Hartford Golf Club

Hello Golfers,

Welcome to our latest newsletter and the first one of the summer season which brings you plenty of from Cheshire’s friendliest Golf Club! Enjoy the read and your golf if you are playing this weekend....

- The Underwoods are Winter League winners

- Clare's sweet success with the ladies

- Meet the new seniors captain Paul Green

- Three more great trade in deals for you

- Our Masters predictions

- A new golf ball for you to try…

Competition news

Winter League review…

It started back in October with a record entry of pairs and on Saturday we found our Winter League winners as Paul and Kieran Underwood triumphed in the final over Paddy Scanlan and Chris Bird.

It is always important to make a good start and Paul and Kieran did just that by winning the first 3 holes including a birdie for Paul on the first. The standard of golf was high and this was evident on the 4th where Kieran and Paddy halved the hole in birdie threes.

The 5th hole is a tough prospect off the back white tees and Paddy coped with it best as he and Chris reduced the deficit to two holes but it was back to 3up on the 7th with a good up and down from Underwood senior after all four players missed the green. Some pressure putts had all four players contributing over the next two holes with Chris and Paul holing good length putts on the 9th for a second successive half.

As they moved onto the back nine, a monster dive down the tenth helped Kieran secure a halve to stay 3 up, always difficult when both opponents have a shot. Paddy again reduced the score on the tough 11th with a good par with possibly one of the hardest pin placements on the course.

With Paddy and Chris now two down, they were both eyeing up birdie putts on the 13th before a crucial turning point - Paul had the flag taken out and with his trusted seven iron chipped in for birdie turning the hole on its head and neither Chris or Paddy could make their birdie putts and the writing was then on the wall.

A shootout between Paul and Paddy on the 14th ended with Paul putting the father and son pairing 4up with four to play and when neither of their opponents could chip in from the back of the 15th, the match was sealed 5&3.

Kieran and Paul become only the second pair to have won both the Winter and Summer Pairs the latter of which they won a few years ago. They have decided to stay together for this summer and don’t forget to get your entry fees in if you want to join them in the draw that will take place after the Inaugural Trophy on the 27th April.

Lady Captain's drive in…

The ladies got their season off to a brilliant start on Saturday when new Lady Captain Christine Paxton drove into office in front of a good crowd of members. Chris showed no nerves and hit a great drive up the left side of the fairway - in fact it went further than anyone had guessed with their sticks in the fairway and Elspeth Forbes had the closest one. Watch Chris’s great shot here.

The competition that followed was a nine hole Stableford and there was a really popular winner in Clare Woodcock who scored 20 points - a great winning score considering the tricky pin positions that had been set. Clare has been a member since 2007 and this was one of her biggest victories as she was the only player to break par in a field of 26 ladies. Lady Captain Chris also won a prize as she was the longest drive winner.

The men's Captain Alan Taylor drives in this Saturday at 11am and there should be a good turnout for the April Medal. If you can't come down to watch Alan tee-off, then we will be showing it on Facebook live!

Simply click here to watch.

Member news

Members profile – Paul Green

You've met the new men's and ladies Captains over the last two weeks so this week it's the turn of the new 2019 seniors Captain Paul Green for the members profile....

How long have you been a member at Hartford?

I've been a member since February 2013 and have loved every minute of it!

What is your current Handicap?

It has just gone up to 26.5, it's always been between 25-27 since I've been a member so I suppose you could say I'm consistently bad, haha!

What is your favourite course that you have played?

It's only local but I always enjoy a round at Sandiway - a very challenging and varied course with some beautiful holes through the trees.

Favourite and least favourite holes at Hartford?

My favourite is the 7th because of the spectacular view that I never get bored of, the 3rd is my least favourite for obvious reasons - it has destroyed many a good card of mine and I'm still no wiser how to play it after 7 years!

Who would join you in your dream fourball?

It would be Seve Ballesteros as he is my favourite golfer of all time, Lee Trevino because I think he is the best character golf has ever had and Blair O'Neal because we would need a bit of glamour in our fourball!

If you could play any course in the world where would it be?

I visited Valderrama when I was staying in the area and had a look at the course, it looked absolutely pristine and I would have loved to have had some clubs with me to be able to play it!

Shop news

Trade in deals a plenty....

We like to keep you going throughout the summer with plenty of trade in deals and we have not one but THREE great trade in deals on at the moment:

1. Get up to £20 off a new pair of shoes from FJ, Under Armour, adidas, Ecco or Skechers when you trade in an old pair of shoes.

2. Get £25 off a new lithium battery or lithium trolley when you trade in any old battery (even if it doesn't work).

3. Get up to £100 off a new Skycaddie SX500 GPS unit, the most powerful and accurate distance device in golf, trade in your old one 'dead or alive' for up to £100.

Now is the perfect time to upgrade your shoes for the summer or get rid of that old failing lead acid battery and get a new lightweight and reliable lithium battery or upgrade to the latest and best distance measuring unit on the market. If you really like a trade in bargain you could upgrade on all three and save £145!

Tour news

Masters preview…

The Masters tournament starts next Thursday and don't forget that we still have a sweepstake running in the shop. There are a few tickets left at just £2 each and the top prize is £80 credit in the shop and there are a total of 7 prizes up for grabs.

