Greetings from John Murray
Moray Golf Club - PGA Golf Professional
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.
I was sad to hear of the passing of former Ryder Cup captain and founding father of the European Tour, John Jacobs aged 91.
Although Jacobs competed in the 1955 Ryder Cup and captained two sides during his career, it was coaching that Jacobs will best be remembered for.
He was widely acknowledged as the father of modern golf coaching and I personally loved his simple approach to coaching.
Jacobs said "The sole purpose of the golf swing is to create a correct impact. How that is done is of no consequence as long as the method employed allows you to repeat it"
Now is the time to start getting your game in shape before the start of the 2017 season. Come and see us for a chat about your game and see what we can do to shave strokes of your game this year.
Look out for our FREE Members Golf Clinics this year. We want to help our members to improve their games and have more fun on the golf course! Further details will be available in our Diary of events calendar which will be available next month.
On the other side of the pond, Americas Justin Thomas has started the season in style with back to back victories in the Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open where he also became the youngest player ever to break 60 at just 23 years of age. He joins six other players to have shot 59 and did it in style finishing with an eagle on the final hole in Hawaii.
Last weekend saw Britain's Graeme Storm win the BMW South African Open with a playoff victory over world number 2 Rory McIlroy.
Storm won his second European Tour event playing in his 419th event on the tour. It just goes to show how quickly your golfing fortunes can turn around as only 84 days ago Storm thought he had lost his tour card by just 100 Euros. However when Patrick Reed opted not to play in the final series it meant Storm kept his card and a couple of months later he picks up a cheque for 165,000 Euros.
Storm also put into play the new TaylorMade M1 440 Driver which allowed him to hit 71% of fairways and average 301 yards.
Derek and I made our way out onto the course this week to check out the course changes to the 7th of the New Course with a new medal tee and bunkering on the fairway. We also took out the new TaylorMade M1 Driver to give it a go.
Click here to take a look at our video blog.
Winter Cup
Unfortunately Saturdays winter cup was abandoned due to some lying snow cover on a number of holes which meant that we had six temporary greens. However we were still able to get the courses open for golf for those wanting a game.
Check out the difference in the conditions between Friday and Saturday. It's amazing the difference a day can make!
Thankfully the course was fully open again on Sunday and the winter cup went ahead with 39 players taking to the New Course.
Colin Ironside (10) returned a fantastic 41 pts to take 1st place in division 1. Steven Beveridge was 2nd on 38pts (bih) while Stephen Dunbar was 3rd (bih) on the same score.
In Division 2, Archie Jackson took the honours with 41 pts, 5 shots clear of Paul Grant in 2nd place on 36pts with Sarah Harding taking 3rd with 35 pts (bih).
Division 1
Colin G Ironside - 41pts
Steven Beveridge - 38pts
Stephen Dunbar - 38pts
David Johnston - 38pts
Graeme Hamilton - 37pts
Division 2
Archie Jackson - 41pts
Paul Grant - 36pts
Sarah Harding - 35pts
George Sutherland - 35pts
Alan J McWilliam - 34pts
Magic 2's were worth £3.77 to the following players:
I Cardwell, G Hamilton (2), G Yeates, S Dunbar (3), A Jackson & G Sutherland.
Winter Cup Aggregate Scores
The top aggregate scores to date are as follows:
A full list of the winter cup aggregate scores can be found on the club notice board and in the pro shop.
January Sale
We will be running our January Sale in the shop officially starting this Saturday with a minimum of 30% OFF All Winter Clothing including remaining stock of Under Armour and Galvin Green.
We will also have a Clearance rail in the shop with items at 1/2 price so pop in and grab a bargain.
Bill's ball is on the green in an area of casual water. He measures out his nearest position which gives him complete relief and is not in a hazard or nearer the hole. Bill is astounded to discover that this point is off the green. Bill asks Philip "My ball was on the green do I have to play from the fairway?"
Philip agrees that Bill is correct and adds that because his ball was on the green he must place, not drop, his ball and play from the fairway.