tee times golf magazine - december 2014

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Ho hum, it’sjust anotherace for GuyTHE elusive hole-in-one shot is soughtby many and attained by few, but GuyRayson has just achieved the feat forthe 15th time.

He has already achieved the landmark thisyear, which means he will be rewarded witha second limited-edition BOSS watch torecognise the achievement.

Six-handicapperGuy, 56, scoredhis latest acewith a five-ironon the 173-yard, par-threeseventh at hisclub, MeltonMowbray.

He has acedevery par threeat the club bothon the originalcourse and itsextended 18-hole version. He has heldmembership since 1970 at the age of 12,and secured his first hole in one two yearslater - the ball was mounted on a woodenstand which is still in existence.

Guy said: ‘Obviously if you hit the correctclub, are reasonably accurate, have playedfor 40-plus years, and have playedthousands of par-threes - as I have - thenyou improve your chances.

But clearly there is an element of luck.’

• 408-yard hole in one: See 2.

THE aftermath of Europe’s 2014 RyderCup victory at Gleneagles hasrumbled on with public spats,criticisms and even the departure ofAmerica’s most senior golfing official.

A tweet which called Ian Poulter ‘a littlegirl’ led to an exchange which promptedPGA of America president Ted Bishop toresign.

Bishop was responding to Poulter’scriticism of the Ryder Cup captaincy ofNick Faldo and Tom Watson in theEnglishman’s new book, No Limits.

Comparing Faldo’s superior Major andRyder Cup record with Poulter’s, Bishoptweeted: ‘Faldo’s record stands by itself.Six majors and all-time RC points. Yoursvs. His? Lil Girl.’

The PGA confirmed Bishop’s early exitfrom his post and apologised for his‘unacceptable and insensitive, gender-based statements‘.

PGA of America vice president DerekSprague was appointed interim presidentand said: ‘Members of the PGA of Americamust uphold the highest standards andvalues of the profession, as well as themanner in which we conduct ourselves atall times.

‘We apologise to any individual or groupthat felt diminished, in any way, by thisunacceptable incident.’

Bishop himself said: ‘I want to apologise toIan Poulter and anyone else that I mighthave offended with my remarks.

‘I have great remorse that my commentscontained the words ‘little girl’ because Ihave always been a great advocate forgirls and women in golf. In my 37-yearcareer in golf, I have worked with manywomen to grow the sport and I have been achampion for inclusion and equal rights forwomen in golf.’

In a separate post on his Facebook page,Bishop added: ‘Sounds like a little schoolgirl squealing during recess. C’MON MAN!’

Bishop described these postings as ‘aclassic example of poor use of socialmedia on my part.’

The Ladies Professional Golf Associationpraised the PGA’s dismissal of Bishop. Itsaid in a statement: ‘This quick anddecisive action sent a strong message -reinforcing a consistent belief that with so

many positive gains being made amonggolf’s leading organisations, there issimply no room nor willingness, to take astep backwards.’

Poulter said: ‘Is being called a ‘lil girl’meant to be derogatory or a put down?That’s pretty shocking and disappointing,especially coming from the leader of thePGA of America.’

Bishop chose 65-year-old Tom Watson asthe 2014 US Ryder Cup captain andPoulter said in his book that baffled him:‘It gave us (the European team) a realboost. I found it utterly bizarre.’

‘By the end of the second day,’ Poulterwrote in his book, ‘we have a 10-6 lead.Ecstatic as we are, quite a few of us aresurprised by Watson’s decision makingduring Saturday’s play.’

AN UNEASY RYDER

• U.S. ‘FIX IT’ TASK FORCE • POULTER RAPS FALDO • WATSON’S ODD DECISIONS • See Page 28

The aftermath: U.S. golf chief quits

Ted Bishop: Resigned after calling Ian Poulter ‘Lil Girl’ Ian Poulter: ’That’s pretty shocking’

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Play-off queenstrikes againLEE-Anne Pace birdied the secondextra hole in a sudden death play-offagainst Holly Clyburn to claim herninth Ladies European Tour victoryin the Cell C South African Women’sOpen in KwaZulu-Natal.

This was Pace’s third victory from threeplay-offs on the LET.

Playing in front of a home crowd, the 33-year-old from Mossel Bay birdied the18th in a final round of five-under-par 67to set the clubhouse target. She thenwaited before Clyburn, playing in the lastgroup, sealed her round of 70 to tie atfive-under-par.

On the second play-off hole, Clyburn tooksix to get down, whereas from 94 yards,Pace used her 52 degree wedge to hither ball three feet from the hole.

The Commercial Court in Dublin heard that efforts to resolve thematter through mediation had not been successful - which meansthe case will go to a full hearing during 2015.

McIlroy’s legal team is claiming that he was given ‘markedly inferior’conditions, such as being charged higher commission on off-courseearnings compared to Horizon client Graeme McDowell - a long-termfriend of McIlroy - despite assurances they would get similar terms.

It also alleged McDowell was a shareholder in Horizon, an‘extraordinary’ matter. McIlroy’s lawyers say he has no issue withMcDowell himself.

An agreement was signed by McIlroy when he was 22, when heclaims he was inexperienced and without independent legal advice.

The agreement allegedly resulted in him paying more than $6.8mwhich he claims was based on unreasonable fee rates ‘many timesgreater’ than standard.

Horizon are counter-suing, saying McIlroy has already earned$70m, and will earn another $70m from contracts negotiated onhis behalf. It denies that there were any assurances he would beon the same deal as McDowell.

Martin is thenew R&A chief

MARTIN Slumbers is the new R&Achief executive, succeeding theretiring Peter Dawson.

Mr Slumbers, above, also becomessecretary of The Royal and Ancient GolfClub of St Andrews, which recently votedto accept women members for the firsttime in its 260-year history. The 54-year-old has spent much of his career infinance but plays off a handicap of two athis local club in Surrey. ‘Golf has alwaysbeen close to my heart, and I am verymuch looking forward to living andworking in St Andrews,’ he said.

The R&A was set up as the business armof the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 2004and organises The Open Championship, aswell as jointly governing world golf withthe United States Golf Association.

MARTIN Kaymer outgunned a lot ofother big guns as he birdied the firstsudden-death hole to pip BubbaWatson to the Grand Slam of Golf titlein Bermuda.

The U.S. Open champion sank a seven-footputt in the play-off while Watson missedfrom close range on the 18th.

Both men finished their rounds on six under,despite Watson having held a two-shotadvantage as he stood on the 17th tee.

Rory McIlroy hit five bogeys and double-bogeyed the par-three 13th to finish on adisappointing two over par, while Jim Furykfinished on three over.

The annual 36-hole event features eachyear’s four Major champions, with Furykinvited because of Northern Ireland star

Kaymer held a two-shot lead over Watsonfollowing the first round after carding a six-under-par round of 65. The German hit four

birdies and four bogeys in a level-parsecond round before holding his nerve inthe play-off.

Masters champion Watson hit a run ofbirdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes totake a two-shot lead, but a wayward teeshot at the next hole scuppered hischances as he dropped a shot on the par-five 17th.

Kaymer birded the same hole and bothplayers parred the last to force the play-off.

Two neat approach shots to the 18th greenset up a putting contest on the first play-offhole - with Watson unable to follow inKaymer’s birdie, missing his attempt fromfive feet.

LADIES ROUND-UP

Daisy winsa thriller

DAISY Nielsen of Denmark andFrance’s Melodie Bourdy produced athrilling and tense end to theseason’s LET Access Series at Stokeby Nayland Hotel Golf & Spa.

Both girls ended the 54-hole WPGAInternational Challenge level on seven-under-par. Cue a sudden-death play-offat the par three 18th in front of a packed gallery.

Nielsen, above, held her nerve and holedan eight foot putt for a tournament-winning birdie and claim the €4,871winner’s cheque.

It represented the biggest prize of hershort career - but an even bigger onewas the coveted Tour card courtesy offinishing third in the Order of Merit.

Rory McIlroy: ‘I was inexperienced when I signed’

SEE YOU IN COURTMcIlroy skips golf to prepare next step in big legal wrangleRORY McIlroy has missed two big tour events as a legaldispute over fees with his former agent became deadlocked.

The world number one said he had withdrawn from the BMWMasters and the WGC-HSBC Championship to make time toprepare for the court trial.

McIlroy is suing Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management andtwo other companies in a case understood to involve a multi-million Euro disagreement over fees.

‘Markedly inferior’

A slam dunk forMartin Kaymer

Left:Martin Kaymer:Birdied firstsudden-death hole

Right:Bubba Watson:Blew a two-shotlead at the 17th


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CAN GOLF SWEEP THEBBC SPORTS AWARDS?A LEADING correspondent hasargued the case for golf achieving a‘triple crown’ by winning all thecategories in this year’s BBC SportsPersonality of the Year awards.

The Daily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson wrote:‘The chances of one sport completing aclean sweep are slim indeed, but let’s putthe case for golf breaking the mould.’

Lawrenson first argued the case for Teamof the Year: ’Did anyone put in aperformance that came close to Europe’ssteamrollering of the Americans in theRyder Cup at Glkeneagles? Europe’s teamdelivered to a man to trigger a post-mortem in America that still rages.’

Coach of the Year? ’Surely it has to bePaul McGinley. For two years, theIrishman poured everything he had intothe role of Europe’s captain. Never mindnot leaving any stones unturned;McGinley never left any grains of sand unturned.’

And on the main award, SportsPersonality of the Year, to be decided byviewers on December 14 (Only twogolfers have won it - Dai Rees in 1957and Sir Nick Faldo in 1989):

‘It would damage the credibility of theaward if Rory McIlroy didn’t win it. He hasput together the greatest season in thehistory of European golf.’

Graeme vows toput an end to thehead-bangingGRAEME McDowell has decided to stop beating himself up.

The 35-year-old has acknowledged that mentally he had almost given up whenstanding on the tee alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy and watching him launch theball 350 yards.

‘I have definitely been getting sucked in playing with these big hitters and beatingmyself up about it,’ he says. ‘Playing with Rory, Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson,I’ve been thinking “Wow, I can’t compete”.’

But a sterling Ryder Cup performance, whenhe responded to captain Paul McGinley’soffer of the honour of leading the team outin the singles, has helped convince him thathis personal team, caddie Ken Comboy andcoach Peter Cowan, were right when theytried to convince him to concentrate on hisown strengths.

‘It did take me aback,’ McDowell told theDaily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson. ‘Paul said Iwant you to lead us because you’re abattler and a fighter and I thought, “Ohyeah, I’m a battler and a fighter”. I’dforgotten that about myself. I thought I wasjust a guy who hit it 275 yards from the teeand could only compete on short courses.’

If he could not match others in the big-dog department, McDowell had to focuson what he has, rather than what he doesnot have.

‘I’d forgotten I had a lot of other qualitiesthat made me the player I was. I guessthat‘s why we pay these fortunes tosports psychologists to get thesethoughts out of our heads.

‘So I’m using this end-of-season run torefocus for next year and really commitmyself to the game again.’

Signs of McDowell’s rediscoveredconfidence were obvious in the WorldGolf Championship-HSBC event when heled from the first round, and finished justone shot off a place in the play-off wonby Bubba Watson.

‘I lost focus for the last year for all theright reasons, with getting married andhaving our first child. They are specialtimes in the life of anyone,’ he said.‘Butnot that’s all stabilised, and I realise howlucky I am to be playing out here. I’m inthe prime of my career and I want to givethe next five to eight years absolutelyeverything I have.’

Another trophyfor ClyburnENGLAND international India Clyburnadded the 2014 Telegraph BMWJunior Championship girls’ title toher growing list of honours at Quintado Lago in Portugal.

