They came…they saw…THEY WERE CONQUERED! The Strongest US Ryder Cup Team in history arrived with a big reputation & huge anticipation but ultimately left with nothing except even more Ryder Cup scar tissue, bruised egos and their tails between their legs! And we even gave them a Head Start!!!
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With the Euro-phoric cheers of victory & celebration still seemingly ringing in our ears, the events of what ultimately was a ‘Record Breaking’ Ryder Cup are quite rightly the only topic on any ones lips right now. |
For the Americans and their PGA Tour I`m sure the autopsy of ANOTHER failed incursion onto European soil has already started. Let`s hope they don`t invite Donald T along for his input, he`ll have us bombed in a heartbeat! Unless you`ve just emerged from a week long coma I`m not going to bore you with the obvious summary of the match, but here are some of my observations from the latest biennial battle.
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• In the end it became so ‘Men against Boys’ that I wasn`t sure if it was still at LeGolfNational or LeGoLand!
• The Europeans to a man were fantastic. Anytime every player contributes at least a point you know it`s been a tremendous Team effort.
• To that end a lot of the Credit has to go to Captain Thomas Bjorn. All of his Wildcard Picks more than justified his decision to choose them and for those of you who questioned some of those choices….shame on you!
• Perhaps the pick that came in for the most scrutiny was Sergio! Sure he hadn`t had a great year but he`s played every Ryder Cup since 1999 bar 2010, but he was a Vice Captain that year, and never let anyone down. Now, on the back of 3 wins from 4 starts this year, he is now the All-time leading Ryder Cup Points winner!! His 25.5 Career Points means he`s averaged almost 3 Points every Match! For me his longevity, reliability and points production is more reason to lay claim to him being ‘Mr Ryder Cup’? Because ‘El Cartero’ has most certainly ‘Delivered’!
• Records galore were set at Le Golf National. In fact at one point with so many records being broken I thought they were going to roll out Roy Castle & his Trumpet at the Closing Ceremony! To be fair it wouldn`t have been any more cringe than the dame that they had singing at the Opening Ceremony! As for Records the superb partnership forged between Tommy Fleetwood & Francesco Molinari (Or Moli-Wood as they have been brilliantly christened!) producing 4 from 4 in the Doubles is the first European Pairing ever to win all 4 matches the first two days. However, unlike the Graphic that Sky Sports flashed up, they aren`t the first European Pairing to win ‘4 Consecutive Pairs Matches’ because the dynamite double act of Olazabal & Ballesteros actually won 6 & ½ Consecutive points! The only difference was they were split over 2 Ryder Cups (1989: Fri Pm & Sat Am/Pm 1991: Fri Am/Pm & Sat Am + Pm = Half)
• Molinari also set an individual European Record when he became the first player to ever win all 5 Matches, and wasn`t it perfectly fitting for The Open Champion to cap an incredible Season by securing the Point that Won the Ryder Cup for Europe! Stupefacente!! He really is a class act. With the Ryder Cup in 2022 going to Rome I wonder if his performance will inspire some up and coming Italians to push to make the Team!?
• Another Class Act in my opinion is Jim Furyk! He`s eloquent and measured in everything he says and handled himself tremendously throughout, but especially in defeat.
• What completely lacked class was our European Crowd ‘Boooing’ the US Players as they were announced on the first Tee! That`s the first time I`ve ever been aware of a Home European crowd doing that. So why was that? I`ve 2 theories, No.1: It was the largest Stand/Stadium ever erected around the 1st Tee at a Ryder Cup & No.2: Was this a symptom of a Ryder Cup held out of the UK & Ireland (Countries where it is always recognised and reported that the spectators are very knowledgeable and respectful) and in mainland Europe for the first time since 1997?
• It`s a shame that Brooks Koepka unwittingly took retribution when he showcased his skills by showing he could turn a hook into a cut in the blink of an eye! The unfortunate incident on only the 6th Hole of the event, which has resulted in a lady losing the sight in her right eye, perhaps will serve as an important lesson especially to the players who ply their trade on the PGA Tour that it is vital that they are more vocal in signalling errant shots. Let`s call it ‘FORE the greater good!’
• Brooks blunder still wasn`t enough to make him the crowds No.1 target! That still went to Patrick Reed! But if he`s Captain America then he`s clearly eaten The Hulk!! And when he puts his Green Jacket on I`m sure he`ll look a bit like him too!
