4th hole

A new drop zone is now in play on the 4thso that if your ball lands on the bank to the right of the green you must drop a ball in the drop zone without penalty and play your next shot from there.

The reason is that it has been decided that the bank to the right of the green is dangerous, so the hole's playing characteristics have been changed on the grounds of 'health and safety'.

I would agree that it can be very awkward reaching a ball or playing a shot which has stayed on the bank. The major flaw with the design of the hole at present is that with the internal out of bounds so perilously close left, the bank should be the safe line and provide refuge away from the trouble. As you know it does anything but. The 4th green is a very narrow target with trouble all around.

Have you have ever wondered why the out of bounds is located so close to the green, when we have at least 30 yards of golf course (where the path is) out of play to the left? It is because originally the hole was perched on the top of a ravine which fell away steeply to the left. The ravine which was the boundary was land filled in the 1960's and despite the new land to the left, the 'boundary' has remained where it was originally - but obviously not the way MacKenzie intended it. If this was an empty plot of land and new hole designed, I don't think the existing hole would even be considered.

Gilets

More stock of the rather fashionable gilets has arrived! They have gone really well this year and I have been unable to get hold of any more until now. They are perfect for this summer, keeping your body warm and letting your arms move freely. Look very smart with a contrasting shirt beneath. Gilets from £39.99 - Buy any shirt and gilet combination and receive £5 off.

Lie angles matter

Last week Pete Singleton was fitted for his new set of PING irons. Correct lie angle is an essential part of club fitting as it determines what happens when the club contacts the ground and the ball.

Take a look at the picture of soles on these two PING irons. As you can see I have fitted white tape to the sole of each club. Pete has played shots with each club off a strike mat and you can clearly see where they have contacted it.

The club on the right is of standard lie angle. You can see when Pete played the shots, the toe of the club was striking the mat. This contact between the ground and the toe of the club digging in will cause the club to twist on impact, opening the club face and sending the ball to the right. Pete will tell you this was very noticeable and the shots played with this club were going right of target.

The club on the left is more upright than standard (2.25 degrees green dot colour code) and as you can see this club has hit the mat dead centre. The club face will twist less and remain squarer at impact. Pete will tell you these shots went much more towards the target.

Pete's new PINGs are perfectly fitted to his swing and he will achieve the best results possible. Whether you have existing clubs or thinking of getting some new ones, the lie angles need to be measured to suit you. Loft and lie check is quick, free and can make an instant difference you your game. Book a lie check by clicking here.

Invitation day Sunday 10th August

Next Sunday will be our second invitation day of the year. This is the first one on a Sunday for a while, and allows all those Sunday players (who are quite a different crowd to the Saturday ones) to invite a guest from another club - and play at a time that suits you as it will be a rolling start. Bring someone along and show them how fantastic this golf course is. The booking sheet is on the main notice board and is filling up quickly. All Sunday players please get inviting!

It was a high scoring day on Saturday in the July Stableford. Simon Mulvey finished 1st with 41 points, from Paul Temple second on 40 points. Steve Bardsley, Phil Frankland and Andy Hart made up the prize winning places. Steve Bardsley has been playing better recently and has commented that since he had a ball fitting and switched to the Bridgestone ball that he is now achieving noticeably more distance. Steve said hitting the 11th in 2 had become a struggle but not anymore since changing ball. Steve is back off single figures for the first time in a while.

Steve Smith is another now using the Bridgestone ball and it worked very well at the 12th on Saturday. Steve canned his tee shot on the 12th for a hole in one. Steve played a superb 5 iron and realized it must be in the hole with all the waving and excitement coming from the 11th. This is Steve's 3rd hole in one and as you know takes half the 2's pot - a total of £63.50 on this occasion. They say that dogs look like their owners - well you can be the judge of this one!

Chris Shaw won my Pro's Stableford on Sunday with 40 points. Chris has been in great form recently as he is in the play-off for The Presidents Prize with Dean Martin. This is due to finally be played on Tuesday and I think it will be close as both players are playing good golf. Sorry to those who turned up at the presentation expecting the vouchers for The Presidents Prize to be presented, but the length of time it has taken for the play off to be played explains this as we can't do the presentation without knowing who is first and second!

Second on Sunday was Jeff Crewdson with 39 points. Click here to see the full results.

Wednesday's comp was a Stableford with Ryan Jackson winning Divison 1 with 36 points. Division 2 was won by Mike Canning with an incredible 44 points. Mike sounded quite negative before his round after a disappointing Saturday, but this was another day and what a difference! Mike has now reduced from 14 to 11. Leighton Broomhead won Divison 3 with 39 points, Leighton has been playing lots of golf recently and it is showing. I think in the next 6 weeks we will see a lot of improvements from our juniors.

The £100 Match

Last Friday Dave and Justin fought it out to win the £100 match, with both pride and cash on the line both players were determined to win. With the face off at the start neither player showed nerves staring each other in the eye.

Dave played the top 5 in one over par gross - and found himself 3 down! Justin clearly played very well and by the 11th was 5 up and cruising. Dave played the next few holes well and managed to claw some back, reaching the 16th tee dormy 3 down. Dave felt he needed to take on the green at this point and an errant drive later and the match had finished 4&2 in Justin's favour. Justin is more than pleased with the victory and thanked The Cat who was a solid caddy, good at lining up crucial putts and well worth his 10%.

Oh well Dave, at least there was a comfortable seat and a couple of drinks to look forward to in the 19th after... unfortunately though, when Dave sat down to enjoy his drink there was a loud 'crack' as the plastic chair gave way and Dave was on the ground!