I always wondered what PSG stood for! Clearly after their latest spending spree they are obviously made from Pure Solid Gold!!

Just when the Footballing World couldn`t get any more removed from reality they go and pay a Barrs bottle shy of £200 Million for 1 player in a deal that will see the 25 year old earn £500,000 a week or £3,000 Per Hour!! And if those heart-breaking adverts about the fight against malaria are anything to go by then Neymar could in fact afford to pay for a £2.50 Mosquito Net every 3 Seconds! Which means he could essentially stop a year`s worth of malaria deaths in a fortnight! But don`t worry Neymar, I`m sure Dawn French in a bath of beans will get that work done for you, so just you concentrate on your step over`s and simulation!

Apparently he will soon be so wealthy that he`s going to have to change his full name from Neymar De Silva to Neymar De Platinum!

Meanwhile back in Glasgow, the blue half have hit a barrier in their audacious attempts to sign his not so glamourous cousin, Naemare Money! I think Pedro will need to stick to doing his shopping at the Caixinha’N’Carry! One thing that will put the Rangers Managers mind at Portug-ease is that thanks to Ian Cathro he now knows he won`t be the first Manager to get the bullet this season!

It`s a slightly more real threat that is looming over in North Korea by the sounds of it, fortunately their friendlier neighbours are only firing ‘Birdies’ at the opposition just now. None more accurately than their pint sized pistol, IK Kim, who took apart not only the Kingsbarns Links but the ensemble field of the World`s best female golfers at the Ricoh Women`s British Open. Her impressive 18 Under Par total was good enough to win by 3 shots from England`s Jodi Ewart Shadoff.

That event was also the final Qualifying event for the Solheim Cup so now both Teams are finalised for the women`s version of the USA v Europe clash which is taking place at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa from Aug 18th to 20th.

There was another winner of the Asian persuasion in the men`s game when Hideki Matsuyama blitzed the field with a stunning (Course Record-equalling) 61 on Sunday to win by 5 shots in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. I`m sure he`ll be going into this week`s USPGA Championship full of confidence.

The final Major of the year is being played at the home of the empty bird - Quail Hollow! Will the Yanks make it a Hat-trick of Major winners this year? Will Spieth complete the Career Grand Slam? Will there be a ‘cinderella story’ John Daly type winner? Or will there be a sentimental one with both Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson making their 100th Major appearance!

There have been a couple of interesting announcements lately regarding the USPGA Championship. The first being that BBC have the TV rights to the ‘Live’ Coverage this week! So we will be showing all the play on the Big Screen upstairs in the Lounge this weekend so why not come along and give the Club your support. Secondly, and even more surprisingly than BBC showing live golf, was the news that from 2019 they are planning to move it from its August date to a date in May. One of the factors in this rescheduling was because every 4 years, with golf now a feature at the Olympics, there would be a clash of dates. The knock on effect that moving the PGA Championship creates now also sees the Players Championship (recognised as the Unofficial 5th Major) move to a much earlier March date. So in essence there will now be a marque tournament in March, April(US masters), May, June(US Open) & July(Open Championship) – I wonder what impact that will have on our golf season and player habits!? Typically, with the exception of the die-hards who battle through the winter months, many of our Club golfers (or Daffodils) need the Clock change to start thinking about golf and the Masters Coverage on TV to actually give them the impetus to get the Clubs dusted down. Will this rescheduling encourage them out of hibernation earlier? Or will the July Open Championship cause peoples golf interest to wain much sooner than it already does?

I`d be interested to hear your thoughts!

Certainly at the moment the USPGA signals the tipping point to the Summer, and as a result, whether we like it or not, our attention turns to preparing for the run into Autumn & Winter. So now is the time to start clearing out some of the Summer Range in preparation for something fresher.

So as of this weekend I will be starting my very own USPGA!

Ultimate
Sale:
Plenty
Great
Acquisitions!

• ALL Clothing Reduced* - Save On Individual Items or 3FOR2!
• ALL Shoes Reduced - Up To HALF PRICE!
• ALL Bags Reduced - Save Up To £30!
• Galvin Green Waterproof Jackets - NOW HALF PRICE
• FREE Golf Bag - With Selected Power Trollies
• Up To £50 OFF Selected Putters!
• Selected Balls At BARGAIN PRICES!
• ALL Luggage HALF PRICE!
• New & Ex-Trial Clubs At Rock Bottom Prices!
• And Many More In Store Bargains!

