Western Daily Press (Saturday)
£20! A fair way to thank golf club for walks
ACHEEKY rambler who took walks on a golf course closed during lockdown has sent the the club a £20 cheque – to say thank you.
Angus Gregson, 64, was able to stroll off official footpaths onto fairways when all sport was cancelled.
The grateful rambler later wrote to Filton Golf Club in Bristol to tell them the course was a “glorious setting”.
Angus praised greenkeepers and enclosed a cheque as a “thank you for the chance to wander”.
He also took a series of photos of his favourite views – snapping other walkers from a respectable distance.
The club uploaded the letter on social media and revealed plans to invite him to the club when social distancing rules allow.
Retired teacher Angus, from Bristol, said: “I live not that far away with a garden that takes about five paces to get to the end.
“So I took the chance to walk a few places I wouldn’t usually go. I’d occasionally walked around the edge [of the course] before.
“I saw the groundstaff at a distance a couple of times. The course is kept beautifully. I thought I would send them a little bit to say thank you.
“There were never very many people up there. There were some dog walkers early in the morning and in the afternoon, but that was it.
“Like I say in the letter, when the golfers returned the safest place was in the middle of the fairway. The trees would crackle above my head!”
The full letter, signed by non-golfer Angus, reads: “Dear Sir or Madam, I am glad for your sakes that golf has been able to resume.
“I have to confess that during the stricter lockdown, I was one of the local residents who took the opportunity to walk across parts of the course I would have normally never have seen from the footpaths.
“I kept off the tees, fairways and greens, but it was a delight to simply be out; the birdsong from a copse of trees to the left of the 11th hole on Easter Sunday morning was glorious.
“Your groundstaff have obviously done a great job to maintain what was already a glorious setting.
“The enclosed cheque – not much, I’m afraid – is simply a thank you for the chance to wander.
“Since last Wednesday I have kept to the rights of way, although I have to say, after seven weeks of your members not playing, the safest place to walk would have been the middle of the fairways.”
Posting online, the club said: “Thank you for your kind donation.
“It’s great to hear such feedback & appreciation for the Club’s grounds & the work our Greens Staff put in.”
A spokesperson for Filton Golf Club added that they would be asking Angus to visit when the lockdown had been lifted.
They also said that the staff and members appreciated his willingness to return to the public rights of way – a message the club is currently promoting.