby Mercandino)