Welcome to another edition of our newsletter, in this week’s mail we have the result from a season opening competition, we look at how a wedge fitting can improve your short game, we have plenty of offerings available with the Brocton logo, and Titleist offer you 4 for 3 on the Pro V1 golf ball. Enjoy the read!
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Carl Tindall Trophy Last week I talked about the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass possibly pipping the Masters as the event which signals the start of the main golf season. How wrong I was, I forgot that it’s obviously the Scratch team versus the Club team match playing for the Carl Tindall Trophy. Played last Saturday, which for many involved partaking in the team ethos - “Play Hard, Party Harder” to it’s full extent! The format is three club members playing better-ball without any shots, against one scratch team member played off the very back tees and you wouldn’t see the course playing any longer than it did at the weekend. 6000 yards can play very long and the high wind probably favoured the club team as they managed to win 9.5 - 6.5. |
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Sharpen up your short game... In the Carl Tindall Trophy I played with Phil Jackson and Neil Flowers against Tom Beasley who plays off +1 at 19 years old and hits the ball dramatically straight - we lost 2&1. He looks to be setting off in 2019 as well as he performed in 2018 and he’s certainly got the measure of Brocton’s intricate putting surfaces these days, as Tom says ‘I’ve learnt that you have to play more break and die the ball into the hole around here’. |
I’ve got a great example of how wedge design, and particularly bounce, affects shots which we witnessed as Tom was trying a few different wedges out in the practice bunker this week. Bounce is a very misunderstood aspect of golf club design but is a major contributor to how the club will interact with the ground in tandem with the shape of the sole, referred to as the ‘Grind’, and other less important aspects like offset, lie and loft. Tom has played for a few years with a Nike wedge which have low bounce. This means that the leading edge of the club face sits very close to the turf and easily digs in. A ‘chicken and egg’ scenario then exists whereby Tom’s technique involves precisely nipping the ball off the turf - is it that Tom has developed this technique to match the wedge, or is it that the wedge totally suits Tom’s method? Because Tom is good with the wedges it doesn’t matter which way round produced the good result, but it does matter that we need to match the replacement wedges to the technique.
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We hit 5 yard bunker shots to test the effect of the sole grinds and bounces using identical loft clubs and Tom first played shots with his own wedge. He lays the face wide open to play a short, high shot and his own wedges were finishing near the pin. We used a Vokey wedge with a similar sole and the ball went the same distance. We then used a Mizuno wedge with more bounce and the ball flew almost twice as far even though the shot was struck with the same force and style. Finally we used a Cleveland wedge which I reckoned would be in between the other in terms of bounce and design and his shots fell exactly in between both of the other groups of balls. So, if you struggle to get the club into the sand and thin shots out, or if you struggle to get any distance out the sand, come along and we’ll have a look at the design of your wedges. We can either conduct a fitting if you want new ones or book a lesson if you want to check your technique out. Fittings involve coaching and coaching involves fitting so either way you’ll receive huge benefits. The sessions can be booked on my website at nevilbland.co.uk or you can request a booking by clicking here. Don’t leave it too long as even though I’m working every day, I’m booking 10 days in advance currently and I’m off to Turkey in a month with a mixed crowd from Brocton for some pre-season training.
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The only difference with Tom’s fitting was that we were changing tiny elements of the wedges and seeing a huge difference. Most golfers will also see a huge difference by changing wedge design, but normally because their current one is massively far off in terms of the bounce and sole design they should be using. Another good example from this week is a 36 handicap golfer who hits aggressively down into the sand (which is a good thing for them to do) and we have moved them out of a low lofted, low bounce sand wedge, into a high bounce, high loft model. This means they don’t have to try to ‘finesse’ a shot, they can blast it out the sand and save shots that way instead.
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Wear the Brocton logo… Here’s a picture of Seniors Captain, Ken Bailey, resplendent in his Brocton Hall logo top and official ‘Seniors Team’ headwear. The ladies, juniors, club and scratch teams all have matching outfits this year and Brocton Hall will certainly be modelled well on the Midlands fairways this year. The club and scratch team have the Heather Grey FJ shirt with the 125 year anniversary logo, but remember that you can have any shirt style and colour and pretty much any garment embroidered with the logo, the grey is predominantly for those playing in the matches. Katie’s produced sample garments of the logo and as the weather improves we’ll be having lots of clothing options for you to choose from. Also well done to Charlie Mears, David Haenelt and Joe McCandless who were accepted to the County junior coaching programmes at the weekend trials. A good start to the year!!
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Fancy two FREE Srixon golf balls? Srixon's Z-Star and Z-Star XV golf balls have been updated for 2019 to include a piece of technology dubbed FastLayer. Essentially, they've redesigned the ball's core to give you explosive distance but with the incredible softness that players crave. To get your hands on a sleeve to try, all you need to do is click on the link below and fill out your golfing profile; we'll then send you a voucher that you can print off and bring in-store to claim your FREE 2-ball sleeve - what's not to like? |
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[* END *] One FREE dozen, plus personalisation It's the middle of March, the evenings are getting lighter and The Masters is just around the corner (three weeks) which can only mean one thing: the golfing season is upon us! If there's one piece of equipment that all golfers need plenty of at this stage of the year it's golf balls, and where better to look than your very own pro shop? Right now, we're offering four dozen Titleist Pro V1/x or AVX for the price of three, with your own personal message or special play number available for FREE. |
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With the return of more golf-friendly weather and the Masters just around the corner, the season is edging ever closer to getting underway. So, with that in mind, let us ask you a question: What are you doing differently to ensure 2019 is a better year on the course than 2018 was? |
We want you to challenge us Our team has years of experience in helping golfers improve their games, from custom fitting golfers into the best driver for their game to helping them escape the sand first-time, every time. Whatever part (or parts) of your game needs working on, we have the expertise to help you get better.
It all starts with a non-obligatory chat with a member of our team, which will help us understand your game better and the areas that need working on. From there, it's your decision as to what you want to do. To get the ball rolling, click on the button below and leave us a message. |
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