I`m not sure what was more painful to watch? Jason Day`s Pre-Shot Procrastination or the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Aussie Dynamo with the swift swing and a career that is in even more of a hurry is undoubtedly one of the slowest players in world golf. His insistence on imagery and the constant Caddy collaboration and conflab have lead some people to christen him 'Jason All-Day'.
But while his pace of play is causing much debate, no one can doubt his talent. In winning the Players Championship at a canter, the Queensland native has cemented his ranking as the current King of the Swingers.
His record of 8 wins out of 30 Starts, with a further 9 Top 10`s and 7 Top 25`s shows his game is not only fantastic, but consistently fantastic. And although it is part of what makes his play slow, the consistency with which he executes that pre-shot routine of his, is also the reason his play always seems to be on song.
One thing that is undeniable though, is at the end of a golf tournament the winner is always the person whose play has earned the best score. If only the outcome of Eurovision was as straight forward. If ever there was just cause to leave the Eurozone it would be to escape the singing scrapheap that is The Eurovision Song Contest.
The spectacle that is more about cross border backslapping than it is about how good the songs are was wrapped in the sort of voting controversy that FIFA would`ve been proud of. The poor Danish Judge clearly got the wrong end of the 'Pind' when it came to allocating the points and gave away her top points to arguably the worst performance. Or perhaps she had run out of fingers on her Hans Christian Anderson`s to count properly?
The upshot was that they were Singing in Ukraine, just Singing In Ukraine. What a glorious feeling, they`re happy again. That meant that Australia......WAIT....WHAT? Australia in Eurovision? Is this run by the same people who do the European Tour Schedule? I bet you can remember the last time there was an Aussie in the Eurovision it was Gina G? 'Ooh, ah, just a little bit.'
Yes, so the Aussies will be thinking 'Why does it always Ukraine on me?'
Fortunately there was no sign of the yuck rain over the weekend here at Portlethen. That helped the 2016 Club Championship Qualifiers pass without a hitch. Although it did seem that because of the importance of the event that everyone all of a sudden adopted a Jason Day approach to their play and round times. On Saturday especially, where the pace got off to a slow start in the region of 4 and a half hours then ground to a snails pace for the later players which eventually peaked at over 5 hours.
I think it`s fair to say that when your round takes that long it`s hard to enjoy or endure golf.
I`m really not going to try and sound like a lecturing Headmaster, so here are just a couple of notable reminders.
- Be ready to play
- Be aware of your place on the course and how your group is affecting others.
- Play Provisional Balls and wave on groups when you know you are in trouble.
But getting back to more positive things, there were some great performances over the weekend of golf.
The Championship Qualifying is to find the Top 16 Gross Scores and over the 2 rounds we had 380 Golfers try their luck. This years Top Qualifier and No.1 Seed for the matchplay is
Robbie Murdoch who shot a best of the day 70 (best by 5 strokes) on the Saturday, and followed that up with an equally as impressive 71 on Sunday to win the overall Qualifying by 6 strokes on 141.
Cameron Grant rallied after an opening round 78 with a best of the day 69 on the Sunday to finish 2nd Top Qualifier. Finishing off the Top 4 Seeds were
Ryan Penny (3rd) and
Keith Horne (4th). The defending Champion,
Kev Daglish, sneaked into the matchplay stages in 16th Spot.
It was a similar story in the Handicap Championship where again the defending Champion,
Jamie Ironside, made it only by the skin of his teeth and by the good fortune that came in the shape of someone ahead of him opting out of the Matchplay stages. Perhaps it is an omen?
Johnny Russell was Top Handicap Qualifier with
Ian Logie (2nd),
Charlie Watson (3rd) and
Derek Forbes (4th) making up the Top 4 Seeds for the Handicap Championship.
Click here to view the match ups for both the Club & Handicap Championships.
Saturday was also the
May Medal and as you can see from the scores it proved a challenging day with only 1 player breaching the 70 mark.
Division 1 - 1st -
Robbie Murdoch 70 (2) - 68, 2nd =
Raymond Summers - 81 (9) - 72, 2nd =
Kenneth Jarvie - 82 (10) - 72
Division 2 - 1st -
Jonathan Russell - 85 (15) - 70, 2nd -
Richard Lornie - 84 (12) - 72, 3rd -
Martyn Summers - 84 (11) - 73
Division 3 1st -
Gary Duncan - 88 (17) - 71, 2nd =
Mark Clubb - 93 (20) - 73, 2nd =
Bruce Harwood - 92 (19) - 73
Sunday was a different kettle of fish all together with not only more sub 70 scores but some well below. As mentioned
Cameron Grants (69 (3) - 660 was best Gross and topped Division 1. While his arms could reach in to the hole to pick out all the great putts he holed, they weren`t quite long enough to fish out any money to pay his sweep, meaning while he saved some pennies,
Ryan Penny scooped his pounds..
