Gareth Hardy

Hi folks,

Well, another week in isolation has passed. I don't know about you, but I've had a fairly eventful week this week. I started off this week looking for some new domestic help, because clearly my wife does not know that in order for one of my new Footjoy shirts to be clean, the entire shirt has to be inside the washing machine....

Thank you to each and every one of you that have been in touch this week. Whether it's been to put some money on your account, buy a lesson or place an order with us for when we open the shop back up. I cannot express my gratitude to you all on a platform like this. It really has shown me how much Prestwick St Nicholas and its members mean to myself, my family and my staff in these tough times.

Now that the more serious stuff has been said, sit back, relax and have a good read of this week's newsletter, a few funny moments in here to keep all our spirits up.

Gareth

Competition news

In last week’s newsletter I started the NHS bonus ball draw. Well, what can I say....it has been a roaring success and I am extremely excited to announce that we have already raised over £500 for the NHS and also have over £500 worth of prizes to be won. I cannot thank you all enough for supporting such an important cause at a very important time and no I 'm not talking about the proshop cause! hahaha

I am going to let the draw run for another week or so as I still think that there are members who have either missed last week’s newsletters or would still like to enter. Once I close the draw, I will be hosting a video draw for the prizes and once we get back to work, I will be taking the cheque to the relevant people. Thank you to all of you that have taken part to date!!!

If you would still like to take part please contact me on garethhardygolf.7@yahoo.com with how many numbers you would like to purchase and I will supply bank details to enter. Numbers cost £5 each or 5 numbers for £20.

Coaches Corner

Well, some great videos in this week for my 'lockdown golf challenge' everyone. Well done to all who have taken the time to get them across to me. Don't stop them coming.

Please send your videos with your name to:
garethhardygolf.7@yahoo.com

Click here to watch Gary McMeeking

Click here to watch Greg Watson

Click here to watch Jay Houston

I also managed to have a video lesson on Zoom this week with young Dylan who continues to work hard on his game during lockdown. Albeit he does have a great little set up in the back yard to keep things going. Well done Dylan.

Custom fitting

It is in these times that you sit at home, start searching everything golf and bursting to get out and play. Don’t let that be the reason you go online and purchase a club that you have never hit or been fitted for!!! You are going to more than likely waste your money. Be patient! Come and see us once we are back to work for a custom fitting session and you will walk away with the correct thing for you.

Please also remember that if you are looking to buy something that you can contact me, and I will try to either price match or try to beat the price of the product you’re looking for. Patience is key in times like these, impulse purchases are purchases that you will often regret and more importantly, you can’t get out and practise as such or hit balls on a range so hold off and get custom fitted.

Ladies locker

POSTPONED!!!

Ladies, due to the circumstances the clinics are postponed until such a time that we can arrange for them to take place. Both myself and Ann Cummings will keep you all informed of the situation. In the mean time please all look after yourselves and families and stay safe!

I will be running a ladies clinic for chipping and bunker play on the 10th of April, putting on the 17th of April and swing checks on the 24th of April.

Spaces Available:
10th April: 1 space available
17th April: 1 space Available
24th April: Full

These spaces are filling up extremely fast so make sure you don’t lose out on this great opportunity before the season starts. Either pop into the shop and speak to one of the team or give us a phone on 01292 473904.

Special offer

With the shop being closed now and sales and coaching being off, I am going to be offering a limited number of reduced coaching packages for purchase only until we resume back to normality. I will also still be taking payment for vouchers for the shop as well as allowing members to put money on their accounts (if they fancy saving up for something nice when we get back onto the golf course).

All transactions will need to be done by bank transfer. If you are interested in any of the above, then please drop me an email and I will forward on bank details to you and record what is either purchased or transferred.

6 lessons for the cost of 4 only £120
Only 1 left so be quick!! First come first serve basis - usual cost £150

On course 9-hole playing lesson £50
Only 13 now available on a first come first serve basis - usual cost £60

All account top-ups and voucher purchases will receive an extra 10% to the amount credited up to a maximum value of £200.

Please email : garethhardygolf.7@yahoo.com if you wish to make any purchases or top-ups.

(Terms and conditions: all lesson purchases are on a first come first serve basis, according to the time your email lands in my inbox. All voucher purchases and account top-ups will receive the extra 10% if your account is either sitting at zero or in credit. No discount will be applied for accounts currently sitting in debit.)

Course news

Here's a picture taken by a member this week. How good is the course starting to look?

I have spoken to a few members this week and have heard a couple of reports of our members policing the golf course whilst out on their once a day exercise outing. Some wild stories of kids playing football across the 2nd green and a gent asked to leave when he attempted to ride his bicycle up and onto the 3rd green. Good Samaritans, you know who you are..... keep up the good work!!!

Members News

Here’s are the answers for the quiz last week. Many thanks to Graham McNicol for keeping us entertained.

St Nicholas Golf Club
(Since We Have No Golf!) Open Knowledge Quiz

This is a quiz designed to hopefully stop you getting bored and stir-crazy sitting in the house during this lockdown!
It’s based on the Open Championship and strict rules of golf apply, no cheating or looking anything up, you’re your own police with this one!

1. Who won the 3rd Open Championship to be played at Royal Troon?
Arnold Palmer 1962.

2. In 1978 at St Andrews, Japanese golfer Tsuneyuki Nakajimi (who was in contention playing the 3rd round) famously played the 17th Road Hole and ended up in the “Road Hole bunker” which became known as the “Sands of Nakajima”. How many strokes did he take on the 17th that day?
9 (was on the green in 2 and putted into the bunker!!)

