The weather has certainly turned more wintry this week, we had a snow flurry on Sunday forcing us to close in the afternoon and a succession of frosty nights have meant that the golf course has been frozen all week.
The cold conditions did nothing to deter our hardy members Stuart Fallows, Matt Leach and Alan Calvert who ventured out on to the very white golf course on Sunday morning - this photograph Stuart took with his trusty yellow ball (surprisingly close to the flag I might add!) being barely visible on the green shows that conditions were far from ideal!
Despite the bad weather the course was open again on Monday morning, showing what a great winter golf course we have and it's also a great testament to the hard work of our Head Greenkeeper Andy and assistant Alan. Because our golf course is in great condition and playable all year round we offer great value for money membership, unlike some other courses in the area you won't be left paying a hefty membership fee but not being able to get out on to the course because it's closed all winter.
Our most flexible membership offer yet!!
Thanks to the introduction of our points membership you can join for as little as £200 it's a great option for those of you that would like to play more golf this year, try a golf membership and get plenty of good value golf in without having to spend a fortune. For the price of £200 you will receive a 200 points membership card to use against rounds of golf here at Hartford and at our other course Pryors Hayes, all your rounds of golf are at a reduced price and it works out that you can play 18 holes for as little as £8 , the breakdown of the points is below:
Monday-Thursday - 9 holes = 9 points, 18 holes = 12 points
Monday-Thursday (after 1pm) - as many holes as you can play = 8 points
Friday-Sunday - 9 holes = 10 points, 18 holes = 16 points
Friday-Sunday (after 1pm) - as many holes as you can play = 12 points
If you wish to establish or maintain an official handicap and play in club competitions you must also join the appropriate golfing union, the additional fees for this are £12.25 for men and £14.75 for women.
The beauty of the points card is that when the 200 points are used it can be topped up at 50 points a time for £50 as many times as you like over the year.
Don't forget that this is not the only great membership deal we have on at the moment - you can join now as a full member and get 15 months for the price of 12, with 7 day membership costing £640 this means that you can play as much golf as you like any day of the week for around £10 a week all the way until the end of March 2016.
There is also the option to take up dual membership with our sister club Pryors Hayes if you fancy playing a couple of different courses the fee is just £775 for the 2 courses!
Click here to contact me if you have any membership enquiries.
SALE now on
Our massive January SALE is now only on for another nine days so you're running out of time to grab a bargain - it's the biggest SALE of the year with massive savings to be had on most items - we've had many happy customers in already grabbing bargains. Please call in to have a look at all of our SALE stock, some of the main bargains are:
30% OFF ALL adidas and Ashworth Hartford GC crested clothing
20% OFF ALL clothing and 10% OFF ALL waterproofs inc. Galvin Green & Nike
20% OFF ALL golf bags and golf balls, e.g. Titleist Pro V1 balls only £31.99
25% OFF ALL gloves, e.g. FJ Sci-Flex leather glove just £8.99
TaylorMade JetSpeed metals from just £79
adizero one shoes were £109 now only £49 - only a few pairs left!!
Srixon Z-Star balls per dozen only £26.99 - limited amount left at this price!!
Titleist 714 AP2 irons 4-PW ex demo set only £449 - just one set left!!
This is just a small selection of the bargains that we have on offer - call in to have a look soon as the SALE stock will go quickly!
PING and Callaway Fitting Days coming up soon
We have a couple of fitting day dates for your diaries:
On both of these nights you can book an appointment for a FREE fitting from a qualified club fitting technician - all the latest clubs will be available to try including the new Callaway Big Bertha irons and woods, the hottly anticipated Callaway XR range and the best selling PING G30 range including the new LS-Tec driver - also with special offers available on the night.
You must book a half hour appointment slot in advance in between the times above, these days are always popular up so contact me now to guarantee your place before we get booked up.
The new TaylorMade AeroBurner driver has been one of the most noticeable arrivals in the shop with it's distinctive white head and many of you will remember the Burner name from previous TayloMade models, the Aero part of the name comes from the clubs highly aerodynamic light weight design. You will notice an Aero hosel fin that reduces drag and with the raised centre crown of the head coupled with a very light design (the overall club weighs less than 300 grams) means that speed can be maximised in your swing.
