Dear All

It's not long to go now before we all meet up for the showdown that is:

Beery Bleary Bandits v Cowieboys

For those that have not been there before we will meet up in the bar that overlooks the course. Please aim to be there in good time. We tee off at 10.30 but if you could be there by 9.30 for a coffee and a sandwich it saves me much stress in worrying about where everybody is.

Note that the lodges are fully self catering and are actually very comfortable spaces to relax and enjoy a drink. So if you bring your own beer, wine or favourite tipple your pocket will be considerably better off than spending cash over the bar. There are also saunas in the lodges so bring your favourite 'speedos' and you can sweat out the stresses and frustrations following your round of golf. Using the sauna naked is strictly forbidden in my lodge.

Prize fund
As you know there is usually a collection of £5 from everybody to go towards prizes. This however is only going apply to non-Wagglers. Anybody who represented the team last season will not be asked to contribute as Tom's infamous 'slush fund' will be donating the prizes for this event. Unfortunately we have not managed to get Accenture on board again, so don't expect $1 million payouts.

Raffle Game
On Sunday evening before dinner I will be running a raffle game in our lodge at about 6pm (clothes on please). It should be a lot of fun. Here's what I would like you all to do:

Please bring with you a collection of items (as few or as many as you wish) that you are prepared to donate to the game. Max value should be £5 total 'spend'. But these 'items' need not be new. You may have something that you got for Christmas that you can't wait to offload, or simply something stupid like a can of beans. But try and 'spend' £5 on something worthwhile that you know somebody might like. The trick is to bring several items to make it as fun as possible. And please 'WRAP THEM UP'. Here is how the game works:

All gifts should be wrapped (and may I suggest you make yours look extra special). All the gifts will be piled onto the table. Each bloke selects a number from a bowl to determine the order in which he selects a gift. Number 1 goes first and gets to select and unwrap a gift. Everyone oohs and aahs or mentally thinks, "Boy, I'm glad I didn't select that." Number 2 then selects. But he may take Number 1's gift or he may select a gift from the pile. If he takes Number 1's gift, Number 1 gets to select again from the pile. After he has finished his turn, Number 3 gets to select. Once again, he may select any opened or unopened gift. Each time a gift is taken away from someone, that person gets to select again. He may select any gift except the one that was just taken away from him. He may however, have the opportunity to select it again later. Some gifts are occasionally more popular and may get stolen several times. The fourth person to possess it gets to keep it. No more swiping the gift. The gift is frozen. At the end of the game, Number 1 gets to select again, and take someone else's gift if he wants to, but she doesn't have to. He is actually forcing a trade. The only gifts he can't take are those that are frozen. Don't be afraid to swipe a gift from someone. The more takeaways and turnovers there are, the more fun the game seems to be. Some of the best times have been when a particular gift gets swiped several times. There are always lots of laughs and sometimes gifts get swiped just for the fun of it. This is especially true when men are playing. They don't seem to care about the gifts as much as having fun stirring things up. (this could be interesting then). And after the game is over, if you and someone else wants to trade gifts, that's O.K. too.

That's about it for now. I look forward to seeing you all on the 6th .

In the meantime if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.