Rob McNicholas

Welcome to this week’s newsletter,

Rob is currently out on the golf course playing in the Seniors Texas Scramble in the cold weather - good luck to you all!

Shop news

We've got that Christmas Feeling

This week has been a busy week in the Pro Shop, hopefully for those of you who have already popped in, you may have noticed a little change. With Christmas soon approaching, new decorations have been hung, the lights are up and presents are ready under the tree!

The Christmas Shop is open from 7:30-4pm every day, with an easy lay out and presents to suit all, the Pro Shop team can help you find your Christmas gifts for friends and family.

If you are struggling with a gift idea, vouchers are still available for the shop & lessons. We have a new winter offer on a 9 hole playing lessons which includes playing with a Professional, course management, green reading and advice on club selection - for ONLY £60!

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Club news

It's a Try as Jones and Voss Drive In

Twickenham and Cardiff Arms Park came to Saffron Walden Golf Club on Sunday as the new Club Captains, Graham Jones and Justine Voss, arrived in full international rugby kit. With both new captains sharing a background of sporting prowess and the current home nations rugby success, the theme was apposite, and much appreciated by the many members who turned out to support Jones and Voss.

Justine (Lady Captain) pipped Graham (Men’s Captain) on the longest drive, whilst Charlie (Junior Captain) sailed over all 3 drives and finished by the 1st temporary green!

Well done to those who guessed the closest yardage in the sweep - please collect your winnings from the Pro Shop.

In the afternoon myself and Rob joined in the mixed greensomes competition, this was our first go at mixed greensomes and although we are pretty good at foursomes, the mixed greensomes didn't go as well as planned! We had a great game with Roger & Katie Stevens and laughter was all round as we made some simple but wrong decisions from middles of fairways. On the plus side we finished with a great birdie on the 18th - I'll leave it to your imagination what we scored!

Pro's news

PING Training Course - Aaron Howard

This past Tuesday, I attended a PING training course at their headquarters in Gainsborough Lincolnshire. The day commenced with PING product history and design information. This was very informative, showing why we play some of the shapes of clubs we do today.

Before lunch we were escorted for a full factory tour, but we were not allowed to take any photos as new 2018 products were being checked over and haven't been advertised yet. There was a person working on each station of the club build with separate parts of the factory designated for irons, woods and speciality club building. It's fascinating to see how quickly things are prepared, especially the heat carousel which sets clubs in fifteen minutes and increases the club unit output per day. At Saffron Walden GC, we have to leave the re-shafts to set overnight which increases our repair times.

The tour truck was away at this time for annual maintenance, as it spends most of the year travelling around the European Tour stops catering for the world’s best players.

In the afternoon session we travelled to nearby Gainsborough GC, home of the PING Fitting Centre. The centre has every type of shaft and head option available for fitting golfers to the 'nth degree' and uses TrackMan to analyse every shot.

The TrackMan launch monitor gives you every number imaginable but also measures Clubface and Club path through impact and replays it all on a large screen in the fitting bay.

A particularly useful feature that they have is the ability to tell you what the optimal numbers required are to achieve your maximum distance with your own normal clubhead speed. This is not a projection so it's completely tailored to you. They then work to give you the correct equipment to get as close as possible to these numbers - truly fantastic!

In addition, they have a custom fitting putter studio with every PING putter imaginable. I am very pleased to say that they fit for putters using exactly the same technology and in the same way that we do at our club.

It's a marvelous facility and one that's not available to the general public unless you book through a PING account holder such as Rob. Due to the endless options they have available, if you are serious about getting the absolute best equipment to reach your full golfing potential then it’s well worth the time it takes to make the visit.

Coaching news

Monday Lady Members Coaching Sessions

Sessions are still going ahead over the winter months! Keep you swing in shape for an hour once a week to get you ready for the season next year. Only £8 per week, sign up in the ladies changing rooms, each week covering a different part of your game to improve. Open to all lady members with ANY handicap, ran by Aaron & Sarah.

Refreshers Afternoon Practice Sessions

Coaching, Practice Sessions on the 10th and 17th are both fully booked with reserves on the list! This will restart again next year so please let Sarah know if you are interested in joining any of the groups and she will add you to the email list!

Sarah Smith, PGA Professional’s Email- sarah@smithperformancegolf.co.uk | Telephone- 01799 522786

Junior Coaching Programme

Saturdays 10:00,11:00 & 12noon
2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd December

Sundays 10:00 & 11:00am
3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th & 31st December

6 Week Programme At Saffron Walden Golf Club

The first 5 weeks will involve learning, long game, short game, putting & skills based challenges. The final week includes an exciting competition!

Only £40 For 6 Weeks! £8 per session for roll up on the day.

Book Now To Secure Your Place, Maximum Of 10 In A Group:

Rob McNicholas, Aaron Howard & Sarah Smith, PGA Professional’s Email- rob@swgc.com | sarah@smithperformancegolf.co.uk | Telephone- 01799 522786