What a great week last week was in the world of golf, many of the world's top players were in action and the opposite ends of the spectrum couldn't have been more obvious than seeing world number one Rory McIlroy romp to victory in Dubai whilst Tiger Wood's long awaited comeback to competitive golf ended in disaster as he came last and missed the cut in the Phoenix Open. I'm sure that Tiger's form will soon improve and he does seem to be swinging the club well, but it's hard to see him mounting a challenge any time soon to McIlroy's dominance - in his last seven tournaments Rory has had a quite staggering return of four victories and three runners up spots!
The introduction of the new Nike Vapor driver into Rory's bag (which he started using at last year's Ryder Cup) has coincided with his stellar form and at Dubai last week he led the field with an average driving distance of an amazing 317 yards. However it's not all about big hitting, he has also been hitting the ball straighter off the tee than ever. Our new stock of the Nike Vapor range has just arrived and we have demo woods for fittings, in fact the first person to try one last week bought one, so please call in to try this amazing new driver for yourself and you can see the performance for yourself.
Click here to book a fitting.
Rory's winning equipment:
- Nike Vapor Pro Driver 8.5 degrees Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S+ 70 X-prototype
- Nike Vapor Speed 3 wood Fujikura Rombax Pro 95X
- Nike VR-S Covert 5 wood Fujikura Rombax Pro 95X
- Nike VR Pro blades (3-9 iron) Project X 7.0
- Nike VR Forged wedges 46,54 degrees Project X 6.5
- Nike Engage wedge 59 degree Project X 6.5
- Nike Method 006 putter
- Nike RZN black golf ball
Our course survives the big freeze
Like most of the country we were hit by some arctic weather last week with a good flurry of snow arriving last Friday morning, this was the view of the first fairway with the snow being a couple of inches deep (below, left). Needless to say we had to close that morning as the snow made play impossible but remarkably by 2pm that afternoon all the snow had disappeared and this was a view looking back down the first from behind the green (below, right), it's hard to believe these photos were taken only about six hours apart! The course was fully open that afternoon and the rest of the weekend, in fact we had a Society play on the Saturday and they all praised the high quality of the greens, again a huge testament to the hard work of Andy and our green keeping team and surely Spring has to be on the way soon!
Join now from as little as £200
I wanted to remind you again that we have introduced a 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.
One ball has dominated the premium ball market for the last decade – the Titleist Pro V1, and this is for a very good reason - it offers exceptional tee-to-green performance for all skill levels giving a combination of long distance off the tee and short game control and accuracy. The 2013 version of the ball was so good that it really took some beating so Titleist undertook unparalleled research and comprehensive testing with both professionals and amateurs to bring you the new 2015 version of the Pro V1, with the headline change a new softer cover. Features and benefits of the Titleist Pro V1 include:
- A new cover delivers more short game spin control and softer feel, while still maintaining the distance, flight and durability you need
- Compared to the Pro V1x, the Pro V1 has a softer feel, slightly more long game spin and a shallower angle of descent for more roll
- Three-piece construction includes a very soft compression ZG process core and ionomeric casing layer to drive great long game performance
- Spherically-tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple design reduces drag for longer carries
- New cover combines with improved paint system from the 2013 model so it stays whiter and brighter for longer
We were very excited to take delivery of these new balls last week and our two professionals Adam and Adrian have already tested them out on the golf course and they both commented that the ball does indeed feel softer giving noticeably more spin on approach shots, the ball also seemed to perform very well in the wind holding it’s line better so again it seems that Titleist are on to a winner with this ball. Further good news is that we have not gone up in price on these new balls so you can still buy a sleeve for £11.99 or a dozen for just £39.99.
PING and Callaway Fitting Days coming up soon 
As usual our up-coming fitting days are proving very popular, we only have the following time slots available::
Callaway - Thursday 19th February 3-7pm - 4pm, 4.30pm and 5pm are the last three slots left
PING - Tuesday 24th February 2-6pm - only 3.30pm left
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 in advance so please contact me now to book one of these last times.
