Putter Demo Day 

Chris and I were on the Putting Green all day Monday for the Putter Demo Day, giving tips and advice and holding the 'Longest Putt challenge' in aid of the Captains Charity. 

Geoff Charnely the Seniors Captain wrote the following piece: 

A big thanks from club members and from the Hampshire & IoW Air Ambulance, this year's Captains' Charity, to the Pro Team for organising a fun putting competition on Texas Scramble day; Monday, 2 May. 

A sixty-foot parabolic putt in the hole won the "3 balls for a quid" entrants a box of brand new quality balls! All staff members also participated; for one or two the first time they had ever held a putter! Millie, Jess, Steve, Seb and Jack all had a go, but it was Tracy who holed out in style (pure fluke!). Slightly embarrassed at winning their own competition and not wanting a dozen golf balls, Tracy has given the prize to the runner up Rocky Robertson. 

   

A special thanks go to left hander Dave Davies who contributed the most to the charity, Dave was determined to 'Hole a Putt' and spent at least £10 trying, even with a right handed putter! A magnificent £95 was raised.


 

Thank you to those who took the time to send in a caption, here a few: 

'No wonder '68' looks embarrassed - I think he must have stepped on the ball - how can I play 'football' with this!' 

'It's not what Jack is saying it's no 68 behind him trying to remember if he locked the front door when he left home?' 

'I hope number 68 doesn't think this is an Easter egg' 

'I don't care what you've found on the internet, I still don't think he'll believe it's the best cure for his headache' 

"Momma said life was like a box of balls. You never know which one you're gonna get", Forrest Stubbington 2016 

'Bit late with that Easter egg Jack' 

"My Titleist Pro V's have a spherically tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple design on 'em this thing ain't got any that I can see! wil.........son!!!! 

'I must tell my dad that I am getting a bit old for Easter Eggs'. 

'If this is the size of the ball, the golf club must be massive!!' 

Winning a dozen Srixon balls is Steve Moore, this was chosen by Jack as it made him laugh the most and was actually the closest to the real conversation:(Jack was commenting on the ball being over inflated and out of shape) 

"Quality controllers at Titleist seem to have lost the plot"

Complete Equipment Solution

We want to help you enjoy better golf, which is why we've teamed up with PING, Callaway and Srixon to offer you the 'Complete Equipment Solution'. 

We are offering FREE custom fitting and then a FREE lesson with your new equipment. 

It's so important for golfers of all abilities - particularly amateurs, who have far more to gain - to get custom fitted, as opposed to leaving it to chance, like you'd be doing if you bought standard spec clubs straight off the shelf. 

Click here to book a fitting.


 

After listening to many of you on Monday, we thought we would continue with Putting tips this week and please contact either Chris, or myself by clicking here should you need more help. 


What to Work On When You Work On Putting 

Setup: First thing I look at is my posture, you can't swing your arms freely if you're hunched over. Stand up straight, then bend toward the ball from your hips. Feel as if your back is nice and flat. Next, make sure your arms are in line. Look at that first photo: My right arm is completely hiding my left-that means my arms are aligned. If your right arm is higher than your left, you'll hit a lot of pulls. 

Stroke: Once I put the putter in motion, I'm thinking about two things: (1) Take it back slow. This starts with a relaxed grip. Don't be grabby. Your arms should feel light, too. Let the putter head slowly accelerate back, then through. (2) Stick the finish. Many golfers recoil the putter head after they hit the ball. That's anything but smooth. Try to roll the ball on your target line and hold your finish. If the stroke feels smooth, you'll make putts.

 

The Delhi Cup - HELP REQUIRED 

The Delhi Cup is a prestigious event which attracts a quality entry from Hampshire and some surrounding counties, and the Golf committee are keen that the success of last year's event can at least be equalled if not surpassed. So a significant number of volunteers are required to assist with registration, starting, ball spotting as well as flag waving on the 6th and 13th fairways. 

The response from members last year was superb and the Golf Committee hopes that the members will be as generous with their time again this year. 

A sign-up sheet had been posted in the foyer, or please contact Gary Whitfield or Howard Gleadow for any further information. 

Your support is greatly appreciated.


 

Stoneham Cup 

Our second game of the season was away at Cams Hall on 17th April. As usual Cams Hall all had caddies and a plethora of supporters hiding behind the bushes cheering their players on. We decided that Hockley would on this occasion bring their own partners as caddies not only for support but also got the ladies out of cooking Sunday lunch. Hockley put up a good fight resulting in the last player going to the 19th but alas lost the hole making the final result Cams Hall winning 4 /3. 

The third game of the season was at home against Liphook for a 12 O'clock tee off. Panic struck when the away team did not show until 10 minutes before the first tee off. Liphook's Captain was very apologetic as she mistakenly thought it was a 1pm start. Good will prevailed and we graciously postponed the tee off time by 10 minutes. The course conditions were very tough, high blustery winds and very cold indeed and although Hockley players are used to prevailing winds it was still hard going for everyone. It was a very close game and again 2 players finished on the 18th and 2 more players finishing on the 19th. Liphook managed to squeeze a victory by winning 4 / 3. Well done to all players. 

Wendy Evans, Vice-captain 

Habin Cup

1st round of the Habin Cup played on Sunday was won by Veronica Bowen with an amazing nett 69, Runner Up Jo Russell with a nett 73.


 

V.E. Cup and Texas Scramble Results

We apologise that we were unable to process the results online, but all the psi machines were out of order all weekend and we had no on line support either, we are slowly entering players into the various competitions and processing the results. 

V.E Cup winners with 83 points were our Captain Adrian Nicol, John Fisher and Paul Mantell. Top 4 results have been posted on the notice board. 

An excellent turn out for the Texas Scramble on Bank holiday Monday with 188 members taking part. 

The winners were - Tony Hobbs, Shane Rose, Aaron Giles and Alex Olney with 56.8 points. 

Runners Up - Taylor Archer, Mike Archer, Justin Hammon and Brad barber with 58.1 points. 

Results have been posted on the notice board.

County Sevens

Our Men's team won by 5-2 on Sunday at home against Portsmouth, they now meet Petersfield or Royal Winchester.


 

Hockley Seniors had a challenging match at Broadstone on 28 April in good weather conditions and on a course in excellent condition. We lost 3.5 to 2.5 but a superb carvery and excellent company complemented a most enjoyable day down in Dorset! The picture shows Broadstone's 18th hole.

Stoneham away this week (Captained by Tony Crawford) - good luck guys!

 

Saturday, 7 May - Men's Long Course Stableford Etretat, please note the tee is closed from 9.30 - 11.30 am on Saturday and 9.30 - 11.00am on Sunday. 

Sunday, 8 May - Men's medal including the Lombard Trophy qualifier, the winner of this event will go forward to play at Walton Heath GC with me on 21 June. 

Monday, 9 May Men's Short course Stableford.

Pro Am

Our Pro Am will be held on Friday, 27 May and Hockley members are more than welcome to play, why not invite a colleague to play in a team with you? 

For further information, please contact one of the Pro Team. 

Also, we are after some Lady volunteers to operate the refreshments on the 11th for the day. Probably starting about 10.30am through to 4.30pm, on a rota basis. Please let Tracy know if you are able to help. 
Thank you.