Hello and welcome to this week's newsletter.
The course has been surprisingly quiet this week, it seems that people aren't so keen to play on ground as firm as the M11 or test out the snow that we had yesterday. In fairness it doesn't do the course any harm to have a bit of a rest and even with the cold snap that we are having the greens seem to be holding out well.
Last week we did have an indoor training session with the ladies squad which went well despite Sue Ward trying to break the net, unfortunately as it was top secret we forgot to take some pictures but we did use the Sky Trak launch monitor to get the ball flight and yardages, this is something that we will be doing again and maybe look to get an evening in the clubhouse for some winter coaching.
As you will see advertised below we have got our first demo day of the season a week on Monday with Yonex. For years they have specialised and been market leaders in graphite shafted clubs, in particular ladies and senior clubs, but over recent years the top end forged irons are some of the best on the market. If you fancy trying out what they have to offer for 2017/18 then follow the link below and we will get you booked in.
Seniors 5 Club Competition
Almost 50 brave seniors turned out to brave a very cold and frosty morning. But the good news is the sun did come out for a while. It is interesting to see that the winners came from the front of the field.
As I said the ground was hard, I hit the first green near the pin but the bounce took me almost on to the 17th fairway. Also on the 13th my drive was just short of the left hand bunker, so in an effort to hit the green I played my driver and ended on the front edge - only to then 3 putt!
1st - T Neeves - 36pts
2nd - R Barker - 35pts
3rd - E Fordham - 34pts
4th - B Hall - 33pts (c/b)
5th - T Collett -33pts (c/b)
6th - A Gold - 33pts (c/b)
7th - B Lewis - 33pts
8th - K Peacock - 32pts (c/b)
9th - M Thorne - 32pts (c/b)
10th - L Ekner - 32pts
NTP on 7th - B Lewis
Yonex Demo Day - Monday, 6 February 11am-2pm
A great chance to try all the new Yonex equipment!
Our professional Sarah has been offered sponsorship with Yonex for this playing season and is already very impressed with the distance and feel from the new N1CB irons, increasing her 7 iron distance from 130 yards to 140 yards!
Book in the pro shop or click here to reserve your time.
Layer Up For The Winter
We hear so many people coming into the shop commenting on the cold weather and staying cold on the golf course. Layering up is wearing the correct layers to keep you warm whilst out on the course for 4 hours or more.
You may have seen one of the new displays in the shop where we have given examples of layering up with the brands Galvin Green, Oscar Jacobson and FootJoy. All 3 brands start with a base layer (GG now on members special offer of only £40), then a mid-layer such as your polo top then a thermal jumper or windstopper which will keep the warmth in.
Pop in and have a chat with the staff to see if you're wearing the correct layers to stay warm this winter.
Swing Analysis
Phil Collins came for his first lesson with me on the chilly Sunday morning just passed. He wanted to gain a more consistent strike on the ball and get rid of the bad shot which always curled off to the right, especially with longer clubs.
As it was his first lesson, we started with a 7 iron and I noticed that he had a long back swing with a slight over the top move on the way back down to the ball. This would cause an out to in swing path and because the club face was relatively square to the target the ball would curl to the right (a slice!) As well as cutting across the ball, the angle of the club at impact was very steep leading to heavy miss-strikes.
We started by making changes to the swing path by shortening his back swing, keeping a stable base to gain more control on club direction on the way back to the ball. Once Phil got used to this we worked on keeping the hands closer to the body on the way down to change the swing path. By changing the swing path to in to out it became easier for Phil to draw (right to left shot) the ball, the strike also improved as the angle of attack became a little shallower.
Phil said: 'Thank you so much for your advice earlier and the follow up video. I just had to go back to the driving range after rugby to get practicing! Already loads better by the time I left this afternoon.'
Next lesson we will work on Phil's impact position and turning through onto target, this will improve distance and strike!
