Blog

Well since Boris’ announcement a couple of weeks ago, all concerned with the club have had to leap into planning and preparation mode for the coming golf season. It’s no different for the Pro Shop as I announce a few dates for your diary and things that (I hope) will be of interest.

Junior Group Coaching

Junior coaching is starting up again on Monday 19th April with a session from 1600 – 1645 and another from 1700 – 1745. The dates for this term (no sessions on bank holidays) will be as follows: 19/4, 26/4, 10/5, 17/5 & 24/5.

The cost for the five sessions is £40. Please contact me to sign up or should you require further information.

Ladies Beginner Coaching

The ladies beginner lessons are starting again in April. The format is six one hour lessons held over consecutive weeks in groups of two. It will involve four sessions on the practice ground and two on the golf course. We’ll start with the basics of the set up and swing building. We’ll also cover various aspects of the game and importantly, get you out on the golf course.

The price is at an introductory rate of £99 per person. This price is just for newbies. If you have done the course before and would like to do it again (or something similar as I can come up with bespoke coaching plans) then I would be delighted to do something but it would be a little more expensive.

If you know of anyone who would be interested, please ask them to contact me. We can then sort out the dates to suit the three of us.

In previous years we have offered a ladies temporary membership scheme. Unfortunately we are not able to do so this year but some full lady memberships are still available, which may be of interest down the line.

Masters Sweepstake 2021

Well it’s the shortest ever gap between one Masters tournament and the next (it takes place from Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th April) which means you can get your teeth into another Pro Shop Masters Sweepstake…. I bet you can’t believe your luck, can you??

The price will be £4 for one player or £10 for three. The players are drawn at random and prizes are awarded as credit to spend in the Pro Shop as follows:

Overall 1st	£75
Overall 2nd	£50
Best & Worst Score of Each Day*	£15

If you’d like to take part, please send me an email letting me know how many goes you would like and then I can explain about how payment can be made. Thank you.

* Players must post a score ie. withdrawals, NR’s etc don’t count. Other conditions apply. For further details, please contact me.

So on a personal level, the last few months have given me the opportunity to reflect on my business as I approach twelve years of happy employment at the club.

After the first lockdown, as we all experienced, golf really boomed. This was great for the game and good for my business; it certainly helped make up for some of the missed trade of the previous weeks.

Coaching was also very busy which I loved. However this is one of the difficulties that my business has faced – when I coach, it often requires me to lock the door of the Pro Shop and go up to the practice area. If you as a member require the shop during that period, it must be frustrating to find it closed. The other matter is that the shop is open six days per week (Monday to Saturday) and Sundays are getting increasingly busy on the course.

So I’d like to improve the level of service that I offer to the membership by recruiting a full time (30+ hours per week) member of staff. Not only is this more professional but it’s what the members of Hale GC deserve. The new member of the team will help Phil and I to cover the shop more regularly and allow us to open on Sundays.

I’ve done my homework financially and it looks viable but as with most business decisions, there is no guarantee. That said, the likely upsides for all concerned make it worth going for.

Please click here to view the job description and so here’s where you might be able to help… 😁. The role may suit a PGA professional, a PGA trainee or indeed someone who is not a golf professional but has an interest in golf. The search is more about finding the right person and building the role around him or her.

If you know of anyone who might be suitable, please ask them to apply. Many thanks for your assistance with this and for enabling me to continue to serve as Golf Professional at our fine club.

Xpos Caddie App

Exciting news, there’s now an app that you can get for your mobile which enables you to see your Pro Shop balance. There is also a “Reserve & Collect” feature plus many others. Please check out the video below for more information.

As this is a new initiative, I’d love your feedback as to what you think of it and if there’s anything that you need help with.

