Blog

Don’t forget GolfClubs4Cash are visiting HGC on Tuesday (the 5th December) from 10am – 1pm so if you have some used golf clubs gathering dust bring them in and get money to spend in the Pro Shop for them.

If you can’t make that date and time, you can leave your clubs with us here in the shop beforehand.

Open 9 Hole Stableford

This took place last Thursday and was played over the back nine. The winner with 19 points was Mandy Gilbert. Brian Greenbank also scored 19 points but was beaten on a card play off and so finished as runer up. Third spot went to Steve Bates with 18 points.

Hale GC Crested Travel Cover

I’m going to have a go at doing a few more of my own videos (yikes!!) so please check out the one below. It gives details of a really nice Christmas gift idea.

Bradley 2

Om Wednesday, 30 seniors took part in their nine hole competition. The winner with 17 points was Bill Dixon. Robert Spark was second with 16 points and Peter Wolfenden was third, also with 16 points. The consolation for Peter was that he was the only player to record a two.

DIARY DATE: Tuesday 5th December

Bring in your old clubs and turn them into Pro Shop credit. The trade in event runs from 10am – 1pm on Tuesday 5th December (next week!)

Ladies Medal Final

This was finally presented to Helen Davies last week. Well done Helen!

Photos

This week, we have a couple of contrasting photos of the course that have been sent in. Thanks to Howard Gill for the sunrise photo with some low lying fog and to Phil Long for the abundance of leaves snap.

It’s Tuesday as I write this an the course has been open for two consecutive days… wahoo! Long may it continue.

Awesome Value Cart Bag

I have two of this Powakaddy DLX Lite Cart bag in stock which has been retailing at £144.99. As a newsletter special offer, they are on sale for £100 until the end of November. Please pop in to take a look..

We’re Recruiting

The greenstaff team are looking for a new member of staff. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please let me know and I will put you in touch with the relevant person.

Ladies Dinner

This was held on Wednesday 15th November. And a great time was had by all: there was a string quartet, great food & drink plus lots of winners receiving prizes.

Thanks as ever to Sue Bryant and Jan Ravenscroft for supplying the excellent photos.

MDGA Ladies 4BBB

Congratulations to Noelle Morris and Kairen Seaton who were awarded trophies for being the winners of the Manchester and District Ladies 4 Ball Better Ball this year. They were three points clear of the nearest contenders. Unfortunately poor Kairen was unwell and so unable  to receive the award which was presented at the AGM recently.

Photos

Thanks to mike Wells for sharing the photos below.

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with those old golf clubs of yours then read on – we might just have the solution for you!

In this week’s missive we also review Sunday’s Junior Awards dinner, the men’s Bogey 3 and the Poppy nine hole competition. And we finish with some great photos sent in by two of our members. Please enjoy the read.

GolfClubs4Cash

I’m delighted to announce that we are hosting a GolfClubs4Cash Trade in Event here at HGC on Tuesday 5th December from 10am – 1pm.

Any clubs that you have gathering dust in your garage or elsewhere can be brought along and you will be given a quote. If you decide to proceed with the transaction, the money will be yours to spend as credit within the Pro Shop.

As you’d expect, GC4C use a grading system for valuing the clubs so the better condition the more you will be offered. You can then decide whether you’d like to proceed or not – the choice will be yours.

If you can’t make it to the day, please bring in your clubs to Will, Phil or I in the Pro Shop and we can pass them onto GC4C on your behalf.

End of Year Junior Awards Dinner

On Sunday, we hosted our sixth End of Season Junior Awards Dinner. We had an excellent turnout for the event including lady captain Jan Ravenscroft and junior captain Matthew Hodder – the gentleman captain Roger Laitt was really disappointed to have missed it but unfortunately had a prior engagement.

We were due to have a nine hole match beforehand but we made the decision to call it off as the weather was just dreadful.

At 5pm, we had a great roast chicken main course followed by crumble afterwards and then we went onto the presentations. Firstly, I did a recap of the year detailing the results from the Adult Junior Competitions, the individual junior competitions, how we’d gone on in the Mid Cheshire Junior League (MCJL) and other noteable performances.

We then got to the four awards of the night:

• The Coach’s Award for consistently having a great attitude and being super enthusiastic went to Xander Macklin
• The Most Improved Player Award went to Olly Mills. Olly has worked hard on his game over the season and is now a regular in the men’s comps having the pleasure of competing with his father and brother. His handicap index has dropped from 39.4 to 22.6 in 2023.
• The appropriately named Golf Fanatic Award goes to Ollie Grieves who aside from playing in everything he could at HGC, spread his wings and competed further afield at Crewe, Carlisle, Selby, Barrow & Adlington GCs.
• Finally, the Giving Back Award went to Matthew Hodder who has worked hard on his own game but has also been a great help in his position as junior captain and is a wonderful role model.