The 17-year-old has been in scintillatingform this summer and led from the frontto add the prestigious title to the EnglishAmateur Girls Championship and RoyalBirkdale Scratch Trophy she won earlierin the season.

Meanwhile, the boys’ event featured animpressive performance from Portugal’snumber one teenager Vitor Lopes, whoproduced sub-par rounds of 70 and two68s to win the title by four shots fromCheshire’s Rhys Nevin-Wharton withWorcestershire star Oliver Farrell back inthird. Clyburn and Vitor Lopes, winner ofthe boys’ title, will now play in nextyear’s BMW Championship Pro-Am atWentworth, an initiative first revealed byPaul McGinley at last year’s finals.

Cly: India Clyburn Lopes: Vitor Lopes

EVENTS NEWS

O’Grady leavingtop Tour jobTHE European Tour is looking for anew chief executive.

George O’Grady,who has been withthe Tour for over 40years, is steppingdown but willremain in positionuntil his successoris found.

The 65-year-old has led the Tour, whichruns the three leading men’s professionalgolf circuits in Europe, since 2005.

Mr O’Grady will take up a presidentialrole to represent the Tour through the2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

He was instrumental in helping golf befor the first time in 112 years, and hasalso been in charge during significantgrowth of The Ryder Cup.

Mikko’s matchFINLAND’S Mikko Ilonen beat worldnumber five Henrik Stenson 3&1 towin the World Match Play at theLondon Club in Kent.

Ilonen, the world number 52, carded fourbirdies in a bogey-free round to seal thebiggest win of his career. Stenson, threedown after 12, birdied 13, only for Ilonento hole a 12-footer to go three up withfour to play. The Swedish Ryder Cup playerpulled one back but was unable to do anymore as Ilonen sealed it on the 17th.

Marcel againGERMANY’S Marcel Siem won hisfourth European title with a play-offvictory over Alexander Levy and RossFisher at the BMW Masters in Shanghai.

Levy was four strokes ahead at 22-underovernight but had six bogeys and a doublebogey in a round of 78. Siem missed a six-foot putt to win the title at the 18th butreturned to the hole in the play-off andchipped in from the fringe grass for a birdie.Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose and JamieDonaldson shared fourth, one shot back.

Rap for ReedAMERICAN Patrick Reed is set to bepunished for foul and homophobiclanguage on the opening day of theWGC-HSBC Champions tournamentin Sheshan.

Ryder Cup player Reed, 24, shot a 71but was heard on TV swearing at himselfafter missing a putt on the first hole. ThePGA Tour said it would ‘deal with thismatter internally’.

Biking boosterJOHN Andrew, owner of Direct Golf andBike-Shed.com, has raised more than£2,500 for Cancer Research and theSeve Ballesteros Foundation, thanks tohis successful 110-mile charity bike toThe Open Championship in July.

Andrew was accompanied on thechallenging two-day journey from hisHuddersfield headquarters to RoyalLiverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, by DirectGolf managing director Neil Bell andstock controller Jonathan Brown.

Andrew, a Class AA-qualified PGAprofessional, said: ‘The Seve BallesterosFoundation and Cancer Research arecharities that are very close to my heart. I’mthrilled we have managed to raise thesevaluable funds for them, while combiningtwo of my big passions: golf and cycling.’

Graeme McDowell: Says he almost gave up in thecompany of big hitters


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Only fourteen clubs have had the honour ofhosting The Open, and Kent has three ofthem. These have also been the mostsoutherly of the links chosen to host the firstand still the number one championship in thegolfing calendar. Kent can offer not only linksgolf at its finest, but a wide variety of coursesto satisfy the most discerning players. Kenthas around 100 courses to challenge theability plus the additional enjoyment of thevarious sights and sounds of the Countyof Kent.

Selecting venues for golfing holidays anddays out, has moved forward tremendouslyover the last few years with so manyinnovative ways to arrange golf tourism.More and more golfers have found itbeneficial to make the initial choice and thenleave the experts to arrange the final detailsand confirm the bookings. The people withthe skill and knowledge to be your golfingguide, insuring the best value, convenienttee times and most important of all, the bestgolf available all the year round.

The ‘Garden of England’ has a golfingpedigree that goes back well over onehundred years and a trio of OpenChampionships venues, plus many othertraditional links layouts, as well parkland,cliff top and downland courses that make itone of England’s most attractive and diversegolfing destinations, succinctly put by CherylParker, Head of Development Partnership &funding at Visit Kent.

The Open Championship has been held inKent no less than 17 times since the 1890’swhen both JH Taylor and Harry Vardon werecrowned Champion Golfers. Jersey bornVardon clearly enjoyed the links at Sandwichas he returned to win the fifth of his sixsuccesses there in 1911. Some of theworld’s best players have achievedgreatness in Kent; Sir Henry Cotton excelledin 1934 winning and shooting the never tobe forgotten 65 in the second round. Shortlyafter the Championship, the Dunlop GolfCompany issued the famous Dunlop 65 ballin his honour. In addition to these famousBritons, the honours list also includes BobbyLocke, Sandy Lyle, and Greg Norman. Thewin by Bobby Locke in 1949 was the mostpoignant for the Irish, for Harry Bradshaw’sball ended up in a broken beer bottle. He didnot realise he could get relief and played theball, the dropped shot resulted in a tiedfinish, which Locke comfortably won. Themost recent winner at Royal St. George’s in2011 was Darren Clarke from NorthernIreland, who not surprisingly rates the linksat Sandwich as the finest in England.

A number of great players from the USA werealso successful at Royal St George’s, takingthe Claret Jug back across the Atlantic toAmerica. In 1922 the dashing Walter Hagen;the first home - born American came to win, avictory The Haig repeated in 1928. Thediminutive Italian Eugenio Saraceni betterknown throughout the golfing world as GeneSarazen; said he changed his name to make

him sound more like a golfer! Gene inventedthe modern sand wedge and when he cameto Prince’s in 1932, he gave the club its debutafter keeping it secret during his practicerounds. He used it to great effect, leading afterevery round to break the record and take theChampionship. Visitors to the course mustremember to see the sand wedge and spoonwhich are on display, which were generouslydonated by “The Squire” to Prince’s Golf Club.

Inland Kent has two of England’s newest golfcourses which have rapidly gained recognitionas excellent and challenging venues. ChartHills at Tenterden, designed by Sir Nick Faldo,and the London Golf Club’s two eighteen holecourses bear the classic hallmarks of theirdesigner Jack Nicklaus. Many of the world’stop professionals competed in the 50thstaging of the Volvo World Match PlayChampionship hosted at The London Golf Clubin October this year; the event was won byMikko Ilonen.

There is a wide variety of courses set in theglorious Kent countryside, many of which area little less intimidating than the championshiplinks, these can be enjoyed by golfers of alllevels of ability, especially families wishing toplay together, typical examples of these can befound in the Pentland Courses of Boughtonand Etchinghill, and Lullingstone Park nearSevenoaks. A little investigative work or anenquiry to visit Kent will yield numerousoptions, with over one hundred courses tochoose from.

Complementing the golf, The County providesa range of quality accommodation fromboutique hotels to coaching inns that areperfect for travelling golfers. Kent has aplethora of historical attractions, fromcathedrals to castles; especially Leeds Castleonly a few miles from Maidstone, and DoverCastle overlooking the Channel Port.

Canterbury Cathedral, steeped in the historyof the English monarchy, St Augustine’s Abbeywith its beautiful gateway, the Huguenotweavers houses and the city walls, all makethe drive to the city well worth while. It is aUNESCO world heritage site and one of the most visited cities in the country, with ample justification.

Kent’s golf courses are all conveniently locatedwithin easy reach of London and itsinternational airports, effortlessly accessedfrom Europe via the Eurotunnel, Eurostar andthe port of Dover and well served by a goodmotorway and road network.

Log on to the websitewww.golfinkent.co.uk to arrange week-end and longer trips from two to six dayswhich can easily be arranged. Bespokepackages are available and can be tailoredto suit individual requirements. Helen Heady;the Project Director, driving this initiative;summed up the situation perfectly, when shesaid at the launch of the new initiative that: “The County of Kent really is a golfing paradise”.

Visit Kent unveiled its exciting new ‘Golf inKent’ initiative at Princes Golf Club in October,with the aim of targeting and enticing golfersand tourists, to the County of Kent. For anygolfer this region is always on the must visitlist, to enjoy the marvellous and very specialgolf courses throughout the Garden of

England. Kent has always been at the forefront as a wonderfulgolfing destination; with internationally recognised linkscourses including Open Championship venues Prince‘s GolfClub, Royal Cinque Ports and Royal St. George’s Golf Club,known more affectionately as Sandwich.

GOLF IN KENTGARDEN of ENGLAND

Edited byMichael Rees

Prince's - 4th hole The Dunes Princes GC 7th of Royal St George's

Royal Cinque Ports London Golf Club, 8th hole of The International

Canterbury Cathedral & Spire Chart Hills Bunkers on 16th


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This month, I'll mostly be discussing acommon miss held assumption. How muchmoney have you spent on golf clubs sinceyou started playing? How many strokeshave you actually shaved off yourgame…honestly? It’s a fact that most ofus see little to no improvement fromsimply purchasing new clubs off therack…many of us actually get worse. In arecent US poll it showed that golfersestimated spending over $500 a year ongolf equipment. What applies in the US candefinitely be transcribed over to the UK.Which means some of you reading thisarticle have already spent over £5,000 onequipment not fit for your game…actually92% of you have!

The vast majority of golfers read the nationalgolf magazines; Today’s Golfer, Golf Monthly etcand read about the importance of fitting. The bigclub companies are trying pass on thismessage…well they say they are…but theyhave serious limitations to their abilities to offeryou truly custom fit golf clubs. If you go to a golfretail store you get a few minutes with a younglad who has been trained to sell a full set ofclubs to each and every customer. You hit a fewgolf balls into a net, he measures your wrist tofloor distance and might measure your grip size.It's gripped, it's sorted and hey presto, hecomes up with the magic phrase “Suit you, sir!”and you now have a custom fitted set of clubs –I don’t think so.

Some places you go to including someprofessional shops have a fitting cart from acouple of major brand companies like Ping andCallaway. Which is nice but still way off of whatyou should be doing if you really want to stopbuying clubs you don’t need and start buyingclubs that actually work. This system still doesnot gather all the information needed to obtaininformation needed to perform a worthwhilecustom-fitting.

Think about men’s suits for asecond…generally the more you spend themore customization you get. If you bought a suittoday and it cost you £1000…you would fullyexpect to get a suit tailored for that price…forthat price you would even expect that tailor tohave the suit fitting you like a glove before youwalked out of that store. So…tell me why thenwhen you spend £1000 for off the rack golfclubs do you literally take them right from therack to the golf course without expecting anylevel of customization from the salesman?Stores simply can’t afford to pay these so-called“fitting specialist” a high enough wage to enticequalified professionals to fill their positions. Not

only do you definitely need a decent golfer inthis position but also one who is well trained inthe newest fitting technologies. And with themillions of head, shaft, grip, flex, loft, lie, weight,spin and launch angle combinations there are ina golf club today, these stores do not have thespace or ability to offer you the ultimate choice.As an example using the big name companies,say you like the head of the Ping driver but thefeel of the Callaway shaft. Can you have that?Not a chance. As a custom club fitter and makerI am not restricted to certain combinations.

Golfers sadly get seduced by the glossymagazines claiming that they can improve theirgame by buying the next biggest thing or thecoolest looking club on a commercial that all thepopular golf magazines and golf forums arehyping up. How much of a difference can a TRUEcustom fitting make you ask? Well put it this wayevery single golf pro on tour has custom fittedand custom made golf equipment. Now I havewritten many times on the all the reasons whyyou should be custom fit…but isn’t that enoughincentive for you already. I mean think aboutit…do you think a pro would ever just go to astore and buy a club off the wall or snag a dealoff EBAY and tee off with it at the Masters? Wellmaybe…but not if he had any plans of winninghe wouldn’t. So why do we?

