Author: Richard Booth

Well, what a week…. high winds, incredible rain and a course closed much more than usual! The seniors competition on Wednesday was cancelled and the ladies comp on Thursday was also cancelled so all a bit disappointing really. Hopefully everyone has power though unlike some poor souls around the country.

Junior Coaching

Will Lord is running some junior group coaching sessions on Sunday mornings for children aged 7 – 13 years of age. The classes will run from 1000 – 1045 and from 1100 – 1145. The first block of dates will avoid the Easter school holidays and will be as follows:

March 20th, 27th
April 3rd
May 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd

The price for the seven sessions will be £63.

If you’d like to enrol, please contact me.

Do you Boss the Moss?

Is it time you rolled your rock a little better? If so we have some of the latest Ping and Odyssey models in store for you to try.

Storm Damage

We had several trees come down over the weekend and our hardworking greenstaff have been removing them to get the course playable again. One fell into the car park, two fell near the fourth green and one near the swinging gate by the 5th / 7th tees. Thanks to Russell for supplying the photos.

Callaway Driver Demos

We also have some of the latest Callaway Rogue ST drivers for you to try. There are three different heads and 5 different shafts so lots of combinations to suit your game. Trackman will help us identify how well it compares to your current driver. Please contact us for an foc fitting. It goes without saying that you are welcome to also try our range of Ping G425 drivers while you’re at it!

Hale GC Pro Am 2022

The uptake for my first plug for this year’s Pro Am a few weeks ago was excellent. There are 24 teams slots available and already 16 have been taken. Please let me know if you would like to enter a team. We only have morning times available as things stand. Please also remember it’s open to men and ladies and mixed teams.

In this missive, we detail the results from the four club competitions played in the last week.

Bogey 5

Roger Mattocks won Saturday’s Bogey 5 with a fine score of four up. Richard Robinson was second with one up and Roger Sheen was third, also finishing one up but loosing out on a card playoff.

Thursday Stablefords

Congratulations to Jo Egerton for winning Thursday’s ladies 9 hole stableford with 17 points. Helen Davies was lost a card play off to finish in second place.

Well done to David Rodwell for winning the men’s competition with 19 points. Gregg Davison was second with 18 points and he puts his success all down to his recent purchases from the Pro Shop!! Well said Gregg 😁

Bradley 5

Tarik Rashid played very well to win Bradley 5, the nine hole seniors event with 20 points. Andrew Fishwick was one shot adrift in second place. Barry Jefferies lost on a card play off to finish third.

There is a nine hole stableford taking place on Thursday (the 10th Feb) which is open to ladies and men. There are still spots available so please sign up via Club V1 if you’d like a game.

Big Sister / Little Sister Ladies Competition

This 9 hole event event was played last Thursday and is a twist on a Texas Scramble. The winners were Jane Perks and Gillian Healey. Runners up were Sally Wright & Freda Hunt and third place went to Caroline Massey & Vicki Wells

Bradley 3

The seniors section finally managed to get Bradley 3 played last Wednesday after the weather had thwarted the event on several occasions. It was a good turnout with 39 players taking part.

Tony Sampson won the nine hole stableford event with 21 points, beating John Bacon on a card playoff. Chairman of Council Roger Sheen came third with 20 points. Barry Jeffries and Chris Wood each recorded a two.

Chinese New Year Dinner

Here are some photos of the beautifully decorated clubhouse dining room before the Chinese New Year Banquet, which took place last Thursday evening.

Ace

Well done to Guy Levers who recorded a hole in one on the par three course called Abel’s Crossing during his first go on Trackman. You can see on the image below that the distance from the hole after his tee shot on the 7th hole 0 feet and 0 inches. I’m not sure if this warrants a trip to the bar….

Music

Thanks to Mike Massey for sharing his ode to missing golf during lockdown. He apologises to the Clancy Brothers as it’s to the tune of “the Holy Ground”.

