Another great week for two of Alan's Tour players as both Lee Slattery and Andrew Johnston finished in the top 10 at the Turkish Airlines Open. The combined winning score from both the PGA and European Tours this week was a remarkable 44-under-par. On courses over 7000 yards long, this is quite some golf!




The Midweek Stableford last Thursday was keenly contested between three friends as Jim Eddowes (29), John Body (28) and Rick Austin (27) finished first, second and third over the 12-hole layout.

Full handicap in Saturday's 4BBB Stableford gave the whole field a chance of some high points totals. Keith Morrison and Paul Cottell amassed the most and won on countback with 47. Pushed into second were David Cederholm and Richard Knowlson, ahead of cousins Lee and Gareth Pennington in third.

The ladies played a shotgun start for their Lady Captain's Day on Tuesday, best selected scores on each of the 11 holes to count. With an impressive 66 points the winners were Thea Cornford, Heather Ensor, Sue Lovell & Alice Rogers. Runners-up with 62 were Judith M Brown, Barbara Chesworth, Sylvia Comer and Jaqueline Walker. Third with 56 were Kate Dean, Claire Palmer, Sue Pogson and Sue Totty. A special mention for Barbara Jamieson for making the only '2' of the day, extra special mention as it came on the par-4 3rd!


 

It's great to see the course as firm as it is this time of year. The greens continue to recover from the recent Graden work, Guy and his team have to be congratulated. I'm pleased to see so many green divot bags making their way onto the first tee, evidence of them being used is clear to see. 

For the time being the driving range is firm enough to stay open. My aim is to keep it open as long as possible but if we get some prolonged wet weather it inevitably will have to close, a message will go out in advance so no need to panic.


 

One of the most important things to do in winter is carry the ball to the flag. No longer can we rely on the ball running up to the hole. 100 yards and in will be vital over the coming months so knowing your numbers is essential. We have an excellent opportunity to get practicing these yardages with the three pitching greens on the range.

Red flag is 70 yards, white flag is 85 yards and yellow flag is 100 yards

Book in now to get your wedges 'gapped' correctly and we can then go out together and work on these numbers. Not only will you benefit in the winter but you will also be sharp come that first Medal in April. Get in touch here.

 

Most of you have met Ally Macdonald who works on a Monday with us. Those who play Saturday afternoons may have come across another new face. Matthew Bowes has also joined the team. He is one of our up and coming junior stars, a great golfer and a very friendly face to have around the shop.

I have just taken delivery of Nike's latest in innovative putter technology - The Counter Flex. This putter comes with a tool that allows you to alter the weight balance through the shaft of the putter. It feels unbelievable. Come in store and have a go for yourselves. It is very competitive in price and at £169.99, it comes in at over £100 cheaper than the equivalent Scotty Cameron.

Titleist are running their FREE ball personalisation promotion on all models in their range again this Christmas. Minimum order is only one dozen. Visit my website now to order yours. In addition to this there will be a Christmas gift idea in the news each week to help you with those difficult decisions.

This week I want to focus on Motocaddy's range of trolleys/bags and accessories. There is a special promotion currently running whereby they are offering £50 cashback on all lithium trolleys up until Christmas, this is a great saving on the more popular battery option these days. Motocaddy cart bags are hard to beat on both quality and price with the Lite bag coming in at £79.99 to kick the range off.

Many of you will have taken out one of my hire trolleys, this is the S1 digital and comes in at £299.99 - to view the product in more detail visit my website here.