This week`s Sesame Street was brought to you by the letters J and D and the number 20!!

First up is obviously Jason Day and his record 20-under-par score to win the USPGA at Whistling Straits. But that tournament gave us much more. As has become common in recent Majors, it was the lanky Greyhound who was first out of the traps with Dustin Johnson again taking the first round lead only to sink beneath the surface quicker than a John Daly 6-iron! If you're not sure what I mean with that reference, check out this video!

Then there was Jordan's dominance as Master (champ) Spieth closed off a quite remarkable season with a second place finish. Surely no one in the modern era has come as close as that to winning all four Majors in the same season? In doing so has ousted Rory McIlroy from the number one spot in the world rankings. Who would have said that there would have been anyone to touch Rory this time last year?!

On the subject of season-long consistency, I think it's appropriate to mention Justin's dedication. The English Rose has been in the mix in every Major (and many more tournaments) this year and has the best cumulative score to par in all four of the Grand Slam events outside of the winners. He's worked so hard to get his game to this world class consistency and I'm sure he hasn't forgotten how hard the game seemed when he first started out in the pro ranks - missing 20 cuts in a row and was at the point of calling it a day!

But back to Day and we can't mention the likes of Jason Day, John Daly and Dustin Johnson without talking about the just ridiculous drives that were being launched last week! Not only were some of the tee shots going mind-bogglingly far, but they were quite aptly 'Whistling Straight!'. Through the air carries of 320-330 yards were commonplace and not to be left out of the bomber stakes, Bubba Watson knocked a drive through the back of a green on a hole that measured 425 yards!! Jaw dropping!! That was also my expression when after we saw Jason was tapping in his emotional last putt to clinch his first major, the coverage cut to his wife who was green-side waiting to celebrate with him. My heart sank, because I knew as soon as I saw that beautiful blonde my chance to use the line 'every day has its dog' had gone!

I have to admit that I was lucky to see the last putt being holed because my Sunday viewing had already been influenced by Jack Daniels. But more because he and I had had a late night on Saturday so I managed to do my now regular trick when watching an American Major of falling asleep for the majority of the coverage only to wake up as the leaders are playing the final hole! I guess that's what you get for still being a juvenile delinquent!


Pro Shop Sweepstake

As most of you will know, I run a Sweepstake to coincide with each Major tournament which has seen lots of good participation and proved profitable for many people.

But I think in the case of the USPGA Sweepstake it was me that was the Jammy Dodger this time as many of the Sweepstake squares weren`t taken and as it transpires it was all the juicy digits that were overlooked! Alistair Sinclair was the lucky guy who picked Jason Day's square and can be seen here. The full results are as follows:

1st (£80) - Alistair Sinclair (Jason Day) 
2nd (£60) - Not picked (Jordan Spieth) 
3rd (£40) - Not picked (Branden Grace)

RD1 - Best score (£15) - Gary Clark (Dustin Johnson - 66); Worst score (£15) - Not picked (Dan Venezio - 89) 
RD2 - Best score (£15) - Not picked (Hiroshi Iwata - 63); Worst score (£15) - Not picked (Ryan Kennedy - 90) 
RD3 - Best score (£15) - Not picked (Branden Grace - 64); Worst score (£15) - John Goate (Kevin Chappell - 78) and Jim Singer (Brian Gaffney - 78) 
RD4 - Best score (£15) - Not picked (David Lingmerth - 66); Worst score (£15) - Mark Robertson (Morgan Hoffman - 78) and  Greg Donaldson (James Morrison - 78) 

Low Club Professional (£15) - Jim Singer (Brian Gaffney - 78)

Congratulation to all of our winners!


 

Getting back to the prodigious drives for a second, it is getting quite scary how far these top guys are hitting the ball these days, but for me it is how accurate they also are. Now the aerodynamics of the ball is clearly playing its part in distance, the technology in the clubhead and shafts are also playing their part in distance and accuracy, and the player's technique is undoubtedly a factor. 

But when you look at the top players now and their ability to hit a long, straight, consistent drive, the common trait I see in them all is the improvement in their athletic fitness. It's well documented about Tiger and Rory's workouts, but they are all gym bunnies these days. Adam Scott is in great physical condition, Henrik Stenson is another and clearly Jason Day falls into that bracket. And it is a set of muscles that no one really sees that are the strongest and play the biggest role in these players' abilities to generate power, I'm talking of course about 'the core muscles' - the series of abdominal muscles that connect the upper body to the legs. It is the strength and conditioning that these guys have put into that area that allow them to swing the club and move their body at such ferocious speeds whilst remaining stable and retaining their position, body shape, relationship and coordination to the ball. 

