Welcome to another edition of our newsletter, in this week’s mail we look back at the U.S Open with a moment of madness for Phil, we invite you to come and join us for England’s final group game, we have some new arrivals in the Pro Shop, and Steve scoops the hole in one pot. Enjoy the read!
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The U.S Open – Shinnecock Hills What a spectacle the U.S Open was, with patchy greens, dubious pin positions and even more dubious rules infringements. For those that haven’t seen it, Phil Mickelson hit a putt on Saturday on the 13th and as it started to roll off the green, he ran around and purposely hit it back to the hole whilst it was speeding away from him, incurring a two shot penalty for hitting a moving ball. His argument was that if he had let the ball roll off, he could have been there all day trying to get it back onto the green. Apparently he’d considered taking this course of action in the past on occasion and assumed the two shot penalty would occur. He could have also been penalised for stopping a moving ball and deemed to have made a serious breach of etiquette resulting in a DQ. I like the notion with golf that you hit the ball and then play it as it lies unless the rules allow otherwise, but surely the ball has to stop moving before you can play it as it lies?
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Lee Westwood summed it up well when he remarked how unfair it would be that someone played from the back of the 15th at Augusta, saw their ball trickling towards the water over the green and ran around and knocked it back on. Same situation and outcome as Mickelson’s shot this week. Imagine if your opponent in matchplay did it as a ball was rolling back into an impossible spot in a bunker? Or on our 9th hole in foursomes, one player stands on the water’s edge while the other one tees off and stops the ball going in the water? Where do you draw the line? This is where I think the USGA messed up by being too lenient on this occasion. The pin positions drew much criticism from the players but it’s easy to see where the USGA got caught out by the dry wind making the pins appear much tougher than they would have been had they been there for the damper Friday round. Whilst charting our greens at Brocton, there are some easy pin positions which are a matter of 2 or 3 feet away from very hard or near impossible spots. The U.S Open sweep results are in the Pro Shop now and all the winners have been credited. Come and have a look to see if you won anything, remember - there was a prize for worse score each day as well. The Open Championship sweep will be up by the weekend, funny to think that in 12 months’ time The Open will be the final Major of the year.
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Tuesday Social – Girl power I played in the Tuesday Social with Maria-Tiffany Thompson on Tuesday and she scored well with 19 points off 16 handicap to finish 4th. We have a great junior girls section at the club at the moment accounting for nearly half the membership. Ellie Ashley-Brown is the Junior Captain, her Vice-Captain, Hannah Golding, has been finishing high up in national events recently, Ellie Treadwell came 1st and 4th in two events at Tenby last week in an Open Week and I was helping out an 11 year old girl from Delamere with her clubs last week who plays off 9 handicap! The Junior Open takes place on Sunday - local knowledge plays a big part in these fiery conditions so good luck to you all, bring home the bacon! (Or the prizes of course!). Tuesday Social results can be found on the Facebook page here. This week’s winner of the parking space was Will Hall - aka Boo, which saved us some printing costs!
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Will they go all the way? We have another special social golf event to coincide with the England World Cup game next Thursday. 9 holes stableford, £2 entry, tee off between 3 and 6pm and then retire to the clubhouse to watch the match on the media centre in the lounge and choose from a selection of special meals. The match kicks off at 7pm and the golf is open to everyone with a CONGU handicap. No need to book, just turn up and play.
Let me know if you are interested here.
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New arrivals Three notable new arrivals in the Pro Shop this week: 1. We have been selected to receive one of only seven custom fit kits for Miura golf clubs, the famed Japanese club company working to the tightest tolerances which has been a popular brand for over a decade at Brocton. 2. We have 14 Scotty Cameron demo putters for you to try out including left handed. Each one is different which gives you a great opportunity to test different styles on the putting green. 3. Titleist FREE drinks bottle with the purchase of a dozen Velocity balls. The Velocity has been called a ‘guilty secret’, a ball that some good players like to use but wouldn’t want it known as it is a distance ball primarily. In my tests it produces good amounts of backspin and I’d place it mid-range for spin but it definitely produces the longest carry yardages of any ball I’ve tested.They are £22.50 per dozen and the bottle is FREE!
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Hole in one alert! Well done to Steve Hirst who achieved a hole in one on the 9th in the medal on Sunday. He scoops the £500 Hole-In-One pot with half of it in shop credit and the other half more than pays the bar bill! Many golfers dread getting a hole in one on a busy day for the bar bill reason and this pot changes all that. The good news is that it’s been over a year since the last qualifying ace so the second pot is also at £500 now so we’re playing for the same prize straight away. A week earlier golfers received £26 each just for scoring a Two (helped by two golfers not entering the sweep and getting a 2!)
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Summer golf throws up different requirements and skill sets to that of winter golf, and you’ll often find yourself in positions or playing shots that you wouldn’t necessarily face at the other times of the year. The checklist below highlights the main performance differences you’ll notice between seasons, with an emphasis on distance in the winter and control in the summer. |
A great option all-year round
These factors can make settling on one ball confusing, so here are our thoughts on why the Mizuno JPX could be your perfect option. Not only does its micro-dimple design reduce drag on ball flight descents for longer winter distance you’ll love, but it’s also Mizuno's softest compression two-piece ball for the fantastic feel you need to tackle firmer summer greens. |  |
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