Fare thee well my lovely golf course a thousand times adieu
We’re going away from our favourite course and the greens we love so true
We live in total isolation but we’ll return for sure
To see again the fairways trim and play our special course again
Fine course you are (shout)
Refrain

The club I do adore
And still I live in hopes to play
Our special course once more
Fine course you are (shout)
And now the virus is raging, tees and fairways lying still
Irons and baffys stored in their bags with swings and putts all awry
But in the secrets of my mind my love you’re still the course that I adore
And when all is back to norm, we’ll play our special course once more
Fine course you are (shout)
Refrain
Fine course you are (shout)

Now Covid 19 is over and we are safe and well
Teeing up on the first with hopes so high, no more “tiers” to blight the day
gathering once again in our nineteenth and greeting the friends we hold so true
We’ll play the course with a new fourth to test our skill and bell to keep us safe
Fine course you are (shout)
Refrain
Fine course you are (shout)

In this week’s missive, we have news of junior group coaching, competition results, a Trackman round up, Donald’s birthday party information and even a grace!

As a reminder there are spaces for ladies and men in the nine hole stableford which is taking place on Thursday 10th February.

There are also spaces available for Bogey 5 on Saturday 12th February. There is also an alternate day for the event which is on Friday 11th February.

Junior Coaching

Will Lord is going to start some junior group coaching sessions on Sunday mornings for children aged 7 – 13 years of age. The classes will run from 1000 – 1045 and from 1100 – 1145. The first block of dates will avoid the Easter school holidays and will be as follows:

March 20th, 27th
April 3rd
May 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd

The price for the seven sessions will be £63.

Any questions regarding suitability, any other matter or if you’re ready to enrol, please contact me.

Men’s January Stableford

Well done to Ian Ponter for winning Saturday’s back nine stableford with 22 points. Pete Turkington was the runner up with 19 points and president Barry Jefferies was third, also with 19 points.

Ladies Greensomes

Congratulations to Amanda Greaves and Corinne Veitch for winning last week’s nine hole greensomes competition with 22 points. Sister-in-law Vanessa Veitch and Mary Cockbain were one point adrift in second place. Pat Jefferies and Diana Harris finished in third place with 20 points.

Trackman

In the table below, you can see the launch criteria golfers need to max out their driving distance potential. You’ll notice that as swing speed reduces, a golfer needs both more launch and more backspin. So my question is, are you playing the right driver for your game?

The opportunity to have a complimentary go in the golf studio with Trackman expires on the 11th February so please make contact if this is something that you would like to do. As you might expect, I thoroughly recommend the experience 😀

From the 1st March 2022, the price of booking the studio with Trackman and all it’s fabulous capabilities will be:

DESCRIPTION	PRICE
30 minute hire (1 player)	£10
60 minute hire (1 player)	£18
60 minute hire (2-4 players)	£22

Birthday Party

Thank you to Roger Sheen for sharing the photo and Chris Wood for supplying the text below.

The photo shows the players and non-players at last week’s Tuesday “Roll-up with lunch (and wine!)” – as the Club calendar puts it.

Donald Sutherland is celebrating his 89th birthday with his post-prandial 1980 vintage port (in its magnificent decanter) in the company of John Hughes (92, to his left), John Kinder (82, next to John Hughes), Drummond Sharp (89, right foreground), the President, Barry Jefferies (82) and 14 more youthful members (some only marginally so).

Grace from Friday’s Hot Pot Supper

Andrew Gething suggested that I approach John Gower-Jones to see if he was happy to share his most recent grace which he delivered prior to the Hot Pot supper and Russell taking the floor on Friday. Thankfully he was so here it is. Please enjoy.

O Lord we welcome Russell here, a highly honoured guest.
Not just a splendid golfer, of greenkeepers he’s the best.
We asked some famous people as we knew they’d be impressed.
We knew Prince Andrew would be free, he said “You must be joking –
It’s Tramp for me, no sweat, but first it’s pizzas down in Woking.
Then Boris said he’d love to come, but when he thought again
He realised it’s party night each night at Number Ten.
So Russell it’s just us that’s here: Lord bless our food and wine and beer.
Amen.

We have a nine hole stableford this Saturday which is open to gentlemen and lady members so if you haven’t already, why don’t you sign up for a game?

In this week’s newsletter, we cover the ladies results from last week, news of the 2022 HGC Pro-Am, terrific photos and more!

Ladies Texas Twist Competition

Fourteen hardy teams played in the Texas Twist Competition last Thursday. This is a very tricky format with the ‘twist’ being that you had to choose the worst drive on the two par three holes rather than the best drive.