Obviously we still have various In Store Promotions running alongside the Summer Sale. Like the Taylormade M-Series Promotion I mentioned last week.

Here is a reminder of the details:

PLUS on top of the promotion and our already comprehensive GC Quad Fitting proposition we have also secured a SECOND TaylorMade Fitting Day Experience on Wednesday, 23 August - 2pm - 6pm.

To Book your Fitting Appointment or a Slot for the Aug 23rd T/Made Day simply call: 01224 782571

TaylorMade Fitting Day Experience
Wednesday, 23 August
2pm - 6pm.
To Book a 30 Minute Slot – Click Here


PING Fitting Day
Thursday, 21st September
2pm - 6pm
To Book a 30 Minute Slot – Click Here

You should all have received a Club email regarding this event but here is just another prompt so you don`t miss out as spaces are running out fast.

In Association with The National Autistic Society – All Proceeds going to Charity.

PROFESSIONALS DAY – On Superhero Saturday, (Keep Reading!!) 19 August

TWO Shotgun Starts!

Morning Shotgun @ 8am
Teams Of 4
Betterball Competition
Yellow Ball Challenge
Beat The Pro
Lots Of On Course Challenges
Welcome Pack
Halfway Refreshments
PRIZE GIVING @12.45pm

Afternoon Shotgun @ 12.30pm
Teams Of 4
Scramble Competition
Beat The Pro
Lots Of On Course Challenges
Welcome Pack
Halfway Refreshments
PRIZE GIVING @ 5pm

Entry = £40 Per Team (£10 Per Person) or £70 To Play Both morning & afternoon.

CLOTHING REQUIREMENTS: The Brighter The Better, Autism use the rainbow spectrum and it would be great to see as many brightly coloured golfers coming out in support of our Fundraising efforts – PLUS Any person or Team that come Superhero Themed or in Fancy Dress will automatically receive a ‘Marvel-Ous Mulligan!’

*REMEMBER: You are more than welcome to play in BOTH!!

It was Texas Scrambling last Saturday too as we held the first playing of the Bill Lamb Memorial Texas Scramble. We had 38 Teams taking part and everyone was blessed with reasonable weather, which certainly showed in the scoring.

Bill Lamb Memorial Texas Scramble – Saturday, 5 August`17

1ST:Dylan Mitchel/Rikki Chalmers/Graham Smith/Simon Jolly - 55.3
2ND: Jack Douglas/Graham Innes/Donald Smith/Nick Mackie - 55.6
3RD: Keith Horne/Steve Wallace/Stephen Cook/Stephen Robertson - 56.1
4TH: David Methven/Graham Miller/Tom Boyle/Ray Cowan - 56.8 ACB

We did have Medal play on Wed & Sun as normal.

Ryan Penny took advantage of the early morning conditions to post a best of the day 66, however it was Penny by name but Penny-pincher by nature as he didn`t have any money to pay his Sweep & Magic 2`s (of which he had Double Dueces!) so the benefactor was his playing partner that day, Steven Wallace, who despite finishing second managed to grab the top prize in the Sweep Pot!

Wednesday
Division 1
1 Ryan Penny 69(3) 66
2 Steven Wallace 72(4) 68
3 Gary Cruickshank 76(7) 69

Division 2
1 Martin Smith 83(15) 68
2 Alejandro Correa 81(12) 69
3 Peter Will 82(12) 70

Division 3
1 Allan Brown 89(19) 70
2 James Edwards 93(23) 70
3 Ian Elmslie 89(17) 72

Sunday Stableford

Division 1
1 Ryan Sheikh (10) 41 Points
2 Rikki Chalmers (9) 41 Points
3 Paul Morrison (5) 41 Points

Division 2
1 Andrew Catley (12) 45 Points
2 Alex Dowall (14) 43 Points
3 Gary Thomson (11) 41 Points

Division 3
1 David Small (16) 43 Points
2 James Murphy (25) 39 Points
3 Willie Wood (18) 39 Points

Despite the men having their usual 3 Competition Days it was the Juniors who took centre stage this week.

On Friday the Junior 36 Hole Club Championship Final took place between defending Champion Brandon Simpson, who was going for the Hat-trick (& 3-In-A-Row) of titles while his opponent, Finlay Wallace appearing in his first final.

