Hartford Golf Club

Hello golfers,

Welcome to another edition of our newsletter, packed full of members news, shop special offers and useful tips to help your game. Remember this Saturday night the clocks go forward by an hour so it will be light earlier in the mornings – good news for all you crack of dawn golfers! In this week’s news:

- The youngsters show the way in the Winter League

- Jean wins the ladies Autumn Trophy

- A long overdue team win against our rivals

- John’s new club does the trick

- Winter clothing spotlight

- Upcoming events

Competition news

Winter League review

Despite the best efforts of Storm Brian, we played the first round of our Winter League on Saturday. 17 pairs defied the wind and the rain and the winning score was an impressive 23 points from our youngest entrants – Joel Cann and Ben Barrow. Joel has been in great from recently and won last week’s 3 Club Challenge and Ben finished top in the September Medal, so they make a formidable pair. On Saturday, they parred the first 8 holes and then Ben applied the icing on the cake by chipping in for a 4 point birdie on the ninth hole.

Joel Cann

The slightly more experienced pair of Alan Taylor and Alan Royle also scored 23 points but they only scored 1 point on the last hole to just miss out on top spot. The two Alan’s did have back to back birdies on holes 5 and 6.

Dave Johnson and Antony Green also combined well to take third place with 22 points including a birdie for Antony on the 5th hole.

The next round takes place this Sunday at 11am and there are sure to be more good scores returned in a competition that is filled with strong partnerships.

Ben Barrow

Alan Royle

Alan Taylor

Ladies Autumn Trophy Round up

The ladies haven’t had much luck with the weather recently and the Autumn Trophy on Thursday was another wet affair and it was played off the more difficult competition tees, hats off to all of the lady members who played and they all completed their rounds in what were pretty horrendous conditions!

The rain didn’t seem to bother Jean Jones and it was almost like she was playing a different golf course as she scored a brilliant 40 point total, playing off 31 Jean scored 19 points on the front nine and 21 on the back to win the new Trophy. Alaine Britton has been playing consistent golf recently and she was keeping pace with Jean on the front nine as she also had 19 points going out but she lost momentum a little on the back nine to end up with 35 points and runners-up spot. Third place went to another consistent golfer in Elspeth Forbes who scored 33 points.

Jean jones with Lady Captain Sandra

Pryors Hayes match

There was a big game here on Sunday as we entertained our sister club Pryors Hayes for our annual match. Pryors Hayes always field a strong team and they’ve come out on top in the last few years so our team were hungry to get their first win in this fiercely contested match. Ably lead by our Captain Ian Wharton, we used our home advantage to good effect and we’re pleased to report that we finally clinched a hard fought victory by the score line of 4-2.

We had to make this our photo of the week as it’s such a rarity! Here is Pryors Captain Alan Dunne handing over the Trophy (if you can see it!) through gritted teeth to Ian, well done to Ian and the team - it’s nice for us to finally beat our neighbours and get our hands on that very small Trophy!

Fitting news

Success story

We thought we’d share a club fitting success story with you this week, John Roberts came to visit us recently as he was struggling using his 3 and 5 woods off the fairway and it meant he was struggling to play to his handicap. We soon realised that John’s club head speed was on the slower side and as a result he was struggling to get enough height on his fairway wood shots, the solution was simple. We fitted John for the Callaway Epic Heavenwood which has a 20 degree loft with a 3 wood length shaft and it’s designed for those players that struggle to get the proper flight on their fairway shots. On the Trackman, John’s average distance with his 3 wood was 155 yards carry, with his 5 wood it was 142 but with the more lofted Heavenwood his carry rocketed up to an average of 183 yards carry.

We knew that the new club would work well for John, but it’s always nice to hear affirmation from a happy golfer. John came into the shop the other day and reported that he had won a competition at his club and his handicap had gone down 2 shots. But the thing he was most pleased about was that he had parred 9 par 5 holes in a row in his competitions which has obviously resulted in much better scores.

Rather than continue to struggle with his fairway woods and not enjoy his golf, John chose to do something about and visit us for a custom fitting session. The results show that we did indeed help him and he is now enjoying playing again! If you want to be like John, why not book a club fitting session in over the winter and let us put you back on the path to better golf.

Click here to book a fitting now.

Shop news

Winter golf clothing

With the quality and innovation involved in modern winter golf clothing, you really have no excuse for not playing no matter how bad the weather, remember the old adage ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing’.

This week we thought we’d feature 3 key outfits that we sell in the shop suitable for the typical winter conditions you will find on the golf course:

A cold & breezy dry day – firstly make sure that you have a warm base layer like the Ebbott model, then layer up to keep out the elements. The final and most important piece is a wind top such as the Blake which has the Gore Windstopper seal of approval and is designed to block the chilling effects of the wind, the bonus is that this type of material is also water repellent so will keep you dry in light rain showers, don’t forget your neck either which can be exposed to the cold – try this Under Armour windstopper neck gaiter for ultimate warmth.

When it’s pouring down – sometimes the rain can be heavy and to play regularly in this country, you need a reliable waterproof suit, in this situation the new Proquip Pro Flex Evo suit comes into its own – lightweight with 4 way stretch material you would barely notice that you have this suit on as it’s so unrestrictive but when the rain is pouring down you will be glad you’re wearing it, at £189 the suit is also outstanding value and comes with a full 3 year waterproof warranty.

A frosty morning – it can be chilly on the course first thing so sometimes you want a top like the Under Armour Cold Gear Reactor ½ zip top, the really clever thing with this sweater is that it reacts to the weather and has ‘intelligent insulation’, so when it’s cold it traps heat in but if your body warms up it allows breathability and allows you to cool down, it’s also Storm coated which means that it repels water and if the sun comes out and you get very warm it folds up nice and compact to keep in your golf bag.

Have you taken advantage of this yet?

Right now, we’re offering ½ price spikes in the shop, and we’ll fit them for free, too! When was the last time you checked the condition of your spikes? At this time of year it’s more important than ever to have good traction when you take to the course. It’s not just for during your swing either, but also when you’re walking up and down slopes as well as to and from raised tees. Come and see us in-store before it’s too late.

Get in touch

Upcoming events

Junior golf update

For most children its half term next week and we have lots going on for junior golfers to keep them busy! Here are the next week’s Adam Powell Day camp dates as well as Academy times and dates and on course competitions dates.

Click here to get in contact and find out more.

Competitions

Junior Competition – Sat 28th Oct 2:28pm

Winter League Round 2 – Sun 29th Oct 11am

Seniors 18 hole Stableford – Tues 31st Oct 9:16am

Ladies 9 hole roll up – Thur 2nd Nov 9:24am

November Medal – Sat 4th Nov 11am