Roger Moore is the new men’s captain at Skipton Golf Club, with current ladies captain Dagmar Hecker-Woodhead re-elected for a further six-month term.

Yorkshire-born Roger, 74, who takes over from retiring captain Ian Sewell, has been a member at Skipton since 2015, also serving as rabbits captain in 2019 and on the board since 2018.

Pre-retirement in 2014, when he moved back to Skipton, Roger was a much travelled international supply chain manager in the chemical industry, working both at home and abroad, including spells in France, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Italy.

Elected this month at a special general meeting of the club, Roger said: “On the course we have much to look forward to – our programme of continuous improvements to the course, the launch of our brand-new Junior Academy, hosting a golf day in June for well-known northern charity, Dementia Forward, and our own high profile Dales Trophy in August, along with a number of corporate golf days and visiting parties already booked in the club diary.

“Off the course, our rebranded bar and catering facility - The Kestrel Café - will also be busy as members and visitors relax after their game. We have a growing list of social events to complement our daily offering and I hope these will be fully supported by the membership.

“My hopes for my captain’s year in two words would be ‘levelling up,’ which seems to be a hot topic at the moment.

“This means bringing our non-golfing businesses to the same level of financial health as the golf side, opening up the whole club through broader engagement of all members, including breathing new life into our new member mentoring project, while maintaining the excellence of our course. In short, achievement of the right balance between running a successful business and meeting the needs and expectations of both our members and visitors alike.”

Re-elected ladies captain Dagmar moved to Skipton in 1992 and has been a club member ever since, serving on various committees. She previously worked in the international fashion and sports industry in Munich, switched to School Business Management in 2000 and retired at the end of 2020.

Dagmar said she had enjoyed her first 12 months of captaincy and is looking forward to continuing her work with Women in Golf and Skipton’s own Pathway into Golf. She is also hoping that her application to England Golf for the club to become a centre for Girls Golf Rocks will be accepted.

Both captains, along with re-elected ladies vice-captain, Lorraine Raeburn, who takes over from Dagmar this coming August, have joined forces to support a single charity for fund-raising efforts during the year, Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope. A standalone charity golf day in aid of Manorlands is due to be staged on April 23.

Sylvia Eastwood was re-elected club president – she became the first lady ever to hold the office and, in what was another landmark, the first to attend the Bradford Golf Union annual 8-15 dinner.

Jim Fox continues as chairman, while Bob Jarman was appointed men’s vice-captain. Other section captains are Sean Lemon (scratch team), Scott Amos (rabbits), Bobby Dixon, (juniors), Rob Watson and Gordon Whinkup (8-15) and Richard Spencer (seniors).

Retiring captain Ian Sewell, who presented Roger with his incoming captain’s green jacket, said two of many highlights of his two-year term in office were seeing a growth in membership and the successful introduction of midweek competitions.