The winners with a cracking score of six under par were Gill Kay, Vicky Chamberlain and Jo Egerton. Lynette Lodge, Diana Harris, and Terri Broadbent were one shot back with a score 31. Third place went to Louise Gerald, Rosemary Bowden and Gail Sampson with 33.

Omission

Click here for the link to more information about the use of mats at HGC over the winter that I spoke about in last week’s missive but managed to omit attaching – apologies!!

Hale GC Pro-Am 2022

This year’s event will be taking place on Saturday 9th July. Please let me know if you would like to play in the 11th staging of the competition in recent years. Please express whether you would prefer a morning or afternoon tee time.

The price is £225 if all three amateur players are members here at hale GC. If there is one or more amateur players from another club, the entry fee is £255.

Under the PGA regulations, the stroke allowance is 85% of your course handicap. However following this calculation, the maximum number of shots a gentleman can receive is 18 and 24 for ladies. For example, if Joe Bloggs has a handicap index of 21.2 then his course handicap from the blue tees is 24 but for the purposes of this event, he will only get one shot per hole.

Cheshire and North Wales PGA committee

On Monday at the AGM, I’m proud to say that I was elected to onto Cheshire and North Wales PGA committee. It seems that we will meet four times per year to discuss the competition schedule of the county, the welfare of our pros and assistants, finances etc. So I’m looking forward to helping out as best I can.

Rise and Shine

So we’ve got through over 50% of January which has to be a good thing! We have four competitions this week to report back on which is excellent news. As you know, the weather has been dry and sunny but very chilly with some heavy frosts.

We’ve also got some junior updates and clarification on the use of fairway mats plus some great photos. Please enjoy the read!

Trackman

Would you like to give Trackman a try and see what it’s all about? If so for a limited time, we are offering the opportunity for a hour session with Will or I in the nice warm and dry studio. You’ll be able to work on your game, play some of it’s many challenges or tackle one of it’s 100+ golf courses for just £20. Have a look below at it’s fantastic graphics. Please contact us to give it a go, you won’t be disappointed!

Bogey 4

Rob Manley shot a very good score of three up to win Saturday’s 15 hole bogey. John Moss was second with two up and Ian Goulty third with one up. Nine twos were recorded during the competition.

Ladies Back Nine Stableford

Well done to lady captain Irene Kirk for winning Thursday’s competition with 16 points. She was one of five players to record that score but finished on top following a card play off. The other players were Sue Bromley, Joanna Bates, Mandy Gilbert and Clare Withey.

Men’s Back Nine Stableford

Congratulations to David Rodwell for shooting an excellent 21 points to win the competition that took place last Thursday. Phil Long recorded the same score but was beaten on a card play off. Brian Greenbank was third with 19 points.

Bradley 4

Adam Hyde posted a very tidy score of 20 points to win the seniors nine hole stableford competition that took place on Wednesday. Paul Gilbert finished in second place with 18 points. He had a fabulous finish after amassing just four four points after the opening four holes. Robert Spark finished third, also with 18 points.

Use of Mats

Please click here for clarification on the use of mats. There have been some instances where golfers have been unsure where they should and shouldn’t use them so we hope this makes things clearer.

Some terms are useful to know and are illustrated below. Plus here’s a link to an interesting article that explains a little about “the anatomy of a golf course”.

Junior Schedule 2022

We sent out an email on Monday evening to the club’s junior section and their parents. It had lots of details of the year ahead. If you missed it, please click here to take a look.

Frosty Mornings

And a fire to keep toasty….

The ladies competition last Thursday had to be cancelled due to snow flurries.

As I write this on Tuesday morning, the mist has lifted and there is now and and the temperature is mild. Hopefully this can continue for a few days as we have a few comps coming up. On Wednesday, it’s a nine hole senior competition as part of the Bradley winter series. On Thursday, there is a nine hole stableford open to ladies and men. And then on Friday and Saturday, Bogey 4 is taking place. Good luck to all of you taking part!

Winter Practice

It’s warm and dry in the studio. The new Trackman provides incredible data to help you improve you game ahead of the golf season.

There are also over 100 different golf courses you can play, par 3 challenges, longest drive competitions and skills tests so there’s something for everyone, no matter your age or ability. Please contact me to find out more and have a go.

