How can someone shoot 65 in the final round of The Open to finish on 17-under-par and lose by three?! Well, Phil Mickelson did exactly that because the brilliant Henrik Stenson shot a closing 63 for 20-under-par. Amazing!
A lot of talk was about how good they both played, but let's look at their equipment. Both golfers are Callaway Staff players meaning they use a variety of new (and old) Callaway products. As Garon Park is a Callaway ambassador and stockist, you can use the current clubs Henrik and Phil played so well with!
Henrik - XR16 driver, Mack Daddy 3 wedges, Odyssey #7 putter
Phil - XR16 woods, Forged irons, Mack Daddy 3 wedges, Odyssey Versa #9 putter
We have the perfect day coming up for you try out and be fitted for these amazing clubs for FREE, with no obligation. Come along on Friday, 5 August between 1:00pm and 5:00pm to our Callaway Demo Day. Book an appointment with Callaway's fitting expert here.
Sara Bailey did get the right penalty from last week's teaser (2 shots), but not the right rule number, however she still wins a lesson for having the best answer. Here it is...
'Player A tees up his ball on teeing ground and notices an overhanging branch that was interfering with his swing. Player A then broke off the branch because he said the ball was not yet in play. Player B questioned his action.'
Player A would be penalised two shots for a breach of rule 13-2 (improving lie, area of intended stance or swing or line of play). Another one coming your way next week.
Captains' Day - Sun 17 Jul
We had a brilliant day with over 80 players attending in glorious weather. The scoring was great with Roy Jury winning the Captain's Prize with a fantastic 44 points (-2 gross front nine off 13 HC!). Celia Tallon won the ladies prize and Sara Bailey won the nine-hole ladies prize.
Our men's captain Chris Shelley, lady captain Carol Berry and senior captain Graham Purser would like to thank everyone for their support, sponsorship and raffle prizes in raising in excess of £1200 for their charity - Havens Hospice. Also thanks to the senior section for giving up their Sunday for nearest the pin duties. The course prepared by George Grimes and his team was superb and again it looked a pleasure to play.
East #2 - 467/442 yards (par-4/5)
We were saying last week about East #1 being a nice gentle starting hole, well East 2 is anything but!
A huge right-to-left dogleg par-four (par-five for the ladies) with two well placed bunkers on the elbow some 240 yards off tee. There used to be a bunker on the right side (as pictured here) which has now been removed making the bail out a little bit easier. A good drive down the middle can still leave you more than 200 yards to go.
There is a lone bunker on right side of green which can catch a wood shot with a fade. The green itself is a square shape and pretty big in size. Most golfers can take a third pitch shot to reach, if so: when the pin is at the back hit the shot longer than you think.
This hole is stroke index one so don't be too upset with a five.
Learning to use a hybrid club in different situations can be very useful in your golf game. The popular loft and number is 22 degrees (#4) but they start at 16 degrees and go all the way up to 30 degrees. Here are some versatile things these clubs can do:
Replace the long irons from a 5-iron to 2-iron - this trend has been happing for the last few years because hybrids are so much easier to use, especially when a miss-hit occurs
Still get distance out of the rough - when the ball is sitting down below the grass, you can hit a hybrid out quite easily. This can be done with a hybrid that has more loft (25 degree, #5 ) by making an adjustment with your ball into the middle of the stance and then rip through the grass and watch it fly out
Chip with it - a good example of this would be playing East #7 and you are off the green some 20 feet short and right. Imagine the pin being in the back left corner on that back plateau (a distance of 45yds approx). Here, a hybrid could be answer reach that length with very little swing length
If you'd like to have a one-to-one lesson looking at your hybrid, please get in touch here.