Welcome

It's a good few years since I've seen the course looking as parched as it has been lately but it's no wonder, since March 1st this year we've had just two days of rain and one day of snow. In fact last week we experienced five days with above 30*C temperatures and during the same week last year the course was closed for three days for flooding. 

Everyone is reporting huge distance increases due to the extra roll but Brocton tends to bite back by making it more difficult around the greens when it gets very firm. I like to think that it's down to the amazing architectural skill of Harry Vardon, that he laid out a course which plays equally as well but as challenging when it's dry as when it's wet. What makes it play better these days when it's dry is the fact the fairways are left a little longer and keep their colour, plus the aeration on the greens last week seems to have worked a treat and the greens are holding a well struck shot off the fairway.


 

Nearest To The Pin

I promised last week to tell you why the LPGA Tour players are better from 100-150 yards than the PGA Tour players. When the flag is on the front of the green this also has a relevance for playing at Brocton. The ladies outperform the men when faced with a pin position which is on the front of the green, because of the clubs they are going in with. 

There are two clubs in the bag which have the ability to dramatically change the distance the ball travels by altering the backspin rate. In coaching we call these 'non-neutral' clubs and they are the driver and lofted wedges. A 'neutral' club would be all the rest and wouldn't be able to achieve a big influence on flight through spin. To show you, I hit some shots on my GC Quad launch monitor taking 10,000 photos per second of the club hitting the ball, with a 6 iron and a 56 degree sand wedge.



Here are 3 shots hit with a 6 iron - remember this is a 'Neutral' club. This chart shows that the distance isn't affected much by the spin - 9 yards between the longest and shortest shots - when the spin is 6000 rpm, the ball carries 178 yards, it then loses 4 yards when the spin is 6,500rpm and loses another 5 yards when the spin gets over 7,000rpm. The height, speed and launch angle aren't affected much at all.



Here are 3 full shots hit with a sand wedge - a 'Non-Neutral' club. There is a much greater difference in backspin from shot to shot here and therefore the distance changes a lot - 15 yards between the longest and shortest shots. You can see the ball speed and height vary a lot more than the 6 iron also. 

This sand wedge has gone 88 yards average - if this was a PGA Tour player going to a front hole location, one of the shots goes way too far and can leave a horrible putt back, one of the shots is spot on and one of them finishes short in a hazard or similar. A much more consistent option would be to take a more 'Neutral' club to hit with which is exactly what the ladies on the LPGA Tour do.



Here are 3 shots I've hit with a more neutral 46 degree pitching wedge:

The backspin variance is now similar to the 6 iron, the speed, launch and height are almost identical shot to shot and there's only 4 yards between the longest and shortest shot. So, a PGA Tour player may be hitting a sand wedge from 120, whereas an LPGA player may be hitting a pitching wedge or 9 iron and getting much more consistent results. The PGA Tour players cure is to take extra club and hit it softly - just like Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar and Luke Donald, all great wedge players. 

That is exactly what we should do as club golfers with a front pin position!

There is one factor which is massively in our favour at Brocton, if we slightly mis-hit a shot, the ball usually ends up short of our target. On Tour that's often disaster but at Brocton I would almost always want to leave the ball short of the hole when it's a red-flag position, at the front. 

If you have any questions or comments about this topic, please click here and I'll answer them for you.


 

Bunker Research Project

I've had quite a few responses for my Bunker Research Project mentioned last week, I could do with a few more guinea pigs, particularly if you are a slower swinger. I also haven't had any lady golfers on the list yet. Please click here if you'd like to help.


 

A Trip To Woburn

I played at Woburn on the Duke's course on Monday which is a stunning golf course - but oh so tough! I'm happy to report the fairways, greens and indeed bunkers were identical to ours in terms of grass, texture and condition, in fact our greens are quicker - and the green fee is 4 times ours. Ian Poulter was there practicing too although I didn't think it fair to remind him of the fiver I took off him in a long drive contest!!

  


 

Junior Open

Well done to Junior Organiser, Steve Kanes, and the huge team of helpers who ensured the Junior Open was a massive success at the weekend. We had 54 entries which is the most ever and everyone I spoke to was impressed with the level of effort put into the event. Even more impressive was the winning score of Brocton member Owen Mills who fired a gross 76, nett 60!! Owen is a great lad and plays in most medals, mixing in with the adults and his handicap has now dropped by 3. This was his first score in the 70's and demolished a quality field as they all play for Midland junior Order of Merit points.

Click here for the full result on the Brocton website.

Junior Coaching

Here's a picture from Junior coaching on Saturday where I asked the kids to come up with a golf obstacle course. I think they enjoyed running around it more than hitting a golf ball around it! 

If you would like to get involved with the junior coaching please click here.




Tuesday Social

The Tuesday Social was won by Craig Nesbitt with 21 points this week. This is the first week of another Order of Merit season and we've had 122 individual golfers play so far this year which is fantastic. The winners of the three leagues for the first Order of Merit season are: 

Rolls Royce division: David Robertson 
Ford Fiesta division: Richard Le Page 
Reliant Robin division: Chris Leonard

Also best wishes to the Captain for his Day on Sunday, I can't believe it's mid-season already!