Easter Bank Holiday weekend is always a busy time at the club with the men playing for the Southern Cross Cups and the ladies playing for the Louis Nalty Trophy. The full results are below and congratulations to the pairings of David Brenes & Gary Bowers along with Lyn Baimbridge & Christine Edgar who won the respective competitions.
Southern Cross Cups
Friday
Winners: A Broughton & N Greenwood 46 pts
Runners-up: W Silk & D Dunnett 45 pts*
Saturday
Winners: D Brenes & G Bowers 46 pts
Runners-up: B Wardrope & N Starmer 45 pts
Sunday
Winners: G Kemp-Jones & J Buckland 43 pts*
Runners-up: P Toogood & C Taylor 43 pts
Louis Nalty Trophy
Winners: L Baimbridge & C Edgar 41 pts - £17 sweep each
Runners-up: L Martinez-Gray & J Skynner 40 pts - £10 sweep each
Junior Team Challenge
Wednesday, 12 April saw the season opening Sundridge Park Junior Team Challenge, SPGC welcomed teams from Knole Park, Chislehurst, Chelsfield Lakes, Dartford and Langley Park to take part in a foursomes betterball pairs competition. Each team consisted of 6 players (3 pairs) with each pair playing foursomes amassing stableford points.
Sundridge Park ran out winners with a great score of 99 points with all 3 pairs achieving 30 points or more, which in foursomes is very impressive. The team consisted of Ellis Cameron, George Moore, James Sawkings, Louie Cameron, Charlie Reynolds and Finley Williams. The win saw the team retain the title they won last year. Next year we will be looking for the three-peat.
Wedge Fitting
Did you know that 65% of all shots played are within 125 yards? And did you also know that 45% of all shots (non putts) are played with a Wedge?
These stats illustrate an opportunity to shave strokes from your game by ensuring your scoring clubs are correctly fitted for your game.
Kevin Joiner did exactly this earlier today whilst in the studio, making use of our superb new Wedge ANALYZR from Cleveland. This fascinating device showed exactly how Kevin delivered the club, on a shallow angle of attack with moderate shaft lean, and would suit Wedges with a low bounce angle.
The system also looks at the correct number of wedges to carry (3 instead of his current 2) and the appropriate lofts (his maximum loft has moved up 2 degrees from 58 to 60 degrees).
Click here if you would like a wedge fitting.
Shenzhen International
It's the third running of the Shenzhen International at Genzon GC in China this week on the European Tour. A strong field has assembled including the previous two champions, Soomin Lee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Major winner Bubba Watson starts, as do European Tour stars like Tommy Fleetwood and Thorbjorn Olesen and last week's winner Edoardo Molinari.
Bubba Watson will play in this event for a third straight season. The two-time Masters champion finished in a tie for eighth place last year.
"I love the golf course," said Watson. "The course is a good challenge and the finish is pretty nice. The 17th is a par-five where you can try to make an eagle or a good birdie and on 18th, the tee-shot is so tough, especially when it gets windy, crosswind, and you're trying to hit over that water."
The course at Genzon Golf Club, in the Longgang district of Shenzhen was designed by Neil Haworth. He completed a redesign of the original layout and his remodeled creation opened for play in 2009. The course features a number of water hazards and many of the holes are tree-lined. This is a track that will require accuracy and a strategic approach.
This is just the third running of the Shenzhen International, Kiradech Aphibarnrat was the champion in 2015 and, last year, Soomin Lee of South Korea came out on top after a weather delay forced the event to a Monday finish.
The weather forecast this week is rather dodgy again. Rain and some stormy conditions look probable - Expect more delays this time round.
Player watch:
Tommy Fleetwood - He's been playing some great stuff this year - Winner in Abu Dhabi and a runner-up in the WGC-Mexico Championship. He will rightly be among the favourites this week.
Li Haotong - The home player has won in China before; last year's Volvo China Open. The 21-year-old came close to winning this event as a 19-year-old back in 2015, finishing second to Kiradech Aphibarnrat, so he obviously enjoys the course.
Victor Dubuisson - The talented Frenchman showed good form last week in the Trophee Hassan II, where he finished in a tie for fourth. He'll look to build on that result in China.
Click here to keep an eye on this week's leaderboard.
