Hello golfers, what a great Open Championship we have just experienced! I hope that despite the delayed Monday finish many of you got to see what was a thrilling climax at the Home of Golf with a congested leader board and an exciting play-off finish. We also played another honors board competition on Sunday and we saw an amazing nett 58 scored in last week's Midweek Medal, news of all this and more:
This week's articles:
- Zach Johnson ends the 'Spieth Slam'
- The Open Champion's winning equipment
- Open Sweepstake winners
- Try the new PING irons here next week
- Bird breaks his duck in the Hartford Stag Trophy
- Steve's incredible nett 58
- Introducing our new interactive tee-booking system
- Seniors news
- Ladies news
- Upcoming events
Open Championship review
The Open Championship at St Andrews certainly provided plenty of drama, the middle of the tournament was dominated by the weather after a rain affected Friday and a very windy Saturday delayed play, after an emotional send off for Tom Watson playing his last Open round in virtual darkness on the Friday evening nothing really happened until the Sunday when things really kicked into life as weather conditions finally relented for the third round and we had birdies galore as the world's top players fought their way to the top of a very congested leader board.
To read on and find out what clubs Zach Johnson carries in his bag, please click here.
Open Sweepstake winners
Here are all the winners from the latest sweepstake, well done to all the winners you can pick your vouchers up from the shop:
Winner £70 voucher: Stuart Gray
Runner up £25 voucher: Jonno Ness
Leading Amateur £10 voucher: Alan Nevin
Best Score Day 1 £10 voucher: Andie Fraser
Best Score Day 2 £10 voucher: Abby Underwood
Best Score Day 3 £10 voucher: Paul Cunningham
Best Score Day 4 £10 voucher: Kath Hough
Last player after 2 rounds £5 voucher: Steve Roberts
New range of PING irons being launched here next week
There was a lot of buzz last week in the golfing world as PING officially announced the launch of two new iron models - the G30 Max and the iE1 irons, and as reported last week we will be one of the first places in the country where you can try out and get fitted for these new clubs. We will be having a new irons launch day on Tuesday 28th July from 2-6pm, we can offer a free fitting session with PING's John Bragger for the first lucky six people to book a slot, the fittings will just be on irons only there won't be any woods to try on the day. I got to see the new PING irons last week and by all accounts they are pretty special!
Hartford Stag Trophy review
Last year's Captain Chris Bird has quietly been playing some great rounds of golf recently and just last week he had a nett 64 in the Club Championship to finish in third place in the nett category, he had come in for some gentle ribbing as despite a number of good rounds he hadn't claimed a victory in a board competition and he was always just getting pipped at the winning post! Therefore on Sunday it was very pleasing to see Chris claim victory in division one of the Hartford Stag trophy after another fine round of nett 64, he had another nervous wait in the clubhouse to see if his score would be beaten but in the end he proved a comfortable and popular winner.
Eleven handicapper Chris had another great round as he scored a total of four birdies including three in an excellent back nine of gross 35, after this latest good round his handicap has been reduced to 10, well played Chris! In second place in division one was Ian Daines with a solid nett 69 and third place went to James Eaton also on 69.
The Hartford Stag Trophy is split into two divisions based on handicap and the winner of division two also gets their name on the honors board, the winner was Phil Carr with a nett 65, he recovered well after a nine on the first and scored a fine birdie two on the seventh hole, maybe this new Nike outfit he bought last week inspired him to play like Rory McIlroy! Steve Holehouse came second just one shot back on nett 66 and third place went to Andie Fraser on nett 68.
You can click here to view the full results.
In terms of competitions we have a week off next weekend before the August Medal on Saturday 1st August at 12.04pm.
Steve's fantastic nett 58
The July Midweek Medal was played last Wednesday and the weather was good with the golf course in tip-top condition, as a result the scoring was good and Steve Dean certainly had a good day as he scored an incredible nett 58 playing off his 23 handicap, this is one of the lowest nett scores we've ever had at Hartford and Steve's round included a birdie and six pars. Obviously our Handicap Secretary picked up on this exceptional round and Steve's handicap has been adjusted down to 17, well done Steve!
Alan Tayler scored a great nett 62 which would have been good enough to win on most other days but he had to settle for second place and in third place was Stuart Fallows with a nett 67.
New online tee-booking system going live this week
We are moving across to a new improved online tee-booking system run by BRS, there will be links to it through our website and it is very easy to use, you just have to register initially with your name and e-mail address and you can then book tee-times and also pay online. There will be various special offers on green fees booked online including twilight rates and four ball discounts, if you are a visitor you can book and pay online so you don't have to worry about bringing money with you when you come to play.
The online booking system can be accessed here, if you click on the link you can register now as a user.
The Seniors played a match against our sister club Pryors Hayes last week, it was a match played in a great friendly spirit and it was Pryors that came out on top. Here's a picture of Bob Bowen from the day.
Last week I told you about the ladies Charity Day competition.
I'm pleased to report that Lady Captain Annie Rowland has informed that a total of £341.50 was raised on the day and from the BBQ with the seniors in aid of the Alzheimers Society, that's a great total raised for a great cause thanks to everyone that contributed.
The next ladies competition is their Club Championship this Sunday 26th July.
Ladies Spring Knockout
The Ladies Spring Knockout final was played last week between Alison Worrall and Elspeth Forbes, as you can tell probably tell from the photograph weather conditions weren't great and they had to contend with a few heavy showers.
Despite the poor weather Alison played some great golf and she prevailed as the winner by 5&4, well played Alison!
Ladies Summer Stableford 18 holes - Thursday 16th July 9.32am
Seniors match v Pryors Hayes - Thursday 16th July 10.36am
Hartford Stag Trophy - Sunday 19th July 11am
Seniors nine hole Stableford - Tuesday 21st July 9.16am
Ladies nine hole roll up - Thursday 23rd July 9.32am