• Speaking of something he ate, with the cheek-squeezingly deliberate walk and unwillingness to wear the Team Uniform White Trousers do you think Tiger was struggling with a ‘follow-thru’ of another kind!? He was walking so slow that I figured he`d had a bad encounter with a plate of ‘Escargot’!?
• The subject of ‘Bricking It’ brings me to a recurring Ryder Cup gripe of mine! ‘Outfits!’ Captain Bjorn didn`t get many things wrong but surely we need to ‘Sack The Stylist!’ – What on ‘Earth’ was that clay catastrophe we had on Day 2? The players looked like the Terracotta Warriors of China`s First Emperor! When I saw it I thought ‘Huang on a minute!!’
• Even the Pace Of Play had an element of ‘Hua Long?’ about it because despite it being Betterball Matchplay the first match out on Friday still managed to take 5 Hours 30 Minutes to finish!!! The only saving grace was that gave Henni Zuel enough time to finish a sentence!!!
• Mickelson had the right idea and is clearly preparing himself for life in the Seniors Competitions…..only play 15 Holes……and keep a Stableford Score!!
• Mickelson`s golf was so poor it even had had the super smart ‘Scientist’ DeChambeau scratching his head!.....or was that him trying to work out why Captain Furyk paired him with Phil in the first place!?
• They`re United in title only, but as an American Team they are definitely in a State!
• I think it`s definitely a case of ‘Over to the Young Guard’ now for the American Ryder Cup ‘Task Force’ and they`ll be a force in 2 years-time at Whistling Straits that`s for sure.
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Our ‘Young Guard’ did the Club proud at the weekend too, and like the European Ryder Cup Team took advantage of playing on home soil.
The Team of Murray Sinclair, Finlay Wallace, Brandon Simpson, William Lloyd, Pranav Maganti, Richie Smart, McKenzie Mullen & Evan Fulton won the Scottish Junior Team Championship which was held here at Portlethen.
They were up against Teams from all over Scotland and thanks to a ‘Best Of The Day’ 39 Points from Evan Fulton pipped the rest to the Title.
They can now look forward to a trip to Kilmarnock next year to defend trophy. Bien Joué!!
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It`s no surprise that Evan Fulton is my Student of the Week or perhaps it is!! The uncertainty is because the mere fact that I`m talking about a great performance by Evan following some Instruction came about by coincidence really. As Evan is still growing he, and his dad Alan, asked for advice regarding Evans Equipment as they both felt that Evan`s form/improvement had stuttered a little and that he might have grown out of his Junior Clubs. So I recommended we did an Equipment Evaluation/Custom Fitting Session, which incidentally is the same Session an adult with adult equipment would go through (Hopefully this highlights that the Process and Technology we use is there to benefit any golfer of any age and any ability!) During that Session I was able to assess and assure Evan that his Clubs were still the correct Length. The Lie angle was ok and the grip thickness was appropriate. We were also able to say that if anything Evan was getting too strong for the Junior Flex of Shaft but he certainly hadn`t grown too big for the Clubs. BUT what was most important about the Club Assessment was I was able to show why Evans Set Up & Technique were causing him to hit too many off target shots. With a slight tweak to his Clubface Alignment and a newer In Swing feeling and awareness of how he was moving that Clubface, Evan quickly started to get the Ball to start & stay on Target more. That obviously continued into Sunday where his great score was the difference maker! That is the big difference in being Custom Fitted by a Trained Eye and just being ‘Custom Fitted’ by someone from a Big Box walk in Retailer. Evan walked away with a Better Game, Alan walked away with a happier Son and ZERO investment, someone else might have sniffed out an ‘Opportunity’ to upsell something that right now isn`t required. Don`t be sucked in by FREE CUSTOM FITTING, instead think more about EXPERT CUSTOM FITTING for FREE!! That`s what I offer and it comes with an integrity that ‘Won`t Sell You Equipment’, more one that ‘Will Sell IMPROVEMENT!’
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The buzz around New Product Launches always lures people in to the prospect of ‘What can I gain’ and certainly the new Titleist TS Driver Range has landed with that kind of buzz. I had the pleasure of my first Titleist TS Driver Fitting on Wednesday with Steve Cassie who has long been a Titleist Supporter. Steve currently plays Titleist AP2 Irons & Vokey Wedges alongside a relatively older Model of Titleist Driver.
