The West Hill Pro /Am on Friday was a fantastic success. The course was playing really tough with very fast, true greens and the fieriness of a heathland course in Summer, which when you combine with a stiff breeze, requires ultimate ball control - the perfect test of golf. With some of the best 50 professionals in the South of England playing three professionals tied winning on 68 (1 under par). More practice needed for me as a couple of three putts and a lost ball on the 11th led to a mid-table 74. Greg battled back well to a 75 after making a 7 at the third!

The winning amateurs from Poult Wood near Tonbridge shot an amazing 18 under par to win by 5 shots helped by one of the winning professionals, David Copsey. This year we had a lower number of member's teams than usual so it would be brilliant to see more of you taking part next year. See how you can cope with the greens like lightning and enjoy watching a top South of England professional trying to master our fantastic course. The date for next year's pro/am is Friday 24 June. 

 

Coaching News From The Swing Studio

Jonathan Hewett came for some coaching struggling with a push to the right or a hook to the left. He was suffering with a very common problem of a curved posture which creates a lack of space for the upper body to turn. This results in overuse of the legs in the takeaway in an attempt to help the body to turn better which takes the club away too far on the inside and can also cause a shorter backswing as the legs have nowhere left to turn in the second half of the backswing.

We improved Jonathan's posture and worked on keeping the knees flexed in the takeaway and actually resisting with the legs in the takeaway. So as the club head turns on a gradual arc inside the target line, the arms and chest start to rotate with it and as the chest turns around the spine it gradually pulls the hips and then knees into action. The end result is that there is much more coil in the second half of the backswing as the legs are pulled into action.

This more coiled action does stretch the muscles in the torso, so one tip to help the upper body to turn freely in the backswing is to cock the head to the right and look at the ball out of your left eye a la Jack Nicklaus. Now Jonathan is rotating freely through the ball and hitting much straighter shots just by improving his posture and quietening his legs in the backswing. Click here to book an appointment in the Swing Studio. 

The TaylorMade Fitting Day was a great success for Neil Blick, Ian Jarvis, Kathryn McKimmie and Derek Plumstead. Read about their stories next week. If you would like to cure a problem club or try anything new click here and let us help you play better golf.

For the last two weeks our course manager, Ben Edwards, has been directing his staff to hand water the greens only with no use of the sprinklers. With the use of a moisture management meter he can accurately measure the exact water content within the soil and put exactly the correct amount of water onto the greens to keep the grass healthy.

The soil typically needs moisture content between 12.5 and 25% whereas last winter the first green was at 50% when it was totally saturated (this is the same reading you would get if you put the meter in a cup of coffee!!) So with this careful monitoring many parts of the greens require barely any water, whilst the areas above the new drain lines, which have bed down perfectly, are requiring considerable amounts.

The result so far is that the greens are putting as beautifully as ever. They were running at 10.5 on the stimpmeter for The West Hill Pro/Am on Friday and were unbelievably good.

With the Open Championship just three weeks away The Open Sweepstake has now started. Tickets are £5 each and you will be drawn a player in The Open. If he finishes in the top 4 you could win a share of the £750 of prizes. Come and join in the fun and see if your name appears on The Open Leaderboard. We will do the draw for players on Monday 13 July and announce who everyone has drawn in the newsletter on the first day of the Open Thursday 16 July.

Our Ladies' Captain, Cilla Shaw, was treated to beautiful weather on her Captain's Day last Wednesday. Congratulations to the winner of the day Ilsa Bellion. Here is a picture of all the ladies who attended the lunch and enjoyed a wonderful day.

Congratulations to Kathryn McKimmie who won last weekend's medal with a net 71. Second was Rosemary Wallis with net 72 and third Heather Thwaites with a net 73.

The 7th Round of the Rookie Tour was held at Milford Golf Club on Sunday 28th June. Congratulations to Joe Gould with 35 points who led the scoring for the West Hill entrants. All is still to play for in the 2015 Order of Merit for both Under 12 and Under 14 with the final taking place at the RAC in October.

Sun 28 Jun- Summer Solstice Cross Country Golf. 
Fri 3 Jul- Seniors Frank Williams Final and Stableford 
Sat 4 Jul- RN & RM Challenge Cup Medal 
Sat 18 Jul- Club Stableford 
Fri 24 Jul- Mixed Greensomes Supper Golf 
Sun 26 Jul- Willie Murray Cup 7 club medal 
Mon 27 Jul- Weekday Stableford 
Wed 29 Jul- Captain's Roll Up and Lunch 
Fri 31 Jul- Men's Summer Invitation

Click here to get in touch.