Welcome to this week’s newsletter. Well it has certainly been a wonderful week of weather, even with the very strong winds we had over the weekend. You can certainly see how the linksy ground is returning all over the courses as they dry out. It’s good news for the shorter hitters that’s for sure as the ball is really running along the fairways at full tilt.
Enjoy this week's read... |
As you may know the club invested in some water cannons last year. With the prospect of drier summers and the lack of funds for a new watering system, it was a good purchase with current conditions, that’s for sure. Have a look below at our all new cannon in action on the drier parts of the 16th fairway. Malloy has been getting to grips with the machinery and when he showed me how they work it’s a very simple piece of equipment that will definitely help with keeping the problem fairways alive in these drought conditions. The cannons will be in use during the day so they may well be in play so please ensure you give them a wide berth and give the greenkeepers the space to do their work. Thanks in advance from the greens team.
The greenkeepers are getting the course back into shape and with it being closed for such a long period of time, it will of course take time to get it back to its absolute best. The greens will be fractionally slower than normal and you could say a little sticky. This is because the greens need to be taken down to playing length slowly, week by week, down to our normal cut levels. With the course already getting so dry, we have to be careful to keep the moisture levels at a point where we can keep our superb surfaces in good condition. The bunkering has come up on a few occasions and Malcolm and his team are getting to them as we go through the next few weeks. They will be tidied up, weeded and re sanded and back ready for when ever we are able to re-introduce rakes. There are some products on the market to have your own mini rake, would you be prepared to buy one to rake the bunker after use? Let me know if you would consider it.
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 | The Dry Links land
| The rig is mounted onto the back of a tractor and the rig is pulled out along the length of the area in which we want to water. |
 | Keeping the grass alive is the goal
| The machinery of the tractor mounting then slowly winds in the rig pulling it along the length of the area in which water is needed. When the piping is fully wound in the water automatically switches off. |
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Could this really happen? Over the past couple of weeks, we've been lucky enough to watch Tiger, Rory and a select few others take to the course to raise money for charities. But, it's got us thinking... With the PGA Tour set to return next month and the European Tour the month after - both without fans for a while - will September's Ryder Cup match between Europe and USA go ahead? If it does, it'll likely be without spectators but would that be the same spectacle? Think back to Paris in 2018 when the cameras panned around the first tee at the start of each match to thousands of fans in the grandstand. It was a sight to behold. Let us know what you think by sending us a message here.
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 | Sanitiser station
| We have some new sanitiser stations and you can find them around the clubhouse areas. |
 | | Please sanitise your hands every time you see a station. There is four of them. | Thanks to everyone who uses the hand sanitiser when we open the shop on the 15th please ensure you use it before you come in store. |
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Thanks to everyone who is bearing with us as we go through these strange times and changes to the norm in our everyday golfing life. One thing that has come up this week is that a few members have inadvertantly booked more than the three tee times in peak times on the Championship. Unfortunately I will be deleting these times. It is apparent that there are spare tees on certain days, where a member could play. Therefore I have modified how many tees you can book in peak times. On the Championship you are now able to book in advance (7 days) 3 peak tee times between 7- 1pm(from June 1st). If on a given day there are tee times available in peak times, you are able to book one of these times but only through the pro shop, where we can annotate the booking. This will not count as one of your permitted 3 peak times.
As I am sure you are all aware, things are changing rapidly and we are doing our best to try and keep up with all changes and move with the times. You may well have your own thoughts on how we should be doing things, so please email them to me and I will consider them for you. Where possible I will put them into place. The junior staff are unable to make these decisions for you, so please don't ask them to make exceptions for you.
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For those of you who have been using the range, thanks for adheering to the conditions we have had to put in place to allow it to be open. One small thing, I have seen that several baskets are not being returned. Please ensure you return the baskets to avoid the staff having to touch the un-sanitised baskets. Thank you. |
600x300.jpg) | Drone footage taken recently
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 | World Handicap System
| There has been a few questions about the submitting of scores with regards to the WHS. Hopefully this small video will help answer some of these questions for you. Click here.
You can still submit supplementary scores (unless your category 1) so just come to the pro shop and say your doing a supplementary score and sign the book. Do your round and drop it in after you round. We will be back to competitive golf at some point in the near future and when we do, we need you all to play as many of these competitive rounds as possible. This will give you an accurate handicap index when they are allocated. Any questions just pop in and we will try our best to answer your questions. We will be having a zoom WHS get together very soon, so watch this space get your questions ready for our panel.
