Our annual Christmas carol service is always the highlight of the club’s festive social programme and once again, on Thursday 17^th December, we were treated to a professional, polished performance by our superb Fortwilliam chorale. I wish to thank the members of the chorale for all their hard work in preparation for the evening.

 

I also would like to thank the guest soloist, Audrey Neill, for her beautiful renditions of “O Holy Night” and “The Holy City” and of course, Billy Cairns, for his excellent accompaniment on the piano. Finally, can I also offer a special word of thanks to Olive Melville, the conductor of the chorale, for organising the event.

 

Congratulations Olive, the evening was a great success!

 

Our Annual Prize-giving was held on Saturday 28^th November. It was very well attended. Congratulations to all the prize winners and thanks to all the members and guests who supported this event. Also, I would like to thank our golfing members who have again demonstrated their loyalty in turning up each week to support our competitions throughout the year. Special presentations were made on the night, to one of our members, Ursula McDonnell and to Jill Connery from Scarva, to mark their achievement of winning a silver medal as members of Team Ireland Golf at the Special Olympics World Summer Games, which were held in Los Angeles in July and August this year.

 

Our last major event of the year is the Winter League Prize-giving, which will be held on Wednesday 23^rd December. Hopefully, no one who attends will go home empty-handed.

 

I think as a club, we can look back on 2015 with much satisfaction. We have excelled in Inter Club Golf Competitions; Ulster Champions in the Jimmy Bruen, runners up in the Holt Shield and losing semi-finalists in the Junior Cup, Ulster Fourball and Fred Daly competitions. Our Juniors also won the prestigious Donaghadee Youth Cup. We ran a series of very successful social events during the year; the Chorale, the Rod Stewart / Tina Turner tribute evening and the Johnny Cash tribute evening to name but a few.  All were very well attended and demonstrate that one of the main strengths of our club is its vibrant social scene. Perhaps most importantly, we have continued to make financial progress this year. I therefore think that we can look forward to next year with optimism.

 

To conclude, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for their hard work throughout the year. Also, on behalf of the club, I wish all our members and staff, a merry Christmas and a very happy and peaceful new year.

 

Jim McDonnell

Captain