Uh oh! Looks like Donald has been watching Pulp Fiction again!! Watch out North Korea because he`s serious this time and he ‘WILL strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.’

Yes, Americas Satsuma Supreme could very well be starring in a real life Tarantino tear up after his latest ultimatum to Kim Jong-Un where his confrontational claim that if needs be the US would ‘totally destroy’ the DPRK made even Conor McGregor wince with embarrassment! – Tango Unhinged!? Can someone tell President Trump the Big Red Button is not the Buzzer on Catchphrase and you`re not allowed to just ‘Say What You See!’ and just blurt out the first thing that comes into your head!

Like the World needs any help creating sweeping mass destruction right now!? If it`s not horrific hurricanes it`s even more brutal bombings, although you actually wish our PM would stand up for our Country in a bit more Trump-esque way when these attacks happen...instead we do the oh so typically British thing of raising our Terror Threat level from miffed to peeved...or something equally as pathetic! But while Floridians and Caribbean’s were losing homes & lives Aberdonian`s were forced to endure far greater adversity which saw ‘No Buggies Allowed’ H’AAWWW!, dropped points to Killie, NOOOooo!, and in one horrendous incident someone`s ‘baw plugged in the rough!!’, OMG!! – I`d either blame North Korea or Kam Rite-Doon!

Yes, despite some dreadful weather toward the end of last week and into the weekend the Course not only endured it well but recovered quicker than the release of a new iPhone!

That heavy rain certainly dampened the start to the Strokeplay Championship on Saturday but the Course stood up to the elements....just, however the difficulty was reflected in the CSS of a season high 75. Sunday provided a much more pleasant playing experience and the Scoring also improved although there was a vastly reduced field.

Taking the spoils on Day 1 were:

Division 1
1 Ben Murray 70(-1) - 71
2 Nick Mackie 78(6) - 72
3 Keith Allan 77(4) - 73

Division 2
1 Ron Fulton 84(13) - 71
2 Andrew Garioch 87(15) - 72
3 Jonathan Russell 86(14) - 72

Division 3
1 Ian Paterson 89(16) - 73
2 Bruce Fraser 92(18) - 74
3 Gary Duncan 94(18) - 76

Day 2 of the Strokeplay Champ was also the Presidents Putter which saw Donald Smith pick up his second Trophy in as many weekends with his 70. Here are the rest of the notable Results.

Division 1
1 Donald Smith 73(3) - 70
2 Robbie Murdoch 72(2) - 70
3 Andrew Tremain 80(9) - 71

Division 2
1 John Goate 90(15) - 75
2 James McDougall 90(15) - 75
3 Jake Legge 90(14) - 76

Division 3
1 Mark Clubb 88(17) - 71
2 Ronald Fraser 92(20) - 72
3 Eduardo Correa 90(16) - 74

So at the halfway stage of the Strokeplay Championship the Scratch & Handicap Leaderboard`s look like this:

Saturdays round was also the penultimate Qualifier for The Cappro Cup so with only next week left in the Qualifying Race the jockeying for an Automatic spot as left many permutations of who can 7 can`t, who will and wont, qualify....and who will be relying on a captains Wildcard Pick!

Check out the Full Standings by clicking here.

Saturday’s downpours definitely challenged the use of our recent ‘Casual Water Relief’ procedure that we covered a few Newsletters ago, and I know of an instance where the ‘Embedded Ball’ Ruling was also required too.

When it comes to the Rules every day is a school day, even for the experienced Tournament Referees. On Sunday during the BMW Championship Sergio Garcia, playing his final hole with much riding on it, found himself in a situation that forced him to challenge a Rules Officials nouce. As short a version as I can make of it saw Sergio`s ball inside a Lateral Hazard but not submerged in water, instead it was nestled amongst some rocks. In attempting to play the ball Sergio conjured up a scenario where he was going to aim away from the green and try to ricochet the ball back off a rock!!! Bear with me! In doing so Sergio`s follow through would be impeded (I thought there was a hulking great rock in the way Serg?) by the temporary grandstand that had been erected behind & over the Later Hazard. Some 20 to 25 minutes passed before Sergio was granted a FREE Drop INSIDE the Hazard, he had to eventually place the ball then played in the direction of the green, hit it in to the Grandstand on the other side, got a FREE drop from that then got up and down for a Par that made Jordan Spieth`s 13th Hole @ Birkdale look like speed golf!!

So, with an instance of knowing the Rules and using them to your advantage and another of being oblivious to a Rule breach costing someone drastically we felt a good topic for this week`s Rule School would be – Breaches!

Thanks once again to Resident Ref, Dave Fleming, for the detailed outline – Click Here

There were Rules of a different sort to conform to at last week`s Friday Night Fun Series: Long Drive Championship. The main one being ‘Have Fun’, the second one being ‘You Had To Be In It To Win It!’ but the 3rd and only strict one was you had a 60 Yard Dispersion Radius in which to ‘Hit It As Far As You Can!’

Thanks to everyone who came and supported the event on a less than ideal night but I think the logistics of it allowed everyone to stay dry and still see everything that was going on.

