US Open

It's time for the second Major of the year, the US Open. This year it's being played at Pinehurst No. 2, which is an absolutely awesome golf course, having last held the US Open in 1995 when Michael Campbell was crowned champion. This was also the venue in 1999 when Payne Stewart held off Phil Mickelson by making a great par on the 72nd hole. We'll see the legend that was Payne Stewart mentioned a lot this week and rightly so, as he was both a fantastic player and a real gent off the course.

The betting is now out and it looks like Rory McIlroy is the early favourite at 10/1, with world #1 Adam Scott just behind at 12's. I recon one of the youngsters is in with a chance and I'm putting my money on Jordan Spieth, who is an outstanding talent.

Odds to win 2014 US Open

Rory McIlroy 10/1

Adam Scott 12/1

Phil Mickelson 14/1

Bubba Watson 18/1

Henrik Stenson 25/1

Jordan Spieth 25/1

Justin Rose 25/1

Matt Kuchar 25/1

Jason Day 28/1

Update on Jonny's recovery

Jonny is on his road to recovery, but it's looking like Friday 20th June before he's back to work and will only be doing a restricted diary of lessons during his first week or two back at work. For anyone who's looking to book a lesson with Jonny, please just call the shop on 01738 440678 and we'll take a note of your number and get Jonny to give you a call on his return.

Niall McGill's FlightScope Academy - Learn like the Pro's

If you are committed to improving your golf and you want to work on your game like the top pro's do, then you need to book a lesson or series of lessons with Niall. My coaching is all based around what happens at impact and how to control the flight of the golf ball. 

I offer a single 1 hour Flightscope lesson for £50 , or you can book a series of 3 lessons for £135 or 5 lessons for £199 . Call us on 01738 440678 to book your lesson or click here

From late July through to end September, I'll also be running a series of half day clinics. These clinics will run for 4 hours, will have a maximum of 4 players and will cost just £75pp . Each clinic will have a subject matter like, Controlling ball flight (shaping and trajectory control), Wedge play or Getting the most out of your driver. I should have a schedule of events ready to publish in next weeks newsletter

ClubGolf Camp

We have signed up to run a ClubGolf Camp from Monday 21st - Friday 25th July. The camp will run daily from 10am - 2pm and will be a fantastic way for you budding young golfer to work on their game. The first 4 days will be spent at the golf centre and on the final day we will be getting out on the course.

This is also a great value camp at just £43 per person for 20 hours of coaching. Registration is made through ClubGolf and you can book and find out more by clicking on the link below.

Find out more by Clicking Here.

i25 Iron fitting with Flightscope

Forbes Davidson

Forbes came in to see me earlier this week for a new set of custom fit irons. After trying a selection of different irons models and tracking the ball flight data on Flightscope, Forbes settled on PING's new i25, which has been a very popular choice of iron this year.

Forbes has been using a set of 'off the shelf' Mizuno MX series irons, which are fitted with 'senior' flex graphite shafts. Forbes is swinging his 7 iron at 88mph, which is only 2mph slower than the Tour average, but he's been using a flex of shaft speed rated to a clubhead speed of around 20mph slower. I like it when I get this type of situation, as I know that I can make a real difference to a player's game by fitting him into properly suited clubs.

So, what happens when you use a shaft that is both too light and flexible for your swing style and speed?

• Shaft kicks early, producing a steep angle of attack
• A shaft that is too light can cause a casting action from top of backswing, resulting in 'out to in' swing path.
• Too flexible a shaft causes excessive forwards bending of the shaft, therefore increasing 'spin loft' which determines the spin rate.
• Too light a shaft causes tempo issues and results in an inconsistent strike pattern on the clubface.

All of these issues will result in a player being very inconsistent with strike, distance control and direction (not a great combination!)

The pictures below show data from Forbes' own 7 iron and the PING i25 that I fitted him for. The final specification of the irons are as follows

• PING i25 " CFS steel shaft X-Flex
• ½ inch shorter
• 0.75 degrees flat lie angle
• 2 extra layers of tape under the grip

Forbes current club produced too steep an angle of attack at 6.4 degrees downward. The excessive forward flexing of the shaft produced too high a loft of 30 degrees.

Forbes current club produced a carry of 168yards, but was very inconsistent due to his shafts not being able to cope with his swing speed.

The i25's shorter, heavier, X flex shaft has swallowed the attack angle by 2.6 degrees and reduced the dynamic loft by 1.4 degrees, due to less forward flex at impact.

The new set up, has also increased Forbes carry by 8 yards, but much more importantly he was hitting the ball much more consistently due to the stability of the clubs set up.

I'm now fully expecting to see some good scores on the board for Forbes.

If you'd to be fitted for a new set of irons using Flightscope, then a 1 hour fitting session costs just £40 and we'll give you 50% of that back if you spend over £100, or 100% back when you spend over £300. Call us on 01738 440678 to book your fitting. Or click here to book your custom fitting session.



Driving Range Membership

Improve your golf and Lower your scores, with a Driving Range Membership. You can hit balls every day of the week as a range member and can really start to work on your game. Golf required lots of repetitive practice and a range membership could be exactly what you need!

Monthly Direct Debit 
This is for the golfer who understands that in life, you get back what you put in. You get 'nothing for nothing' and to reap the benefits, you have to do the ground work. Once you start regularly working on your game, you'll find that you really start to enjoy hitting balls. Golf on the range doesn't have to be boring; we've got lots of practice ideas to keep it interesting! 

Annual Advance 
If you pay for a year in advance, you can have the absolute biggest saving. At just £199 per year, you'll be paying just £16.58 per month or 54.5 pence per day for your golf practice…. Now that's great value golf! 

3 Months Advance 
This is a great option for the golfer who wants to do some serious work on his game over a short term period.

If you're interested in our any of our driving range memberships, then pop in and have a chat with one of our Pros, or give us a call on 01738 440 678 . 

Custom fitting at Noah's Ark 

We love to help our clients find their new golf clubs, and we're absolutely committed to finding you the very best clubs for your game. 

 

Hybrid Golf

The hybrid club is by far the most versatile club ever to hit the golf market and today I will show you some of the ways you can put it to use.

Firstly a straight forwards fairway shot. Place the ball a 2 or 3 inches inside your left heel and play with a smooth swing. This will produce quite a high soft landing ball flight, ideal for carrying any trouble in front of the green.

You can also try placing the ball further back in your stance and playing a chaser. Your ball will now fly much lower and scamper up the fairway, unaffected by the wind.

These clubs are sometimes called "rescue" clubs for a reason, as they can be played from almost any lie. If your ball lies in the rough then try playing your hybrid club, as its small head will cut through the grass but as it is larger than an iron it creates more momentum and will not tangle up too much.

You can also play it from a fairway bunker, as its wide sole it will not dig into the sand but has enough loft to safely clear the lip.

Oh, it's also great for playing a wee chip and run from the side of the green.

Your hybrid is your friend, use it wisely and often!

 

Gent's and Ladies coaching classes 
We run a Gent's class every Tuesday morning and a ladies class every Thursday morning. Each class runs from 10.30-11.30 am and are great value at just £8 per session, which includes 100 range balls, 1 hours coaching and a coffee after. If you'd like to book into one of these classes then please give us a call on 01738 440 678 .