There are still spaces on the Junior Coaching day on Wednesday, 29 October from 10am - 2pm, the cost is only £20. This will be open to any child from age 6 to 16 so please tell your friends.
For more information click here or to book a child on, please contact one of the Pro team.
On Friday, 31 October from 10-11. 30am Chris will be running a Ladies only coaching session for only £10. Please contact Chris for more information or to book a place.
From our recent equipment survey it would appear that over 20% of you have never had your clubs re-gripped and a staggering 63% have not been correctly measured.
Please come and take a look at our Grip bar, you can measure your hand for the correct grip thickness and then select from our large range of grips. If you have 10 or more clubs re gripped I will give you 10% discount.
Did you know?
- Grips should be replaced every 40 rounds, or every 30 rounds if you're spending a considerable amount of time at the practice range
- Regardless of rounds played, a grip should always be replaced at the first sign of noticeable wear, including:
Smooth, hard surfaces
Cracks
Shiny patches
Wear spots, especially where the thumbs make contact
Faded or bare spots on grips that have been painted or have logos
Complete loss of tack
Improperly sized grips, grips that aren't suited for certain weather conditions, grips that don't enhance playing ability and grips that are simply worn-out and slick will negatively impact your game and cost you strokes. Comfort, consistency, shot dispersion and shot distance can all be improved with new golf grips. A grip that is too small promotes extra hand action and commonly leads to 'pulling' the ball. A grip that is too large limits proper wrist movement, stifles shot distance and can cause you to 'push or slice' the shot. Getting the right sized grip will help with this, so come and see us now for a fitting.
Stop Press
You should have recieved an email from us yesterday regarding the release of the new Callaway Big Bertha irons. Unfortunately we haven't got these in stock yet, and we are in discussions with Callaway at present to determine whether or not we will have them in store over the next few weeks, so watch this space.
Another busy month and greens are now approaching full recovery after this autumn's intensive renovation. The mild weather of late has helped the recovery along, but has subdued green speeds. Over the next few weeks if the weather stays with us, we'll see continued improvement in the putting surfaces.
Winter work has begun with some scrub clearing around the 16th and realignment of the 11th white tee. We'll continue to do small projects here and there until the grass growth slows down a touch giving us a little more time. This summer we've been working with a number of outside bodies to develop a full 5 year Landscape management plan which is now available for viewing on the website. This has been an interesting project and I've learnt a lot from all of the individual experts who have offered their input. We have already been nominated for "outstanding golfing conservation project of the year" for this work and I'll keep you posted on how we get on.
We have also received our annual benchmarking report from our agronomist and that too can be found on the website. Once again it was incredibly positive and shows we continue to progress on the right track.
Keep an eye on Glen's Blog on the website for latest updates and he intends to do an explanation of the key points in both reports soon.
How do you fancy your very own parking space for a year?
Well for only £1 it's well worth a go, all you need to do is guess the combined drives of all 4 captains, Robin Webb, Graham Light, Julie Moss and George Hoarton. The entry sheet is on the bar and the draw will be made this Saturday after the 'Drive in'.
Bar News 
The new permanent blackboard menu is imminent and monthly Sunday roasts start on Sunday, 2 November and must be booked in advance.
We are pleased to announce the Centenary dinner is now full.
Our ladies team of Caroline Hall, Elizabeth Betts, Carole Cullen and Polly Church beat Corhampton 5 up in the 2nd round of the Legge bowl on Monday. They will meet Meon Valley or Salisbury & South Wilts in the 3rd round.
I am very proud of my pupil Louise Spruce who has reached her goal this year of reducing her handicap to 12. I will now be working on a program with Louise through the winter for her next target of a single figure handicap. If any of you are interested in a winter coaching program please contact Chris or myself for further advice, or click here to get in touch.
AGM
The AGM for the Club will take place this Friday, 24 October at 7pm. The Agenda, Reports and Accounts for Year ending 31 March 2014 can all be found on the Members section of the website under the Club News tab.
Should you have any questions on any item please do not hesitate to send Marc an email; general.manager@hockleygolf club.com
Captain/Pro Matches
The sign up sheet will be posted after the AGM on Friday, there are only limited spaces this year so sign up early.
John Simpson Competition
The golf committee changed the format for the above event in order to allow 5 day members to compete. The response has been disappointing, but the new format will apply for one more year and entry numbers will be reviewed at the end of the competition.
The competition is a qualifying stableford played from the yellow tees and is the best 3 scores from 6 cards.
The 1st card will be played on Friday, 31 October, Saturday, 1 November and Sunday, 2 November, entry on the day in the Pro shop.
Please note now the mornings are darker, competition golf cannot be started until 8am, this is to allow the greenstaff to prepare the course.
Winter League
This competition will be open to all seven day members (Men, Ladies & Juniors) with active handicaps and entry will be via the PSI system as individuals, £6 per player.
All competitors will be randomly drawn into 8 different leagues (this assumes that there will be in excess of 40 entries) but if there are less than 40 entries the number of leagues will be reduced. These leagues will be approximately the same size but any differences in numbers between each league will be due to entry numbers. The league stage of this competition requires all individuals to play against each other before January 31st 2015.
The format will be singles matchplay off full handicap difference and from the Yellow tees. In the case of the Ladies they will play from the Red Tees and receive 2 additional shots and play off the Men's Card. Results will be entered on the Pro forms provided and returned to the Pro Shop. 2 points will be awarded for winning a match and 1 point for a halved match. Any matches not played within the allotted time frame will result in neither competitor receiving any points. At the completion of the League stage, the top 2 players in each League will become partners in a 4 Ball Better Ball Knock Out. League A will play League B etc.
Closing date for entries is November 15th.
Hockley Winter Foursomes
Last chance to enter, the closing date is Tuesday, 28 October. This event is open to ALL Hockley members and as it's an 'Open' event, your friends are more than welcome to play as well. Full details are on the club website or click here for an entry form and more details.
Please remember to put your clocks back an hour this Saturday evening, more time in bed but, unfortunately this means less time to play golf!
