Firstly I would like to open this week's newsletter by saying how glad we are that the weather has taken a turn for the better, particularly for the 2 competitions over the weekend! We are now starting to see the members' summer wardrobe come out to play, hopefully signalling the start of a fantastic summer of golf!

The picture to the right was taken on Tuesday during the Tovils Cup, a ladies foursomes competition, perfect conditions for the girls; sunny and not much wind.

Darnley Challenge Cup

Last Saturday we had the Darnley Challenge Cup in some great scoring conditions; bright, sunny & very little wind but how did the 154 players fair?

Taking the spoils in Division 2 was Gordon Harris with an excellent 38 points that was compiled with 2 steady 9's of 19 points. However, this wasn't enough to be crowned Darnley Challenge Cup champion for 2016; but he did grab runners-up spot and a healthy injection into his ProShop account. The best of the lot was James Murphy, who piped Gordon by a single point coming home with 39 points. James' round got off to a steady start, hitting 18 points for the front 9 but he was going through the gears and when he got into top gear he had 21 points on the back 9! James' ProShop account also got a nice boost and to put the icing on the cake he is now a single figure handicap too, well done James!

Medal Winners Shield

The next day was the Medal Winners Shield where the winners from each midweek or weekend medal take part to see who's win was a stroke of genius. A very small field of 16 elite winners took to the course but who would come out on top?

The story of week came from Ricky Hall who at the start of the week managed to drill into his hand whilst at work... Which makes his score of nett 73 even better, however it wasn't to be the fairy tale ending as Jamie McCann came home with a nett 71 to snatch victory. Well done Jamie, you can walk around the club now knowing you are amongst an array of elite golfers!

Odyssey Toe Up Putters

 Another new addition to the shop this week is the BRAND NEW Odyssey Toe Up putters. Odyssey have developed the Toe Up to make it easier for the golf to return the clubface square at impact by reducing the amount of torque (the amount the club twists), this has been done getting more weight towards the face of the putter. They have aligned the shaft axis so that it's specifically aligned with the Centre of Gravity so when you see every golfer balancing the putter on their fingers they will see that the toe points up to the sky.

Odyssey have also put their ever popular Metal X technology in the face which has been cut so that it is perfectly flat and also chemically etched all this so you get the purest of rolls.

 The Toe Up also comes standard with a Super Stroke Flatso grip, this is designed to relieve tension in the wrists and forearms in order for you to make a nice smooth stroke. Each component of this putter has been cleverly constructed to achieve one result... LESS PUTTS and MORE FUN! I'll be testing the Toe Up No.1 over the coming weeks so if you hear me whoop, whooping from across the golf course you know Odyssey have achieved their goal!

   


 

Alfie's Success

This week saw Alfie Plant travel to Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club for the coveted Lytham Trophy, a competition where the highest handicap was +1 and going as low as +5 so the competition was going to be fierce!

Conditions were awful with everything from sunshine to rain, wind & hail, but what would you expect from a course that's staged the Open Championship? After 4 gruelling rounds of 67, 73, 74, 70 Alfie secured a convincing victory heading the field by 7 shots.

After working with Alfie for the last 4 years it was great to see him reap the rewards for all the hard work he has put in. I can't say how proud I am as his coach but also his friend and wish him all the best of luck for the rest of the season!

Alfie in our time together has moved from a handicap of scratch to +4.3, representing England in the Elite squad,  been crowned Kent County Champion, won 2 high profile elite level world amateur events with numerous 2nd place finishes including runner up in last years English Amateur Championship, and after his win last week he has now broken in to the top 100 amateurs in the world sitting currently at 93rd.

One of Alfie's goals at the start of the season was to break in to the top 50 golfers in the world by achieving this he would gain him automatic entry to on one amateur golfs most prestigious events The US Amateur Championship an event that was won last year by Bryson DeChambeau. After his win last week he is well on the way to achieving this dream so I wish him all the best for the rest of the season and will keep you  up to date with his progress.

Importance Of Lessons

Whenever people come into the shop and say they have never had lessons or don't think they can help their game I am amazed! If golfers are serious about improving their game they need a second set of eyes to look for any adjustments that can be made to their technique but just as importantly they need a structure to their practice so it can be effective as possible.

The amount of times I've seen people just beating balls on the range and are done within 1/2 hour is incredible, that's when a good coach will give the player a practice plan therefore giving the golf a purpose to the practice session. It doesn't matter whether you want to win trophies like Alfie or break 90 for the first time, whatever your goal we can help! 

Promotions

Battery Trade In

Is your trolley starting to run out of power in the latter stages of your round? If that's the case it may be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of our battery trade in, all you need to do is bring in your old battery and you will get £25 off a BRAND NEW lithium battery! There's not time to sit on the fence  as this fantastic offer finishes on Sunday 15th May.

Dates For The Diary

Pro-Am

With just under 2 months until our flagship event of the year, there's still time for you to get into the R&CPGC Pro-Am. The best of the best of PGA Professionals from the South Region will be doing battle with their teams by their side so if you fancy taking part make sure you get your entry forms in as soon as possible! Please find the entry form below.

Re-arranged Clinics

Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to postpone 2 of our clinics; putting & chipping. So in order for the members to get full advantage we have re-arranged both clinics to take place on Sunday 22nd May with the chipping at 9:30am and the putting taking place at 12:00pm. If you are interested please sign up in the ProShop.