Rob McNicholas

Hello Golfers,

Welcome to this week's newsletter, autumn is officially here as yesterday was the start of the first Slade meeting of the season. In came the new Captain, Wis, but nothing changed with the organisation as he believed he had the perfect number 20 until he realised he had counted Patrick Ray twice. No one needs two Patrick Ray's!

I was partnering Dave Batt playing against Andy Fisher and Martin Ward. They got off to a flyer and were 5 under through 7 but dropped a couple to go out in 21 points against our steady 19. We made inroads and over took them on the back half only to both blob 16 as Dave lost his balls in the trees on the right and mine vanished under the leaves to the left of the bunker. However there was one final sting in the tail as Dave stuck his tee shot on 18 to three feet and holed the putt.

We finished on 38, beating our partners by two and happy that we avoided the dreaded PPPP. Incredibly we nearly won but thankfully we were pipped into second by George Reynolds and Graham F Smith. Drinks were on them, well Graham as George couldn't stay for the meal.

PPPP winners Vic and Keith

Slade winners the absent George Reynolds and Graham F Smith

Course news

GUR Areas

Please note from tomorrow morning (Saturday 27th October) all GUR areas on the 1st and 18th will now be in play except for the bunkers.

Competition news

Price Claims David Hall Trophy

Fresh from his triumph in the Gleneagles Junior Open, Jamie Price came out on top in the climax to the David Hall Trophy season at Saffron Walden Golf Club with a gross 75, nett 71. The trophy, presented by Marian Hall in memory of her late husband allows juniors of all standards to play competitive rounds throughout the playing season, culminating in a final last Sunday.

The handicap cup was won by Ollie Latham with a fantastic nett 66. Winners of the monthly awards for the David Hall were Jamie Price (April and June), Ollie Hucknall (July) and Josh Izod (August and October)

Junior golf

Girl Members

Thursday afternoon saw a get together for all the girl members at Saffron Walden Golf Club. We are very lucky to have 13 in total which 6 came to the get together. The aim was for girl members to meet other girl members so that they could join up and play games or practice together throughout the year as well as feeling more confident around the club!

Between 3&5pm I delivered some coaching on the range, then we practiced our putting, then out for a couple of holes on the course. We had Katie (2 year girl member playing off the red tees from her 23 handicap), all the way to new member Rose who has only been out on the course a few times and playing from our new measured blue tees.

It was a great afternoon from my view to see the girls chatting and getting to know each other more. We had some great feedback too:

‘Rose really liked going out in different groups, really liked the girls in the group and she would really like to do it again!!’

‘It was nice to get to meet other girls and it was a good way of getting all the girls together and encourage them to play!’

The next get together is Friday 28th December, 2-4pm. Please let me know if you’d like to join!

Ladies section

Ladies Get Together

On Wednesday night this week was the Ladies Get Together, this was an end of season do for all the squad team ladies for 2018. Huge thank you’s and congratulations were made to individual ladies and team ladies from Justine, followed by guest speaker Chris Lee, Personal Trainer & Body Coach.

The evening was informative and fun with 31 ladies attending. Chris gave a great presentation and held fun taste tests talking about Golf Nutrition and suggestions of what you should be carrying in your golf bag for 18 holes to keep the energy steady all throughout a round!

It was interesting to learn that walking 18 holes burnt an average of 1200 calories, therefore thinking logically, 1 or 2 bananas and a bottle of water was not going to replace these calories lost, resulting in changes in your swing and energy throughout the game - this definitely having an impact on your scores.

Chris will be working with the Ladies section delivering more group classes and we are looking into holding more sessions like this for other members sections. For more information or if you are interested in learning more please click here.

Finishing on a positive, it was great to see the feedback from the night:

‘Thanks to everyone for a brilliant and informative evening. The food discussions were great fun as well as being helpful as to what to include in the golf bag for the munchies.’

‘Thank you to everyone involved for a really lovely evening.‘

Coaching news

Group Coaching - Improve Your Driving

Want to hit more fairways?
Do you need more distance?
Get the absolute most out of your driver

Join one of these 4 week group coaching courses with PGA Teaching Professional - Ben Kerr at Saffron Walden Golf Club

- 4 x one hour group lessons
- Coffee in the clubhouse after the lesson
- Video Screencast of each lesson to your email

£40 per person (Max 6 people per class)

Friday Mornings
9am-10am
(9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th Nov)

Contact Ben Kerr at contact@benkerrgolf.co.uk or 07899 996714 to book in.

Winter Short Game Clinic

4 Week Course with Sarah

- The clinic is designed for those who are looking to improve their chipping throughout the winter months.
- After the 4 weeks you will come away feeling more confident that you can get the ball closer to the hole around the greens.
- You will learn the technique for chip & runs, high lob shots and different options of chipping from different lies.

Tuesday 20th & 27th November
Tuesday 4th & 11th December
12:30-1:30pm

Open to all handicaps, both to men & women (6 people minimum in a group)

ONLY £35.00pp for 4 Weeks

Book now, sarah@smithperformancegolf.co.uk

Totally bunkers!

The proposed changes to the Rules of Golf are less than three months away so we thought we'd look at one introduction which will put your mind at ease when you find yourself in a tricky situation within a bunker...

You may not be aware but under the current ruling, you cannot take relief outside the bunker once you've already made an attempt to play the ball from inside. However, under the proposed changes (19.3b), and for two penalty strokes, you will have the additional option of taking relief outside the bunker by dropping a ball back on the line from the hole through where your ball was at rest in the bunker. Phew.

contact the team >

Go the distance

We've all been there - around 75 yards out and faced with a tricky little pitch shot towards a tight pin; danger over the back and a tier just before the flag that will take anything short down to the front edge.

The first stage in overcoming potential card wreckers like this is knowing how far you hit a full shot with each of your wedges. The second is having three different distances that you can comfortably hit with each, adding to your options when faced with this scenario.

Mizuno S18

One wedge which will offer you the versatility required for absolute precision in distance control is Mizuno's S18. What we love most about the S18 is its thicker topline on the higher lofts, which has been designed to help with a common problem for amateur golfers - mishitting the sweet spot high on the face with shorter shots. This topline will provide more consistent spin rates for better control when attacking the flag.

watch our video >

I hope you have enjoyed this week's update.
We hope to see you soon
Rob

Saffron Walden Golf Club
Windmill Hill
Saffron Walden
CB10 1BX

Phone: 01799 527728

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