Congratulations to Ken Whitlow who had his first ever hole-in-one on Tuesday in his match vs New Mills. Ken was over the moon to see his 5-iron go in for an ace on the 4th hole. In case you were wondering, Ken wasn't using a ball any smaller than standard as the photo appears, Ken's hand span is 11 and a half inches! This shot helped him go out in 37 gross for the front nine, he plays off 18!
Did you know?
PING make six different widths of grip going from blue (smallest) size to orange (biggest) to fit all sizes of hands. However, after measuring Ken's hand span we custom made our own 'Whitlow' sized grip which is bigger than a PING orange! As well as being fitted to Ken's clubs, we have an example of the 'Whitlow' on display in the pro shop to see for yourself next time you are in.
Grips too small = too much hand action and the dreaded hooks
Grips too big = lack of hand action causing loss of feel and power.
What's your grip size?
Another hole in one
A couple of weeks ago I was explaining how John Wright had benefitted from our new Swing Studio and how the adjustment we made to his own irons made them feel like a new set of clubs. Since then John has won a Monthly Medal and I can tell you that John has also had a hole-in-one. The ace came using his correctly fitted irons at the short 4th hole at New Mills in their Seniors' Open.
Another, did you know?
Correct lie angle results in a squarer club face at impact. The main benefit of this is the vastly reduced side spin and longer, straighter shots. For any doubting Thomas or Luddites who say that lie angle is unimportant; come and have a look in my new fitting studio, we can now show you the proof of what I have been telling you for years!
Best value golf balls? - Whatever your choice of golf ball, the re-packaged ones we sell in the shop are really hard to beat. The only problem we have is keeping up with the demand on these. Good news! We have just taken a big delivery of balls and stocked it all up again so if I didn't have your favourite ball last time, I bet it's there now!
Worst value golf ball? - Some of you will remember that great picture of Duncan Cheslett in the crowd at The Open lunging forward in an attempt to catch Rory's Open winning golf ball. Unfortunately, the attempt failed and the ball bounced around the stand, where Duncan was first to spot it, and kindly pointed it out to the bloke whom he nearly knocked unconscious. The bloke said thanks and sold it on eBay for £30,000! So the article that explains how Lee Horner caught the ball is inaccurate, but the price was right and you can read the article here. It is a great picture but Duncan came away with only bloodied shins from some sharp plastic on the seat in front.
We have the new Stuburt Autumn/Winter collection in stock. There is a wide variety of clothing to suit the needs of every golfer, including:
Base-layers; half-zip sweater; Cyclone half-zip fleece; Sport half-zip lined sweater; Cyclone hybrid jacket; Cyclone SS wind shirt; Cyclone half-zip wind shirts; waterproof jackets
These range from £19.99 to £69.99. Feel comfortable this winter!
A day in the lifeā¦
Nick was selected for the monthly 'A day in the life' feature in the July addition of the Greenkeeping Magazine, a publication for the trade which focuses on all aspects of modern day greenkeeping and golf course maintenance. Nick was asked lots of questions about how he goes about his business and what he contends with on a daily basis. It is quite a comprehensive article, informative and humorous and you can read by following this link. My favourite comment is that Nick feels at his safest from golfers when he is standing right next to the flag!
Business as usual?
This week Nick has over sown our greens, which is the first time this has been done in over 25 years. On Monday, he verti groomed the greens, creating small line indentations so that the bent seeds could be brushed into these lines and create good seed-to-soil contact. Once this was complete, they top dressed the greens to finish it off. Nick explained that because the drainage of the greens is so improved, the bent grass seeds he has brushed in will survive, whereas in the past the greens were too wet to support them. This is an opportunity to speed up the annual process and long term aim of displacing and replacing meadow grass with bent grass. Germination of the seeds will take up to 3-4 weeks.
What are the benefits of this?
Sat 5 Sep - Phil Booth is back in the money. Phil (pictured here) has suffered with back and hip trouble for some time and after surgery, physio and a lengthy break from golf, he is moving and playing much better which is good to see. Phil won Saturday's September Stableford with 37 points beating Kevin Seaton on a card play-off. Pete Simister Jnr was third this week with 36 points also on a card play-off from Jeff Watson. The twos were worth £6.50 each.
Sun 6 Sep - Sunday's Pro's Stableford was won by Ross Paton with 37 points; Ross won on a card play-off from Anthony Phillips and Mark Watkins. There were only three twos on Sunday, worth £15.33 each. Click here to see the full results.
Wed 9 Sep - Division 1 of the Wednesday Section's Medal was won by Gary Hill with 71-4=68. Mike Oates won Division 2 with 78-11=67 and Division 3 was won by Anthony Lyons with 83-16=67. There were seven twos, each worth £8.85.
The next presentation will be on Saturday, 19 September at 6pm. Here is an up to date copy of all the voucher winners. If you are on the list please turn up in your jacket and tie to collect your voucher from the Captain. Click here to see all the unclaimed voucher winners.