Caribbean 1 Club

On Friday we held the Caribbean 1 Club where teams of 4 play alternate shots, but each player can only take 1 club into battle and if that wasn't hard enough, putting out with whatever 'putter' was found on each green.  These included a hammer, a kids putter, a hockey stick and other similarly awkward devices!

You can only imagine the difficulty of shots that were faced.  Terry Heaver's team had to take a penalty drop from the sand when they found out that hybrid clubs aren't really designed for greenside bunkers; they may be called rescue clubs, but not even Thunderbirds could save them from this one!

After a fun packed and interesting 9 holes the eventual winners were Jo Marchant, Jerry Lawrence, James Murphy & Chris Pearce, with a hard fought score of 50, picking up a lovely ripe pineapple each.  That would go nicely with gammon, egg & chips!  Everybody got in the spirit of the day and dressed to impress in their colourful clothes.  My particular favourite was Terry Heaver, who, having recently returned from a trip to Cuba, definitely brought the Caribbean to Rochester & Cobham.  His floral shirt, beige chinos and straw hat were nice, had he turned up in a Chevrolet Bel Air the look would have been complete!  Jo Marchant also made a super effort with her outfit and we even managed to get a snap of her in action, potential cover for next month's Vogue magazine perhaps?

Royal Marines Challenge Shield

Last Saturday was the return of The Royal Marines Challenge Shield and once again the entry levels were fantastic with 127 entrants.  The day started off rather calm and warm with the early starters getting the best of the weather, however, as the day progressed the weather took a turn for the worse for the late starters.  Once again the course bared its teeth only letting 15 players out of 127 shoot to their handicap or better, Jack Osborne braved the bad conditions to fire a gross 74, net 68 which was good enough to pip Neil Higgins to first place who also shot a net 68 and was leading for much of the day.

The hardest hole of the day was the 18th, playing a staggering 1.98 shots over par, effectively a par 6! Playing the easiest was the 2nd hole with a mere 0.61 over par where over half the field made par or better.  Bread and butter these holes aren't they?

This week we are looking for a golfer to take part in our 8 week Game Improvement Golfer Challenge.  We need someone who is happy to feature in each newsletter for 2 months and share your progress with other RCPGC members.  We will track your progress and the aim of this is simple, to help you to have the best golfing season of your career!

The plan will be structured as follows:

• Weeks 1 + 2: Assessment of each department of your game, then agreeing a plan that will fast track improvement.
• Weeks 3 + 4: Implement discussed development plan, work on specific game changes, this will be followed by a Gapping session.
• Week 5: Next a custom fit experience where we will test all of your current equipment and compare it against new products (there’s no obligation to buy anything!)
• Week 6: Reassess plan and fine tune.
• Weeks 7+8: Progress reports and more work on key game changes.

As you can tell, this is going to take some work from both parties. We are looking for someone who is serious about improving their game, who will put some time in to practice (1-2 times a week as well as playing regularly).  As this is the first time we have done anything like this we are offering this at a discount rate of £80 . All replies will be put into a draw and the winner will be picked out at random on Monday, 1 June.

Please note you will have to be comfortable with being in the newsletter, willing to have your equipment tested and happy to share your experience with others (throughout the programme).  We are excited to offer this opportunity as we know we can help you enjoy better golf.

Click here to enter the draw.

Jerry's Putter Review

With so many putter options for golfers I have cherry picked 3 putters to see what they have to offer.

First up was the TaylorMade Daddy Long Legs, this putter comes with a Superstroke grip, which I found to be a fantastic help for my stroke by minimizing the amount I turned my hands.  This means the clubface is pointing down my line when I hit the ball.  I also loved the weight of this putter as I found it easy to get the ball up to the hole.

Next I tried the PING Cadence Anser 2, a traditional blade putter which I also liked because of the way it sat flush on the ground.  A great feature used in the PING putters is the variable depth in the grooves which means that any off centre strikes will still roll out the correct distance.

Finally I tested the PING Craz-E which was my favourite putter out of all 3 because not only does it sit close to the floor but it also has a great weight to it and a nice feel off the face, but most of all it has good design that suits my eye looking down at it.

Rob's Chipping Drill

When I'm practising my short game I like to play a game called Par 18, its a simple game and doesn't require any extra tools or equipment.

All you need to do is pick out 9 different shots around the green, ideally you choose 3 simple shots (i.e. a bump and run) 3 moderate shots (i.e. a more lofted shot with plenty of green to work with) and 3 difficult shots (i.e. a shot with not much green to work with or a sloping shot).

Once you've picked 9 shots you play each shot and then hole out before moving onto the next shot, the idea of this game is to create the same pressures that you would face on the course.

When I play this game I look at each shot as I would on the course with the same pre shot routine.  Another way to re-create the same on course pressures is by only playing this game once a day. Take a look at the scoring guide below to see how your short game fairs relative to how many shots you take.

Spanish hands                                   18-20

Scrambler                                           21-23

I left a few out there                        24-27

That's it! I'm booking a lesson        27+

Don't forget to include the dreaded bunker shot in the game as well!

FootJoy Shoe Fitting

On average a golfer walks 5 miles during a round of golf, so a comfortable pair of shoes surely is a necessity.  Some will say its a coincidence, but I prefer to call it fate that we have a FootJoy Shoe Fitting Day here at Rochester & Cobham on Friday 12th June, between 9:00am and 3:00pm.

Appointments can be made now via the Pro Shop.  Once you get fitted you wonder why you never did it before, your golf shoes will feel like slippers.

Less than a month away now and the Pro Am is right around the corner.  We currently have 28 teams and there are still spaces available if you are interested in entering a team.  We would love to smash last years entry of 42 teams!

There are 3 options which are members team, visitor team & the VIP package, which includes reserved parking and a champagne breakfast/lunch on arrival.

Click here to download an entry form.