Click here to have a look at this video to see what all the fuss is about.
So for anyone that has a slowish swing or needs a bit more distance on their drives this could well be the club for you, if this sounds like you why not call in to the shop and try the driver out on the range.
Members profile
This week we bring you a profile of our Competition Secretary Paul Underwood who has been a member since 2010 and will be taking over as Vice-Captain in April:
What is your current handicap and when did you start playing golf? - 'My current handicap is 15 which is my lowest following a good summer last year and steady winter so far. I started playing seriously about 4 years ago when my son Kieran and I joined Hartford after I had been hacking around for a some time before that, some would say that I am still hacking. I'm very honoured to have been chosen as Vice-Captain for the 2015 season.'
Have you had any holes in one? - 'Unfortunately I haven't had one so far, the closest I think I have ever come is about a foot away on the 7th at Hartford. I've had a couple of eagles, hopefully my first ace will be along soon.'
What's you favourite/least favourite hole at Hartford? - 'My favourite hole at Hartford is the 14th (5th) off Whites. I usually score reasonably well on it and it is a great hole that is a real challenge with water from tee to green. My least favourite may be a strange one for some people as it is the 6th which is the easiest hole on the course but I never seem to score as well as I should on it, maybe it is the sand on the right given that bunkers seem to be my achilles heel!'
Your favourite course you have played? - 'I would have to say that my favourite course is The Oxford Club in Pune, India which just edges out The Carrick at Loch Lomond. The Oxford Club is set in a valley with fantastic scenery everywhere you turn. The lush fairways and carpet like greens mean that the course would not look out of place on one of the main tours. The fact that we had caddies on the day I played it just topped it off.'
What course in the world would you like to play? - 'I would love to play the TPC at Sawgrass, the 17th hole stands out with it's island green. I had a warm up on a the par 3 course at Formby Hall during our Captain's Away day where they have a 110 yard hole modelled on it. I got a bogey after putting my first in the water.'
What has been your best round of golf? - 'I would love to play the TPC at Sawgrass, the 17th hole stands out with it's island green. I had a warm up on a the par 3 course at Formby Hall during our Captain's Away day where they have a 110 yard hole modelled on it. I got a bogey after putting my first in the water.'
Who would be in your dream fourball? - 'My dream fourball would mix the passion of my two favourite sports. You will start to see the trend when I tell you that the Pro in the group would be the charismatic Ian Poulter, who is a fellow Gooner, to play alongside Arsenal legends and keen golfers Ian Wright and David Seaman.'
January Stableford
Chris Coates hit a bit of form on Saturday as he returned a 43 point total, this round included three birdies and, thanks to this great round, Chris' handicap has dropped to 17. In second place was Phil Carr with 41 points and third place went to the ever consistent Gareth Eaton who only dropped four shots to par in his 40 point score. 7 handicapper Gareth really has been in great form over the winter with his last five individual competition finishing positions being fourth, first, fourth, second and third - with these results it's no surprise that he has a massive twenty point lead in the Winter Order of Merit.
The next competition is the seventh round of the Winter League this Saturday - let's hope for some slightly warmer weather!
The Seniors played on a very frozen golf course on Tuesday morning, nevertheless there was still a good turn out and there was a three way tie for the lead on 18 points - after a card playoff the winner was Joe McLean, with second place going to Paul Frost and in third place was Seniors Captain Graham Bower. Next week the Seniors play their 18 hole monthly Stableford.
Unfortunately the ladies didn't get to play their 3 Club Challenge on Sunday as snow closed the course, but they did manage to play a nine hole Stableford last Thursday when Sandra Peake took first place with 17 points, second place went to Margaret Cherry with 16 points and in third was position was Jean Clare also on 16.
Winter League round 7 - Saturday 24th January 12.04pm
Seniors 18 hole Stableford - Tuesday 27th January 9.16am
Ladies 9 hole roll up - Thursday 29th January 9am
February Medal - Sunday 1st February 11am