Hi all,
Well what a great weekend it was - firstly the Europeans did it again in giving the Americans a bit of a seeing to and secondly we had yet another hole-in-one during the Ned Smith trophy on Sunday.
The Ryder Cup
Firstly, my own views about the Ryder Cup are slightly mixed. To me it seems the Americans just don't take it that seriously. The European dominance is clearly not an accident - back in the 80s we got fed up of being thrashed and Tony Jacklin got involved. He had already realised what it would take and set about firstly getting Seve back on board and then demanded everything be done top notch and to his requirements. Nothing was left undone and the European team have continued to apply the lessons they learned every two years.
Vice captains are groomed for captaincy, players are consulted and teammates found and worked on months in advance. What Phil Mickelson said in the controversial press conference was basically correct that the last time the Americans really took it seriously was under Paul Azinger in 2008. Yet again this year they have just picked a team and let them get on with it. Tom Watson, as great a player as he was and I'm sure a true gent as well, didn't seem to have the first clue I'm afraid and some of his comments afterwards and during seem to back this up. One article I read quite rightly pointed out that if his insistence that the team merely needed 'to play better golf' then that does away with decades of sporting knowledge and the importance of coaches and managers at all. I honestly hope for the good of the Ryder Cup that they take it much more seriously next time.
Member's Success
However, the biggest event last weekend was clearly Vince (billy) Kohler's hole-in-one at the 16th on Sunday, which it would seem the pro shop had a role in. My first match against Billy was a few years ago and his first shot nearly ended up on the 18th green (sorry Billy) but then he came back to be a one man army for the rest of the round! So am I surprised? Well no until I heard that he had asked Simon for a lesson the previous day mainly because he couldn't play the par 3s! No I'm not joking! Si waved his magic wand (as we do sometimes) and the rest is history. We'll done Billy - show me your watch when it arrives!
Junior News
There was also a fantastic junior match on Sunday during which 11 year old Kieran Stubbs shot an incredible gross 83 off a 19 handicap to beat Sam Robertson by 1 who shot a gross 72 off a 7 handicap. It seems we now have some seriously good juniors coming through again and a section that is growing strongly.
Zac De Souza recently won the handicap event in the junior club championship with a sub 100 round at the age of 8 and Kieran is starting to look like he could be something special if he keeps going the way he is now. Sam has shot on this year and become a very good golfer so we all wait to see just how good they all become.
Shop News
In the shop we've just had some more of the crested winter garments arrive - we have new crested beanie hats (you'll need them soon!) and waterproof caps and hats. Remember we can also supply lots of other makes - we recently supplied a Galvin Green suit and the new Garmin S4 watch so if there's something you're looking for remember to ask me for a price - you'll probably be very surprised!
Good luck to everyone this weekend in the Autumn Meeting!