Where is this?
Early pictures of Reddish Vale golf course are very unusual and almost non-existent. However, I found the below postcard for sale on eBay. Have a look and see what you think. After examining the picture carefully, I'm certain this is an image of a part of the course before it was a golf course. The picture arrived home from Canada this week, so here is a scan which is the only such image that I know of.
I don't know the date that the picture was taken, but it must be pre-1912 and this is how Dr Alistair MacKenzie would have seen Reddish Vale when he first arrived to design the golf course. You can see the land being used for agricultural use as there are what looks like wheat stacks scattered about.
The picture looks very different to what we see today because of the absence of all the trees back then, and doesn't the river look imposing? For me there are a couple of distinctive features that pin it down so it simply can't be anywhere else. Click to enlarge.
So which piece of golf course are we looking at and why do you think this is so?
Submit your guess here
The first person to answer correctly wins a 30-minute session in the Swing Studio. If there are multiple people that guess correctly, then the winner will be drawn out of a hat. I am always interested to see any old pictures of the course or groups of people from years ago, so if you have any you would like to share please bring them in so we can scan them and share them.
Jim Furyk
Most golfers are pleased to break 80, a few manage to break 70 and very very few ever break 60. This week Jim Furyk bettered the elusive 59, and managed a 58 (12-under-par) in the final round of the Travelers Championship. Imagine if we had a nett 58 around Reddish Vale, let alone a gross one - there would be hell to pay! It was a damn good effort but Jim still didn't win.
Here are the highlights from this spectacular round.
Rose going for Gold
I must admit, I always forget how good the Olympics are until they come on, and this time they are even better because after a 112 year absence, golf is back! It's great for the game because golf more than deserves its status as an Olympic sport, and any coverage the game receives is much needed. Anyway, Great Britain has a great chance with both Danny Willett and Justin Rose representing us in Rio. Justin Rose had a great start to his tournament with a 4-under opening round, including a hole-in-one at the 4th.
For those that missed it, here it is.
John Northrop is the Founders Trophy champion after scoring 4 up on Saturday. It seemed tough conditions as the wind had picked up but Bradley Brokenbrow and David Machin finished second and third with 3 up, all three scores better than any previous winners. Each two was worth £6.81.
We had a white-tee qualifying Medal on Sunday. John Brown won Division One with a nett 68, beating Ryan Swift on a card play-off. Division Two was won by Kenny Barthram with a nett 70 and Chris Roberts won Division Three with a nett 73. Each two was worth £6.18.
Wednesday's Stableford
Division One was won by the unstoppable Dave Hamilton with 38 points. Adie Ord is back and won Division Two with an impressive 41. Frank Frost is back too and played his first competitive golf for nearly 25 years, and started well by winning Division Three with 38 points, beating Chris Roberts on countback. Frank has recently re-joined and has been playing and practising hard, so well done to Frank whose hard work is already paying off.
Steve Burden entered the Wednesday section for the first time, and managed to hole his tee shot on the 9th for a hole-in-one. Playing partner Graeme Semple complimented Steve's 6-iron shot and commented on how good it looked as it scurried up the ninth fairway, just missing the fairway bunker on its way into the hole. Steve's ace collects £31, and the remaining 2s collect £3.05 each.
