Hi everyone,

Well it seems that summer has finally left us as those glorious warm days have now been replaced by sweater temperatures and of course, rain! We've had it pretty good though this year so we can't complain too much and I must say the course is standing up to the wetter weather very well.

Help protect our couse

We will get puddles and the odd damp green but I think we all need to remember that this is a clay course and this is the way things are generally in the winter here. If we close the course now when would it open? Moreover, we've all seen how quickly the course recovers in the spring so I don't think we have too much to worry about yet.

Having said that this seems a good time to remind people to respect the course as much as they can at the moment. Keep away from the hole as much as you can when you're on the green and please don't get too close to the greens with trolleys if they're on. If we can all think well and protect the course as much as we can then any damage will be limited to the minimum anyway.

Of course this colder weather brings about the need for warmer clothing and we have just taken delivery of Lambswool sweaters, half zip sweaters and vests from Glenmuir. With Nike and other companies backing out of Lambswool it has meant I have looked at a number of suppliers and it became clear to me that Glenmuir led the way in quality and range, both in colours and styles. You can see items in the shop now and we also have more coming that will be embroidered with the Chestfield logo. Please come in and see the range now. We have aspeacial offer on the range as well while stocks last:

 Buy any Lambswool top and receive a FREE Chestfield logo'd towel

We have also now got a good stock of Srixon balls in as well. This includes a special 24 ball pack of AD333s which we are doing at the ridiculous price of £32.00!!

You will all also know how difficult it is becoming to find our white balls in the tree leaves now so we have a good stock of yellow Srixon Z-Stars, for top ball users, and Titleist NXT Tour S and DT Solos. If you haven't tried them then you will be very surprised as to how much easier it is to find them and as you can now get top balls in yellow there is very little excuse not to try them.

On a note regarding equipment coming next year - I was fitted at the end of last week for the new Nike Vapor irons and woods that are coming early next season, and which I will be stocking. This really is a great range they have brought out. The Pro driver (that Rory McIlroy uses) is a great shape that any player will appreciate although there is an even bigger and easier to hit version as well. Both look and perform superbly and are complimented by a range of fairways and hybrids.

But it is the irons that are probably the biggest improvement as now they have two very good players clubs in the Pro Blade and the Pro-Combo and also a larger headed version that also looks great and performs. We will be getting demos next year so look out for them. I will also be getting my own set in February so please feel free to ask me when they are in the shop (my bag will reside there) if you'd like to try any.

I would just like to finish by clearing up something that some of you may have heard about. I have been asked by St. Augustine's Golf Club to come up with a solution for their shop. That means, in simple terms, that I will stock the shop and provide staff but I will not be involved there myself. As far as Chestfield is concerned you will see no change whatsoever so unlucky if you thought you'd got rid of me!!

It actually gives you some advantages as it does mean you will see new stock more regularly as we can rotate it and it gives us, to some extent, more buying power. So the situation is actually very similar to the new catering team that we now have at Chestfield who also provide the service at Faversham. I just want everyone to be assured that nothing will affect the way things are at Chestfield so you will still see me, Stevie and Warren (Trev or Tune as he is now asking to be called!!) every day. With that I'm off on my proper hols (I don't consider golf abroad as a holiday - it's work!!!) to Egypt so see you all in a week.