Firstly I would like to congratulate the new Mr & Mrs Thorpe on their wedding on saturday. It was a fantastic day enjoyed by their family and friends. They have been having a nice relaxing time in Paris this week. Special thank you to Don Lambert Photography for the photo. To view more of his photography, please click here.
It's been a busy week at the golf club, it started with the English Schools National Championship on Monday with most players having a handicap of 6 or better. Weather conditions were very changeable, strong winds sunshine and sharp showers made scoring tricky. The girls winner was Amelia Willamson from Royal Cromer GC with rounds of 73,73 for 2 over par total and the boys winner was Joseph Bannan from Manchester GC with rounds of 72,73 for 3 over par total.
Next was the Captains Charity Day on Wednesday which was once again a resounding success! Weather was fantastic and so were the scores. On the day they raised in the region of £3000 pounds for charity! Thanks to everyone that supported the day.
Results of captain's charity day
Team of Ann Nicholls, Bob Bellamy, Luigi Mangiello and Pep Liguri Score 92 points
Team of Tom Edwards, Anne Edwards, Pauline Levoi and Lynda Double Score 89 points
Team of Neil Hodgkins, Tim Lee, Paul Rose and John Marson Score 87 points
Team of Linda Gill, Angela Wheeler, Tony Huggins and Jim Wheeler Score 86 points C/B (Congratulations to Angela for a Fantastic hole in one on the 16th)
Team of Dominic Ralfs, Rob Fredericks, Martin Humphries and Tom Bartlett Score 86 points C/B
Open qualifying
I managed to qualify at Luffenham Heath GC on Monday after a roller coaster of a round in blustery conditions. It at least kept the Milton Members which came to watch me play on the edge of their seats. The round included 4 birdies an eagle, two bogeys a double and a triple bogey. Thank you to all the members that came to support me at the event and a big thank you to my caddy Tom Webster who helped keep me calm amongst the drama on the 11th and 16th holes.
Next it is Final Qualifying on Tuesday at Woburn GC on the Marquess course. 72 players playing 36 holes, stroke play, for 3 places in the Open Championship. Andy is going to caddy for me and we will be teeing off for round 1 at 8.45am and round 2 at 2.30pm. We will be competing against a few Professionals you may recognise, Colin Montgomery, Retief Goosen, Robert Rock just to name a few, click here to see all the tee times.
Sat- Adult junior foursomes 2.30pm to 3.45pm
Sun- Early Bird Cup 5am Shotgun start tee open approx. 9.30
Sun- Men's Match Vs Gog Magog 2.00pm to 2.45pm
Mon- Men's Exchange day Blankney 10am to Noon
Tues- Ladies Wright Cup 9-15am to 10.45am
Wed- Visitors Toft Seniors away day 10.30am to 11.45am
Thur- Ladies Cecil Leitch Match VS Northants County 10.30am to 11.45am
Fri- Seniors Match Vs St Ives 8.45am to 10am
Fri- Ladies Match Vs Spalding 10.15am to 11.15am
Ladies Results
Past Captains Results Friday 19th June
1st- Janet Seconde 36 points
2nd- Suzanne Evans 34 points
Hamer Trophy Tuesday 23rd June
1st- Helen Long 40 points Another fantastic score from our Lady Captain
2nd- Marion Cox 39 points
Handicap League Team
The Handicap team lost a tough game away at Wellingborough yesterday. Hard luck everyone I know you have had some very tight games this year. Neil Smith would like to thank everyone for your support in the games this year, it's very much appreciated.
Ball Lottery
Arthur Pitt won the ball lottery with number 27, for your chance to win a dozen Titleist Pro V1s for £1 call into the shop and pick your number.
Tip of the Week
After watching Jordon Spieth winning the Us Open on a dramatic final day, I think we have to talk about mental strength/approach on the golf course, this allows you to play each shot at a time. This is far easier said than done and even the best players in the world can't help feeling the pressure on the final day of a major Tournament. How do you control your mind on the golf course? Well a lot has been published and spoken about the mental strength of the greatest players of all time and how they deal with the pressure of the final day. But how does this relate to you in your weekend swindle or medal?
Well to be quite honest it is no difference apart from the amount of money at stake i.e. Dustin Johnsons first putt on 18 probably being worth somewhere in the region of 10 million dollars. But being able to shake off a bad driver duffed chip or a 3 putt, is what golf is all about. Hopefully most of you have read Bob Rotellas book 'Golf is not a Game of Perfects', in which he talks about bad shots and how to deal with them. Being able to control your thoughts standing over the shot is the biggest key to producing your best scores when it counts.
Not sure this is true ok well try this… whatever you do NOT, I said DO NOT Think of a RED balloon?? So did you think of it? The likely hood is that you pictured a Red Balloon straight away in your mind's eye. So when you stand on the last hole and say to yourself whatever you do don't hit it in the water! You have just given your brain a fantastic image of what you would like it to achieve. You see the problem with your brain is it doesn't process 'don't 'very well. That's probably why I didn't listen to my parent's very much growing up.
What you need first to understand is that everyone including the greats thinks of where they don't want the ball to go but they always give their brain a positive image right before they execute a shot. So try this next time you are faced with a difficult shot that you can't see yourself playing well, ask yourself 'What would a good shot look like here?', Then hopefully you will see a good shot and my tip is play your shot as quickly as you can (without rushing) whilst you have that positive image in your mind's eye.
Hopefully I can take my own advice next week at Woburn.
Happy golfing and enjoy the warm weather Adam & Andy
