"BRAZIL!, BRAZIIIiiiiiiiiiiiilllll!!"
There`s one thing about the World Cup I won't miss! That bloomin ITV theme tune! How many of you have caught yourself sing, humming or murdering it for no apparent reason!?
It`s right up there with "GEOOOORGIA!" that Sky used for their first full coverage of the US Masters! Or even "Moonpig.com!" or the most recent piece de resistance "GO COMPAAAAARE!"
But that`s the fitba over for now and I think it was fitting and well deserved that Germany came out as Champions. It was certainly more fitting than Lionel Messi being named player of the tournament! All in all I`d say it was a very entertaining tournament but FIFA & UEFA need to maybe read up a bit on Trading Standards! "The Beautiful Game!" It ain`t! diving, cheating, feigning injury, trying to get your opponents booked, sent off or worse still injured! Then there was Dracula-gate! I think the post-match comments where Suarez tried to deny he did anything at all should be re-named "Interview With A Vampire!"
One thing the coverage did do for me was make up my mind that if I decide to change career I`m going to become a TV Camera man! Or as I call it Legalized Perving! You don`t see many female fans like that in the crowd at a Queens Park v Brechin encounter!? If there are any female fans at these games the only flesh they are flashing is between an ill fitting vest top and Primark leggings! And just enough so you can see their tattoo of a Dragon drink Buckfast! Anyway, enough about my future wife!
I`m sure in the next few weeks we will be overrun with more of these foreign beauties as the Commonwealth Games get under way. The Queens Baton relay has been weaving its way through many Scottish Towns and Villages and already I believe a few World Record times have been broken as the Torch Carriers have "bolted" as quick as they could for fear they`d get their trainers pinched, mugged or worst still married! It`s bad when the Games haven`t even started and already most of the spectators have failed a drugs test! One guy got asked to provide a blood, urine, seamen and stool sample so he just handed in his boxer shorts!
Ok, before this blog deteriorates into a farce quicker than the Brazilian Back 4 let's get things back onto an even keel. The lack of "Bird Watching" in the football will more than be made for with hopefully lots of "Birdie Watching" as THE Open hits our screens this week! The course looks in terrific condition with again a premium on putting it in play!
Much like we saw last week at the Scottish Open from Royal Aberdeen there will be lots of players hitting irons from the tees to keep the ball on the short stuff and accept that hitting a longer club from the fairway is better than tangling with the long rough in the hope that it might leave you a short shot to the green! Sound familiar folks!!?? If the best players in the world think it's too risky to hit a driver when the rough is long then perhaps we should all take heed of that too!? Remember these guys don`t have the luxury of getting strokes at holes either!
So who`s your money on this week? Will Tiger be anywhere near ready enough to claim a Major!? Hoylake is the last time Tiger won a Major so I`m sure it will bring back lots of good vibes for him but you`ve got to think he won't be match sharp! The same couldn`t be further from the truth in the case of Justin Rose. He put on a master class last week at Royal Aberdeen and having won the week before at Congressional in the States his preparation really couldn`t be more perfect! A win on a tough US Open course, a win on a links course in very similar Open Championship conditions and probably the most important thing, these were back to back WINS!! Can he complete the hatrick!? But speaking of hats and ricks maybe this could be a good week for wide brim wearing Ricky Fowler who also got himself acclimatized to the links style of play last week and put in a pretty decent showing! And then there is defending champ, Phil Mickelson, who also showed he`s playing well enough on links to contend again.
I hope the Scots who showed great form last week can keep it going, but wouldn`t it be typical if the first Scottish winner in 15 years won The Open on English soil!! But with Marc Warren, Scott Jamieson and Stephen Gallacher all finishing in the Top 10 in the Scottish Open we will be well represented with guys in form. Personally I hope it`s Gallacher who has another good week to help boost his Ryder Cup chances.
Remember you guys can get in on the action this weekend with my Open Championship Sweep.
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP SWEEPSTAKE
Tickets - £5
The 1st Round Tee Time Pairings will be put in a sealed envelope (So you will get 3 players for your £5!) Simply pick an envelope and hand it back. After the last putt is holed we will open all the envelopes and find who had the following:
1st - £80 Shop Credit
2nd - £60 Shop Credit
3rd - £40 Shop Credit
Best 3 Ball Aggregate (All 3 Players need to make the Cut!) - £20 Shop Credit
Low Amateur - £20 Shop Credit
Dead Last After 72 holes - £20 Shop Credit
Highest Round Of The Week - £20 Shop Credit
The Shop Credit was flying again after the World Cup Final because we were able to find out who the lucky Top 4 were.
Craig Walker was the most pleased that Mario "Gotze Goal!" that won it for Germany. So I`m sure craig would say "Francs very much for winning me £80 to spend in the Professional Shop!" Here are the rest of the winners.