Bogey 3

Congratulations to Chris Hinton for being the only player in the field to beat the course in Bogey 3 on Saturday with a fine score of two up in beautiful sunshine but very wet ground conditions. Paul Taylor was second with all square and Adam Hyde finished third with one down – perhaps Adam’s practice session in the simulator the day before helped him groove his game?!

Poppy Competition

Ian Goulty was the men’s winner with 20 points and Kairen Seaton won the ladies event with 19 points. There were then six players in tied third place with 17 points.

As with Bogey 3, well done to all the players for battling round in really challenging conditions.

Photos

Thanks to Bob Siddle for these early morning photos of greenkeeper Dave Taylor hard at work before Saturday’s Bogey 3. The impressive mushroom photo comes from Terri Broadbent.

Well the course was open on Monday but as I write this (Tuesday late morning), it’s closed again 🙁

We have the nine hole Poppy Appeal competition, which is open to ladies and men, scheduled for Thursday which hopefully will still be able to go ahead.

Pro Shop Christmas Draw

It’s that time of year… and we very much hope that you will be kind enough to support the Pro Shop Christmas draw again.

The price is £5 for one go or £20 for five goes and once again there will be ten prizes up for grabs as detailed below.

The Indoor Golf Studio

As we’ve been mentioning the studio is open whatever the weather. It’s warm, it’s dry and Trackman gives you amzing data to help you improve your game.

In the 22 second video below, I’m playing the par three 12th hole at Royal Birkdale… in case you’re wondering, this was the second take – I blocked the first one out to the right!!!

Odyssey Putter Sale

If you are looking for a new putter, we have just the thing for you and at a great price! We have four right hand models of the the Odyssey White Hot Versa which because of their striking colour scheme make aligning the putter much easier.

They have been reduced by over 20% from £249 down to £195. Please pop in to take a look.

This is the first newsletter for a couple of weeks as the weather thwarted any golf from the previous week. Happily we have much more in store in this missive…

Please note that from Wednesday 1st November onwards, mats are c ompulsory for social golf when hitting from the fairway.

Captains Elect

Well if you don’t who they are, where have you been?? For the 2024/25 campaign, the captain elect are Ben Fallows, Gill Kay and Matthew Hodder to stay on for a second year as junior captain. Huge congratulations and we all hope you have a very enjoyable time during your year of office.

Bogey 2

Well done to M atthew Hodder for winning last weekend’s Bogey 2 with a score of three up. Commiserations to Joe Mills who recorded the same score but was beaten on a card play off. Andrew Fishwick finished third with two up.

The fourth photo below shows the “eight down club” who seem to be in high spirits despite their less than stellar performances on the golf course!

Lady Captain v Lady Secretary

The Ladies Competition last week was a hard fought nine hole greensomes match between the Lady Captain’s (Jan Ravenscroft) team and the Lady Secretary’s (Min Fishwick) team. 

Despite the the squelchy conditions some good golf was played and the LCs team prevailed as the overall winners.  

Winter Items

Winter has definitely arrived but the Pro Shop has everything (well near enough…) that you’ll need to keep you golfing over the winter months.

Below are some fleece & lighter weight snoods, trolley wheel covers and hot mitts (USB powered to keep your hands ultra toasty) that we have in stock.

Plus we also have the following:

• Winter wheels
• Hand warmers
• Beanies & bobble hats
• Wwaterproof caps & bucket hats
• Winter mitts
• Winter golf gloves
• Rain gloves
• Base layers
• Men’s Puma zip up thermal jackets
• HGC crested umbrellas
• HGC crested flasks
• Winter tees
• Electric trolley umbrella holders
• Waterproof golf bags
• Waterproof suits
• Electric trolley travel covers

Rainbow

Thanks to Terri Broadbent for this lovely photo taken on the 19th October. The golf had been washed out but this was taken just before the ladies convened for tea.

Church Stretton

Thanks to Paul Gilbert for sending in this photo of, as he put it, “the greenkeepers at work” at Church Stretton GC. I know nothing about the course but it looks a fabulous spot in Shropshire.

It’s a quiet one this week, especially after a couple of days of course closures last week which meant the ladies and junior comps scheduled for Saturday had to be cancelled.

