It's been a very busy week at the club. Last week saw the finale of the ladies get into golf lessons. The course has run for the past 2 months with the aim being to get them ready to go out and play. We have had 33 women in total come on the course, twice as many as we expected and we had to put on an extra class every week.

I would like to thank Barbara for arranging members of the ladies section to help out last Thursday evening. The feedback we have had has been very positive both from the members and beginners, and we already have seen some take up on the trial member package offered to them.

Its obviously images like this which have giving the incentive to join the ladies section, thank you La Vern. 

 Last Friday saw the Staff against committee match, which unfortunately the committee managed to win by a point. A recount was demanded but fell on deaf ears, most matches were pretty close apart from one but I'll let Aaron explain how he and Ray managed to lose by 10 points.

Saffron Walden golf scratch team beat Gog Magog 6-0 last week in the recent round of CAGU Division 1 matches. After heavy rain all day that made the course almost unplayable, Walden captain Graham Goodman sent his troops out to do battle against the old adversaries Gog Magog.

Out first in what resembled conditions like the floods earlier in the year, Olly Tuck and Mark Reeve set off against Diss and Whiting. After some rusty play early on, the Walden pairing found themselves 2 down after 2 holes. A great par 5 save on 3 finally set them going and they finished off the round going 1 over par for the remaining 15 holes. They went into 18 1 up, and a slightly pushed tee shot from Tuck left Reeve with a delicate chip up the bank. Reeve showed his class with a pure chip to 1ft which closed out the game 2 up.

Richard Southall and Cam Brown continued in fine form against Fitt and De Woolf. The Walden pairing slotted home birdies at 6 and 10, and only bogeyed 3 and 4 to run out victors 4 up. It is now 3 out of 3 for them, and they will prove to be a difficult pairing to beat this year.

In the final match Tom Duggan, current club champion ,made his debut this year and partnered James Goodfellow against Stammers and Williams. Having donned full wet weather gear and full set of gloves, the damage was done early on again by Goodfellow - two great putts, a pick up birdie and a deft chip stone dead lead them to being 4 up through 4 holes. The remaining holes tested the quality of both pairings with holes won by birdies. With Duggan's powerful driving, the Walden pairing won by 2 up.

Other results:

Week 4 - Girton 3 Brampton Park 3.

Table: 
Brampton Park - 15pts 
Walden - 13 
Newmarket - 7 
Gog Magog - 7 
Girton - 6

Captain Graham Goodman said, "Making the decision to play the game tonight was risky, but it proved a risk well taken in that again the team played as a unit and won convincingly. Brampton have played one more game than us, so we play Girton this week which we have to make count as we then go into a mid season break."

Mixed Open - Saffron Walden Golf Club - Press Release

Golf Club Draws Them In

132 golfers from 42 golf clubs across the region descended on the town to compete in the ever popular Mixed Open event at Saffron Walden. One husband and wife team even made the journey from Saunton in Devon to take their place in the field.

Temperatures were in the high 20's and in glorious sunshine the competition was played on a course in wonderful condition, drawing many admiring comments from the visitors. The esteem of the golf club was further enhanced by the high number of compliments received regarding the friendliness, care and quality demonstrated by our reception, catering and professional shop teams.

The Club Captain, Mark Jones, General Manager, Tom Munt and Ladies Section Captain, Barbara Nicoll were on hand to present various prizes to the winners and runners-up.

In first place with a winning score of 40 points were Mr Neil Sjoberg and Mrs Gaye Sjoberg from Epping Golf Club. Second place was taken by Mr and Mrs Matthew Crawley, also from Epping, with 38 points. Mr and Mrs Alex Greatwood from Ely City secured third place with a score of 37 points. This was achieved on count-back from two other couples, Mr Terry Jones with Mrs Vanessa Adams (The Warren Golf Club) and Mr & Mrs Howard Spencer (Thorndon Park) who also returned scores of 37 points.

Among the other prize winners were Mr and Mrs Paul Williams (Braintree Golf Club), Mr and Mrs John Aspinall (Ely City) and Mr and Mrs Mark Heffer from Manor of Groves G.C. The nearest the flag competition at the 18th hole was won by Chris Rees from Burstead Golf Club for the Ladies, and by Mike Young from Woodbridge, Ipswich for the gents.

A very good day was had by all and many left vowing to return in 2015.

A common fault I see is the break down in the link of body and arms, often this starts early on in the swing as the body turns too quickly and the arms have to catch up. Here is an exercise to get them back in sync and to feel the top half turning over the resistance of the lower half of the swing.

Photo 1 As you can see here the club is only hip height but I've nearly completed my body turn. The right side needs to resist more in the back swing and co-ordinate the rotation of the body.

A drill to get them back in sync is to address the ball normally, then move the right hand off the club and extend out in front of you. Picture 2.

With the left arm make a take away with the club going underneath the right arm. Here you will feel the resistance. Once you have done this put the right hand back on the club and complete the back swing Picture 3.

This will give you a feeling of getting everything working in sync and also give you a better rhythm and timing to the down swing.

Dear Members, Aaron is competing in several Pro-Ams this season and is looking for some Pro-Am partners to join him in these events and hopefully win some great prizes.

The format is 2 scores counting out of the 4 players, so don't worry if you're not on your "A" game!!!

Please click here to register your interest for any of the dates listed below, or come and see one of us in the Pro Shop.

East Herts Pro Am - July 3rd 
St Neots Pro Am - July 4th 
South Herts Pro Am - July 11th 
Newmarket Pro Am - August 14th 
The Grove Pro Am - August 27th 
Luffenham Heath Pro Am - Sept 5th 
Rayleigh Pro Am - Sept 26th