We have endured another wet week and now I believe there is an Arctic blast on its way, I suppose it was due!
So make sure you're prepared...
There is no need to be cold when playing golf these days as there are so many choices in layering garments, lined jumpers, winter gloves and mitts and of course my favourite... the woolly hat! A wide selection is available in store.
Our January Sale continues with huge reductions across the shop.
Save £40 on the adidas boost shoes
Save £20 on adidas Tour Traxion shoes. Now Only £59.99
Save £40 on Nike waterproof jackets and trousers - Perfect for this wonderful weather we have been having!!
Up to 40% OFF Nike, FootJoy, Glenmuir, PING and Tommy Hilfiger shirts
Aide and I had another enjoyable couple of matches this weekend against a new pairing of Graham Taylor and Daryl Williams along with the more familiar pairing of Derek Noyce and Roger Broadgate. Luckily for us Graham and Daryl didn't bring their A game, so our game against them finished early, the one positive of that is they got back to the clubhouse before the rain came.
In the remaining match Derek and Roger birdied the 14th to get back to all square, the rain started on the 15th tee and after exchanging world class bogeys on 15 we were still all square with 4 to go. Aide and I then threw a par, bogey blitz into our opponents to go 2 up with 2 to go; after Derek and Roger failed to get up and down on 18 we won 3 & 1.
On Thursday we have some very strong opposition in Jo Russell and Kay Walshe, and our manager Paul Brown, who has brought in a ringer in Judie Lewis, so watch this space...
Save 10% on the JRB clothing range and huge bargains to be had on FootJoy and Nike shoes.
New in
We have just received a small range of Italian Yarn, machine washable cable jumpers from Green Lamb in 4 different colours, only £49.95.
Come and check them out for yourself in the pro shop.
I received two amusing comments to the member's article last week:
Geoff Charnley - 'I still think Graham should have taken a tree iron instead of a penalty drop shot. He generally makes light work of most things'!
Alan Boucher 'Play it as it lies, you wouldn't get a drop in our roll up'.
Seniors Captain Geoff and Vice Captain Tony would like to wish all our Seniors a very Happy (and dry) New Year!
The usual wall chart for all Seniors wishing to enter the Summer Friendlies will be placed on the Seniors notice board in early February. There will also be a list of all the matches (home and away) that we play; In order to even out the remarkably good value cost to individuals, please check that you can play both home and away match dates when ticking the wall chart! We'll try our best to accommodate everyone's wishes.
Seniors Wessex League
Alresford sent a very strong team last Wednesday, beating us 3:1, so they got their revenge for our away win against them in November. Alresford now have the lead with 11 points (played 5), we are second with 10 points (played 4) and South Winchester is third with 9 points (played 5). Although we have a match in hand, Alresford are in a strong position as they have only played 2 of the 4 home matches, whereas South Winchester and Hockley have each played 3.
Our next match at RWGC away on 14 Jan has been postponed.
Click here to view the latest results from the league.
The address 
Start by moving the ball a little further back in your stance than usual, as I have done here. You can see that my hands are slightly ahead of the ball and the shaft is leaning back. This effectively de-lofts the club, helping to keep the flight down. Make sure that your posture is still good and that you don't become too tense as you stand over the ball.
The second important element to remember here is the position of your hands. Move them right down to the bottom of the grip. This works to reduce the arc of the swing and that will help you prevent too much backspin from causing the ball to climb too high.
Finally, set more weight on your left side at address than usual.
The backswing 
As you can see here, I have made a shorter backswing than usual. Crucially, your weight should not shift quite as much onto your left side as you move towards the top of the backswing.
Whenever you change the length or tempo of your swing it is important that you don't lose the synchronisation between your arms and body. They need to stay connected to deliver the club square to the target through impact.
It's important the rhythm should be nice and smooth to ensure excess clubhead speed doesn't deliver too much backspin.
The follow-through
Just like your backswing, the follow-through needs to be abbreviated. By moving your hands down the grip and keeping the swing shorter than usual, you are effectively restricting the speed of the clubhead through the ball. It is speed that creates backspin, which in turn determines the trajectoryv of the shot. Make sure that when you adopt this abbreviated approach to the swing you still release the club and rotate your body through towards the target. Some amateurs forget to rotate their bodies with their arm swing, but this will only kill your accuracy.
Remember that this is a shorter version of a full swing and exactly the same basic laws of rotation apply.
Click here to get in touch if you have any questions, or feedback about these drills.
A very small entry into the John Simpson 3rd card this weekend due to the wet weather.
The full results of the 3 days' play can be found on the website, but the overall winner with 41 points on Sunday was Will Townsend, closely followed by Sergej Stojiljkovic, with 40 points.
Saturday, 16 January - Men's Short Course Stableford, played from the yellow tees and enter on the day in the Pro shop.
Sunday, 17 January - Ladies Stableford, enter on the day in the
Pro Shop Sunday Roast, please book in advance at the bar.
Men's Short Course Stableford
Winter Foursomes Semi Final, please note the tee is reserved from 8.30am - 9.20am
Tuesday, 19 January - Ladies Fun morning, please note the tee is reserved from 9.30am - 10.30am
Wednesday, 20 January - Men's Short course stableford
The PGA in Hampshire Dinner
The PGA in Hampshire's 65th Annual Dinner & Golf Tournament will take place at Weybrook Park Golf Club on Friday, 19 February 2016. Tickets for Golf and Dinner cost £55.00. Tickets for the Dinner only are £40.00 to include guest speakers.
Please contact me or a member of my team if you would like to attend. Full details are on the notice board in the foyer.
