It may be September, but everyone is so keen around the club it feels like it's still peak season.
There has been many compliments from both members and visitors over the past few days regarding how great our course has been to play.
In fact we are also having visitors saying they are looking forward to playing before they go out as they have heard from others how great our course is, and in particular the greens.
Along with the praise regarding the course there has also been many positive comments regarding the range, and indeed lots of appreciation towards Alan Barrass and his team who have kindly been helping with the maintenance and improvements seen out there. It was wonderful when I heard one visitor say that our practice green was better than their proper greens.
Many thanks to both our greenkeeping team and Alan for their great work...
The busy spell of competitions continues with a great entry of over 170 for the Cheal Trophy on Saturday. Many congratulations to Steven York aka Yorkie on winning with his great score of 42 points.
Well done also to Dan Hodge who scored 2 x 2s, one of which was on the 4th...
Continuing with news of 2s, well done to Mike Bridge, Guy Webster and Steve Simpson who all scored 2s on the 2nd whilst playing together. Mike was last to putt and I bet his 2 foot putt looked longer after the other 2 had holed theirs.
Far too many '2s' in that paragraph.
We had another great turnout on Bank Holiday for the Centenary Cup. Many congratulations to the Men's winner - Phil Moore (42pts) and Elizabeth Rankin (37pts)
With the good weather continuing there is still time to take advantage of a couple of super offers:
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With just one month to go until this year's Ryder Cup and the team is now confirmed. European captain Darren Clarke's three Ryder Cup picks are Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Thomas Pieters. I suppose we could have picked Lee Westwood based on his past experience and his performance in the majors this year.
Could Clarke have done anything but pick Thomas Pieters after he request he play with him in last week's Made in Denmark event where Pieters shot a first round -8 under par and then went on to win the tournament? This came on the back of his 4th place finish at the Rio Olympic games.
Martin Kaymer's selection however could been seen as the one debatable one, but if you recall he did hole the winning putt in 2012 and has valuable experience.
So a mix of youth and experience seems to be the case here with 6 (six) rookies on the European side. Let's hope we can look forward to some more great golf just as we saw at Medinah Country Club in 2012 when it was last in America.
Developing your match play mentality
In the lead up to this year's Ryder Cup we thought we'd share three top tips to help you become a better match play golfer. Some of you hardened match play stalwarts probably have a few tricks up your sleeve. Nonetheless, here's our top three:
1. Control your body language
Reacting badly to a poor shot will fill your opponent with confidence. You need to give the impression that you're in control, so take time between shots to collect yourself and focus on emitting positive body language.
2. Expect to hole out
You should expect to hole out - always. If you're expecting gimmes, this is something a canny opponent will pick up on. A positive attitude to holing out is the way forward.
3. Consider the situation There's no point in playing the safe option if your opponent has stuck one in close. Likewise, if they've found water with their approach, for example, why go on the attack? Play for the middle of the green and a safe two-putt will normally do the job.
These tips may sound simple, but in the heat of battle it's easy to forget what match play is all about.
If you are looking for a course management lesson that might help you play better golf in any competition
click here to request yours.