Nevil Bland

Hello Golfers,

Welcome to another edition of our newsletter, in this week’s mail we look back at the latest goings on at the club, there is another ladies coaching group ready to get going, and we focus on the importance of the shaft. Enjoy the read!

Club news

Recent club events

Well done to everyone who played in the Nations Cup on Saturday - often touted as the best day of the year amongst the men’s section and this year didn’t disappoint as the greens were superb, it was warm enough to wear shorts, the banter was everywhere and the scoring was fantastic on a wind strewn course.

My partner in the ’Tuesday Social’ team, Ian Partington, was on fire as we tried to ensure our Captain, Mick Dilworth, didn’t sack us for next year following our no-score on the 1st hole! Jon Brookes was also in top gear after a very busy week sorting out team changes, as he did a very ‘Jools-Holland-esque’ journey around the room and introduced each team. Ben Gamble expertly hosted an auction for the Captains Charity and there were some great team outfits on display - no pictures of which will make it into this newsletter - you’ll have to play in it next year to get access to seeing them!

I hadn’t played at Brocton for two weeks and the growth on the course and fairways was very impressive and looking good as we head into the colder months - well done to Andy and the team for coping with the conditions throughout the year. It was evident watching the British Masters at Walton Heath that we have recovered from the drought better than many other courses and after two days of torrential rain, it was once again in great condition on Tuesday for probably the final Tuesday Social Golf event of the year. We’ve had over 200 different men and lady golfers playing this year and averaged over 50 golfers each week, teeing off between 3pm and 6pm, mixing in with everyone else and enjoying some great club spirit (and club spirits!) in the bar afterwards. Thanks to Katie for her help every week and to Mike for stepping in when we’ve not been able to make it, thanks to the bar and catering teams for looking after us and of course thanks to all of you for playing.

This week’s results are on the Facebook page where you can see that Pete Horsley won the coveted parking spot with 21 points, narrowly beating Harriet Fane who scored a very creditable 20 points just 48 hours after running her first Half Marathon at Birmingham in horrendous weather and raising £1800 for charity in the process!!

Coaching news

Ladies Turkey coaching

After a great week away golfing and partying in Turkey with my beginner ladies group, they’re keen to continue with the coaching and as mentioned last week, they’re a great advert for taking up the game. I also have another beginner group of ladies wishing to start, so if you know anyone who would like to join in, please let them know. We provide all the clubs and the cost is just £10 per week including a freshly brewed coffee. Click here for more information or to reserve a place.

Fitting news

Are you getting the best out of your shaft?

Getting back to Walton Heath and Eddie Pepperell’s popular win, did you hear about his last minute club change? One of his iron shafts had broken prior to the tournament and instead of replacing it he asked his club sponsors, Mizuno, if they would recommend another model of shaft. Using the clever DNA system, which I use at Brocton as just one of many ways to test for shaft suitability, they made a change of shaft model to one which is lower spinning and lower flying - ideal for the windy conditions experienced in Surrey.

Of course, us mere mortals aren’t lucky enough to be able to action such instant changes but I had three great similar examples this week where a different shaft made a HUGE difference to a golfers ability to play. Very often the industry talks about making products lighter and softer, using shafts and balls to generate more spin but that’s not always what’s needed.

1. A junior golfer has come down from a 22 handicap to 7 this year and was still using the light shafts that he’d been using for the past couple of years. The advice from the systems I use was to go to a much heavier stiffer option but this was too dramatic of a change for any golfer to adjust to, so we kept the weight the same as he used but went 4 flexes stiffer into Extra-Stiff (X) flex. The result was immediate with a much closer range of shots.

2. A new member had been using a set of irons with 90 gram graphite shafts which were also half an inch longer than he needed. There is nothing wrong with using light shafts, except this golfer was very strong and created immense acceleration at impact. Another change into X flex shafts and this time using some of the heaviest shafts on the market (40 grams heavier than his own) and this golfer could use a shorter length club better suited to him whilst actually gaining distance. The lighter weight had meant that he couldn’t feel where the club was during his swing and would cause unnecessary mis-hit shots.

