The greatest show in golf, the Open, starts on Thursday at St Andrews. I’m very excited, how about you?

One or two of you have mentioned that there have been slight adjustments to your handicaps of late and that you weren’t sure why. This link here may help to explain why.

Remember we are hosting a Callaway demo day here on Friday 29th July between the hours of 1100 and 1500. If you would like to see how your clubs compare to their latest models why don’t you book a slot? Please contact me to do so.

The next Nine & Dine takes place on Friday 22nd July. The format will be a mixed betterball stableford with an 85% allowance. The maximum handicaps will be 54 for both gents and ladies. If you’d like to play, please get in touch with Phil Long.

Pro Am 2022

This year’s Pro Am took place on Saturday and both the weather and the course were fabulous. There were some tricky pin positions and the lightning fast greens ensured that the scores wouldn’t be as low as in previous years. We had a full turnout of 24 teams.

Well done to the winners of the team competition who were Jonny Gray, Ian Goulty, Johnny Yates and their pro Matthew Tottey with 124 (16 under). The format is best two from four medal. Second place went to Neil Thompson, Paul Gibbon, Simon Harrison and pro Jason Dransfield who were one shot back. David Rodwell, Brian Greenbank, Howard Gill and pro Matt Dixon were third on 126. In fourth place were the gentleman captain David Wainwright, David Wainwright, Fraser Hickson and I with 127. The other results up to 16th place are displayed below.

In the individual professional event, Tom Metcalfe won with 69. He wasn’t at the presentation because he had a car accident on the way home. Thankfully he’s ok. There were then four pros on level par to share second spot. Again the top two thirds of placings are shown below.

We’ve had lots of positive feedback already about the event and the atmosphere at the club was great all day. I am especially pleased with an email that I received on Monday from a fellow PGA Professional which I would like to share with you. I’ve removed names etc to maintain his privacy. He came for a practice round with his partner the day before the event. As you’ll read, it shows that everyone at the club did a great job of making them feel welcome, which is really satisfying to read.

Richard, I would like to congratulate you on a successful Pro Am last Saturday , unless you actually organise one yourself you would not appreciate all the hard work and planning involved, the day was fantastic and hopefully my team led by XXXX enjoyed it also.

The course was in magnificent condition and the hospitality shown to both XXXX and I on the Friday and again on the Saturday from all the members and staff was heartwarming and a great reflection on all at Hale Golf Club.

I look forward to returning to Hale with some friends for a social visit in the not too distant future as i have told anyone who would listen here at XXXX (the club that he works at) that a visit to your club is a must.

Thanks and Best Wishes

XXXX

Bridgford Trophy & Moir Cup

These events were played last Wednesday and Thursday at the club. Tiff Fielden was the winner of the Moir Cup with a gross total for the two rounds of 167. Chris Marsh took second spot with 168. The winner of the Bridgford was Vanessa Veitch a four under par total of 136 over the two rounds. Again Chris Marsh just missed out, finishing in second place. Chris did get a prize though for the best score on day one. The best score on day two went to Vanessa Veitch. Rosie Gerrard won the most improved player. Thanks also to Rosie for supplying the photos below. Hearty congrats to all the winners.

There was also a max score 18 hole medal played on Thursday. This was won by Amanda Greaves with a nett 68. Jennifer Bradley won the front nine max medal competition with 36. Special mention to Pauline Keeling for playing so well in her first competition.

Australian Spoons North Area Final

Terri Broadbent and Kerry Bailey represented Hale GC in the north area final of the Australian Spoons at the weekend. Terri sent me some great photos of their day, which you can see below. I’ll let Terri take up the story from here

“Kerry and I played in the North Area Final on Saturday, here are some pictures taken at Appleby Golf Course during our round.  It’s a course built on Common Land, so there were plenty of hazards on the course – mainly sheep! A beautiful setting and the greens were fantastic – they are all protected from the sheep and other livestock by electric fencing. We gave it a good go, but sadly finished well down the order. Next year perhaps we will do better……….“

Read all about the Summer Meeting below as we anticipate the ladies Bridgford & Moir Cup and the Pro Am this week.

The 150th Open starts next week at St Andrews and we still have one or two spaces left for the Pro Shop Open Sweepstake so please pop in or email to snag those few spots.

Summer Meeting

We have just had a great weekend of golf. Special thanks to Brian Greenbank, Guy Levers and Ian Hunt behind the scenes making things run smoothly. Thanks also to the greens staff of Rusell, Dave and Phil for getting the course in excellent condition. And now onto the winners….

