John Murray

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.

Pro's news

The course

Despite the main competition season being over, it was a busy week on the course as Kevin and his team micro-cored and top dressed the Old Course greens.

They were then hand cut on Monday which also gives them a nice roll and were already looking and putting much better in the space of a few days.

World Cup Qualifiers

Derek and I survived our trip to Hampden for the match against Slovakia. It was a great atmosphere, especially when we actually scored the winning goal..ok so maybe it was an own goal, but we’ll take it! After toasting Scotland’s win with a small lager, we both retired early to bed and woke up feeling extremely fresh the next morning (lets just leave it at that shall we!).

It's just a shame that once again we couldn't produce the goods in the final must win match against Slovenia. I suppose that’s what we get for being ‘genetically inferior!’

However with a population of only 335,000, Iceland made it through to become the smallest nation to ever play in the World Cup. Iceland's total population is only 1.5 times the size of Aberdeen!

Who wanted to go to Russia anyway?

CaPro Cup

At last

It's finally here, the weekend you’ve all been waiting for...well 24 of you anyway!

The Captain and Professional teams battle it out to win the coveted CaPro Cup Trophy. After some last minute changes the teams have finally been drawn and are as follows:

Professional's Team

Stuart Tatters (+2)
Iain Meggatt (2)
Terry Scholefield (4)
Dave Scott (4)
Michael Jamieson (7)
Mark Atherton (8)
Bob Adams (9)
Kevin Taylor (9)
Gary Woods (11)
Ken Lindsay (12)
Neil Smith (15)
Mick Bradley (22)

Captain's Team

Jake Scott (+1)
Andrew Stuart (2)
Ian Geddes (2)
Donald Fletcher (4)
Mark Quilter (5)
Ken Scott (7)
Stephen Houston (8)
Charles W Stewart (10)
Calvin Moors (11)
George Sutherland (13)
Steve Harding (16)
Derek Ramsay (17)

Team tops will be available in the clubhouse on Saturday morning before the team photos. The schedule is as follows;

Saturday

07.45pm - Coffee & Bacon Roll

08.30pm - Morning Fourball Matches

12.30pm - Soup & Sandwiches

1.30pm - Afternoon Greensomes

Sunday

10.30am - Team Talks (1st Tee)

11.00am - Sunday Singles Matches

4.00pm - Trophy Presentation

Tour news

Alfred Dunhill Links

Back to golf and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship took place over at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews Old courses. There was some fantastic scoring and in the end Tyrrell Hatton won with a -24 total over the 4 days to become the first player to ever retain the trophy. Hatton amazingly played the last 3 rounds with 20 birdies and not one single bogey! England's Ross Fisher was his closest rival, 3 shots behind after finishing with a new course record of -11 (61).

It was also great to see some of Scotland’s elite players close to the top of the leaderboard with Marc Warren (tied 4th), Stephen Gallacher (tied 12th), David Drysdale and Connor Syme (tied 15th)

Syme's 15th place finish was the most impressive for me in only his 2nd outing as a Professional. Syme was sitting at level par with 8 holes to play in his 3rd round, with the cut at -4. A superb -5 for his last 8 holes saw him make the cut and a flawless -6 final round capped off a great start to the young Scot’s professional career. His 15th place finish earned him 50,000 euros and added to his 12th place finish at the Portuguese Masters. Definitely one to watch for the future!

Upcoming events

Quiz Nights - LadyBird Group

Thanks to everyone who came along to the 1st quiz night of the season in aid of the LadyBird Group.

They managed to raise over £300 on the night which was fantastic.

The entry fee is £5 per person and will kick off at 7.30pm.

There will be complimentary 1/2 time sandwiches provided courtesy of the Duffus Inn.