3. I played with a golfer on Tuesday who possibly has the fastest swing speed with a driver that I’ve seen at the club and definitely the hardest acceleration - yet he’s using a light, Stiff flex driver shaft. I’m going to experiment with a Double Extra Stiff shaft (XX flex) and report back on what we find.

There are so many myths about golf shafts, probably more than any other component of the golf club. Every club in my bag has a graphite shaft in it and has been like that for a few years, yet I’m not after distance through using them which is common myth with graphite. Here’s what I use:

Driver - ACCRA Tour Z RPG - 60 grams - Stiff flex - The most stable shaft on the market made from premium Japanese Toray graphite. It feels like I can swing hard and the shaft will support it, yet swing soft and it will still work.

3 Wood - ACCRA FX370 - 70 grams - X Flex - Heavier than the driver as it’s shorter and designed to get the same flight as the driver, but off the fairway.

3 Hybrid - ACCRA FX370 - 80 grams - X Flex - Heavier again because it’s shorter in length, exactly the same dynamically matched feel as the 3 wood.

4 iron to pitching wedge - SteelFiber 110 gram - Stiff Flex - Heavier into the irons, 56 miles of super-thin steel wrapped around a graphite core to stop joint ache from practicing and make the clubs feel softer.

Gap, Sand and Lob wedge - SteelFiber 125 gram - Stiff Flex - Heavier again as I won’t swing these as hard and want the club to get through the grass and sand around the greens.

Putter - ACCRA FXP100 - The softest flex of 4 graphite putter shafts - makes the putter feel soft and responsive and makes me swing the putter smoothly.

I also use a driving iron, a 5 hybrid and a 62 degree extra lob wedge from time to time and these all have graphite shafts too. As you can see I use different flexes throughout my bag and that’s because some play stiffer than others PLUS I don’t want to feel that I’ll ever hit a ball to the left of target, or balloon the ball up into the air with the 3 wood and hybrid so the extra stiff shaft helps alleviate these misses. I don’t have the same concern with the other clubs so they remain at Stiff flex.

Next week I’ll show you how the bounce and sole of a wedge can make a big difference to your ability to play shots around the green.

Accuracy over distance

If you watched the Ryder Cup last month then one thing should have become clear to you: finding the fairway off the tee is a must. Whilst distance does help, there's no point thrashing a drive as far as you can if you don't hit the fairway, finding yourself cutting down trees as a result - as depicted in the illustration below.

Find the short stuff

In order to shoot lower scores, you need to put a premium on finding the fairway, something that a custom fitting for Srixon's Z 785 driver will certainly help with. Designed for maximum accuracy off the tee, the Z 785 boasts a Lightweight Carbon Crown which increases forgiveness for less destructive mishits - something that we could all benefit from.

explore Srixon's Z85 range >

Shake off a shower

As winter approaches, we can expect a lot of things with one certainty being rain, and a lot of it. We all know what this can lead to - feeling soaked out on the course, a barely readable scorecard and, in some cases, just a generally miserable round of golf. Enter, golf-specific waterproofs….

Those disgruntled feelings of being drenched during your 18 holes will be a thing of the past, once you've got your hands on Mizuno's Nexlite Rain jacket. It has an incredible level of waterproofing, being able to hold 20,000mm of water, but is still incredibly lightweight. It features detachable sleeves, making it versatile across the whole year, and even doubles as a wind top; we wouldn't be surprised if it could even hit your tee shots for you.

learn more >

Spotlight: New PING Sigma 2 putters

There's a saying in golf that PING putters get better with age, yet its new range is pretty special.

Sigma 2 putters have a very soft feel thanks to its new face technology, but the main talking point is the adjustable-length shaft.

PING says 8 out of 10 players are playing the wrong-length putters and losing strokes as a result. Now, we can customize your putter so that you see a significant improvement on the greens by simply turning a tool at the top of the grip. Interested?

Get out and get golfing!

Brocton Hall Golf Club
Sawpit Lane
Brocton
Stafford
ST17 0TH

Phone: 01785 661485

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