Hello everyone,

I am writing this on a most freezing cold Saturday afternoon in the Pro Shop - I hope you have all had a great week so far. Ready for this week's news?


 

Ladies Foursomes Stableford

This week the Ladies played in the Foursomes Stableford. The winners of the day were Shamim Dinani and Lisbeth Jensen with 33 points. Great score Ladies. 

In second place were Nina Redmond and Julie Knox, in third Lauren Clew and Liz Hale and taking fourth place Paula Crabtree and Barbara Wrigley.


November Stableford

This weekend has seen a good deal of activity. Saturday saw the November Stableford take place in chilly sunshine. The field was good, with 77 of B&C's best teeing off the first for the yellow tee winter rules stableford. So who were the victors?

Winner Division 1: Clive MacKenzie (39 points) 
2nd place Division 1: Jack Davies (38 points) 
3rd place Division 1: Nick Goy (37 points) 

Winner Division 2: Ian McNeil (39 points) 
2nd place Division 2: Nigel Pomphrey (37 points) 
3rd place Division 3: Bob Hearne (36 points)

Many congratulations to you all.


We had a special hole in one last week - Friday, 4 November saw Mike Ingham hit a 7 iron into the 6th hole. We salute you Mike, brilliant job. 

Here's Mike having a little celebration with us in the Pro Shop.


Who won the Moncrieffe cup? 

It was a brilliant Peter Elliott who snatched it from Ian Foster. Both of you are fab, very well done guys.


Finally a huge congratulations to all you wonderful people who won prizes at the club presentation evening, and this year's Bristol & Clifton Golf Club Player of the Year was…..Greg Gough. 

Well done Greg, we are very proud of you.

Greg was also part of a five man team who won their national club challenge qualifier (the Help the Heroes event) and recently travelled to a certain Trump Turnberry to compete against others who had also won their club qualifier. The boys done good - they came second and have won a trip to Spain. We are delighted and thrilled for your success - well done to Greg, Jack Davies, Grant McCall, John Oliver and Mike Innes.


 

So let's look at the next goings on for a couple of weeks:

- Tuesday, 15 November - Ladies' Yellow Ball 
- Saturday, 19 November - Matt Hawker Anniversary Bowl - booking online 
- Tuesday, 22 November - Ladies' Bowmaker (booking online) and Ladies' AGM 
- Friday, 25 November - Seniors' Stableford (no need to book) and Club AGM 
- Saturday, 26 November - The Pill Owls Trophy


So let's move over to the academy for the latest from the Pro Shop now.

 

It's been a week of planning this week, and working on the initial Fashion show scripts and brochures for March 2017. I need to get organised and start now or else I will get to February and panic. I am very excited about putting on a new show for 2017, along with a healthy amount of panic and fear and "does my bum look big in this….?". But it's all for fun and this year there will be an optional charity collection box as we don't charge for our shows. This will support local charities.

Paul has once again been busy this week, with coaching and County Golf things, so here's handing over to him for the weekly rundown:


 

It's been an incredibly busy couple of weeks and even though we now lock up the Pro Shop at 5pm, I often find myself working later into the evenings than the summer months. I suppose it keeps me out of mischief.

We've been busy fitting the new Titleist 917 driver and fairway woods and the customer feedback has been fantastic. I've played twice with mine and I love it. Titleist now have a driver that not only looks good but can outperform its competitors. Click here to find out more.

  

The new Callaway Fusion range is also proving to be a hit at the Pro Shop alongside the XR range. Click here to find out more.

Last Friday I attended the Gloucestershire Golf Union Junior Presentation Evening at The Kendleshire Golf Club and it was great to celebrate the success of the County Junior Teams and some fantastic individual performances.

Nation Moore from Long Ashton Golf Club is a member of my England South West AASE squad and won the under 16's Order of Merit.

Jack Cope from Minchinhampton Golf Club who was part of my south west squad last winter has had an incredible year on the Junior national scene. With three top three finishes, Jack finished third in the England Order of Merit and was selected to play for England in a three man team event in Canada which they managed to win. Finally Jack was selected for the national Junior squad winter training.

Ex County Champion and Bristol and Clifton member David Hares as County Coaching Chairman organised a brilliant evening for the juniors. The youngsters, parents and coaches really appreciate all the hours of hard work and effort you put in. We have one of the best, if not the best county coaching structures in the country thanks to David.

On the theme of improving, I have my next set of Improvers Group Sessions starting up next Saturday. If you know of anyone who has tried golf before but needs a little nudge in the right direction, then let them know about my beginners groups. 

Five hours group tuition only costs £25, so it's a bargain. No equipment required, just a body!

Click here to get in touch if you have any questions or would like to get involved.


Andy returned to Bristol from home last weekend and it is great to have him back. Nick has been diligently working and this week I asked him to give you all some super tips for winter, so over to you Nick.


 

Improve your putting

Did you know that the average amateur golfer has between 31 and 36 putts per round? Whereas the average tour player has 29 putts per round. Although that doesn't sound like much, it all adds up. We have all left putts out there, so here are a few simple ways to improve your putting without changing your stroke:

Lag Putting 
Most golfers get too focused on the line and forget about the speed of the putt. The key to long putting is to forget about the line (within reason) and focus on the speed of the putt. A simple speed drill for lag putting would be to set up four tees around the hole in a two foot box, and hit 3 balls from 10ft, 15ft, 20ft, 30ft etc… The goal for this is to get the ball to finish inside the 2ft box, and get a feeling for the connection between the stroke and distance of a putt.

Green Reading 
This is different for everyone, just like there is no correct or incorrect way to play golf. I believe the best way to see the slope of a putt is to look from behind the hole, because you can see how the ball will break over the last few feet. This is important because the ball will break more at this point because it should be at its slowest.

Visualisation
During your pre shot routine, try and visualise the putt rolling along your chosen line, and dropping into the centre of the cup. This is key for all good putters, as they are training their sub conscious mind to hole the putt.

Insurance Read 
This will contribute to reducing your 3 putts. We've all gone for the birdie putt, and left a knee knocker coming back for the par. If you are going to go for the first putt, make a habit of watching what the ball does after it has passed the hole, so you can have an easier read coming back.

Relax
You will only putt well if you are relaxed, calm, and accepting of any outcome of a putt regardless if it was influenced by you or not. Remember to control your breathing through the stroke, stay calm, and keep your putter in one piece.

I hope this helps,

Nick


Great suggestions and hints to make golf easier for us all, well done Nick.


 

Next week we start our Get into Golf Improvers Course with Paul, on 19th November at 12pm. 

If you know of anyone who has been though one of our beginner courses, or who has been out of the game for a while and would like to freshen up some skills, do give us a call and sign up or click here to get in touch. 



At £25 for the five group sessions, it is incredibly good value and a lovely way to meet new friends. We have a couple of places left so don't delay in case we fill them before you get a chance.


This week I finally finished the GolfMark and Sport England ClubMark accreditation this week. It was a hard uphill struggle (horrendous amounts of paperwork.) and I am very grateful to have completed, with huge thanks to Chrissie Savage for her invaluable help and support. I would also like to thank George in the office for allowing me to pester her to find documents for me and also to Andrew Creese for providing me with some vital marketing information. There will be a club presentation once my work has been signed off so I am very excited to see the new GolfMark certificates go up on the club walls and to get some nice pictures for posterity.

So this week I am having a lazy one and going nowhere near a printer or scanner. 

On that note, have an awesome one 

Caren, Paul, Nick and Andy