Winter League Update

The final round of the Winter League was played on Sunday, and despite a cold January and some inclement weather we've been lucky enough to get all eight rounds of the Winter League played, which is again testament to what an excellent winter course we have. The winning pair on Sunday were the league leaders Gareth Eaton and Liam Tyrer who returned a 23 point total including three birdies. Martin Major and Steve Bond came second with Martin playing some great golf, with eight pars and a birdie to score all 22 points on his own as Steve couldn't play! In third place was Andie Fraser and Paul Underwood also with 22 points.

The top four remained as they were so we now know the semi-final matches will be: 

Gareth Eaton & Liam Tyrer vs. Antony Green & Dave Johnson 
Julie Daines & James Eaton vs. Andie Fraser & Paul Underwood 

These ties will be 18 holes of matchplay, off the white tees, and must be played by Sunday 1st March. Good luck to everyone involved! 

Seniors News
 
Just to keep things interesting the 30 Seniors played a three clubs and a putter challenge on Tuesday. The format was a nine hole stroke play, and despite the limited number of clubs allowed the scoring was very good. 

Bob Bowen is in a hot streak of form at the moment and he won for the second week in a row with a fantastic nett 30. In second was Alan Phillips with a nett 32 and third place went to Alan Nevin on nett 33. 



Ladies News 

Thank you very much to everyone that came along for the Lady Captain's coffee morning held last Wednesday. Lady Captain Jill Bebbington was thrilled to inform me that £329 was raised on the day for the Vale Royal MS Society. Over the year the grand total raised is now well in excess of £1500, everyone's support in helping this great cause is much appreciated. 

It has been decided by the ladies section that it would be good to offer all of our lady members crested clothing that could be worn in team matches and during club events. As a result Neil from Glenmuir called in last week to see the ladies and show them some various items of golf clothing and colour options. Most of the ladies got to see the clothing and try it on last week and it was agreed a merino V-neck sweater with the Hartford Golf Club logo would be a good option. 

If you haven't seen the sweaters yet but you're interested in purchasing one there will be a variety of sizes in the shop for you to try on and a catalogue showing various colour options. There is also a sheet where you can put your name down for your colour preferences and size wanted. We are trying to decide on one main colour so that the ladies will have matching outfits when playing in matches, so the colour will probably be decided by what the majority want. We've already got 15 confirmed ladies who want a sweater but the more ladies that are interested in purchasing the better as the higher the quantity we order the greater the discount will be that we can offer to you. However the sweaters will be available to buy at least 20% off the normal retail price for all members. 



New arrivals 

Over the last few years PING have consistently made some of the best performing ladies golf clubs on the market. They don't just take a men's club and stick a shorter more flexible shaft in but they make a complete range that is specifically designed to help lady golfers get the best out of their game. Many of you will recognise the Rhapsody name from a few years ago and a few of you may still even own some of them, but now the range is returning better and improved but with the same familiar name. 

You may wonder why ladies need their own range of clubs, the reason is simple - the dynamics of a ladies golf swing are vastly different to those of a male golfer. The Rhapsody series is engineered with a lighter overall system mass, higher lofts and optimised lengths and grip sizes, as a result ladies will have an easier time getting the ball airborne and hitting it straight, and that's going to improve your performance considerably and inspire confidence. The Rhapsody series is custom-engineered to maximize distance and forgiveness, especially for slower swing speeds. It will not be for everyone and there is a slight caveat that those stronger ladies who generate faster club head speed might not necessarily get the best results from the Rhapsody range, but this group is a very small minority and I can't think of any of our regular lady golfers that this new range won't suit.

You won't believe how light and easy to swing the new Rhapsody clubs feel, but as I always say don't just take my word for it, the proof is in the hitting. If you're a lady golfer interested in obtaining more forgiveness and distance in your game (aren't we all) come and give our demo clubs a try for FREE with no obligation and if you are impressed you can book a custom fitting session so that we can really make sure you get the right clubs to improve your game.

Join now from as little as £200

I wanted to remind you again that we have introduced a points membership where 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 and who would like to 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 union 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 14 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. 

Play three top courses with a pro for just £10 

Our PGA Professional Adam Powell is carrying out a prize draw with a great prize. Three lucky names pulled out of the hat will win entry to join Adam in a team of four for a Pro-Am tournament to be played on three consecutive days at Royal Birkdale, West Lancs and Formby on 28th-30th April. The entry fee for this 3 day competition is normally £500 per person, but Adam is selling 150 prize draw tickets at just £10 each for a chance to win entry. If you don't get picked Adam will also pull further names out of the hat as a consolation to join him for a couple of other one day Pro-Ams later in the year. 

To buy your ticket just see Adam in the shop, but please make sure that you can be available to play on the above dates and that you have a current handicap. 



TaylorMade Fitting day added to the calendar 

I'm pleased to report that we now have another fitting day with TaylorMade booked in on Thursday 5th March from 2-6pm. As usual there will be eight half hour slots to book with a FREE fitting available with Jamie Guy on any of the exciting new TaylorMade range this year including the new ultra forgiving three slot RSi irons, R15 adjustable drivers and the ultra light and mega long AeroBurner range. 

This event will get booked up so click here to contact me as soon as possible to book an appointment. 

Also the PING fitting day on 24th February is now full but there will be a reserve list if you wish to sign up or you can still turn up on the night to try clubs it's just that you won't be guaranteed a fitting. So the line up for fitting days and the slots left is: 

Callaway - Thursday 19th February - 4pm and 4.30pm last two slots left

PING - Tuesday 24th February - FULL but we can put you on a reserve list 

TaylorMade -Thursday 5th March 2-6pm all slots available at moment 

There will be special one offers available on the night so they are well worth attending!! You must book an appointment for a fitting so please contact me now to obtain a time slot. 



Members profile 

This week we bring you a profile of another former captain Alan Royle. 

Alan was one of just eight founding members here at the Club in 2001 and he is also an important member of our green keeping team: 

What is your current handicap and when did you start playing golf? - 'My current and what seems to be a long standing one is 18. I took up the game in the late 80s and rapidly went from a handicap of 23 to 18, however I am now stuck at 18!' 

Have you had any holes in one? - 'I've never had a hole in one but have been within 30cm of the hole on a few occasions so I'm getting close' 

Your favourite course that you have played? - 'I know being a green keeper I should say Hartford but out of the many I have played I would say it has to be Forest Pines in Lincolnshire - a wonderful test of golf and a very scenic layout amongst the trees.' 

What course in the world would you like to play? - 'Definitely the Home of Golf - the Old Course at St. Andrews.' 

What has been your best round of golf? -'I used to be a member at Walton Hall in the 80s and managed to win their Captains day with a net 62 off 18. This is my best round as it was my first ever board competition win. (I say first ever as I only have a total of 2)' 

Your favourite/least favourite hole at Hartford? - 'My favourite hole is the 14th but sadly not one I score that well on. My least favourite hole is the 17th because of the difficulty of the tee shot followed closely by the 3rd and 12th. 

Who would be in your dream fourball? - 'Any other Hartford member (ladies included) I do not really have any sporting hero's, but thinking about it and the way I know I can play then it would have to be me and another 3 Alan Royle's!!' 



Ladies 9 hole Stableford - Thursday 12th February 9am 
February Stableford - Saturday 14th February 11am 
Seniors 9 hole roll up - Tuesday 17th February 9.16am 
Ladies 9 hole roll up - Thursday 19th February 9am 
Ladies 18 hole Stableford - Sunday 22nd February 12.04pm