Winners: Craig Walker (Germany) £80 Shop Credit
Runners Up: Doug Buchan (Argentina) £40 Shop Credit
Semi Finalist: Andy Hutton (Holland) £20 Shop Credit
Semi Finalist: David Wark (Brazil) £20 Shop Credit
The winning tickets The unlucky rest
There was more spreading of the wealth with my Bonus Ball Draw which was won this week by Jinky McMillan.
And if you`re feeling lucky then remember that the chance to win an all expenses day out at this year's Ryder Cup is still on going.
RYDER CUP DRAW
"WIN An All Expenses Trip To The Ryder Cup For ONLY £10!"
1 Lucky Winner will win an All Expenses day out to Gleneagles as my guest for the Final Practice Day and Opening Ceremony* at this years Ryder Cup!
There will also be 2 Runner Up Prizes of an All Expenses day out to Gleneagles as my guest for the 1st & 2nd Practice Day`s*.
There are 2 ways for you to enter.
OPTION 1: BUY Any piece of Clothing or Outerwear from my Glenmuir Ryder Cup Collection! (In Store or Ordered From Catalogue) and you will be automatically entered into the Ticket Draw. (Link To Glenmuir Catalogues)
OPTION 2: Simply Buy a Ticket for the Draw.
TICKETS COST £10!
Ryder Cup Final Practice & Opening Ceremony is Thursday 25th September and Practice Days are Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th September
*PRIZE Includes Travel to and from the event, food & refreshments and entry to the Tournament.
T&C`s: The Prize is for the Person named on the Winning tickets. If the date of the 1st Prize cannot be made it will be offered in exchange for either day in the Runners Up Prize, otherwise the Tickets are non-transferable and another winner will be selected from the previously "Unlucky" Tickets.
Maybe last week's Eastwood Junior Week might just have unearthed a future Scottish Ryder Cupper!? Whether that becomes a reality all the kids last week had a great time which was probably made all the better with the great weather they got! It all culminated with the traditional 15 hole Junior/Senior Tri-Am followed by a BBQ and the Prize Giving! Regardless whether they make it to the Ryder Cup or the Open it`s weeks like these that you hope you create long standing Members of the future!
Guys that will stay at the Club for a long time and introduce their kids to the game. And compete as adults every Saturday! Like they did this week where the Competition action saw some great scores in the Golf Foundation Medal.
In Division 1 we got only the 2nd Sub-Par round of the year when Austen McDowall 69(3) - 66 took 1st place. Settling for 2nd was David Auld 74(7) - 67 with Jim Aird 76(6) - 70 in 3rd.
Division 2 saw similar scoring with Andy Hutton 80(14) - 66 sneaking top spot from Craig Walker 81(14) - 67 so all in all it was a profitable weekend for both those guys! Simon Locke 83(12) - 71 was some way back in 3rd.
Division 3 saw Stephen Warner 85(17) - 68 find some form leaving Tom McGuire 89(20) - 69 in 2nd and David Flower 93(23) - 70 in 3rd.
Again there was no Thursday medal last week but there was more Eastwood Open action last Sunday. This time it was the Quaich 36 Hole Scratch Open. Many of the Counties best players came to pit their wits against the challenging Eastwood layout. It was no real surprise that it was one of the Counties best that had the answers to the questions asked by our fast running course!
Craig Watson (pictured right) is a well recognised name in these parts, the former Amatuer Champion who plays at nearby East Renfrewshire GC carded rounds of 71 & 67 for a 2 Under Par total of 138 to win comfortably in the end from a former Eastwood Member, Scott Ross (70 & 72) who is now based over in Fife. Another former Eastwood Member and defending Quaich Champion, David Dickson, lead after Round 1 with a 70 which was a terrific score given that he has been out of action for over 2 months now with a cracked rib. Perhaps his lack of golf eventually caught up with him as he faded to a secod round 76. Best of the home players was David Sibbald (75 & 72) with young Callum Taggart (68 & 71) finishing 3rd in the Handicap Section.
With the whole of the golfing world's eyes on Hoylake this week some of the Companies take that opportunity to launch exciting new product.
This year PING are using that platform to launch their new G30 Range of Clubs. The Woods will be in store next week but in the meantime the new Trial & fitting Irons have already arrived in store.
If you are keen to be one of the first people to try or get fitted for them, then simply Click Here
Remember, right here on your door step are all the facilities you need to get the perfect set of clubs for your game. Whether you simply want to try them from grass on your own golf course, or if you need the state of the art Flightscope data to help fine tune your specification we have it all for you here at Eastwood. If you couple that with the unbiased, honest, personal and expert advice and after care you`ll receive then we really are the all-round golfing solution you need.
