This Sunday is a highlight in the calendars of all golfers in the UK and not just because it's Mother's Day, but because the clocks change and we get an extra hour of daylight in the evenings! After a very wet winter it's a relief to see the sun out and flowers growing again, with the lighter evenings many of you will be able to play a few holes after work, with the US Masters coming up in less than 2 weeks the start of the season is now right around the corner!
There was a first time winner on the USPGA Tour as Matt Every won the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill with this win he also secured his first invite to Augusta for The Masters, he did well to overcome strong favourite and overnight leader Adam Scott who shot a quite brilliant first round 62 but had a poor last round missing the chance to usurp an injured Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings.
Matt Every's winning equipment:
Callaway Big Bertha Driver 9 degrees
Callaway X2 Hot 3 wood
TaylorMade Burner Superfast 5 wood
Callaway Apex Pro Forged irons 4-PW
Callaway Mackdaddy 2 wedges 52,56, 60 degrees
Odyssey Protype number 9 putter
Callaway SR3 golf ball
Julie Daines & James Eaton clinch the Winter League Trophy
The Winter League reached it's culmination on Sunday with a humdinger of a final between Julie Daines & James Eaton against Dave Johnson & Andie Fraser which was eventually decided on the 20th hole. Dave & Andie took an early lead but both pairs took it in turns to win holes as they battled to take an advantage, on the back nine Dave & Andie worked hard to establish a dormie two up lead with just 2 holes to play, however 3 out of the 4 tee-shots on the tough 17th hole went out of bounds and it was left to Julie to win the hole, the 18th hole was a bit scrappy as the pressure mounted but Julie & James eventually won the hole to take the match to extra holes. The 19th hole was halved and on the 20th Dave & Andie were both on the green looking at pars. Julie was a good way off the green close to a boundary fence on the right, but she produced an awesome recovery shot hitting to about 10 feet of the hole. After James secured a par 3 Julie had a chance to win the match and holed the putt for a nett birdie!
In such a close final it was a shame that there had to be a losing pair, well played to all 4 golfers and especially well done to Julie & James!
Don't Forget the Club AGM this Sunday
The club AGM is coming up on Sunday 30th March at 6pm, there is a nine hole competition before hand at 3pm and winter prizes will be presented after the AGM, it would be appreciated if as many members as possible could make it to the AGM and if you have any winter prizes to collect.
The Captain's Drive is coming up next Saturday 6th April followed by the April Medal, it would be great to see a good turn out for this event as Chris Bird starts his year of captaincy, the entry sheet is up on the notice board now and this competition starts the summer season.
Entry sheets are now also up for the Singles and Pairs knockouts, see the notice board for more details.
Lady Captain Jill Bebbington drives in
There was a strong turn out from the ladies section to see new Lady Captain Jill Bebbington drive in on Saturday, as you can see from the photographs weather conditions were far from ideal and a strong bitterly cold wind made conditions difficult, nevertheless Jill didn't let the weather or nerves get the better of her as she hit a solid drive up the left side of the fairway. In fact her drive went further out than any of the orange flags that were placed where people were guessing her drive would finish! Out going Captain Kath had the nearest guess to where Jill's drive would end up.
Jill also performed well in the nine hole Stableford that followed finishing in second place with 17 points and she capped a good day by also winning the nearest the pin award. The overall winner was Alaine Britton with a very commendable score of 20 points, in third place was Alison Worrall with 16 points who also scored a brilliant two on the second hole. The longest drive prize was taken by Sandra Peake.
Return of our famous shoe trade in offer
Many of you will be pleased to see the return of one of our most popular offers, from Monday and throughout April you can trade in any old pair of golf shoes and get up to a £20 discount off a new pair of shoes. When we ran this offer last April we had over 40 pairs of old (some very old!) shoes traded in against new pairs and it's a great chance for you to upgrade your shoes getting a new pair at a discounted price and helping you get rid of an old pair that may be gathering dust in your garage!
Titleist ProV1 balls £30 a dozen
Titleist have a great offer on at the moment, normally ProV1 golf balls are £39.99 however if you buy 3 dozen you get a fourth dozen for free, meaning that they work out at £30 a dozen! This isn't all - you can also have them personalised with your name on, so you will have a unique ball that your playing partners will not have and also if you lose a ball you may get it back as it will have your name on!
Fitting Day dates for your diary
We have further Fitting Days booked in April and May, these days are great opportunities for you to enjoy a FREE fitting on the latest 2014 clubs there are also often special offers available on the day, the next 2 dates are:
To book a no obligation fitting on the above dates please click here to contact me or pop into the shop.
New Product Spotlight - Srixon AD333 Tour
A vast majority of golfers probably don't play the right golf ball and according to latest research 42% don't even know the composition of the ball they play with, many like to play with a soft tour performance golf ball but they don't quite possess the club head speed to get the most out of the ball, this is why Srixon have introduced a 3 piece AD333 Tour golf ball featuring a 'super soft' urethane cover as seen in many premium golf balls such as the well known Z-Star and Pro V1 golf balls. The Srixon 'spin skin' technology allows the golfer to have full control on approach shots by improving spin by as much as 20% on iron shots, crucially though because of their advanced 344 dimple design low spin is promoted on driver shots.
Many of you will know that the original AD333 has been the best selling 2 piece ball on the market for the last 7 years and Srixon are known for the quality of their golf ball technology. In essence this golf ball fits a much needed gap in the market, it provides a golfers with a tour like 3 piece ball that is soft around the greens gives spin on approach shots but will not rob you of distance if your clubhead speed isn't super fast and they are also priced reasonably at less than £30 a dozen.
Seniors Captain Graham Bower drives in
The new Seniors Captain Graham Bower drove in on Tuesday morning, conditions were damp but there was still a good turn out of around 30 seniors gathering to watch his tee shot, despite the crowd pressure Graham hit a cracking drive down the middle of the fairway.
After the drive in there was a nine hole Stableford and the rain soon passed over, John Sykes was the winner with a good score of 21 points, second was Alan Tayler on 20 points and third was Keith Morrish who used his newly fitted Callaway irons to good effect in scoring 18 points.
The Seniors AGM took place after their competition and winter prizes were presented to all the Senior winners, look out for some photos of the prize winners and news of the AGM in next weeks newsletter.
Membership renewals reminder
Members should have received a membership renewal form sent by e-mail by now, if you haven't received this yet please let me know. There are even more membership offers than ever including a family and couples discounts and dual membership with Pryors Hayes Golf Club.
The dual membership is £850 for 7 day full membership and (£600 for 5 day membership) at both clubs, you can view all our membership prices by clicking on this link: http://www.hartfordgolf..co.uk/membership
'We provide you with a quality golfing experience at an affordable price'
Up coming Events
AGM 9 hole competition - Sunday 30th March 3pm start
Seniors 9 hole Roll up - Tuesday 1st April 9.32am start
Ladies 9 Holes Roll up - Thursday 3rd April 9am start
Captain's Drive in & April Medal - Sunday 6th April 12.04pm start
