Hello golfers, 

I hope you are all well and have been well golfed this week. So we reach Wimbledon fortnight and the weather looks like it's going to be fantastic! Having all this lovely weather is great but it would be nice to have a bit of overnight rain to freshen up what is looking a very brown golf course at the moment. Despite the use of the irrigation system at night the warm weather is sapping the life out of the grass! I guess in some ways it's a nice problem to have though!




Shirt Trade-In still on - We are still running our brilliant shirt trade-in promotion. The idea is very simple, you bring in an old shirt and in exchange we give you £10 OFF any new shirt, you cant say fairer than that, can you?! Come and look at our superb range of shirts now!

Limited Edition Titleist NXT packs - We have currently got a superb offer on some limited edition Titleist NXT golf ball packs. The offer is two dozen balls and you also receive in the pack a FREE cap and a FREE divot tool, whilst stocks last so be quick to reserve yours!

Midweek Stableford - Sally Balchin was last week's star performer as a brilliant 45 points secured top spot in the Midweek Stableford and a cut in handicap to her lowest ever! Well done, Sally. This week it was Mark Gardner who topped the leaderboard with an excellent 41 points, well done!

Men's Medal - Vince Floyd was the winner of Division One in the Men's Medal with a nett 67,  two ahead of runner-up Steve Allen. Tim Russell is a man on form and his brilliant nett 64 took Division Two's honors with Charlie Yates taking second place on count back with nett a 69. Three players had to be separated on countback after recording nett 68s in Division Three, but in the end it was Malcolm Douglas who pipped Matt Lee and Adrian Evans to top spot. 

Ladies Stableford - Kim Paley returned 38 points to top Division One in the Ladies Stableford on Tuesday with Maggie Thomson runner-up with 35. Division Two was won by Judith Saxby beating Jo Horton in to the runner-up spot. Pauline Robinson and Linda Kingdon had to be separated by countback in Division 3 after both had superb 39 points.




Game Improvement Champions Selected

As you will be aware, a couple of months back I asked for volunteers to put their name forward with a chance to be my Game Improvement Champion. The idea is that I work very closely with a golfer over an eight week period with a view to making as big as an improvement as I can to their game. We had a brilliant response with over 60 of you wanting to be part of this unique venture. Thank you to everyone who put their name forward and sorry for those who were not selected this time put please look out in the future as I will be certainly be offering the opportunity again. Due to the high numbers of interest I decided to choose two people, one female and one male. The lucky candidates were Kim Hurley and John Simon. This week we hear from John about what he would like to achieve from our time together.

Hi, my name is John Simon and I have been a member at Teign Valley Golf Club for just over a year. Being a relative newcomer to the club it was a real shock to be chosen Darren's 'Game Improvement Champion' and I hope to gain a great deal from the experience. I played competitive hockey for over twenty years, with the odd round of golf during the summer months, but due to injury stopped playing in 2007. After giving cycling a go for a few years I took up golf last spring and have really enjoyed being a member at the club due to its friendly atmosphere and a course that is challenging but enjoyable to play.

I am hoping to get some consistency into my game and not having had any lessons in my life, hopefully correct some basic mistakes that seem to plague my game at those all important shots! Whether the thinned chip around the green or the tricky ball above my feet I look forward to working with Darren to correct these problems and use his wealth of experience as a PGA Pro to improve other areas of my game. Best wishes and I look forward to keeping you up to date with my progress.

Be sure to open up future newsletters to learn about Kim and John's progress.

The bunker splash shot 

Don't let that bunker shot ruin your scorecard. When in soft sand make sure when addressing the ball you dig your feet into the sand, this helps to get below the level of the ball enabling more sand to be potentially taken. The ball should be positioned one ball forward of middle in the stance and a nice wide base created. The body and feet should be aiming just left of target with the blade of the club being opened slightly, ensuring it is pointing at the flag. This slightly open position helps the player to slide the blade under the ball, 'cutting' slightly across helping to take lots of sand with maximum loft retained. The player needs to make a very positive swing into a full follow through - the more positive you are the more sand that can be taken helping the ball to just 'pop' from that greenside trap. 

Bunker technique is very easy to get wrong so it is very worth booking a lesson to saves those key shots. Get in touch here.


Coaching deal - 2 x 30 minute short game lessons for £35 
Upcoming events - Sat 4 Jul - Juniors 9am-12noon (group depending) 
Events soon to come - Juniors on course and Beginner adult group sessions