Blog

Happy days, the Masters starts this week. If you’ve entered the sweepstake but not had notification of who your player(s) are yet then please contact me.

There is a F9 stableford taking place on Wed 30/4/25 with tee times in the morning. Again all players will be playing from the same tees and this time it’ll be from the yellows. Hope you can make it!

B9 Red Tee Stableford on Sunday

Congrats to Min Fishwick for a fabulous score of 24 points to win Sunday’s B9 stableford where all competitiors played from the red tees. Tony Adamson was the runner up with 22 points. Kate Morris beat Freda Hunt on a card play off to secure third spot with 21 points.

Ladies Spring Meeting

This took place last Thursday. It was teams of four with best two stableford scores to count on each hole and followed by lunch. The winners were Sue Broadbent, Sally-Anne Heaford, Pat Jefferies and Jo Egerton with 45 points. One point back in scond place were Trish Ashton, Gail Sampson, Jan Ravenscroft and Sally Wright. Third with 41 points were Helen Davies, Sally Blackburn, Holly Rowlinson and Sue Bromley

Senior Stableford 1

Well done to Ian Hunt for winning this event that took place on Wednesday 2nd April with 22 points. Chris Adams was one point back to finish second and Alan Bradley finished in third spot.

Wahoo, the Masters starts a week on Thursday and the clocks have just gone forward – the golf season is officially here! For those of you who have entered the sweepstake, I’ll be doing the draw on Mon / Tues of next week.

Drive In and Stand-a-Side Texas Scramble

Vicky Chamberlain, Olly Mills and Glyn Isaac drove in on Saturday afternoon and here’s the proof!

The charity sweepstake to guess the cumulative length of the three drives was run for a second consecutive year and again was a great success, raising £360 for the new lady captain’s charity, the Macclesfield Samaritans.

Richard Jenkins was the winner guessing the exact total of 497 yards. He earned £100 of Pro Shop credit for his efforts. Jon Cowan was a yard out to finish second. Mandy Gilbert and Julia Hyde finished in third place. Bob Cooke and Trina Walsh were tied fifth. 

In the step a side texas scramble, Matthew Hodder, Jo Egerton, Keith Thompson and John Stevenson were the winners with a gross score of 36. Joe Mills, Jennifer Bradley, Marcus Davies and Chris Ravenscroft were one shot adrift to secure the runner’s up spot. The competition was played over the back nine.

Pig Custom Fit

I have plenty of Ping demo clubs (especially in the new G440 range and the ladies G Le 3 range) if there’s anything that you would like to try. However as things stand we are unlikely to get a demo day booked in here at HGC this year. Alex, the Ping fitter hasn’t been well and is unable to drive for the time being and hence can’t make his way round the north west.

So if there’s anything a little more niche that you would like to try out, please contact me as Andy Shaw, the Ping ASM, has set up some regional demo days that I will try and book you onto. Thank you.

Mens Team Polo Shirts

This season’s men’s team shirts are a wee bit brighter as we go for FJ’s hot pink polo as shown below. It can also be seen by clicking here and that’s where you’ll find the size guide too. The price is £45 if you order in the first batch (thereafter it will be £50). Please let me know if you’d like one and in what size. For more details., speak to myself or Ted Shaw.

Ladies 18 & 9 Hole Stableford

In Thursday’s 18 hole stableford, Lucy Leonard was the winner with a whopping 45 points. Well done indeed Lucy! Sally-Anne Heaford and Sally Blackburn both amassed 41 points. Helen Williams finished in fourth spot with 38 points.

In the nine hole stableford, Sue Bromley won with a fabulous 25 points. Kate Morris was the runner up with 22 points. Ann Coulson was third following a card play off with Kate.

Faldo Futures

On Sunday, Ollie Grieves played in the Faldo Futures competition at Kendal Golf Club and finsihed second, beaten only by someone who was playing at their own club! This means that for the second consecutive year, he has qualified for the regional finals. Well done Ollie, what a great start to your 2025 golfing campaign!

