Hello again golfers and a warm welcome to our weekly newsletter, we hope that you enjoyed your extra hour in bed on Sunday and despite the dark night's drawing in at least it's a bit lighter first thing in the morning! A big news story that emerged last week was that Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey will be charging new members the cool sum of £125,000 to join their prestigious club, however if you're already an existing member fear not- it will only cost you £100,000! Annual membership fees at Wentworth will also be doubled next year rising from £8,000 to £16,000, there is no doubt that Wentworth is a wonderful golf venue but surely these figures seem a bit excessive, hopefully it makes our golf course seem that little bit better value for money!

This week's news stories:

- Neil and Steve dominate the Winter League round 2
- don't let the winter ruin your game
- our sizzling shoe sale is launched
- new clothing arrivals from FJ & Glenmuir
- a cracking Christmas gift idea from Titleist
- new equipment arrivals
- presentation night reminder
- seniors news
- upcoming events




Winter League update

There was a good turn out on Sunday of 24 pairs for the second round of the Winter League, conditions were again good so there was always likely to be a good winning score and this came from Neil Dunning and Steve Holehouse. The pair played almost flawless golf with Steve scoring a birdie on the first and Neil adding another on the fifth, the only blemish to their scorecard came with a bogey on the ninth hole but they still established a winning total of 25 points.

Neil was chased down by his wife Sharon Dunning who partnered vice-captain Paul Underwood to good effect in scoring 24 points to take second place - the highlight of their round was an excellent birdie on the last hole and in third place was Simon Stephenson and Ian Wharton with 23 points.

After two rounds things are very tightly bunched at the top of the league and with so many good pairs in contention every point scored could make a huge difference, the third round is coming up on Saturday 7th November - I'm sure that there will be fireworks!

Remember that the November Medal takes place this Sunday with a start time of 11am. 




Winter golf tips Now that the clocks have changed we have to put up with the shorter daylight hours and dark evenings however don't let this ruin your golf game and use this winter as a chance to work on your game.

A good rule of thumb at this time of year is to practice more than you play, so if you might only play once a week now then try to practice twice a week, I'm not saying that you have to stand on the range hitting hundreds of balls but try to hit at least 50 balls in a couple of practice sessions and work on quality of practice rather than quantity. Treat your practice session as a round of golf, try to recreate each hole using range markers and hit the clubs you would normally hit on the golf course, this will ensure that your practice session keeps you engaged and you don't just aimlessly hit all your balls with one club. Also use your practice time to work on shots that you don't normally get a chance to practice - like low punch shots, high fades, lob shots to a near target - in essence keep your practice interesting and varied and then you won't get bored!

In the summer you want to be out on the golf course playing and making the most of the light evenings but at this time of year don't let the winter end your golf, hitting 50 balls twice a week on the driving range will almost certainly improve your game over the next few months and it won't take you long either - you could hit 50 balls in around half an hour so it takes a lot less time than a round of golf but a little extra practice could make all the difference to your game! 




Titleist Fitting Day

We're excited to announce that we are one of the first venues in the country to have a Titleist Fitting Day with the new much-hyped range of 716 irons and 816 hybrids available to trial, Will from Titleist is visiting us on Tuesday 10th November from 12-4pm.

You can book a FREE fitting on any of the new Titleist irons and hybrids but also the 915 woods are available and the Vokey SM5 wedges can be custom fitted for you also, book a slot quickly as this day will surely fill up, contact me here to book your free custom fit session. 





For more information on our Christmas Gift Packages for 2015... Please click here.

Super shoe sale now in full swing

As soon as you walk in to the shop you will see our front table is full of some great shoe bargains now that the season has drawn to a close we need to sell off our remaining pairs of shoes so many of them are reduced by as much as £60 off the original price and we have plenty of good sizes left with the majority of shoes available being 8, 9's and 10's. Not forgetting the lady golfers - we also have many ladies shoes on sale.

Here are just some of the best bargains: 

- FJ DNA shoes were £149 now £89 save £60

- Nike Lunar Control 3 shoes were £129 now £79 save £50

- FJ HyperFlex shoes were £129 now £79 save £50

- Adidas Gripmore shoes were £89 now £49 save £40

- FJ AWD shoes were £64.99 now £39.99 save £25

Be quick as these pairs will soon go!

