Hello everyone,

Welcome to this week’s pro shop newsletter. This week Nick and Andy will be taking the reins and guiding you through the usual round up of competitions and news from the shop. So without further ado...

The January stableford was a foggy affair this weekend. As the fog came down in the afternoon, the siren was sounded and those players who failed to make it through 15 holes were unfortunately withdrawn from the competition. However, the show must go on, and out of those who finished the results were as follows:

Well done to Hebbo and Dan and to those who got a two; the two’s were worth £54. Always worth doing in my opinion. Like printing money!

 The ladies stableford was won by Fiona Welborn. A bittersweet day for Fiona as she managed to get the win, but didn't score on three holes. I know she won't let that bother her!

This week we got our hands on the latest in putting technology; it's called the Hole More Putts tablet. Below are some pictures of the tablet and how it's used. The tablet can give you instant feedback on your stroke including path, tempo, face angle and even where you hit it on the face. After five putts the tablet will give you a Hole More Putts index score. As you can see from the photo this player has a lot of room for improvement.

He can do this through instruction from a professional who can help analyse his results and help him to improve or by using their app which has handy drills to practice. The whole concept of Hole More Putts was developed by two PGA professionals; one of which helped me when studying to become qualified.

His name is David Kearney and he's a great coach. He has a very simple and effective style which is exactly how I would describe this putting tablet. Paul and I were very excited to get our hands on this new innovation and were both really impressed. Not an easy thing to do! I think this will really help those players who struggle to understand exactly what it is they're doing when making a stroke. Sometimes you may think you've hit it out the centre only to find out it was way out of the toe. So if you want to brush up on your putting as the new season approaches get in touch. This really will help you to understand how your stroke works and what it is you really do when putting.

Also new to the shop this week is Callaway's new Rogue range of drivers and irons. Ask anyone who got fitted for last year’s Epic range of woods and irons, and they'll tell you these things are game changers. Well this year the Rogue range looks to improve on this. Variable Face Thickness along with Jailbreak technology in the woods helps to deliver forgiving and great sounding clubs. In the irons the same technology along with clever positioning of tungsten weights and Urethane Microspheres gives the Rogue range of irons exceptional distance and superb sound and feel.

The irons come in a standard option, pro which is a slightly smaller head, an X designed for even more distance and a ladies version with a larger sole and lower centre of gravity to help launch the ball easier. The woods also have three different head options. There's a standard, draw bias and a subzero designed to lower spin for faster swing speeds.

I've been down on the range with the driver and been very impressed. It's certainly as impressive in terms of distance as last year’s Epic but seems to be slightly more forgiving on off centre hits. I also think they've improved the sound and feel with the Rogue but that's always down to personal preference. The demo fairways will also be arriving shortly along with the hybrids, and as always we'll be able to fit you for all these using our FlightScope launch monitor and a selection of different shaft options.

This Sunday Andy starts his work with the counties ladies squad. They'll be put through their paces in the morning with some physical conditioning and then some competitive practice in the afternoon followed by some foursomes practice. He can't wait to get started and many of the squad are looking forward to playing together with old team mates and some fresh new faces pushing for places in what should be a competitive squad. Andy will let you know how they get on next week.

This year Nick has taken over the Junior Coaching, and this week we had the first session of the year. Considering the weather we have had recently, there was a good turn out with the ages ranging from 5 to 10 years old. Nick decided to take them to the short game area to show the basics as a few of the juniors had not hit a ball before. There was some great progress and towards the end of the session most of the juniors were consistently hitting the ball in the right direction, and there was even a 20 yard chip in! Nick is looking forward to the other sessions coming up and will hopefully get the juniors on to the course in the summer.

On that note, have a great week.

Nick, Andy, Paul and Caren.