Welcome once more to our latest newsletter, I do hope that you are continuing to find it useful and informative, if there is any topic you would like to see covered or you have a golfing question please just let me know! Also for those of you that are part of the social media world don't forget to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for daily updates. If you're not on Facebook yet maybe it's about time that you started as you don't know what you're missing out on - did you know that on 24th August an important milestone was passed when over one billion people logged onto Facebook in a single day!

This week's news:

• Liam masters the Masters!
• Paddy's shot in a million
• Equipment tips: Are you a regular or a stiff player?
• New arrivals from adidas
• adidas Boost shoes reduced this week only
• Pete Dawson.is the seniors Club Champion
• Christine runs away with the Midweek Trophy
• Night golf update
• Upcoming events

Hartford Masters review

We played the Hartford Masters on Saturday, it's always a keenly contested competition with a high quality field as it's the only competition we play all year with a limited entry of players that have had to qualify for the chance to win the Trophy and wear our famous green jacket!

   

As befits a board competition there were some very tricky pin positions to challenge our members however nothing seemed to put off our captain Liam Tyrer (who qualified courtesy of his June Medal win) storming to victory with an amazing nett 62! Liam had the perfect start with a birdie on the first hole and plenty of pars meant that he was just three over par after ten holes, despite a couple of double bogey's Liam fired back with a further birdie on hole fifteen and a good par on the last secured his great winning score. Captaincy has clearly agreed with Liam this year as his handicap has now fallen from 18 to 12.

In second place was Tim Barnes with a nett 68, but for Liam's round of a lifetime this would have been a good enough score to win, Tim's round included birdies on holes two and seventeen. Ian Daines warmed up for his singles knockout final with a solid nett 70 to take third place, the competition scratch score was 70 for the day which is the highest it's ever been, this really shows what a great round Liam played in tough conditions.

Good luck to Liam and his bunch of merry men embarking on the captain's away trip to Nefyn in Wales this weekend, I'm sure that you will all have a great time and it will be very quiet here over the weekend!

A rare bird indeed for Paddy

We had what we believe to be a first here at Hartford last week when member Paddy Scanlan scored an amazing albatross two on the first hole, the odds of a player scoring an albatross are reckoned to be over one million to one whilst a hole in one is only estimated at around thirteen thousand to one for an average golfer - showing how much rarer an albatross is.

Playing last Thursday evening Paddy hit a good drive up the first and using his trusty GPS watch he knew that he had 186 yards to the middle of the green, after deciding to hit a 4 iron he struck it solidly towards the front of the green and a nice hop on landing meant that it disappeared over the ridge at the front of the green so he was happy that it was somewhere close to the pin. Paddy's playing partner Jeff was the first to check the hole when they got up there but Paddy thought he was just winding him up so he didn't start celebrating until he had checked for himself and saw his ball 'smiling back at him from the bottom of the cup!'

We've had a few holes in one here but this is the first albatross that we've heard of in the 14 years that the course has been open, well done Paddy a really great feat and one to be very proud of!




Equipment tips

One of the questions we get asked the most in the pro-shop when a golfer is buying new equipment how do they know if they need a regular or a stiff shaft? Without getting overly technical regular or stiff refers to the flex of the shaft and how much it bends at impact, the majority of golfers (over 80%) will need regular or stiff and the main aspect when choosing the flex is to know your club head speed and the tempo of your swing. The more speed that you generate with the club or the faster your tempo the stiffer the shaft you will need, the aim is to match the shaft flex and weight to your swing which will maximise not only your distance but your shot control, too flexible or too light a shaft will cause the shaft to kick into soon and you will miss shots high right or low and left, conversely if you have a slow swing and you try to use a stiff shaft the shaft will slow you down even more and it won't kick in enough, shots will be low with no 'zip' on the flight robbing you of distance.

Look at this shot of member Stuart Fallows just after he has struck the ball, he is using a custom fitted driver that suits him and you can see that the shaft 'kicked' in at just the right point, the impact position resulting in a straight shot.

Also just because you play regular shafts in your irons does that mean you need to play a regular shaft in your driver? The answer is not at all! A golfer's tempo and speed can vary from club to club, the length of the driver makes the swing arc flatter, with irons it's a lot steeper - many players put completely different loads on the shaft depending on their swing path and for this reason they could need different flex and weight shafts for their irons and woods.

