Gary Stubbington

Hello Golfers,

Welcome to this week's newsletter, which contains a great quiz on the past decade of golf for you to give a go, as well as the latest golfing challenge that’s well worth trying at home.

Into May already and week 7 of lockdown in the Stubbington household, and we have now exhausted all of our jobs, all I can be thankful for is that we have a small garden and the fence painting didn’t take too long!

I hope you are all keeping a little more sane than I am, if lockdown has taught me anything it’s that I miss the day to day running of the pro shop and having a good chat with you; the members and just how much I love golf, I didn’t invest in a practice net so I haven’t managed to hit many golf balls other than some putts on the carpet. I can’t wait to get back.

I think aside from a game of golf the first thing most of us are looking forward to is seeing family, but will we be able to give them a 'hug' is the big question? Both of our sons are fit and well, Jack has taken on a garden project of extending their patio and Ben appears to be 'back to normal' in America apart from working. Their only restriction seems to be social distancing as he has been playing golf weekly, shopped in Walmart and visited his girlfriends family, only in America! His wedding in September is on 'Pause' at the moment until we know what is happening with the hospitality sector.

This coming weekend is a Bank holiday and Friday would have been our first Texas Scramble event of the year followed by the VE Cup on Saturday, we are hoping that these events can be re scheduled later in the year.

Stay safe and enjoy the read. Gary and the golf team.

Shop news

We've begun to make plans for the pro-shop opening which include;

- Contactless payment or account use

- 2m Zones around the till

- Hand sanitiser station

- Sneeze/Cough Screen around the till

- No more than 2 people in the shop

- One way entrance/exit & More … we've got lots in the pipeline to make it a SAFE place.

So, we are likely to be turning down all cash which means topping up your pro-shop account before we open. Maybe the best option would be to ‘Top Up’ your pro shop accounts in advance, this will save time and no need to bring any cards with you. Anyone who tops up their account with £50 or more, up to a maximum of £200 we will give you AN EXTRA 10%.

There are several ways to do so:

E mail hockleygolfclub@btconnect.com and I will give you bank details to do a bacs payment

Call the shop on Friday 8th May between 12 noon and 2pm to make a card payment or let me have a contact number and I will call you.

REMEMBER - We are still awaiting a set date for a safe return to golf.

Product Update / When we return....

Titleist TS Drivers Now ONLY £349

Titleist TS Fairway Now ONLY £199

Campaign extensionto 3rdJuly! TaylorMade Balls - Buy 3 Dozen Personalised TP5/TP5x, Get 1 Dozen Free

Our Men's and Ladies Spring/Summer clothing is still waiting for you, so I hope this good weather continues well into 'After Lockdown'.

Stay Safe

You will see new signs appearing around the shop to help us ALL stay safe.Please take the time to read them, you will have seen many like this if you have been to your local supermarket, unfortunatley this will be the new 'Norm' for a while.

Member news

One omission from last week, I forgot to wish Danny Munro a very Happy 80th Birthday, sorry Danny I hope you had a good day, not spent how you had planned, but hopefully you can celebrate at a later date with your Hockley friends?

Sent in from member Bob Nesbitt:

Are you aware of the 18 hole golf course which starts in Ceduna and ends in Kalgoorlie ( Nullabor plain, Australia of course). 1365 km or about 820 miles. A single hole can be played in each participating town or roadhouse along the Eyre Highway, each featuring a green, a tee and a fairway of rugged outback natural terrain. Providing a quintessential Australian experience, the Nullarbor Links golf course is a unique attraction to the great Australian drive across the Nullarbor Plain. The course is clearly signposted, with golfing equipment available for hire at every tee.

visit www.nullarborlinks.com for more information on this course.

They wouldn't have any problems with 'Social Distancing!'

Golf's greatest rivalries

We want to hear from you

There’s much debate as to golf’s greatest rivalry. From one era to the next, elite players have gone head-to-head and produced some truly memorable moments on the course.

At this current time, there’s a whole host of young talent jostling for position at the top of the rankings: McIlroy, Koepka, Rahm and Thomas to name just a few. However, in terms of a rivalry between two golfers, we don’t seem to have that right now.

So, we want to know what your favourite golfing rivalry has been through the years. Click the link below to head to our website and take part in our poll.

Enter our poll here.

Did you know?

Fact of the week

In 1971, Alan Shepard – the first American astronaut in space – became the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon. Here’s what he said to the USGA after landing back on earth:

“I shanked the first one; it rolled into a crater about 40 yards away. The second one, I kept my head down. I hit it flush and it went at least 200 yards.”

Fact of the week

In 1971, Alan Shepard – the first American astronaut in space – became the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon. Here’s what he said to the USGA after landing back on earth:

“I shanked the first one; it rolled into a crater about 40 yards away. The second one, I kept my head down. I hit it flush and it went at least 200 yards.”

It's quiz time

What can you remember from the last decade?

We hope you enjoyed last week's Silhouette Challenge; some were certainly easier than others.

The end of 2019 also marked the end of a decade, but how much can you remember - on a golfing front - from those 10 years?

Put your memory to the test with this week's quiz as we challenge you to recall some amazing feats in the world of golf. Good luck!

take this week's quiz >

adidas CODECHAOS Cube - WIN adidas Golf Gear

Weekly challenge

Much like the pitch shot that fizzes onto the green and stops dead on the second or third bounce, the flop shot always looks spectacular when you pull it off. It’s the inspiration behind this week’s challenge, so grab your highest lofted wedge and take to the garden for our Flop Shot Challenge.

The set-up

Like the images above, place a garden trug or bucket on top of a table facing away from the house with the aim of landing the ball inside. You can also play this game by putting something tall in front of you – garden fork or washing line – that you need to get the ball up-and-over.

Not confident?

Flop shots aren’t the easiest shot to play, which is why they do look great when executed to perfection. If you’d rather attempt something different, you can modify this challenge by placing your garden trug on the floor and see how many you can chip in – but it can’t bounce first!

send us a message >

Golf at home

Hopefully, you’re finding our Golf at Home drills useful in keeping your golf game ticking over during lockdown – maybe, even improving it?! For this week we’ve gone back to basics and have found an effective way of checking one of golf’s key fundamentals…

Alignment is key

Getting your set-up spot on is easier said than done, but getting it right more often than not will certainly help your golf game on the course.

One part that often changes over time is our alignment, which incorporates far more than just where the clubface is aiming.

How to check

Find some flooring in your house or garden that runs in straight lines. Place a ball down and set up as if you’re hitting a straight shot.

From here, check whether your feet, hips and shoulders are running parallel to each other by using the flooring as a visual cue.

send us a message >

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Video of the Week

If you're a watcher of golf on TV then you'll be fully aware of the brilliant Wayne 'Radar' Riley. In this video from PING, we take a look at the best bits of his 'A Round with Radar' series, including cameos from Lee Westwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Enjoy.

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