14 years at the helm!

Today marks my 14th year in charge at Noah's Ark Golf Centre. It was September, 11 2001 when my brother Alasdair and I took over the reins at Noah's Ark, having bought the business from David Murchie the professional at Crieff Golf Club. 

I was just a few months back from two years working in the Algarve when the opportunity to buy the Noah's Ark business came up. Having first opened in July of 1997, the first four years saw Steven Harrier and then David Murchie at the helm. When we took over in 2001, we had a plan to develop the business into a family friendly golf centre and with additions like our adventure golf putting course, this has helped us reach our goal.

Now in 2015, Noah's Ark has become a very busy facility where we have introduced thousands of new children and adults to the game of golf. Our family friendly approach remains the basis of our business and will continue to do so in the future. Golf is unique amongst sports as it can be played by all generations together regardless of ability.

We are looking forward to the future at Noah's Ark and have lots of plan in the pipeline to further enhance what we have to offer you.

In celebration of our birthday, we are offering you an extra 10% off everything in store over the coming weekend. This includes an extra 10%  off all sale items and promotions. This birthday promotion will end 5pm Sunday.

  

Birthday Celebration Deals at Noah's Ark Take an EXTRA 10% off all the prices below. 

20% off any 'in stock' golf shoes 
£10 off all Polo Shirts 
£20 off Electric Trolleys 

R15 drivers Now £279 Save £50 
R15 fairway woods Now £149 , Save £30 
R15 rescues Now £119 , Save £30 

AeroBurner drivers Now £179 , Save £50 
AeroBurner fairway woods Now £119 , Save £30 
AeroBurner rescues Now £99 , Save £20 

Snake Eyes drivers Now £79 , Save £100 
Snake Eyes hybrids Now £59 , Save £90 
Snake Eyes irons 4-PW Now £199 , Save £200 

PING i25 irons 4-PW Now £379 , Save £140 (1 set only) No custom fitting available on this set. 

Titleist AP1 irons 4-PW Now £399 , Save £150 (2 sets only) No custom fitting available on this set. 

Titleist AP2 irons 4-PW Now £500 , Save £179 (1 set only) No custom fitting available on this set. 

20% off all 'in stock' Golf Bags 
TaylorMade Project A Golf Balls, Now £20 per dozen, Save £14.95  

Callaway SR3 Tour Golf Balls, Now £25 per dozen, Save £15   




If you'd like to become a member of our driving range, then check out our website, give us a call on 01738 440678 or email info@noahsarkgolf.com   

Practice Plan - Wedge Play

Today I'm going to show you a practice session to help you with your wedge distance and trajectory control. This practice plan is based on hitting a basket of 50 golf balls. Firstly take a few minutes to warm up, stretching and making practice swings, then choose one of you wedges and follow the plan below. 

- 4 balls - making a relatively full swing and aiming at a distant target to complete your warm up and get a feel for the ball. 

- 16 balls - Pick 4 different targets between 20 & 100 yards and hit 4 balls to each starting with the shortest distance. 

- 15 balls - Using the same 4 targets, randomly change target after each shot. 

- 9 balls - Play 3 low flight pitches, 3 standard pitches & 3 lob shots 

- 6 balls - To finish, randomly change after each ball between your 4 targets. 

To get the most from your practice sessions, it is essential that they are properly structured, and that every single ball is accounted for and given 100% concentration. To improve your golf, you are going to have to put some time into your game. 

A driving range membership allows you to hit balls every day of the week, for just £19.99 per month. This is a great value way to work on your game and even when you are short of time, a quick range session will really help keep your game sharp. 

Play Better Golf - The first move

It was a great win for Rickie Fowler in the Deutsche Bank Open, pipping Henrik Stenson by one shot in Massachusetts. Rickie started working with Butch Harmon in April of last year, in an effort to make him a more consistent player, in an effort to contend for the world's top spot. Rickie has come a long way since he played against the Perthshire duo of Wallace Booth and Gavin Dear in the 2009 Walker Cup at Merion and is currently the 5th best player in the world. 

One of the main things that Butch has worked on with Rickie is his first move away from the ball. Butch has helped Rickie take the club away as one movement, meaning less wrist drag and the results are really starting to show. Today, I'm going to show you how to move the club away from the ball to help increase your consistency. 

At address, you should make sure that your arms are comfortably straight and that everything feels like you are in control, without any floppiness. As you move the club away, you should focus on moving your shoulders and arms away as one unit. When you reach waist high, your right forearm should still be visible above your left. 

From down the line, at waist, your club head should be pretty much on line with your hands. A hand dragger like Fowler would tend to have the club head outside the line of his hands and this is something you can monitor with a little practice in front of a mirror.

North Inch Junior Open 

The North Inch Junior Open is being held on Sunday 13th September. The competition is open to all boys and girls under the age of 18 at 1st January 2015, who have an official handicap. This event is part of the Perth & Kinross County's 'Race to Kingsbarns' Championship. Click here to see the draw

If you'd like a late entry into the Junior Open then please call the golf starters box on 01738 636481.



Drainage Works 

We have some drainage works planned on the golf course week commencing 31st August. The works will take five days and during this time the course will be down to 10 holes as due to health and safety reasons the back end of the course will need to be closed whilst the works are completed. For more information please click here.    

Volunteer Days  

We have a few volunteer days organised throughout September, where we'll be performing a number of tasks to help improve the golf course facility. We'd love for you to come along and take part in any of the volunteer days and we'd like to thank you by offering you a free round of golf for every 3 hours of volunteer time you give us. 

Below is a list of the upcoming volunteer dates and the tasks that we will be performing. 
 
Monday, 14 September - Removing Hollow cores from greens 9am-12pm or 12.30-3.30pm 
Tuesday, 15 September - Removing Cores and brushing top dressing 9am-12pm or 12.30-3.30pm
Wednesday, 16 September - Removing cores and brushing top dressing 9am-12pm or 12.30-3.30pm 

Anyone can come along and volunteer (you don't have to be a season ticket holder) and remember, for every 3 hours volunteer time you give us, we'll give you a free round of golf. 

For more information, please click here.