It’s the Captains’ Drive In this Saturday and again we are doing a sweep for charity. This time for the Macclesfield Samaritans. It’s £5 to enter and 1/2 of that fee goes to the charity and the other 1/2 goes into the prize pot, which will be vouchers to spend in the Pro Shop. Entrants need to estimate the combined distance of the drives from the lady capatin, gents captain and junior captain. Please let me know if you would like to enter and help out this excellent cause in the process.

Telephone Number

The Pro Shop telephone number is 0161 249 8427. Up until a few days ago, the old one (0161 904 0835) was still working but not any longer, following our IT and broadband upgrade. Please amend your records accordingly.

Ping BunkR

This new sand iron from Ping looks tremendous. I have a demo of it but haven’t had chance to try it yet so I’ll report back when I have next week. Everything about it is designed to make those dreaded bunker shots as easy as possible. So if they’re not your favourite gof shots, you need to give this club a try. Click here for more details.

Junior Season Opening Golf & Dinner

This took place last sunday. We had 19 juniors playing and 60 for dinner afterwards. I reviewed junior golf at hale Gc in 2024 and looked forward to what’s coming up in 2025. It was a really fun evening.

Fraser gregor and his afther Andy won the alternate shot competition on the day with 22 points pointing ted & Di Cotterrell on countback.

Thanks to Phil Hickson for hi help as co junior organiser and also to captains elect Glyn Isaac and Vicky Chamberlain for coming along on the day.

Indoor Winter League Final

The indoor winter league final powered by Trackman took place on Saturday. Congrats go to the grandfather and grandson combination of John Book & Ollie Grives who beat Jonny Yates & Jane Wilkinson by 3&2 over 9 holes. The final (and the qualifying rounds)was played over the stunning Lofoten links golf course in Norway. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Ladies

Well done to Sally Blackburn for continuing her good from and winning last Thursday’s 18 hole stableford with a whopping 44 points. Runner up with 42 points was Helen Williams.

In the 9 hole stableford, Jan Ravenscroft came out on top with 21 points beating Gillian Healey on a cpo.

Pauline Keeling was also presented with the Joyce Fisher salver for most improved .

Seniors Texas scramble

Last Wednesday’s 9 hole Texas Scramble was won by Roger Sheen, Gary Beal, and Hon. Sec. Robin Russell-Fisher with an excellent 25 stableford points. Ian Hunt, Andrew Fishwick, and Chris Adams were second with 22 points beating Glynn Isaac, Ian Goulty, and Joe Boyd into third place following a card play off.

Manchester Alliance at Stand GC

Congrats to James Munnery & Chris Hinton for finishing as runners up with 41 points at Stand GC last Wednesday. The format is pairs betterball stableford. Ted Shaw and I also played but unfortunately we weren’t quite so good – we think the homecoming proved to be just a little too emotional for us!

Jon Sherman

I really like this article which appeared in Jon Sherman’s weekly email so I’ve shared it with you below. He has a website called Practical Golf and has written some good golf books and in modern parlance created lots of good “content”.

When Mark Broadie’s book Every Shot Counts came out in 2014, it challenged some commonly held beliefs among golfers.

One in particular was the importance of putting.

Most golfers do the simple math and think, “If I shot 87 today and took 34 putts, then about 40% of my score was determined by my putter.”

(This is exactly how I used to think about it)

But scoring is more complicated than that.

Broadie wrote, “Putting is important, but golf is not a glorified putting contest. Between almost any two groups—the best pros and average pros, pros and amateurs, or good amateurs and poor amateurs—the numbers show that putting contributes about 15% to the difference in scores.”

When I first read that, I hated it. It went against everything I believed and had been told.

However, over time, I’ve realized this is one of the most important lessons from his work. Here’s why…

Because putting is the final act on each hole, it feels like the “make or break” moment. If you miss an 8-footer for par, you walk to the next tee grumbling about your putter, convinced it cost you a stroke.

But every shot before that putt played a role, too. If you fixate on putting as the deciding factor, you put unnecessary pressure on yourself.

I regularly talk with one of the best putters in the world, and even he experiences ups and downs. But his best performances always come when he’s locked into his process—not fixating on what the putt means for his score. That’s when his skill shines.

Now, this isn’t easy when you play golf for a living. It’s also not easy for the rest of us because we care about our scores.

But I truly believe this is one of the best mindsets you can adopt to improve your putting. It has made a tremendous difference in my game.