Today’s fitting and the future of fitting will beabout crunching numbers and putting the bestcombination of numbers together that willimprove every aspect of your game. A poll in theUS polled over 25,000 golfers that did nothingmore then get custom fit and they saw theirhandicaps drop by an average of 5-7 strokes!And this didn’t take hours on the range or costthousands in golf lessons…all they did was geta professional custom fitting. Everything fromdistance to accuracy to consistency to youroverall confidence will improve with today’sfitting technologies. So get rid of those lessonsfor now…because without the right gearfirst…all you’re doing is creating bad habits thatwill need fixing later.

Golf is hard enough…don’t make it harder thenit needs to be by using the wrong equipment.Without properly fits clubs, no golfer will everreach his optimal performance level in thisgame. For the most part golfers have similarproblems with their equipment that needs fixing.But most of us try to solve that problem in thewrong manner. We tend to think that ifsomething new comes out…then it willmagically fix our swing. And the higher the pricetag on the equipment…the better our swing willbe. But many drivers and several years later westill find our game has not improved, the

handicap has not changed – in many cases ithas even gone up.

Some of you are thinking “well you are right forthe most part…but I feel like the driver I havenow is better then any I have ever owned.” Andyou might be right…but…even if that is true,the chances of it being the optimal driver for youare slim. That’s because all that has to be wrongis one of the following variables:

Club Head Style, Shaft Flex, Shaft Length, ShaftFlex, Clubhead Lie, Loft, Grip Size, etc. If evenone of these is off it could be killing your game.And we are not talking yards, we’re talkingstrokes. All it takes is a couple drives a fewyards further in the woods, one or two wedgeshots that sail over the green, a pitching wedgeyou had to choke down on because you don’town a Gap Wedge and your talking 5-6 strokeseasy…every round. All because you believe themagazines and do not get a properly fit set of

equipment. So before making an investment onanother club think do you want to follow the92% crowd or do you want the sameadvantages as the professionals. Even betterthan that, I hope you seriously consider going toa professional clubmaker to get fit for a set andjoin the 8% club!

For more information or to receive the benefitslisted above, contact David numbers below, toarrange an appointment. A copy of this and myprevious articles for Doyle’s Dilemmas can befound online at http://www.servicetogolf.com/doylesdilemmas.asp.

Should you have any questions on this or anyequipment matter please feel free to call me at01256 322007 or 0785990055

Alternatively, email me directly [email protected] or visit myweb site at www.madetomeasuregolf.co.uk

BELEKGolf Academy


92% Of Golfers Are Buying Golf ClubsThey Don’t Need… Does that Include You?


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Situated just off the A30, in the beautiful county of Cornwall, Trethorne offers achallenging and picturesque 18-holes with friendly and relaxed Cornish hospitality.

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ROMSEY WINNERS OFTHE STONEHAM CUP

Romsey Golf Club, Stoneham Cup Winners 2014

Waterlooville GC, Stoneham Cup Runners-up 2014

100 years ago the ladies of StonehamGC presented a trophy to HampshireLadies’ County Golf Association to beplayed for by Hampshire golf clubs. Itwas named the Stoneham Cup, andStoneham were the first winners (atHayling). It was therefore fitting for thefinals day of the 2014 competition to beheld at Stoneham GC. Stoneham hadbeen knocked out at the quarter finalstage and so there was not to be aspecial 100th anniversary for them, butas expected the club and everyoneassociated with it ensured that the2014 Finals Day was extra special.

Three of the four teams who arrived toplay the morning’s semi-final matcheshad been here last year. Waterloovillewere aiming to retain the trophy they hadwon for the first time in 2013, whileRomsey and Weybrook Park were lookingto take the top prize this time around.Lee-on-the-Solent had plans to surprisethem all! It’s a long route to finals dayrequiring clubs to have a good squad ofplayers all able to play consistently goodgolf. So, it’s a terrific achievement to getto finals day.

Romsey started the day well, determinedto get to the final again and go one betterthan last year. Despite that the first resultwent Weybrook’s way but the Romseywins started to come in and after they

went 4 up the final match was called inand Romsey got ready for the final.The Waterlooville/Lee match took a lotlonger to resolve. They stood at 3 all for along time, waiting for the final matchwhich eventually made its way up the18th fairway with Waterlooville 1 up. Leeconceded when it became apparent thatthey couldn’t win the hole to go down the19th and Waterlooville were through tothe final again.

Romsey set off with steely determinationand at one point they were up in allseven matches. However Waterloovilledidn’t let them get their own way all thetime and several matches alternatedbetween the two clubs. First win was toRomsey’s Jan Crook in the third match.Minutes later they were 2 up when SaraBarnes beat Helen Pinhorn and thenJulie Cole beat Kerry Smith to putRomsey 3 up. The spectators movedacross the course to watch match 6 asRomsey’s Geraldine Pringle was playingbeautifully and was dormie after 13holes. When she sunk her putt on 14 shehad won her match and Romsey had wonthe Stoneham Cup. The good news wentround the course and the remainingmatches (all very close) came in.

Well done Romsey, you were a delight towatch and are well deserved winners ofthe 2014 Stoneham Cup.

BELEKGolf Academy


in the World of Ladies GolfYour Monthly Blog by Claire Kane

WHATS HOT OR NOT

They say the most important wood inyour bag is your pencil, yetpersonally, every pencil I’ve everowned seems to morph into a blunt,stubby instrument. What’s more I’veyet to find a decent pencil sharperthat doesn’t shave off thick chunksof wood to uncover yet anothersection of broken lead.

You’d think in today’s high tech worldwe’d be using something moresophisticated than a slither of tree, abarrel of lead and a grubby little rubberstuck on the end which turns your cardinto a smudged, charcoal etching.

The average card may only be 6” by 4”but you have to be a competitive golfer tounderstand the many pitfalls you can falldown and how picky some handicapsecretaries can be. Many an card hasbeen disqualified because the handicaphas been forgotten (despite officialhandicaps being held on the competitiondatabase), or someone’s numeracy skillwas a bit dodgy on the day, let alonemaking the fundamental mistake ofputting the card in the wrong box whichis what I once did.

One of the first steps is to note down thename of the competition, usually acombination of past members trophies, ora strange name such as a ‘bogey’ or‘Gonne Quiche’– thankfully you don’t getpenalised for spelling mistakes.

Even the simple task of rememberingwhat the date is can cause totalconfusion as fellow players frantically

rack their brains on the first teewondering if they’ve entered the firststages of dementia.

I often feel the score card simply doesn’treflect the sheer effort, pain and bad luckendured during the round so wouldn’t itbe fun to include the odd comment oracronym to explain a horrendous score:

FEISS (Fried Egg In Soft Sand)

BRIDASOC (Ball Rolled Into Divot AndShot Off Club)

BRISB (Ball Rolled Into Steep Bunker)

GRIPP (Greenkeepers Revenge ImpossiblePin Position)

WAIR (Wind Assisted Into Rough)

EBB (Extremely Bad Bounce)

SPER (Slow Play Effected Rhythm)

MAL (Must Arrange Lessons)

After 18 holes in the winter months, mycard usually looks pretty beaten up, so Ipity the poor soul who has to decipherand double check my scrawling figuresso I feel sure a few light-heartedcomments would make their day.

Meanwhile, let’s hope a clever soulinvents a gadget so we can easily enterour scores electronically on the courseand then simply hit ‘upload’ as we walkoff the 18th

© of Claire KaneFollow my tales on twitter @golfsnippets

MARKING YOURCARD



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Autumn / WinterGreen Fee Offers

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Quote Ref: TT2014

Play Golf atSHANKLIN & SANDOWN

Autumn / WinterGreen Fee Offers

(from 1st November to 31st March)3 for 2 or 4 for 3 on Green Fees

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SHANKLIN & SANDOWN GOLF CLUBThe Fairway, Sandown,Isle of Wight, PO36 9PR

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WINTER GOLF DAY PACKAGE* Coffee & Bacon Roll on Arrival

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* Whisky shot before heading out onto the course* 18 Holes, Wellington or Waterloo* Christmas Buffet / Roast Turkey

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* £29.50 Mid-Week* £34.50 Weekends

(10% Off Green Fee Prices, excludes food and beverage)T&C's - Available for December, January, February 2015.



BELEKGolf Academy


PREPARE LIKE A PRO SERIES• Master Pro British PGA• PGA of Europe 5 star Professional• European Tour and Senior Player• Ryder Cup and World Cup Player• International Coach

WINTER IS UPON US. TIME TO PERFECT YOURSWING OFF THE COURSE. SEND ME YOUR VIDEO

Peter Dawson helps golfers, at all levels, to reach their potential. As an international coach you can trust his expert eye to build your game, knowledge and confidence.

DECEMBER 201414

These GPS aids take a great deal of guesswork out of the game and though personally Ithink they take away some of the fun andexpertise we must move with the times! Thebusiness world adopts and adapts newtechnology daily, the abacus is a thing of the past!

With modern technology you can video yourswing using your ipad/smartphone/tablet andsend it on to me to analyse and return to you.This especially useful when it is impossible tofind time for lesson in a busy schedule. Go tomy website for more information on this.

Check the weather forecast. Rain predictedthen waterproofs confirmed in the bag, if itdoes rain then we would require a couple oftowels to help dry the grips and keep thehands dry, an Umbrella. Have a plastic bag onhand so if it does rain then place your sparegloves in the bag to prevent them fromgetting wet.

If we are due a hot spell, waterproofs can stayin the boot of the car, best there as if you putthem in the garage the very next time youplay you might forget and sods law it will rain!If you are a player that perspires under stressor heat have an extra glove in the bag readyto change when the one you are wearingstarts to get damp.

Drinks preferably water but the choice isyours. You will see nowadays the pros on thetour constantly taking sips of water,dehydration creeps up on us, concentrationstarts to wane and before we know it it’s toolate, a couple of shots have drifted away!

Nutrition, bananas are very popular fruit onthe golf course due to the high potassiumlevels. The same can be said in the businessworld, concentration is needed throughout theworking day, the correct food to keep up thatconcentration must play an important part.

Hats, peaked caps or sunglasses are also popular and an essential aid in bright sunlight.

When speaking to a young golfer aboutpreparation and equipment I often say, if they work hard on all aspects of their golfthey might become very, very good and turn professional.

Then they will have a caddy who looks afterall aspects of the equipment, until then it’sdown to them!

You have not yet left the house but all these things need to havebeen considered!

As you do for an important business meetingyou prepare before leaving the office iecorrect timing, correct route, trafficinformation all the back ground informationrelative to your meeting.

Golf and meetings are similar, arrive in plentyof time take in the surroundings get yourbearings absorb the atmosphere if good!

Arrive at the club in time to visit theclubhouse, have a drink, chat to yourpartners, hit a few balls on the range.

A number of Hampshire pros have come upwith a great idea of offering their members atube of practice balls at a very low price forthem to loosen up before they play.

If your club does not have a practice ground I imagine there are nets for you to loosen up in.

If neither, then you may have to create yourown exercise to loosen up the body ie clubsbehind the back turning the shoulders as faras they will go, stretch those calf muscles andsome spinal exercises also.

Correct exercises can lead to good rhythm,you should always try to maintain the samerhythm with a 5 iron as you do with a driver.

It is the width of the club that gives you thepower not the force you put into it!

You will see your partners on a good day evenwith a technique not 100% if the swing issmooth and rhythmical they play can well,they have the time to adjust their swing.