Well we hoped it might be a little sooner but at least we have some light at the end of the tunnel and a date to set our sights on to get back out on the golf course. So make sure you ink Monday 29th March into your calendar! Phil and I are really looking forward to welcoming you back to the club – let’s hope the weather will be kind to us 🤞

I was obviously shocked to hear the news about Tiger Woods following his car crash in Los Angeles on Tuesday. As I write this he is described as being “awake and responsive”. It looks like the recovery ahead will be a long one and we wish him well.

On the actual golf course, Rory McIlroy missed his first cut in 30 events at the weekend as Max Homa beat Tony Finau in a play off to win the the Genesis Invitational at Riviera on the PGA Tour. Thirty events pales into insignificance when compared with Tiger in his prime, who put together a magnificent run of 142 consecutive cuts made.

Regripping Service

Poor grips affect your ability to play your best golf. If they are worn and shiny, you’ll end up gripping the club too tightly which will affect wrist hinge and ultimately the distance and direction you are able to achieve.

During the last few weeks of lockdown, I am offering a collect and return service (within the Hale GC vicinity) to those of you who would like your clubs in tip top condition for the 29th March. Grip prices start from £8 and I offer a 10% discount if you get 8 or more clubs regripped in one go. I have putter grips too.

As you can see from the photos below, there are lots of options. I have samples in my car boot that I can show you and discuss when I pop round to collect them.

Please reply to this email or call me on 0161 249 8427 (if I’m not at the club it rings through to my mobile) to take action.

First Tee Progression

Here’s the latest update on how the first tee and practice net area is coming along. I even managed to capture it in some sunshine…

Videos

There are a couple of short video links below that might be of interest. The first demonstrates just how ridiculously talented the current world number one male golfer is and the second celebrates the 25th anniversary of Happy Gilmore and his infamous technique – there can’t be many of you who haven’t tried it?! Enjoy…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwDzi46x8vY

Hope everyone remains fit and well. Still not sure of when we’ll return to the golf course. The good news though is that the days are getting longer and the weather is much milder this week.

Below are some photos from a recent walk round the course to get you excited about the work that has been taking place on the course and some views to help your remember HGC!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Don’t forget…

If you would like any of the latest hardware from Callaway or Ping, I will have lots of demo equipment for you to look at and try when we re-open. Please hang in there before rushing to purchase elsewhere…. 😃

I hope you and your extended families are keeping well. Sadly once again there’s not much to report on here at HGC – well except the nights are drawing out more noticeably now which gives us all a little bit of hope for what’s to come 🙂

In the professional game Paul Casey won his 15th European Tour event with a four stroke victory at the Dubai Desert Classic. Patrick Reed was involved in another rules controversy on his way to a 5 shot win at Torrey Pines in the farmers Insurance open.

Photos

The greenkeepers battle on during lockdown with work around the first tee continuing and the laying on paths on the third and ninth holes.

• 

• 

Below is a photo from a week or so ago of what the proposed new fourth hole will look like under a dusting of snow – it could make a lovely Christmas card!

Still no golf and still plenty of crazy weather here in the UK but not so in Abu Dhabi where Tyrell Hatton had another excellent win. This time it was the HSBC Championship and the victory moves him to fifth in the World Golf Rankings. American Jessica Korda won the LPGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions in Florida by two shots, having shot an incredible 60 in the third round.

New Season, New kit

I’ve been keeping myself busy sorting out pre books for the coming season. I’m thrilled to say I’m going to have the most extensive range of demo clubs ever. The brands that I have demos for are Ping, Callaway and Lynx. So if you are wanting to upgrade your clubs this year, please contact me and following lockdown, we can arrange a complimentary, no obligation demo. That way you can try before you buy to ensure that the new club out performs your current one.

It’s pretty scary investing heavily in the business when golf is in the grip of another lockdown and there isn’t any income. However, like many, I’m hoping that we can come out of this in the Spring and golf will boom again, as it did in 2020.