The winner of Galloway Scratch Challenge Cup was Tony Bray with gross rounds of 75 and 72 for a 152 total. Second place went to Adam Laitt with 154. Freddie Fallows was the winner of the best 36 holes nett prize with a nett 65 on day one followed by a nett 66 on day two for an overall total of 131.

Danny Fox was the winner of the best nett score on day one (Saturday) with a 67 and Neil Thompson was the winner of the best nett on day two with a really low one, 62. Tony Bray also won the Goulty Trophy for the best nett score on day one for players over sixty with his nett 67. Guy Withey won the Arnold Challenge Cup, which is awarded to the best gross score on day one for players with a handicap of 15 or higher, with a nett 69. Adam Laitt also picked up another prize by winning the MacCaig Trophy for the best 18 hole gross score on either day for his 73 on the opening day.

Huge congratulations to all the winners. Many of them can be seen below receiving their prizes from gentleman captain David Wainwright.

Callaway Demo Day

I’m delighted to announce that Callaway are visiting HGC on Friday 29th July from 1100 – 1500. If you are in the market for new clubs, all of their latest equipment will be here for you to try. Please contact me to book an appointment.

The times slots are every 30 mins from 1100 so please let me know your preferred start time and I will do my utmost to accommodate you accordingly.

Ladies Exchange day

Last Thursday, the ladies section held an exchange day with Marple GC, which means Marple came and played at hale whilst our ladies went and played at Marple. By all accounts, both parties had great days out.

The winners of the 18 hole competition were Lynette Lodge, Kathleen McNairney and Mary Cockbain. Runners up were Amanda Greaves, Min Fishwick and Sally Budd. The winners of the 12 hole competition were Ann Davies, Judy Anderson and Sue Fallows.

Thanks go to Anne Webster and Sally Budd for organising.

Well lots of golf is coming up here at the mighty HGC! We have the men’s Summer Meeting this weekend, the ladies Brigford & Moir Cup next Wednesday & Thursday and then the club’s Pro-Am on Saturday 9th July. Busy, busy…..

Ping Demo Day

I have one final space remaining on Tuesday 19th July at 1340 for anyone who is ready to improve their equipment to achieve better golf and have more fun out on the course! Please email me to snag the slot!

Medal 5

Congrats to Jim Nicholson for winning Medal 5 with a nett 66. Adam Hyde had the same nett score but was beaten on a card play off. Dave McGlennon was one shot back to secure third spot.

Lady Captain’s Day

Well done to Sally Budd for winning last week’s 18 hole stableford, her consecutive win, with 38 points. Min Fishwick also had 38 points but was beaten into runner’s up spot following a card play off. Gillian Brogdon was third with 35 points.

In the back nine hole stableford, Jackie Murphy amassed a whopping total of 25 points to win. Second place went to Jennifer Bradley with 22 points and Caroline Smith in her first competition was third with a very creditable 20 points.

The gentleman captain Dave Wainwright can be seen below giving lady captain Judy Pinnington a bouquet of flowers to help celebrate her special day.

Nine & Dine

Well done Gail & Tony Sampson, Kerry Bailey & Phil Long for winning last Friday’s nine & dine waltz with 51 points. The Kirks and the Sparks were second with 47 points.

Putting Stats

As you are probably aware, I love golfing stats regarding performance and here are some beauties! The info is supplied by Trackman. Incidentally the title of this week’s newsletter is a quote from the famous golf coach, Harvey Penwick.

In the graphic below, tour pros “only” make 50% of their putts from 8 feet in tournaments whereas on a flat surface they make 95% from 12 feet. The first number seems low and the second number seems unbelievably high. Just goes to show that the old phrase that the longest walk in golf is from the practice ground to the first tee still holds true!!

There are some great stats in the table below that (apologies that it’s a bit blurred). How about this one? An 18 handicapper from 30 feet is 9x more likely to three putt that hole it. There’s a golfing hashtag that circulates Twitter and I think you can probably see why…. #manageyourexpectations

Par Three Tees

Don’t forget to fill any divots made on the par three teeing grounds with the seed mix which is provided in the green containers. There’s even a handy scoop to help you do so 🙂

Photo

Thanks to Colin Bamford for capturing and forwarding me this snap of a helicopter landing as seen from the 4th fairway.

Well done to Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick for winning the US Open on Sunday. I’ve always admired his deft touching on the putting greens but it was his superlative long game skills that came to the fore on the last day. He joins Justin Rose and Tony Jacklin as the only English winners since Cyril Walker in 1924. The event was played at Brookline GC, where he won the US Amateur in 2013.

