We hope you're well. Whilst Valentine's Day took place last weekend, we have to admit - we've fallen for a lot of the new product that's awaiting you in the pro shop! Until the time comes when you can take a closer look, we are still here to help in any way we can so please don't hesitate to get in touch. Enjoy the read. |
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Thursdays Swing Advice... With so many changes to the bunkers going on, I thought I'd bring you a wet vs dry bunker solution! |
| Stuck in the sand (or snow!) |
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Don't Forget! As a SWGC members special, I'm going to be joining Scott Blaney in a virtual zoom chat to give you an insight on how golf effects everyone different in such positive ways! Scott joined the Grenadier Guards in 2004, he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and 3 months later his section were on foot patrol clearing compounds when they were hit by an Improvised Explosive Device. Founded at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court in 2009, the Battle Back Golf programme is a military initiative designed to utilise the sport of golf to support the wounded, injured and sick. Over the years the programme has proved successful in supplementing the physical, psychological and cognitive rehabilitation of over 200 serving and veteran personnel. |
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Course development I’m pleased to tell you that I can reveal some exciting news in regards to course renovations. It’s been hush hush for a couple of weeks in case we couldn’t get it to happen but the club have been able to bring forward the autumn development work pencilled in for work on the 6th, 7th and 8th. The club will be making a formal announcement in their newsletter next week with more details, as well as links from Simon Hawkins who has been kind enough to photograph proceedings. When lockdown was announced by Boris in January Ian Cambridge and myself were on the phone to one another that evening to see how we could make the most of a bad situation. Initially this was a continuation of the introduction of bunker lining and tidying up of certain bunkers. It became clear early on that lockdown was going to go on for some time so the conversation turned to bringing in shapers and the architect. We had a small window for this to happen but Ian managed to get both parties to put back other projects and treat ours as a priority. We met with Swann design and thankfully his ideas pretty much aligned with ours which made the process quicker. |
Five days later the machinery was in, despite the snow, and they were flattening bunkers and creating new ones. The liner has gone in this week with riveting going on as we speak and turfing is aimed to be completed within the next 10 days. I’ll not go into too much detail now of why, where or what we have changed but you can see from the early photos a lot of work has gone on which will make the holes look and play very different. I for one can’t wait o get out and give them a go. A big thanks to the club for allowing us to bring the work forwards, as well as making changes that improve the course and modernise it, it also made sense to try and get this done now as the course is shut rather than rip it up in September and have a disjointed course for a month.
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Well done to Ian and his team for all their hard work. It was turned round from an idea to reality in a fortnight. This comes from his relationship with the architect and shaper who enjoy working with him and his team as well as at the club. This wouldn’t have been possible and probably wouldn’t have happened at many other clubs. As I said more will be coming out from the club next week, please take your time to look through what they send out and if you have any questions please feel free to ask. It’s certainly been a busy few months of development with 21 bunkers now been either freshly lined or completely redeveloped. This on top of the refurbishment of the practice nets and all the tree work that has gone on which will make a real difference to how the course plays, something we all look forward to trying when we get back. |
Berger's victorious eagle | Spieth's comeback continues Daniel Berger emerged victorious on Valentine's Day after a grandstand finish worthy of a champion. Having double-bogeyed the 18th hole to complete his third round, the young American had a change of fortunes come Sunday as his stunning eagle left him two shots clear of the rest of the field at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. However, the story of the week arguably came a few spots further down the leaderboard as Jordan Spieth competed down the stretch for the second consecutive week. It might not sound like a big story given the phenomenal start to Spieth's career, but the American has been battling with his game for a few years now in a stretch that saw him fall to 92nd in the World Rankings. Could this be the start of a resurgence for Spieth? The signs are certainly there! |
Distance Measuring Devices allowed on Tour In other news, distance-measuring devices (laser rangefinders) will be permitted at the men’s, women’s & seniors’ PGA Championships this year. Whilst this has caused some debate amongst golfers and experts alike, it’s a reminder of just how incredibly useful they can be out on the course, saving time and shots. If you're still pacing out your yardages from the 150-yard marker, maybe it's time to look at how these fantastic bits of technology could help your game? Send us a message below if you'd like to explore this further. |
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