Lady Captain hopes year will be a ‘power walk' in the park!
Born in Gateshead, Co Durham, Sylvia grew up locally, attending Market Harborough Grammar School. She then spent time pharmacy training with Boots. “After I married I worked in Selly Oak Hospital pharmacy until my first son was born and then in local Chemists dispensing.”
She has two married sons, one living in Uppingham and the other near Lymington.
Sylvia joined the Club in 1989 when, she admits, she was a complete beginner. “I soon became hooked on the game” she says. “I have always been a keen sports person, playing hockey and netball in my late teens. I was introduced to MHGC by a friend, when I was looking for another outdoor pursuit having given up tearing up the countryside on horseback.”
Another sport that she enjoyed was Judo and must have been pretty good too as she represented Leicestershire in the National Judo Championships. Clearly the Committee Meetings this year are going to be kept in order!
“I have changed from running to power walking in recent years, which I mostly do for charity. Last year I walked with Sir Ian Botham, did the Moon Walk and a walk for the Air Ambulance.”
If you are wondering what the ‘Moon Walk' is, Sylvia explains; “The Moon Walk is a 13 mile power walk through London for breast cancer, starting in Hyde Park at midnight. Walkers wear a decorated bra! It was great fun with about 15,000 taking part. We finished in Hyde Park about 4am.”
Sylvia has been Handicap Secretary for the ladies and was honoured to be asked by Vicky to be her Vice Captain. “I'm looking forward to the year and hope that I can carry on the good work of all those who have gone before me. I'm also looking to work alongside Rick and Guy too and hope that we can bring all the sections together to enjoy a great twelve months.”
During her term in office, she hopes to get more of the men at the Club interested in playing mixed golf
Sylvia's charity for the year is the Ellen MacArthur Trust. Launched in 2003, it takes young people aged from 8-18 sailing to help them regain confidence on their way to recovery from cancer and leukemia. You can learn more at www.ellenmacarthurtrust.org
Dentist ‘in the chair' for Seniors
Generations of Harborough members need no introduction to new Seniors' Captain Guy Hartopp - he was well known to them as a dentist in the town before his retirement nine years ago.
A genial, quietly spoken six-footer, he is married to Carolyn, equally familiar as a dentist in the same practice and they have a son, a daughter and four grandchildren. Carolyn is an active member of the club's Ladies' Section.
Guy has had a lifelong interest in sport, playing soccer as a lad in Leicester, gravitating to rugby while at university, playing cricket for Little Bowden, now Bowden, Cricket Club, and squash in Harborough. Although a member of Market Harborough Golf Club since 1981, he did not give a lot of time to the game until his retirement. Nowadays, his 19 handicap game is built around formidable, if sometimes erratic, ball-striking allied to a delicate touch around the greens. He retains a competitive spirit and lists one of his aims as reducing that handicap. Guy achieved one ambition this year when he had his first hole-in-one during a seniors' match at Harlestone.
His interests are not confined to sport. He has been a regular concert-goer and his enthusiasm for classical music is reflected in the fact that he has published a book on the subject entitled “Vienna: a complete musical guide”. An unexpected highlight of his musical experiences came in Rome when, after gaining last minute tickets for a concert featuring legendary tenor Placido Domingo, he and some friends chatted to the great man after a chance encounter in a restaurant the following day.
Guy's hopes for the golf club focus on its financial stability, its continuation as a members' club and its ability to reflect members' wishes as it continues to develop in the years ahead. He sees his year as Seniors' Captain as an opportunity to consolidate traditions established in the section over many years. An innovation in the seniors' calendar for 2010 will be a match with the club's juniors, after which they will be entertained to lunch.
Ross takes the lead for the Juniors
Ross Robertson is the Junior Captain this year. Ross is 17 years old and in his final year at Robert Smyth studying ‘A' levels.
He has been playing golf since the age of ten, when he joined the Club as a member and he plays off an impressive handicap of four.
Ross has been involved in a lot of team competitions recently as he told us; “I have enjoyed playing in the Junior team over the last three years and played for the First team and B team last season together with the Junior County team.”
And, of being Captain this year, Ross adds; “I'm looking forward to being captain this season and working with Dan to support the development of the Junior section and team.”