Blog

We have loads of results this week from the men’s and seniors sections but sadly not from the ladies as the weather last Thursday meant that their competition was cancelled 🙁

We also have another message from Greens and news of a bargain set of irons.

Bogey Final

Congratulations to Tony Bray for winning Saturday’s Bogey Final with a score of two up. Andrew Fishwick also scored two up but was beaten into second spot following a card play off. Johnny Yates finished third with one up. Seven twos were recorded.

Sharp Memorial Trophy

At Saturday’s presentation, David Wainwright received the Sharp Memorial Trophy for his win over the course of Bogeys 1 to 6. It is based on the a player’s best four scores from the six events. David’s cumulative was a very impressive five up. The runner was David Rodwell with four up and Danny Fox was third also with four up.

Mawson Trophy

Well done to Guy Levers who finished on top in the Mawson Trophy. This is an eclectic competition run over 22 events which concluded with the Bogey Final. Guy’s score was a nett 44 which is 26 under par!! He scored this over 15 events. David Rodwell was second and David Wainwright third. Both had the same nett score but needed more events to amass this total so hence Guy proved to be the winner.

Bradley Trophy

Below is a photo of Chris Adams receiving his trophy from Alan Bradley following his victory in the competition. This event is also an Order of Merit style with four scores being taken from the six nine hole competitions. Chris won with a very impressive 80 points. The runner up was to Tony Adamson with 74 points.

Out of Bounders Winter League

Well done to David Rodwell for winning this most prestigious of titles.

Cobra Fly XL Irons

I have just got in stock one set of Cobra irons (5-PW & SW) with men’s steel regular shafts. They are selling at £299 and are a lot of club for the money. They are well worth considering if you or a friend or family member are looking for a great value set of irons.

Snips from Greens: Pace of Play in Competition Golf

As the summer season approaches we are expecting a large number of competitors most weeks. With only nine holes we can get a reasonable number of rounds completed on a Saturday but only if everyone plays each round of nine holes in no more than two hours.

Two things to remember please:

1. Pace of play is the joint responsibility of all group members so please keep up with the group ahead of you  – to check you’re on the pace you should be arriving at each par four tee before the group ahead of you have finished putting out on that hole.

2. Don’t forget that Alternate Day tee times are available when there is usually less time pressure although you should still aim for the two hour target.

Well what a shocking week weather wise ☹ The PGA seniors & trainees events that was scheduled for Monday, the Seniors Spring stableford scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday’s ladies comp have all been cancelled due to inclement weather. Fingers crossed for the men’s Bogey Final on Saturday.

As you’ll read below, the juniors managed to get round on Saturday afternoon though.

This week, we also have our new feature “Snips from Greens” explaining about the procedure when a player plays from the wrong tee.

Junior Stableford

The first junior competition of the season was played in the cold and wet last Saturday. The winner after battling round the front nine was Matthew Hodder with 16 point. Alex Keeling pipped Ollie Grieves on count back to secure second place with 13 points.

Men’s Team Clothing

I will be placing the order early next week so please let me know asap if you’d like to get one of the navy FJ polos as linked to here and shown in the photo below. The price is £45.

If there are any other FootJoy clothing items that you would like to order with the Hale GC crest on, I can add those to the order. Here’s a link to their website. This offer is open to men, ladies and juniors.

For the men, one option might be a navy mid layer which would compliment the navy polo if things ended up being a little chilly. Here’s a link to that garment and there’s a photo below.

UA Waterproof Jackets

I’ve also taken stock of a small run of close out Under Armour waterproof jackets. As you can see from the photo below, they look great. I have them in men’s small, medium and large. The price is £99 but if you buy one before my next newsletter comes out I’ll take £10 of that price.

Ladies Spring Dinner

Thanks to Sue Bryant for providing me with these photos from the evening.

Snips from Greens – Playing from the Wrong Tee

Strokeplay – If you realise you have done this and you have not yet started the next hole you need to apply the general penalty of two strokes to your score and go back and play from the correct tee. If you don’t realise your error until after you’ve teed off on the next hole then you have to disqualify your score for the entire round.

Matchplay – There is no penalty but your opponent may choose to cancel your stroke and make you play another ball. If your opponent does not cancel your stroke, you simply carry on as normal.

Thanks again to Bob Siddle for providing these rules reminders.

We have a new informative feature from Greens starting this week at the end of the newsletter. We also have lots of results to share plus information about an opportunity to buy a team polo shirts for the men.

Bogey 6

Congratulations and utmost respect to current gentleman captain David Wainwright for recovering from his Captain’s dinner the night before and then going out to score 3 up in Bogey 6 on Saturday. What staying power! Peter Atherton was second with two up whilst Paul Taylor secured third spot with his score of one up.