But young Finlay certainly didn`t look overawed by the occasion and went into the lunch 4 Up after 18 Holes. Brandon wasn`t going to give up his Title without a fight and clawed the deficit back to 2 Holes by the 24th. Finlay edged further ahead again moving 3up thru 29. Despite Brandon pulling 1 back at the next that was the closest he managed to get to Finlay who eventually sealed the deal on the 15th green winning 4&3!

It has been a great week for Finlay, clearly buoyed by his Championship win he went on to post a great score in the Portlethen Junior Open on Sunday to finish second there. The overall winner was another Portlethen Member, William Lloyd who`s excellent Level Par 72 was more than deserving of the Trophy.

Finlay then followed that performance up by claiming the Edzell Junior Open Trophy on Tuesday. If you throw in good marks in his Exam Results then I`m sure this will be a week that Finlay will remember for a long time!

Junior Open
1 William Cameron Lloyd 72(6) 66
2 Finlay Wallace 75(8) 67
3 Owen Walker 76(5) 71 Royal Aberdeen GC

Hopefully you like our new section. Before I get to this week`s topic I need to first of all clarify a typo I made in my summarising (bullet points) of last week`s Casual Water Rule. I had stated that you could ` Place In Hazards` - This was meant to read ‘Drop In Hazards’ as per Dave`s more comprehensive description of the Rules/Relief Procedure.

Moving on to this week`s Ruling and it is another that we regularly see being both misinterpreted and wrongly administered.

To read Dave`s comprehensive explanation of the ‘Taking Relief’ Ruling & Relief procedure – Click Here

But here are the important Bullet points:

• When receiving FREE Relief firstly establish where your Nearest Point Of Relief (NOT NICEST) will be before you lift your ball.
• You receive ONE Clublength Relief from that point – NOT FROM YOUR BALLS ORIGINAL POSITION.
• So long as the Ball, when dropped, strikes the ground within that 1 Club Length it can roll a further 2 Club Lengths (not Nearer The Hole) and be ‘IN PLAY’
• (Portlethen Specific) If your ball lies on a Bridge or Path within the margins of a Hazard (Yellow or Red Stakes) you DO NOT GET FREE RELIEF! (However you may still play the ball AND GROUND YOUR CLUB)

If there are any Rules or Scenarios you would like highlighted let us know by – Clicking Here

You may have seen in last week`s Newsletter that together with the Foremost affiliated Team at Your Golf Travel I have created some potential Winter Coaching Trips.

These can take place anytime between November & February and provide great short and inexpensive Golf Breaks to excellent Golf Resorts in Spain, Portugal or even Dubai or Abu Dhabi. They include* Transfers, Accommodation, Food, Golf, Buggies, Practice Facilities and Coaching – Flights need to be added which obviously vary depending on the dates and when booked (*levels vary depending on Destination & Package)

Here are some of the Examples: (Minimum 7 Golfers + Pro)

Pestana Carvoeiro Resort or Penina Golf Resort (Portugal) - £349 (Nov – Feb)
• 3 Nights Dinner, B&B
• 3 Rounds of Golf
• Exclusive Area On Range
• Unlimited Range Usage
• Daily Instruction

Almenara Golf Resort (Spain) - £349 (Nov – Feb)
• 3 Nights B&B
• 3 Rounds of Golf
• Reserved Slot On Range
• Unlimited Range Usage
• Daily Instruction

La Manga Resort (Spain) - £329 (Nov – Feb)
• 3 Nights B&B
• 3 Rounds of Golf
• Reserved Slot On Range
• Unlimited Range Usage
• Daily Instruction

Southern Sun Golf Resort (Abu Dhabi) - £449 (Oct & Nov or Jan & Feb)
• 5 Nights Dinner, B&B
• 3 Rounds of Golf @ Abu Dhabi or Saadiyat Beach GC
• Access to Abu Dhabi 9 Holer For Instruction Round
• 1 Round of Floodlit Night Golf
• Reserved Slot On Range
• Unlimited Range Usage
• Daily Instruction

If you and a group of Friends are interested in any of these and would like more details get in touch for a no obligation enquiry by clicking here.

What`s not to like about getting away from a Scottish Winter, Golf AND improving your game before next Season!? Surely everyone`s a Winner!?