The Open Championship didn't fail to disappoint with a very worthy winner and one of the best spectator events in golf for a while, it seems that most of Brocton Hall was there last week soaking up the atmosphere. 

Isn't it incredible that the same golfers you watch on the practice ground not missing a shot, can be the same ones who miss the greens with a wedge, leave shots in bunkers, go straight under the ball, shank shots into grandstands and miss backhanded putts!? 

It goes to show how anything can happen at this game, after all as Brocton's Colin Ward once suggested  "The difficulty is making this biological form perform a consistent mechanical action!". It's worth remembering how poorly the ball can be hit at times and still score well, we've all had a disaster in the middle of a good round but that doesn't have to spell disaster for the remainder of the round. 

Another great quote was in a seminar from Butch Harmon - "You only need three or four great shots in 18 holes to produce a great round of golf, and a great shot could simply be a tricky downhill 3 footer to save par, not a 3 iron out the rough over water to a tight pin!" 

The Open Sweep was well supported, click here to see the winners

Next up is the final sweep for the year with the USPGA which opens next week.



I've recently bought a device called GAME GOLF which is a GPS tracking system. You fit a small tag into the grip end of each golf club and then touch the club to a small device that fits onto your belt before each shot. After the round you connect it to your computer and the round is viewable on an overhead picture of your course with loads of stats - fairways hit, greens hit, scrambling, average distances and much more.

I first came across it 3 years ago and it appears they couldn't get the necessary funding to release it, this year however Lee Westwood, Graham McDowell and Jim Furyk have all invested in it and it's come to market. Time will tell how useful it is. One of the requirements with this new deviceI is to find out how my pupils are playing on the course - (as just mentioned it can be different to the practice ground for all skill levels). My conversation when meeting a pupil will often go like this: 

PRO: "So, where are you losing most of your shots?" 
PUPIL: "Not sure, my putting's ok" 
PRO: "Ok, so if you missed a tee shot or approach shot, where would the ball go?" 
PUPIL: "I tend to get a bit quick and lift my head" 
PRO: "And where would the ball tend to go?" 
PUPIL: "I don't like hitting my 5 iron at the moment" 
PRO: "So, where would your 5 iron miss the green?" 
PUPIL: "I'm not sure" 
PRO: "If you played the 9th hole, would you miss in the water left more often or right of the green?" PUPIL: "I'm always knocking it in the water left!" 
PRO: "And does the ball curve that way or go straight left?" 
PUPIL: "It always curves left" 
PRO: "Ok, so that would mean you lose most of your shots from hooking the ball" 
PUPIL: "Oh yes, I definitely hook the ball, that's what I want to get rid of" 

Whilst this might seem quite comical, it's totally understandable as golfers don't tend to notice what's happening and it's our jobs as PGA Professionals to extract the information. Most of coaching is stopping golfers working on the wrong thing, it's such a game of opposites.

I wore the GAME GOLF device at the Captain's Away Day at Enville last week, which was a glorious day. (Yes it is legal to use!). I played the best I've ever played there and largely due to the fact I only hit driver 6 times in 36 holes and even then it cost me a double bogey on the last hole. What was bemusing was why everyone else chose to hit driver on such a tight course? If you're playing off 14 handicap, you're not expected to hit any of the par 4's or 5's in regulation - miss a fairway there and you'll struggle to hit the greens in 1 over regulation. 

Having said that, you must play to your strengths and Bob Walker was the overall winner of the 36 hole Springfield Cup, and Bob's most improved aspect of his game has been his driving, not long but very accurate which enabled him to be the only golfer under handicap for the day. 



My longest training ride is next week as I cycle to Leicester and back, competing 85 miles in readiness for the London Ride 100 on August 10th. I've got to go to the Excel arena on Saturday to register with 24,000 others and then stay nearby with one of the member's sons - Kevan Wassell. 

We've got a 5 mile bike ride to the start line at the Olympic Park and after finishing at Buckingham Palace, we get a boat back along the Thames and then cycle back to the hotel! I'm raising money for the Katherine House Hospice which is a hugely respected charity in the area and hope to raise £2000 for them. Please donate in the shop or by visiting www.justgiving.com/nevilbland  



The Captain and I had a great match against the leading qualifiers for the Captain/Pro challenge, club champion Mike Dewsbury off scratch and a very consistent Ian Ashton off 5. We managed to finish all square after being 2 down with four holes to play - any pair that beat us over 18 holes will playoff for the trophy but we've won 5 out of 5 matches so far with 3 to play. 

Click here to see Mike playing a shot out of the water on the 9th, it almost went in the hole! 



The County U12 and U14 championship was held at Brocton on Tuesday and I'm delighted to say that Hannah Golding won once again in the girls category and another pupil, Ethan Evans won the boys with a fantastic nett 64. 

Here's Hannah with her trophy in front of the 'Wall of Success' which is getting filled with Hannah's writing. Ethan - get your name on there next time you're at the club, which I guess is going to be everyday! 

Tuesday Socail golf results this week - each golfer was allowed a free throw of the ball from off the green. 

- 1st Mick Dilworth 21 points (playing well after his lesson!) 
- 2nd Andy Metcalfe 20 
- 3rd Nigel Metcalfe 17 
- 4th Josh Smith 15 
- 5th Sam Harvey and Ned Edwards 15 

Maurice Braden threw his ball into the hole on the 8th but It looks as though I need to be giving throwing lessons as many others threw their ball into a bunker or off tree, further into the rubbish! 



Summer Clothing Sale 

All mens, ladies and juniors summer clothing - buy 1 item, get another HALF PRICE. This doesn't include Brocton Hall logo items but we can embroider the badge onto any garment you've bought from us for just £5 and you get to choose the colour and style.