Sharp Memorial

The gentleman captain’s winning score of three up was also good enough to secure him victory in the Sharp Memorial. This is awarded to the golfer with the best aggregate score from four of the six Bogeys that are played over the winter. His aggregate score was five up. David Rodwell was second with four up. Danny Fox was also four up but he was beaten into third place following a card play off.

Open Nine Hole Winter Stableford

This was played over two dates: Saturday 25th February and Thursday 2nd March. The scoring was incredibly consistent with ten players sharing the same score of 20 points at the top of the leaderboard. So after many card play offs, the winner of the ladies prize was Kairen Seaton and the runner up was Gail Sampson. On the men’s side, David Rodwell finished on top with Ian Goulty the runner up.

The turn out for the two days was really encouraging and great to see.

Men’s Team Polo Shirts

Here’s a message from David Rodwell…

I am excited to announce that we have decided to introduce Hale GC crested polo shirts for this year’s Captain’s matches. These new shirts are not only comfortable, but they will also help us look and feel our best while representing our club.

Our new Foot-Joy shirts will feature our club logo prominently displayed on the front. The colour will be navy (white logo) and we are suggesting the Stretch Pique Solid (see below). More details can be found by clicking here.

Richard will be placing an order soon for these shirts, so please contact him in the Pro Shop to reserve yours.

Please note that these shirts are optional, but all members of the Captain’s squad are encouraged to consider purchasing one.

Finally, the dates for most of this year’s fixtures have now been arranged and can be seen on Clubv1 (Menu => Club Teams =>Captain’s Matches). Confirmation of the full list of fixtures will be sent once all dates have been finalised.

I look forward to seeing you all soon on the course sporting our new team shirts!

Nine & Divine

The club’s first Nine and Divine took place on Sunday (like a Nine & Dine but on a Sunday morning rather than a late Friday afternoon). The winners were Keith and Tracey with 23 points. Second place went to Kerry Bailey and Phil Long and third spot went to Pat & Barry Jefferies. All three teams scored 23 points so the final standings were sorted out via countback. The golf was followed by Sunday lunch so a great time was had by all.

Snips from Greens

We are going to try and run a regular feature to help with common rules queries that crop up. Thank you to Bob Siddle for providing the content.

Picking up a ball – this is arguably the most common error made by golfers worldwide. Whilst everyone marks a ball when they lift it on a putting green (whether theirs or someone else’s), many people do not mark a ball when they handle one elsewhere on the course (eg to identify if it is their ball).

If a ball has to be replaced in it’s original position then it must be marked first. If you forget to do this with your own ball you should apply a one stroke penalty to your score.

If you are lifting a ball to place it elsewhere because you are entitled to relief (eg from abnormal ground conditions) there is no requirement for you to mark your ball first. Our preferred lies relief rules at Hale for example (whether you are placing the moved ball back on grass or a mat) do not require you to mark the ball position before lifting it.

It is good practice to do so, however, if you take your lifted ball a pace or two away to clean it (by your trolley for example) so you know for sure where the original spot was.

Just a brief one this week. Next week, we will have the results of the Open Winter Stableford competition that has been staged over two days.

Patio

Work on the patio is progressing nicely…

Seniors Back Nine Texas Scramble

Yesterday’s event was won by Roger Fielding, Andy Veitch and Ian Hunt with a fine score of 25 points. Paul Gilbert, Phil Long and Bill Wrigley finished runners up with 23 points beating Graham Jones, Lee Bramley and John Wright on a card play off.

Ladies Front NineStableford

Well done to Maria Deane, who scored 21 points to finish in first place. Jo Bryant was second just one point adrift and Kathleen McNairney was beaten into third place after a count back.

This week, we have a round up of lots of results, new of international wins for some of our members and some links to further reading. We also discuss Will’s upcoming junior group coaching sessions and that there are clothing bargains to be had. Please enjoy the read.

Junior Group Coaching

Also Will resumes his junior coaching programme on Sunday 12th March. There are three classes to choose from on Sundays and Mondays.

So if you have any family or friends that might be interested (and remember that they don’t have to be members to take part in our junior coaching programme), please direct them to the Pro Shop for more information. Alternatively they can call us on 0161 249 8427 or email me at richardsboothuk@gmail.com

Clothing Promotions

We have some lovely men’s Foot-Joy pieces and other items at 35% off. Plus all other men’s clothing in the shop is 10% for a limited time.

The ladies clothing sale continues with prices reduced by 20% or 25%.

