Sarah and I ventured down to Sunningdale this week to play in the annual foursomes, as did Ben and his partner Nathan Day.
As all of you will know it’s been rather windy this week to say the least, Mondays practice round was at least sunny and we had a good warm up game against ex tour players Chris and Nick Baron. We decided that I would do odds and Sarah would do evens, this probably should have changed the following day as the wind flipped and we teed off at the start of storm Gareth. The course was holding water from the previous night’s rain before we even started, coupled with the wind made it extremely testing conditions. |
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We halved the first but fell too far behind as we bogeyed two and three. Two was always going to be tricky as it’s a testing par 4 and we couldn't get there in two so had to play it like a par 5. The third was an unforced error as we had a fifteen footer to win the hole and walked off losing it. They salvaged a half on the 4th then the next proved to be a turning point. We were in the hole for a five, they had a tricky twenty five footer for it up and over a slope. When he hit the putt it was on a good line but far too strong, it hit the hole jumped up and in, if it had missed it was going back down a slope to a similar distance to what it had come from. We won the next to get back to two down then on the 225 yard par 3 Sarah hit in her own words and 11 out of 10 strike 5 wood, it pitched on the back of the green about ten foot from the flag, second bounce caught the back of the green, it trickled down to a run off and seemingly at no pace kept on going out of bounds. A cruel bit of luck and we went back to three down. We got back into it with a lovely birdie on ten, Sarah hit a cracking drive and I hit a career 3 iron which must have lipped the hole on the way past. Sarah duly holed the three footer and we were back in it. We lipped a birdie on the next and the one after, then a complete horse shoe on the following to lose the hole. This left us with too much to do and our opponents closed out the match a couple of holes later. The conditions were by now becoming unpleasant, I know Ben who lost as well that morning said he had never been as wet and cold on a golf course. I spoke to a Pro who I know who played in the afternoon as well, they were told by the starter that they would probably be called off after a few holes as it was becoming dangerous and the course was struggling to cope with the weather. In fact a lot of matches had to be finished off the following day. That said as ever it is always a pleasure to play, the greens will probably be the best we play on all year but you could see the course was still trying to recover from last year’s heat as there was not much grass on the fairways and the course was holding water on fairways and in bunkers. Thanks to Sarah for being my partner, as ever great company over the two days and her dad David for caddying, as they say there’s always next year! The one thing we did find out was that I'm still quite good at pool and surprisingly good at ten pin bowling having not been since I was at school. |
| Sarah even managed to track down a pink bowling alley. |
| With pink skittles! |
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Ben Kerr – Abu Dhabi Early this week Ben joined a group of Team YGT professionals on a visit to Abu Dhabi ahead of the YourGolfTravel Pro-Am there in November. It may have only been a short visit, arriving Monday and returning on Thursday morning, but YourGolfTravel managed to fill the days with many activities and visits:
• Staying at Southern Sun Hotel Abu Dhabi • 2 rounds at Abu Dhabi National Golf Club (home of the HSBC Championship European Tour) • 9 holes of night golf under floodlights at Abu Dhabi National GC • 1 round at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club (Gary Player Design) • Karting at Yas Marina (Home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) • Visits to the Mosque and the Louvre art gallery
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For any help or advice with your next golf trip, please do not hesitate to contact our professional staff. They will be very happy to give you advice and may even be able to help with the booking of your trip.
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Thetford Pro-Am At the Thetford Pro-Am yesterday, Ben managed to post a score of 74 in the blustery conditions, which included three birdies in a row on holes 4, 5 and 6. 74 was good enough to finish Tied 1st in the professional individual competition with Andrew Marshall and Chris Soanes. In the Pro-Am competition, Ben and his partner, Matt Hartley, posted a score of 40 points, which secured the win for them by just 1 point. Left - Alan Maddy (president of the Thetford Pro-Am golf society) Right - our PGA Professional Ben Kerr |
And in more good news for Walden, Tim Smith and Steve Plumb were winners as well on the day! |
Bay Hill
Here’s a photo Jenny Burgess took of Philip and John at Bay Hill last Friday.
They said they had a great day with him before flying home on Friday night. Having walked the course it made watching the final on Sunday that much more interesting.
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Junior Team Last Sunday the Saffron Walden Junior team opened up their league campaign with a tricky match against Bourn. |
Captain Josh opened up and despite paying to his handicap was beaten by his opponent. The next three fared better as Alex Sparrow, Leo Bonser and Will McKernon all recorded wins making the match 3-1 in our favour.