26 October - John Ellwood
9 November - Bill Duncan
23 November - Joe Macleman
7 December - Ian Hamilton
21 December - Pair of Pro's
11 January - Pete McLeod
25 January - John Watson
8 February - Bruce Casburn
22 February - Ian Strong
8 March - John Ellwood

Exclusive winter tee time offers - Scottish Golf

Members of Scottish Golf Clubs are being given the opportunity to play 3 of the country’s most famous Open Championship venues at preferential green fee rates with all proceeds going towards junior golf development in Scotland.

Choose from Muirfield (£300 per 4 ball), Prestwick (£280 per 4 ball) or Royal Troon (£300 per 4 ball).

Check out the scottish golf website to register for the ballot and for further details.

Fitting news

P790 shows impressive results

Despite the poor weather of late, I managed to make it out to the range at the end of a cold, windy afternoon to put the new TaylorMade P790 and M CGB irons to the test.

I used the same shaft and golf balls in the testing and was very impressed with the results.

I was expecting the P790 to be similar to my current P770 although possibly a little more forgiving. However, I gained on average an extra 7mph ball speed and 15 yards carry with this iron. That is a huge gain in distance which I might expect with an iron like M2 but not something that still possesses some appealing player like visuals that I prefer.

The launch monitor data doesn't take account for the wind and so gives us data based on calm conditions. However I really noticed a huge difference when hitting into the strong wind.

The reduced backspin on both P790 and M CGB certainly allowed the ball to fly lower and penetrate through the wind far more successfully which is great for those who struggle playing in the wind or keeping the ball flight down.

I had expected the M CGB to give my shots with the P790 some extra yardage, but it never really materialised and although the M CGB will definitely appeal to someone looking for maximum forgiveness and distance, the P790 was certainly the star of the show for me!

book a fitting >

Demo day

PING Demo Day

We have a PING Demo Day at the club on Wednesday, 18 October between 1.30pm and 5.30pm for anyone interested in getting fitted or just putting their current equipment to the test against the new G400 range.

Click here to book your slot.

Shop news

TaylorMade Ex Rental Sale

We will be starting to sell off our ex hire TaylorMade clubs in the next month. We have a few sets of M2 irons, Drivers, Fairways and Hybrids.

These are all in good condition and give members the chance to get the latest technology at discounts. Prices are as follows:

M1 Driver (All Flexes) -New £429 Ex Demo £250
M2 Driver (All Flexes) -New £329 Ex Demo £200
M1 Fairway (R & S) -New £249 Ex Demo £150
M2 Fairway (R & S) -New £199 Ex Demo £120
M1 Hybrid (R & S) -New £199 Ex Demo £120
M2 Hybrid (R & S) -New £159 Ex Demo £100
M2 5-SW Stiff Steel -New £599 Ex Demo £299

Make Space for this

Let’s face it: winter is on the horizon so there’s a good chance that you’ll get caught in the rain at some point over the coming months. To help your clubs and valuables stay dry - there’s nothing more annoying than soaking wet grips - it’s worth considering this lightweight and waterproof Aqua Space cart bag from BIG MAX for just £199.99.

Learn more here

Club news

Winter Ticket is Back!

Know anyone who is looking to get into Golf or currently playing without a home golf club??…Why not encourage your friends to join for the winter!

6 months of golf between October 2017 - March 2018 on two courses with unlimited golf, clubhouse and practice facilities.

All this for only £130

And if you join as a playing member for the 2018 season we'll deduct the money off your subscription.

Call Steve Grant now on 01343 812018 opt.2

Rule of the week

William and Robert were playing the 8th Old on a very wet Saturday. There was a large area of casual water short of the green. Robert’s 2nd shot was heading that way and the splash confirmed that his ball was in the water. A ball was visible but there was no way it could be retrieved. Robert abandoned the ball and proceeded under Rule 25-1c (ball in casual water not found). Was William in agreement with his actions?

Yes. A player is nor obliged to use unreasonable effort to retrieve a ball in casual water for identification purposes. However, if it would not take unreasonable effort to retrieve a ball in casual water the player must retrieve it. If it turns out to be the players ball and he elects to take relief he must proceed under Rule 25-1b (relief) otherwise he must proceed under Rule 25-1c.