Please drop in and have a browse.

Seniors Bradley 6

Last Wednesday, Tarik Rashid won Bradley 6 with 21 points. John Moss was runner up. Three twos were recorded on the day.

Bogey 5

On the 10th February, Graham Bryant won Bogey 5 with an excellent tally of four up. Barry Jefferies was second with three up beating David Rodwell into third place following a card play off.

Ladies Competitions

Well done to Louise Gerald for winning the back nine stableford on the 16th Feb with a cracking tally of 22 points. Freda Hunt was second with 21 points.

The previous week Caroline Smith finished top of the tree with a nett 34 on the front nine max score medal competition. Gail Sampson was runner up with a nett score of 37.

Hale Golfers on their Travels

Thanks to Irene Kirk for sending in these details of international wins for Ron Kirk and Keith Thompson! Ron won the Seniors prize at the Legends Course in Mauritius whilst Keith prevailed in the Super Seniors 

Tracey Thompson came third on a card play off in the Ladies Competition 

As Irene pointed out, it’s such a pleasure to play golf in warm sunshine and get those shorts and t-shirts on. 

Balancing Act

Thanks to Paul Simpson for sending in this photo of where the gentleman captain’s ball finished after his first tee shot during a recent Captain’s Challenge match. Rumour has it that he went on to birdie the hole and go one up!

Missing Link

I managed to omit the link from my last newsletter to the article that Colin Bamford sent me about the benefits of playing golf. Unfortunately the link has now expired so I can’t make amends in this week’s missive. Apologies Colin.

Flag In or Out?

I thought this was an interesting article from Golf Digest that was worth sharing. However we definitely don’t want this to slow the pace of play down in any way!

This week we have lots of news about clubs, young and old! Plus results from the club’s three main sections – ladies, gents and seniors. And finally a link to an article from the Times.

Newly Launched Golf Clubs

We have the latest Ping G430 and Callaway Paradym clubs in stock. We also have the brand new Odyssey Versa putter range. Click here to read the review of them from Today’s Golfer.

We have demos so that you can try the clubs. We have Trackman so that you can see exactly how they perform against your current clubs. There is no obligation to buy… although we would of course like you to! What are you waiting for? Please drop into the Pro Shop to start a conversation.

Experienced Golf Clubs

The Pro Shop also has some used golf clubs that need a good home to go to. There are some ex Ping G425 demos amongst other great value clubs. Please pop down and have a browse. We’re here to help and advise as to whether a particular club is the correct one for you and your game.

Seniors Back 9 Texas Scramble

Well done to Martin Oldfield, Ian Williamson & John Johnston for winning yesterday’s senior’s Texas Scramble with 25 points in the glorious sunshine. Chris Adams, Phil Long & Bill Wrigley finsihed in second spot following a card play off with Rob Manley, Ian Goulty & Tony Sampson. Both teams scored 23 points.

Bogey 4

Charlie Hindle returned from Nottingham University to secure Bogey 4 with three up. Andrew King (pictured below with gentleman captain David Wainwright) was runner with a score of two up and Andrew Warnes finished third with one up.

Bogey 5 takes place this Friday and Saturday.

Ladies Back Nine Stableford

The ever reliable Terri Broadbent won last Thursday’s ladies comp with 19 points. There were then four players who scored 18 points. Gwynneth Bramwell won the card play off to finish as the runner up.

Staying Healthy in Later Life

Thanks to Colin Bamford for sharing this article with me. Can anyone guess what it might be suggesting? 😁⛳

We have the results from recent men’s, ladies’ and senior’s competitions to discuss this week. Plus news of Donald Sutherland’s 90th birthday and photos kindly sent in by Colin Bamford, showing both the course and the weather looking almost Spring like!

Men’s Back 9 Stableford (Team of 3)

Graham Jones, Lee Bramley & John Wright scored a fabulous 45 points on Saturday to win the nine hole team competition. Andrew Cowan, David Rodwell and Ted Shaw finished second with 42 points. Roger Laitt, Jonny Gray & Johnny Yates were beaten into third spot following a card play off. Three twos were recoded and they went to Brian Greenbank, Gus Murray-Brown and Quentin Smith.

Ladies Front Nine Stableford

Nicola Kitching scored a very tidy 21 points to win last Thursday. Pat Jefferies was second with 17 points and Sally Budd was one point further back to finish third.

Seniors Bradley 5

Thanks to Chris Adams for the following round up.

A diminishing band of twenty five players took to the fairways on a very windy morning, albeit we seem to be getting more wedded to our beds as the first group did not book until 9.30! But we were able to play in the dry.

