New Titleist 915
Got one! One of the new Titleist 915 drivers has arrived early; it's a demo and you can try it!
Before it came out of the box Paul Donohue was straight onto it! Paul said that he had been hitting the ball a little low with his bad shot being a hook. I adjusted the driver so it was three quarters of a degree more lofted than the 10.5 stamped on the head, and with the face slightly open. After his round Paul had to very reluctantly hand the club back, and he and playing partner said he had not hit a single bad drive all day! Paul wants to take the club again on Sunday morning.
I am very excited at this product. I took it out on the top 5 as soon as I got a chance. The sound off the club face is different, the feel off the clubface is softer and the ball flight is straighter.
Have a look at the club if it is actually in the shop next time you are in. The club features a new ARC (active recoil channel) technology in the design. I love Titleist drivers and until very recently still had a 909 D comp (about 4 years old!) in the bag. Anyone else with an older model Titleist should try this fine specimen of a club and you will notice the difference.
The full range of demo's and stock are due in very soon, and I can place orders now. Finding a better driver can transform your whole game.
Winter Gloves 
Pairs of Footjoy Winter warm gloves are in now.
These are a great investment for the winter as keeping your hands warm is crucial if you want to be comfortable and play well. These grip the club easily too so unlike a pair of mitts you can leave them on to actually play shots.
Help
During winter time I offer 4 for the price of 3 on lessons, this is the perfect time to start improving your game ready for the season ahead. Whether it is finding consistency in your game, learning a new shot, you want a pre shot routine or you just need a check-up then do not hesitate to come and see me, I am available most days, and am very flexible with time. Book now!
Robin Titterington is prime example of a player who has taken a few lessons, and who has noticeably improved in a short space of time. Just ask Phil Frankland who is sick of paying out already!
Christmas Treats
Not sure what to get for Christmas, can't find what you're looking for, there is plenty of stock in the shop and loads of brochures for you to look through to find the perfect present, with cresting available on all clothing, logo's on golf balls available, we have it all!
Buying for the person who has everything ?
Treat them to an experience they will benefit from and enjoy such as golf lessons. Allow them to choose whatever they wish with a voucher for the Pro Shop. Both lesson and shop vouchers are available here. And remember you have the peace of mind that all items purchased here can be exchanged hassle free. We can also do vouchers for green fees and even membership of the golf club as you will know if you read Dave's email this week.
Titleist balls - FREE personalisation - minimum order is 1 dozen! Usually you need to order at least 6 dozen to have a message put on a ball, and it also costs more money to do it. Titleist's offer this year is superb and I received seven dozen newly personalised balls for various people yesterday. The monogramming has been more imaginative than usual so see what you can come up with - anything within reason! By the way I charge less for the Pro V1 option than they are advertised for.
Christmas Draw - Excellent prizes as always, this could really make your Christmas special so buy your squares in the Pro Shop now! I love making that phone call to the winner.
Hidden strategy for success?
None of this new equipment, golf lessons or practice nonsense on Saturday - load of old cobblers, just grow a beard!
Team beards won Saturday's odd and even stableford with 98 points. Alan Bell, Alex Wigley and Richard Howard must have decided that growing a beard is the way forward and work it did. With handicaps of 10, 10 and 16 this was a superb victory for team beards as with 5 from 6 scores to count over every couple of holes, and with virtually no run on the ball this was a format which you would expect to favour the lower handicappers. Although to be fair Alan did benefit from a 2 hour warm up in the net after turning up for what he thought was a 7.56 tee time; team beards time was 9.40!
More predictably team Seaton were second with 96 points, The Captain, Kevin and Keith with combined handicaps of 17. I think Kevin did most of the damage going round in 71 gross. Third place for the second week running was the team of Ryan Jackson, Gary Hill and Andy Hutchison (combined handicaps of 12) with 90 points.
The two's were worth £5.33 per person per two.
Winter Order Of Merit
The Winter Order of Merit has begun, and runs from Saturday 8th November to The Pro's Cross Country on Saturday March 28th which is the final event of the winter. The order of merit gets updated every week and will be displayed on the results board in the men's locker room. The defending joint champions Alan Finney and Paddy Weadick are very keen to defend their title. The more you play the more your chances of winning.
This year the points system is slightly different, with some bigger numbers and with points allocated down to 6th place. With just a win or two you can easily bounce up the leaderboard, and some events will be worth double points.
Click here to see the current standings in this year's winter order of merit for 2014/15.
Another good turn out on Sunday for my Pro's Stableford with 59 players entering the comp, Alex Stones finished on top with 36 points beating The Captain on a card play-off. Kevin McCrevey finished in third place with 35 points beating three other players also on 35 points on a countback. The prizes went down to fifth.
Simon Nicholls continues to play well and won Wednesday's Pro's Stableford, scoring 38 points beating Paddy Weadick on a card play-off. Prizes on Wednesday went down to third.
Click here to see all the results.
Phil Reeves seniors' army worked on the 2nd bank on Monday and have made an excellent job of tidying up the dip. Recent new member Harry Hinchcliffe has lent a hand each time the army has been out and asked what to do with all the golf balls he was finding. Harry was informed by one of his colleagues that they are the rightful property of the Club Professional, and that all balls should be piled and then handed over (to me) at the end! It wasn't until this point that Harry noticed what awful balls everyone else was finding and putting on the pile. And when Harry commented on them he was informed that the collection was actually for him, although any good balls had clearly been kept!
Such fine work has allowed Nick to continue his great work on other areas of the course, just this morning Nick has begun excavating the ditch in front of the 11th tee.
