Hello golfers and a very happy New Year to you all on behalf of myself and the pro shop team! We hope you have a very healthy and successful golfing year in 2016.


 

What a Christmas! 

I must say that both my wife Leah and I had the most amazing Christmas as we delivered the exciting news to family and friends that we are expecting a baby in July! 

We were very fortunate to have our 12 week scan on Christmas Eve which paved the way to announce our exciting news. We are both over the moon and despite a few early health issues, both Leah and baby Evs are doing brilliantly...and for those concerned I am also doing well, thanks!


Big 2016 ahead 

Well what a big year 2016 promises to be! We have the European Football Championships in France in June; the birth of baby Evs in July; the Olympics from Rio in August and the Ryder Cup in America during September. On top of this we have a full golfing calendar both here at the Valley and in the golfing world. I for one cannot wait to get started.


 

Volunteers needed for two projects 

Your pro shop needs you! I am on the lookout for some volunteers to help me with two different projects. Project 1 is being enrolled as a new product tester and project 2 is for a new "meet the member" feature in my weekly newsletter. Read on for more information.


Project 1 - Product Testing 

In the next couple of weeks we will start to receive demo product for all the new hardware out this year. We would like you, the customer, to get involved and help us test the new products out on our GC2 Simulator and give us some honest feedback about the product which we can then feature in the newsletter. We are looking for a mix of golfers, both male and female. If you would like to get involved then please contact me at the pro shop. If anything, this is simply a great chance for you to say you were the first person to try these new products!


Project 2 - Meet the Member Feature 

I think this will be a nice addition to the newsletter as it will be a quick-fire question format allowing people to find out a bit more about the great members we have here at the Valley. The feature will include a picture of the member followed by a brief introduction and then the quick-fire questions and answers such as "what is your favourite shot to hit?" or "how long have you been playing golf?" those kind of questions. If you would like to get involved then please contact me at the pro shop.


 

The bad weather hasn't got to stop you!

Our ladies and teignagers sections didn't let the bad weather beat them this week as we put on some activities for them to beat the weather. The ladies had a group coaching session on our state-of-the-art indoor simulator followed by tea and sandwiches on Tuesday and thoroughly enjoyed their time. The teignagers took part in a Nearest the Pin Challenge on Monday followed by a bacon bap and coffee. They enjoyed it so much that they wanted to do the same again on Wednesday but this time we added in some fun putting competitions as well.

Our indoor simulator is perfect for winter as it allows you to keep grooving your golf through practice or playing on a course no matter what the weather. To book some time on the simulator or chat to us about how you can best utilise the simulator for your golf, please contact us in the pro shop.

Winter tips - Iron advice

In the winter the ground can be softer which means a good strike is key. The key thing to remember is to make sure the hands are ahead at impact to compress the ball. A good way to make sure you aren't causing a problem for yourself before you have made a swing is to focus on the hands being ahead of the shaft at address. The plan from there would be to return them to that position at impact to give a repeatable strike.

Please be aware that the main days I will be coaching are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday between 8am and 8pm. Sessions can be booked on other days if possible, and talked about with me in advance. I will notify of any changes to the days when needed.


Coaching deal - January Special - All sessions booked in January will receive 20% OFF
Juniors - Saturday, 16 January - Junior sessions back between 9am and 12noon