Pro Am

We had a tremendous response to my plug for the 2021 HGC Pro Am in last week’s newsletter. It takes place on Saturday 10th July. Eighteen of the twenty four places have now been filled and all of the afternoon times have been allocated. So please get in touch before it’s too late if you’d like to enter a team.

Moat

Just look at these three photos of the ladies first tee, following the heavy rainfall of last week, sent in by Howard Gill, Pat Jefferies and Terri Broadbent.

Practice Nets

The photo below is of our hard working greenstaff clearing the trees around the nets by the first tee on Monday morning – and yes look at that, blue sky!!

Well sadly not much to report on the golf front is there? So instead let’s look forward to a time post lockdown!

This year’s Hale GC Pro-Am will take place on Saturday 10th July. Please let me know if you would like to enter and whether you would prefer a morning or an afternoon tee time. Please remember this event is open to all male, all female or mixed teams. The format is three amateurs and a Pro with the best two scores to count on each hole. The afternoon slots are always more popular. Consequently they will be allocated on a first come, first served basis so on your marks, get set, go…… 😀

Photos

During a walk over the course last week with our miniature dachshund Buddy, it was evident just how much rain we’ve had by the height of the Bollin adjacent to the third tee. The greenkeepers have continued to work hard whilst there have been no pesky golfers littering the course. Here’s a photo of Dave in action beside the new path by the third tee.

• 

• 

Something to Read

I enjoyed an article which appeared in the online publication Global Golf Post recently about what attracts us to this brilliantly frustrating game. You can access it by clicking here. Enjoy!

Happy New Year everyone!

So the snow stopped us initially and now it’s lockdown 3.0…. meh!! We’ll battle through this and come the better weather and lighter nights, we’ll be back out stampeding down those lush fairways once again!

The main thing of course is that you and your families are keeping well. I wish you all the very best during these difficult times.

Kahla Trophy

We did get some golf after Christmas before the snow came in… incidentally I managed to sell a set of golf clubs whilst there was snow on the ground which I’m pretty proud of! We were able to make use of the Swing Room for the fitting.

Anyway back to the golf…. the Kahla Trophy was relaunched on Sunday 27th December with ten entrants. The format is a generational family foursomes competition. The winners with 15 points were Alex and Joe Mills. Second place went to the evergreen Munnerys, James and John, who also scored 15 points but were beaten on countback. The gentleman captain Jonny Yates was around to be able to do an impromptu presentation to the competitors.

Thanks to James Munnery for arranging the event and hopefully it will continue to grow in subsequent years.

Vouchers

I mentioned this previously in one of my December blog posts but it’s worth repeating – despite the inevitable down turn in retail over the next weeks and months.

I want you to be able to shop local and support your Pro Shop as much as possible. So with that in mind, should you have received any gift vouchers for American Golf as a Christmas present, we will accept them in the Pro Shop and give you their full face value. That way, there is no need for you to shop anywhere else 😃

These are the T&C’s:
(1) all vouchers redeemed must be valid for a minimum of 4 weeks before their expiry date
(2) any vouchers not redeemed in full with have the balance issued as HGC Pro Shop credit
(3) vouchers cannot be exchanged for cash.

Photos

Below are a selection of photos taken by myself and others from the holiday period. They’re broadly in chronological order.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Well this will be my last missive of 2020 and of course, what a year it’s been. The course has been closed for approx 11 weeks out of the 52 and I can’t imagine that has ever happened before since the club was founded in 1903. Then when we did open in May, the course was consistently busy in a way that I haven’t seen in my eleven plus years at the club.

This wasn’t just at Hale as a golf boom gripped the nation. All was well unless you wanted to play a course as a non member or get hold of a golf trolley of any kind, as stocks were quickly depleted and still remain so even now to an extent.

My business predictably has been stop start but I just want to take this opportunity on behalf of Phil and I to thank both the club and the members for continuing to support the shop in such an emphatic way. Nationwide the call is to shop local and support small businesses so thank you for doing your bit here at HGC. So I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you have a fabulous and, more importantly, healthy 2021.