I’m not saying putting is meaningless or that you shouldn’t care on the greens. It’s an important part of golf.

However, if you can shift your mindset—placing less pressure on yourself to achieve a specific result and focusing instead on a process you can control—you’ll putt better and score better.

Because ironically, the less you chase a score, the more likely you are to get the one you want.

Hole in One

Massive congats to Barbara Spark for recording her first ever hole in one on Sunday at the 4th hole. She was playing with husband Robert and Freda & Ian Hunt.

Welcome to this week’s missive.

The next nine hole stableford, open to ladies and gents, is taking place on Sunday 6th April. It will be played over the back nine and all competitors will play frm the red tees. Tee times are in the morning and booking opens this Sunday.

Bogey Final

Bob Siddle blitzed the field to win the Bogey Final with 7up. Ade Kershaw returned a god score of 4 up and Tony Sampson was one further back to finsih in third spot. The Sharp won by Jim Nicholson and the Mawson won by John Stevenson were also presented on Saturday.

Ladies

Noelle Morris shot avery tidy 38 points to win Thursday’s 18 hole stableford. Sally Blackburn was just one point adrift to finish in second place abd Caroline Smith was beaten into third spot following a card play off.

Rosie Gerrard won the nine hole stableford with 19 points and Emma daynes was second with 18 points.

Seniors Spring Stableford – Wed 12/3/25

Four players in the 75 and over Trophy tied on 17 points with Andrew Fishwick winning on card play off. Peter Wolfenden came second and Martin Oldfield third with Robert Spark just missing out.

In the under 75 Trophy three players tied on 20 points. David Cranmer took the trophy and scored the only two of the day. Bob Siddle was second (clearly playing himself into form ahead of Saturday’s Medal Final!) and John Johnston was third following a card play-off.

The Bradley Trophy (best 4 from 6) was very close with four players on 64 points, and with 65 points in third on a card play off was Graham Jones with Andrew Fishwick in second. Chris Adams took the Trophy with 66 points.

Photo Round Up

Trish Ashton’s new golf buddy from Fort Myers, Florida. It could be a great way to speed up play here at HGC?

Thanks to the Hunts for these photos of two ducks doing some ‘house-hunting’ by the new pond on Sunday afternoon.

Finally, Dave Smith and I had great fun playing in the Mancheser Alliance last Wednesday, battling the cold and the occasional hail shower. As Dave pointed out, we were leaders in the clubhouse……… for a good 15 minutes or so!!

We have our junior season opening event taking place on Sun 23rd March. It’s 9 holes from the forward tees in an adult and junior pairs format, followed by dinner t 5pm and a quick presentation afterwards. If you’re eligible and you haven’t yet signed up, please get in touch asap.

F9 Stableford

What a great score by Graham Jones to win Saturday’s competition. He recorded a whopping 24 points. Three players then tied on 21 points with Liam Murphy 21 finishing as the runner up following the card play off then Chris Wood and Lucy Leonard finished in fours spot.

We had a bumper turn out with 48 players taking part. The next one is taking place on Sunday 6th April.

Ladies 18 & 9 hole Stablefords

Well done Caroline Smith for winning Thursday’s 18 hole stableford with 37 points. Helen Williams was second with 31 points beating Irene Kirk on countback.

Karen Stockton racked up a great score of 22 points to win the F9 stableford. Vicki Wells was runner up with 21 points and Ceri Hyde third with 19.

Bogey 6

Congrats to Chris Wood for winning Bogey 6 with a fine score of 3up. Glyn Isaac was second with 1 up beating Danny Fox into third on countback.

Big up to Jim Nicholson for winning the Sharp. This is the aggregate score of the best four Bogey scores from the six men’s Bogey competitions that were played from Oct 2024 – March 2025. He finished one up with both Danny fox and Chris Wood finishing on even.

St Andrews Trip

We had a great trip up to St Andrews last weekend. There was lots of fun and good golf played.

There were 12 golfers (myself and 9 HGC members: Kerry & Howard Gill, Jane Wilkinson, Sally Budd, Tony Bray, Chris Brown, Peter Atherton, Jonny Yates & Ian Powell. Plus Sally’s husband Mike and Peter’s university friend Jerome O’Callaghan. Peter’s wife Jennie also attended as a non golfer). We stayed at the Fairmont hotel which was top notch.