Back here at Hale, we have ladies competitions coming up on Thursday, a Nine and Dine event on Friday and the men’s Medal 4 is taking place on Friday & Saturday. Plus the Pro Shop Open Sweepstake has just commenced….

And below we seem to have more results than ever so please enjoy the read.

Open Sweepstake 2022

The end of the US Open has paved the way for the start of the Pro Shop Open sweepstake 🙂 There are 156 spaces and the price is £5 for one go or £10 for three goes. Prizes will be allocated to 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd overall plus the best and worst score on each day. Please call into the shop to take part or just reply to this email.

Ping Mixed 4BBB

Well done to the Bryants, Joanne & Graham, for winning Sunday’s Ping fourball betterball competition with a great score of 45 points. Phil Long & Kerry Bailey were second with 42 points. As did Tiff Fielden & Bob Cooke but they were beaten into third place following a card play off.

Granny Cup & Nine Hole Stableford

Sally Budd won the granny Cup last week with a fine 18 hole stableford score of 41 points. Tracey Thompson were second and third respectively with 37 points.

Emma Daynes won the front nine stableford with 21 points. Four players then shared 17 points but it was Judy Anderson who finished in second place following the card play off.

New Ladies Clothing Range

Calling all golfing ladies! The whole ladies clothing range was updated on Saturday so please pop into have a look at the fresh new colours.

R&A Nine Hole Challenge

The top eight pairs from England in the R&A nine hole challenge are invited to play in the final at St Andrew’s on Friday 8th July along with another twelve qualifying pairs from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia & New Zealand. Ann Coulson and Sally Wright were among the eight pairs from England to qualify. This is a tremendous achievement and we wish them all well for the event in July.

Sandiford 

Congratulations Michael Wells & David Cockbain who were the winners of the men’s winter foursomes knockout, the Sandiford . They beat John Gower-Jones & Peter Veitch in the final.

Mawson Trophy

Well done to Jim Nicholson for winning the Mawson trophy with a nett 44  over eight rounds. Lee Bramley was second with a nett 44 over sixteen rounds. This competition os for the best nett score on each hole in all men’s 18 hole qualifying WHS competitions, from the Blue Tees. Jim won on countback as he had done the same score but in fewer rounds.

Senior Stableford 3

Well done to Tony Sampson for winning this event last Wednesday with a 19 points over the front nine. Lee Bramley scored the same but was beaten on a card play off. Roger Mattocks finished third with 18 points.

Junior Stableford

Well done to Matthew Hodder for winning Saturday’s front nine hole stableford. Commiserations to jack Hickson who had the same score but was beaten on countback.

What a fantastic win for Sweden’s Linn Grant at the weekend. She won the Scandinavian Mixed and in doing so became the first ever female winner on the DP World Tour. She was 24 under and so won by a whopping 9 shots.

Back at Hale, there is a Nine & Dine evening taking place on Friday 24th June. If you would like to play or find out more information, please contact Lynette Lodge or John Moss who are organising this event.

Medal 4

It was a log jam at the top of the leaderboard for last weekend’s men’s Medal 4 with three players sharing the score of 38 points. Gary Beal finished on top after a card play off, Phil Long was runner and Roger Lamb was third. Guy Levers and John Webb finished in joint 4th spot with nett 69s. Brian Greenbank recorded the lowest gross of the competition with a 77. Brian and Nick Horrocks each recorded two twos.

I was delighted to see those results as Gary Beal has been having some coaching with me and working really hard on his game. And Phil Long has recently purchased some new irons from the Pro Shop. Well done gentlemen!

Jubilee Summer Meeting

Congratulations to Mandy Gilbert, Kerry Gill, Anne Webster & Kathleen McNairney for winning this shotgun start team event last Thursday with 72 points. Corinne Veitch, Judy Anderson, Gillian Brogdon & Ceri Hyde finished in second place with 67 points. The golf was followed by lunch so a fun day was had by all.

SALE

There are just 6 days left to buy any hardware in the shop and get 10% off. This includes Ping G425 drivers & hybrids, Callaway Rogue ST drivers and fairways plus Odyssey and Ping putters. Many of these clubs are the most up to date models which are full to the brim with technology to make the game easier and more fun.

Jubilee Photos

Thanks to Tracey Thompson and Roger Sheen for supplying me with some more photos from the club’s Jubilee celebrations. It’s good to see the Queen herself dropped in to keep a close eye on ex gentleman captain Johnny Yates!