In Division 2
Craig, the most improved player of 2016 so far proved he`s having 'Sam-Sea-Son' with another sweep scooping (79 (15) - 64). But again even that was not good enough to take all the bragging rights.
Ross Leslie trounced everybody with a 83 (21) - 62.
Division 1 - 1st -
Cameron Grant - 69 (3) - 66, 2nd =
Ryan Penny - 70 (2) - 68, 2nd =
Ian Alasdair -
Logie - 76 (8) - 68
Division 2 - 1st -
Craig Samson -79 (15) - 64, 2nd =
Jake Legge - 84 (14) - 70, 2nd =
Jonathan Russell - 84 (14) - 70
Division 3 - 1st -
Ross Leslie - 83 (21) - 62, 2nd -
Russell Prosser - 85 (16) - 69, 3rd -
Allan Pritt - 94(24) - 70
There were more good scores on Wednesday. This time it was Stableford scoring and I can hand on heart say I`ve never seen a +2 Handicap win a Stableford Competition before. But I have now.
Clark Brechin top scored on Wednesday with 41 Points which was actually 43 Gross Stableford Points.
Division 1 - 1st -
Clark Brechin - 41 Points, 2nd -
Greg Donaldson - 39 Points, 3rd -
Jonathan Montgomerie - 38 Points
Division 2 - 1st -
Lee Stewart - 40 Points, 2nd -
Gordon Mackintosh - 37 Points, 3rd -
Neil Watt - 36 Points
Division 3 - 1st -
Craig Samson - 40 Points, 2nd -
Scott Garden - 39 Points, 3rd -
William Wood - 38 Points
Saturday saw week 2 of the Cappro Cup Qualifying Race take place. Click here to check out how the Standings changed following this week`s points. Remember there are another 8 events left to play in so plenty points available to qualify if you still haven`t joined yet.
Click here to view the current Cappro Cup standings.
This is just a quick reminder that this
Sunday, 22 May we have the first of our Texas Scramble Open`s.
There has been good uptake, but we still have a few spare Tee times available in the Mid-Late afternoon slot.
Texas Scramble Open Teams of 4 Players (Can be Mixed and Juniors with active Handicaps are welcome)
Entry -
£40 Per Team
Lots of great prizes to be won.
To book call the Professional Shop on: 01224 782571
Other dates for your diaries:Although I offer an extremely comprehensive Fitting Service, I have arranged several of the Companies I stock to come along and provide their Fitting Day Experience. The benefit with these is they have a wider choice and Head, Loft & shaft combinations. So why not come along and support these events.
They will all be on
Appointment only basis, but can I stress these are
NO OBLIGATION TO BUY Appointments.
Wilson -
Thursday, 2 June from 12pm - 4pm
TaylorMade -
Monday, 6 June from 3pm - 7pm
Callaway -
Monday, 20 June from 3pm - 7pm
PING -
Thursday, 30 June from 3pm - 7pm
Click here to get in touch if you would like to book a fitting slot at any of these events.
With the Gents Club Championship taking centre stage over the weekend and the Seniors CADS event running on Tuesday, the Ladies resorted to holding their Medal this week on Monday. It was a Stableford Competition and saw some of the best collective scoring from the Ladies section this Season so far.
Julie Brimble Top Scored and showed that anything Clark Brechin can do she can do better.
Division 1 - 1st =
Barbara Watt - 37 Points, 1st =
Elaine Stoddart - 37 Points, 1st =
Linda Craik - 37 Points
Division 2 - 1st -
Julie Brimble - 43 Points, 2nd -
Elizabeth Groves - 36 Points, 3rd -
Jenny Selbie - 35 Points
Last Saturday I was back to helping the development gang on the hill. The weather yet again was not great, but plenty of keen faces turned up anyway. The great thing this Saturday was that there was more and more kids playing on the golf course, whether it be playing for their 18 or 9 hole handicap or just trying out 3 or 4 holes. I feel this gives them motivation to learn and practice as they all seem to love giving it a go on the course.
