Hickory Golf Clubs

Last Friday was another glorious summer's day and we were paid a visit by Tony Hunt, a Wildernesse member that restores hickory golf clubs.  Tony has over 60 sets in his possession, some dating back to the early 1920s!  John Aughterlony saw this as a perfect opportunity to blow the dust off his golf shoes and venture out onto the golf course for only the fourth time this year, albeit for just 3 holes.  18 holes is far too long for John to be away from his desk when he should be keeping everybody in check.

John and Tony were joined by Terry Heaver, for whom there was no need to blow the dust off his golf shoes.  Terry is sporting a shiny new pair of FootJoy Hyperflex this season.  Unfortunately I was chained to my desk doing paperwork, sigh, so Rob followed The Great Triumvirate down the first hole to see how they faired and to his credit the best score was from John.  His silky smooth touch around the greens helping him to salvage a par (this par might've been slightly hard to achieve if the clubs had been post the 1950's). The chip to 5 feet was very nearly ordinary, though he subsequently holed the putt with nerves of steel.  Beginners luck maybe?

On to the second tee and the best tee shot from The Triumvirate was by Terry, putting the ball to 20 feet.  John (clearly pumped after making his par on the first hole) bombed it over the back leaving a near impossible up and down.  Before leaving the trio to finish up Rob was itching to hit one of the Hickory clubs.  Making his first swing of the day and wearing formal shoes, what could possibly go wrong?  The answer, nothing!  After selecting a 'Mashie' (a modern day 7 iron) he fired the ball to within a couple of feet.  Close enough to be a gimme!

When the trio returned John had a beaming smile on his face having knocked in par, bogey, par for a +1 total, maybe not beginners luck after all, maybe instead a new purchase?  Looking in his current bag hickory might be considered an update.

The question that has really left me scratching my head is 'how am I going to custom fit John for a set of Hickory clubs?'  Where there's a will there's a way. 

I never got the opportunity to trial the hundred year old clubs, but if all goes to plan, Terry (Vice Captain) will be giving every member the opportunity to step into the shoes of some of golf's great legends with a Hickory Texas Scramble.  This will be a great event to celebrate the RCPGC 125th year, so keep your eyes peeled for the start sheets, it's going to be a real chuckle.  Let's face it, Terry's doing the organising!!




Atkin Challenge Cup

Saturday saw the return of The Atkin Challenge Cup with a resounding 144 entrants which was an improvement on last years' tally. After a few days of warm weather and minimal rainfall the course was playing exceptionally different to previous weeks and the scoring showed that. The greens were much firmer and faster than they have been, meaning that stopping the ball was a very difficult task, unless you've recently been fitted for some new wedges then your experience would've been vastly different.

To understand just how tricky the conditions played we've added some stats. The hardest hole on Saturday was the 12th hole which coincidentally is stroke index 1 with the average score at 5.66, a whopping 1.66 over par. At the other end of the scale, the easiest hole of the day was the 3rd hole with an average score of 5.71, still 0.71 over par showing that conditions played a massive part on the scoring.  

However, Sam Weston and Lee Hobbs clearly didn't read the script as they both returned a score of nett 69 meaning that they won the first and second divisions respectively. Sam pipped Lee to the overall prize and becomes Atkin Challenge Cup Winner 2015. Sam's incredible win comes off the back of his team Wood Cup victory giving him a second gold leaf for 2015, and a 2 shot handicap reduction in under 4 months, his coach will be pleased!




Rob's Bag Review

Following on from last weeks' shoe comparisons I thought a sneaky peek into this years' cart bag offering was a good idea. The first bag I looked at was the Sun Mountain H2NO Lite which, as it says in the name, is fully waterproof including waterproof zips on all 7 pockets, included in these are 2 full length pockets ideal for clothing, a velour lined valuables pocket and accessories pocket which are on the front of the bag for easy access. The bag also comes with 14 way full length dividers meaning that your clubs will not get tangled up at the bottom of the bag however weighing at just 5lbs this is top of its line with quality built in to every seam.

Next up was the PING Traverse, once again there is a 14 way dividing system including a moulded putter compartment designed to accommodate oversized grips. Similarly there is 7 pockets on this bag including a velour lined valuables pocket and a cool pocket for those hot summer's days allowing you to keep any drinks or snacks you have fresh. A few added features that give this bag an edge over the others are an easily accessible scorecard holder, a Velcro glove holder, an umbrella holder which slides through a portion of the bag for stability and a buggy strap channel so that it can be held securely to the buggy, all this could be yours for just £139.95. 

Next up was the Srixon SRX Lite, like the other two bags there is a 14 way divider but there is also a separate exterior tube for the putter. With 10 pockets on this bag including a cool pocket, a waterproof pocket for those rainy rounds and a velour lined valuables pocket this bag is fantastic value for £99.95. All this for under £100? I think I might get two!




Don't forget that on Friday, 1 May we have the TaylorMade Demo Day which will be running from 2:00pm to 7:00pm, there are 3 fitting slots available so if your are interested appointments can be made via the Pro Shop. 

In addition to these two dates we also have a FootJoy shoe fitting day on Friday, 12 June which will run from 9:00am to 3:00pm, this is a prime opportunity for you to find out precisely what size shoe you require giving you maximum comfort for those long rounds of golf.

Also on Thursday 2nd July we have our annual Pro-Am which is always a well supported day, entry forms can be downloaded by clicking here.




Due to a mixture of the success of the first Rochester & Cobham Park shoot out, and John vying for revenge, he has organised the second coming of The Poker Night. It will be taking place on Friday, 8 May and will start at 7:00pm sharp. The real question however is 'who can take down the current Rochester & Cobham Park Poker King, Warren 'The Wizard' Wood?'