During my playing days when I had theopportunity to play with the likes of Faldo,Watson, Norman, Ballesteros, they all swungthe club with great rhythm and width.

Like making a presentation/speech when itflows you find it easy, rushed it becomesdisjointed and difficult! I think back to mydays in Paris when I used to give golfdemonstrations in front of approximately 100Parisians, in their language!

Daunting was not the word, some days itwould just flow, often forgetting it was in adifferent language other days it would be astruggle, but we survived!

You should always make time to loosen upbefore playing.

When your partner turns up with a minute tospare, no practice what so ever, loses 2 or 3balls after 6 holes and then declares “its justnot my day” what did he expect!

As with a meeting, you get the feel ofeverybody around the table, in golf it’s thefirst 3 holes you get to know how you arefeeling both physically and mentally, once youget the feeling you can adapt your strategy.

Video your swing send it to me for mycomments via my website

Peter Dawson - 07901 229275www.peterdawsongolf.com

There is an old saying, “if you want to find out aboutsomeone before doing business play golf with them”. As we have said in the previous article some times you

can relate to playing golf as you might arrange a newbusiness deal.

Preparation! The moment we step onto the first tee we are in the lap ofthe Gods somewhat, but if we have prepared ourselves properly for theround golf we might just eliminate some possible mistakes.

We would prepare for the round the day or evening before. Sufficientballs/tees and pencils in the bag? Check the golf shoes are in the boot,preferably clean! In my junior days I was once told by a very respectedprofessional, the last thing you look at when at address are your shoes,dirty shoes slipshod mind! Nowadays we all seem to have electrictrolleys, and many have distance finding GPS aids, these all need to be charged.


BELEKGolf Academy

DOWNSHIREGOLF COMPLEXSummer golf days

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T: 023 8081 3433 E: [email protected]

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The Oldest Golf Club in Hampshire Play our two excellent, very different Courses. The mature parkland Manor Course and the heathland Forest Course (built in 1880). Visitors and Societies welcome. Check our website for Society Winter Golf Packages and Winter Green Fees.

everything you need to know about playing golf at Bramshaw Golf Club and staying at the Bell Inn.

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BELEKGolf Academy


Portugal is said to be the oldest ally ofGreat Britain, centuries of history tiethe two nation’s together, military linksand the port wine trade, and two verydifferent facets are the mostrecognisable. The modern attraction isfor the golf, with two very distinctregions dominating the choice of areasto visit. The Algarve along the southcoast has pride of place, but the Northof Portugal, stretching from Lisbon thecapital right up the Duoro Valley is awonderful alternative.

Orizonte Lisbon Golf, has six eighteen holecourses south of the capital city, and isserving up a new offer for groups of golfersstaying and playing in the area next year.Valid until the 31st October 2015, it meansthat a group of eight golfers staying forseven nights, and playing five rounds on theOrizante courses will receive a meal voucherfor 160 Euros, to be used at any of theclubhouses. The list includes the two Aroeiracourses, designed by Frank Pennink andDonald Steel, Quinta do Peru Golf & CountryClub, and the two courses at Ribagolfe, setin the ancient oak forest and dubbed the“Valderrama of Portugal” A great offerfor groups wishing to savour the best ofPortuguese golf. For more information simplyvisit: www.orizontegolf.com .

The capital of the port wine trade is VilaNova de Gaia and the twin town of Porto,just across the river. Gaia is the location ofthe cellars of all the principal wine houses,household names that every portconnoisseur is familiar with: Sandeman,Taylor, Warre, Graham, Dow, Offaly, Croft andChurchill. The English connection isundoubted, born when, during the wars withFrance, the wine supply dried up, andPortugal became the alternative source. Itproduced fortified wine to protect the qualityon the longer sea journey to Britain, andthereafter it remained a firm favourite for theerudite drinker, whether your preference isfor Tawny or Vintage Ruby Port.

The ideal way to experience the Duoro Valleyis by river cruise, a fascinating and relaxingtrip inland as far as the Spanish border, anda short drive to the golden city ofSalamanca. A region of castles, cathedralsand monasteries, for much of theadvancement in agriculture was the result ofthe monks who came to the region fromFrance in medieval times.

Ample time to stop and visit the manyvineyards to sample the port and the wine,and a special treat if you visit Quinta deAvessida and sample the excellent Moscatelde Favaios. Navigation has only beenpossible in recent years thanks to theconstruction of five massive dams and locks,which in total raise the river levels by over430 feet, and enable the river cruisers tocomplete the journey to the border.

Porto is a fascinating city, linked by bridgesto Gaia, it is a mass of historic buildings,vintage tram networks, a vintage tile

decorated railway station and a hilltopcathedral, plus an abundance of marvellous restaurants.

It is a far cry from Hayling Golf Club to theDouro Valley, but there is a very strong link.A glance in the trophy cabinet will providethe evidence of the history of the club; theSandeman Cup and London Scottish Cupare the clues. The Hayling club was formedin 1883 at a meeting in the home of Lt ColJohn Sandeman, the first Captain wasFleetwood Sandeman, and Maud Sandemanstarted the ladies section in 1884.

The Sandeman family, famous for their portand sherries, were instrumental in theintroduction of golf to Hayling. Wealthcreated in the north of Portugal inspired golfon the links in Hampshire.

Their counterparts in Porto did their part too,for the fourth oldest golf club in thecontinent of Europe is Oporto Golf Club,opened in 1901, preceded only by Pau,Biarritz and Royal Antwerp.

Oporto had been an exclusively Britishpreserve for first thirty years of its existence,before opening up to the local population.Very much like the scenario in Great Britainin the early part of the last century. Theregion has several other fine courses toprovide variety during your stay.

Estela is a classic links located just 30minutes from the capital, set in three milesof authentic sand dunes, with fabulous viewsout to the Atlantic, and enhanced by twolakes, not typical but making accuracy withthe driver an essential for good scoring.

Vidago Palace was originally a nine holecourse designed by Philip Mackenzie, thenremodelled during the refurbishment of thehotel where it is sited, and re-opened in 2010.

A parkland course with centuries old trees,and breath-taking scenery, not surprisingly itis called the jewel of the north.

To add to the delights there are fine coursesat Miramar, Amarante and Ponte de Lima,enough variety and quality to satisfy theharshest critic.

Whether you relax on the river beforeor after your golf, you will enjoy a superb experience, and the welcome you will receive will make you want to book a return visit before too long.

HAVE CLUBS WILL TRAVEL

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Above: Duoro River & Porto. Below Left: Estela Golf Club, Below Right: Hayling Golf Club


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BELEKGolf Academy


OLD THORNS WINFULLERS COUNTY 7s

Now the 2014 golf season is well and truly over, it’s time to think aboutdoing some serious work on our golf games!

The picture you see is of one of the mostimportant positions in the full swing. It is

also where you need to be in the back swing to hit great ¾ shots, pitches andbunker shots.

Key points:-

1) The left arm (right for left handers) isextended and at chest height.

2) The wrists are fully hinged and oppositethe centre of the torso.

3) The club shaft is at a 45 degree angle(compare it against the flag).

Get into this position and get in greatshape for 2015.

If you want to really improve your golf swingfor 2015 call me 07973 307880or check out www.beverlyhukegolf.com

England teenage internationals MarcoPenge and Emma Allen received a rightroyal boost for their Olympic ambitionswhen they met the Duchess of Cambridge.

They were among 30 young athletes whowere invited by the charity SportsAid toattend a workshop designed to help themon their journey to the Olympic orParalympic Games.

The Duchess, who is patron of SportsAid,joined them at the event which was hosted byGSK at its cutting-edge Human PerformanceLab in west London. She watched as theytook part in a series of scientific assessmentson respiration, temperature, power, cognitionand body composition – and spoke to bothEngland golfers. Or she tried to!

Emma Allen, 17, was pedalling on a bikeand wearing a face mask when the Duchessstarted chatting with her. “She was asking ifI was ok because I’d been pedalling for along time and someone had told her I wasgoing in the humidity chamber next. Shewished me good luck – and I mumbledthrough my mask!”

Emma, who plays at Meon Valley inHampshire, added: “She was brilliant, sheengaged well with everybody and wasgenuinely very interested.

“It was an amazing day and a great experiencewhich will really help me with my golf.”

The Duchess had a more successfulconversation with Marco, who plays at Golfat Goodwood in Sussex (pictured top). Theymet as the 16-year-old ran on a treadmill inan environmental chamber set to the heatand humidity of Tokyo, which will host theGames in 2020.

“She asked me about my sport and we hada chat about my golf – I explained that youdon’t really run in golf but that stamina isimportant at the end of a tournament,” saidMarco. “We had a bit of a laugh becauseshe said she was being cruel talking to mewhile I was trying to run! She was really

nice, everyone had said beforehand that shewas very sporty and really relaxed and thatwas what she was like. “It was a really goodday, a good experience and I enjoyedmeeting the other athletes and hearingabout their goals,” said Marco.

Emma was a member of the England teamwhich won the Girls’ Home Internationals forthe seventh successive year and was also inHampshire’s winning team at County Finals.Marco helped England win the Boys' HomeInternationals and was the England U15 andU16 champion in 2013. He has won theFairhaven Trophy for the past two years.

Both golfers have ambitions to play in the 2020Olympics in Tokyo and both were spurred on byyesterday’s experience. “That’s the goal,” saidEmma, while Marco added: “It would be prettycool to play for GB in the Olympics.” Both aremembers of England Golf U18 training squadsand both receive awards from SportsAid whichhelps young disabled and non-disabled athletesto achieve their ambitions.

The athletes at the workshop also had thechance to join a mentoring session withOlympic swimmer Keri-anne Payne and to meetParalympic wheelchair athlete David Weir.

David Weir said, “It’s been a privilege to meetthe athletes here today and share theirachievements and challenges with theDuchess. It’s a long road to Tokyo but hersupport will make a big difference and withthe right approach, it’s achievable. It’s excitingto think these athletes could be part of thenext generation of British sporting heroes andI wish all of them the very best of luck.”

For more information contact:Lyndsey Hewison - England [email protected]

Royal boost for Englandgolfers' Olympic ambitions

Images courtesy Nathan Gallagher/SportsAid.Above: Marco Penge, watched by theDuchess. Left: The Duchess learns aboutEmma's respiratory test.

Old Thorns Golf Club won the FullersCounty Sevens Final atLee-on-the-Solent on Sunday (19/10).

They defeated Stoneham Golf Club in aclose fought final by 4 matches to 3. Earlierin the day Old Thorns had beaten Liphookand Stoneham defeated Army in the semi-finals. Old Thorns emerged victorious fromthe original entry of sixty-nine Hampshire,Isle of Wight and Channel Island Golf Clubs.

2015 sees the 50th County Sevens InterClub Knockout competition, which issponsored by Fullers.

To celebrate this milestone it is hoped everyGolf Club will enter a team.

Entry forms are available from the CountyOffice at Hockley Golf Club.

www.hampshiregolf.org.uk

Beverly’sBIG Secrets– Beverly Huke


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Temple Golf Club near Marlow,a club with over 100 years of history and anincreasingly modern approach, offers aflexible Lifestyle membership for Todayʼs Golfer.

For more information please email [email protected] or call 01628 824795

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This months article focuses on thefull swing. More than that I wantto explain how different looking

swings can be equally as effective.

We have all got that golf buddy with theweird looking swing that always seems tofind the fairway.

His swing looks odd, he might aim 50 yardsleft to allow for his slice but he seems to beable to play decent golf.

The reason for this is that he has atechnique, however unconventional it mayseem, that is repetitive. Golf is aboutrepetitiveness. No matter what, if we canrepeat our technique we can allow for slicesand hooks.