It was very good to see John Johnston out and survive his first nine hole competition since his knee replacement and Bill Wrigley safely back from Spain and enjoying a decent score. Despite the wind making in tough, over half the field scored 16 points or more.

A winning score of 20 was achieved by Steve Bates on a back 6 card play-off from Martin Oldfield in second and Derek Marshall was in third on a card play-off with 19 points. Mike Massey got a “proper two” at the second and Bill Wrigley got a two on the 7th.

90th Birthday

And thanks to Chris Wood for sending in this prose and photo.

Playing member Donald Sutherland celebrated his 90th birthday in the company of the President Barry Jefferies and nonagenarians John Hughes and Drummond Sharp and many others on Tuesday. He treated them not only to a glass of wine but brought a wonderful bottle of long-stored Fonseca 1960 vintage port which was considerably younger than all those lunching and a testament to his staying power.

Photos

The course opened again a few days ago after quite a spell of being closed. So not only have we had golf, we’ve even managed some competitive golf with the Seniors Bradley 4 competition taking place yesterday. Plus we have a Ladies nine hole stableford planned for today and a men’s team of three competition on Saturday.

Ping G430

These are great looking clubs that perform. Why not give them a go? Demos now available to try in store.

Bradley 4

Thirty brave senior golfers took the fairways yesterday and as Chris Adams pointed out, scoring was tough and only the top ten scored 16 points or more.

The winner with an excellent 23 points was Chris Adams, who managed to keep a six off his card in the process. John Wright was runner up with 19 points and Andrew Fishwick also scored 19 points but finished third following a card play off. Martin Oldfield was the only player to record a two.

Canapes & Cocktails Evening

Here are some scenes from Lady Captain’s evening last week raising money for the Ukrainian Appeal. It looks like great fun!

Pro Shop Survey

Thank you to those of who have completed the survey that I discussed in last week’s newsletter. It’s just a one page document with just 4 short sections.

It would be great to have some more responses so here’s the link again. Alternatively, we can provide you with a hard copy if you pop into the shop.

Please feel free to mention anything – be that elements of the shop, coaching, other services we provide, me, staff, communication and so on.

To return it, there are several options. You could do so by dropping it into the shop, by email or by posting it through the letterbox on the rear door of the Pro Shop (near the rental trolleys). If you would prefer, we’re quite happy for you to complete the survey anonymously. Thank you in advance for your time doing this.

Winter Practice

Whatever the weather, please contact us in the Pro Shop to look at hiring the studio powered by Trackman. Sessions start from £12 and Will or I will be on hand to guide you through using the technology. It gives you such a head start on knowing what to work on with your game and ultimately can help fast track you to better golf. It really is a simple and incredibly powerful learning tool.

Well another week, another course closure! Today’s Seniors competition has been cancelled due to the snow. We will have to wait and see about the fate of tomorrow’s ladies competition and then Bogey 4 which is scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday.

On the plus side there’s been some lovely photo opportunities for Tracey Thompson and myself! The three photos of various stages of the sunrise were taken this morning and the big frosty puddle by the first tees was snapped yesterday.

Pro Shop Survey

It’s been a while since we canvassed feedback as to how we’re doing in the Pro Shop so I have put together a very simple survey. Feel free to mention anything – be that elements of the shop, coaching, other services we provide, me, staff, communication and so on.

We would be most grateful if you could complete the survey. Click here to view and download the one page document. Or we can provide you with a copy if you pop into the shop.

To return it, there are several options. You could do so by dropping it into the shop, by email or by posting it through the letterbox on the rear door of the Pro Shop (near the rental trolleys). If you would prefer, we’re quite happy for you to complete the survey anonymously.

Thank you in advance for your time on this.

Ping G430

The Ping G430 family has just been launched worldwide. The clubs look and play fantastically. I have demos in store for you to try so why not book an appointment and start off the new golf season with some new, high performing golf clubs?

I also have a demo of the Ping ChipR available which has proved really popular for those awkward shots from around the green.

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2023. There’s not much to report as the rain continues to pour and the course does it’s best to stand up to it.

The photos below were taken at 1115 on Tuesday and show significant areas of water pooling.

Ladies Front Nine New Year Stableford

Well done to Min Fishwick who cruised round in 23 points despite a long lay off to win last Thursday’s competition. Ceri Hyde finished in second place with 18 points and Sue Fallows was beaten into third spot following a card play off.

Please remember….

And finally…

Thanks to Will for sharing this tweet with me. It seems Jon Rahm, following his victory in Hawaii on Sunday, wouldn’t have any problem with keeping his WHS handicap at an acceptable level 😂😂