It was an emphatic win for Sam Martin last week in the Stableford played over the West course as he amassed a very impressive 43pts to register his first ever win. In his wake in the runner-up spot although still with an excellent 39pts was William Lott. Tony Barilone took 3rd spot from Tommy White on countback both having shot 37pts.
Ingrid Long won the Ladies Medal and also the Doxford Trophy with a nett 73 in the Silver Division with Helen Kennedy taking the runner-up spot with a nett 74. Betty Galbraith took the Bronze Division with a nett 73 and was runner-up in the Doxford.
As mentioned in last week's newsletter, I made my European Tour debut last week as a caddy for Matt Ford. I've coached Matt for over a decade, so it was an honur to be asked to caddy for him in the first two rounds of The KLM Open.
I had a fantastic few days out there, so click here to view what I got up to...
Ashley Roberts came along to the performance centre convinced he couldn't ever use a driver. In fact he hasn't used a driver for years as he feared a slice so much, and therefore only used a 3 wood off the tee.
However this limited his game for several reasons:
- the strike was inconsistent due to the small size of the club head and need to use a very small tee
- his current 3 wood generates around 4900 rpm of backspin when used from a tee peg (far too much for a golfer with his swing speed), which massively reduced his distance (particularly into the wind)
- he was also using a shaft which was too flexible for him, thereby reducing his consistency
Modern Drivers dwarf fairway metals with heads as large as 460cc -effectively doubling striking surface (you wouldn't play Tennis with a Ping Pong Paddle would you?) They can also be personalised in a great many ways to suit virtually any golfer.
To reduce Ashley's fear of a slice we chose a TaylorMade M1 driver - this has two adjustable weights which can be placed in the heel (to reduce slice) and to the rear (to maximise forgiveness). The club was also adjusted to 'upright' which tilts the Club Face slightly left also encouraging a draw.
A 9.5 degree modern Driver head reduced Ashley's spin rate by around 2000 rpm and ball speed increased by over 8 mph - resulting in over 30 yards in extra distance.
To fine tune the club, a shaft to suit Ashley's swing speed and tempo was selected to complete the process. I think results speak for themselves...
As you can see in the picture, the blue circle shows the dispersion and distance at the start of the session, and the far smaller red circle shows the gains in distance and the reduction in dispersion between each ball.
To see how we can improve your game please ring us on 02084605540, or click here to get in touch.
With just two weeks until the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine seven European Ryder Cup team members tee it up, and will be keen to find their best form at this week's Open D'Iltalia in Milan. The Ryder Cuppers on the start sheet for this event are: Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Danny Willett, Chris Wood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Andy Sullivan and Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Click here to read more.
