Hi everyone,
We hope you haven't had to wring out your socks this weekend - by gum it's been a blustery old shenanigans!
As there have been no formal Men's club competitions this week, we ran our Pro Shop Stableford on the 30th (open to Men and Ladies) and the winner of this most esteemed tournament is Sean Devane, who also won the previous Pro Shop Stableford on the 16th. In second place came Peter James and Su Worthington came third. Congratulations to you all. Sean you are a Pro Shop Star!
The next Club Competition is the February Stableford, bookings can be done online. There is also a Ladies' Stableford on the same day. There will also be another Pro Shop Stableford on the 13th....can Sean Devane make it a hat trick of PSS, or can someone else sneak the top spot?!
This week, Paul started the season of his Gloucester Golf Union squad coaching, and they enjoyed a presentation, a TPi and golf fitness session with Andy and a lot of range work (due to very poor weather last Sunday). Here's over to Paul for his report of the day.
I am in charge of a cracking group of young Gloucestershire County Players who last Sunday attended their first coaching session with me at B&C. Aged 13-15 and with handicaps ranging from 5 to 10, I could see some massive potential within the squad.
Andy started proceedings with a group strength and conditioning session focusing on the main key physical elements required for golf. He used some video footage of Rory McIlroy training in the gym and described the different components and why they were useful for golf. It was a brilliant session and all of the players were inspired by Andy's presentation.
We then had a range session using the FlightScope Doppler Radar Skills Challenges. The goal for me was to watch the players hit a variety of shots to various targets at different distances. Each player had to hit ten shots which included driving to a fairway and hitting all different irons into a green. The closer the ball finished in relation to the target, the higher they scored. One of the lads had one of the best performances I have ever seen. He hit five fairways out of five and missed one green in regulation which was a fantastic attempt.
After a psychology presentation and goal setting session, we braved the horrendous conditions to play a nine hole Stableford competition. Considering the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th holes were as difficult as they can ever play, one of the boys managed to score seventeen points off a handicap of five!
It was a great first day together, despite the weather and I look forward to seeing them once again this Sunday coming.
Paul
Thanks Paul. It's a pleasure to see the new talent coming through and it's an honour to work with the GGU.
This week Andy has prepared an instructional for you to make the most of your practice time - over to Mr McG.
This time of year can be very frustrating for some golfers. Those who are keen on improving their game over the winter by spending hours practicing on the range, only to find that when they go out on the course it's wet and muddy, the tees may be forward, the ball isn't travelling through the air like it does in the summer or the course might even be closed! This is just what to expect over the winter and is accepted by many. However, if you've spent all that time trying to improve your game, how do you know if you're getting any better?!
One way I'd like to propose could be through the use of our FlightScope launch monitor.
You might have seen us using this for club fittings or lessons on the range, but it is a fantastic piece of kit that can also be used to measure if your game is progressing through skills tests.
Using the monitor and an iPad, we set up on the range and FlightScope gives you various targets to aim at. This could be a green 150 yards away, or a fairway 200 yards away and 15 yards wide. You can customise the targets to your ability and once you've hit a certain number of shots to each target, you're given a score based on how many targets you hit and how close you were to the middle. The idea is to re-assess at a later date and hopefully see if you can improve. The test can also highlight any strengths and weaknesses in your game which can help direct practice and stop you from aimlessly hitting balls on the range.
This is a great tool to use over the winter; it adds a competitive side to your practice sessions and gives you something to work towards. You can even register online and post your scores on a global leader board against other club golfers and even European Tour pros such as Matthew Fitzpatrick!
As always, if you're interested in trying this out please contact the shop via phone, click here to get in touch, or come and have a chat next time you're up at the club.
Andy
We are edging ever nearer to the new Spring/Summer stock arriving in March. Our Men's full Under Armour range will be here soon, and for the girls we have super Glenmuir, JRB, Uunder Armour, Nike and ...wow....the nicest Green Lamb collection. I am so excited to see a new guest brand here. I remember stocking Green Lamb (and BackTee!) when Paul & I first took over the Pro Shop in 2002, and I am super thrilled to be a stockist once again. I really hope you all like it - it's beautiful!
Click here to view a sneaky glimpse of the items as a taster.
Don't forget, we have 125th anniversary shirts, sweaters, caps, hats and so much more. We are also stocking, for one year only, these most beautiful bespoke Bristol & Clifton Titleist DT Trusoft 125th anniversary golf balls in a stunning gift box of 6. The box features a picture of the club in its earliest days, alongside Titleist branding. Each golf ball features the 125th anniversary crest in beautiful true colours. These make a very special gift and won't be repeated.
Coming soon there are some gorgeous 125th anniversary crested towels, pitchmark repairers, ball markers and key fobs - more to come on these as they arrive!
Get them whilst you can as they are limited edition, unique to 2016, and the anniversary crest will not be repeated next year.
On that note, have a warm and cuddly week
Caren, Paul, Luke & Andy