Pro Shop Christmas Draw

Talking of support, the Pro Shop Christmas draw sold over 600 numbers which is a fantastic effort so thank you once again! Our President, Barbara Grant, kindly agreed to draw the numbers out for me from the very high tech tombola that I bought online last year.

• 

• 

So the winners and the amount of Pro Shop credit they each receive are listed below:

POSITION	AMOUNT	NUMBER	WINNER
1st	£250	586	Lee Bramley
2nd	£200	221	Cliff Wright
3rd	£150	72	Jonny Gray
4th	£100	445	Iain Carstairs
5th	£75	121	Alan Cannell
6th	£60	59	Howard Gill
7th	£50	215	John Book
8th	£40	512	Diana Hogben
9th	£30	395	Mandy Gilbert
10th	£25	38	Tiff Fielden

Saturday 9 Hole Stableford

We had a great turn out at the weekend for the 9 hole stableford. Well done to Richard Robinson for winning the men’s event with 21 points. Bill Dixon had the same score but was beaten into second place on countback. Alex Mills was third with 19 points.

In the ladies event, the ever reliable ladies competition secretary Sally Wright won with 18 points. Gwynneth Bramwell was second with 16 points beating Mandy Gilbert on a card play off.

Shop Christmas Opening Hours

The shop will open as normal until Wed 23rd and then the hours will be as follows:

Fri 25 – Mon 28 December	Closed
Tues 29 – Thu 31 December	0900 – 1400
Fri 1 Jan 2021	Closed
Sat 2 Jan	Normal opening hours resume

Photo File

In the world of professional golf, A-Lim Kim finished with three birdies to win the rain delayed ladies US Open on Monday by one shot with a cracking round of 67. This was her first professional victory outside of Korea.

In the men’s game the 47 year old Lee Westwood continued to roll back the years as he won the Race to Dubai for the third time, his first one being twenty years ago. Matthew Fitzpatrick won the actual tournament that finished on Sunday, the World DP Tour Championship with a 15 under par total.

Thursday Nine Hole Stableford

Back at HGC, the first competition after the latest lockdown took place last week. The ladies winner with 18 stableford points was Sally Wright. Congratulations Sally. Lynette Lodge finished second one point behind beating Gill Kay into third place on countback.

The men’s winner was Bill Dixon with a fine score of 21 points. Andrew Cowan was second with 18 points. Phil Long was third with 18 points – he too was beaten into third place via a card play off.

Well done also to Roger Sheen for recording the only two of the men’s competition for a bumper pay out 💰

Video Analysis

I’ve now done a few lessons in the swing room with the new high tech video cameras. I’ve still got a few things to learn about using the software to get the very most from it but I’m getting more knowledgeable every day. It’s a really great bit of kit. If you like to see for yourself and book a lesson, then please call the shop, email me or book online by clicking here.

The Gift of Better Golf

Still not sorted out that golfing loved one’s Christmas present? Why not get them a voucher for some golf lessons which can be taken in the freshly upgraded swing room or outdoors if they prefer? Denominations to suit every budget are available. If you can’t get down to the club, payment can be made online or via telephone and the voucher can be hand delivered through your letterbox if you live locally, posted or emailed. Please get in touch to arrange yours now.

Other Vouchers

While I’m on the subject of vouchers, I want you to be able to shop local and support your Pro Shop as much as possible. So with that in mind, should you currently have any gift vouchers for American Golf or indeed receive any over the Christmas period, we will accept them in the Pro Shop and give you their full face value. That way, there is no need for you to shop anywhere else.

These are the T&C’s:
(1) all vouchers redeemed must be valid for a minimum of 4 weeks before their expiry date
(2) any vouchers not redeemed in full with have the balance issued as HGC Pro Shop credit
(3) vouchers cannot be exchanged for cash.