My Trip to The Scottsdale Classic
Thanks to FootJoy and Mizuno clothing, my team for the Pro-Am in Arizona won the best dressed team award. What an up and down week you can have on desert courses over four rounds. We were four shots ahead of the field after nine holes of the first round, yet finished last overall even though we came second and won the sweep on the last day.
I managed to keep out of the 70's each round, shooting (-3) 69 at Grayhawk, followed by 80, 81, 81, 68 (-4) and I got to 3 under after 12 holes at the TPC course where they hold the Phoenix Open. Playing the 16th par 3 where they have 30,000 people in the purpose built stadium is a scary prospect, even when there's no-one there. Here's a picture from the 16th and one of me driving at 18 where I made birdie from the back tees, which would have won me $1.2million in the playoff.
The pro's fiddle from the weekend saw a few hardy souls venturing out in the cold wind chill.
In first place saw Eddie Saunders and Ben Porter who shot a fantastic score of 41 points, and both earning £15 each.
In second place saw Rich Le Page and Ryan Collier who also shot a fantastic score of 39 points, and both earning £12 each.
Two's
- Craig Draper - Won £6
- Maurice Howell - Won £6
- Eamonn Gormley - Won £6
Mizuno JPX Driver
I took the new Mizuno JPX driver out to Arizona for the pro-am recently. I've been using the previous JPX model for a couple of years and I was mightily impressed by the feel and forgiveness of it. As golf out there is mainly focused on carry and we didn't have a breath of wind all week, I cranked the loft up to 11.5 degrees and I was launching the thing. On the last day I hit every par 5 in two shots and they were all over 530 yards long. The club I've got is the demo and we can change the following five aspects of it to suit.
SHAFT - multitude of options with 'Real' shafts not OEM versions.
LOFT - Change from 8.5 up to 12.5 degrees.
SHOT SHAPE - Change from draw bias to fade bias weighting.
FLIGHT - Change from low spin penetrating flight to high spin high flight.
FACE ANGLE - This can also be adjusted so it looks correct at address for you.
Plus, don't forget I also have the ability to change the length, swing weight, overall weight, grip size and grip type. That's ten customisable aspects in just one driver.
Please click here to request a fitting.
The Callaway Epic and the TaylorMade M2
I've also got the new Callaway Epic driver to demo and the new TaylorMade M2 to add to our other options of PING G, Srixon 565 and 765 and Yonex. The best way to test a driver is to hit shots in the studio under controlled conditions. You can see the ballfight on the simulator and we can use the same ball and same shaft for every shot for consistency. Click Here if you'd like a driver fitting which includes a check on the ball type you should use, the correct tee height for you and necessary setup or swing thoughts, all for just £30.
Kitchen Closed
The Kitchen is closed at the moment for the first clear out and re-furb in 25 years. Just look at the amount of clearing out they've managed in the first morning, all hands to the pump with all chef's doubling up as labourers. New flooring, painting and then the great job of putting everything back exactly as you'd like it before it opens again for a busy year ahead.
Course Works
The course is receiving just as much attention with the hollow-timing procedure taking place if the weather behaves. We also have extensive drainage to the 6th fairway and to two greens undergoing which will be interesting to see the difference it makes as the wetted winters have been making more of an impact over recent years.
New arrivals in the shop this week come from ECCO as our shoe wall expands for the season ahead. There's some great new styles including men's Gore-Tex models and some funky ladies styles.
