President and Captains

2011/12 Club President, Brian Yates 

Brian was born in Belfast and moved to England when he was 7 years old where he attended St. Joseph's College in Stoke-on-Trent and was very involved with sport; mainly Tennis and Rugby.

When he was doing his National Service he played Rugby for the RAF and also Tennis at Wimbledon in the RAF Championships.

He is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and worked for the largest privately owned Civil Engineering Company until moving to Chesterfield in 1971. 

Having previously played golf at Trentham Park Golf Club, he joined the Club in 1972 and served on the Committee for a number of years before becoming Captain in 1991, by which time he had become a business partner with David Bird, who is also a member of Chesterfield Golf Club. 

He is married to Jean, also a keen golfing member of our Club and has two children and four grandchildren. His other interests include watching rugby, playing bridge, socialising and supporting Stoke City Football Club.

2011/12 Men's Captain, John Day 

John was brought up in North London and became very interested in sport at an early age. Cricket was always his first love and his two claims to fame are that he attended the same school as Dennis Compton, his boyhood idol, and that he once faced the legionary Australian fast bowler, Ray Lindwall. After a spell in the Royal Marines, during which he was attached to the Royal Naval Rhine Squadron, he commenced a rewarding business life. John eventually moved to Chesterfield in 1974 to join Brian Donkin Ltd., and spent many happy years there. He joined the Club later that year and became its Secretary in 1981. Over the years he has taken an active interest in the affairs of the Club, which culminated with him becoming Chairman of the General Committee in 2009 and Captain in February 2011. In 1982 he set up a management consultancy business, which proved to be very successful and included many worldwide clients. He has two sons, both of which were former junior members and is married to Liz, last year's Lady Captain. He is a founder member of the Chesterfield Scarsdale Rotary Club and is a lifelong supporter of Chelsea Football Club. His other interests include the music of the thirties, modern jazz and bridge.

2011/12 Men's Vice-Captain, Les Spencer

Les joined Chesterfield Golf Club in 1993, but due to commitments in his working life did not play golf on a regular basis until retiring in 2005, although during that period he retained an enthusiastic interest in both the game generally and Chesterfield Golf Club in particular.

In his working life, he was a Mining Engineer involved in developing and selling machines to companies around the world. One major project involved living in America for 5 years during which they played an active part in their local golf club. Les says “they”, because his wife, Peggy, is a keen golfer and also a member of Chesterfield Golf Club.

Since retirement Les has had more time to play golf and enjoy renewing old friendships and making many new ones. Les and Peggy also take part in most of the social functions organised by the club.

Les joined the Committee in 2010, but, prior to that, had been had been heavily involved in the Veterans section, latterly as Chairman.

2011/12 Lady Captain, Jan Poulton

Jan was born in Chester and lived in Wrexham (North Wales) until 1967, attending Grove Park Girls' Grammar School. At school she played hockey and tennis and was in the school gymnastics team. In 1967 she went to study Biology at Aberystwyth where she met Steve whom she married in 1970. After gaining teaching qualifications, she and Steve moved to the Chesterfield area and she taught at Tupton Hall, St Helena and Brookfield schools until she finally retired in 2009. She has two children, Sarah (who now is the Manager of Queen's Park) and Jamie who is a graphic designer in Berkhamsted and is the proud father of Jan and Steve's grandson, Miles. Jan and Steve both started playing golf at Grassmoor, and were among the founder members. Jan was ladies' Captain there in 1995 when she instigated several new ladies' competitions. She later moved on to Shirland and finally to Chesterfield in 1999, joining the Ladies' Committee in 2007. Now retired, Jan enjoys playing golf and hopes to improve her handicap, playing badminton, table tennis and racket-ball. She and Steve also play bridge socially, and are doting grandparents.

2011/12 Lady Vice-Captain Anne Gillam has been a member for just over 8 years having been encouraged to play by her husband, Steve, also a member. She retired early from her job as a physiotherapist at Walton hospital five years ago, with one of her objectives being to play more golf. She has been a committee member for two years and also organised the mixed friendly matches last year, which the Ladies greatly enjoy. She didn't played ball sports after leaving school so golf was quite a challenge for her. Her interests were horse riding, skiing and gardening. Now golf has taken over and she and Steve are soon to move to a smaller house and garden. To add to an already busy year, her daughter is getting married in September. Anne and Steve became grandparents last year which means frequent visits to London to see their grandson.