A warm welcome to the latest instalment of our newsletter. The weather hasn't been great recently but hopefully we can brighten up your day with more news and stories and we have a Bank Holiday on Monday to look forward to, this week we bring you:
Rory heads to Wentworth in 'best ever shape'
How to buy the right putter
Joe gets his first ace
Nine hole league news
Our great custom fitting offer
Fitting day news
Claim your FREE adidas tour cap
Ladies news
Rory McIlroy produced another record breaking performance last week to claim a seven shot victory on the US PGA Tour at the Wells Fargo Championship. He has now played his last nineteen consecutive rounds in par or better and, after his latest win, he claimed that his game is in its 'best ever shape'.
McIlroy is certainly the man of the moment and he will be red hot favourite for the US Open Championship next month. When he's on song he makes a complicated game look simple, in the past year he has won 5 PGA tour events, 2 European Tour events, 2 major championships and 2 world golf championships with a remarkable 70% of his starts producing top-ten finishes! Quite simply when Rory plays averagely he's in contention and when he's on song he can dominate tournaments like Tiger Woods used to do in his prime.
This week sees the European Tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship taking place at the majestic Wentworth course in Surrey. It's good to see that Rory is in the field alongside other top European stars such as Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer and US Tour winner Brooks Kooepka - it should be a great event! Let's hope the unpredictable British weather is kind to the players!
Here are the latest world ranking positions:
Rory McIlroy 13.32pts
Jordan Spieth 8.86
Henrik Stenson 7.07
Bubba Watson 6.97
Jim Furyk 6.64
Justin Rose 6.21
Jason Day 6.14
Sergio Garcia 6.11
Rickie Fowler 6.05
Dustin Johnson 5.90
How do you choose the right putter?
So far we’ve talked about drivers and irons and how to find the right set that will suit you, next I want to talk about putters. I bet a lot of you have picked the putter you are using by just having a few putts with it in a shop and thinking ‘that feels ok’, but there is a bit more to it than that!
Putters come in all shapes and sizes nowadays and did you know that they also have different balance points? Have a look at the two photographs below and see how the mallet shaped putter balances face up and the traditional shaped putter naturally hangs with the toe down. The balance points are very different as they suit different types of stroke. You can check the balance point of any putter very easily by letting the putter shaft balance on your finger and observing where the head points just as shown in the images.
When you putt, if you try to take the putter straight back and straight through along an imaginary straight line then you need a face balanced putter. These putters tend to be more mallet shaped and slightly larger in size with very high MOI with the weight pushed towards the edges of the putter so the face stays square throughout the stroke. An example of leading players who have used this method of putting are Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Adam Scott.
If your putting action is more of an arc shape, you need a putter with an element of toe hang, the more of an arc you have the more of a toe balanced putter you need. This type of putter will suit a player that putts along an imaginary half moon shape where the putter head comes nearer to you and the face rotates slightly, leading players that use this method are Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson.
If you are going to get one thing right when buying a putter make sure that you get the right balance point for your stroke, I can’t emphasise enough how important this is! In summary if you want to use a 'straight back/straight through' stroke then pick a face balanced putter, if you putt with an arc shape choose a toe balanced putter. I have met low handicap golfers who have been using the wrong putter shape for years and they wonder why they don’t hole any putts! Using the wrong putter is just like using a stiff flex shaft when you should be playing a regular!
Once you have the right head shape I would also make sure that you get the right length of putter, you want to address the ball with your eyes over it or slightly inside the ball. The shaft angle at address should be similar to that of your left arm, as a very general rule a face balanced putter user will set up more over the ball with a shorter putter length and arc putters stand taller and a little further from the ball. If you have a look at the photograph I’m using a 34” putter, this gets me set up in a good position with eyes just inside the ball and the shaft angle in line with my leading arm.
As ever I would get professional advice when choosing your putter, it’s the club you use more than any other in a round of golf so you can’t afford to not get it right. With the correct putter you will definitely hole more putts and knock shots off your score, I know putting isn’t as glamorous as hitting a long drive down the fairway but it’s where you can save the most amount of shots in a round. Just like any other club in your bag I would recommend you come and see us to get good advice on your putter and you can make sure it’s the right one.
Joe gets his first hole in one
We had yet another hole in one at the club on Monday morning as senior member Joe McLean had his first ever ace on the par three seventh hole. Using his trusty driver, Joe had initially thought his ball had gone through the back of the green, but after not being able to find it for a few minutes playing partner Alan Tayler suggested they look in the hole and that's exactly where they found the ball! Luckily for Joe, as it was a Monday morning, the bar was pretty quiet so it didn't cost him too much money in drinks!
Nine hole league update
Our team are the defending champions in the Cheshire nine hole league and so far this season we have played two matches winning one and losing the other. We started off our defence well with a 7-4 away victory at Woodside but then a week later with a few regular players unavailable we suffered a 7-4 home defeat to a strong Gatley team. We will keep you updated throughout the season on their progress. The next club competition is another board competition this Sunday - the Benny Trophy with an 11am start time.
We have another one of our popular fitting days coming up with Titleist on Thursday, 4 June from 10am-2pm. You can book a FREE fitting from a Titleist equipment expert on any of the current range of the fantastic Titleist 915 metal woods and hybrids, 714 irons and the Vokey SM5 wedges, we will also have special offers available on the day on all of the Titleist range, so you can purchase custom fitted clubs and at a good price!
We just have two slots left available now at 10.40am and 11.20am, if you would like to reserve one of these times please contact me here.
Srixon Ball and Cleveland Wedge Fitting Day
Also coming up soon is a Srixon ball fitting and Cleveland wedge fitting day on Thursday, 2 July from 12-4pm. On this day you can book a slot for a FREE ball fitting or a wedge fitting session. Again you must book in advance and there will be some special offers on the day with discounts on Srixon balls and Cleveland wedges, contact me now to book your slot.
Claim your FREE adidas Tour Cap
This week sees the launch of a great new promotion in our shop in conjunction with adidas, if you spend over £50 on adidas clothing or shoes you will receive a FREE adidas tour cap worth £14.99 . This is a great offer and we only have a limited number of caps to give away so you had better be quick to claim your FREE cap before they all go!
The ladies played the Clare Cup (named after member Jean Clare) on Thursday and the scoring was good. 27 handicapper Margaret Cherry had her second victory within a month as she returned a fine nett 67, in second place was Kath Hough with nett 69 and in third place was Di Sommerville, who's been working hard on her golf recently, with a nett 72.
There was also a ladies Sunday Stableford, there may have been a few sore heads on the course after Audrey Kettle's 80th birthday celebrations the night before but Christine Lever certainly didn't show any ill effects as she scored a brilliant 45 point total. Chris has now finished in the top six places in her last three competitions and her handicap has dropped to 34. In second place was another Christine, Christine Paxton who has been improving with each round since joining at the start of the season and she scored 43 points, which would have been enough to win on most other days. In third place was Kath Hough with another good score of 41 points.
The Knutsford ladies visited us on Monday for a match against our ladies, unfortunately the weather was awful with heavy downpours meaning the matches weren't finished. Hopefully there will be better weather when our ladies go to Knutsford for the return fixture.
The Benny Trophy - Sunday, 24 May 11am
Bank Holiday Stableford - Monday, 25 May 12.04pm
Seniors 18 hole Stableford - Tuesday, 26 May 9.16am
Ladies 18 hole Stableford - Thursday, 28 May 9.32am