Rainbows

Thanks to Anne Webster for this montage of photos of a rainbow over the golf course as her knockout match progressed.

Well I hope you all had a great double bank holiday last week. The Booth family and intimidating hound headed to Norfolk for a week’s holiday which was great fun. If you got away, I hope you had a wonderful time too.

In other news, the word is that I have been tempted away from HGC by the Saudi funded LIV Golf Invitational series. I want to dispel those rumours immediately and explain that my moral compass is such that I will not be lured away from club life to play competitive golf for vast sums of money.

Right so now that’s cleared up we can get on with the important task of telling you what’s coming up in this week’s newsletter. We have the results from last week’s frolic, spaces in July’s Ping demo day and news of a tremendous hardware promotion which is running until the end of June. Enjoy!

A Right Royal Frolic

Congratulations to Min & Andrew Fishwick and Freda & Ian Hunt for winning the the Right Royal Frolic last Thursday with 48 points. It was tight at the top as second place went to Vicky Chamberlain, Roger Sheen, Tiff Fielden and Bob Cooke who were only one point adrift. Ceri & Adam Hyde and Barbara & Robert Spark also scored 47 points but were beaten into third place after a card play off. Ben Fallows won the Nearest the Pin prize.

Thanks to Sue Bryant for the brilliant photos capturing the scene – it certainly looks like everyone had a great day.

Mid Season Hardware Sale

Until the 21st June, we are offering a 10% discount on all hardware that is in stock. This is a great deal as we price our clubs very competitively anyway. We have the current crop of mens drivers, woods and hybrids from Ping and Callaway plus putters from Odyssey and Ping. This is a great opportunity to buy products at tremendous value so don’t miss out.

Remember though this is a promotion to encourage the sell through of stock and so is not available on items that need to be ordered in. We can still get you those for you at great prices but they won’t have the extra 10% off.

Ping Demo Day

There are still 2 spaces left for the Ping demo day which is taking place on Tuesday 19th July. The available slots are at 1300 and 1340 so contact me to reserve your fitting.

Shotscope

I’m interested to hear from anyone who owns a ShotScope golf tracking device. I’m familiar with Arccos but would like to know more about ShotScope. If you own one, please get in touch to give me your views on it. Thank you.

Just a quick results round up this week before the upcoming double bank holiday. Well done to all the winners.

Gentleman Captain’s Prize

Well done to the hard working Chair of Greens Brian Greenbank for winning the Captain’s Prize on Saturday with 39 points. Second place went to Andrew Fishwick with 36 points. John Kennedy also scored 36 points but was beaten into third place after a card play off.

Peter Hindle was the winner of the Longest Drive on the 14th and also the Nearest the Pin in two shots on the 18th hole.

May Ashton Trophy

Congratulations to Terri Broadbent for winning the May Ashton trophy with a fine nett 69. Rosie Gerrard was just one shot adrift to secure second spot. Diana Harris was third with a nett 72.

In the back nine Max medal, Mandy Gilbert shot a nett 33 which shows that she is well and truly on the road to recovery. Lucy Daynes was second with a nett 37.

Well done to Justin Thomas for winning his second major, the USPGA Championship, after beating Will Zalatoris in a play off on Sunday. It was a strange week with variable weather conditions. Chilean Mito Pereira and Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick both had their chances to win but ultimately weren’t able to take them.

Back home at Hale, there have been some great competition scores which we take a look at below. Plus photos from the Lady Captain’s Away day and a free offer from Arccos that I wanted to share with you. Enjoy the read!

Medal 3

The scoring was superb for Medal 3 with 13 nett scores in the 60s. Bill Dixon was the winner with a gross 79 for a nett 61. This has ensured his handicap has now tumbled to 15.3 so well done Bill. Fancy shooting a nett 64 and not winning? That was the case for poor Simon Wallwork who finished in second place. Third place went to gentleman captain David Wainwright with a fine 65. Fourteen twos were recorded.

Coronation Foursomes

Congratulations to Mary Cockbain and Min Fishwick for winning the Coronation Foursomes last week with an excellent 39 points. The runners up spot went to Sally Wright and Diana Harris with 36 points.

Kerry Gill was the winner of the nine hole stableford with 17 points. Judy Pinnington finished in second place with 15 points.

Ping Club Owners Offer

I was sent this information from Ping in an email the other day. It looks like a great deal and a fantastic way to help you improve your golf so I wanted to share it with you.