Stylish winter clothing arrivals

Look out in the shop this week for some smart new arrivals from FootJoy and Glenmuir, I particularly like the cashmere blend zip neck sweaters from Glenmuir - the good thing about these jumpers is their classic look which means that they don't look too 'golfy' - by that I mean they can be worn both on and off the golf course so they're extremely versatile - they also come in a lovely presentation box making them an ideal Christmas gift (I have to mention that it's now only eight weekends until Christmas!)

   

Also very eye-catching are the new FootJoy brushed chill out half zip pullovers, the half zip design is extremely fashionable now and the brushed finish on the inside of the garment means that it will keep you extremely warm by trapping your body heat in. The latest FootJoy collection shows that you can be warm on the golf course but still look good and again they look great when worn both on and off the golf course. 

Here's member Terry Baker preparing for winter by checking out our new ProQuip warm mittens, remember there's no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing!

A great Christmas gift idea from Titleist

We're pleased to announce the return of a cracking Christmas promotion brought to you in conjunction with Titleist - you can order a minimum of one dozen balls from their range with a FREE personalisation text on the balls such as a loved one's name or a short message. They come in Christmas presentation packaging and as they are personalised they are a totally unique gift making a perfect Christmas present for any golfer.

The Titleist dozen ball packs range in price from £15.99 to £39.99 so they don't cost a fortune and they're a unique gift, if you would like to order some of the Christmas balls please contact me here.... 

New equipment arrivals

So this week the new Callaway Apex Pro irons arrived in our fitting room, the 2016 Apex follow on from their predecessor with the idea that a forged iron doesn't have to just be for a better player, they're basically a distance iron but with the great feel you get from a forged iron.

They're so good that our assistant shop manager and three handicapper Jack has already ordered a set after a custom fitting session, he loved the consistent distance he was getting from the irons but also the higher launch angle he achieved meaning that he will get more control when hitting shots into the green.

In summary some of the new equipment recently launched that we now have available for custom fittings are:

- PING GMax and i series irons
- TaylorMade M1 'unmetalwoods'
- TaylorMade PSi irons
- Callaway 2016 Apex irons
- Callaway Great Big Bertha 816 woods
- Titleist 716 irons
- Titleist 816 hybrids
- Callaway MD3 wedges

To book your custom fitting session please contact me here.




Presentation night coming up soon

It's not long now until our summer season presentation evening on Friday 13th November at 7.30pm, all the summer prize winners will be presented with their prizes and there is also a three course meal followed by a disco and late bar, its good value at just £18 a ticket. Whether you've won a prize or not it would be good to see as many members and their guests attend what is always a really fun night!

If you've won a prize but you're unable to attend on the night could you please let me know and we'll arrange to get your prize to you by another means.

Click here to view all the summer's results.




Well done to Ken Powell who the seniors vice-captains away day at Runcorn Golf Club last week, Ken played extremely well around an unfamiliar course to score 40 points.

This Tuesday the seniors played an 18 hole Stableford and the weather was again kind to them, the winner was 17 handicapper Phil Pickering with 42 points, the highlight of his round came with a birdie on the thirteenth - I'm sure that Phil will be off on holiday again soon his tan is wearing off a bit!

In second place was Pete Wildin on 40 points, Pete had a birdie on hole fifteen and in third place was Roy Strefford also on 40 points, Roy had a nice birdie on hole sixteen.





The ladies Autumn winter pairs is now at the final stage, in the semi-finals Sandra Peake & lady captain Annie Rowland defeated Elspeth Forbes & Sue Gunning and in the other match Alison Worrall& Ann Broster triumphed over Jean Clare & Sarah Dee, good luck to the finalists it should be a great game!

This Thursday the ladies play a winter Foursomes competition over 18 holes with a start time of 9.32am. 





Ladies Winter Foursomes - Thursday 29th October 9.32am
November Medal - Sunday 1st November 11am
Seniors 9 hole roll up - Tuesday 3rd November 9.16am
Ladies 9 hole roll up - Thursday 5th November 9.32am
Winter League Round 3 - Saturday 7th November 11am