Bradley 1

The first seniors nine hole stableford of the winter campaign was able to go ahead though with Bill Dixon scoring an excellent 23 points. John Kennedy was second with 19 and Steve Bates finsihed in third place with 18 points.

Junior Coaching with Will

Will is offering some individual junior lessons on Sunday mornings over the coming months. These will be able to take place whatever the weather as the indoor studio will be available if the weather is inclement.

Please contact Will directly on 07419 350284 for more details or to book.

Golf lessons

Now is a good time to work on your game with less competitive golf on the horizon. We can do that indoors or out depending on what it is you’d like to focus on.

Please click here to access my online diary, call the shop on 0161 249 8427 or email me at richardsboothuk@gmail.com to start making a difference to your game.

Welcome to another one of my weekly missives. I hope you enjoy the read.

It’s a little damp out on the course at the mo so if you weren’t already aware, we are currently playing preferred lies on closely mown areas. Please mark, lift, clean and replace your ball within 6″, no nearer the hole.

Nine & Divine

Well done to Chris Ravenscroft, Lady Captain Jan Ravenscroft, Martin Oldfield & Gillian Brogdan for winning Sunday’s Nine & Divine with 41 points following a card playoff. Pipped into second place were Phil Long, Jo Egerton, Colin Broadbent &Terri Broadbent. 

Ladies Clothing

Please click here, here and here to connect with Annastasia’s instagram feed and see some of the clothing ranges that we have in stock here in the Pro Shop.

Bogey 1

Well done to Neil Thompson for winning Saturday’s first Bogey of the 2023/24 winter campaign with two up. He beat Johnny Yates on a card play off. Chris Hinton finished in third spot with one up. Eight twos were recorded.

Ladies Autumn Open

Another great event took place on Friday and here’s lady captain Jan Ravenscoft with more details:

Thank you to everyone who played and helped in the Ladies Autumn Open on Friday.  We had a great turn out – 114 ladies taking part – and while the weather did not look promising early on, thank goodness it stayed fine and everyone was able to complete their rounds. Hats off too to the greens staff who worked very hard to prepare and mop the course beforehand.

Some very good scores were returned. The winners with 43 points were  Judith Durrant, Tina Moorhouse and Judy Grant from Prestbury Golf club. The runners up with 42 points were Lesley Crossley, Jenny Loughlin and Liz Stein from Mere Golf Club.

A huge thank you to “the Gillians” (Gillian Brogdon and Gillian Healey)  for the hours of planning and organisation on the day …also to the great team of helpers who made things run so smoothly. The occasion was much enjoyed and is almost fully booked again for next year. 

Ladies Thursday Competition

Congrats to Sally Wright for winning the front nine stableford last weeks with 20 points. Lady captain Jan Ravenscroft was runner up with 17 points.

Mushrooms on the Course

Thanks to Jan Ravenscroft for this super photos of mushrooms on the course… in case you’re wondering, the ball was placed on top of the fungii for scale purposes – Jan’s shot didn’t finish there!!

I hope you all enjoyed the Ryder Cup which as ever provided tremendous entertainment and stunning golf. There were a few twists and turns on the final day but a great win for Europe in the end. Playing at home definitely seems to be a big advantage… I wonder if we can buck that trend at Bethpage Black on Long Island, New York state in two years time?

Ladies trip to Telford

Over to lady captain Jan Ravenscroft for the run down…

Despite the incessant rain we managed a Ryder Cup style golf competition which continued into the evening with some very creative indoor games!! The US team girls cleaned up on the golf prizes while the Europeans came to the fore in the evening events. Hats off to Mandy Gilbert and Wendy Jenkins who organised everything perfectly… 

The final day of the Ryder Cup and the European win was the perfect backdrop to the whole occasion – a great time had by all as the photos will attest! 

Men’s Invitation

This event was also hit by the pretty miserable weather but most of the field battled on. The winners with 113 points were Peter Hindle, Charlie Hindle, Ed Maule and David Hindle. Runners up were Jonny Gray, Paul Ashling, John Goulden and Johnny Yates with 101 points. Ismael Mury from Ringway won the nearest the pin prize on the 4th and gents captain Roger Laitt won the prize on the 11th.

Ladies Autumn Meeting

Thursday’s shot gun start was won by Sally Budd, Kathleen McNairney, Barbara Spark and Sally Blackburn. The runners up were Mandy Gilbert, Jean Green, Jo Bates and Pat Jefferies.

After the lunch, a flowering planter was presented to Judy Anderson by lady captain Jan Ravenscroft to help her celebrate her special birthday which was on Friday 29th September.