This week we bring you a profile of another former captain and a member that can always be found in the bar if not on the golf course - Alan Nevin:
What is your current handicap and when did you start playing golf? - 'My present handicap is 12. I started playing golf in my 30's and I've been a member at Walton Hall, Sandiway, Vale Royal Abbey and Peover before settling on Hartford as my spiritual home! I was very proud to be the first Seniors Captain in 2007 as we got the Seniors section off the ground and then captain of the main club in 2012, the same year as my wife Pauline was the Ladies captain'
Have you had any holes in one? - 'Yes I've had two holes in one - one was in the March Midweek Stableford last year at Hartford and the second was on a golf course in Warwickshire on a stag do, needless to say we'd had a few drinks so my memories of it are a bit blurry!'
Your favourite course you have played? - 'It would have to be the Old Course at St. Andrews, as the Home of Golf I loved it for all the history that you associate with it and knowing that all the world's best golfers have walked along those famous fairways'
What course in the world would you like to play? - 'It would be a dream come true to play Sawgrass in Florida, I would love to play the seventeenth hole with the famous island green, it's my 65th birthday soon so you never know my six daughters might chip in together for a trip there for me!'
What has been your best round of golf? - 'I scored 49 points in a Seniors Stableford last summer, as I was playing off 14 at the time I went round in one over par gross and had three birdies, they cut me to 12 after that round!'
What's your favourite/least favourite hole at Hartford? - 'My least favourite hole is the sixth as it should be straight forward but I always seem to mess it up more than any other and my favourite is the seventh as it's a great par three with stunning views from the tee and it's such an inviting tee shot with the elevation'
Who would be in your dream fourball? - 'My dream fourball would actually have to be a five ball because I would want to play with Darren Clarke, John Daly, Ian Woosnam and Miguel Angel-Jimenez. The golf might not be the best but I would have a great time in the nineteenth hole with those characters!'
February Medal results
Despite the poor weather the course was in good condition for the February Medal on Sunday and the winner was our Bar Manager turned keen golfer - Matt Leach, this was his maiden victory at Hartford and I'm sure that it won't be his last! Matt has been working hard on his game recently and he stormed to victory on Sunday, he shot a nett 61 to win by seven shots, the highlight of his round being an eagle two on the seventeenth when he holed his approach shot from about 100 yards out. Matt now sees his handicap drop from 26 to 22 and I'm sure that it will continue to fall as we enter the season.
Well done to Gemma Williams who played really well in her nett 68, including a birdie on the fourth, to finish in second place and in third place was captain Chris Bird with a nett 69. Chris has just switched to the new TaylorMade Aero Burner driver and this has clearly helped his game with this highly aerodynamic driver giving him more distance off the tee.
The next competition is the last round of the Winter League this Sunday starting at 12.04pm.
Summer fixture list
We've finalised this summer's Club fixture list, the Captain's Drive In and April Medal kicks off the season on Saturday 4th April, click here to view the full fixture list.
The seniors played their nine hole Stableford on a very frozen golf course on Tuesday morning, conditions did nothing to deter Bob Bowen who came in with 25 points - Bob got off to a great start with a birdie on the first and he only had three bogeys on his card. Frank Yarwood was second with 21 points and third place went to Ken Powell on 20 points, next week the seniors are playing a nine hole three clubs and a putter strokeplay competition.
Our ladies played the first round of the Mail on Sunday Classic on Sunday at Sandiway, it was a tough draw for the ladies as Sandiway have one of the best ladies teams in the County and they boasted a team with three players off a 5 handicap or less. To put into perspective what a hard task our ladies had, at the same stage of the tournament last season Sandiway beat Delamere Forest 5-0! Our ladies represented us well but succumbed to a 4-1 defeat, with Evelyn Vass deserving a special mention for winning her match.
Unfortunately the ladies 3 clubs and a putter challenge fell foul to the wintry weather last week, it has been re-arranged though for Thursday 5th March. The ladies will try again this Thursday with a nine hole Stableford.
Winter League Round 8 - Sunday 8th February 12.04pm
Seniors 3 clubs and a putter Strokeplay - Tuesday 10th February 9.16am
Midweek Stableford - Wednesday 11th February
Ladies 9 hole Stableford - Thursday 12th February 9am
February Stableford - Saturday 14th February 11am
