By Steve Cookson in General Articles, Blogging | 09th November 2020
Greetings fellow members of Bletchingley Golf Club and welcome to the first of a series of updates I hope to share with you throughout my captaincy year.
Reflections on the Drive In
As I sit down to write this, I cannot help but think how lucky we were that the Drive In could take place at all. Firstly, we had, in the main, a dry day after a very wet spell in the lead up, indeed if Saturday’s weather had been repeated the whole day would have been a washout. Then we just managed to avoid the national lockdown and closure of golf courses from the 5th November through to the 2nd December.
Despite some Covid related changes to the order of the day I felt the golf, putt outs, drive ins and lunch for those able to stay went very well and so a massive note of thanks must to go all those on the Committee and Comps & Matches who helped out in various ways, to Neil and Hilary for making the Drive In element so memorable for Ros and me, to Kevin, Tracey and the team for laying on a lovely spread. Then last but not least a huge thank you to you the members who showed up in numbers for either the golf or putt out/drive in or both; without you we would not have days like these to remember so fondly.
Finally, as I sat down to lunch and looked around the room and took stock of the day I could not help but think about those who could not make the Drive In this year through a variety of reasons but would have been there if they could; if they ever get the chance to read this, rest assured you were all greatly missed.
World Handicapping System (WHS)
Anyone with the golf bug (or affliction) running through their veins would have had to temporarily move to Mars to escape the noise, excitement and frustration generated by the transition from our old CONGU based handicapping system to the new, unified World Handicapping System (or WHS for short). I’d need to be from the Donald Trump school of denial to pretend the cut-over was a success but by now I hope you all have a new ...
By Steve Cookson in General Articles, Blogging | 22nd February 2019
Golf News & Tips This Week
Written by Steve Furlonger- PGA Professional
Good day, I hope this email is received well? The golf world saw JB Holmes step back into the winners circle with his first win since 2015 at the Genesis Open, congratulations to JB and his team! JB is certainly a determined individual to keep at it and work hard on his game for 4 years to regain form and win. I won't beat around the bush...golf is hard! Did you know that if your handicap is correct you should only play to it or better 6 times a year?! The handicap system is quite sophisticated and the alterations from play will level themselves out over the course of a year. I hear you say "only 6 times a year!" Indeed, so buckle up, there are going to be a lot of times that you'll be worse than it. Grit and perseverance is the name of the game, stick at it and make sure you practice or train with purpose. To ensure you work on the right things, I advise keeping a track of your play in the form of statistics. How many fairways do you hit each round? If you miss your intended target which direction does it go? How many putts (on the green) do you take per round? If you measure it you can manage it and importantly prioritise your practice time. If this sounds like a chore, there are devices that track your stats in play, simple and easy to use. I recommend the Shot Scope device for this and I am giving two away on my YouTube channel, see below for more details. On a side note, to maintain an 18 handicap you have to play or practice at least once a week! If that's your goal, start planning your diary for this season now. If you plan it early, life can then fit around it.
Without further ado, this week’s tip is the second part of the art of scoring and the follow up from the last newsletter.
PART 2 - The Art of Scoring
In the last edition I talked about having a three shot option strategy for every shot on the course. The high, mediu...
By Steve Cookson in General Articles, Blogging | 03rd February 2019
Winter Golf Blog
It is unrealistic to think that you are going to go out there and shoot under your handicap when the greens are not at their best and the weather is awful. Golfers should stop thinking that their course is the same par all year round and start thinking about adding strokes onto par to make up for the course's conditions during the winter months. I don't think it's unreasonable for us to add two strokes on to the par of the course for each nine, making a par-72 which Bletchingley to a par 76. From an overall game perspective, winter allows you time to practice without worrying about your score or result. In summer, you’re always playing competitions or matches. In winter, this is the time to work on the weak areas of your game. My advice to all readers is: work out what areas of your game you need to improve and then get down to the range and start working on them. If you are motivated then you’ll make next year your best year yet. I am sure Ben Daniels and Steve Furlonger will be more than happy to help with all aspects of your game going into 2019.
Try a Yellow Golf Ball
Not so long ago, yellow balls were the preserve of driving ranges and rock-hard budget balls. But now the likes of Titleist and Callaway offer some of their premium models in yellow. Serious golfers tend to stay away from yellow golf balls, but they perform just the same as white ones and are easier to spot among leaves or frost. Yellow golf balls compared to the Pure White version and at 225 yards the yellow golf ball is far easier to see than white.
Keep your body warm and working
Alcohol is the last thing you require in your body when playing golf as it will lower your body temperature. Instead, the trick is to increase your metabolism by taking in food or drink that stimulate the nervous system or get the body to work a bit harder. A couple of cups of strong coffee will do this, but other good options include: green tea, which raises the body temperatur...
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