Welcome to this week's newsletter, bringing you the latest news, events and offers from here at The Blackwood GC. We hope you're having a great week on and off the golf course. Enjoy this week's read! |
Course update
This week the greens have been hollow tined, this is something that can look untidy and make the greens bumpy for a period of time but it’s an essential part of our course maintenance programme and it’s done to improve the greens for next season.
What is hollow tining?
It’s the removal of cores of turf from a playing surface. The cores are ejected, swept up and removed. They make excellent compost. When completed, a smaller mass of soil will occupy the same area of green/tee/fairway.
Why has it been done?
Course traffic causes the ground to become compacted and hardened, this means drainage is less efficient and the grass’s roots are prevented from absorbing oxygen. Hollow tining allows the compacted turf to expand, and air and moisture to be more easily absorbed.
The coring also helps address the problem of thatch, thatch is a layer of grass stems, roots, and debris that settle and accumulate over time. A thin layer of thatch is acceptable but too much thatch will hold water like a sponge.
Tining removes accumulated fibre in the grass’s root zone. It allows for the exchange of a poor soil for a better one through top dressing. That’s why the greens are covered in sandy top dressing immediately after they’re cored.
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Shop offers
- Buy any TWO wedges and receive a FREE one-hour short game lesson plus a sleeve of balls - Buy any TWO DOZEN golf balls and receive a FREE FootJoy glove - Buy any putter this weekend and receive a FREE 45-minute putting lesson plus a sleeve of balls |
PING Autumn/Winter clothing |
Titleist TS range
Have you tried the New Titleist TS2 and TS3 metals? Titleist have returned to the darker finish on their driver after the 917 grey finish wasn’t as popular as previous models.
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The sleek look and finish of the TS Model has definitely caught the eye of many a golfer since its launch. I hit a few shots myself with one and really enjoyed the return to a more traditional pearl shaped head on the TS3, definitely worth a try.
Click here for more information.
We have demo clubs in stock for testing on the range or course. and custom fitting appointments available.
Call us on 028918 52706 or click here to book. |
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Winter Packages How is your golf shaping up? With winter approaching this is the perfect time to review your season and build a programme with a coach to help make 2019 the best season yet! We are happy to build packages to suit all golfers needs covering all aspects of your game. Below is an example;
- November - March
- Swing Assessment (45mins)
- Short Game Assessment (45mins)
- 5 x 1 Hour Coaching
- Video analysis on Trackman Included
- Skills tests and drills provided to allow you to work on your game away from the coaching sessions
- Invitation to three winter coaching away days including lunch and a round of golf at a links venue with a PGA Professional*. £175 *Rate to be confirmed and first come first served basis*
To book call us on 028918 52706 or click here to book. |
Tuesday Tips
Starting November, 6 we have the return of our Tuesday Tips sessions, this is group coaching on a first come first served basis. I will have TrackMan set up in one of the bays on the range and will be available for quick tips between 8:00pm - 9:00pm each evening. Cost is £5 per person (balls not included) This is ideal to get a quick tip to work on over the winter and start to develop the correct habits for the season ahead. To sign up please get in touch here. |
Tips of the week
Are you struggling with an out to in swing path?
Use cones in the positions below and swing through them hitting the ball to start to shift your swing path more to the right, this will stop that weak glancing blow on the ball.
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Putting issues
I hear a lot of people complain that they don’t hole their fair share of putts, take a look at the putt conversion rates from the PGA Tour and maybe understand that even the best players aren’t holing all the putts all the time.
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Winter is the ideal time to work on basic fundamentals of a sound putting stroke as this can be done indoors on a carpet floor or basic putting mat. To learn the fundamentals and some drills to improve your stroke get in touch here. |
Junior Halloween Camp
Here at The Blackwood we are running a Junior Halloween Camp from Wednesday, 31 October - Friday, 2 November. Each day will run between 10:00am - 2:00pm, with the cost of the camp being £30 per child.
There is an optional FANCY DRESS on the Friday, with a prize for the scariest golfer.
To book please call 028918 52706 or click here. |
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Prize Night Dinner
Our End of Season Prize Night Dinner will be held on Saturday, 17 November at the Nineteen restaurant.
The event will get underway at 7:30pm. For the full menu click on the picture below.
The cost is £20 per person, with all winners expected to attend to receive their prizes.
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Winter League format
- £20 entry fee be paid by Sunday, 2 December.
- Teams to be drawn, one low handicap, two mid handicap and one high handicap.
- Team (4 players) and Individual competition will run every Fri/Sat/Sun
- Best 3 out of 4 scores each week. Then the best six out of nine for overall team results at end of Winter League.
- Weekend Prizes
- Two sections
- 1st and 2nd and twos as well as a hole in one prize fund paid out to anyone who has a hole in one over the nine weeks.
- Midweek Prizes
- Prizes to be paid in accordance with numbers that play.
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Upcoming event
Wednesday, 7 November - BBQ and tips from the Professional team. Teams drawn on the night with a brief introduction of the Winter League format. £10 per person.
We hope this will be a keenly contested Winter League. It begins 7,8, 9 December takes a break for Christmas and New Year’s Stableford, resumes 4,5,6 January and finishes February, 17 2019.
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Double balls per pound
Throughout the winter months we are running Happy Hour on the Driving Range. Between 5:00pm - 6:00pm, Monday - Friday you can double your balls per pound. An offer you must take advantage of!
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Moliwood go to battle The European Tour will be hoping to match the excitement of the PGA Tour’s finale, with the Race to Dubai close to reaching its season-ending climax. Fresh from their exploits in the Ryder Cup, the ‘Moliwood’ pairing of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood are busy occupying the top two spots, with Molinari holding a 1.4 million point lead over Fleetwood, who triumphed in the Race to Dubai last year. Also in contention are Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy, with the former looking to prove that his Ryder Cup display is well and truly forgotten. Reed will be more at home in the arid conditions than he was at Le Golf National, so he could be one to keep an eye on. It should be a great ending to what has been a memorable season. |
Change for the better Double hitting is a bone of contention for golfers, as it can be difficult to tell when a playing partner has hit the ball twice. The current rule for double hitting (14-4) states that if a player strikes the ball more than once during a stroke, the player must count the stroke and add a penalty stroke for two strokes altogether. However, with the new rules of golf coming into play on 1st January 2019, Rule 10.1a will state that if the player’s club accidentally hits the ball more than once during a single stroke, there will be no penalty. This is down to the fact that as the double hit was not the intention of the player, it was deemed unfair for the player to be penalised. |
The proposed changes to the Rules of Golf are less than three months away so we thought we'd look at one introduction which will put your mind at ease when you find yourself in a tricky situation within a bunker... |
You may not be aware but under the current ruling, you cannot take relief outside the bunker once you've already made an attempt to play the ball from inside. However, under the proposed changes (19.3b), and for two penalty strokes, you will have the additional option of taking relief outside the bunker by dropping a ball back on the line from the hole through where your ball was at rest in the bunker. Phew. |
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