We are also holding a par 3 Masters-style event next Friday, we have over 100 entries and there are now only a handful of tee-times left at 15:40, 16:28, 16:44, 17:16 and 17:48. Let us know if you wish to play, it should be a great afternoon of golf playing the course as never before followed by food and Masters coverage in the clubhouse later.

Here are our five top picks for the Masters:

1. Rory Mcliroy (8/1) - Players Champion at Sawgrass and top 10 in each of the past 5 Masters

2. Justin Rose (12/1) - lost a play off to Sergio Gracia in 2017

3. Tommy Fleetwood (22/1) - a local favourite for us and surely good enough to win a Major

4. Xander Shaufelle (33/1) - seems to have a habit of raising his game in the Masters

5. Tony Finau (40/1) - Augusta is a course that suits big hitters like Finau

Let us know what your Masters predictions are here.

Product review

Titleist AVX golf balls…

Last week our review of the new Motocaddy M1 DHC electric trolley was well received and a few of you have now tried the rental ones out for yourselves. This week we thought we’d tell you about a new golf ball that came onto the market in the winter. Everyone has heard of the Titleist ProV1 family of balls, they have been the most used golf ball on Tour since 2000 and the new AVX ball is a new addition - as the Prov1’s are the best balls on the market the AVX ball has to be pretty good too!

Myself and Adam Powell have both been playing the Titleist AVX ball over the winter period and here are our thoughts on it:

Performance
Flies lower and with less spin than a standard ProV1 ball so if you are a high ball hitter or even if you are playing on a windy day then this is the ball for you, does seem to go that little bit further for both of us.

Feel
As soft and as good around the greens as any ball on the market, the amazing thing with this ball is that it spins less off the tee but then spins plenty on approach shots and doesn’t feel harder in any way when putting and chipping.

Looks
Maybe not a big thing with golf balls but I have to say I enjoyed playing with the yellow version, it just seems easier to see in the air and on the fairways and is definitely worth a try.

Value for money
Top end price point just like the standard ProV1 balls but they are on a 4 for 3 deal at the moment so you could stock up for the season and they work out as just £32.50 a dozen which is great value for a premium ball.

Titleist will always say that one of the three ProV1 balls is the best ball for anyone no matter what the standard and it’s hard to disagree now that they have added the AVX to the family. If you would like to try a sleeve for yourself call into the shop and mention the newsletter and we’ll do you 3 balls for the bargain price of just £7.99!

Click here to order yours now!

Other news

Photo of the week…

It had to be Alan Nevin this week – trying his best to fit in at the Lady Captain’s drive in!

Upcoming events

• April Medal & Captain’s drive in – Saturday 6th April 11am
• Seniors 9 hole roll up – Tuesday 9th April 9:16am
• Ladies 9 hole roll up – Thursday 11th April 9:24am
• Spring Stableford – Saturday 13th April 12:04pm
• Ladies Barnes Trophy - Sunday 14th April 1pm

Boa constrict your footwear

There's been two major trends in the golf footwear market in recent years: the first is the surge in spikeless shoes, and the other is Boa. So, what actually is the Boa Fit System and is it anything to do with snakes?

FootJoy UltraFIT Boa golf shoe

No, it's nothing to do with snakes. Phew. Rather, the Boa Fit System has revolutionized footwear for the better and we absolutely love it.

Instead of using traditional laces, Boa utilises a steel wire (virtually unbreakable) that is effortlessly tightened via an easy-to-use dial strategically placed on the shoe (seen above). To loosen, simply pull out the dial and open up at the tongue.

With FootJoy's UltraFIT Boa, which is available in-store now, you will be guaranteed a comfortable fit every time safe in the knowledge that your laces will not come undone or get tangled throughout your round.

If you haven’t already experienced Boa, then we implore you to come down to the store and try on this fantastic option today - no obligation.

watch our video >

I can see clearly now

Bubba Watson, now there’s a man who knows a thing or two about style when it comes to the eyewear department. Oakley's golf-specific sunglasses don't just look great though, they also serve a very useful purpose that you can benefit from too.

Traditional vs Prizm lens

Bubba’s Oakley Targetline shades are fitted with Prizm lens technology. As you can see from the image above, the enhanced colour contrast from standard lens (on the left) to Prizm lens (on the right) is quite remarkable.

This will enable you to see course undulations with greater ease - a particularly useful benefit when it comes to reading your putts on the green.

Targetline sunglasses are available in both white (as Bubba is wearing here) and black, but click on the link below to browse Oakley's full range and Click & Collect to our shop.

shop now >

Spotlight: Callaway Apex (2019) irons

Irons usually get updated every couple of years, so why did it take Callaway over three years to bring a new Apex iron model to market? Well, quite simply, the Apex CF16 was a brilliant iron that took a while to improve upon.

However, the brains at Callaway have done it and what a special option the new Apex CF19 is; not to mention the Apex Pro irons too. Watch this video to find out why this iron has us so excited in the shop.

find out more >

Video of the Week

Some of you might recall Colin Montgomerie's driver off-the-deck on the final hole of the 1996 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Well, 23 years on, can Tommy Fleetwood, Rafa Cabrera-Bello or Matt Fitzpatrick repeat Monty's tournament-winning shot?

We hope you have a great week.

Hartford Golf Club
Burrows Hill
Northwich
CW8 3AP

Phone: 01606 871162

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