Blog

Well done to Jon Rahm for playing some excellent golf on the long final day to secure this year’s Masters. Richard Hogben must have been happy too as he had him in this year’s sweepstake.

The bad weather that disrupted the Masters also meant that the Frolic scheduled for Easter Monday had to be cancelled.

Callaway Demo Day

And talking of Jon Rahm, you may well be aware that he is a Callaway staff player,. As such, he is using the latest Paradym driver and fairways amongst other Callaway clubs.

This leads me nicely into reminding you that we have a demo day here on Friday 28th April. We still have some spots left. If you are interested in some new clubs for 2023, this is a great opportunity to have a go with them under the watchful eye of master fitter, Tom Gradwell.

Junior Stableford (Front 9)

The junor stableford on Saturday did go ahead though and Sam Morris won with 13 points. Ollie Grieves scored the ame number of points but was beaten on a card play off.

Snips from Greens – Scorecards and Maximum Scores in Medal Competitions

In order to ensure that cards can be easily checked at the end of a competition players should only mark the gross score of the person they are marking for in column A together with their own score as Marker in column D. No other players scores should be recorded on an individual’s card.

During this year’s Medal competitions we will again be implementing the ‘Maximum Score’ competition format to help ensure a prompt pace of play. This establishes a maximum score for each hole of 5 over par. Players who have not yet holed out after playing that number of shots must pick up and continue with their round.

As you mark your card, please indicate where you have picked up by placing a square around the score for that hole. This information will be used to aid in tie-resolution in the event of any card play-off. You must gain confirmation from your marker that your score is correctly recorded before submitting it.

A properly completed card should look like this (apologies Dave for using your scorecard label in this example, as we all know you would always score far better than this!!)

Hole #4 – Player has hit 8 shots and has not yet holed his/her ball, so he/she picks up and moves on to hole #5.
Hole #7 – Player has hit 9 shots and has not yet holed his/her ball, so he/she picks up and moves on to hole #8.
Hole #9 – Player holes out with his/her 9th shot (no square needed).

Well it’s Masters week which, as we all know, is the unofficial official start of the golf season!! There was some fantastic golf played yesterday but a a relatively slow start for Rory. Hope you all get chance to watch some of it and good luck to those of you who have entered the Pro Shop Masters Sweepstake.

In this week’s newsletter, we have the following:

• a round up of competition results
• news and photos of the new patio
• a great deal on Titleist pro V1 golf balls
• new of some great value junior golf sets
• a rules reminder from greens and
• a link to Seamus power’s consecutive holes in one!!

Ladies Stablefords

Congratulations to Mandy Gilbert for winning Wednesday’s 18 hole stableford with 36 points. Noelle Morris was runner with two points less.

Freda Hunt was the winner of the nine hole stableford with a fine score of 20 points. The runner up was Karen Stockton with 16 points. Karen beat both Pat Jefferies and Gail Sampson on count back.

The other photo below is of the lady captain Jan Ravenscroft and Sandra Mossop with flowers presented to Sandra for her very special birthday at tea on Wednesday. Sandra treated all the ladies to a birthday glass of fizz. 

Ladies Spring Meeting

Well done to Jackie Murphy, Joanna Bates Mandy Gilbert and Jane Perks for winniung last week’s nine hole Spring Meetingwith a cracking score of 51 points. Second placve went to Gwyneth Bramwell, Jane Wilkinson, Gill Kay, and Terri Broadbent. Third place was secured by Lady Captain, Wendy Jenkins, Joanne Bryant and Pam Dixon

The shotgun start golf was followed by lunch.

Titleist Pro V1 Promotion

Why not stock up on Pro V1 golf balls for the season with this amazing offer? So 4 dozen balls would cost you £149.97 and if you wanted them personalised the price would be £165.96. Please contact me to place your order.

Nine & Divine

Well done to Graham Bryant and Amada Greaves for winning Sunday’s Nine & Divine pairs betterball stabeford competition with 23 points. There were four team just one point behind on 22 points but Mandy & Paul Gilbert beat the others following a card play off.