In all we had 32 Competitors and a handful more spectators, but perhaps it was the Burgers & Beers that they came for?

We had a full spectrum of ages and genders and you could say the Drives covered the full spectrum of distance and direction!! Our poor Ball Collectors were shuffling left and right faster than a Subbuteo Goalie on a Penalty Shootout!!

It was pretty much a case of save the best ‘til last with our Top 3 Driving Distances coming from the last Group of the night. Taking the undisputed ‘Long Drive Champion’ Title was Ryan Penny who twice carried the Ball over 300 Yards.

One of the most important factors in maximising your Driving Distance is what the Industry calls ‘Efficiency’ – that is taking the Speed that you can generate when swinging the Club but applying that speed correctly to ensure you hit the ball from the centre of the Clubface. I`ve seen many golfers, and you probably have played with a few, who fall into 2 categories.

The first is the guy that doesn`t look as though he creates much speed but CONSTANTLY hits it much further than you. Which leads to the second group which is the golfer who hits everything out of his boots, doesn`t seem particularly long, is very erratic, but once in a blue moon hits one miles!!

The first guy applies his speed well, the second doesn`t. The most important element of being ‘Efficient’ is hitting the centre of the Clubface, once you are proficient at that then it`s a case of achieving the best attack or launch on the ball with the loft that suits that, from there then you can up the speed. If you can sustain the efficiency then keep trying to up the speed, but if you up the speed and lose the efficiency then it`s just a waste of energy!

Think of trying to hammer a nail into some wood. You never start at full speed, you`ll tap until you find a groove that hits the head of the nail with the middle of the hammer. Once you are comfortable with the groove, you up the speed. If you keep hitting the nail in the middle of the hammer with the correct ‘Attack’ then it pings in, if you go too hard and miss hit the nail off the edge of the hammer it goes off squint!...sound familiar to your Drives? Where do you think the term ‘Nailed It’ comes from!?

Here at Portlethen we have the very best ‘Tool’ on the Market to help you ‘Nail’ your Drives as long and straight as you can.

The GC Quad is the only Launch Monitor on the Market that can accurately show how fast your Clubhead moves, the Angle & Path it attacks the ball on, but most importantly it charts the Strike Location of the Ball on the Clubface – That`s what those pesky Launch Monitor Sensory Stickers are for!!!!

These 2 photos show the same Player hit consecutive Drives (As you can see from his typical strike location it is really erratic)

Drive 1 (Red Spot =Heel Strike)
Clubhead Speed = 97mph
Ball Speed = 130mph
Efficiency = 1.34
Carry Distance = 195Yards
Offline = 22 Yards Right (Slice)

Drive 2 (Red Spot =Centre Strike)
Clubhead Speed = 95mph
Ball Speed = 137mph
Efficiency = 1.44
Carry Distance = 222Yards
Offline = 10 Yards Left (Draw)

So for 2mph less Clubhead Speed he generated 7mph more Ball Speed which equalled 27 more Yards Carry, a Draw Shape and straighter Shot. That sums up ‘Efficiency.’

So why not Book in for an Equipment Evaluation to see how efficient you are with your Driver Strike! It could be something as simple as length of shaft! (Ever wondered why you seem to hit your 3 Wood better and just as far!?), but it might also be technique. – We can ‘Tell’ you, other`s will just ‘Sell’ you!

But on the subject of Sales – I still have some great Bargains in my September Specials Section

SEPTEMBER SPECIALS SECTION

Selected Outfits – BOGOF (Buy One Get One FREE)
Trousers: 2 Pairs of Stromberg NOW ONLY £50 or 2 Pairs of Under Armour NOW ONLY £55!
All Shoes: FROM HALF PRICE
Wilson Hybrix Standbags NOW ONLY £59!
All Other Golf Bags: 20% OFF
Selected Putters: FROM HALF PRICE
Selected Galvin Green Goretex Jackets: HALF PRICE
Pro Quip Pro-Flex Jackets: ONLY £99
Equipment: PING G Series Drivers ONLY £199
Callaway XR 16 Drivers ONLY £179
Titleist 716 Hybrids ONLY £119

However, with the weather undoubtedly getting more Wintery by the day it is important to get prepared for the elements.

We now have our fantastic selection of Autumn/Winter Clothing in-store to keep you snug and swinging!

The Juniors also got lucky on Saturday with their later Tee Time meaning they missed virtually all of the heavy rain, the downside was the Course was playing incredibly wet and long. That clearly suited the bigger hitting boys as both Lewis Sinclair and Aidan Fulton were the only ones to break their Handicaps.

Division 1
1 Lewis Sinclair 79(12) - 67 
2 Aidan Fulton 86(16) - 70 
3 Matthew Davie 91(16) – 75

The Ladies probably all felt like Raquel Squelch after they battle around in the Wet on Saturday! I`m impressed they all ventured out because a wet Medal Day at Portlethen normally see`s Withdrawals like the evacuation from the Titanic…’Women & Children first!’

Morag Cammack obviously had acclimatised better than most following her equally as wet match that she played on Friday evening, winning with a best by three 36 Points!