In the meantime, take a look at what its all about in this from the R&A. The key features of WHS
The materials explain the system’s key features, including:
- Flexibility in formats of play, allowing both competitive and recreational rounds to count for handicap purposes and ensuring that a Handicap Index reflects demonstrated ability.
- A minimal number of scores needed to obtain a new handicap; with the number of scores needed to obtain a new handicap being 54 holes from any combination of 18-hole and 9-hole rounds (with some discretion available for national or regional associations)
- An average-based calculation of a handicap, taken from the best eight out of the last 20 scores and factoring in memory of demonstrated ability for better responsiveness/control
- A calculation that considers the impact that abnormal course and weather conditions might have on a player’s performance each day
- Timely handicap revisions
- A limit of Net Double Bogey on the maximum hole score (for handicapping purposes only)
- A maximum handicap limit of 54.0, regardless of gender, to encourage more golfers to measure and track their performance to increase their enjoyment of the game
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Coaching with Jake! Dear Members, I hope you are all keeping well and have managed to get back onto the golf course since the restrictions have been lifted. For the next 5 Saturday mornings (starting this Saturday) I have blocked out my diary to make myself available for one to one coaching either on the driving range or short game areas should anyone want a lesson. These lessons will also be offered at a discounted rate of £20 for 30 minutes slot. These times will remain the same for the next 5 Saturdays up until Saturday 27th June 2020. Half hour slots available from 9am til 1pm from the 6th June. Contact the pro shop if you are interested.
Should you wish to book any of these spaces please contact Jake in the pro shop on 01797363355 or email golf@littlestonegolfclub.org.uk. I look forward to helping as many of you with your games as possible and wish you all the best on the golf course! Kind Regards,
Jake Horrocks,
Assistant Professional.
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The 100+ Club has done the draw for the month of May. Here are this month's lucky winners. - 1st Vanessa Lyons £290
- 2nd David Gardner £220
- 3rd Martin Caplis £145
- 4th Bradley Bull £75 Well done to the winners and if there is anyone who would like one of the remaining numbers please get in contact and we can get you signed up.
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Vokey Wedge Fitting. 6th June. BOOK EARLY LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE.
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 | | The legend that is Bob Vokey. Our specialist WEDGE FITTING DAY. | Some of you may remember early on in the lockdown, I did a section of the newsletter about the legendary Bob Vokey. Bob makes some of the worlds best wedges and if you look in many tour players bags, you’ll find a Vokey wedge. Both Mark and I are very much tech heads when it comes to equipment and we both have the Vokey wedges as standard in our bags. On the 6th June from 12-3pm we will be holding our very first Vokey trial and fitting day on the short game area. We will of course, be strictly socially distancing and you will have to book a slot to have the trial or a fitting. Wedges are arguably the most important part of a player’s golf equipment and are often overlooked. I will have some very special offers available to all participants with internet busting deals on wedges all afternoon. Please get in touch to book your half hour slot. |
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Don't miss out on this amazing HOT product.
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Special offer. Limited quantities available.
| For all of you looking for a new bit of kit, I have managed to get hold of a few of these HOT products flying off the shelves at Brand Fusion. The Volvik laser rangefinder is an absolute bargain compared to its main competitor. The Bushnell equivalent is £379 and these are a bargain price of £199.99. They come with a case and battery and we have a demo one in store for you to try out. You cannot tell the difference !! These will go very quickly and I wonly have two so if your interested please give me a shout and I will reserve you one. |
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 | My studio view
| For those of you who have kindly donated old pennies and coins thankyou very much. They are turned into these intricate ball markers and a way of me quietening the mind after a day at work. All painted in enamel and yacht varnish they take about a week to complete and have around 10 layers after the base layer is put on. |
 | It's been busy with your kind donations.
| Anyone wanting one of these new editions they will up for sale in the pro shop with all proceeds going to a good cause. Once again if anyone has any old pennies or any larger coin’s they would be greatfully received and turned into something new and unique. |
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Well that is just about all for this week. So thanks for reading and have a great week's golf. Keep smiling everyone, we are so lucky to be out there enjoying our wonderful courses and the great weather we have been having. Happy golfing one and all. James. |
As a sport, golf has been given the green light ahead of the vast majority of others. So, when you do get back out on the course, there's a good chance those crumpled up gloves at the bottom of your bag will need replacing. We have a great selection of gloves in-store that are still in their packaging, including FootJoy's brilliant range - the #1 glove in golf! From all-weather gloves to the softest leather gloves around, get in touch with us below and we'll be happy to help you out.
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