Thank you to everyone who came down last Sunday for the Junior Gathering, it was great to see so many children enjoying playing golf. I have now decided to continue with the junior coaching and do regular lessons throughout the summer holidays.

Sun 7 Aug - Sun 14 Aug - Sun 21 Aug - Sat 27 Aug

The beginner coaching for 5-8 year olds will take place from 1pm - 2pm each day; whilst the intermediate coaching for the 9 and overs will be from 3pm - 4pm each. The cost for both age groups will be £16 per child for all four sessions.

We still have limited availability in each class, remaining places will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. So please register your child for each of the coaching sessions with us in the shop, I hope to see you there.

The GC2 system provides a different insight into your golf. Learning is immediate as the feedback is on the screen after every shot you play, so the learning process is faster. The indoor environment allows you to fully focus on your game with no distractions: nobody in the way, no noise (unless you have the sound on) and no balls to collect.

If you're wondering about your yardages with each club (gapping), the GC2 is the most accurate launch monitor available. If you wish to know your swing speed with any club, such as swing speed with the driver, the GC2 will tell you. Have a go at driving the 10th at The Brabazon at the same time if you like, and compare your swing speed to that of the leading pros.

And then if you want to know your launch angle, side spin and swing path (pictured above) you can see these too. And you can hire the swing studio and see all these yourself. Whether it's a warm-up before you play, a practice session or a club trial, the GC2 is very easy to operate and can be yours.

Book your GC2 session here.




Putters are a very individual piece of equipment. Some players stick with one throughout their whole career, and others change these by the week.

When the wand loses feel there are several changes you can make that can restore or improve the feel before you change it

The grip is the single fastest way to alter the feel of the club - many players don't appreciate how important the right grip in good condition is. The putter is your most used club in the bag and the feel with this is crucial; so if your putter grip is old, cracked or shiny replace it.

The length of the club affects the way you stand and also the weight of the clubhead. Shorten a putter it becomes lighter so, in theory, better for fast greens but not so good in the winter. Lengthen the putter and it becomes heavier. Shortening/lengthening of clubs is a service we provide at low cost. If you want a shorter putter but with heavier weight I can add some lead to the clubhead for you. Basically, we can customise any putter to the right spec.

 

Club ill-treatment/abuse

Putters can need lessons too and if the club has been thrown, dragged or run over I'm sure we can repair it. Thank you to John Blakey who responded to my article on club abuse of a couple of weeks ago with the following email:

'The story about club abuse was quite correct. A member, Gary Fewster, did have a bad round with his putter one Saturday morning and was heard to say: 'I'll teach the bugger!' as he attached the club to his car and dragged it to Heaton Moor. This was in the 1970s, I cannot remember whether he used the putter again!'

Saturday's Exchange Day with Ashton U-Lyne was a real success; Ashton brought 134 of their members, who were very complimentary of our course and in particular the condition of the greens. Of course, the hill did get its fair share of comments and the Ashton members did find the course tougher than their own, in terms of both the walking and the golfing. A fine 42 points was winning their betterball competition until the final card of the day came in, which was a 47! In return, I think everybody from Reddish Vale enjoyed Ashton too, their 18th also received the most comments but for the right reasons. Our three-man team competition was won by John Northrop, Anthony Phillips and Kevin McCrevey with 82 points.

Presentation - There will be no presentation on Saturday, 6 August; the next presentation will be held in September.

9-Hole Qualifier - The next 9-hole qualifier will be on Friday, 12 August; it is open to all members and will cost £3 to enter. The competition is available to enter any time during the day, with the last tee-time available at 6pm. Please enter in the shop and put your cards into the computer. The winners will receive credit in the shop.


 

Andy White won Sunday's Pro's Stableford with 41 points, one ahead of Gareth Jones with 40 points. Simon Mulvey finished third with 38 points beating Joshua Tunnicliffe on countback. Prizes this week went down to 6th. The twos were worth £6.75 each. Click here to see the full results.

We had 63 entries in Wednesday's Medal. Division One was won by Andy White with a nett 68. Andy Young won Division Two with a nett 66 and Division Three was won by Andy Mackenzie with a nett 69. There were only 4 twos, worth £15.75 each.