I hope you've all had a fantastic week on and off the golf course and welcome to another exciting edition of the Moray Pro Shop weekly newsletter, bringing you up to date with all the latest news and gossip from within the walls of MGC.

Winter has finally arrived!! 

It's been a cold week down on the links with some very heavy frosts over the weekend and into the start of the week. This has seen full winter greens come into effect for the first time during the off season. As a result, the winter cup was cancelled at the weekend although there were still plenty of hardened souls who took to the course. The one benefit for us was that hand warmers and coffee sales were up for the month....I think Derek, Julieann and I have all been wearing these in the shop this last week too!!!

However, good news is hopefully coming our way this weekend with some much milder weather. Hopefully this will get the ground thawed out and we might get back on full greens and get the winter cup played over the weekend.


 

Moray Secures Scottish Open Qualifier! 

It's finally confirmed that we shall be hosting the 36 hole qualifying event for the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart on the 2nd & 3rd July. 144 players will take to the Old Course to battle it out for 5 starting spots in the Scottish Open the following week and a £50,000 purse during the 36 holes at Moray.

The field will be made up of exempt PGA players plus others either currently employed at a golf club in Scotland, have Scottish nationality by birth, have a father or mother who are of Scottish nationality by birth or have a grandparent of Scottish nationality by birth and are currently deemed to be of Scottish nationality under the PGA membership system.

It's sure to be a great week for the club and the local area, and will no doubt help spread the word further afield as to what a special place we have here in Lossiemouth which can only be a good thing for the future of the club.

In the world of golf, Darren Clark led the European team to a convincing 18.5-5.5 demolition of the Asian side in the EurAsia Cup. The event was seen as a dress rehearsal for the Ryder Cup later this year in America with Clarke getting a chance to try out some possible pairings for later in the year. One of the successful duo's of the event were Andy Sullivan and Shane Lowry who would be favourites to repeat their partnership should they both qualify for the team at the end of September.

Talking about the Ryder Cup, watch this space as I'm hopefully going to be running a Ryder Cup style event on Ryder Cup weekend which is sure to be a great event if all goes to plan! I am just trying to finalise a few details and hopefully I will have some news on this and a number of new events the shop team and I will be adding to the service offering we provide in 2016.


 

Our first event of 2016 is going to be the return of our popular NIGHT GOLF!! 

We ran this early last year and it turned out to be a great success with everyone who played having a great time on the course regardless of the quality of the golf..... Just the way it should be!!

         

We have ordered more supplies to help light up the Moray fairways, greens and skies! We will be running this event on Saturday, 6 February from 6pm. 

We are looking for teams of 4 players to take part. If you don't have a team let us know and we will do our best to find you one. 

The cost of the event will be £50 per team which basically goes towards the equipment and golf balls (more expensive than a Pro V1!!) and the rest towards some prizes for some team and individual prizes on the night. 

This time we are extending the course to 6 holes which will all be shortened holes (feedback from last time) using the 1st Old, 1st New (2 holes), 18th New (2 holes) and 18th Old.

Call the shop to reserve your tee times from 6pm at 10 min intervals. The format will be better ball (2 from 4 scores). Torches may be used on the course but should not be used during a shot to illuminate the golf ball! (that would be too easy!!).


Traditional Burns Night Supper 

This weekend's Burns Supper is a sell out and is sure to be a fantastic night for everyone going along. I will be there as usual, however this year thankfully not on the top table so I can relax and enjoy the evening this year! 

Hopefully I will remember to take some good photos on the night to share with you all in next week's newsletter.


 

January Sale 

We have reduced all our clothing stock in the shop to try and clear some space for the new Spring/Summer ranges which will start arriving over the coming months. Come along and grab yourself a bargain!!

We also have a couple of great offers on Motocaddy S1 and S3 Electric Trollies. Buy an S1 Lithium trolley (£449) or S3 lead acid (£399) and get a FREE Pro Series Cart bag (white/red only).

Click here to find out more about this offer.


 

Bonus Ball Lottery 

While things are a bit quieter in the shop we are running a couple of bonus ball draws in the shop. 

Our first couple of options are a Titleist 915 Driver at £5.50 per ticket and a PING DLX Cart Bag (white) at £3 per number, so you can choose what you fancy having a go at!!

Once we have sold all the numbers 1-59, the person to have the bonus ball in the next lotto draw (Wed or Sat) will win the prize. If these prizes are not your cup of tea then don't worry, we will allow the winners to exchange their prizes for something they need. However prizes cannot be credited to accounts to be used at a later date. 

As the shop is quite quiet during January/February we have started up a new Facebook group called "Moray Bonus Ball Golf Lottery" so members and friends of Moray Golf Club & Pro Shop can have a go from the comfort of their home. 

So if you're on Facebook please click here and join the group (It's FREE).

Once you are a member, we will add you into a FREE prize draw if you add 5 golfing friends, and if you buy any 2 squares in total from our opening offers you will go into another prize draw for a dozen Pro V1 balls. 

You can either pay in the shop or via paypal for any numbers you want to purchase.

Good luck...


 

Jimmy & Willie had both overshot the 1st green and ended up 3inches apart in the back bunker with Willie furthest from the hole. Jimmy's ball was in a footprint. He was asked to mark and lift his ball as it interfered with Willie's stroke. After Willie had played, Jimmy's marker was nowhere to be seen and much to his delight neither was the footprint. 

Is Willie permitted to rake the bunker? 

How does Jimmy proceed with his next stroke? 

Willie is permitted to rake the bunker and as Jimmy knew the original lie of his ball he must recreate it, (i.e. recreate the footprint), as near as possible in its original spot and his ball must be placed in that lie.