Albatross golf resort in the Czech Republic was the setting for last week's European tour event. Belgian Thomas Pieters was trying to defend his title and it went to the 72nd hole, he couldn't however get past American Paul Peterson who birdied it to claim his maiden title. Matt Fitzpatrick finished in the top 5 to grab an automatic qualifying spot in the Ryder Cup. Over at the Wyndham Championship the last Automatic European place in Darren Clarke's team was up for grabs. After Shane Lowry failed to finish high enough it went to midlander Andy Sullivan. In the event itself, Si Woo Kim blew the field away to take the title, his total of 21 under par was 5 clear of Luke Donald in second. 


 

There was a break from the Trotter series this week so in its absence we ran a mid-week stableford, there were 9 scores beating the CSS of 36 points, topping the list was Daniel Kitchen with 42, runner up, pushing him into 'plus figures' on his handicap was Elliot Smith with 40, third on count back was Adam Robinson. 

And so to the club championship, conditions on Saturday were brutal for this 36 hole battle off the blue plates. The morning conditions were definitely easier than the afternoon, I was watching the leading groups coming in and noticed a ball landing on the green and rolling around the edge of the hole, it was Tom Dolan's tee shot! His tap in eagle 2 helped him card a fantastic 69 for a 5 shot lead with 18 to play.

There was also the nett prize and the Williamson (over 50s) trophy to play for, Neil Stephenson was in good shape for both at the half way mark. 

Tom's 5 shot lead was eaten into quickly by playing partner Charlie Berry, in the end it was just out of Charlie's reach, his 76 giving him a 150 total was one shot off Tom Dolan who's 80 gave him a winning score of 149. 

Out of the pack, with a fabulous afternoon 78, came Shaun Carter to win the nett prize with a total of 149, 3 ahead of Paul Jamieson who lifted the Williamson cup. 

In the middle of all this there was the Championship Stableford off the yellow tees, I was mighty impressed that almost everyone braved the weather and didn't seek refuge in the snooker rooms. The chairman of handicap Roy Christian may have to review himself after cruising to a 3 point victory with 38 points, runner up with 35 was Ken Davies, third on countback was Mark Dunbar. 

The juniors played another stableford on Sunday, again it was very well supported. Leo Baldwin reaped the benefit of some new clubs to match his increasing ability to scoop top spot with 43 points, runner up was Matt Bowes with 42, third with 40 was Matt Cucchi. 

William Betteridge won the red tee event again with 26 points, in his first comp as a new member, Vadim Bosc triumphed in the 12 hole event with 32 points. 

The ladies battled it out for the grandmothers' trophy on Tuesday, temperatures were up again and scoring was good. 

Judith Margaret Brown was top of the tree in division one with a 74, beating Sophie Jamieson on countback, one further back in third was her sister Lucy with 75. 

Hillary Sharpe carded a 4 under par 71 in division 2 to lift the overall trophy, runner up with 75 was Maureen Blackham, third with 81 was Wendy Smith. 

Pat Sheen was the victor in division 3 with a 79, second with 82 was Ann Turner, Alka Tank was third with an 83. 

Sylvia Comer was the runaway winner of division four with a 74 finishing 5 clear of Anne Chadwick in second, Kath Grainger completing the prize winners with 81.

There were 3 twos recorded on the day. 

Congratulations to Rick Austin who notched his first hole in one on Friday, it came on the 14th hole.


 

Ladies - Don't forget you can get 40 % off any of the Nike shoes I have in stock. 

Gents - Don't forget that there's still 40 % off the current Nike Vapor fly Drivers, Fairway woods, Hybrids, Wedges and Putters. But hurry as the selection is diminishing. 

Last week I asked you to come and tell me which brand of hardware you would like to see in the shop next year. Thanks for those who have emailed me or been in. There's a strong pull towards the big brands as you'd expect, PING and TaylorMade coming out on top. I won't have to make a final decision until October so there's still time to have your say.


 

Carry Is King

I've come across a number of people this week who are using shafts and lofts in their drivers that just don't suit their swing. Many of our members are of scared of seeing too much height off the tee. Carry is king if you want extra distance. Let us measure the suitability of your driver in the swing studio on the monitor.