| 12th
July 2007
Greetings from Duncan,
Ch…ch….changes!
A very warm welcome to Dawn Bowden who has recently
joined Katie in Fairways Bar & Restaurant.They
are currently also benefiting from the help of
Ellie Stanbury.
Also this week we have waved
a sad farewell to Head Greenkeeper Roger Langabeer
who is moving onto pastures new after 14 years’ hard
work at Hele Park. Thank you Roger and best wishes
for the future.
Captains’ Day
Hele Park's 2007 Captains' Day was a great success
- and even the sun made an appearance! Congratulations
to the winning team - John Chapman, Jamie MacIntyre
and Tom Steele. Thank you to all who helped with
the organisation and running of the day and helped
make it such an enjoyable day.
The day was made up of a Stableford on the front
9 and a Texas Scramble on the back 9, with lots
of fun along the way! Each player was surprised
to find that they had to play their first shot
blindfolded.
Congratulations
Well done to Hele Park Junior Sam Wallace who
came first in the Devon Handicap Consolation
Cup at Stover Golf Club with the best nett
score. Congratulations also to Neil Vaughan
who played Andrew Holt (15) from Tiverton in
the Glenmuir Best Nett Championships. Although
one down at the turn, Neil managed to come
back and win 3/2. He now moves on to Round
4.
This week I take a look at how much easier it
has become to hit a driver and look at the Tour
Edge GeoMax as an easy-to-hit club. Also, the
recent survey results reveal that over 40% of
you do not carry a hybrid! If you are not aware
of the benefits of the hybrid, please pop into
the shop for more information or come have a
look at the Drivers and Hybrids I stock in my
shop.
Have a good week!
Best wishes
Duncan
GOLF SCHEDULE
Saturday 14 July
Men’s Monthly Medals & Red Bull 1pm
Sunday 15 July
Ladies’ Monthly Medal 1pm
Monday 16 July
Monday Group 1pm
Tuesday 17 July
Seniors’ Club Championship 9.30am
Wednesday 18 July
Ladies’ 9 Hole Stableford 9.30am
Ladies’ Friendly v Looe (H) Noon
Thursday 19 July
Midweek Mixed Stableford – book your own
times
Friday 20 July
Lady Vets’ 9 Hole Stableford
9.30am
Mixed 9H Hidden Teams & Meal – 5pm
Saturday 21 July
Juniors’ Monthly Medal & 9H Stableford – 1pm
A WARM WELCOME …
…To new members Janet Russell and Steve
Joint. We hope you enjoy your membership!
WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK
We’d really appreciate your feedback on
this newsletter. Do you like getting a weekly
copy? What would you like to see less of/more
of? Please email your comments to olivia@heleparkgolf.co.uk.
THE HELE PARK HYBRID OSCARS 2007!
Following our recent online survey you, the customer,
have selected the following as your preferred
next hybrid club purchase.
And…. oh yes…. here he is again
to introduce the winners….. It’s
SuperStu!
Hello golfers! In third place is my personal
favourite – the Mizuno HiFli CLK. A fantastic
looking golf club that’s easy to use (hence
why it’s in my bag!)
In second place the wonderful Wilson hybrid,
as used by top European golfer Padraig Harrington,
who is incidentally my hot tip for the Open Championship
next week.
And… the Hybrid Oscar 2007 goes to
Drum Roll……
COBRA!!!!!!!
Cobra nails it with the DWS Baffler – these
hybrids have to be seen to be believed! They
are most probably the easiest clubs to use, and
are the closest thing to cheating! For those
of you who struggle with your long irons, pop
into the shop and see myself (just ask for SuperStu!)
or any other mere mortal in the shop! Ask for
a FREE DEMO!
SPECIAL OFFER!
Free with every purchase of the DWS Baffler – a
sleeve of 3 Srixon AD333 golf balls.
Thank you and goooooood night from SuperStu!
A Little While Later….
Unfortunately Stuart’s excitement ran away
with him at the after show party
THE MOST PLAYED
BRAND OF HYBRID? ‘NONE’
I had the sense, from looking in golf bags,
that a lot of golfers were NOT playing a hybrid.
I just didn’t realize that it was over
40% of you. Just look at the graph below!
I do not want to try and sell any of you a hybrid
in this mail but I am stumped that the greatest
innovation delivered by the golf club manufacturers
over the last 25 years has been ignored by such
a large group of you.
In fact I’m really tempted to run another
survey to find out why you haven’t put
at least one of these clubs (to replace your
#3 Iron) in your bag. In fact, why don’t
you have two (I bet your #4 Iron is nowhere near
as consistent as you need it to be)?
There are six equipment musts
that will all IMPROVE YOUR GOLF: Check the
loft on your Driver as the modern golf ball
needs a higher launch angle; Make sure you
get your Irons fitted when purchasing a new
set; Get your Grip fitted exactly to your hands
and it will improve your release; Play with
a Gap Wedge (48° PW to 56° is
too big a gap); Match your golf ball to your
game AND FINALLY ‘replace your long irons
with hybrids’.
Which of those is easiest
to do? Which do you think will save you strokes
immediately? Come into the shop and tell me
that you hit your 4-Iron at least 10 yards
further than your 5-Iron, and straight, 90%
of the time. If you can’t
then come into the shop and ask me to help fit
you with the perfect Hybrid for you.
DRIVERS HAVE BECOME SO EASY TO HIT
The comments that I have made on Workability
vs Playability in Irons made me smile when I
thought of the changes in Drivers. I remember
when about 30% of golfers wouldn’t carry
a Driver because they couldn’t use it.
First came larger heads, then came lower and
deeper Center of Gravity placement, and next
we saw larger sweet spots. Easy if use had been
revolutionised over a 10 year period. Everybody
could use a Driver and best of all many of us
had reversed the effects of age and were bombing
the ball further than we could when we were 21
years of age.
The last couple of years have now seen major
efforts made to straighten us out. Whatever you,
and your swing, do with the newest, high MOI
Drivers they are doing their best to hit the
ball straight.
“Geometrics” has been the industry
buzz word of the last twelve months. Some of
the resultant geometric wonders might have gone
too far in their appearance. Others, like the
Tour Edge GeoMax Driver, have managed to exploit
geometric design in a more traditional appearance.
The diagram on the right
shows just how subtle the differences in the
design of the Tour Edge GeoMax are. The grey
shade shows the traditional shape, while the
darker ‘moon’ shows
how the GeoMax is extended. Yet this small change
results in a MOI measurement of 5000 g/cm².
That is more than enough to straighten out any
off-centre ball strikes.
The dagram also highlights
another of the ‘design
rules’ that the governing bodies have imposed.
The ‘Breadth to Face Length ratio’.
I am all for the new technology in Drivers. I
want to see my members and customers enjoying
their golf game. Playing your second from the
fairway beats trying to chip out sideways from
under the branches. But remember: shaft strength
and grip size will also have an impact on how
straight you will be off the tee, so let’s
do the job properly. Come and get fitted.
Have a great week and good luck to all of you
playing this weekend.
Regards
Duncan |
