Greetings golfers,
Sean Batty the weatherman did not let us down with his glorious weather forecast as "Pros Day" was basked in sunshine and not one ounce of rain. The day was a great success and judging by the feedback, you all enjoyed yourself. I leapt out my bed at 2.30am on Saturday morning to start the preparations. It all started with a trip to the 24 hour Tesco for some Ice and bananas. The 24 hour Tesco is quite a place, some may say a haven for tracksuit wearing hoodlums and model railway enthusiasts. I don't know about you but I always seem to attract the most special of people when in these places. As I threw bags of ice into my trolley, a worker called "Trevor" approached me and said:
"I can get you boxes of ice you know, they're hidden but I know where they are..."
At this point I thought he was going to roll me into a cardboard box and stick me in the deep freeze. He galloped away through the swing doors, and after around 10 minutes he burst through the doors as if he had beaten "Mo Farah" to the Olympic Gold. His cargo was around 20 boxes of ice, 17 more than actually required, but how could I bring him down from this icy high. I said thank you very much and proceeded to take all the boxes in a cage to the till. When "Trevor" from Tesco was pricing his pineapple chunks, I pushed the large cage to the side and made off with my 3 boxes of ice into the darkness.
My luck didn't get much better as I arrived at the club at 4.30am, only to discover that my keys were locked in the shop. I thought that this was a bad omen, but no the day as I said was phenomenal and it all went smoothly.
Things don't just happen this way through luck, it took a lot of organisation and having great staff and volunteers allowed me to whizz about the course making sure you were all ok. So here are my thank yous:
Ian & Yvonne Welsh - Ian held the pro shop fort and Yvonne served up the best burgers in town
Stuart Houlden - Ran the Bell Casino from the 10th tee
David (Ivor Robson)
Aitken - He started you all of in his tweed jacket and matching hat.
Nan Bell (mum)
Lynne Bell (sister)
Douglas Woodhouse &
Anne Roulston helped immensely at the BBQ/BAR
Douglas being a wonderful accountant, did a critical analysis of my BBQ set up and came to the following conclusion - There were no seats. He was as usual absolutely correct. Next year I will have seats.
Alex McLeod - He made me the most wonderful scoreboard
Steven Moran - His wood skills made sure my banners were standing proud on the day
The Green Keepers for the great set up of the course, especially the pin position on 18
The bar and catering staff for keeping you all well-oiled!
All the sponsors of the day, especially "
Douglas Park BMW Hamilton".
I think you will all agree that the presence of these fantastic cars lifted the whole competition and gave it that "European Tour" experience. The electric BMW turned many heads as it buzzed around the course and crept silently up behind you!
I was very lucky to be given a BMW 7 series for a couple of days and it was absolutely amazing. I can only dream of owning something like that, but it really was a dream come true.
I came down to earth with a large bump on Monday as I drove my Nissan home. Cinderella did go to the Ball, but it's back to the Bingo for me.
Professionals Day 2016 Results 1st -
Kenny Gallagher &
Ross Hinshelwood - 63
2 PING Tour Golf Bags, 2 Dozen Srixon Balls
+
Hospitality for 2 People @ The SSE Hydro for a concert of your choice with chauffeur driven BMW 7 Series to and from the venue*
2nd -
Tam Leith &
Alex Henderson - 63
2 Pairs Of adidas Tour 360 Boost Golf Shoes
3rd -
David Boomer &
Cammy Boomer - 63
2 Mizuno Golf Bags
4th -
Tom Kerr &
Geoff Pearson - 64
2 FootJoy Polo Shirts 5th -
Stewart Wilson &
Christine Wilson 2 Club Crested Umbrellas & Titleist BallsOn Course Prizes Best Dressed Golfer - Robert McInally...
Closest To The Pins
3rd - Rayban Sunglasses -
Billy Fairley 8th- Win A BMW For The Weekend *
Gerry Mullen 17th - Rayban Sunglasses
Stewart Wilson
Longest Drives 7th (14 & Under) -
Gavin Collins 9th (15 & Above) -
Adam Docherty 16th (Ladies) -
Sheila Serguson 18th (Everyone) - Win £400 Worth Of BMW Prizes -
Steven Heap Srixon Demo Day
Last Tuesday we held a Srixon Demo Day, and although the weather wasn't too kind, we had quite a few players turn out for the event. I only allow certain club fitters to come to our club due to certain companies wanting to sell no matter what. Our friends at Srixon are honest and experienced and did a thoroughly good job with all the golfers who turned up.
There are only a handful of club fitters who I actually believe are good at their jobs, so I always put a large amount of thought into allowing them to represent me on the practice area.
If you are looking to arrange a fitting with me or one of the team here at East Kilbride,
click here to get in touch, or come and have a chat with us in the pro shop.
The Practice Area
After last week's newsletter regarding looking after our new turf, I hoped we would see a reduction of careless practicers. We didn't!!!
Here is an example of one of our member's practice where he didn't bother to put any sand/seed into his divots, even although the sand box was only a few yards from where he was practicing.
Just to point out, I know who did this and I will be watching them closely, and if they do not look after the area then they will be reported to the council.
The reason we have to be strict is that if this person carried on this way, then in a few weeks our turf would be decimated. I would ask you all to watch out for these culprits and report them to me please.
I'm Popping Off On Holiday Next week will see The Bell Family swap Glasgow for their old home "Dubai" for our Holiday. We always tend to make a few mistakes when booking our trips. One year we booked a hotel in the wrong part of the country we were going to. This year we wanted to visit one my best friends who lives out there. Me being a man, I didn't think twice about asking if he would actually be there, and yes he's not, he's back in Barrhead for a month. I then tasked my lovely wife to make sure that it wasn't Ramadan whilst we were there, and she did check that. Unfortunately she checked the Islamic Calendar for 2015. The National Lampoons strike again...
Dustin Rules The US Open Dustin Johnson is one of the most talented golfers on the planet and one with a slightly chequered past. From drug bans to being the US Tours very own lothario, Dustin has been a naughty boy. But the naughty boy has settled down to become a major winner. He has threatened in many majors but has never managed to seal the deal. This time he played well and the golfing gods were definitely with him, however the USGA were not. The USGA really didn't know what they were doing and ruined it for everyone. During my playing career I had some really strange rulings from chaps in blazers who thought they knew the rules, most didn't. The thing is, they don't have to be right and what they say is the law. Maybe this needs to be changed...
Anyway well done Dustin ya long hitting smoothy.