No one better sums this up than the all timegreat English golf instructor John Jacobswho quotes:

"The sole purpose of the golf swing isto produce a correct repetitive impact.The method employed is of nosignificance as long as it is correct and repetitive.”

We see this all the time when we watch golfon TV. Look at the variety of golf swings outthere, they are not all the same but they areall correct and repetitive.

Correct meaning they deliver the clubsomewhat at the right angle to the ball, andI say somewhat as golf is not a game ofperfect but make it repetitive and you will beon your way to winning golf championships.

Lets take a look at two modern golf swingsthat are completely different but have bothhad success at the highest level.

Bubba Watson (below left), PGA TOUR playerand Major Champion. See how he hasextremely high hands, a huge hip turn, somuch so that his lead heel is off the groundand his club is swung way past parallel.

The angle that bubba swings at the ball isvery downward (think of the club head as anairplane crashing towards the ground)

He stops his “airplane’ from crashing with ahuge upward pulling and lifting of his bodythrough impact, so much so that his feet arecompletely off the ground when he hits.

This is bubba’s way of swinging the club andhe can repeat it well enough to make a verynice living.

And Matt Kuchar (below right), multiple PGATOUR Winner and the most consistent ballstriker on the tour today. See how he ismore bent over with his body, his arms areway behind him and lower than Bubba’s.

Matt’s club rarely reaches parallel and willbe approaching the ball at a much shallowerangle (the airplane landing smoothly on therunway) so he can turn through the ballwithout pulling up like Bubba does.

Which swing is better? I’ll let you decide, but let me tell you theyhave both won millions of dollars on the PGA TOUR.

Bubba is the longer hitter while Matt is the straighter. Bubba will tend to win oneday then miss the cut the next whereas Matt always seems to be in the top 15of the field.

The point is that these two swings are verydifferent but both produce correct repetitiveimpacts. So when you are working on yourgame or if you want to come along for alesson, remember having a perfect lookingswing is not important but a repetitiveone is.

The Golf Swing – Its not how it looks!

PGA AA ProfessionalLevel 2 Plane Truth Certified InstructorLevel 2 TPI Professional and Junior Coach

E: [email protected]: 07904909973W: Coming soon!

ADAM HARNETTGOLF INSTRUCTION The Golf Swing – Its not how it looks!

ADAM HARNETTGOLF INSTRUCTION

Bubba Watson Matt Kuchar

Merry Christmas&

A Happy New Year



“A unique opportunity to play this Harry Colt classicand savor the delights of the Waitrose Farm Shop”

Offer to includeCoffee and Mince Pies on arrival

18 Holes of golf on the Leckford Old Course

A Turkey, Stuffing and Cranberry Baguette

(Delivered from the Waitrose Farm Shop)A further 9 holes of golf on the Leckford New Course

(For those who wish to)(Offer valid on selected dates, Mon-Fri throughout Nov and Dec, limited availability)

For all bookings please contact Daniel Robinson on 07860 719184

Or email [email protected]

Similar packages available throughout the year, please call for further details

THE LECKFORD GOLF COURSE

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THE LECKFORD GOLF COURSE

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The 2014 PGAs of Europe Annual Congress and International TeamChampionship (ITC) dual-event is heading across the Mediterranean to itsnew home of Turkey and the stunning Belek-based Gloria Golf Resort from

the 8th – 11th December.

The Annual Congress will celebrate its 25th Anniversary this year and has traditionally been hosted in Spain and Portugal. A new three-year agreement with Gloria means theAnnual Congress and ITC have a new home in one of the fastest growing golfing regions onthe planet.

“We are very excited to be entering into a three-year partnership with Gloria as 'Home of the PGAs of Europe Annual Congress and International Team Championship', as well as a 'Preferred Venue of the PGAs of Europe’,” explained PGAs of Europe Chief Executive, Ian Randell.

“The hosting of the Annual Congress and ITC further cement the relationship we have builtup with them over the years and we are sure the comprehensive facilities at Gloria will makefor a great week for both Congress delegates and ITC competitors.”

Annual Congress and International TeamChampionship Heading to Glorious Gloria

Gloria Golf Resort has also played host tothe PGAs of Europe-Sanctioned Beko Classicmultiple times and the 2014 edition of theevent will also take place the week beforethe Congress (4th - 6th December).

“On behalf of Gloria Hotels and Resorts Iwould like to state that it is a great pleasureto enter into a partnership with the PGAs ofEurope, where we will be the host for thePGAs of Europe Annual Congress andInternational Team Championship. Over theyears the Gloria brand has hosted several

international events, thus, this partnershipwill further enhance our position as one ofthe leading hotels and golf complex's inEurope. Over the coming years, we lookforward to hosting the PGAs of Europe'smembers and guests and working together

with the PGA's of Europe in helping topromote golf in Turkey and in Europe ingeneral" explained Öznur Özdemir ÖzaltinCEO of Gloria Hotels & Resorts.

The Annual Congress is the yearlyopportunity for presidents and CEOs ofnational PGAs, along with leaders fromFederations and other significant golfingbodies from across the continent, to meetand discuss the state of play within theirrespective territories, as well as learn andshare ideas with each other alongside

fantastic speakers from not only the world ofgolf but wider industries as well.

The ITC will see teams from across thePGAs of Europe 36 member countries play a 72-hole strokeplay competition across Gloria’s New Course with the besttwo individual scores each day from theteam of three counting towards the overall team score. Competitors will be looking to emulate the 2013 winners, the PGA ofHolland, who took the title in last year’s event.


BELEKGolf Academy


Tel: 0044 (0)115 9681007 Open 9am - 7pm 6 daysEmail: [email protected] www.sungolfbelek.co.ukTel: 0044 (0)115 9681007 Open 9am - 7pm 6 days

Email: [email protected] www.sungolfbelek.co.ukBELEK

SUNGOLF BELEKSUNGOLF BELEK

Terms and conditions apply / full details on request.

GLORIA GOLF RESORT 5*

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Arrival Dates Feb 20th-21st 2015

7 NIGHTS ULTRA ALL-INCLUSIVE**5 rounds of golf - 3 x Gloria Old / 2 x Gloria New

All tee times pre booked and confirmed for each day

Airport & golf transfers included in Belek

Single room only £120pp extra / non golfers welcome

Extra nights stay at Gloria Golf Resort for just £85pp

(For February 20th arrivals ONLY)

Flights not included but can be arranged on your behalf

FREE excursion to Antalya Harbour

ONLY£599pp All Inclusive Non Golfers Welcome Only £420.00pp


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We started our round at approximately five in theevening, in good daylight but we knew that only 90minutes of normal play lay in front of us. As the lightslowly diminished we entered what I can only describeas the twilight zone, a period of time where it was notdark but border line as to be able to fully track a golfball in flight. This lasted for no more than one hole whensuddenly one by one the flood lighting was switched onilluminating the whole of the golf course.

Daylight along the Mediterranean coast can turn tonight-time in a matter of minutes and soon the sky tookon the rose pink tint that the Antalya area is famous for.

Once the floodlights had reached their full intensity, whichtook a good two to three minutes for the allergen lamps towarm up, the whole course took on a truly magical andsomewhat eerie spooky effect. The pine trees started tocast conflicting shadows where two areas of floodlight metfrom different directions, surprisingly it only took a fewminutes for the eye to adjust to these conditions and soonI could carry on with my game without repeatedly stoppingto look round in amazement.

By the time the back nine was reached the sky wastotally black with an array of stars which gave thefloodlight experience a new dimension. It reminded me abit of the start of a Disney film but that could be to do tothe fact I was playing like Mickey Mouse and not fullyconcentrating on my game.

The condition of the golf course must be a majorconsideration when undertaking a project like addingfloodlights, grass needs to lie dormant and rest duringthe non-daylight hours. The greens can get very woollyin the evening making them slower as the roundprogresses. It will be interesting to see how the coursestands up.

The negatives:Getting used to following the ball in flight as it passedfrom one light to another and on occasion being lost fora split second before re emerging like a shooting star asthe light picked it up again. Coming to terms with thedistance and having faith in what the distance markersaround the course are telling you, the shadows tend tomake things look closer.

Possibly the hardest thing to overcome is the contoursof the green, on occasion I read the break from left toright but in reality there was no break.

The positives:The ability to tee off from six in the morning rightthrough till seven at night and still get a full 18 holes in.

Not having to race round the last few holes before it getsdark. Playing golf in a unique environment that to myknowledge is not available anywhere else in Europe, yes I amaware of the 9 hole Dama da Noche near Marbella Spain.

To sum up, bit of a gimmick, no I don’t think so, anovelty, possibly to start off with but the reality of beingable to play 18 holes of golf when normally it is notpossible must be a very good thing.

I could easily sit on the fence or as a bit of a golf puristbe anti floodlit golf, but no I come down in favour of it.Having experienced first hand the disappointment oftelling my clients I can only offer them a late tee time,knowing they may struggle to play 18 holes before itgets dark. Thankfully I now have a viable option toresolve this problem.

If you would like to play under the floodlights of CaryaGolf please contact Sungolf Belek 0115 9681007 orgo to the website www.sungolfbelek.co.uk

BELEK

On my recent visit to Belek Turkey, I was invited to play the Carya Golf course under floodlight conditions,something that I had wanted to experience since they were first introduced some 18 months ago.Originally just nine holes were floodlit but now all eighteen can be played under artificial lighting.

Email: [email protected]: www.sungolfbelek.co.ukTel: 0044 (0)115 9681007

Email: [email protected]: www.sungolfbelek.co.ukTel: 0044 (0)115 9681007

Floodlit GolfFloodlit Golf

Gimmick novelty or really a great alternative for those who can’t play in the daytime?


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BenefitsBenefits �� unique dual flexibilityunique dual flexibility of only paying for the rounds you play of only paying for the rounds you play

and, you can decide on whether to play 10 or 18 holes (see and, you can decide on whether to play 10 or 18 holes (see reduced green fee rates below) reduced green fee rates below)

�� full use full use of clubhouse & practice facilities of clubhouse & practice facilities

�� 10% discount 10% discount on all bar & food purchases with members card on all bar & food purchases with members card

‘Flexi’ Club membership only £25 per month:

payable in advance and on an annual pro-�� Pay & Play—Reduced Green Fees:

• weekdays - £10 for 10 holes / £15 for 18 holes

• weekends - £15 for 10 holes / £20 for 18 holes

For more information please contact the Manager, Reunert Bauser, on 01202 572633 or email him at [email protected].

Knighton Heath Golf Club, Francis Avenue, Bournemouth BH11 8NX

www.khgc.co.uk


email: [email protected] Open 10am-8pm 6 days

Please contact tel 0044 (0)115 9681007

SUNGOLF BELEKWhere your golfing dreams

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SUNGOLF BELEKWhere your golfing dreams

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Alresford Golf Club

Cheriton Road, Tichborne Down, Alresford, Hampshire SO24 0PNTel : 01962 733746 Email:[email protected]

www.alresfordgolf.co.uk

‘enjoyable golf and a great deal more’‘enjoyable golf and a great deal more’

Advanced bookings Only, minimum of 12 players for any of these packages. Monday-Friday Only.Offers valid from November 2014 – end of February 2015

Not available over Christmas and New Year periods

ALRESFORD IS WINTER GOLF AT ITS BEST!PACKAGE 2

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All food and drink provided FREE at the club houseand on the golf course



BELEKGolf Academy


Q When did you first start playing golf?A I was 8 years old when my Granddad, Bill Moulton (hcp 21),

introduced me to the game. He was the Club Captain of LymeRegis Golf Club at the time and is still a member there.

Q Does anyone else in your family play?A Not really. My Mum played at club level for many years

but gave it up when I was born. She loves being involvedwhen I’m at tournaments, and I think she’s consideringtaking it up again in the future.