Another important point - ego is also a factor when people chose shafts, don't play with a stiff shaft just because you think your friends will take the mickey out of you for playing regular shafts! It's a case of wanting to play your best golf and to do that you must use the best equipment to suit your particular swing, this is where we can come in - we will give you impartial advice based on fact through a custom fitting session. In a fitting session we can take all the guess work out of buying equipment, you can try various shafts and it really is the only way to ensure that you get the best equipment for your game, there are so many variables involved in buying equipment why would you take the risk of not getting it right?

A fitting session could be the best £25 you spend, remember - we guarantee good results!

Contact me here if you have an equipment question or you would like to book your fitting session.




adidas Autumn Collection has landed

Some stunning new arrivals this week from adidas in terms of their new Autumn collection, now that the weather is becoming a bit chillier this climaheat technology fill jacket is a stylish garment that is ideal for wearing on the golf course throughout the winter, the power red and silver colour combination means that this jacket really does look the part as well as performing!

Another great item is the new climaheat ½ zip layering top, this is a great alternative to a jumper that you can keep in your golf bag and wear if conditions become colder, featuring Climaheat insulation that uses hollow-core fibres inspired by natural fur to trap more heat and dry faster. I particularly like the high pop up collar design that will keep your neck warm in cooler conditions, ideal for golf throughout the winter. 

   

adidas Boost shoes - flash reductions

For one week only we are having a flash sale on the adidas Boost shoes, you can get a pair now for the bargain price of just £79 - saving up to £50! The Boost cushioning technology is well known from sports such as running, basketball and baseball and this is the first golf shoe adidas have made with the Boost sole that gives amazing comfort and support to your foot throughout your round. They also look great and have been worn on tour this year by leading tour players such as Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia. 

Be quick as we only have limited stocks left and they will soon sell out at this price, once they're gone they're gone!





Seniors Club Championship review

The seniors played a rather damp Club Championship on Tuesday, the winner was Pete Dawson with 44 Stableford points, Pete has been playing some great golf since he was custom fitted for a new set of PING G30 irons with us recently and I think it's fair to say that they have transformed his game with a win coming in the seniors June Stableford and now the seniors Club Championship victory to boot. Pete's back nine was especially impressive as he came back with 24 points including a run of seven pars in eight holes - not bad for a guy playing off 18 handicap, well done Pete!

Here is Pete collecting the Trophy from seniors Captain Roger Wilkinson.

In second place for the second week running was Alan Nevin who scored 40 points, in third place was John Sykes with 39 points. Next week the seniors play a nine hole Stableford.




 Ladies Midweek Trophy review

Christine Lever has been working hard on her golf this season with regular lessons from professional Adam Powell and this certainly paid off on Thursday as she won her first ladies board competition with what she described as an 'ok' round of a massive 47 points Stableford score, the highlight of her round was a birdie on the sixteenth hole and Chris' round was so good that she received an exceptional scoring reduction to her handicap which has now fallen from 36 to 29, here she is receiving the Midweek trophy from lady captain Annie Rowland.

In second place for the second week running was Sandra Peake with 42 points including a birdie on the fourteenth, funnily enough Jill Bebbington came third also for the second week running with 39 points.

The next ladies competition is an 18 hole Stableford on Sunday 27th September.




Winter League Reminder

We're now taking entries for the Winter League and the first round is coming up soon, as ever the format will be nine holes pairs betterball Stableford with eight qualifying rounds played between October and February.

If you are interested in playing in the Winter League this year make sure you sign up on the notice board and put your initial entry fee (£5 per pair) in a competition envelope in the box by the time the first round is played in the 10th October. If you're looking for a Winter League partner let me know and I will try my best to fix you up with another member.


Night Golf update

As you will be aware by now - Night golf is returning to Hartford on Friday 16th October, even though it's still a month away it has now sold out with a full entry list, teams are entered from as far afield as Preston for the event and it should be another great night! If you wanted to play but haven't already entered let us know and we will put you on the reserve list.




Wednesday 16th September - Midweek Medal
Thursday 17th September - Ladies nine hole roll up 9.32am
Tuesday 22nd September - seniors nine hole roll up 9.16am
Thursday 24th September - Ladies nine hole roll up 9.32am
Saturday 26th September - junior competition 1pm
Sunday 27th September - President's Trophy 11am