Fashion Evening

The ladies fashion evening last week was a great success and very well supported. Once again Jan Ravenscroft shares the details below

The ladies were treated to a very informative presentation by a local image consultant as to the best colours to wear with their hair colour and complexion. Volunteer models Lisa Warnes and Caroline Smith are pictured below with their personal colour palettes on show.

All the ticket and raffle money went to the Guide Dog Charity together with further contributions from the fashion stall holders … the guide dogs in attendance seemed less interested in the occasion!

The event raised just over £1000 which was amazing. Thanks to everyone who contributed so generously and to the team of helpers for making the evening run so smoothly.

Nine Hole League

Bill Wrigley let me know that Hale finished runners up with 45 points in the nine hole league that was held over the summer months. Hartford were the winners with 50 points. Eight teams took part so well done Hale – Bill is confident we will go one better next season!

As per the club”s recent memo, please sign up for the Nine & Divine on Sun 8th Oct via Club V1. Golf on our wonderful course followed by great food – what’s not too like?!

Shop Talk

I have an ex demo ladies Ping G Le 2 driver which is on sale at a great price of £229. It was originally priced at £349. Please pop in to take a look.

I have just got hold of some great value, simple to use Garmin watches which could make a cracking Christmas or birthday present. They are retailing at just £109.99. Plus in case you weren’t aware, Garmin has now updated Hale’s data following the early season course changes.

Golf Lessons

Please click here to access my online golf lesson diary. It’s so easy and convenient to use.

Greenkeepers Challenge

This fun nine hole team competition was played on saturday and had over 50 players taking part. The winners were Brian Greenbank, head greenkeeper Russell Lewis, Andrew Cowan and David Rodwell with 46 points. Gentleman captain Roger Laitt, Paul Simpson, Johnny Yates andJohn Thorne finished two points in arrears to secure second place.

Business Ladies

Alas Hale’s Business Ladies lost to Hazel Grove in the east Cheshire final on Saturday, which took place at Alsager golf club. The team comprised of Tiff Fielden, Sharon Thorne and Chris Marsh. They were ably assisted by trolley pullers Jo Bryant and Vicky Chamberlain. As Chris explained “it was a great run this year but unfortunately we were beaten on the day, all games were very tight”.

Ladies Club Competitions

Tiff Fielden won the last week’s 18 hole stableford with 32 points and Chris Marsh was second with 28 points.

The winner of last week’s front nine stableford was Karen Stockton with 16 points. Jane Wilkinson (pictured below) was second with 15 points.

So many winners to report and photos to look at in this week’s missive. Please enjoy!

Sunday

Thanks for all the photos sent in by Bob Siddle. Congratulations to all who took part in Finals Day and thanks also to the members who came along to watch and add to the amostphere. Results as follows:

COMPETITION	WINNER(S)	RUNNER(S) UP
Reid Plate	Mike Thompson	Roger Laitt
Bech Cup	Irene Kirk	Gillian Brogdon
Ladies Foursomes	Louise Gerald & Jan Ravenscroft	Tracey Thompson & Kerry Bailey
Gordon Murray Memorial	Claire & Al Makin	Gillian & Eric Healey
Owen Memorial Bowl	Martin Oldfield (winner for the second time!)	Chris Ravenscroft
Scratch Knockout	Peter Hindle	Richard Duerr
Charlton Cup (played on saturday afternoon)	Noelle Morris	Louise Gerald

Medal Final

The men’s Medal Final – Captain’s Cup took place on Saturday, the day before Finals Day. The winner with a cracking nett 66 was ben Fallows. Ben’s son Freddie was second with a nett 69 and Jez Allen finished third with a nett 70.

Rob Manley won the Bentley (the best four nett scores from the eight Medals in 2023) with 281. Second place was shared between John Kennedy and Jonny Gray with nett 285.

Seniors End of Season competitions

There were lots of trophies for the Seniors to play for last Wednesday and the results are as follows:

The Tuttle trophy played over nine holes for the 75 and overs was won by John Munnery with 18 points. Ian Williamson was second. The Timpson which is played over 18 holes and is again for the 75 and overs was won by Peter Veitch with 39 points and that man Martin Oldfield was in the mix again finishing as runner up. The Morren, which is for the more youthful seniors was won by Chris Adams with a whopping 41 points and George Buchan finished as runner up.

In the nine hole Summer Stableford Final which took place the week before Graham Jones was the winner with 21 points and John Johnston finished in second spot.

Hole in One

Well done to Gill Kay for recording an ace on the fourth hole last week…