Gary Stubbington

Hello Golfers,

Welcome to another exciting edition of the weekly newsletter bringing you up-to-date with all the latest news and offers from Hockley Golf Club. Not a great week for weather and I can’t believe we are in October already, where has the year gone?

I hope you've all had a good week on and off the golf course.

Enjoy the read.

Course news

Pictures from the course...

Some great pictures have been taken out on the course this weekend.

The sun setting pictures were taken on Sunday by Mike Henry and really show the course off.

The red sun rising pictures were taken early in the morning on Monday by Ryan one of our greenkeepers.

Club news

How do you fancy your very own parking space for a year?

Well, for only a £1 it’s well worth a go. All you need to do is guess the combined drives of all four incoming captains, Sean Dolphin, Gill Quick, David Morgan and Oliver Stuart, the entry sheet is on the bar. The draw will take place after the ‘Drive-In’ competition and all proceeds are going to the new captain’s charities.

Shop news

Further reductions on the Titleist AP irons

£200 OFF, yes that’s right, £200 OFF Titleist AP2 stiff flex and AP3 regular irons (stock sets only, not custom).

These irons were £899 4-PW now they are £699 these are on a first-come-first-serve-basis and we only have one set of each so call now to avoid disappointment.

Tip of the week

Reading the break

Coaching news

Group coaching sessions

Our new assistant James Ormerod has put together some group coaching sessions starting in October, only £10 per session:

Monday, 7 October - Set up and Swing.
Monday, 21 October - Chipping and Putting.
Monday, 4 November - Driving and Fairway Woods.
Monday, 11 November - Pitching and Bunker Play.

All sessions will be held from 1.30pm – 2.30pm - if you are interested or want more information, please ask in the pro shop. The clinics are limited to six per session and will require a minimum of three for the session to run.

Seniors news

A message from the Senior's Captain...

The Seniors have had a good run in our summer friendly matches recently, winning four of the last five, one being an excellent away win at Ferndown. Only two more matches to go now this season before the seniors annual meeting on Friday, 11 October, when my year as your Seniors Captain draws to a close. The Wessex Seniors Winter League matches will then be starting on Tuesday, 5 November with a home match against Royal Winchester.

Seniors Annual Meeting

This will be held on Friday, 11 October at 11.00am in the clubhouse. All senior members are welcome to attend and there is the option to play golf after.

John Taylor
Seniors Captain

Competition news

Saturdays Short Course Stableford - results

Division One was won by Chris Kokaram with 42 points beating Brad Barber on a countback.

Division Two was won by Paul Hooton again with 42 points.

Winter Knockouts

The Winter Knockouts is now open for entry on the psi, open to ALL members, please read the conditions of entry which are posted on the main notice board.

Champions of Champions

With the chance of heavy rain and strong winds, thirty-one men and six ladies still took to the field on Sunday to play in the Champion of Champions competition, but fortunately, the weather proved not to be as bad as forecast with only a couple of squally showers passing through.

The Ladies winner of the Champion of Champions was most improved lady golfer of the year Monica Finlayson with a very commendable 36 points, winning by two points from Gill Quick.

The men's competition returned some very impressive scores with Kirby Sinclaer and Jack Stubbington scoring 37 points, Alex Olney 38 points and Keith Bloxsome 39 points. However, they were not to pick up the trophy as Murray Carter, who won the inaugural Champion of Champions in 2014, pipped them at the post with a score of 40 points no doubt helped by his 5 point eagle on the 14th! Murray now has his name twice on this new honours board which was kindly funded by 2017 winner David Hughes.

Monica and Murray are pictured collecting their Champion of Champions trophies from Captain Nigel. In his acceptance speech, Murray was quick to praise the hard work carried out by Doug and his team over the past twelve months to provide us with a golf course which we can all be proud of, a sentiment which was agreed by all those present.

After play, Tom and the catering team treated us to a beef and ale pie with all the trimmings which was followed by the Captain's finale auction, which was postponed from the previous Friday, and I'm pleased to say that £1730 was raised on the day. I know that Captain Nigel would like to say a big thank you to all of you who parted with your money on the day and also to those who made sealed bids with three of the fourball vouchers each bringing in £200 or more.

The day was rounded off by the annual trophy presentation to those in attendance.

Again, as so many times this year, I have to thank Tracy for all of her hard work behind the scenes in making things run smoothly, not just for this event, but for all of the competitions through the season.

Adie Nicol.

Competitions and Handicaps

Post note, always difficult thanking yourself, but we must thank Adie as always for coordinating the event with the Pro team, announcing the prize winners and his hard work behind the scenes with the competitions all year.

Forthcoming events

The Autumn Texas Scramble on Saturday, 5 October has one or two spaces left.

Sunday, 6 October Ladies Medal and Men’s short course Stableford.

Friday, 18 October the AGM, all details and information have been posted in the clubhouse.

Captains Drive-in on Saturday, 19 October, is now open for entry. Slight change to this year, join the Captains for a bacon or sausage bap, stay and watch the rugby World Cup, which we hope England will be playing. This will be followed by the ‘Putt Out’ of the past captains and the ‘Drive-in’ of the new Captains. The annual golf event will follow with a shotgun start at 12.30pm.

You are welcome to join the Captains anytime during the morning for breakfast, please indicate this on the sign-up sheet.

The Winter Knockout is now open for entry on the PSI.

Are you part of the 70%?

The popularity of Distance Measuring Devices (DMDs) has been growing for several years as golfers seek as much help as possible whilst out on the course. Our recent survey indicated that over 70% of you choose to use one, so we thought we'd highlight one of our favourites in this week's newsletter.

Garmin Approach S40 watch

GPS devices are not just about reading front, middle and back yardages. Well, in some cases they are, but not when it comes to Garmin’s Approach S40 watch.

As we know, the course can be played several different ways and the Approach S40 displays distances to hazards and doglegs at a glance, which will prove vital when trying to take your course management to the next level.

In fact, at this time of the year when a wet course is a regular occurrence, knowing your yardages has never been more important. This is where the S40 comes into its own as it allows you to alter the pin's position on your watch so you can get highly accurate distances.

Pretty clever stuff! We have a brilliant review video that you can view by clicking the link below.

explore Garmin GPS devices >

Ready, set...

We do not have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times slow play has been highlighted on Tour this year. However, one such solution to speed up the game is ready golf, but what exactly is it?

Ready golf dictates that players should play when they are ready to do so rather than adhering to the ‘farthest from the hole plays first’ rule.

For example, if you’re ready to play whilst your playing partner – who is further away from the hole than you – is still assessing their shot, ask if you can go first before executing your shot.

It's important to note that whilst ready golf is encouraged, it is not an actual Rule of Golf so needs to be agreed with your playing partners first.

If you have any Rules queries or have your own opinions on how to combat slow play, we’d love to hear from you via the button below.

get in touch >

Video of the Week

The flop shot is one of the best looking shots in golf, which is made to look incredibly easy by the world's best. Unluckily for Tyrrell Hatton, his first take here didn't quite go to plan…

I hope you have enjoyed this week's update.
We hope to see you soon
Gary, Tracy and Chris

Hockley Golf Club
Twyford
Winchester Road
Twyford
SO21 1PL

Phone: 01962 713165(2)

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