Q What is your home club?A Parkstone Golf Club. It’s an extremely pretty course, and

every one is always very friendly.

Q How often do you practise?A Five days a week! But this can change depending on the

time of year and the amount of tournaments I’m involved in.On average I like to spend 2.5 hours putting and 2.5hours chipping, but sometimes I work on my game all day- I start at 9 am, have a short break for lunch, and carryon until 4 pm.

Q What age were you when you started playing offsingle figures?

A I was 13 years old.

Q Do you have regular lessons?A Yes, I’m coached by Karen Nicholls, the PGA golf

professional at Millfield School in Somerset. I have lessonswith her once a fortnight. We usually work on my gamefrom 120 yards in, unless there is something with my longgame that I’m unhappy about.

She’s a very natural coach which suits me because I tendto go by ‘feel’ in my swing rather than anything tootechnical. Karen was on the professional tour for a

number of years, so she has experience of playing at thetop level, understands exactly what it’s like, and what Ineed to do to fulfil my ambitions.

Q What would you say is the strongest part of your game? A My driving! I always have confidence in my swing, and

average 240 yards depending on the conditions.

Q What is your biggest achievement to date?A I’m most proud of winning the 2013 English Girls’ Open

Golf Championship at Oake Manor in Somerset.

As a junior, this was the main competition for me and theone I strived for. I remember Hayley Davis from Dorset,who has always been my local hero, winning thetournament when I was 13 years. I’d always looked up toher, so to eventually go on to win it myself was a dreamcome true.

Q Would you like to turn pro?A In a couple of years’ time, when I’m about 20 years, I

most definitely would like to take my golf to the next leveland turn professional. My ambition in life it to be theNumber One lady golfer in the world.

SOPHIE KEECH

Status: Amateur

Age: 18 years

Height: 5’ 4”

Club: Parkstone Golf Club, Dorset

Average Drive: 240 yards

TEEING UP WITHTEEING UP WITH

Sophie Keech from Parkstone Golf Club has been making an impact in individual golfand team events for many years - despite only just turning 18 years, and still classedas a junior.

Her bright, bubbly personality belies a strong work ethic and a steely determination to bethe world’s number one lady golfer. But with only one season away from entering the adultarena, what are Sophie’s plans for the future?

TEE TIMES ASKS THE QUESTIONS …

It has been good to be able to coach someone likeSophie, who is determined to succeed, has a goodwork ethic and is driven on the golf course. She is aplayer who you know will give 110% and has adedication towards her sport.

We work well together, Sophie is a natural – she is anindividual like us all and approaches her golf in theway that suits her.

Professional Coach, Karen Nicholls

‘

’Photos courtesy of Hattie Mileswww.hattiemiles.com


BELEKGolf Academy

DECEMBER 2014 TEE TIMES 27WWW.121GOLFSHOP.COM 02380 614111

LADIES’Q & ASOPHIE KEECHSOPHIE KEECHby Carol Younghusband

Q Do you ever get a chance to see what it might belike on the pro circuit?

A Yes, in fact this year as I’m in the top 15 England amateurplayers, I was invited by England Golf to participate in theAll England Cup on the professional LET Access Tour. Itwas held at Stoke by Nayland in Essex last month, andalthough I was nervous to begin with, I enjoyed playingalongside the professionals. I played well and won the topamateur position and secured 8th position overall. It wasa fantastic experience which has made me even moredetermined to do well next season.

Q Do have a back-up plan?A Yes. I was a boarder for five years at Millfield School in

Somerset, where I recently graduated with GCSEs and aBtec Sports diploma. So, sport is definitely the direction Iwould go down if my professional aspirations didn’t pan out.

Q Which is your favourite ‘away’ course to play?A Monte Rei Golf Course in Portugal. My Grandparents have

a villa nearby so I play there during the holidays and I loveit. Obviously the weather’s always good, and the course isalways in immaculate condition - big and epic.

Q What hobbies do you have outside golf?A I love to sing and dance, but my main hobby is shopping! In

fact I enjoy shopping the day before my big tournamentsbecause it helps me relax. And just lately, it’s becomesomewhat of a ‘lucky charm’ because I’ve gone on to winon several occasions after a shopping trip. It’s usually only‘window shopping’ though, so not too expensive!

Q What’s your favourite club in the bag?A My Scotty Cameron putter. One of my most important

‘tools’ and I try to aim under 30 putts per round.

Q Do you play with ladies' or men’s clubs? A I play with Men’s Titleist clubs. I like the look and feel of

them and they fit to my eye when I set up to hit the ball.

Q Which golfing event would you love to win aboveall others?

A There are so many I’d love to win, but ultimately it has tobe the Women’s British Open.

Q Do you do any golf-related gym exercises?

A Yes – I do flexibility and stretching exercises specificallyfor golf, plus I also like to cycle and row to improve myoverall fitness levels.

Q Who are your golfing heroes?A Tiger Woods! I am inspired by the amount of tournaments

he has won. More people watch the sport now because ofhim, and I love watching the unbelievable shots he playswhen under pressure.

Q What is the best piece of advice you have everbeen given?

A Patience! My coach Karen always tells me to be patient.She says, if putts don’t drop, or they lip out, don’t getfrustrated but take it on the chin and keep going becauseeventually things will start going your way again.

Q What golfing tip would you give to other young golfers?

A Practise your putting. The difference between winning and second place always comes down the putts, and often it’s under extreme pressure so the more you practise the better your confidence when the situation arises.

SOPHIE’S HIGHLIGHTS2014Silver Tee award (balancing golf and education) Roehampton Gold Cup - 1stFilford Heath Scratch- 3rdAstor Salver - 1st Faldo Series qualifier- 1st in four consecutive yearsSir Henry Cooper- 2ndWest of England - 2ndSouth West Ladies qualifier- 1st Match Play- 1st

Girls Home International - Team England WinnersBritish Girls Amateur qualifier - 2ndLiphook Scratch- Joint 1stToya Polish Junior Championship – Girls’Champion and overall winnerLET Access Tour All England Cup AmateurChampion and 8th out of ProfessionalsPre-2014English Open Girls’ Champion 2013World Schools’ Champion South Africa 2011English Schools’ Champion 2011 and 2013 Dorset County Champion 2012

Sophie joined Parkstone in her mid-teens to developher skills and use the Club’s excellent practice facilities.She loves playing competitive golf and is alwayssmiling wherever she plays - which is amazing as herschedule is always full on. When Sophie is not playinga national tournament, she will always turn out for theParkstone Junior team which sets such a fabulousexample to so many of our youngsters. We are veryproud that Sophie Keech represents Parkstone aroundthe globe and long may that continue.

Gary Peddie, General Manager, Parkstone G.C.

‘

’


BELEKGolf Academy


TIGER Woods, who never shone in theRyder Cup, and Phil Mickelson, whoturned on his captain after the latestU.S. loss to Europe, have been calledin to help sort out their country’swoeful recent record.

The two big names will be part of a groupbeing drawn together to examine the stateof the U.S. team in the biennial contestagainst Europe. Former captains RaymondFloyd, Tom Lehman and Davis Love arealso on the 11-man panel, which willexplore areas including selections ofcaptain and players.

The U.S. lost 16½-11½ at Gleneagles inSeptember to register their sixth defeat inthe last seven contests. Their only victoryin this period came under captain PaulAzinger at Valhalla in 2008.

Azinger, whose performance as skipperwas invoked by Mickelson as hesideswiped Watson’s captaincy this year,chose not to be part of the group.

‘I’m not ready to jump on a task force,’Azinger, 54, ‘I have a scheduled meetingwith the PGA of America soon and I justthink it’s too soon for me to commit tojumping on a task force.’

Azinger has not ruled out returning to thecaptaincy at Hazeltine in 2016 if asked.

Jim Furyk, the world number four, andworld number 10 Rickie Fowler, who both

played at Gleneagles, are also included inthe group, along with veteran tour playerSteve Stricker, PGA vice-president DerekSprague, PGA chief executive officer PeteBevacqua and PGA secretary Paul Levy.Among a range of topics to be discussed will also be the qualifyingsystem for players, the dates the team is decided and the timing of the captain’s wildcard selections.

Woods, who for a Gleneagles wildcard,said: ‘I think this is a great step by thePGA to accomplish what we all want - towin the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is veryimportant to every player who has thehonour to represent his country. I’mexcited to be part of this group.’

Task Force to probeU.S. Ryder wipe-outs

RYDER CUP 2014: SPARKS STILL FLYING IN THE GLENEAGLES AFTERMATH

Our surprise atWatson decisionsIAN Poulter’s autobiography also turnsa critical eye on some of Americancaptain Tom Watson’s decisionsduring the 2014 Ryder Cup.

‘By the end of the second day,’ writesPoulter, ‘we have a 10-6 lead. Ecstatic aswe are, quite a few of us are surprised byWatson’s decision making during Saturday’splay. Most of all I’m astonished he does notplay Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. Heleaves them out of both sessions. Itcompletely baffles me. It gives us a doubleboost because it tells us there are problemsin the US team room. Watson’s choicesmean seven of his players play 36 holes onSaturday. I find it hard to see the sense inthat. Some of them look shattered and PaulMcGinley’s strategy starts to pay off. We’refresh. We keep coming at them. Wave afterwave after wave.’

Rookie role ‘tough’PARTNERING home hero StephenGallacher on the opening morning atGleneagles was hard, Ian Poulter wrote.

He admits he was not cut out for the roleof big-brothering the Ryder Cup debutman. ‘I find it hard taking helping a rookie,’Poulter writes. ‘I’m nervous too. I want towin for him as much as myself and theteam, but we get humped 5&4.’

• No Limits: My Autobiography by Ian Poulterhas been published by Querecus, priced £20.

Left: At odds - Watson andMickelson. Above: Azingerin 2008

Faldo referred back to his own time ascaptain of the European Ryder Cup team in2008, saying the Spaniard had had a ‘badattitude’ and had been ‘useless’.

Later, Faldo said the remark had been insemi-jest, although he accepted that‘useless’ was the wrong word. A betterchoice would have been ‘lousy’, he said.

Garcia was unwell at Valhalla in 2008 andalso suffering emotionally after splittingfrom long-time girlfriend Morgan Leigh.

Poulter has just published his autobiography,No Limits, and in it he castigates Faldo whiledashing to Garcia’s defence.

Poulter picks up the story at Gleneagles,after Faldo’s original comment wasbroadcast and Europe had staged awonderful fight back to lead 5-3 at the endof the first day.

‘There is only one negative,’ writes Poulter. ‘Atthe press conference, it emerges Nick Faldohas been heavily critical of Sergio Garcia.

‘He had said Sergio had a bad attitudewhen he played under Nick in the 2008Ryder Cup and that he was useless there.

‘Sergio puts a brave face on it but the rest of the guys are fuming. I’m shockedthat he has said it. It’s highly disrespectful.It’s a cheap shot and it’s the worst possible timing.

‘It makes me laugh. Faldo is talking aboutsomeone being useless at the 2008 RyderCup. That’s the Ryder Cup where he wascaptain. That’s the Ryder Cup where theEurope team suffered a heavy defeat.

‘And he was captain. So who’s useless? Faldomight need to have a little look in the mirror.

‘I have always got on great with Faldo inthe past and I have a great deal of respectfor everything he has achieved but thisfeels like sour grapes. It feels like a guywho is still bitter that he lost in 2008.

Faldo has lost a lot of respect from playersbecause of what he said. There wereplenty of things a lot of the players wereunhappy with at Valhalla but none of uscriticised him. He may find that begins tochange now.’

Ian Poulter’s book lashes out at ‘bitter’ Sir Nick’s verdict on Garcia

USELESS? ‘FALDOSHOULD LOOK

IN THE MIRROR’

PUT Ian Poulter into Ryder Cup mode and he’s like theIncredible Hulk: don’t make him angry - you won’t like itwhen he’s angry.

