Andrew Myers

Welcome to this week's newsletter bringing you the latest news from around the club, competition results and a look at what we have to offer you in-store.

Enjoy the read.

Club news

Archie Preston Final

On Sunday we hosted the final of the Archie Preston at one days’ notice. I received a call from Ian Hayles (secretary of MDGA) who explained that most courses in the area were closed and they needed a venue which would be open. As luck would have it, nobody had booked after 1pm so we had a completely empty course at just the right time.

Alsager beat Bolton Old Links (defending Champions) 4-3. There were no close matches they were either one way or the other. Most of the Alsager team came into The Pro Shop, bought yardage booklets and sought advice about the course before they went out to play, and several came in after their round and commented upon how they enjoyed the course.

Captain’s next presentation

The Captain's next presentation is on Saturday, 9 November at 5pm.

If you couldn’t make it to collect your voucher on Saturday, please turn up at this next meeting to collect it.

Competition news

Seniors Christmas Hamper

This new event was a great success with 80 players taking part on Tuesday. I think the timing of our ‘Christmas Hamper’ worked, we got in nice and early before anyone else! It was Am-Am 2 from 4 to count Stableford and was well supported by our Seniors section and a number of visitors too. 84 points was the winning score so nobody really burnt the course up, but three 2’s from a 13 handicapper really helped the winning team!

It also perfectly balanced up my prediction of what a ‘2’ would be worth as I had to guess and give out golf balls to the value.

Rodney Gorton

Playing in The Seniors Hamper event on Tuesday was Rodney Gorton (K. R. Gorton) from Stockport.

Rodney told me how he broke the course record while playing in The Reddish Vale Trophy in 1969, just over fifty years ago. Somehow, when the club house was later decorated Rodney’s scores which were displayed on the wall for many years were lost.

Click the image to englarge it and view both scorecards which Rodney kept a copy of and brought with him on Tuesday!

A first round 67 was pretty good, but Rodney’s afternoon 64 was a new record at the time. Rodney managed no less than six 2’s on the day.

Rodney told me he was 25 years old at the time and it was the best day’s golf of his life!

By the way Rodney still plays off 6.

click to enlarge

Fourball knockout final

Well played Nabeil Nasr and Rob Kearns who won the Fourball final on Sunday, defeating Sean Connell and Paul Temple. If I am not mistaken, I think the winning pair is one which was paired up by us in The Pro Shop!

Individual Stableford
Saturday, 12 October

1st - Dave Wallworth - 38 (CPO)
2nd - Derek Simpkins - 38
3rd - Mike Thompson - 37

Pro Shop Stableford
Sunday, 13 October

On a day which started wet but got better – Paul Walton won with 38 points and Danny Wilkinson was second with 36. Paul Walton also got the only ‘2’ of the day worth £18.00.

Follow the link below to see the results from this week's Pro Shop Stableford.

Pro Shop Stableford results >

Winter rules

Due to the wet conditions we have gone onto full winter rules this week. Follow the link below to view the winter rules ‘in Lehman’s terms’.

You will see that you have the option to use mats but from the fairway only, so don’t forget your mat this weekend.

If you hate mats and you want to revolutionise your experience of playing from them, I recommend you invest in one of our magnificent heavy duty fairway mats. They have a solid rubber base so they do not move when you play from them, and have an AstroTurf upper so they feel like hitting off real turf. Oh, they don’t curl up either!

winter rules >

Shop news

A bag that does both...

NEW - Motocaddy Aquaflex carry & trolley bag - £20 OFF!

There are not many bags that do both... but these do. They are light for carrying and have the fitting on the base so they also fit perfectly on an electric trolley. They are also a waterproof golf bag with sealed zips so pretty useful with this current spell of weather.

These are in-store now and I have two left with £20 OFF the normal price of £179.

I have only two left at £159 so please get in there!

Check your spikes

It's not just the condition but also if they are present at all. Small stones quickly become lodged in plastic spike fittings and damage them, making it impossible to replace the missing spike. This usually means a new pair of shoes is required if you want maximum grip.

Look at your spikes and check they are all there!

Pro's news

Who's that with Seve?

I opened a golf magazine the other day and saw this picture of Seve in a spot of bother at Lytham back in the 1988 Open. Seve and his caddy are very recognisable, but can you recognise the first person to Seve’s right peeping out from behind the tree?

I’ll give you a clue this person has hair. It’s me age 12 and I remember the incident really clearly. Just to the right of the spectator with white top is my mate Sid who I was with at the time.

Even Seve didn’t get up and down from in there!

click to enlarge