Snow Joke

Spot the Ball

Happy new year to you all. Let’s hope we all get a good run at 2022 without too many Covid or bad weather issues… and while we’re at it, how about no three putts or lost balls?! It’s really not too much to ask is it…… 😁

Get your golf off to a flying start

The weather is pretty unreliable at the moment but the swing room is available for booking using the latest Trackman technology. With lots of data on ball flight and the clubhead, it will help you groove the moves you are working on. But don’t worry, you will not be bombarded with data for the sake of it. Instead we will make the information that you see pertinent to you at this particular stage of your golfing journey.

If you’re not sure which part of your game to focus on, come and perform one of Trackman’s tests to see what your “handicap” is for pitching, approach shots and driving.

It’s warm, it’s dry and the feedback you receive will help you to understand what you currently do when you swing a golf club. Only then can you work on what will have the greatest impact on making you a better golfer.

Please contact us to book your slot.

Kahla Trophy

Well done to Alex and John Moss for winning the Kahla Trophy on the 29th December with a terrific 20 points. Jack and Phil Hickson finished in runners up spot with 17 points. The event was played over nine holes and six pairs took part.

Photos

Thanks to Brian Greenbank and Tom Sloan for these great photos from when the Out of Bounders and friends got together for their early morning Christmas game. As you can see, they are sporting an excellent range of Christmas sweaters!

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You may be relieved to hear that this will be my final missive of 2021 😉 I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas with your families over the next few days and the best of luck in 2022, both on and off the course!

Pro Shop Christmas Draw

Thank you to everyone who entered (and also to those who plucked the numbers out from the tombola) and congratulations to the winners. I will credit your Pro Shop accounts accordingly.

Position	Amount	Drawn by?	Number	Winner
1st	£250	Gillian Healey	191	Drummond Sharp
2nd	£200	Sue Fallows	556	Martin Oldfield
3rd	£150	Chris Connolly	590	Chris Wood
4th	£100	Diana Harris	59	Tony Sampson
5th	£75	Barbara Spark	300	Ian Goulty
6th	£60	Robert Spark	131	Chris Ravenscroft
7th	£50	Louise Gerald	170	Kerry Bailey
8th	£40	Ian Hunt	93	Tony Sampson
9th	£30	Mike Morgan	343	Peter Veitch
10th	£25	Ron Jones	107	Alan Dewhurst

Pro Shop Opening Times

DAY(S)	DATE(S)	OPENING TIMES
Fri	24th December	0900 – 1400
Sat & Sun	25th & 26th December	Closed
Mon – Fri	27th – 31st December	0900 – 1400
Sat & Sun	1st & 2nd January 2022	Closed
Mon	3rd January	0900 – 1400
Tues	4th January onwards	Normal hours resume

Not long now…. I hope the majority of you are managing to stay safe and that your Christmas plans can still go ahead unscathed. A few of the members and staff have recently contracted Covid and so our thoughts are with them as we wish them a speedy recovery.

Will, Phil and I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone at the club a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ladies Christmas Frolic

As always, the ladies section really embraced getting dressed up for last Thursday’s shotgun start Christmas competition as you can see from the photos below. There were big smiles and some really great outfits!

The winners of the competition with 35 points were Val Nelstrop, Gill Kay, Barbara Grant and Jane Perks. The winner of the best Christmas Outfit went to Jane Wilkinson for her brilliant creation. The Hogben’s once again kindly provided mince pies and mulled wine by the 8th tee.

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Kahla Trophy

This year’s Kahla trophy will take place on Wednesday 29th December with tee times from 1100. The format is nine holes foursomes stableford from the adult tees and the event is open to any mixed generational pairing. For example, father and son, father & daughter, grandmother & daughter etc. In addition, it’s fine if the younger partner is an adult.

Please let me know if you would like to play.

Atlantic Rally Race for CAFT

Andrew Warnes and I exchanged emails a few days ago and he has been on quite the adventure, having just sailed across the Atlantic! He did it on behalf of the local charity CAFT (The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust) and so if you would like to donate to his TotalGiving page, please click here

Pro Shop Christmas Draw

Just a to let you know that the draw for this will be taking place on the 23rd December (on reflection, I decided that Christmas Eve was perhaps leaving it a little late)!

I will contact the winners via email and send out a brief newsletter with the results on. Thank you so much for the huge support from you all for this and best of luck!