Hi everyone,
Let's kick off proceedings with a look at the latest club news.
Ladies played in the Alternate Foursomes this week. The weather was still a bit rubbish but the girls done good! The winners were a most worthy Paula Crabtree & Julie Knox, with Laureen Clew and Dorothy Bastable in second and Lynne Vowles & Yvonne Wesbroom in third. Brilliant golf Ladies!
Last week's Pro Shop Stableford was won by Kim Thompson, with Matt Windo in second place. Oliver Whitehead in third and Ash Sedar in fourth. Well done lads.
The February Stableford took place last Saturday, with a busy field of over 100 competitors - the winners are as follows:
Division one -
1st - John Oliver - 41 points
2nd - Richard Bromilow - 41 points
3rd - John Nelson-Smith - 38 points
Division two -
1st - Gavin Rees - 40 points
2nd - Julian Meads - 39 points
3rd - Ian Roberts - 39 points
The winner of the Ladies' Stableford at the weekend was Yvonne Wesbroom.
Many congratulations to you all on a great game of golf.
What's up next?
*18th February - Pro Shop Stableford (no need to book, normal starts)
*21st February - Ladies' Semi Texas Scramble (booking online)
*24th February - Seniors' Stableford (no need to book)
*28th February - Ladies' Bowmaker (booking online)
We move over seamlessly to the Pro Shop for our Academy News of the week!
This week I am handing over to Paul for his report of the week. He had a great time at his Ryder Cup reflections talk for the Ladies' Section, so over to him!
As a Coach for Gloucestershire Golf Union in 2002, I was lucky enough to work alongside Chris' Dad Richard Wood with a Junior Squad and it was from there that I was introduced to Woody.
I can remember back to our very first lesson together and I could tell that Chris was not your typical thirteen year old. He wasn't particularly impressive to watch on the driving range but I could sense his desperation to get better and achieve and it wasn't long until we started discussing his future plans. Every time Chris would suggest something like 'I want to be a Tour Professional', I would develop these dreams into winning major championships, playing Ryder cups, attaining world number one status, etc.
These discussions took place on a regular basis and it wasn't just Chris that had these dreams but I did too. I 100% believed that he could achieve these long term goals.
I can remember mentioning our goals to Chris' Mum and Dad who were always so supportive of both of us and I sensed a feeling of surprise, particularly from Richard. Mum Sarah was always so positive and was pleased we were thinking of these big plans. Richard as a low handicapped golfer himself had some idea of the golfing pitfalls and wanted to believe our goals would bear fruit. Over the following few years, Chris would get his handicap down to scratch and slowly but surely we could all see the momentum of improvement in his game.
What was so frustrating for Chris was that there were always so many players at the same age, who could score better than him and he would usually return disappointed from a national age group event. I could see with my own eyes how well he was improving and I used to say to him, 'don't worry Chris, stay patient, you are improving every week and you will overtake them in the end'.
We spent pretty much four winters ripping his swing apart to try to do anything we could to get better. It was a painful process but it was a revelation for me to work with a good young player who I told to do something one day, only to come back the next day and the swing work had been done. Woody had hit five hundred balls within 24 hours since the previous day's lesson and it was a case of me just giving him the next set of instructions. He was an absolute sponge for information and I loved to test his ability and watch his development.
Finally he got selected for England when he was eighteen after missing out on junior honours and this opened up a vast amount of opportunities to play around the world including Russia, Australia and pretty much everywhere in Europe. That first year in the England set up gave Chris the chance to spend time with the very best players and by the end of the year, Chris' name appeared at the very top of the England National Order of Merit.
The Open Championship has always been one of those special events so close to any young golfers heart and after failing to qualify by two shots the previous year, Chris arrived at Hillside in good form.
Neighbouring Royal Birkdale was the venue for the Championship in less than two weeks time and during Chris' evening practice round walk around Hillside, he had clambered over a gap in a hedge and walked a couple of holes.
The huge grandstands were up and the course was ready for the biggest golfing tournament of the year. Chris told me how he lapped up this experience. Walking alone between the stands and just thinking that he just had to qualify and play, he just had to!
The very next day he won 36 Hole Local Qualifying and had gained a spot in the Open Championships. I told Chris that he could win The Open and I was 100% sure of it. I just knew that Chris was consistently shooting under par scores in national events in windy conditions on links golf courses and I knew that would be a massive advantage. Most touring professionals would be used to lush manicured parkland courses with hardly a breath of wind and that Woody was better prepared for the harsh links conditions.
What happened next was, well, probably a dream of ours? A Silver Medal......... What a week at Birkdale we had? Memories I will always have......
Thanks Paul. I have been inundated with compliments about your talk - so I am a proud wife!
Next weekend Paul has his GGU and England Golf squads - we always think the Winter will be a quieter time for us but with the amount of planning, county and England work, it's more frantic than the summer! Reports on this next week in the newsletter.
I have my Nick back from Residential at the Belfry, so it feels nice to be surrounded by the lovely team again. They will be heading off for annual leave before the end of the month so i'm making the most of them before they go!
On that note, have a great week
Caren, Paul, Nick and Andy.
