As well as being designed by the same course architect Alister MacKenzie and being more hilly than you would expect (people who have actually been to Augusta always comment on how hilly it is and liken holes there to our 18th), Augusta is also set in urban surroundings so I would say Reddish Vale and Augusta have more than a little in common.
I wonder if they are looking for a club to be twinned with in the UK?
Anyway, back to reality and the Masters is underway. For me it starts the golf season and predictably, Jordan Spieth is flying after his first round of six-under-par. But as we know it is very easy to drop shots round Augusta and this year I am going to predict Louis Oosthuizen will win; Louis shot a level-par first round and is no means out of it.
We have a Masters Sweepstake in the pro shop this weekend; it is £2 a square so please have a go. First place in the Masters wins 70% of the stake and second receives 30%. All proceeds will be paid out in credit on account in the pro shop.
The GC2 is the most accurate launch monitor and is used by Jordan Spieth. Jordan has one in his garage at home, which would be nice if we could all afford one! He relies on the exact accuracy of the GC2 to do his yardages, and so can you.
The GC2 gives you your exact yardages, spin rates, velocity and many more key bits of information which will help to improve your game and increase your knowledge. And as you know, we have one at Reddish Vale - so feel free to come and use it.
My diary has been very busy with lessons, club fittings, gapping sessions, game assessments and swing studio hires. It is great to see people making the most of this fantastic facility.
If you want to compare your current clubs against the latest technology, contact us to book yourself in for a 45-minute game assessment with myself for just £25. Get in touch here.
The 3rd and 4th holes opened on Saturday so we're back to 18 holes again, and you can now appreciate the extent of the work that Nick and his staff have managed over the winter, which is truly immense. Lots of members have commented very favourably about the work undertaken on the course, and with a little warmth and some recovery time nature will tie the loose ends.
At 7:10am on Saturday morning I was on the first green with the greenstaff and it looked pretty grim. With the amount of rain that must have fallen on Friday night, squeegees were necessary to remove standing water and all holes were moved to the high positions. Unfortunately, the dry weather that the BBC had forecast by 11am never came, and by 12:45pm most of the course was under water. As you can clearly see, the first green was totally unplayable so there was no choice but to call the competition off.
Many bunkers were full of water at this point so I also had a look at the new bunkers and there was no water in these whatsoever.
On Sunday we had the Daily Mail Foursomes against Astbury, which RV won 4-3.
Well done to the Dunham Team who played against Altrincham winning 6.5-0.5. Thank you to the players who played and it was indeed a very strong team. The real key to winning Dunham matches is simply being drawn at home which we haven't had for several years, it really helps.
The Archie Preston Team played against Withington but unfortunately couldn't make it a hat-trick of wins for RV and lost 4-3.
Sunday was a busy day. We had a Pro's Stableford which was won by Lee Costello with 39 points. Pete Watson finished second with 36 points and John Mills was third with 34 points. Bob Duff had the only two of the day, worth £29. Click here for the full results.
Wednesday was the first competition of the season for the Wednesday section. Dave Hamilton won Division One with 36 points, beating Mike Radcliffe on a card play-off. Division Two was won by Duncan Cheslett with 34 points, pipping Adie Ord on countback. Rick Dobbins won Division Three with 34 points also on a card play-off from Pete Simister. The twos were worth £10.75 each.