New Patio

Below are some photos of the work in progress. Many of the members turned out in force to help with the new hedge planting. As you can see the whole project has brough Tracey to her knees!!

… and here’s the finished product with some of the members not being able to resist using our excellent new facility, despite the weather!!

Snips from Greens – Mark your ball

Rule 6.3a requires players to put an identifying mark on their golf ball so that they can clearly identify it before playing it.

If your ball is not visible after your shot and you find an unmarked ball of the same make and number lying in the area where your ball landed you cannot just assume that is your ball unless you have a personal mark on it. You will be obliged to apply a stroke and distance penalty to yourself for a lost ball and go back to play a new (clearly marked!) ball instead.

Junior Clubs

We have a few second hand sets of junior clubs at various price points if ayone is looking for some. Perhaps instead of Easter Eggs for a grandchild? Much healtheir and fulfilling than chocolate!!

What are the Odds…?

How about Seamus Power recording back to back hole in ones in the the Masters Par 3 tournament on Wednesday…..

It’s a busy one this week with news of the Captains’ Drive in, a Callaway demo day plus lots more! We also have lots of great photos for you to persue so thank you to everyone who’s sent those in – my apologies if I didn’t use yours on this occassion!

Callaway are Coming

I’m delighted to announce that we have secured a Callaway demo day here at Hale GC on Friday 28th April. They’ll be showcasing their full range including the multi tour winning Paradym range. Times are available between 1100 and 1430. Don’t miss this excellent opportunity to upgrade your clubs. Please drop me a line to book your appointment

Captains’ Drive In

The new captain’s took up office over the weekend. They can be seen below before their drive in and also in action. They are Roger Laitt, Jan Ravenscroft and Matthew Hodder. We wish them all the best for a fabulous year.

Farewell and a big thank you to the retiring captains of David Wainwright, Judy Pinnington and Dan Turkington for all their hard work during their year of office.

Before the drive-in, we staged a nine hole stand a side Texas Scramble. Thanks to Tiff Fielden for organsing this. It was a shotgun start and it was so popular that we had to make it teams of five!

There were two winning teams, each scoring a gross 34 (one under par). Dave Madeley, Kerry Gill, Glyn Isaac, Joe Bluer & Dave Burkinshaw made up one of the teams and Ted Shaw, Judith Guest, Tony Sampson, Tracey Thompson & Andrew Fishwick made up the other. Well done to all!

New Ladies Spring/Summer Clothing Range

Annastasia has dropped off a whole new range of fabulous clothing so please pop in and have a good browse….

Ladies Texas Scramble

Last Thursday, the ladies played a back nine Texas Scramble. Congratulations to the winners – Kerry Gill, Caroline Smith and Noelle Morris with 24 points. Second place went to Kerry Bailey, Joanne Bryant and Karen Stockton with 21 points following a card play off with two other teams.

The third photo below shows Sally Budd presenting flowers to Judy Pinnington as a thank you for her year as lady captain.

Ladies Starter / Returner Golf Lessons

I’m not even sure “returner” is the appropriate word but hopefully you understand what I mean! This Spring, I am offering group lessons on a bespoke basis to new golfers or golfers that haven’t played for a while to help them “Get into Golf”. It’s a course of six one hour lessons.

Should you know any friends or family that might be interested, please ask them to contact me and I’ll can explain more about it. My email address is richardsboothuk@gmail.com and the Pro Shop phone number is 0161 249 8427. Thank you.

Snips from Greens – Ready Golf

The R&A recommend various methods to help speed up play including the following:

• Be ready to play when it is your turn.
• Hit your shot before helping someone else search for their ball.
• Hit your shot if you are ready to play but a player further away from the hole is not (eg they may be raking a bunker or looking for a ball).
• Position your bag on the side of the green nearest the next tee when putting.
• Play a provisional ball if there is a risk that your ball may be lost.

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