On Sunday we played the Torrance Course, on Monday we were at the Eden and we finished off at Elie on Tuesday, playing in perhaps the strongest winds I’ve ever golfed in!

Thanks to everyone for attending and making it such a brilliant trip.

Pamela Ogden

Thanks to Jan Ravenscroft for sharing this lovely photo and update on Pamela from her recent trip to Australia.

Whilst in Australia in February I met up with Pamela Ogden, a much loved former member of the Ladies Section who was married to James Ogden. Pamela retired from golf and emigrated 5 years ago (at the age of 92) to live with her daughter Vanita near Palm Beach outside Sydney.

Pamela remains a “country” member and looks forward to reading the newsletters and hearing about all the HGC activities and the antics of her old friends.

As you can see she is still in great shape at 97! She wishes to be remembered to everyone and sends her best to all.

Welcome to this week’s missive. As a reminder, iIt’s the last few days for you to try and earn your place in the Pro Shop indoor winter league final.

Hale GC Pro Am 2025

This is taking place on Sat 12th July this year. It’s a really great day and is open to ladies & gents, members & non members. The format is best two from four, one f the players being a Pro.

If you’d like to bring along your own pro, let me know. If not, we can sort you out with a pro. The price for a team of 3 amateurs that are all HGC members is £250 and if one or more of the amateurs are not HGC members, the price is £280.

Bogey 5

Congratulations to Jim Nicholson for winning Bogey 5 with a superb score of 8 up. Freddie Gillan finsihed as the runner up with 3 up and Brian Greenbank was third with a score of 1 up.

Ladies B9 Stableford

Well done Lisa Warnes for winning this event last Thursday with 19 points. Diana Harris was second with 18 points and one point further back in third was Judy Pinnington.

Ping G440

The latest Ping G440 are excellent golf clubs, long and forgiving. I have driver, fairway, hybrid and iron demos in a multitude of lofts and shaft types. My prices are matched with Clubhouse Golf and American Golf. I provide free of charge custom fitting sessions. So if you’re looking for club upgrade, please look not further.

I had a trip to the Ping european HQ in Gainsborough last week, which was excellent. We had a factory tour initially which was really interesting – the build quality and tolerances on their clubs are super impressive. I’m actually kicking myself for not taking any photos.

We then spent a couple of hours on the range with their full time club fitters and learned loads to help us improve our custom fitting skills.

Bradley 6

Last Wednesday, Chris Adams won Bradley 6 with a very creditable 19 points. Three players recorded 18 points but winner of the card play off to finish as the runner up was John Wright. Third place went to Tony Sampson with Bob Siddle just missing out on a prize.

Karl Morris

We’ve had a good initial response to this so please contact me to reserve your space.

Ladies F9 Stableford

On Thu 13th feb, Jo Bates won the F9 stableford with 20 points. Lucy Leonard was second with 19 points, beating Ceri Hyde on countback.

Happy Birthday Val

A lovely photo from Val Watson’s recent big birthday celebarations.

This week we have three lots of competition results for you, which is always a good sign that the weather has been reasonably clement of late! The Pro Shop indoor winter league continues until the end of Feb. And the breaking news is that we’ve just secured Karl Morris to come and speak at the club in June. Please read on for more details.

Karl Morris

First off, this is not Noelle’s husband (despite him being a very nice chap too!)

I am delighted to announce that the other Karl is presenting to us on Monday 9th June from 1900 – 2030. He actually did a talk for us in my first year here at Hale, back in 2009 so I thought it was high time we got him back!

Karl’s presentation will be fun and informative. As you can see from the poster, he’s worked with some of the biggest names in golf but also spends alot of his time working with grass roots golfers. I’m confident that if you implement some of his suggestions, your golf will improve.

I went on a three day course that he ran in November 2023, which was fantastic. It was held in Manchester but delegates travelled from all over to be there – Irealnd, Belgium, Holland, Singapore, & the USA.

You won’t have any such logistical issues as it’s going to take place in the HGC dining room! Tickets are priced at £20 each.

I know this event is a bit different from the norm so I’d really appreciate you supporting it and making it financially viable by reserving your space.