Fitting Results: Steve was currently using the Titleist 913 Driver so he was keen to see what new Technology he could add to his Driving. His 913 Driver was a pretty good fit for him with the Loft Setting, Length & Type of Shaft all suitable to compliment his Launch Conditions and Swing Characteristics. But like everyone he did suffer from mishits, and it was those that showed a fairly dramatic drop off in performance. We initially looked at the TS2 Head, which is a more modern look and designed to encourage more Ball Speed and less Spin. It certainly did that and instantly the distance numbers improved, especially on the off centre hits. However the Launch Angle increased a little too much and the Dispersion wasn`t particularly good. So rather than reduce the loft to help the Launch Angle, knowing that that would potentially make the Dispersion worse, we changed to the TS3 Head. This Head Style is more traditional and also includes more Shot Shape adjustability. Having also settled on a Shaft that controlled the delivery better and that Steve liked the feel of we saw the type of improved consistency & performance we were expecting. Although the Ball Speed off the TS3 Clubhead was less than the TS2 the fact that we had reduced Spin whilst optimising Launch and reducing Curvature the Ball was Carrying further and Straighter than both the 913 and TS2 Clubs. In the end we had managed to gain Steve: - 11 Yards extra Carry on his BEST Drives with the 913 - 13 Yards extra Carry on Average - Lowered the Spin Rate measurably on the Mishits - Tightened the Dispersion This is the type of Process we offer for any Brand but certainly first impressions of the new Titleist TS Range is they have a very good performing Club.
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Steve was in good form at the weekend with 2nd place finish in his Division. However it was another Steve (Lawrie) that took the headlines with his first ever Sub-Par Round getting him to his lowest ever playing Handicap of 4! Division 1
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| 1 Stephen Lawrie 71 (5) 66 |
| 2 William Somers 75 (8) 67 |
| 3 Hugh Murdoch 73 (5) 68 |
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| 1 Andrew Garioch 84 (15) 69 |
| 2 Steven Cassie 82 (12) 70 |
| 3 David Kernahan 86 (15) 71 |
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| 1 Graham Wallace 90 (22) 68 |
| 2 Ian Paterson 84 (16) 68 |
| 3 Gary Duncan 88 (18) 70 |
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I have decided to extend some of my Ryder Cup Weekend deals on for another Weekend as many of you may have been too engrossed in the events in Paris! |
Buy 1 Get 1 FREE on Clothing Combos!* Under Armour Galvin Green adidas Stuburt *Combos Are Pre-Picked And Cannot Be Split. FREE Matching Umbrella With Every Golf Bag In Store! TaylorMade Standbags Wilson Standbags PowaKaddy Cart Bags Motocaddy Cart Bags |
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2018 Motocaddy M1 Lithium Trolley & HALF PRICE Cart Bag (Lite or Club Series) ALL 2018 FJ Shoes Reduced + FREE FJ Sock 3-Pack! Wilson C300 Driver + FREE 3 Wood!
Titleist 917 Driver + FREE 3 Wood!
GolfBuddy VTX GPS + FREE TRAVELCASE 25% OFF All 2018 Summer Clothing 40% OFF All Under Armour Shoes 15% OFF All Portlethen Clothing & Accessories £40 OFF All Adidas Tour 360 Shoes 25% OFF All Trousers Make Me An Offer Clothing Rail Make Me An Offer Equipment Ladies Specials Seniors Specials Second Hand Specials |
Included in the Ryder Cup Clearance but something that will be on going afterwards (While Stocks Last) is my latest Incentive.
PRICE DROP PRIZE DRAW TaylorMade TP5 Golf Balls – 3 For 2! Buy 3 Dozen FOR ONLY £90! Plus EVERY TP5 Customer will be included into a PRIZE DRAW for a Custom Fitted M4 Driver/Fairway or GAPR Rescue of their choice. |
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To sleeve or not to sleeve |
Being underprepared when you're out on the course is a blunder which we've all been guilty of making. As the cold weather starts rolling in, you need to start thinking about some layering pieces that keep you warm and dry, but also lets you have freedom of movement during your round. Luckily for you, we have just the answer. |
Under Armour Storm Daytona 1/2 zip Under Armour has given you a perfect solution in the form of this pullover. The stretch panels at the shoulders allow for added mobility in the swing, whilst the double-knit insulation panels pack incredible warmtha and are still soft to the touch. The material also wicks sweat and dries quickly, ensuring a constant body temperature through the whole round. |
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Under Armour Storm Daytona vest
If you prefer the gilet look, why not try this Storm Daytona vest? It has all the same features as its 1/2 zip counterpart, making for minimal distractions during your round. The three colourway choices are all distinctive and unique in their own right, and add a nice dose of style into the mix. |
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