Sir Nick Faldo’s latest sniping at a Ryder Cup team-mate hasinfuriated Poulter and prompted him to lash out at the six-timeMajor winner. Faldo, working as a commentator for Americantelevision, was asked for his assessment of Sergio Garcia’sopening day at Gleneagles.

Above: Faldo and Azingerat the 2008 Ryder Cup -America’s sole victory inseven. Right: Pensive IanPoulter is angry aboutFaldo’s comments onSergio Garcia



FOCUS ON FASHION

On the ladies’ circuit there’s a trendtowards base layers. How do these work?

Base layers are technical products designedto draw moisture away from the skin to keepyou cool when wearing multiple layers.

Our Glenmuir Mock Neck Base layer is madefrom Hi-Cool Performance fabric which isengineered to hug the body - enhancing thecirculation and stamina whilst keeping you dryand comfortable.

Europe’s Ryder Cup team wore somewonderful Glenmuir zipneck sweaters -do you carry the same range for ladies?

We received a great response to the RyderCup team’s zip neck sweaters at Gleneaglesand yes, we also carry a range for ladies.

These include patterned zip necks in eitherfine supersoft cotton or luxurious lambswool –we even have some that feature diamantedetail and faux-fur collars.

In addition, we offer a cable-knit version thatfeatures a bionic water and soil repellent finish.

What other range of materials and stylesdo you have, and how easy are they tocare for?

We offer a vast array of plain and patterned VNecks, Round Necks, Sleeveless slip oversand Zip Necks, in various materials includingCotton, Merino Wool, Lambswool andCashmere knitwear.

We always take the quality, durability,reliability and integrity of our productsextremely seriously.

Our 100% Lambswool knitwear is shrinkresistant with an anti-pill performance finish.This ensures that it’s easy to care for and willcontinue to look and feel fresh wear-after-wear and wash-after-wash.

During our wet and muddy winters whattrousers can you suggest that are warmbut can regularly go in and out of thewashing machine?

Our Ladies Technical Water Resistant Winter Golf Trousers are just the trick! Theyhave a snug fleece backing combined with a stretch bonded fabric to keep you warm and comfortable.

The water resistant outer layer keeps you dryand the high performance polyester contentmakes them easy to wash and durable. Theycome in Black, Navy or Hot Pink.

What are the colour trends for 2015, and how easy is it to colour-coordinatethese outfits?

This season we are combining traditionalclassic shades with vibrant accent colours.

To make it easy for ladies to select coloursthat work together, we provide colour palettes or ‘stories’.

For example, our ‘Pure Shores’ colour storycombines monochrome shades with flashesof Coral Punch.

Our ‘Ocean Drive’ brings together classicNavy and vibrant Spearmint, and our ‘TropicalSorbet’ combines black with a splash of boldAscot Blue and Lime.

Does Glenmuir also provide a range ofaccessories to ward off the cold?

Yes, we have a wide range of accessories thatwill keep you looking good and warm thiswinter. It includes our popular chunky CableKnit Bobble Hats, Fleece headbands, andbeanie hats.

In addition, we supply Ladies’ neck warmersand cushioned golf socks all in a great range ofcolours to finish off and complement your look.

Not all lady club golfers are a size 8 orage 20 years! Does your contemporaryrange of clothing take this into account?

Our range takes into account lady golfers ofmost generations, shapes and sizes withproducts designed to fit sizes from UK 6 to UK 20.

For further information please visitwww.glenmuir.com

Carol Younghusband

Glenmuir is a clothing brand that has been at the heart of thegame of golf since its beginnings in 1891. It remains afamily-run business crafting golfwear that has been worn bychampions through the years, including successive EuropeanRyder Cup teams since 1987.

In 2005, Glenmuir launched its first Ladies’ golfwear range whichcontinues to develop, innovate and embrace contemporary trends. It iscurrently worn by golfers on the Ladies’ European Tour and hasbecome a ladies' leading golf brand.

So, as we approach the prospect of another cold winter, what can wewear that will keep us warm, enable us to swing freely, and still lookfashionable on the course?

Tee Times asks Glenmuir how we shouldbe layering up against the chill this season.

Golfing with Glenmuir



BELEKGolf Academy


“I thought they were mad”, said Dan. “Theclub was really struggling from a badlydeteriorating course and its reputation hadsuffered due to neglect of the facilities andlack of investment. However, I knew that withmy background I was well positioned to takethis on for Just Develop It and make it a realsuccess. With their investment I knew I couldachieve so much, so I agreed and on 1stSeptember 2013 the business was ours.”

The process was anything but easy however- starting with zero members and zeroincome, Dan and his team faced theprospect of turning a seriously dilapidatedgolf club into an accessible, affordable andbeautiful environment. With the Christmasseason approaching, the first priority wasthe refurbishment of the reception area, barand restaurant.

Dan commented: “The old facilities werepretty old and in need of modernisation, sowe concentrated on the visitor journey andrefurbished the areas we would be using for

Christmas parties. After that we moved ontothe gym facilities in time for the New Yearand bought in £120,000 of new equipment.This saw us through the first two really busyperiods and our membership grew from zeroto 500 by the end of January.”

Next came the refurbishment of the spa with atop-of-the-range sunbed, luxurious treatmentrooms and a dedicated area for spray-tanningand nails. “The spa was a pretty non-existentpart of the old business, but it’s now afantastically successful part of ours and it’sgot a great reputation” said Dan.

The next big milestone for the Skylark teamwas the beginning of the golf season inApril. Dan was keen to build a ‘club’ andgive golfers somewhere to go after theirgame to relax, have a drink and a bite toeat, so the Skylark pro-shop and sports barwere custom built on site and launched intime for the summer. This has beenincredibly successful, not only with golfersbut with local residents and visitors who

want somewhere beautiful to go for lunch orjust a drink.

“The feedback from the golfers has beenreally quite humbling. We wanted to create afun and accessible course that was open toall, without any of the snobbery or elitismnormally associated with golfing. I would liketo think that we’ve succeeded in that beyondeven our own expectations, and we’ve doneit without having to hike up our prices.People are always surprised how affordablewe are and our membership grows becausepeople who come in for one thing seeeverything else we have to offer.”

Work has also been relentless on the courseitself, with the introduction of a new team ofgreen keepers and a £200,000 investmentin machinery, Dan has very much giventhem a blank canvas to make improvementsto the whole look and feel of the course. Hestill has massive plans for the futurehowever, including a drainage programmeon the course and pathways for buggies to

ensure it’s playable all year round. There arealso plans to plant over 450 indigenoustrees on the course to create definition,renovate competition tees and totallytransform the 9th hole with the addition of alake, bunding and extra fairway space –making it the new signature hole at Skylark.

“And that’s just on the course” Dan added.“We’ve also got big plans for the gym andpool, we’ve submitted planning applicationsto extend the premises and build tenniscourts and we’re increasing our parkingfacilities to cope with the volumes of peoplewe have in for wedding receptions, tributenights, business events and Sunday roasts.We’re also looking to re-launch our websitewhich will really help us promote all we haveto offer. I can’t believe how much we’veachieved in little over a year but needless tosay it’s going to be an exciting, and verybusy, future for Skylark!”

For more information about Skylark, pleasego to www.skylarkcountryclub.co.uk

Skylark Golf and Country Club not only provides amanicured 18-hole golf course, but an award winningrestaurant, sports bar, fitness facilities, spa and a

picturesque venue for wedding celebrations and special events.But a little over a year ago it was a completely different story.Tee Times catches up with Dan Richards, Managing Director,about his journey so far and plans for the future.

Dan Richards first heard that the previous owners of the club, run byQuindell, were looking to sell through one of his previous businesspartners at local investment business, Just Develop It. Withexperience not only as a businessman, but as a professional golfer,Dan seemed like the perfect person to take over the club, but it wascertainly not a venture he took lightly.

Dan Richards, Managing DirectorSkylark Golf and Country Club


BELEKGolf Academy

DECEMBER 2014 TEE TIMESWWW.121GOLFSHOP.COM 02380 614111

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CALL the ethics committee. Arraignme before them. I plead…guilty. Ihave cheated at golf. I havedishonestly secured an advantageover my fellow golfers.

What happens is this. On the green, when Imark my ball, I cunningly push the markerright underneath the ball. Then, when Ireplace it, the ball is always a little furtherforward. Probably a couple of centimetresnearer the hole.

Over the years, it must add up to miles.Disgraceful, isn’t it?

Secretly, I believe that if the ball was comingto rest on the lip of the hole, that centimetermight be just enough to see it down.

There, it’s done, I’ve confessed. I shall nodoubt be stripped of my baseball cap andball retriever before the entire membershipof the club. This is after all, a gentleman’sgame. Well, sometimes.

Actually, it’s more accurate to say that it’s agame in which hypocrisy is dressed up asgood sportsmanship, and it fools nobody.

When your wedge shot bounces four-footover the flag, and your rival shouts out: ‘Sit!’

and ‘Hard luck!’ as it vanishes into the deepprairie, he may possibly not mean it. He’sprobably more delighted than dismayed.

Similarly, as your thirty-foot chip lands onthe green and two bounces into the hole,his ‘Brilliant!’, you may notice, can barelymake it through his clenched teeth.

Some of the least likely players cheatoccasionally. My friend Tom is the epitome ofthe gentleman golfer. Ex-army officer,

punctilious to a point, he’s a slave to theetiquette. Yet when I was playing with him onone of those downland courses just outsideBrighton, I accidentally caught him out.

We were hunting for his ball in some gorsewhen he wandered back to the fairway, out ofsight. But as I stepped round a bush, I sawhim take a ball from his pocket and drop it.

Our eyes met. Hard to say who was themost embarrassed.

I thought I’d make it easier for him. ‘Ah,you’ve found it,’ I said. It was nevermentioned again.

Now if he’d just said he’d drop a ball to savetime. I would’ve cheerfully agreed. The pointI’m making is that we shouldn’t set standardsof probity too high for mere humans.

There’s one chap I occasionally play withat Worthing whose score on the card isalways slightly better than his score on thecourse. Do we mind? Not really. All that’s at stake is who buys the tea inthe clubhouse and if he wants to risk hisimmortal soul for that, he’s welcome.

What does really irritate are thesanctimonious angels who are above alltemptation. You know the sort…

He’s down in a valley. Shielded by thickbushes. Completely out of sight. And he’llwalk out shaking his head in mockremorse. ‘An air-shot,’ he says, with asaintly smile. ‘That’s me out.’

He may lose the game, but he hasestablished his moral superiority over therest of us, and most of mankind.

He’ll go to heaven. The sooner the better.

Continuing the saga of a late-convert golfer’s search for glory on the greens. . .

Is it all a sham, thisgolfing, sporting life?

DIARY OF ABUS-PASSGOLFERBy Bob Evans

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31


A LEADING correspondent for the BBChas questioned why a great Britishgolfer continues to be ignored by thepanel which nominates people for theWorld Golf Hall of Fame.

Golf correspondent Ian Carter says DameLaura Davies’ admission is entirely justifiedbut it is impossible to fathom why anothergreat British name continues to be ignored.

‘What does Ian Woosnam have to do to gainrecognition from the Florida-basedorganisation?’ he asked. The Welshman wasnot on the list announced for the Class of2015 inductees and it seems his name wasn’teven considered.’

At a recent meeting in Augusta thecommittee chose Davies, Mark O’Meara,David Graham and the legendary architectAW Tillinghast for Hall of Fame status.

‘They were picking from a shortlist thatdidn’t include Woosnam’s name. This isdespite the diminutive Welshman being aformer world number one from a fine era inthe game’s history.’