Mens Team Betterball Waltz

Well done gentleman captain Ben Fallows, Pete Turkington & Neil Thompson for winning Saturday’s comp with 73 points. Paul Simpson, Jonny Gray and Andy Gething were second with 68 points. One shot adrift in third place were Bob Siddle, John Moss and Jim Nicholson.

Ladies 3 Clubs & a Putter

Congrats to Sally Blackburn for winning’s Thursday’s stableford with a very impressive 22 points. Louise Gerald was second with 19 points. Both Min Fishwick and Vanessa Veitch scored 17 points.

Pro Shop Indoor Winter League

• Play the stunning Lofoten Links in Norway (ranked in the world’s top 100 courses)
• Pairs Betterball Stableford
• Nine holes (holes 1-9)
• Open to ladies & gents
• Entry fee £4 per pair
• Last opportunity to play – 28/2/25
• The top two scores will qualify for the final, which will be played over 9 holes (matchplay).

Bradley 5

Glyn Isaac won Wednesday’s Bradley 5 with 18 stableford points beating Bill Wrigley on a card play off. Andrew Fishwick finsihed thrid with 17 points.

Portugal

Thanks to Brian Greenbank for sending this photo in from the Algarve as 11 of our members competed last week in a Maxitours event over there.

Unfortunately I can’t zoom in on the photo so you’ll just have to believe me that Dave Rodwell, Brian Greenbank, Andy Cowan, Jason Wright, Bob Manley, Steve Bates, Bill Dixon, Paul Hunter, Martin Quinn, Dave Madeley, Jonny Yates & Glynn Isaac are all in the photo!

We have a few results to report on this week and an update on the Indoor winter league.

Three Clubs & a Putter

Congrats to Peter Wolfenden for winning the 3 clubs and a putter back nine stableford on Saturday with a great score of 20 points. Graham Jones was second with 19 points and Mark Williams was third with 18 points, beating Bob Siddle on countback.

Back Nine Stableford

Well done to Min Fishwick for winning Thursday’s comp with 21 points. Ceri Hyde finished second having been beaten on a card play off. Helen Davies was third with 17 points.

Pro Shop Winter League

As things stand, the top two teams are currently Jane Wilkinson & Jonny Yates and Ollie Grieves & John Book. You have until the end of Feb to have a go at beating their scores and qualifying for the final….

New courses on Trackman

Click on the logo below to check out some of the spectacular new courses available to play in the swing room.

The weather scuppered the seniors nine hole stableford which was due to take place last Wednesday. At least, we got some play for the ladies on Thursday and the gents on Saturday.

Bogey 4

Congrats to Dave McGlennon for winning Saturday’s 15 hole Bogey 4 with a score of three up. The alt day on friday couldn’t go ahead because of the heavy rains. Peter Hindle was the runner with two up and Howard Gill third on all square.

Ladies Stand-a-Side Texas Scramble

The weather was just foul on Thursday but two very hardy teams completed their nine holes so well done indeed. The team with the best score was Lisa Warnes, Sally Budd, Jane Wilkinson & Joanne Bryant.

Pro Shop Indoor Winter League

We’ve had some competitive golf in the last few days with a seniors and a ladies event taking place. The men’s 15 hole Bogey 4 is scheduled for Saturday with an alt day on Friday morning.

Pro Am 2025

Just a reminder that this year’s Pro Am is taking place on Saturday 12th July. It’s been a popular part of the club’s golfing calendar since 2011.

Teams comprise of three amateurs and a pro that we fix you up with (unless of course you know someone who you would like to invite). Teams can be all female, all male or mixed. It’s a really good day – just ask anyone who’s played in it previously.

Please contact me for more details.

Bradley 4

Well done to Andrew Fishwick for winning Monday’s rearranged Bardley 4 back nine stableford with 18 points. Bill Dixon was runner up with 17 points beating Tony Adamson on a card play off.

Pro Shop Indoor Winter League

Yellowball Stableford

Congrats to Jane Wilkinson, Diana Harris and Helen Williams for winning last thursday’s team comp wih 37 points. Mandy Gilbert, Vicki Wells and Jane Nicholson were two point adrift in second place.