Solheim Cup 

Europe will be defending their Solheim Cup crown this weekend in Germany, where Carin Koch and her team look to replicate their victory of year years ago. I have been watching some of the event this morning and can say the standard of golf is very impressive and it is definitely worth watching this weekend. 

Good luck, Team Europe!!


 

Presentation

Graham Kennedy is still recovering from his knee surgery, so Graham will present the prizes for his President's Weekend not this Saturday, but at the next meeting in a month or so. We wish Graham well with his recovery and look forward to seeing him back at the club as soon as possible and in fine fettle. 

The presentation for the other Saturday competitions played during the last month will take place on Saturday, 19 September at 6.00pm. Take a look at the list by clicking here and if you have unclaimed vouchers please turn up wearing jacket and tie and you can collect these, too.


 

Unfortunately we had to cancel Saturday's Round 1 of the Victory/Club/Seniors' Championship due to heavy rain which flooded the course by about 12 noon. The forecast for a decent day after 9.00am was totally wrong and the greenkeepers' efforts squeegeeing and positioning the holes at the highest points were in vain. It was certainly not possible to either cut or iron the greens on Saturday as it was far too wet. When I blew the claxton on Saturday I knew that it was the end of play for the day, and not just a suspension. Why? Well:

If we have a decent day, and suddenly receive a deluge of heavy rain which makes the greens unplayable, there is a good chance that a shower will pass, the greens will drain, they will be able to take further moderate rain and hopefully we can finish play. Of course this is subject to sufficient daylight to get everyone round, but under these circumstances I would suspend play and try to resume if and when the course becomes playable again.

However, if we have had rain throughout the day and the greens are pretty much full before finally becoming unplayable, and there is a forecast of more heavy rain; I know that it is very unlikely we will be able to resume within a reasonable time frame (half an hour or even an hour is a major inconvenience), I will make the decision to abandon the day.

If you do hear the claxon I recommend that you always mark the position of your ball with a tee peg so that if play is only suspended and play does resume, you are able to do so. It's only a tee! Barry Cocksey asked if he could borrow a buggy to go and collect his tee on Saturday; thank you Barry we always appreciate your sense of humour!

Sunday - now 'Victory round 1' 

The greens were cut and ironed on Sunday morning and they were brilliant. It reflected in the scoring too as Phil Houghton achieved an astonishing feat. Phil was going along quite nicely and suddenly the putts began to drop… Phil finished with five consecutive birdies to finish four-over-par gross off his 10 handicap! I took the picture of Phil just after he had come off the 18th and he was still shaking! Phil described how he played the 18th knowing he had a par for a nett 64:

'A safe tee shot to the bottom of the hill…bit of a thin 6-iron for the second but not bad when I got up there and found it three feet below the hole'.

The putt went in for a nett 63 and 'was there any fist pumping when you holed the three-footer, Phil?' 'No I was just too astounded for any of that!'

I think Phil's 73-10=63 is the score of the year and Phil takes a three shot lead into Saturday's second round. Well done, Phil!

Other results

Adam Stott has a six shot lead after his 65 gross in the Club Championship. Adam is almost back to +4 and will take some catching! Steve Smith leads the Seniors' Championship with a nett 67, one ahead of fellow Senior Stewart Flint.

Wednesday was a Stableford. Division One was won by Derek Simpkins with 36 points. Russell Davies won Division Two with 36 points beating Steve Bardsley on a card play-off. Division Three was won by Tony Nelson also with 36 points.

 

Favourite club? 

Steve Bardsley replaced his irons earlier this year, and after trying my PING G30 demo 3-wood decided to get one of these too. Steve was so pleased with the 3-wood he decided to add another fairway wood to his armoury; the only question was which one? The numbers on fairway woods and their lofts can be a bit confusing…

Between a 3 and a 5 fairway wood there is usually a difference of three degrees in loft, so that is a mere 1.5 degrees from one number to the next. In irons, for example, there is an average of four degrees from one number to the next.

I suggested Steve went to a 7-wood instead to better bridge the gap between the clubs in his bag, rather than the traditional 1, 3 and 5 arrangement. Steve was unsure, but I tried to convince him how versatile and easy to hit the 7-wood is - and these fairway woods have the added benefit that you can increase or decrease their lofts by a degree each way so you can tweak them to do the job that you want - and how I would bet it will become his favourite club!

Steve was unsure but tried the club, took the plunge and Steve will now tell you that yes indeed, the PING 7-wood is his favourite club in the bag!
 

Get fitted

This week I had Tom Arden for a club fitting. Over the last year or so, Tom has had a few lessons and really improved his game. Tom was fitted for his current irons about 15 months ago, and despite the swing improvements, this week's fitting showed how well fitted Tom's irons still are, and how well they still compare to the latest models. So no significant benefit or new set of irons for Tom this time!

However, recently I have fitted several players who have never been properly fitted for their golf clubs, and the difference is staggering. Correct lie angle alone reduces side spin and increases accuracy and distance. One player improved his distances by two clubs, and has invested in a correctly fitted set of PINGs. Another has increased his clubhead speed by 20% just from using a lighter shaft.

See for yourself

Things are starting to go a little quieter now, so if you have not yet seen our new Swing Studio, now is a great time to come and have a look. Contact us and book in for your FREE introduction to it. You can have lessons in it. You can book a game assessment that combines a lesson and an equipment assessment. You can also hire the room to practice in, or play golf. You can do all your own gapping, yardages and feel free to use any of the clubs and custom fitting equipment the room contains! The system is very easy to navigate your way around and we will show you how.