On Saturday the kids had the first round of their Club Championship qualifier. Yet again there was some impressive and familiar names at the top of the score sheet. Sharing the lead for first qualifier in the Handicap Championship are
Brandon Simpson and
William Lloyd with nett 68's. Brandon also had the best scratch score beating William by one shot. Both of them have further reduced their handicap by a shot each, and I can't say it wasn't coming or not deserved as they are at the golf club pretty much every day.
Junior Club Champ 1st Rnd 1st -
Brandon Simpson - 80 (12) - 68 - Lowest Gross
2nd -
William Lloyd - 81 (13) - 68
3rd -
Matthew Davie - 97 (26) - 71
4th -
Murray Sinclair - 90 (18) - 72
5th -
Finlay Wallace - 88 (16) - 72
Adult Members: Help your Assistant to become a fully qualified PGA ProfessionalIn preparation for my Practical Lesson Exam in August, I am seeking help from our Adult Members. The Practical Exam includes giving a 30 minute Full Swing lesson to a complete stranger while an examiner is watching, and checks for your technical and communication skills to improve the student's ball flight and more importantly to reach their goal. So... I am asking for help from our members to get me some practice coaching more adults and in return offer a
2 FOR 1 Lesson Deal:
1 x Long Game Lesson
and
1 x Short Game Lesson for
£20.
The short game lesson can be anything from Pitching, Chipping or Bunkers.
This Promotion will run from now and finish in August. The short game lesson can be used at anytime. The long game lessons are on specific dates.
Depending on how many people sign up - The plan is to get half a dozen lessons in one day and get a PGA Examiner to come down and mark those lessons and give me feedback on what to improve. The members that book on the day that the Examiner is coming will be notified well in advance, but first I need to get some people booked in.
The dates for Full Swing lessons are:
June - Monday to Wednesday apart from 21st and 22nd.
July - Monday to Wednesday apart from the 12th and 13th.
To take advantage of this offer and help me to become a fully qualified Professional,
click here to book.. Your help is very much appreciated.
Thanks
Kamran So Jason Day went wire to wire in winning the Players Championship at Sawgrass, but much of his success has been down to the fact that he has been TaylorMade from Top to Toe. Yes, I know it is the brand he is contracted to play, but there`s two things to consider here.
Firstly, the latest TaylorMade Products are fantastic. From the Multi material M-Series of Drivers and Fairway woods to the incredibly forgiving and fast M & P Iron ranges.
And secondly, Jason Day has also got correctly Tailor Made TaylorMade's. Meaning all of his equipment has been perfectly matched to his swing requirements.
The most important thing to remember though is that very same opportunity is available to you right now and right here at Portlethen.
TaylorMade is very much part of my 'Complete Equipment Solution' Promotion (athough I like to think of it as more of a 'Complete Performance Solution', because not only do I give you a comprehensive Fitting Session using the very latest in Fitting Technology for
FREE, but I will also give you a Lesson on how to improve your technique for
FREE as well.
Click here to watch a video about how a fitting from TaylorMade through our Complete Performance Solution could help you.
To give you an example of the benefits that these Clubs, when correctly fitted, can bring here are some of the Golfers I have recently Fitted for new TaylorMade Products and the benefits they have seen.
Drivers:
Derek Craigie - Struggled with his Driving. In his opinion 'Too high and weak. Always fade/slicing to the right.
TaylorMade M2 Driver Fitted:
- 3mph increase in Ball Speed.
- Increased Carry Distance by 14 Yards (Average).
- Shot Dispersion was 9 Yards LEFT of target.
The interesting thing with Derek`s fitting was the peak height of Drives with the TaylorMade M2 Driver were higher than his own, but appeared lower because they were more penetrating due to the decreased backspin the club produced.
Derek has gone on to lower his handicap from 9.5 to 7.9 in only 3 Competitions since, collecting well over
£80 in winnings which he attributes totally to Driving the ball better and having the confidence that he knows he is going to hit fairways.
Denise Robertson - Was just looking to upgrade her Irons having enjoyed playing her PING's, but time for a change.
TaylorMade M2 Irons Fitted:
4Mph increase in Ball Speed.
Increased Carry Distance by 10 Yards (7 Iron)
Denise has gone on to lower her Handicap from 23.3 to 20.6 in only 2 Competitions since receiving her new Irons.
These are only 2 specific examples, but recently 6 different golfers of abilities ranging from 5 Handicap to 20 have taken the plunge with the TaylorMade M-Series Drivers and have all seen improved trajectory, consistency, direction and most importantly, increased distance from 20 to 30 yards of Carry Distance.
So don`t delay….get equipment `TaylorMade` for your game Today.
Click here to get in touch to request your fitting session.