Nevil Bland

Hello Golfers,

Welcome to another edition of our newsletter, in this week’s mail we have a great offer on some winter shoes, Tiger rolled back the years at the Tour Championship, and we talk Ryder Cup with only a few days to go. Enjoy the read!

Shop news

Winter Shoe Sale

We get asked a lot at this time of year if we have any ‘winter shoes’ in. In days gone by the manufacturers used to mostly make non-waterproof shoes, adding a black waterproof model for the winter. Who remembers the plastic Barratt shoe? These days nearly all shoes are waterproof and the only lasting element of the old days would be that we stock more black shoes for the winter.

So, we have a Winter Shoe Sale for the Ryder Cup weekend. We have five pairs of the Cage shoe at £30 off, featuring an injection moulded cage that wraps from the heel, through the midsole and across the toe for stability and comfort. They normally sell at £149 and will be priced at just £119 for this weekend. We have a size 42,43,44,45 and 46.

Ladies clothing

You’ll see a new range of ladies clothing in the Pro Shop regularly from now on, as we’ve teamed up with a specialist ladies golf supplier and will be constantly refreshing the ranges every few weeks - many of the garments are also at sale prices when we receive them as well. This week we have Green Lamb and Daily Sports. Pop in each week and you’ll have a good chance of being the only one wearing a particular style and grabbing yourself a bargain.

Tour news

The Tiger effect!

On this side of the pond we may not really appreciate the significance of the whole FedEx Cup playoff as we’re not used to playoff seasons for sports over here, but this year’s event was almost exciting enough to drag people away from the final episode of ‘The Bodyguard’!

As Tiger Woods entered the last round with a 3 shot lead and Justin Rose had one hand firmly on the $10 million winner’s bonus, it was likely to be an entertaining game, but what unfolded was not foretold. My favourite golf to watch was when Tiger had a lead going into the last round and watching how he managed his game, it was incredible how all the others around him would be forced to play aggressively and quickly fall by the wayside - the much touted ’Tiger Effect’. Over recent years it’s a well-considered view that this effect would no longer be a reality, even if Tiger got back to winning ways, but the opening hole at the Tour Championship on Sunday proved otherwise. Amazingly the closest contenders wound back the clock and quickly disappeared from view to leave Tiger out on his own.

What was more astounding was when the announcers showed a graphic of the 6 positions the other players would need to finish in, to enable Tiger to actually win the FedEx - probably tougher than winning a major as it’s over 6 weeks of golf instead of 4 rounds. The highly unlikely scenario of every key player having to finish out of the reckoning began to hold true one by one and it all came down to Justin Rose needing to birdie the last hole to keep the $10 million which had almost been in his pocket for 2 days. Happily for him a fortuitous bounce on the last secured the pot, Tiger won the Tour championship for his 80th tournament win and they all flew to Paris for the Ryder Cup with bags full of excitement.

With so many good players in both teams, who play against each other so many times during the year, it must be the closest thing you could get to a ‘professional golfer’s lads golf trip away’ being featured on prime time TV. I know they all take it very seriously and there is history and pride at stake, but it can’t be like it was 30 years ago where golfers from either side of the pond wouldn't have mixed much. Even our wildcard picks like Stenson and Garcia and our rookies like Tommy Fleetwood are good friends or well known to the top American players, expect to see some quality show-boating from both teams.

Just imagine how the Ryder Cup would be if crowds weren’t allowed and you could only watch it on TV, it would be a total non-event. I recall a PGA Tour event where the crowd weren’t allowed to spectate because of damage caused by high winds the previous day, producing an eerie atmosphere and less aggressive golf from the competitors. I usually think that Europe have the upper hand going into the event due to the team spirit but this year the Americans have such a strong team and Tiger is going to be such a talisman that I can’t see us winning I’m afraid, although the recent run of big tournaments have featured Europeans strongly so I’m happy to be wrong.

Pro's news

Wind stops play!

Speaking of windy conditions, we all had to come off the course in the Midland Pro’s Championship last week at Shifnal as the course closed mid-afternoon due to the safety concerns with the strong wind. I managed 28 holes before the event got cut back to the first 18. It’s amazing how a good summer is bad for golf courses as every course we’ve played is struggling with the fairways showing a lack of growth or being left long to reduce scarring.A large tree also came down on the driveway at Brocton as pictured below.

Back to the Ryder Cup, there were two things I recall from the 2003 Ryder Cup at the Belfry which I attended every day taking Brocton members, including all the practice rounds.

1. Tiger teed off on his own at 6:30 am and spectators weren’t allowed in the grounds until 8am. By then he was finishing the 9 holes he was playing and he wore slightly different gear to the rest of the team.

2. Paul Azinger went back to his bag and took a wood out, instead of his iron as he later commented “I looked down at that iron with my hands shaking and I thought, I could miss that it looks so small”

This year I foretell Tiger lighting the event up and it promises to be one of the all-time best Ryder Cups, the pairings could be crucial and we must also consider that the players get so good at all the touch shots, that a change of ball manufacturer can also have a bearing on the scoring or the partner selections.

Layer up, autumn's here

Normally when you watch golf on TV, you see the world’s best showing off their golfer’s tan in their polos. When the Ryder Cup gets underway this week in Paris however, things will be a lot colder, and we’ll see golfers on both teams ditching the short sleeves and going for a golf-specific mid-layer to help them stay warm.

The middle man
One mid-layer which will guarantee you comfort on the course is Mizuno’s Move Tech jacket. This ultra-warm jacket features stretch panels to ensure freedom of movement, with Mizuno’s Tech Fill treatment helping to ensure the jacket maintains its warmth-giving volume through wear and washing.

explore Mizuno's range >

New irons to improve your game

Buying a set of clubs is exciting, but can be a tricky decision - you might love the look of the short irons, but feel a bit daunted by the longer clubs further up the set. However, you can always mix and match your clubs so that your long irons are more forgiving and your short irons are more workable, allowing you to strike approach shots from any distance with confidence.

Mix & match with Srixon

Why not try combining Srixon's Z series irons together? The hollow-body Z U85 would make a great replacement for your long irons as they're are longer and more forgiving than traditional designs, and provide total control from the tee or the fairway. The Z 585 is the perfect candidate for your mid-irons, with exceptional distance provided by an internal channel on the clubface insert to allow for more face-flex. For the lower end of your bag, the Z 785 comes with supreme workability so you can pepper the flag from every yardage imaginable.

explore Srixon's range >

Video of the Week

Thomas Bjorn chats to Foremost TV about captaining Team Europe in this week's Ryder Cup and how he's planning on regaining the trophy come Sunday evening.

Get out and get golfing!

Brocton Hall Golf Club
Sawpit Lane
Brocton
Stafford
ST17 0TH

Phone: 01785 661485

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