Hello golfers,

We better start this week with the news that came as a shock to us all that Club Manager David James has resigned with immediate effect. I'm sure David has his reasons, of which I don't know, but I know he will be sorely missed. I for one would like to wish him well for the future, if you're reading this David, good luck and hopefully see you again soon.

 

The Wait Is Over...

Next on the Masters and what a fantastic tournament it was for the Europeans, and especially Sergio Garcia! I'm not a big Garcia fan, I didn't really like his defeatist attitude in the late 2000's, but that seems to have changed now thanks to his future wife and I was actually pleased to see him win, especially as I won a tenner off Gordon "Bennett" Knight in a little side bet! I felt a little disappointed for Justin Rose, he must have thought he had it won standing on the 13th fairway, but that's the back nine at Augusta for you, it can all change very quickly round there. The results of the Pro Shop Masters sweepstake are below, all money has been added to your pro shop accounts and thank you to all those who purchased squares.

• First Place - Sergio Garcia - Rob Browning (£100).
• Second Place - Justin Rose - Tom Houchin (£60).
• Third Place - Charl Schwartzel - Andy Podd (£40).
• Fourth Place - Matt Kuchar - Tony Cater (£15).
• Fourth Place - Thomas Pieters - Tony Cater (£15).
• Lowest First Round - Charley Hoffman 65 - Barry Collingwood (£10).
• Lowest Second Round - Rickie Fowler 67 - Glenn Lark (£10).
• Lowest Third Round - Justin Rose 67 - Tom Houchin (£10).
• Lowest Fourth Round - Matt Kuchar 67 - Tony Cater (£5) and Hideki Matsuyama 67 - Ian Root (£5).

Junior Easter Golf

In coaching news we had a great day yesterday (Wednesday) with 16 kids for six hours in an Easter Golf Day. In the morning we split them in to two groups, one with Oli doing some putting and then the others doing some chipping and putting with me down on the chopping green and then swapped them over. After lunch we then went up the practice ground and on the academy course where we had lots of fun, games and prizes. For those that have not been up the practice ground recently it looks great, with the academy course recovering nicely after the crows destroying it last autumn. Danny, the course manager, has also put out a hitting area to hit balls from plus re-measured targets have been put out with greens cut around them. Unfortunately, my pictures below doesn't do it any justice, but please go take a look as it looks great!

On The Course...

OK on to competition news now and we'll start with the Men's Mid-week Stableford Finals played last Thursday. Roger Helsdon won with a fantastic 42 points beating Ray Garrod, Mike Haylett and Dave Henwood in to second, third and fourth respectively, all with 40 points. Well done Roger you won a £60 voucher for your efforts.

Next on to a fantastic weekend double for Jack Keyzor. In the Saturday Roll-up Stableford Jack shot 39 points to win by two from Darren Hellary and Jack Butcher and then in the Sunday Roll-up Stableford Jack shot 38 points off his new handicap to win, beating Martin Potter on countback also with 38 points. A great double Jack, well done (Double Jack sounds like my weekend at Ufford Park with the drifters on Sunday and Monday, but that's a different story).

On Wednesday Jan Parsons won the Ladies Coronation Bowl, which is a scratch competition, with a gross 89 and Penny Platten won the Ladies Spring Handicap Cup with a nett 71. The ladies also announced the winners of the Ethel Priestly Cup, which is their Winter Eclectic, where Penny Platten once again claimed the spoils with a nett 59.1 with Jan Parons second with nett a 60.4 and Maureen Dark third with a nett 61.2.

Easter weekend this weekend sees the Good Friday Mixed Foursomes, first tee booked 11:30am - 1:30pm. Saturday sees Tony Cater's Children with Cancer UK Charity Day which means the course will be closed from 1:00pm onwards as it is a shotgun start. If anyone would like to play, please contact Tony or myself and I'm sure we can squeeze you in to what should be a great day with lots of fun and games, including a hole-in-one prize of £10,000 on the fourth should anyone achieve one. Easter Sunday morning sees the Men's Arthur Fell Bogey Cup which sees the course closed in the morning and Easter Monday we have the Guildford Greensomes Stableford social mixed event starting at 1:30pm. If anyone would like to play any of these events then please give us a call in the shop and we can put your names down.

Loyalty Rewarded

On to shop news now and we'll start this week with the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x personalised ball offer. The offer finishes this Sunday, so please make sure you get your order of four dozen balls for the price of three with FREE personalisation in before the deadline of  Sunday, 16 April.

Click here to order yours.

Battery Trade-in

In other offers we have the Motocaddy battery trade-in where if you trade-in your old battery, I will give you £25 OFF a new lithium battery. Lithium batteries will last five times longer than lead acid batteries, they are super lightweight, far quicker at charging and come with a five year warranty. Motocaddy not only do lithium batteries for their own trolleys, they also do the LitePower lithium batteries which will connect to some other trolley manufacturers, so if you are interested please pop in store for more details.

Wilson Satisfaction Guaranteed

Wilson Staff are doing a great promotion on their DX2 Soft golf balls. If you buy a dozen balls they will give you a sleeve FREE to try first and if the DX2 ball doesn't outperform your current ball, you can return your dozen balls (unused) and receive a full refund. The DX2 ball is a brilliant ball, it is a two piece ball so still has fantastic distance, but because it is only a 29 compression ball, it feels really soft!

Give them a try, you literally have nothing to lose!

FootJoy Shoe Size Challenge

FootJoy believe that 70% of you are wearing the wrong sized shoe, so they are challenging you to come in to the shop, have your feet measured on the Brannock by one of the team and if you are wearing the correct size shoes we will give you a FREE pair of FJ socks! If you're not wearing the correct size we will then talk you through the benefits of wearing the correct size shoe, not only in terms of comfort, but also in terms of performance for your golf.

Again pop in store to get your feet measured, what have got to lose!