3. How many Opens did Prestwick Golf Club host?

24 - 1st 1860, 24th 1925)
4. Who was Jean Van de Velde’s playing partner on the final round at Carnoustie when he famously had a 7 at the final hole?
Craig Parry (Australia)

5. Who won the last Open to be played at Lytham St.Annes?
Ernie Els (beat Adam Scott by 1)

6. How many bunkers protect the Postage Stamp (8th hole Royal Troon)?
5

7. Who was Seve Ballesteros’s playing partner on the final round at St Andrews in 1984 when he sunk the putt on the 18th to win?
Bernhard Langer

8. When the Open is played at Lytham St Annes what is the opening 3 holes total par.
11 (3-4-4)

9. Which Scot won the silver medal at Carnoustie in 2018 and so being the lowest amateur?
Sam Locke +9

10. Has a French player won the Open? Yes or No.
Yes 1. (1907 Arnaud Massy)

11. In which year did David Duval win his only Open Championship?
2001 (Lytham St.Annes)

12. How many Open’s did Peter Alliss play in?
24

13. What was Seve’s score to par in 1984 when he won at St Andrews?
-12

14. How many Open’s did Jack Nicklaus win?
3 (1966, 1970 & 1978)

15. In inches, what height is the Claret Jug including it’s base? Correct if 1” either side.

20.75 inches

16. Who was Tom Watson’s playing partner in the final round in 2009 at Turnberry when he narrowly missed out in winning the Open aged 59?
Matthew Goggin (Australia)

17. What is total yardage width of the combined 1st and 18th fairway’s at St Andrews? (5 yards either side good enough)
129 yards (if you had anything between 124 to 134 yards, good enough)

18. Where was the 1900 Open played?
St Andrews

19. American Justin Leonard won the Open at Troon in 1997 but which American state is he from?
Texas

20. We all remember Troon 2016 when Stenson beat Mickelson on the final day. Who finished 3rd?
JB Holmes (14 behind Stenson)

21. In total, how many greens does St Andrews Old Course have?
11 (7 Doubles) & (4 Singles)

22. Which Irish golfer won the silver medal (low amateur) in 2007 at Carnoustie when Harrington defeated Garcia in a play-off?
Rory McIlroy +5

23. What is the par of the course at Muirfield for the Open?
71

24. What is the record lowest round score at any Open and by who?

62 Brandon Grace (2017 Royal Birkdale) lowest score in any major golf event!

25. Which country has most Open wins? Australia or South Africa?
South Africa (South Africa 10 Australia 9)

Weekly quiz

Masters edition

As we promised in last week's newsletter, our Quiz of the Week is here.

It's meant to be a bit of fun and a chance for you to see how good your golfing knowledge is - although, we all know how competitive we can be!

So, as it was supposed to be Masters week, we're kicking things off with a very special Masters edition.

Good luck and make sure you come back to test yourself again next week.

take our quiz >

Weekly challenge

We have a great game for you to try at home this week and, if you can succeed, it’ll really help to improve your touch and feel around the green. We've highlighted a couple of different ways that you can give it a go in the image below, and it can easily be made indoor-friendly too!

The idea

So, when chipping, a big part of the process is understanding where you need to land the ball on the green in order for it to finish close the hole, and this week’s challenge mirrors this by getting you to land the ball in different zones of a ladder.

The set-up

Lay a ladder on the ground in front of your hitting zone with a final target at the end. No ladder? Use your clubs to create one. Want to give it a try indoors? Get creative by using masking tape or anything that’ll end up looking like a ladder – and send us a photo!

How to play

The challenge is to chip a ball into each zone, starting with the closest and working your way towards the final target.

If you want to make it harder, move the ladder further away, try to hit each zone consecutively without missing or make each zone smaller.

message the team >

Golf at home

Hopefully, you enjoyed last week’s clock drill to try at home – if you didn’t see it, visit our website and you’ll find it under the 'Articles' tab. Carrying on with the putting theme, this week’s drill has been designed to improve the consistency of your stroke.

What you'll need

All you'll need to give this drill a go is your putter (no surprise there!), a golf ball, some tees and a mug.

Start off by finding a straight putt somewhere in your house. Place the mug down at one end with the open top facing towards where you’re going to be putting from. This is your make-shift hole.

The set-up

Then, take a few paces away from the hole and put your ball down. Grab your putter and address the ball as if you were about to hit a putt. Whilst your putter is down, place a tee upside down on the floor either side of the head (green tees in image). This is your gate. The idea is to make your stroke without hitting either of the tees.

Make it harder

If you find this easy then great, it means that you’re returning the putter to the middle of the ball.

To make things harder, give yourself a longer putt, reduce the distance between the two tees surrounding the putter or add some more tees at a ball's width halfway down the putt.

message the team >

Video of the Week

We stumbled across the video on The Masters' YouTube channel a few months back and, whilst this year's tournament has been postponed, we thought it was too good not to share with you! So, sit back and enjoy as Tiger Woods shares his insight on how to play Amen Corner at Augusta National.

I hope you enjoyed the newsletter and if you require any additional help or advice please contact me in the golf shop.

Prestwick St Nicholas Golf Club
Grangemuir Road
Prestwick
KA9 1SN

Phone: 01292 473904

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