Lots of you took part in our US Open sweep - I reckon Matt Kuchar has got to win a major soon, he’s so consistent on tough courses. Pinehurst looks awesome with the waste areas instead of the usual deep US Open rough.
Luke had a busy few days last week. On Tuesday he drove to Bristol and back to complete his second year PGA coaching course which he passed and means he can now coach regular golfers. Then he returned to Brocton in the evening to practice before heading to South Staffs on Wednesday to play in the Lotus Financial South Staffs Invitational last week in the first of four Major tournaments which make up the Midland PGA circuit Order of Merit.
He was leading after the first round with 2 under par, along with Paul Broadhurst which earned him the front page feature of the PGA website:
http://www.pga.info/regions/england-%28midlands%29/news/2014/06/rookie-howe-joins-the-lotus-pacesetters.asp
Teeing off in the last group on the second and final round saw him compete in the worst of the conditions with rain-softened greens and strong winds but he held on to shoot level par and finish third while Paul Broadhurst surged to a 4 shot win. I know he was disappointed not to win, especially as he took a treble bogey on the 17th with some bad luck in a green side bunker but all the top players in the Midlands were competing, so he held his own and now sits in 3rd place in the Order of Merit.
I was talking to him about how he played the last few holes and it struck me how intelligently he manages his way around the course. Take the par five 16th hole as an example. It was playing into the wind and features out of bounds tight to the right side of the green. He was 260 yards out after his drive and decided to give his 3 wood a rip at the green. Many of us would choose to run a low iron under the wind, get close to the front and aim to pitch and putt for the birdie, thereby taking the possibility of going out of bound by the green out of the equation. Luke’s solution was to recognise that his bad shot is to the right if he goes 100% at a shot, so he turned his hands round to the right on the grip slightly, to produce a hook and hit it hard knowing that if he missed the green, as long as he missed to the left, he had a chance of getting up and down for the birdie - which he duly did.
There were some other holes we spoke about that really impressed me the way he managed his way around the course and he can now pass that information onto you. Luke is now available for coaching and in particular, course management sessions. The sessions are £35 for an hour and can be booked in the Pro Shop. He has plenty of experience playing with amateurs of different playing abilities from our times competing in Pro-Ams and has a knack of getting the best out of people on the course. If you’d rather share your time on the course with another golfer, that’s fine, two of you can share an hour’s course management lesson for £25 each. But, not this week - Luke’s competing in the National Assistant’s Championship at Coventry Golf Club!
Congratulations to Richard Le Page who has been selected to represent England for the second time in the World Deaf Golf Championships in Chicago in 4 weeks time. He found out this week that he had made the coveted team. Good luck Rich!
Well done Emma Greatrex in winning Carol Sault's Lady Presidents Day last week. Emma came for some coaching on Monday and was struggling with her strike so it was great to see her win such a prestigious title so soon after.
Well done Emma!
Tuesday Social this week:
- Daz Poole 21
- Graham Matthews 20
- Sam Harvey 19
- Matt Aldred 19
- Rich Le Page 19
- Ian Thwaites 18
So far we’ve had over 200 golfers play on Tuesday evenings in the 9 hole social stableford events and most weeks have seen a different winner.
Clubs being built in the workshop this week:
- Mizuno MP4 Blades - 4-pw Dynamic Gold shafts - soft-stepped.
- Mizuno MP64 irons - 4-pw Dynamic Gold shafts Mizuno
- MPT4 wedges - Dynamic SPINNER shafts
- Titleist 913 D3 driver - ACCRA CS1 Tour Issue shaft
- Titleist 913 D2 driver - ACCRA AC65 shaft
- Titleist 913 fairway 3 and 5 - Aldila RIP Phantom 80 shaft
- PING G5 - Reshaft Grafalloy Prolaunch Blue 65S
- Titleist blades bend lie 2 degrees upright.