Woosnam has just one Major title - the1991 Masters - but is among golf’s mostprolific winners, said Carter. In his pomp he

was beating the likes of

Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Sir NickFaldo and Sandy Lyle.

‘Quite rightly all of that illustrious quartet arein the Hall of Fame, as is who has no Majorsbut eight European Tour Orders of Merit.’

Woosnam recently won the Dutch SeniorsOpen, taking the 56-year-old’s tally of careervictories to a handsome 51. A genuinelyglobal player, he has triumphed fromAugusta to Australia, from Singapore toScandinavia and many points in between. Hewas also a in 2006.

‘Woosnam must be genuinely puzzled thathe has been overlooked yet again. Grahamwon 38 professional titles and O’Meara has34 to his name. Yes, each won two Majorsbut in terms of longevity and impact on thegame Woosnam beats both of them.

‘There are golfing

implications as well. Hall of Famemembership provides entitlement to play theAmerican Champions Tour.’

Carter added that if eligible Hall of Famersenjoy unbridled access to the lucrative UScircuit, it is wrong that Woosie has beendenied a straight pass to the highest level ofseniors golf.

‘These commemorative organisationsshouldn’t be a source of playing rights. Theirrole is to promote and preserve the historyof the game. It’s not all about results andachievements. Montgomerie is a perfectexample; he didn’t win a Major but has leftan indelible mark on the game.’

A hundred years from now, says Carter,students of golf will want to know about theScot, one of the most famous figures of thisera. It is, after all, a hall of ‘Fame’.

The same applies when they consider theimpact of Laura Davies or the 265 coursesdesigned by Tillinghast.

Those historians should also be pointed inthe direction of a little Welshman whosesupreme ball-striking overcame a debilitatingback condition to conquer the world in the1980s and ‘90s.

‘Woosnam is one of the game’s greatcompetitors, a man of charisma andachievement. It is more than an injustice ifhe continues to be overlooked’

BELEKGolf Academy


SOUTH Korea’s Inbee Park celebrated becoming world number one bybeating American Stacy Lewis by two shots in the LPGA TaiwanChampionship in Taipei.

Park, 26, shot a fourth-round one-under-par 71 to finish at 22-under for thetournament, her third win of the year. Park married her swing coach recently.‘I think this will be my wedding gift for myself,’ she said.

World number two Lewis, also a three-time winner this year, said: ‘I don’tthink this is the last time we’ll be battling at the end of a tournament.’

Park shoots to the top

Why won’t theyhonour Woosie?

Dame Laura Davies:Admission is justified but why is Woosnam being ignored?

Colin Montgomerie:No main-tour Major but he has been included

Call for a Hall of Fame place for Welsh great

Ian Woosnam: ‘More thaninjustice that he’s overlooked’

TWO big hitters are in the news - but for different reasons.

Brocket Hall ambassador Joe Miller’s spectacular winning streakcame to an end in the semi-final of the $250,000 Re/Max WorldLong Drive Championship at Las Vegas’ Paiute Golf Resort

Miller, 29, pictured left, who won the title in 2010 and was runner-uplast year, remains unbeaten in Europe during 2013 and 2014, but lostin the last four in Las Vegas to the eventual runner-up Jeff Crittenden.

Meanwhile, Kent fishmonger Peter Vickerman is aiming to hook anew record for Britain’s longest ever hole-in-one after holing his teeshot on a whopping 408-yard, par-four. Vickerman produced hismoment of magic during a club competition at his home course,Littlestone Golf Club, to not only win the opportunity to cement hisname in the record books but also receive a limited-edition BOSSwatch to commemorate the achievement.

In Las Vegas, the champion was American Jeff Flagg, who took up golf

NOT QUITE LONG ENOUGH FOR JOE, BUT LONG AND TIMELY FOR PETER

when his minor league baseball career ended.He has spent the past two-and-a-half yearshoning his power in long-drive competitions,and reaped the benefits when he beatCrittenden, by just 13 inches, in the final -both golfers just clearing the 365-yard marker.

A disappointed Miller, who had enjoyed a runof 13 consecutive victories beforesuccumbing to Crittenden by one yard, said:‘It was very frustrating to not get anotherworld title, but I’ll regroup, learn and striveforwards again positively. I didn’t hit it like Inormally do on the night, and thus I waspunished. It was for me to lose, andunfortunately I did. I will, however, turn it intoa positive and come back stronger.’

Peter Vickerman, 48, from St Mary’s Bay,achieved the monster ace with his driver onthe course’s feared 408-yard, par-four 11th- and, if corroborated, the 12-handicapper’sace is set to dwarf the record currently held.

The R&A Golfer’s Handbook quotes theexisting record as having been set in 1972by assistant professional Peter Parkinson atWest Lancashire, on the 393-yard seventhhole, but Vickerman was just happy to havehad a hole-in-one.

He said: ‘It was an extremely windy day and Iknew I’d caught this particular drive, out of thescrews with a gradual draw, it flew towardsthe green. After despairingly looking aroundthe green area for my ball, my opponent wenttowards the flag and said that there was a ballat the bottom of the cup. He asked me what Iwas playing with and I told him it was a TitleistPro V1X with my initial’s ‘P.V.’ just above thelogo. Of course, I didn’t really care whathappened after that, but still went on to winthe Coronation Cup.’

Vickerman has been playing golf for 15years and plays regularly, at least two tothree times a week, and had scored twoaces previously. The fish trader hooked hishole-in-one trio in the past 30 months andrecorded all of them at Littlestone: he scoredhis first on its 278-yard, par-four 13th; hissecond on its 182-yard, par-three 17th; andthen went on to complete his hat-trick withhis 408-yard British record contender.

He said: ‘There is no secret to getting ahole-in-one. Every golfer hits the ball withthe intention of getting it near to or in thehole - it’s just luck.’

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T E E T I M E S J U L Y 2 0 0 654

Tee Times July06.indd 54 22/6/06 21:21:47

There’s no reason why poor weather overthe winter time should really harm yourgolf games. So many golfers give up overthe Winter time then wonder why it takes awhile to get back into the swing of thingscome the Spring.

Use the miserable weather to your advantage andget practising indoors. This is something I’vetalked about a lot in past articles but I am going toconcentrate this month on your impact positions. Ifyou – like so many other players- struggletransferring your weight to the front foot andgetting distance in your shots then this will help.

Be aware that sometimes practice is slightlypointless unless you’ve addressed the root causeof your problem. Is there a reason physically whyyou haven’t seen yourself improve in this area? Ifyour lessons are repeated every time simplybecause your weight is still hanging back andyou are not posting up on your front leg thenlook at your fitness or past injuries/ailments. Ifyou have a dodgy knee or short, tight calfmuscles then chances are you won’t plant yourweight onto that leg as you hit the ball. Insteadthe weight will stay behind the ball seeing highand weak hits.

So before you even begin practising the correctposition at impact, get stretching andstrengthening. One of the best things you cando is massage your calf muscles with the shaftof a club. Kneel on a cushion with one leg upat 90 degrees and take an iron and firmly workthe shaft up and down the back of your calf ofyour raised leg. One word – OUCHHH! This is akiller move but it really helps to loosen yourmuscles. Alternatively if you have regularsports massage then get them to reallyconcentrate on those hammies and calves.This again is excruciating but your legs willeventually thank you for it. The obvious solutionis a decent stretching programme.

Strength can also be to blame, those with weakglutes (that’s your buttocks folks) and legs willalso struggle with the transfer. A squat is theultimate golf fitness test. If you struggle evencontemplating one then try this counterbalancedversion first. Take a half filled practice ball bag(or your handbag or rucksack) and do a few setsof 10, keep your feet planted and your weightback through your heels. If in doubt seek advicefrom a fitness expert or sports physio. HugeChristmas bonus to this one as it will help keepthe Christmas wobble at bay as well as addyards to your drives!! Once you have made sureyou are match fit as it were, then you can startto really practice that impact position.

DRILL 1 – set up within a door frame in yourhouse with an iron in hand. Gently rest the clubhead on one side of the frame and adopt yourusual (extremely athletic of course) posture. Thenstart the press into the door frame feeling yourweight transfer and hips turn. Repeat this a fewmore times to get the feeling.

DRILL 2 – utilise the foot stool or bean bag, setup to the back of this and make a few smallswings (chip shot length to save the lightfixtures) really planting the club head back into itas you come through. You should almost be ableto push the target along the ground as you pushyour weight through.

These drills and this sort of homework indoorswill pay dividends when Spring time comes. Plusyou can do it in your slippers.

I am currently on maternity leave but if you haveany issues with your game then feel free toemail me and as a Christmas gift from me to youI’d be glad to send you articles to help you [email protected]

Happy Christmas everyone and here’s to asuccessful golfing 2015.

Based at Meon Valley Golf and Country Club

Don’t let this WinterIMPACT your golf

Seeing is believing

DECEMBER 201434

BELEKGolf Academy


Today’s topic is balance. Of coursebalance is a natural instinct, we don’teven think about it. Thousands of yearsago it would have been high on thetotem pole of survival. No way could youhave escaped a rampaging wild animalif you didn’t have agility and balance!!We don’t have to run away from manywild animals these days, but we stillneed that survival instinct to play golfconsistently well.

Because balance is such a natural thing wecan do it in pretty much any position. If onepart of the body is out of line, then anotherpart will automatically move in order topreserve balance. Take the start position ofyour golf swing or putting stroke for instance;if your body is out of line in some way,instincts will make you distribute your weightunevenly over your feet to feel balanced. Thegolfer will be unaware of this. A lesson I gavetoday was doing just that. Roy had hisshoulders and upper body aiming left and Icould see that his balance wasn’t right.

I decided to use my Science & Motion ForcePlate with Roy so that he could see and feelfor himself how his balance at addressneeded to be adjusted. The force plate has amonitor at ground level for my clients to seeexactly where their weight is distributed.

According to my force plate, his weight wastowards the toes on his left foot and in themiddle of his right foot. When we improvedthis, his upper body righted itself, even theball position altered. He said his new positionfelt different but natural. Certainly the ballwas hit much more solidly and from thecentre of the club face.

Another instance was a putting lesson I gaveto a 2 handicapper. Chris had the tendency ofleaving his putts short and right. This wasbecause he was hitting slightly out of the toeof his putter. Putts hit out of the toe generally

come up short and right because the putterface will open on contact with the ball, losingpower. He was also hitting down on the puttsslightly. This was also having a negativeeffect on his putting. In the ideal stroke theball wants to be hit out of the sweet spot ofthe putter, with slight rising stroke. The risingstroke ensures that the ball is lifted out of thegrass with a fraction of topspin. Hitting downcan put backspin on the putt and can causethe ball to bounce, making control of distanceand direction nearly impossible. The cut across and the down hit were bothcaused by his posture at address. His spinewas leaning towards the target. Again thebalance on his feet wasn’t right. The weighton his left foot favoured his heel. Again hisposture was fixed by improving the balanceon his feet. The lesson certainly did the trick -Chris shot a course record sixty six in acompetition at Southampton Municipal GolfCourse a few weeks later!

In both instances these players were unawarethat their balance was off. Both were able tocorrect themselves easily by watching theirbalance change on my floor monitor. MyScience and Motion Force Plate gives golfersthe advantage of seeing what they arefeeling. Top golfers like Justin Rose arecatching on; he and Shaun Foley regularlywork on one to track weight movement.

May I wish everyone a Merry Christmasand here’s to a successful 2015 Golfing.

Next month some interesting stuff on weightmovement in the golf swing. www.mbtourcoach.comor by telephone M: 07787 887578.

Golfer in darker trousers perfect balance long and high out ofthe middle of the club - before same golfer in white trousershitting weak and right off the toe


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tee times golf magazine - december 2014

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