Old Hucknall then lost meaning there was only a point in stand all depended on James Hamiltons match which was coming down the 18th. James held on to pip his opponent one up and give the team a 4-2 victory. A great start to the season by the team, their next match is against Goggs next weekend.
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IT’S FRIDAY! Which Only Means One Thing... Here's your Friday FREE swing tip ready for the weekend’s golf... FLY THE FAIRWAYS! The most common shot on the fairways, (especially this time of year when there's a little mud around) is a top or a player unable to get the ball off the ground! There's 2 Fixes For This: - Double check your weight transfer is correct throughout the shot, when the club goes into your back swing, your weight should be slightly onto your back foot & when it comes through to hit the ball, it should transfer forwards to the front foot. This will prevent you from 'helping the ball' go into the air and leaning back throughout impact - leading to your top! - Secondly, check your ball position. A ball position to far back in your stance can lead to the low right shot & a bad strike, due to a steep angle of attack. Think about the ball being just inside your front foot setup, (just inside a driver) this allows you to hit on the up part of your swing, improving your strike.
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Let me know how it goes, have a great weekend & don't forget to have a look at my Facebook page to keep up to date with my golf & find more swing advice! www.facebook.com/SarahSmithGolf |
Seniors Thursday Coaching This week for the Seniors Coaching, I delivered a short game session! We battled the wind, luckily missed the rain & everyone’s chipping was improved. During the session, the group split in half and worked in pairs to use loft to chip into nets (which we tried to stop from blowing over every 5 minutes!) & the other half were chipping to a hole using a different club selection. One of the main suggestions for improving at the start was the muddy lies we are currently seeing if we miss a fairways, this was quickly taken care of using a club with less loft and seeing it roll out more as a ball flight. Lastly we played a team game thinking about distance control, well done to our winning team.
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If you haven’t already signed up for next week bunker session with Rob, the sheets in the changing rooms. |
Putting Clinic With Aaron Howard PGA Professional
Friday 5th April & Friday 12th April 2019
Give Your Putting A Pre-Season MOT
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2018 Handicap reduction of my players – 1 shot
• Give your putting a pre-season check up • Find out the ‘pattern’ to your stroke and what to work on • Achieve more consistancy through ‘correct’ practice & relevant drills
For further information or to book your place please contact Aaron on 07768686865, email aahgolf@googlemail.com or alternatively book in the pro shop.
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Sharpen Up Your Short Game
3 week course with Sarah
December & January's Short Game Clinic was so popular I've decided to hold another whilst the weather is improving, this will get your short game 'down to a tee' ready for your competitions to begin!
After the 3 weeks you will learn different shots around the green, including high, low, chip & runs etc...
You will come away feeling more confident that you can get the ball closer to the hole around the green, therefore leading to less putts and lower scores!
Tuesday 26th March, 2nd & 9th April
1:00pm-2:00pm
Open to all handicaps, both to men & women - 6 people minimum in a group
ONLY £30 for 3 weeks |
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Titleist Demo Day We're delighted to announce that Titleist will be coming to Saffron Walden on Friday 29th Marchgiving you the chance to try out and get fitted for their fantastic new TS Speed woods. Here are the key details: Friday 29th March- 12pm-5pm - FREE Appointments are available in the pro shop. |
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Out With The Old, In With The New Sometimes, you buy something new because there's a need; for example, your golf bag has broken zips or the stand no longer works. At other times, you upgrade what you already own because there's something new that you want, such as a new golf bag in-store that looks fantastic. Whatever your reason is, we're offering £20 OFF selected bags in-store when you trade-in your old one with us - no matter its condition!
Click here to get in touch. |
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Motocaddy has always been at the forefront of trolley innovation, with the world's first GPS electric trolley amongst their ranks. Well, this year they’ve made some significant upgrades to the immensly popular S1 model, which we think you're going to love. |
| New Motocaddy S1 electric trolley (2019) |
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We don't like using the term 'entry level' to describe the new S1 as it offers so much more than what this suggests. At first glance, you'll take a liking to its modernised styling and graphics, which will really help make it stand out from other trolleys on the market. Then you get to its technology: new and improved sunlight-friendly LCD display, nine speed settings, advanced battery meter so you needn't worry about it running out mid-round without knowing, and a super-lightweight Lithium battery to name but a few. The new S1 for 2019 is as good as it gets at this price point, so pop in-store to take a look and get one in your hands. |
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