Game Improvement Champion

Our Champion, Ian 'Fat Wallet' Moore, began the second phase of his development plan this week with the second instalment of the skills testing.  This week we focused on short game and after last week's putting success I was hoping I would find a weakness of some kind. This week's format was similar to last week, three tests on separate departments of the short game.  First up chipping and running, followed by pitching and finally bunker play. The results were very different from the previous tests, highlighting an area of Ian's game that is most definitely costing him shots (see results below).

Although Ian was disappointed with the outcome from this week's test, we both agreed the tests had given us a great indication of exactly what needed to be improved and where to focus our attention over the coming weeks; short game, short game, SHORT GAME!  What I can say is the alterations should be easy to implement, I made a change to Ian's chip and run stance at the end of the session just to show how simple a change can be, the results were instant!

The photos below demonstrate Ian's super wide stance which causes him to contact the ground early in the downswing, leading to inconsistent striking, affecting distance control.  He also likes to use an 8-iron for this shot, which for me, because the targets were only 10 and 15 yards away was not enough loft. We narrowed the stance, changed the 8-iron to a pitching wedge and voila!  Strike and distance control improved immediately, and three points from 10 balls turned in to 11 points from just five.

             

'My second session was a real eye opener. The focus this week was mostly wedge play and to say it was bad would be no exaggeration. Warren knew immediately what the main problem was and with just two stance changes I was on my way. With just two sessions down I already feel more confident on and around the green. My biggest test will be when I set foot in a bunker, but that's still to come and for now I'm very pleased.'

Chip and Run, points scored: 3, handicap: +22

Pitching, points scored: 1, handicap: +22

Bunker play, points scored: -3,  handicap: +22

Brice Bowl

On Thursday we welcomed visitors from across Kent to do battle with our golf course, each hoping to be crowned The Rochester & Cobham Park Scratch Open Champion. Although there was just 39 players, there was no odds on favourite to take the crown.  Our seemingly ever present strong wind playing havoc all day and blowing in quite a few scores around the 90 mark. Combined with the wind, pin positions were also tucked away in some near impossible places, making birdies rather difficult to come by.

As we were entering scores into the computer for the first round there weren't any fantastic scores, at least not until the RCPGC members started to come in. Firstly Bob Florence came in with a fantastic score of 72, closely followed by Scott Mutter, who went one better with 71. Then Rob Osmond completed a fine round of 75.  After a quick ploughman's lunch the players ventured out for their second rounds.  Conditions proved to be tougher in the afternoon which reflected in the scoring, but that didn't seem to bother "Para Bob"! All that training and mental toughness it engendered seemed to be the difference as he returned a score of 74, totalling 146 and pipping Scott Mutter by one shot! His afternoon round of 76 proving one too many. Rob Osmond returned a 74, good enough to take down the nett prize giving RCPGC members a Brice Bowl clean sweep. 

Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks? The only difficulty we had was determining what was the greater, the number of years they have been members at RCPGC, or their cumulative waist size! The course showed its class once again, presenting itself to the highest level. Well done to everyone involved, especially John, for organising another cracking event.

US Open Par Three Championship

With the second major of the year about to get underway, we have put together the inaugural RCPGC Par Three Championship, taking place this Friday, 19 June. A shotgun start at 5pm. These nine holes are newly designed specifically for this Championship. This course has never been played before (and may never see the light of day again!).

An entry fee of £10 includes our US Open sweep, which you will draw upon arrival, a traditional fish and chips supper (food orders must be placed before playing) plus the opportunity to watch all the drama of the US Open unfold on our fantastic big screen. As if that wasn't enough we are getting right into the American theme by kitting out the clubhouse in all that is red, white and blue, as well as a traditional frat party game of beer pong!

We currently have 12 teams of four entered, but we hope by Friday that each tee will be double booked giving us a whopping 72 entrants!

If you can't make the golf why not come for the after party?  Food can be ordered in the pro shop right up untill Friday morning and the golf will be on until the last shot has been hit.

Shoe Fitting Day

On Friday we had the annual FootJoy shoe fitting day. James from FootJoy came to exercise his expert knowledge. He set up camp right outside the pro shop ensuring everyone was made aware of this wonderful free service as they arrived for their game of golf.

James was kept rather busy all day. A steady flow of people were intrigued not only by his colourful and wide selection of shoes, but also the relentless regularity with which James found folk wearing the wrong size shoes...until now. Some people were way off in their shoe sizes, The Captain ,Peter Goodsell normally wears 7.5 but after just 20 minutes, James determined that Peter should be wearing size 6 in a wide fitting!  Even better than that, our own Rob also wears size 7.5, after James had finished working his magic he fitted Rob for size 5.5 wide, a full two sizes smaller than he normally wears!

After seeing these results for myself I just had to have a go, I normally wear size 9 but once again James showed me the way and fitted me for size 8 with a wide fitting, the added comfort and support was noticeable. Everybody that had a fitting felt that once they had the right size they were not only extremely comfortable, but also had maximum stability, as there was no excess room in the shoe. Rob and I also picked up some helpful fitting tips which can only be a good thing.