So in a nutshell, they've managed to increase how hard the hit it without sacrificing the line/shape of their swing or the ability to hit the middle of the clubface!


 

So if you want to hit the ball further, then you need to find a way of increasing your speed without sacrificing the control. The other route to go down is to make sure for definite that the equipment you're using is suited to your swing and ability. The technology on the market now is remarkable. One of the models with performance and adjustability in abundance is the same model that Jason Day has just pounded his way to the USPGA with.

TaylorMade's R15 driver (learn more) has the adjustability potential that means you can influence better launch, better spin, better shape and therefore better direction and distance. And right now I have an unbelievable incentive on it.

How would you like it if I said you would gain yardage AND save money!? 
Why not book yourself in for a FREE club fitting session using the GC2 Launch Monitor and you can walk away with a customized R15 driver for only £299! 
That`s a £30 saving on RRP and a fitting session worth £30 also thrown in

To book an appointment please click here.


 

Now while Jason finally had his day in the sun,  it was more a case of battling the rain with most of our competitions last week. 

There was no Saturday strokeplay competition as this was scheduled to be the weekend following the intensive greens' work which, as you all know, didn't need done. The competition that did take place was a twoball betterball competition. Just as an observation though, it was interesting to note how many people had no idea what they had booked to play in when they arrived on Saturday, and those groups who did know it was a pairs event still hadn't decided who they were playing with! But somehow we managed to get everyone who wanted to play a partner and a four to play in.


Sat 15 Aug - The aforementioned event saw some brilliant scoring on the day with one shot separating the top five teams. The leading three pairs scored nett 62s, but after countback it was Gary Chalmers and Norman G McBain who were victorious ahead of Chris and Steven Scouller in second and Tony Lee and his partner Gordon Duff in third. Countback was again needed to split the next two pairs, with Gary Cruickshank and Mark McDonald taking fourth spot ahead of John Simpson and Derek Goodall in fifth.

There was also no Sunday competition but there was the Junior Handicap Championship played on Sunday but Kamran will talk you through that later. The previous Wednesday was upgraded from a Pro Shop Sweep to a Counting Medal which gave guys a chance to play a handicap round.


Wed 12 Aug - This date saw a Walk on Medal take place with the leaders in each Division carding scores in the 60s. In Division One it was Drew Tremain's day as his nett 69 edged out Lewis Shand into second place. In third was Jay Donald a further shot back. Tom Boyle's nett 67 in Division Two saw him stroll to victory, finishing two ahead of his nearest competitor Graham Donovan. Third place went to Neil Anderson on countback after finishing with the best of the nett 70s. Only one golfer broke the 70 barrier in Division Three, Steven Campbell's nett 67 the leading score. Three shots back in second spot was John Paterson, one ahead of third placed Peter Dawson.

 

Junior Handicap Championship

After Saturday's soaking, Sunday saw the sunshine which was a good thing as the Junior Handicap Championship was about to embark on its 36-hole final. And they needed every single one of them! It saw Lewis Sinclair appearing in his second Junior Championship final this season, having previously lost out to Brandon Simpson in the Scratch final. His opponent was Louise Cook who was making her second consecutive appearance in the Junior Handicap final, and like Lewis, had previously tasted defeat.

Who was going to break their duck?

The match had a real ebb and flow to it with Louise pulling away mid-round before Lewis reigned her in to be just one hole down at lunch. The afternoon followed a similar pattern with Lewis clawing back a big deficit to square the match at the 34th hole. However, an errant tee shot out of bounds off the 17th tee handed Louise the all-important advantage heading down the 36th hole. A perfect drive was followed by a sensible lay-up, but this still left an awkward third shot to the par five. But as Jason Day showed on Sunday night, the Champions save their best swings for the big moments and Louise hit her hybrid right into the heart of the green and with her receiving a stroke on that hole, it was too much for Lewis to overhaul. And with the old adage of 'when you've got two, take them' Louise saw out the final to claim a one hole victory.

Well done to both players for putting on such a keenly contested final played in a great spirit, and congratulations to Louise.


 

The weather played havoc with the ladies events this week. Saturday was a washout, as was Tuesday's walk on! Hopefully there will be better news next week.


 

As you can maybe imagine, it's been another battle against the elements! The course had a day and a half of closures whilst Saturday was touch and go.

On one hand it was quite intrusive but on the other, coupled with the warmer weather, it did help the moderate greens' aeriation and dressing, that Neil and the guys carried out, to recover quickly. The other positive to take is now the course is back to its best and well prepared for the run into the close season.