Receive a free set of Arccos Smart Sensors and a 45 day free trial to the Arccos Caddie App if you own any Ping golf clubs.

Click here to find out more.

Ladies Captain’s Away Day

Thanks to Sue Bryant for sending in these photos form the recent Lady Captain’s Away Day. The main image shows Irene Kirk, lady captain Judy Pinnington, Min Fishwick and Amanda Greaves who won the 18 hole competition. The slightly smaller photo in the gallery shows Jean Green, Sue Martin, Judy and Amanda Gilbert who won the 11 hole competition.

In this missive, we have news of the ladies competitions from last week.

In junior news, Hector Neary won the Adult Junior competition on Friday and then on Sunday we hosted the Mid Cheshire Junior League (MCJL) for the very first time.

Ladies 18 hole Par & Back 9 Stableford

Well done to Diana Harris for winning last week’s Par competition with a great score of two up. Vanessa veitch was second with her score of one up.

In the nine hole comp, Jean Green was the winner with 19 points beating Emma Daynes via a card play off. Special mention to Sally-Anne Heaford for recording a great score in her first competition.

MCJL at HGC

Hale are part of the MCJL as of this year. We are in the Gleneagles league with Delamere Forest, Warrington, Bramhall & Styal golf clubs. The format is that each club hosts over the season and the team that finishes on top of the league then goes into knockout stages with the winners of the other leagues.

So on Sunday, 23 juniors played at Hale. The lowest handicapper was a plus 3 and the highest was 28 so the standard was good. Styal were the winners with their best three stableford scores from five on the day being 40, 38 and 35 for a total of 113. Warrington were second with 106 and Hale finished in fourth spot with 100. Dan Turkington, our junior captain, submitted a very creditable 36 points in tricky conditions. So it was a solid start for us considering it was our first outing. We go to Delamere on Saturday which will be a treat for our players.

Thanks to the volunteers who started, ball spotted and helped out on the day and made things run so smoothly. They were Peter Hindle, Phil Hickson, Phil Long, Bob Siddle, Pete Turkington and Ben Fallows.

Adult Junior 2

Well done to Hector & Bruce Neary for recording an excellent score of 22 points to win last Friday’s competition on a beautiful evening. The Mills brothers, Olly & Alex, were just one point adrift in second place.

The next competition dates are:

Friday 17th June	Tee times from 1730
Friday 29th July	Tee times from 1730
Friday 9th September	Tee times from 1710
Sunday 6th November	End of Season Junior Awards golf, dinner & presentation

I’ve heard so many comments recently about the quality of the course at the moment and having been out there myself a couple of times recently I can see why. The condition really is first class and so the greens team of Russel, Dave and Phil should be very proud of themselves.

This week, we have more results, news of a Ping demo day here at HGC in July and a plug for the Nine & Dine which is taking place on Friday 20th May. The format is pairs betterball stableford. Please contact Peter or Vanessa Veitch if you would like to play.

Ping Demo Day

I’m thrilled to announce that we have secured another visit from an experienced Ping club fitter. It’s taking place on Tuesday 19th July with slots between 1100 and 1500. Please let me know if you would like to book an appointment. There’s no obligation to buy but please only book in if you are serious about making a purchase as spaces are limited.

Medal 2

Congratulations to Alex Mills for shooting an excellent nett 65 to win Medal 2 on Saturday. Alex has had lessons with me and so I’m hoping my input has helped. Paul Simpson finished one shot back in second place but scored the best gross of the competition with 74. Bob Siddle also recorded a nett 66 (the same as Paul) but was beaten into third place on count back.

There were plenty of twos with fifteen being recorded and three players even had two twos!

Ladies Competitions

Well done to Jo Bryant for winning what i think is her first 18 hole competition last week. She scored an excellent 40 points to finish in pole position. Min Fishwick was two points back in second place. As was Mary Cockbain but she was beaten into third spot via a card play off. And congratulations to Irene Kirk who recorded a hole in one on the 7th.

Sally Wright won the nine hole competition with 22 points, having just had her clubs regripped – clearly a solid investment! Lorraine Thompson was two points back in second spot.

Seniors Summer Stableford 2

Well done to John Bacon for skipping out enthusiastically to the first tee yesterday morning despite the rain and returning with 21 stableford points to win this event! Rob Manley was was second with 20 points and Mike Massey claimed third spot with 19 points. The competition was played over the front nine from the tees of the day.

Bank below the 12th Tee

Thanks to Jane Perks for sending in this lovely photo of the bank below the 12th tee. Well done to everyone involved in making it look so fantastic.