When it`s in with the NEW that always means it`s out with the old and I have some amazing savings available on the last few pieces in my G25 Range of Woods and (Ex Trial) Irons
For more info or to set up a trial Click Here
DRIVER FITTING
Specification Fitting & Set Up Only (Make & Model already established) FREE
*Includes Flightscope Radar Fitting - 30 Minutes
Full Fitting Experience (Requirements Unknown) - £30
*Includes Flightscope Radar Fitting, Analyse current Driver, Trial New Driver options, custom fit to players Spec. - 60 Minutes (£15 Comes off purchase price - £15 given back as Shop Voucher for future/additional purchase)
IRON FITTING
Specification Fitting & Set Up Only (Make & Model already established) FREE
*Includes Flightscope Radar Fitting - 30 Minutes
Full Fitting Experience (Requirements Unknown) - £30
*Includes Flightscope Radar Fitting, Analyse current Irons, Trial New Iron options, custom fit to players Spec. - 60 Minutes (£15 Comes off purchase price - £15 given back as Shop Voucher for future/additional purchase)
PUTTER FITTING
Specification Fitting & Set Up Only (Make & Model already established) FREE
*Includes Tomi Putting Analyser Fitting - 30 Minutes
Full Fitting Experience (Requirements Unknown) - £30
*Includes Tomi Putting Analyser Fitting, Analyse current Putter, Trial New Putter options, custom fit to players Spec. - 60 Minutes (£15 Comes off purchase price - £15 given back as Shop Voucher for future/additional purchase)
FULL BAG FITTING
Specification Fitting & Set Up Only (Make & Model already established) - £30
*Includes Flightscope Radar & Tomi Putting Analyser Fitting - 60 Minutes
(£15 Comes off purchase price - £15 given back as Shop Voucher for future/additional purchase)
Full Fitting Experience (Requirements Unknown) - £50 £50
*Includes Tomi Putting Analyser Fitting, Analyse current Putter, Trial New Putter options, custom fit to players Spec. - 120 Minutes (£30 Comes off purchase price - £20 given back as Shop Voucher for future/additional purchase)
To book a lesson or fitting, click here
Individual LessonPrices
30 Minute Lesson - £30*
45 Minute Lesson - £35*
60 Minute Lesson - £40*
Development Plan Package: "The Game Changer" (4x 45 Minute Session) - £140*
This Package is the ideal way to make simple, effective and long lasting improvements to your game. Whether it is focusing on one particular aspect or gaining knowledge and adding improvement to every department of your golf game.
Complete Game Package: "Top To Toe Improvement" (3x 45 Minute Session) - £105*
This Package focuses on every aspect of your game where you will be given analysis and advice on how to improve your Tee To Green Game (Session 1 - Long Game), your Approach Play (Session 2 - Shortgame) and your Putting Prowess (Session 3 - Putting)
Scoring Zone: "The Ultimate Shortgame Session" (2 Hour Session) - £75* 2 People = £37.50 Each, 3 People = £25 Each, 4 People = £20 Each)
The ideal way to make significant and lasting improvements to the one area of the game that guarantees lower scores! This session contains a detailed assessment of your Shortgame "Strengths & Weaknesses", a skills test, Computerized Putter & Stroke Analysis, Green Reading & Pace Control as well as an overview of Pitching & Bunker technique, Chipping method and shot choices.
Playing Lesson: "Take It To The Course" (2 Hour Session) - £75* 2 People = £37.50 Each, 3 People = £25 Each, 4 People = £20 Each)
This On Course Session focuses predominantly on your ability to manage your game and the course, mental approach, visualisation, routine, green reading, rules, etiquette and shot execution. Whilst how to play certain types of shots will be covered technique and swing changes will kept for on the Practice Range.
Consultation "Performance Analysis & Overview" (2 Hour Session) - £ 75 2 People = £37.50 Each, 3 People = £25 Each, 4 People = £20 Each)
This session contains a detailed assessment of your game and your goals! Important performance data is recorded using Flightscope which alongside a comprehensive Skills Test and questionnaire allow a "Plan For Progress" to be created specifically for your game. *Anyone who takes this assessment automatically qualifies for a 10% Reduction on all future Lessons & Packages that season.
Group Tuition
2 People (1 Hour) - £30PP
3 People (1 Hour) - £20PP
4 People (1 Hour) - £15PP
To book, click here now.
Members Birthdays This Week
18th - Ross Riddell and Ernest Wenzel
19th - Alister Gibson
20th - David McCutcheon and Keith McIntyre
21st - Bobby Jamieson, Gerald Martin, Luke McEvinney and Andrew Palombo
22nd - Tom Gemmell and William Marshall
23rd - Inez McCutcheon and Dougie Park
24th - Alan Barbour, Charles Evans and Ann Smith